DVC Newbie, please forgive

[MollysWorld]

First time looking at DVC, have some very basic questions.

1-Resale vs straight from DVC. I know the resale points are lower priced, but what do you lose by not going with DVC?

2-Is the only advantage to buying at a certain resort the 7 vs the 11 month reservation option?

3-What are the best places to look for resale points?

4-We are interested in the GF Villas. Are they new enough to have resale options available? Or is there still benefit to getting in on the "ground floor"?

5-If we do invest, are the studios basically hotel rooms? It would just be two of us, but thinking the one-bedroom would be much nicer.

6-Last, are there minimums you must buy through resale? and is the minimum through Disney 160?

Again, I'm sure these have been answered before, but trying to put together some info for DW to look at tonight.

thanks,

 

[kbonner]

1-Resale vs straight from DVC. I know the resale points are lower priced, but what do you lose by not going with DVC?

--you lose a lot of options on how you spend your points. If you only planning on using them at Disney World then it isn't a bad option.

2-Is the only advantage to buying at a certain resort the 7 vs the 11 month reservation option?

--There is that, but different resorts have different maintenance fee rates.

5-If we do invest, are the studios basically hotel rooms? It would just be two of us, but thinking the one-bedroom would be much nicer.

--studios usually have one bed, small kitchenette, and pull-out sofa. One Bedrooms are much nicer.

 

[bwvBound]

First time looking at DVC, have some very basic questions.

1-Resale vs straight from DVC. I know the resale points are lower priced, but what do you lose by not going with DVC?

2-Is the only advantage to buying at a certain resort the 7 vs the 11 month reservation option?

5-If we do invest, are the studios basically hotel rooms? It would just be two of us, but thinking the one-bedroom would be much nicer.

1. Wording from DVC Member's Website on resale point restrictions: "MEMBERS WHO PURCHASE OWNERSHIP INTERESTS IN ANY DVC RESORT FROM A PERSON OR ENTITY OTHER THAN DIRECTLY FROM DVD SHALL NOT BE ABLE TO USE THE VACATION POINTS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT OWNERSHIP INTEREST FOR RESERVATIONS OR STAYS THROUGH THE INCIDENTAL BENEFITS KNOWN AS THE CONCIERGE COLLECTION AND THE DISNEY COLLECTION." Basically, you'll be able to use resale points for stays at DVC resorts and for limited exchanges through RCI. You cannot use them for Disney Hotel/Cruise stays or for the handful of locations in the 'Concierge Collection.'

2. Home resort determines the expiration date of your membership (2042, 2054, or farther out); your annual dues; and your home resort booking advantage (11 mos vs 7 mos).

5. Sorta. Most DVC studio room layouts have only one queen bed with a pull-out sofa vs the hotel room's two queen beds. The room also has a kitchenette with microwave, full size coffee pot (not offered in the hotel rooms!), a dorm-fridge, toaster, sink and utensils. It also has a patio/balcony and includes access to free laundry (shared, located somewhere "nearby"), free DVD rentals, pool hopping when available, etc. A studio room might resemble a hotel room -- but comes with more perks.

The 1BR units are even better with the jetted tub, the full kitchen, in-room laundry and king bed. It is perfectly acceptable to book and enjoy the 1BR unit for "just the two of you."

 

[chalee94]

1-Resale vs straight from DVC. I know the resale points are lower priced, but what do you lose by not going with DVC?

you lose nothing of value.

you cannot trade resale points for disney cruises, disney hotel rooms or adventures by disney tours (or fancy hotels like the hotel del coronado in san diego, for example)...but those are all extremely expensive trades.

2-Is the only advantage to buying at a certain resort the 7 vs the 11 month reservation option?

there are times of year and room-types where the 11 month advantage is critical.

other than that, just expiration date and annual dues rate as stated.

4-We are interested in the GF Villas. Are they new enough to have resale options available? Or is there still benefit to getting in on the "ground floor"?

not a lot of resale options yet. not much benefit to buying direct, but if you have to stay at VGF, you are better off buying there. sometimes you have to pay to play.

(full disclosure: i was able to trade my OKW pts last year for VGF but i would not count on being able to do that on a regular basis.)

5-If we do invest, are the studios basically hotel rooms? It would just be two of us, but thinking the one-bedroom would be much nicer.

yes. and yes.

6-Last, are there minimums you must buy through resale? and is the minimum through Disney 160?

minimum for resale is 25 pts but more importantly, you are limited to what people are selling at the time.

minimum through disney has been 160 pts, but if you lean on your salesperson, you can probably get a 100 pt contract (or even 50 pts depending on how sales have been going). if for some reason, you decide you want an exactly 103 pt contract, disney can make that happen for a direct purchase.

 

[DizBub]

First time looking at DVC, have some very basic questions.

1-Resale vs straight from DVC. I know the resale points are lower priced, but what do you lose by not going with DVC?

2-Is the only advantage to buying at a certain resort the 7 vs the 11 month reservation option?

