DVC Guide I spoke with stated minimum was still 75 points to get member benefits. May need to clarify this is accurate for all resorts and not just some. It is true that I am overvaluing these vs. just going the resale route. I guess I am the person that, even though knows they are not getting the best deal, feels better knowing they are a full perks direct member, even if only part is long term.
Very good points to consider, thank you for sharing!
75 is the minimum to get benefits correct. However, technically the rule is 100 points are the minimum purchase for a new member (essentially you own no points--resale or direct--or you are getting a new UY). There are a few resorts where the minimum for a new member is below 100: OKW-50, HHI-75, SSR-50, VB-75. They have been known to get approval to go below 100 on the other resorts (typically only to 75) but it isn't normally something offered without some pushback.
Maybe it's one of those situations where it depends who you get as your guide and how push you are. I was very up front with the fact I was only looking for the range of 75-80 points. "Well we don't advertise it, but we can make it happen."
It does sound like you have thought through your purchase. Just a couple thoughts. First off you don't have to put off vacations just because of kids. Secondly you want to travel in September. That is a great time to go, but once kids come into the picture and start school or extracurricular activities your travel times might be limited to school vacations. this might factor in when choosing a UY. This also would increase your point needs if you have to travel at a different time of year. Really to know the points you need to buy i suggest looking at Davids DVC rental site - they have a great point cost calculator which gives you all the resorts and room categories at a glance. You can plug in different dates to see how the points cost changes.
I asked about 75 points at VGF and my guide did not question it at all. He even told me if say only 50 came in initially, I could buy that and then I could wait for the additional points to come in. I eventually decided to waitlist 110 points, but maybe it depends on the guide?
It seems you fit the profile, if you can pay cash I don't see any reason why not. I do think I'd buy a significant cushion of points and I'd definitely buy resale giving up the perks/discounts for this situation. I'd likely look at around 150 points roughly. Just do some more thought and research on home resort. I'd get the cheapest home resort that fits my needs, SSR if you want to try things over time. BLT should be the second cheapest long term because of the dues and even better if you take advantage of the standard view rooms.
Small numbers of points don't go very far at VGF. Especially when studios are so hard to book there because there are so few.
150-160 points at BLT (resale) would put me out of budget. However that same amount of points at SSR would still be within my budget and would put me in the 1 bedroom point contention for every other year use (7 month window).
Thank you! I am looking to start with just a few nights. I tend to split my trips between Epcot/MK resorts so I am just trying to cover that MK split for now with the intention to add-on resale in the future.
Then you might want to wait and buy later. I don't think the expiration many years down the road is a reasonable consideration but how you'll use it is. You may not be able to get a studio consistently and many find they go more than they thought they would. IMO buying retail now just enough then adding on later is a poor plan. It's unlikely in your situation that you'll get enough benefits from the discounts and perks to buy retail. But maybe 120 or so points instead. Whether SSR itself is a good choices depends on how you'll use it, it you want one resort most times you may want to buy that resort, if you want to just try things over time, esp if you're OK with SSR, SSR would be best.
