DVC Chit Chat Thread

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

People who had or now have young school age children - what use year do you feel would be best and why? I’m thinking August as it will allow one summer month, the holidays, and early spring. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

If your kids are school aged and you might want to go over summer, I’d probably recommend Oct for WDW because Jun-July-Aug-Sep are all generally unpleasant months to be there but you can go in June if you want longer summer trips. But you’ll get better advice here if you specify the resort and how much you hate heat and humidity.

…I'm not that baller yet, and even if I were able to afford it, DW would divorce me. She already thinks that I overdo WDW/DLR trips.

I feel you on this one. I tried gaslighting my spouse lately “this is the first time we’ve been to Disneyland since 2025, surely you can’t be upset that’s unreasonable?” because I knew he wouldn’t be able to remember our Feb trip (and he didn’t) but I confessed like 10m later and we had a laugh about it.

Almost as effective at initiating divorce proceedings as having an affair, and the expiration date on an affair is much sooner.

You’re so unromantic in your conception of affairs! Who’s to say that your side piece can’t go the distance?

August will be blazingly hot in WDW; I'm assuming you're looking at WDW area. August UY has a March 31 banking deadline. If you also consider canceling 31+ days in advance to avoid points going into holding, that somewhat extends trips into April. I think that it seems like Aug could be a good choice if you generally avoid May-July trips.

For most (all?) school districts, Aug is not safe for any summer trips…something I wish I’d known before I wandered up to a DVC sales kiosk on a cruise and got saddled with an Aug UY at AUL (which is awful with kids).

 

[IsDVCForMe?]

@HyperspaceMountainPilot Well we’re going in June this year, so guess we’ll see how it goes. Planning to go to the parks until noon at the very least.

The resort we have right now is AKV with a December use year.

If we went in June and something happened, we couldn’t bank though. That’s my worry there. Probably would prefer June over August. Really I wouldn’t want to go in July, August, September because of heat. But just want a safety net if we have to go in the summer because of school, which is why I like having at least one summer month.

 

[RivGirl]

People who had or now have young school age children - what use year do you feel would be best and why? I’m thinking August as it will allow one summer month, the holidays, and early spring. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

My kids are in school and I chose October. Winter holidays and Spring Break, plus May (one of my favorite months) once they graduate

We travel elsewhere in the summer.

 

[RivGirl]

GeoTrackers View attachment 1073193

Looks like somewhere in Bay Lake Tower or The Contemporary?

 

[pks_domer]

Guessing it doesn't look like this?
View attachment 1073099

Would be cool if they did a pancake race though!

Nope, not in the slightest!

 

[Disdreaming479]

@HyperspaceMountainPilot Well we’re going in June this year, so guess we’ll see how it goes. Planning to go to the parks until noon at the very least.

The resort we have right now is AKV with a December use year.

If we went in June and something happened, we couldn’t bank though. That’s my worry there. Probably would prefer June over August. Really I wouldn’t want to go in July, August, September because of heat. But just want a safety net if we have to go in the summer because of school, which is why I like having at least one summer month.

December UY banks by July 31.

 

[Rebsy]

People who had or now have young school age children - what use year do you feel would be best and why? I’m thinking August as it will allow one summer month, the holidays, and early spring. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

We have school age kids and an August UY because I bought resale and didn’t realize the importance of UY when looking for a points/price combo I was comfortable with. We travel spring break and winter and so far it works, but if I had to do it again, I’d get September or October because we don’t go in the summer (did August once and can’t handle that heat/humidity again) but I’d like a little more flexibility for spring travel.

 

[pks_domer]

People who had or now have young school age children - what use year do you feel would be best and why? I’m thinking August as it will allow one summer month, the holidays, and early spring. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

You've gotten a good range of feedback on this. My questions for you would have been about how long you anticipate holding the contract, how you plan to manage your contract portfolio over time, when (in a vacuum) you prefer to travel, and if you are okay pulling kids out of school.

We have grade-school aged kids, and a March UY. In the four years we've been owners, we've used that contract in November, February, June, August, spring break (3x, March-April), winter break (Dec-Jan), and October, with upcoming trips in June, November, and next spring break. We didn't plan our UY around travel patterns, for a few different reasons. But we've made our UY work pretty much all year round.

 

[MyKindOfDisney]

Have you seen the 1500 pointer out there for sale?? California Dreaming here.......

