DVC newbie questions about purchasing

[Sofra33]

Hello everyone
I have been absorbing as much information as possible and so thankful to have found this site. My husband and I are looking to purchase our first DVC. At first we thought that we would buy direct but now are leaning towards resale. We are starting very conservative, around 150, we live in California and we may not be able to fly to Orlando every year.

Are there any members that live out of state that have made something like this work? Were you plan your vacations every two years? We thought about the possibility of using points at California but from some of my research it looks like it will be very difficult to find something at the 7 month mark. We mostly plan our vacations at the end of June or early November.

The resorts that we are currently thinking to purchase are either SSR and AK

Thank you for your help!
Roxana

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I live in Washington State and travel to Florida basically every year. It's not ideal, but I try to go in late summer when it's usually smoky here.

You could also do two years on and one or two off; if you time it right, you can get two trips on a single annual pass (presuming the option to purchase returns). For example, if you go the first week in August and then the following year the last week in July, you'd have two trips within a 12 month period.

They are starting to build a DVC tower at Disneyland Hotel. You might consider getting some points at WDW now and then also buy some points at the new tower once (if?) it becomes available. There's a thread about it around here somewhere. Edit: Here's the link.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

We’re in MA and DVC is our gateway drug to now going 2x a year. Before buying we thought every other year would be amazing. Then we added on during our welcome home visit in December. Booked an extra trip with the “extra” previous year’s points, and now I get twitchy thinking of only going once a year. However, airfare skyrocketing is a buzzkill, so now I think we may only go once a year but do 10 days to maximize APs (when they come back) and really get to relax. I would also like to do a split stay to try other resorts.

Your travel times seem safe to book, and 150 points is good if/when they take away borrowing restrictions. Right now you’re able to use the 150+75=225 for current year and borrowing. If you get the previous year’s points (depending on UY,) you’ll have 150+150+75=375 to work with that first booking, which is awesome for a longer stay.

 

[Deb & Bill]

June is terrible in Orlando. Very hot and very humid. Feels like 104. Early November is much nicer weather. And you get the end of Food & Wine.

 

[sndral]

I live in California and started out w/ 160 AKV resale points several years ago. We now have 3 contracts (2 at AKV, 1 at VGF) mostly because we’ve sized up in villas. We alternate our stays w/ AKV one year & VGF the next. We stay for 10-11 nights every year usually during early December. It works for us, I love visiting WDW during the holidays & enjoy having ‘extra’ days to unwind after the cross country flight. I enjoy DL, but would typically only stay 5 days or less, whereas WDW is so much larger I find it’s easy to spend 10-11 days there.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Resale is a great way to get your feet wet. We live in Hawaii and is very difficult for us to get to Orlando. We own VGC, CCV, and BLT. We typically go to Anaheim twice a year for a week at a time and a two-week trip to Orlando every other year. Wish we could go to FL every year but the flights could get pricey.

 

[crisi]

We have done every other year - more or less - for about twenty years with 150 points. It works fine. You just need to stay on top of banking and borrowing.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Hello everyone
I have been absorbing as much information as possible and so thankful to have found this site. My husband and I are looking to purchase our first DVC. At first we thought that we would buy direct but now are leaning towards resale. We are starting very conservative, around 150, we live in California and we may not be able to fly to Orlando every year.

Are there any members that live out of state that have made something like this work? Were you plan your vacations every two years? We thought about the possibility of using points at California but from some of my research it looks like it will be very difficult to find something at the 7 month mark. We mostly plan our vacations at the end of June or early November.

The resorts that we are currently thinking to purchase are either SSR and AK

Thank you for your help!
Roxana

Make sure you buy a June use year!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

If traveling in November be confident that you will be happy at your home resort, and that you are willing to book 11 months out. That can be a very hard season to get a studio at 7 months, with the two most likely being at AKV and SSR.

 

[chalee94]

If traveling in November be confident that you will be happy at your home resort, and that you are willing to book 11 months out. That can be a very hard season to get a studio at 7 months, with the two most likely being at AKV and SSR.

And when she says AKV she means savanna view and maybe standard view. Don't get excited by the value villas or club level possibilities - those will be long gone...

 

[HIRyeDVC]

And when she says AKV she means savanna view and maybe standard view. Don't get excited by the value villas or club level possibilities - those will be long gone...

you raise an interesting point. How does an AKV owner usually book value or club level rooms? Do owners walk the reservation? Has one ever booked a club level room for a week or more?

 

[chalee94]

walking is very common, yes. and that goes 10x for Fall Frenzy.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

walking is very common, yes. and that goes 10x for Fall Frenzy.

See, that's why I never considered AKV. Too much stress just to try to get value or Club. And the standard or savannah view rooms are always usually available at 7 months. Also, if EVERYONE is walking, then how does that work?

 

[Sandisw]

See, that's why I never considered AKV. Too much stress just to try to get value or Club. And the standard or savannah view rooms are always usually available at 7 months. Also, if EVERYONE is walking, then how does that work?

In the end, it doesn’t. It just means those willing to do it and start earlier are the lucky ones who get the room during those busy times.

But, if there are 10 rooms, than a maximum of 20 reservations can be booked on any given night.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

In the end, it doesn’t. It just means those willing to do it and start earlier are the lucky ones who get the room during those busy times.

But, if there are 10 rooms, than a maximum of 20 reservations can be booked on any given night.

Also able to do it, which can vary by UY and if they can cross seasons.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

In the end, it doesn’t. It just means those willing to do it and start earlier are the lucky ones who get the room during those busy times.

But, if there are 10 rooms, than a maximum of 20 reservations can be booked on any given night.

So it's kinda like CCV owners walking their studio reservations months before December. If every owner does it, how early is too early to start walking? January? That would be ridiculous.

 

[Sandisw]

So it's kinda like CCV owners walking their studio reservations months before December. If every owner does it, how early is too early to start walking? January? That would be ridiculous.

Years ago, people used to walk reservations a few weeks ahead of time. You now have people walking early December starting in September. I have walked...and will...for a few weeks...at times but if I had to do it for months, it would not be worth it.

My strategy has always been get more points! So, now I have enough RIV points to get PV during early December instead of having to get SV for that trip. We also have enough to do the 1 bedrooms so I may even end up getting SV when we do that size!

 

[Sofra33]

June is terrible in Orlando. Very hot and very humid. Feels like 104. Early November is much nicer weather. And you get the end of Food & Wine.

The first time we went to WDW we went in the Summer. It was hot, but the humidity is what killed us. We have gone back in October now and love the Food and Wine festival.

 

[Sofra33]

I live in California and started out w/ 160 AKV resale points several years ago. We now have 3 contracts (2 at AKV, 1 at VGF) mostly because we’ve sized up in villas. We alternate our stays w/ AKV one year & VGF the next. We stay for 10-11 nights every year usually during early December. It works for us, I love visiting WDW during the holidays & enjoy having ‘extra’ days to unwind after the cross country flight. I enjoy DL, but would typically only stay 5 days or less, whereas WDW is so much larger I find it’s easy to spend 10-11 days there.

Thank you for your reply! Have you ever been able to use your points at Grand California? or is that not even doable at 7 months?

 

[Sofra33]

We have done every other year - more or less - for about twenty years with 150 points. It works fine. You just need to stay on top of banking and borrowing.

Thank you!