DVC Newbie Alert!

[Opie100]

I just returned from a Disney Cruise and got the DVC pitch for the first time. We resisted the temptation to enlist on the boat - but am looking much closer now. We live about 9 hours driving from Orlando, and about 5 hours from Hilton Head (on the way to WDW). It is possible that we would stay in Hilton Head at least one night on a usual drive down to WDW. Also, our 5-year-old is in a year-round program that has time off in September-October, as well as June-July. Some newbie questions:

1) If our annual Disney trip is in Sept. - Oct. (a somewhat down time for most resorts, it appears), does that make our choice of home club less important? I was hoping that it was, therefore allowing us to buy HH or VB and still get September booking 7 months out. Is our logic off here?

2) Can two DVC members combine points to stay together in a Grand Villa?

3) Do Studio residents have access to a washer/dryer somewhere on the property?

4) Can points be used to discount our cruise travel, even if we don't have enough points for the whole thing?

5) Is it true you only have 8 months to bank points before losing them (assuming you don't travel that year)?

6) Is there a poll online somewhere showing which locations are generally the most popular/desirable?

Thanks for your patience with my questions!

 

[Dean]

1. Your choice of UY is always important, you generally want a UY that is just before your trips when possible. For you, June is likely the best choice to cover both of your school breaks. There are only 8 UY with no Jan, May, July or Nov.

2. Yes and no. You can not directly combine points but you do have several options that will work in this scenario. Each member can reserve part of the days and link the reservations acting like on single reservation. You can also transfer points (limit 1 total per UY) and use those points. Just make sure they're the same home resort and a UY that will work for your trip.

3. Each resort has free W/D. The locations and set up vary by resort.

4. Potentially. You would have to have enough points for ONE adult but after that you can pay each whole person on either cash or points. Just realize the cash price is different than you see directly and is usually higher than early booking discount price. This is not a good use of points from a dollar standpoint but is currently an option though one that could go away tomorrow.

5. You can't bank points in the last 4 months of your Use Year.

6. I'm sure there are polls but don't think of it that broadly. Think of where you want to stay most trips including time of year and use type. I'd recommend IF you buy, that you buy a small cushion of points in case there are changes that require more points for your situation. If you want a given resort consistently, buy there. If you just want to try them all but at WDW, SSR is likely the best value. For certain options (concierge AKV, special views at BWV), you generally need to own at those resorts to ever have a chance.

 

[Sandisw]

Welcome and hope you had a wonderful cruise.

Booking at the 7 month mark in September or October will yield you something, most likely at SSR or OKW. October is Food & Wine so your choices during that time may be more limited than September. If you do not care which resort you are at while visiting WDW, then home resort is much less important.

You would want to try for a June UY. That would put both your summer and fall trips in the first 8 months, when you can still bank points if you have to cancel your trip at least 31 days out (less than that and there are a whole other set of rules for what happens to the points).

The best use of DVC points is staying at one of the WDW resorts. Many who want to cruise rent out their points that year and use the money to pay for the cruise.

Buying at HH with the intent of staying at WDW is a tricky situation as it doesn't allow you to book anything at the 11 month mark. Also, if Disney were to ever make that property not one of the DVC properties, you wouldn't own at the world. If you are getting HH so you will always have that one night stay, then I would consider buying a small resale contract to allow for that and consider buying a different contract (same UY) at a resort in WDW for your stays there.

Everyone who is a DVC member has a different view on which resorts are their favorites. Personally, I am an MK girl and love being near that park. I just bought into DVC last month and wanted BLT. I always stayed at the Contemporary so that I can walk to/from MK. Paying the premium price for those points was worth it to me since I did not want to chance it at the 7 month mark (although many other DVC owners are having no problems getting rooms there at the 7 month mark for the fall).

Good luck and happy planning.

 

[Lynne M]

If you're interested in buying in at HH or VB because you see yourself staying there regularly during their busy seasons, and feel that you need the home resort booking advantage, that would be a good move. As long as you realize that you'd most likely be staying at SSR or OKW (or possibly AKV) for your WDW visits, the 7 month window shouldn't be too much of a problem.

However, if you're looking at VB or HH because you've noticed that the resale prices for those resorts are much lower...there's a reason they're so cheap. The maintenance fees are much higher for VB and HH, so much so that they'd be significantly more expensive to own over the life of the contract.

