DVC: To do it all again

[TLSnell1981]

Only thing is.... do you ever have enough points? Something tells me (add-onitis) that you never do.

I have a goal in mind and we are a little over half way there. We add a little each year and pay cash.

The true test will be what happens AFTER we achieve our goal.

 

[bluenosemickey]

Crisi:

"perhaps too many points"

I've never heard of such a thing!!! I could be persuaded to keep them well used and in shape every year.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Crisi:

"perhaps too many points"

I've never heard of such a thing!!! I could be persuaded to keep them well used and in shape every year.

We had too many points and were paying way too much in member fees. So we sold off 175 points and kept 325. Still plenty for one nice trip each year. When you add up the member fees you're paying every year and it makes a very large number, you kind of wonder if you couldn't use that money elsewhere. Thus, the end to add-on-itis.

 

[crisi]

We had too many points and were paying way too much in member fees. So we sold off 175 points and kept 325. Still plenty for one nice trip each year. When you add up the member fees you're paying every year and it makes a very large number, you kind of wonder if you couldn't use that money elsewhere. Thus, the end to add-on-itis.

In our case, I'm seeing the beginnings of what I knew would happen - a larger desire to travel places that aren't Disney with our kids. We've only done Disney about every other year - but even that right now is getting to be - dare I say it - too much in that in order to do it I'm making the decision NOT to take the kids to England and France or Washington DC or New York or Hawaii (all on the current list of places the kids want to go).

 

[bluenosemickey]

That was my thinking. Glad to hear it. You usually hear about everybody that is adding on. Not downsizing.

It is not the initial $ for the purchase, it has always been the membership fees that prevent me from buying more.

Just hard to know when enough is enough.

 

[Golden Rose]

The only things I really wish we'd done a little differently are that I do wish we'd bought a little sooner, and I wish we'd paid more attention to UY. We took three trips in the year and a half before we bought, which is, of course, the reason that we decided to go ahead and buy... but I wish we had put the money spent on the rooms toward our initial purchase.

We understand UY before we bought, but we'd been taking trips at such different times of the year that we couldn't figure out which was best for us. We took what we was first offered direct from Disney when we decided to purchase, then we added on with the same UY when we bought our resale contract. Now that we're starting to settle in and think about how we'll vacation as DVC owners, we realize that we'll be wanting to go during F & W at least every other year. This, of course, makes our December UY less desirable to us. It's not that big a deal - we often do a May trip, and we've been known to do a January or February trip - but we're sort of wishing we had something else for a UY.

 

[Tink&PirateMama]

i agree

 

[rlduvall]

It is not the initial $ for the purchase, it has always been the membership fees that prevent me from buying more.

Just hard to know when enough is enough.

I agree with you totally, which is what keeps me from continuing to add on . . . and I only have 100 points. Those annual dues really add up.

I'm really tempted to do a 50 point add-on with BLT since I'm in a perpetual state of borrowing, but realistically it's not very wise. My DH doesn't care about WDW, so it's usually just my DS10 and I; we always stay in a studio. And to be fair to DH, I always plan at least one family vacation a year for all of us -which gets expensive with a Disney trip every year. I also figure I only have a few more years of my son wanting to go with me before he becomes a young man and moves on to doing things with his friends and eventually his own family.

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

At this point, I wouldn't change anything. I bought at BWV(exactly where we want to be) in 2005 and added on 30 points within 6 months. Then added onto BLT (another place I want to be)as a founding member. (Just had to get that tile)

We have 360 points which is all right with us. I love Florida and will always try to come at least once a year, although we do go other places, Disney is just too magical to skip! Last year we spent 3 nights at the Beach in Maine and hated it!!!! The room was on the beach, but it was a dive!! Even the kids said "OMGosh!!! This isn't Disney

I also love VB! I find that we enjoy the resort and just being able to walk into Epcot just to stroll the countries and get dessert is priceless to us.

I know a lot of people are getting into other resorts at the 7 month window but I'm am also wondering how long that will last when the economy improves. MS told me that alot of people are just letting their points expire because they can't afford to travel to Disney at this time. And once BLT sells out it will be more like BCV-- yes you can get it, but its really hard, especially during the popular times. Don't forget we have this for another 33-50 years and a lot can change during that time.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I bought into OKW through resales back in 2000 at $59 a point, I paid for it outright, no financing. I have 210 points and though at times I wish I had a 100 more points, I'm at my capacity as far as how much maint. I can afford. We love to travel and keeping at 210 points affords me ability to vacation other parts of the US and abroad.

