We just returned from WDW today and we did the DVC Open House while we were there. It all sounds really great but we wonder about what isn't being mentioned. Our DVC rep offered to match our points OR credit of $10 per point.!
We are brand spanking new DVC owners at AKV so are still very green, but I would like to take a shot at answering some of your questions. Hopefully, some of the more seasoned DVCers will correct any points I may not be 100% accurate on. Also, most of what I am saying is specifically referring to purchasing a new contract through DVC and not resales through third parties (though ultimately, once your purchase is complete, the same DVC rules and restictions apply to you as a member).
Call it semantics, but this is how I look at it. Currently, Saratoga Springs (SSR) and Animal Kingdom Villas (AKV) are the DVC resorts with new, unsold inventory, so those are the resorts that are ‘actively’ available and being sold. However, purchasers can always request through DVC, to buy an interest in one of the ‘sold out’ resorts, you just may need to be a little more firm with your request since the DVC Sales Guides will not actively promote the sold out resorts and instead push the NEW resorts that have unsold inventory.
When you request to purchase at one of the older, sold out resorts through DVC, you usually have to go on a Wait List until such time that a contract at your preferred resort becomes available. Normally, this occurs when an existing DVC owner sells their ownership in that resort and Disney purchases it back, at which time Disney offers it to persons on the wait list for that resort. There could be any number of people ahead of you on the wait list, making it unknown how long you may need to wait before getting your chance to buy at that resort. It could be available right away, or you could wait months.
Bear in mind, that you get fewer years when purchasing a contract for one of these older 'sold out' DVC resorts, including when you purchase the contract through a private resale... you only get the number of years remaining in the original owners contract. I believe contracts for most of the other DVC resorts will expire on 2042, while SSR goes to 2054 and AKV 2057. So you get fewer years when you choose to waitlist and purchase at one of the ‘sold out’ resorts, though I assume the price will reflect this. Also, there has recently been an extension for the Old Key West Resort for 15 more years, but you have to purchase the extension, you do not just get it for free. But more importantly, what this shows is anything could happen with the other resorts also.
As of 2 weekends ago when I spoke with OUR guide, there were two options available to us with respect to purchasing at SSR or AKV, and while he emphasized there was no specific deadline at the time for these offers, incentives often change with little to no advance notice;
Option 1: Minimum purchase required is 160 points. NO price break on cost per point, but they will MATCH however many points you buy, with Developer Points. Example, buy 235 pts., you get 235 Developer Points in addition. Developer points are a ONE time freebee and must be used within 12 months of your contract (purchase) date. Any unused Dev. Pts. after 12 months simply expire and are forfeited. Reservations utilizing Dev. Pts. must be booked within 7 months or less of the date you wish to stay (according to one of the documents in the contract,
Disney Cruise Line is exempt from this 7 month restriction). There are a few other particulars as well.
Option 2: Minimum required purchase of 225 points at SSR or AKV and get flat 160 Developer Points PLUS $10 off/pt for SSR or $8 off/pt for AKV purchase. So in this case you get BOTH the cost per point discount PLUS the Developer points instead of only one or the other. As far as I know there is no $10/pt incentive for AKV so make sure you understand whether that is for SSR only, but these offers change all the time.
Some other ‘little things’ that aren’t necessarily explicitly mentioned during the sales pitch.
- While you can actually CALL to book a DVC vacation as soon as you receive the contract/paper work and your temporary DVC Member card, you cannot actually book a date for your visit until on or after a certain date known as your ‘Estimated Date Unit is Available for Occupancy’. For example, ours is ‘Jan. 29, 2008'. So even though we PURCHASED on Oct. 22, 2007, we can call TODAY to book a vacation on DVC points, but we cannot book the vacation for dates before Jan. 29, 2008. For people still buying in right now and getting 07 UY points, this can be an important point because that only leaves a 4 month window for you to use your 07 UY points, unless you bank them to your 08 UY.