What I want to know if how DVCforless gives it a deal score of 4.5 stars!

 

[pzw90]

What I want to know if how DVCforless gives it a deal score of 4.5 stars!

The ratings are based on bands of similar contracts, in this case other VDH contracts with 400+ points, since it’s priced so much lower than those and has banked points it looks favorable at a price per point basis.

 

[PolyRob]

December UY banks by July 31.

Yes which really covers the entire summer since any trip booked in August that is cancelled prior to points going into holding would still be bankable. I wouldn't buy December if I only wanted to travel in August, but it isn't the worst UY. You would cover the holiday season, spring break, and all summer holidays. It would be bad for early December if you wanted to walk though.

@IsDVCForMe? It all really depends on when you want to visit WDW with your kids. Would you pull them in October for Halloween activities or travel the holidays in October when WDW is extra crowded? Do you only want spring break and summer? When does that fall within your district?

You've gotten a good range of feedback on this. My questions for you would have been about how long you anticipate holding the contract, how you plan to manage your contract portfolio over time, when (in a vacuum) you prefer to travel, and if you are okay pulling kids out of school.

We have grade-school aged kids, and a March UY. In the four years we've been owners, we've used that contract in November, February, June, August, spring break (3x, March-April), winter break (Dec-Jan), and October, with upcoming trips in June, November, and next spring break. We didn't plan our UY around travel patterns, for a few different reasons. But we've made our UY work pretty much all year round.

I think March is actually a great contract for planning around school schedules. Your UY begins with spring break, you have all summer in middle, and you're covered with banking for trips through the end of November. Not necessarily the best if you want to travel early December though, but these two weeks would require pulling children from class.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

What I want to know if how DVCforless gives it a deal score of 4.5 stars!

“It’s the opportunity of a lifetime!”

And by that I mean once you buy it you’re stuck with it for life…

 

[PolyRob]

I don't think that holding points can be banked (can somebody please confirm?).

I forgot, but I didn't see a reply to this. You are correct. Holding points expire at the end of the UY they are in and cannot be banked.

 

[TheThousandthSoul]

My contracts are all August UY
That makes it more risky for trips planned in June/July but not for the rest of the year.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Looks like somewhere in Bay Lake Tower or The Contemporary?

Villas at Disneyland Hotel

 

[RivGirl]

Villas at Disneyland Hotel

Ah. The artwork looked like BLT but the rug was saying something else...makes sense!

 

[AstroBlasters]

Ah. The artwork looked like BLT but the rug was saying something else...makes sense!

 

[Flash_Sloth]

Ive not kept up, but wasnt only like 1 GV declared so far and there are only 2 total?

I think you're correct. 1 is used for tours and is not declared into inventory, and the other 1 is declared into inventory and it is an accessible room, if I remember right. Kinda stinks if more than 1 owner wants to book it over popular holidays, but I guess that's what fixed week contracts are for. Well, I take that back. If there are only 2 grand villas, then 1 of them is 50%, and that's higher than their percentage of maximum allowed FW contracts for a room/villa type for a week. (30% or 35%; I forget exact number.)

I'm not a baller, and it is usually just me+DW, so I don't even look at the 3BR Grand Villas when I'm trying to make a reservation. VDH has only 2 GVs, and only 1 currently declared into inventory.

Looking at VDH, and I know we aren't supposed to post availability because it can change, so I'll keep it generic. Without mentioning any particular dates, there isn't even 1 night available in a VDH GV.

Perhaps somebody bought some big VDH contracts hoping to book a GV, and is selling because they're frustrated that they can't get one.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I'm not a baller, and it is usually just me+DW, so I don't even look at the 3BR Grand Villas when I'm trying to make a reservation. VDH has only 2 GVs, and only 1 currently declared into inventory.

Looking at VDH, and I know we aren't supposed to post availability because it can change, so I'll keep it generic. Without mentioning any particular dates, there isn't even 1 night available in a VDH GV.

Perhaps somebody bought some big VDH contracts hoping to book a GV, and is selling because they're frustrated that they can't get one.

1500 points? At $180pp direct that would still be $270k….

 

[Brob2132]

Ate at Toledo last night while in town for work. Really lovely.

For any paella lovers, the waiter said they’re in the process of putting their seafood paella on the regular menu. Currently it’s only available in the chef’s table option for two.