DVC worth it if mostly going during peak season?

[KAT4DISNEY]

Just out of curiosity, do points have a cash value that can be used on Disney merchandise or at restaurants or only for hotel/villa rooms or Disney cruises?

They are just for rooms.

And the trade value towards cruises is also not worth it. You can rent out the points, book a cruise on cash and have money left over. Cruising also takes quite a lot of points - many owners don't purchase enough to even book a cruise with points.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

Lots of wonderful advice here about where and how to buy..
I just wanted to add Your travel plans and times you like to go will change as you and your children get older. I wouldn’t worry to much about traveling during school time until your children are in the older grades..

I to worried about this when we bought but found schools can be more the understanding. Keepig your childs teacher informed can be very helpful when planning. they normally have a couple 3 or 4 day weekend for staff development you can plan around so they don’t miss to much. Not the mention thanksgiving and spring break (falls different depending on schools) and some even have a winter break!

Now that my kids are entering high school, we have had to get creative..
I went to teachers and talk with them about when best to take our family trip.. they had some great ideas and really helped us pick a week where there where no major test or projects do. I find If you can be flexible they really can be understanding and help you find a great time to go off peak season.

As the kids get into 11th and 12th grade there maybe a handful of years we may have a travel during peak seasons or just rent out our points and skip our family vacation. But it’s really a drop in the bucket on a 50 year contract.

Hope this helps

 

[limace]

And another thing to think about is when your school breaks are vs the point Charts For instance, my children’s summer break is mid June through Labor Day. We were able to go June 18-23 last year right before point chart increased.

 

[TexasChick123]

And another thing to think about is when your school breaks are vs the point Charts For instance, my children’s summer break is mid June through Labor Day. We were able to go June 18-23 last year right before point chart increased.

And my kids are out late May - mid-August. I'm only telling you this to see that different parts of the country have breaks at different times. Our spring break is always in March (usually the 2nd week of March). Many others have spring break the week of Easter. Our school district has the winter break for 3 weeks next year! 3 weeks!!! We have planned a trip because we will need to get out of the house. We may not live in the north, but it can get pretty cold here in the winter. Today is lovely though, FYI. High of 63 degrees and mostly sunny. Low tonight is 38 degrees. Sorry to rub it in to those of you dealing with brutally cold weather.