I've never had trouble getting into any resort at the 7 month mark, not now nor 9 nine years ago when the economy was booming. The 210 points have served my family well. Every 2-3 years or so I buy a points transfer to get a GV for our family reunions. I didn't extend the 15 years, I'll be 80 in 2042 and hopefully will have had my fill of Disney, if not it will be up to DS to pick up the baton.

I never could have afforded DVC if not for resales. I fell in love with OKW back in 1996 while using a friends membership and buying in is still one of the best decisions I've made for my family.

 

[missy2217]

My only DVC regret is that I bought my 250 BWV points in one contract. I wish I would have broke it up into 150 and 100. If I had done that, I would sell the 100 and buy 100 points at GCV. I love having the boardwalk view so I need the 11 month window for that so I would keep the 150 there.

I too would have broken up my 300 point contract into smaller contracts. Granted I bought a resale so I couldn't make any changes, but had I thought more about it I would have shopped around for smaller contracts.

 

[mac_tlc]

I don't know if we would do anything differently. We originally bought 230 points at OKW in 1992 @ $51/pt with free park passes for 7 years. We did two small addons shortly thereafter. Our DD was 5 and DS wasn't yet. Now at 22 & 15, they still look forward to WDW and we still go 2-3 times a year. After 16 years we just added on at BLT. Why, now that the kids are older? Now its more about larger rooms (1 Bdr vs. Studios) and a couple of "parents-only" trips a year. We have been fortunate enough to still see a lot of other places other than Disney, but OKW will always be "home".

mac_tlc

 

[Mouse511]

We bought SSR via resale.. and we are thrilled with our 150pts so far.. we do see another 50 points in the horizon.. but for now we are very happy with our decision.

Us too !! We bought 150 via resale from The TSS and are also contemplating a 50 point add on as well.

 

[silmarg]

I am thinking of buying 100-150 at SSR resale. Use it every 2nd or 3rd year. That would give us flexibility to pay cash for free dining or some other special promo when they have it... and use the DVC for special trips.

 

[dvc at last !]

Our only regret was not buying sooner. Took care of the orthodondist and college first. During that time we did research and traveled many times to WDW staying with friends, off property, value, moderate and deluxe resorts.
And saved for the membership. We purchased a resale at OKW ---
our favorite place and did 2 add-ons with Disney. We have had very good luck using the 7 month window at other resorts, but OKW is " Home ".

 

[RWSmith]

There are two things I'd have done differently. First I should of started with a Fall UY instead of Feb, we've sold most of our Feb points and started a new membership with an Aug UY. Second, I should have waited to purchase VGC, the deals they're having now are light years better than what we received as Founding Members.

We just got 200 points at VGC with two incentives:

200+ for $88

& using our Disney Visa for the down payment for $500 Disney Rewards Dollars.

That makes it $85.50 per point. I couldn't pass it up.

 

[ACDSNY]

We just got 200 points at VGC with two incentives:

200+ for $88

& using our Disney Visa for the down payment for $500 Disney Rewards Dollars.

That makes it $85.50 per point. I couldn't pass it up.

Congrats! Much better price than our $107 and 4 night cruise.

 

[Pardo714]

I would have bought sooner and I would have bought at BCV. That is by far our fav resort. I went for the bonus points and had not seen BCV or BWV. SSR is nice but we like that better.

 

[bwvBound]

Took us 6 years after our tour to reach a "BUY!" decision. Thanks to this community, we knew the importance of Use Year, small contracts and other variables. We are happy with our choices and wouldn't likely do much differently.

Thank you, DisBoard participants!
- bwvBound, SSR, Oct UY, 3 small'ish contracts

 

[rico974]

We just bought back in may 270 at BLT for 91 pp. Thanks to this board for the knowledge, I had them break the points in to 4 contracts 100, 70, 70, 30. I am very happy with price. I stayed 4 days in august at SSR which we liked and am currently at Vero Beach which I enjoy. We can't wait to stay at BLT and be close to the World. The only thing is I wish I could be a few more points but that will be down the road. I was orginally going to get 160,