- You cannot book AND travel to resorts within The Disney Collection (basically Disney resorts that are non-DVC), Concierge Collection (basically non Disney resorts around the world), and Adventurer Collection (more non-WDW/DL resorts around the world) within the last 60 days of your UY. Example, if your UY ends in 59 days, you cannot on a whim decide to call and book a stay at any of these resorts using your DVC points for the remaining days in your current UY because you are BOTH calling less than 60 days from the end of your UY, AND you want to stay during dates that fall within the last 60 days of your UY. You CAN book reservations in these places for dates that are within the last 60 days of your UY as long as the date you CALL to make the reservation is before 60 days from the end of your UY.
- Annual dues are almost guaranteed (my words, not Disney’s) to increase year to year (they have historically anyway, with a few minor exceptions), but this isn’t really any different than most Time Shares.
- Starting Jan. 1, 2008, you must decide whether or not to Bank any current UY points by the end of the 8th month of your UY. You cannot bank any current UY points once you are in months 9, 10, 11, or 12 of your UY. Thus if you are not careful to plan ahead a little, once you pass that 8 month deadline for banking your points, you better use them by the end of the current UY or they are forfeited.
- While you can use DVC points to stay at WDW Moderate Resorts (Caribbean Beach Resort, Coronado, Port Orleans, Fort Wilderness Campground) if you so choose, you cannot use DVC points to stay at Disney VALUE Resorts if for any reason you desired to do so.
- You cannot use DVC points to stay in the NON-DVC accomodations of a Disney resort that has a DVC affiliation. Example, if you are DYING to stay at the Beach Club Resort but there are NO DVC accomodations available for the date you need, you cannot use your DVC points to make a reservation in the standard Beach Club Resort accomodations as if you were making a reservation for a qualifying non-DVC resort.
Make sure you clearly understand all the different Cancellation particulars as well, as this is one area where points can easily be lost if you are not paying attention.
1) Is there a minimum amount of points that can be added in the future. Like, can we add 20 points or is there a 50 pt. minimum?
There is currently a minimum purchase of 25 points for cash (pay in full) purchases, and 50 points for financed purchases.
3) Are there any hidden fess when adding or borrowing pts. from the next year's allotment? (We were told closing costs were only paid once.)
There are none specifically related to Banking/Borrowing that I am aware of, however, there are some lesser known 'fees' you might have to pay with DVC point usage. There is an 'Administrative fee’ ($95 I believe starting Jan 1, 2008) associated with using your points to book a stay at all non DVC specific resorts/locations, including Disney resorts at WDW that are non-DVC resorts, as well as
Disney Cruise Line.
4) Can points roll over continuously from year to year or is it more like use-it-or-lose-it?
As others have stated, no, vacation points for a given Use Year (UY) can only be banked once, and they cannot be returned to their original UY after they have been banked if you change your mind. Banking points to the next UY is final. Example, your 2008 pts. can be banked to you 2009 UY. Any unused 08 points at the end of your 2009 UY will expire and be forfeited.
Borrowing points is similar in that they cannot be returned to their original UY if you end up changing your mind or canceling the reservation you borrowed the points for. You can still use the Borrowed points for another reservation during the UY you’ve borrowed them into, but any Borrowed points expire and are lost if not used by the end of the UY in which they are borrowed into.
Sorry so long winded, but hopefully this will not only answer some of your questions, but others who are on the fence as well.
the WL. SSR (which had the open house) was nice and all but it's a DTD resort and doesn't have the Disney theming that I prefer. AKL just doesn't do it for us either even though it's similar to the WL. The distance factor and the higher MF hold no appeal. My understanding is that these 2 resorts are the only ones available for sale. The WLV is sold out. Is this correct? I may need to wait for the CR announcement to be made before I commit to 
. For us the other con is cost of flights.
but I think you meant Old Key West? At the moment OKW is the only resort where an extension has been offered.
