DVC: Bulk Points vs 4 month jump

[tmgandolph]

Hi all,
I am trying to figure out what to purchase in DVC (we are going to purchase but just now must figure out what/where to purchase).

So far, we were thinking of buying a small contract of 300 points with a home resort of BLT, to get a flavor and add on later to get two beddroom or grand villas or multiple trips.

Then I read some posts and started thinking of purchasing bulk points. For example buying 800-1000 points in OKW at $62-65+/pt.

I might be missing something (as I am new) but it seems the main advantage of purchasing at BLT directly is getting the 4 month head start on booking before everyone else. Not sure who much of a need that is. Since the BLT room rates are high and more so with a MK view, I wonder how booked up it would be. Figure a 2 bedroom goes for 370+ and up for a week and the grand villa is 800+. I have heard the average contract is around the 300 point mark from various disney agents/sales reps and noticing most contract for sale are below 300 points.

I would not mind spending for a large amount of points as I would like to use them for Hawaii, cruises, RCI exchanges or lots of trips to disney with family/friends in 2 bedrooms or grand villas.

So my question is would it be better to reinvest the money into more points for the same amount of cash outlay or buy the premium points at a certain resort to gain the 4 month window?

Sorry for the long winded and winding question!

 

[chalee94]

if you are going to be disappointed to get locked out of an MK view room at BLT, then you should buy at BLT and try to book at 11 months out.

if you don't mind staying at OKW or SSR if everything else is booked up at 7 months, then buy the cheapest points you find.

the early guesses are that BLT-lake views will not be too hard to get at 7 months out but that most BLT owners are buying in order to lock up the MK-views in the priority window. you never know. a lot just depends on how flexible you are and how bad you want to stay at a specific resort in a specific type of room during a given time...

 

[disneynutz]

If you have money to burn, buy at your favorite resorts and buy bulk.

But if you do the numbers, you will find that using points for anywhere other than DVC resorts at WDW doesn't pencil out. Disney knows this, that's why they always push the other possibilities. They want you to use up your points so you will buy more.

 

[drusba]

1. For BLT standard and MK view and any GV, the 11 month ressie window will likely be a necessity most times of year. Lake view will likely be available at 7 months out many times (but not all) of year. OKW is fairly easy to get at 7 months out most times of year.

2. BLT has lower annual dues than any other resort. That will likely continue to be true because it is selling more points per unit than other resorts and thus allocation per point of like amount of costs is lower. Thus, owning at BLT means your annual per point dues will likely be lower than other resorts. Over the long run that can mean a large difference in costs.

3. Buying huge contracts can be fine for purchasing but deadly for trying to sell later -- large contracts are harder to sell on the resale market, which, of course, is why you will see them for $62 or less a point (and why contracts with 800 or more points often sit on the resale market for a very long time). In fact, even a 300 point contract is more difficult to sell than a 160 point, so you should even consider splitting that one into two contracts if you have any thought that you might sell later.

 

[tmgandolph]

Thanks to everyone for your answers!
So it seems the 4 month window is a must if you want a certain location and a certain view.

The disney sales rep said most of the contracts he knew of that were sold at BLT were for the 200 - 300 range. He said the reasoning was to ensure a MK view in a studio and have enough point banking/borrowing to get a1br or 2br room every so often. He said most of DVC falls into this category of banking / borrowing. He felt most people dont have enough point to book a BLT room for a week with an MK view because of the low point values. He said many people take two studio room trips a year during some of the various value times. He felt this would leave many 2brs available at 7 months.

Quite honestly while i would like a MK view (my wife wants one for July 4th times as a recurring family vacation and so would I) the rest of the time I would not care where I stayed or the view!

I wonder how hard it will be to book a GV at the price of 800 to 1100 points for a week?

Had not thought of the low maintenance fees issue at BLT! Lots to think about! Love the amount of info here!

 

[logan115]

Thanks to everyone for your answers!
So it seems the 4 month window is a must if you want a certain location and a certain view.

The disney sales rep said most of the contracts he knew of that were sold at BLT were for the 200 - 300 range. He said the reasoning was to ensure a MK view in a studio and have enough point banking/borrowing to get a1br or 2br room every so often. He said most of DVC falls into this category of banking / borrowing. He felt most people dont have enough point to book a BLT room for a week with an MK view because of the low point values. He said many people take two studio room trips a year during some of the various value times. He felt this would leave many 2brs available at 7 months.