 

[njmeisje]

Opie100,
We live in NJ, and we also drive for some of our trips (ie the longer ones 10-14 days). We own at both BCV and HH. We did what you suggest one year. On our way home from WDW we stayed 3 days at HH. We fell in love with the place. So we bought points that allow us to stay 1 week at HH every other year OR for a few days each year (on our drive home). HH is a great add on to a WDW DVC - IMHO.

Good luck
Diane

 

[JimMIA]

Hilton Head
I would only buy HH if I wanted to stay there during the summer months. You will probably need the 11-month booking advantage to do that. But, other than that, the dues costs would keep me away. Don't forget that your dues will far exceed your purchase cost over the life of the contract. Plus the fact that you would have no onsite WDW advantage if you bought HH.

Resale vs. Direct
I agree with Dean that SSR resale is a great value. I see SSR resales (2054 expiration) passing ROFR below 70, which is lower than OKW with the 2042 expiration. It's also a >30% discount from buying SSR direct from Disney.

With these discounts, I personally don't think it makes any sense to buy direct unless you absolutely MUST own BLT or GCV. To me, buying direct for any other resort is just throwing money away.

Home resort
In selecting a home resort, what any polls show is irrelevent for your family. You want to select whatever suits you best, not what the herd thinks.

Full disclosure: I am one of the contrarians who believes that "buy where you want to stay" is often overvalued. It makes sense for many families, but it really doesn't matter for many others if they look at their DVC usage realistically.

The first question I would ask myself is "can we reliably select vacation dates more than seven months in advance and stick to them?" If so, home resort has some meaning for you. If you can't typically plan that far in advance -- and many can't because of work, family, or financial considerations -- home resort really matters only in how much you pay in dues.

The second question I'd ask is whether we really, REALLY want to stay at a particular resort during a period when we would really need the 11-month booking window. If you really, REALLY want to stay at BWV or BCV during Food & Wine (Sept-Oct), then yes, you probably would benefit from booking at 11 months. If you don't really care where you stay, home resort only matters for dues.

One caveat -- I would never purchase a resort where I did NOT want to stay. The advantage of having a WDW home resort is that you stand a very good chance of always being able to book something during the 11-month window. Then -- if you choose -- when the 7 month window opens, you can try to switch to something else. If you can't get what you really wanted for that trip, at least you have your home resort ressie. I would never want that fall-back ressie to be somewhere where I did NOT want to stay.

The other reason for that caveat is that DVC could theoretically limit us to only staying in our home resorts. I don't thnk they'll ever do that, but I didn't think they'd ever make some of the changes they have made, so it's prudent to keep this in mind.

Finally...you've already made the best decision you could possibly make regarding DVC. You didn't jump at the offers on the cruise, electing instead to take your time and do your homework. Continue down that path. Take your time, do your research, and then make the decision that makes the most sense for your family. Good luck!

 

[Opie100]

Wow - some seriously good (and quick) input here! I'm impressed. Thanks y'all! Follow-ups:

1) I looked at availability for September 2009 on the special forum on this site, and it appears that WDW resorts are pretty open then - is this a good general measure of 7-month availability for September (since it is about 6 months out now)?

2) If you have points from different home resorts (say 50 points at four different resorts), does that give you the 11 month advantage at all of them AND allow you to combine points each year (for the sake of argument, assume same UY)?

3) How much should I factor in the likelihood that HHI could lose its DVC status/Orlando resort-booking privileges at some point during ownership?

4) Hypothetical: If somebody bought HHI when it first opened, and someone else bought BLT when it first opened, would you expect that both owners would spend the same in maintenance fees over the life of the contract (assuming same number of years)?

5) Do most folks book 11 months out knowing that they may change at some point, or are there penalties for changing bookings?

P.S. The cruise was terrific!

 

[JimMIA]

Wow - some seriously good (and quick) input here! I'm impressed. Thanks y'all! Follow-ups:

1) I looked at availability for September 2009 on the special forum on this site, and it appears that WDW resorts are pretty open then - is this a good general measure of 7-month availability for September (since it is about 6 months out now)?