3-What are the best places to look for resale points?

4-We are interested in the GF Villas. Are they new enough to have resale options available? Or is there still benefit to getting in on the "ground floor"?

5-If we do invest, are the studios basically hotel rooms? It would just be two of us, but thinking the one-bedroom would be much nicer.

6-Last, are there minimums you must buy through resale? and is the minimum through Disney 160?

Again, I'm sure these have been answered before, but trying to put together some info for DW to look at tonight.

thanks,

#1-You cannot cruise on resale points and you cannot use resale points on the Disney Collection, Concierge Collection or Adventures by Disney. All bad use of points anyway as those options are very expensive.

#2-The 11 month booking window is the only real advantage to owning at you home resort. Some feel that owning at a resort with low(ish) dues is an advantage.

#3-There are a number of resale places to look for contracts, most notably The Timeshare Store and Fidelity. There are a few others, not sure they can be mentioned here.

#4-There are some VGF resales on the market already, not sure they would be worth it as closing costs could eat up the difference. Currently VGF is priced at $155 per point direct from Disney and the minimum appears to be 100 points for new buyers. There are closing costs but they are less than resale.

#5-Studios are much like a hotel room but with the sofa, kitchenette and the balcony they are much more versatile and homey. The 1 bedrooms are really nice but be aware that they cost nearly twice as many points as the studio.

#6-No minimums with resale. Just find a contract or contracts to fit your needs. Most will advise you to get smaller contracts in case your travel habits change. Small contracts are easier to sell if you need to.

 

[KS_Disney_Dad]

#7 Time -
How important is "time" to you? Do you have the time to wait for your ideal contract? Do you have time to wait for the process of buying that ideal contract?

We've just bought our 4th resale but the waiting for it to go on sale and the process of buying has kept us from getting the last 2 days for our Oct ressie we need. So we'll waitlist and hope.

If resale and direct were closer to one another, I could see some of the benefits pointing you to direct. But we just got 125 OKW @ $65 per - exactly HALF of what Disney is offering.

$8125 savings is worth my time!

 

[skier_pete]

#2 - the 7-month vs 11-month windows are the biggest thing, others have pointed out the highlights. However, understand that at some resorts and certain times of year, that 11-month window is crucial. In your example of wanting to be at the VGF, you simply CAN'T get in there at the 7-month window most times of year, because it is the newest most popular resort. Some resorts are quite easy to snag at 7-months, but that is not one of them.

#7 - The studios that I have seen are slightly nicer than a typical Disney hotel room, but not by a lot. Yes the 1-bedroom is nicer. You get a kitchen, you get a living room, you get a whirlpool tub, you get a laundry machine. Also remember it typically costs you twice as much (point wise) to rent. If those things are worth twice the money and you have the money to spend, go for it.

 

[Luv2PixieDust]

#2 - the 7-month vs 11-month windows are the biggest thing, others have pointed out the highlights. However, understand that at some resorts and certain times of year, that 11-month window is crucial. In your example of wanting to be at the VGF, you simply CAN'T get in there at the 7-month window most times of year, because it is the newest most popular resort. Some resorts are quite easy to snag at 7-months, but that is not one of them.

I completely agree. If we could all buy OKW or SSR for a lot less money but still get into VGF or BLT at the 7 month window then that is an approach that many would take. There is a reason you pay that premium. It does depend upon the time of year you go and the accommodations you want but you need to ask yourself if you stayed at your home resort each trip would you be disappointed?

 

[wildforgoofy]

#2 - the 7-month vs 11-month windows are the biggest thing, others have pointed out the highlights. However, understand that at some resorts and certain times of year, that 11-month window is crucial. In your example of wanting to be at the VGF, you simply CAN'T get in there at the 7-month window most times of year, because it is the newest most popular resort. Some resorts are quite easy to snag at 7-months, but that is not one of them. #7 - The studios that I have seen are slightly nicer than a typical Disney hotel room, but not by a lot. Yes the 1-bedroom is nicer. You get a kitchen, you get a living room, you get a whirlpool tub, you get a laundry machine. Also remember it typically costs you twice as much (point wise) to rent. If those things are worth twice the money and you have the money to spend, go for it.

I agree. I took the approach of buy where I wanted to stay and paid a slightly higher resale price at BLT because that's where I want to stay over the Holidays.
I hear ya on the double point total of a studio vs a 1 bedroom. I look at it as a doubling of sq. footage and not as an occupancy benefit because clearly it is not. Right now that extra sq. footage is a blessing to my family of 5, but it maxes out my yearly points with just 6-7 vacation days a year. I try not to compare it to the 13-14 days we'd have a year if we stayed in a studio because then I think, "Well that's a load of cr**."
Happy thoughts.... Happy thoughts... Extra room for 3 kids.... Right? Lol
Then in the future when they head off to college we can do the studios, but I've also heard it's hard to go backwards once you stay in a 1 bedroom. Looks like we're screwed either way.