Quite honestly while i would like a MK view (my wife wants one for July 4th times as a recurring family vacation and so would I) the rest of the time I would not care where I stayed or the view!

I wonder how hard it will be to book a GV at the price of 800 to 1100 points for a week?

Had not thought of the low maintenance fees issue at BLT! Lots to think about! Love the amount of info here!

Like someone else said, if you buy BLT make sure you split your points into multiple contracts (like 50 pts/contract), not only does it make it easier to sell, but smaller contracts fetch a premium price over the larger ones.

I would say that jumping in with 800-1000 points seems like a lot, and it's a pretty decent chunk of change so take your time and do it the right way - that means spending some time figuring out what you want BEFORE you buy anything - much easier to change your mind now than it is after you buy.

Many will say "buy where you want to stay" and I won't argue with that, but we bought with the "buy where you wounldn't mind staying" approach, and recently bought 160 pts at SSR as we'd like to try many different resorts, and have no issues if we get "stuck" at SSR, and were able to pick up our points for $68/pt.

What you may consider, if there are multiple resorts that you know you want to stay at, is to buy some at BLT and some at another resort, that way you can take advantage of the home resort booking period at multiple places.

So if you want a MK view or GV at BLT, buy enough there (and split your purchase into many smaller contracts) that with banking/borrow you can book your entire trip within the home resort window (11-7 months out), and do the same at either your next favorite resort, or any resort that you'd be happy to stay at if you couldn't switch at 7 months.

Don't forget to think about MFs as over time these will easily eclipse your upfront purchase price.

Good luck - and PLEASE ask lots of questions before purchasing.


Chris

 

[drusba]

GV's just go quickly during the 11 month window regardless of the point cost (higher cost weekend nights might last a little longer). For example, at BWV, your GV is 800 points a week, 100 points a weeknight, 150 weekend, during magic season. All, except the higher weekend nights, are usually gone within days of the start of an 11 month window. In fact, if you want GV, you should plan to be on the phone at exactly 11 months out to assure getting it.

For July 4 time, MK view at BLT, you are going to need 11 month window. In fact, for July 4 time, you should plan on using 11 month window for any room at BLT (including lake view) or any room at most other resorts as everything can potentially fill even before the 7 month window starts.

Just for some anecdotal info on MK view. I called two different times in June for a a 2BR MK view for two different weeks in Jan 2010 (one of DVC's slower times of year). I was calling exactly 7 months out from date of arrival each time. Result: the weekend nights were still open but not any weekdays.

 

[tmgandolph]

Thank you all very much!

It seems with all of the banking and borrowing (which I dont understand yet so will have to research) everyone with a decent point level can enjoy at least a few days in a GV. Very nice.

So it seems I should buy in BLT to get the 11 months just in case. And buy enough to get a room level I could be happy with for a time I would like.

And to make sure I understand, you split a large contract into smaller chunk so you can resell easier (which we wont do but will deed to our children who are toddlers now) I still need to research to understand how smaller contracts interact with banking and borrowing. An area I haven't even begun to look at.

So a BLT contract will be in our future since we want the July 4th MK view like so many others!

Thank you all again so very much!

 

[drusba]

If you buy multiple contracts from Disney, it will give you the same use year under a master contract followed by the other contracts attached to the master contract number. For banking and borrowing they are all then treated as just one large contract. But that they are in fact separate contracts means that you can later sell them separately or give them to children separately.

 

[bumbershoot]

Might or might not be off topic, not sure.

The disney sales rep said most of the contracts he knew of that were sold at BLT were for the 200 - 300 range. ... He felt this would leave many 2brs available at 7 months.

Just to comment on that part...he's one guy. One sales guy. He's not taking reservations; though our guide wanted to be on the phone when we made our very first reservation. How does he KNOW (what people are booking), really.

And he's just one sales guy seeing just HIS contracts, and if he's saying that to people, gosh, wonder what people on the edge are going to buy, right?

We bought from a guide in Anaheim, we bought BLT, we bought the minimum required...he knew we knew what we wanted and didn't try to sell us on "well most people buy 200-300 points"...and I'm glad for it.

I know he wasn't necessarily pressuring you (though if he was telling that to you to show you that many 2 bedrooms/GVs will be empty b/c most people don't buy 800-1000 points, and that you would be the stand out STAR and amazing etc etc etc, then he's getting a really nice sale out of it!) but even just using the logic, well, I just wish that sales people (and doctors) wouldn't talk about the relatively small experience they've had to help people figure out what to do.