I'm not sure what you are looking at, so it's hard to comment. If you are looking at WDW resort availability for cash ressies, that has nothing to do with points ressie availability. They are two completely seperate inventories.

The month of September is a generally slow period for WDW as a whole. But you have to realize that DVC busy times are often not the same as WDW busy times. F&W at either of the two Epcot resorts is a great example. Many of the F&W dates are booked as soon as the 11-month window opens, especially at BCV which is a small resort to begin with.

Early December at any DVC resort is another great example. MANY DVC owners like to visit during early December because of low points costs, low crowds at the parks, and holiday decorations and events. It is a VERY busy time for DVC and knowledgeable folks are on the phone the minute MS opens on the first day of their 11-month window.

2) If you have points from different home resorts (say 50 points at four different resorts), does that give you the 11 month advantage at all of them AND allow you to combine points each year (for the sake of argument, assume same UY)?

Yes, you would have 11 months at all four resorts...but only for those 50 points (plus any banked or borrowed points). Regardless of UY, you will have 11 month advantage ONLY at the home resort. You can combine points from various resorts at 7 months, but only your home resort points can be used during the 11-month window.

3) How much should I factor in the likelihood that HHI could lose its DVC status/Orlando resort-booking privileges at some point during ownership?

I'd guess it's unlikely...but who knows? It is clearly theoretically possible.

5) Do most folks book 11 months out knowing that they may change at some point, or are there penalties for changing bookings?

Probably only a very small percentage of folks do that. But no, there are no penalties for changing bookings as long as you are changing from one DVC-resort points ressie to another.

If you were using points outside of DVC, there would be an exchange fee of $95.

 

[Opie100]

Thanks for the response. Here is the thread I was referring to when I said that September 2009 looked decent as of right now: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1993458

Do y'all think that this is representative what I would likely see each year at the 7-month point for WDW DVC availability for September?

Also, since you apparently can't share points you own at other resorts until the seven-month mark, do people with multiple contracts reserve at eleven months by borrowing future points, and then replace those with the combined points once they get to seven months? Does that make sense?

 

[JimMIA]

Thanks for the response. Here is the thread I was referring to when I said that September 2009 looked decent as of right now: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1993458

Do y'all think that this is representative what I would likely see each year at the 7-month point for WDW DVC availability for September?

No, I don't think it's representative of anything except the input of 20 thoughtful DISers who were kind enough to post their experience.

What does it really tell us?

• GV's are tough to come by at seven months
• BWV and BCV are popular during F&W
• MK view at BLT is tough to come by at seven months
• The opening weeks of THV availability are hard to get. (Whether that will continue to be the case certainly remains to be seen.)

We already knew all of that.

There are two problems with this kind of a device. First of all, the service is new and there is really not much experience represented here. Therefore, the sample size (20) is too small to mean anything.

Second, another DISer's experience really doesn't matter. What matters to you is whether you get the ressie you want...or not.

If I called two months ago (or this morning) and found availability on the dates you are interested in, that doesn't help you one bit. You need to know what availability is WHEN YOU CALL. We will not have that until DVC establishes real-time online booking.

 

[JimMIA]

To answer your broader question about availability, if you are going to be traveling in Sept-Oct, and you are flexible about where you stay, I don't think you will have any major problems finding availability. You probably won't get BCV or BWV, but otherwise you should be fine. I think the same is true during the summer, except at HHI and VB for obvious reasons.

Avoiding peak periods, we have been 100% successful getting ressies 5-7 months out in May and November (our typical dates). The only time I've ever booked at 11 months was for an early December trip and it was absolutely necessary to book early for that.

My daughters both typically book <3 months out. Even during peak times, they have been generally successful although they have sometimes had to waitlist.

 

[JimMIA]

Also, since you apparently can't share points you own at other resorts until the seven-month mark, do people with multiple contracts reserve at eleven months by borrowing future points, and then replace those with the combined points once they get to seven months? Does that make sense?

It makes sense, but I don't think you're supposed to be allowed to do that -- although most things Disney depend on which CM you talk to and what kind of day they're having. If their day has been magical, there's a good chance yours will be too! If it's been "one of those days," oh well...

Even if it were allowed, you can't put the borrowed points back where they came from -- banking and borrowing are irreversible transactions.