DVC Points

[Jakesmom1]

Can someone explain to me exactly what they are, how does it work to rent them or buy them?

Guess dumb question but I am very curious.

Thanks

 

[WDW LOVR]

Probably belongs on the DVC board, but in a nut shell, DVC assigns point values to the type of room (studio, 1 br, 2 br etc) and time of year (value, peak etc). Rooms are also more points on Fri and Sat nights vs. Sun-Thurs nights.

You then use your points to reserve a room. The more points you have the more "expensive" rooms you can reserve.

That's it in a nut shell.

 

[4greatboys]

You can buy DVC points and become a DVC member and use your points yearly or however you vacation. You can also rent points from members for a DVC stay.
Depending on what resort you chose and what type of room, Studio, 1 bdrm, 2 bdrm or Grand villa that determines how many points you will need for your stay--also what DVC "season" it is and if its a Sun-Th stay or Fri/Sat.
We are using 49 points for a studio at OKW in June for 3 nights and we are using 170 pts for a BCV 5 day stay in Oct.

 

[aubriee]

Go to the DVC Board and check out the points calculator. Put in your dates and the resort you wish to stay at and it will tell you the number of points you will need. Most people will use DVC points for Sun-Thur nights, then either pay cash or make a ressie through CRO for a cheaper resort for Fri-Sat nights, since those points will cost you almost double. Once you know how many points you need, go to the rent/trade boards and you can either post what you need or else answer someone's post who has points to rent. Points usually run $9.00-$12.00/point. OKW takes the fewest points, by the way.

I'm renting a BW villa studio, preferred water/pool view for May 15-20th and it costs 65 points for those five nights (13 points/night). I'll be arriving May 13th and spending two nights at POP before I move to BWV, then will be going back to POP for two more nights May 20th-May 22nd.

 

[Disney Doll]

The DVC is Disney's version of a timeshare. Instead of buying a block of time, you buy points, and then you spend the points based on the time of year, the length of stay, and the unit size you need. You make a one-time purchase of "X" number of points, and then each year during a specific month (referred to as a "Use Year") you get that amount of points again to spend.

For example, we have a 200 point contract with an October Use Year. When we bought, back in 1997, the cost per point was $62.50, for a total cost of $12,500.00 to purchase those points. Every October, we get 200 points to spend, between Ocotber 1 of the current year and September 30 of the next year. Unused points can also be banked for one year, so if I didn't use all my points hat I received on October 1, 2004, instead of losing them on Ocotber 1, 2005, I could bank them into the 2005 use Year, and therefore I wouldn't lose them until September 30, 2006. You can also borrow points from an upcoming year. What this means for us, with a 200 point contract, is that we have the potential to have 600 points at our disposal if we banked last year's points, use this year's points, and borrow next year's points.

As far as how to spend the points...the best use of the is at DVC properties..you get the most "bang for your buck". However, you can also use them at any WDW hotel, whether it is DVC or not. But the point cost is higher to do this. You can also trade them out to go to other timeshares...I think DVC trades with II and the Concierge Collection if I am not mistaken. You can also use points for the Disney Cruise, but it is also considered a trade. There are also some fees for trading, but I am not too well-versed in those. We tend to use our points at Disney in the DVC properties because once you start staying outside of the DVC resorts, the points you spend for other places go up considerably.

There are four unit sizes, although not all the resorts have the Grand Villa. The Grand Villa is the largest unit. It has a full kitchen, dining room, living room, laundry room, 4 baths, a living room, a master bedroom with jacuzzi tub, 2 other bedrooms each with a private bath also, and a 4th bathroom for the "common" area. It can sleep up to 12 people...king size bed in the MBR, 1 BR with 2 queens, 1 BR with 2 doubles, and a queen size pull-out. It also has a pack & play if you have a little one, which techincally brings it up to 13, but the 13th has to be able to sleep in a pack & play. The 2BR unit has a full kitchen, a laundry room, 2 full baths, a "great room" combo living room/dining area/kitchen. The MBR has a king size bed, the great room has a queen size pull-out couch, the 2nd bedroom has 2 queens or one queen and one queen size pull-out. It sleeps 8...9 with a pack & play for a little one.

The 1BR has the all the amenities of the 2BR without the 2nd BR. It sleeps 4...5 if you use the pack & play.

The studio is more like a regular hotel room with a kitchenette that has a small fridge(dorm size), a sink, microwave, toaster, coffee maker. No laundry in your room. Sleeps 4...5 with the pack & play.

I would like to add that out of the many pruchases my DH and I have made throughout the years, we consider the DVC second only to money spent on our wedding, our home, and our dog. It is among the best things we have ever done. We enjoy the resorts, we enjoy the service.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Very well done, Disney Doll! I would add that if you are planning to purchase DVC, you need to do plenty of research here to learn about the different resorts and how it works. Start by reading the frequently asked questions at the top of this board. If you are only looking to rent points from a member, it will cost you approximately $10-$12 per point. You can learn how many points you would need by checking the points calculator at the top of this forum. Then go over to the DIS rent trade board and state what you are looking for in a rental.

 

[Eeyore2003]

Everything has certainly been explained perfectly, but I would like to add that for the price the deal is outstanding. We rented points in July for a studio in OKW and absolutely loved it. We rented points in December for a one bedroom at Boardwalk Villas. It was absolutely awesome to have the king bed, full kitchen, LR AND JACUZZI and WASHER/DRYER. For LESS than the price of a regular room at the Boardwalk Inn. I learned the most reading the DVC Board, and I would recommend also reading the top sticky thread about being careful. We are considering buying in, but maybe after the two kids are through college!!!.