Has anyone ever added on before your first actual stay at your home resort?

[WoodysRoundup]

If so, how did you justify it? Thinking of doing this already. It must be a sickness.....

 

[jbrowna]

Yes, DW and I have added on twice (at AKV, and at OKW) and we still haven't stayed at our first "home resort" of SSR (although we do have a stay booked for next February). The AKV addon was a small addon to our first contract at SSR, but the OKW purchase was a new master contract so that we could have our grown kids on as full owners rather than "associates".

And you're right about it being a sickness -- here's how it goes:

Yes, indeed it is a sickness!

The first symptom is the euphoria of being a DVC owner.

But this is shortly followed by the obsession stage, where you may find yourself:
Frequenting internet forums dedicated to DVC.
Constantly pouring over point charts for the various DVC resorts.
Planning not only your next DVC vacation, but your next 3-4 vacations!

Then comes the depression stage, where you wonder why you didn't buy more points? And you begin to ask why things like work and school should get in the way of your Disney Vacation.

This moves into full-blown "addonitis". It may start as just a small addon contract at AKL or VWL but quickly may move into wanting to accumulate contracts at ALL the DVC resorts, so as not to miss out on any 11-month booking window!

At this point, there is no hope for you.

But then, there will be lots of joy!

So just go with it; have fun. And, Welcome Home!

 

[Inkmahm]

Yes. We bought points at BWV in early 2006. Our first stay just to try DVC out and to use a few points that were going to expire (we bought resale) was the last night of our April 2006 vacation. Before then we'd already waitlisted to buy points at VWL. We were at VWL in a studio when our guide called to tell us that our points for VWL were available to purchase.

I'd never stayed at or seen any DVC before we bought at BWV.

 

[dwelty]

We did this before ever having been to WDW if you can believe that. An add on incentive came out that we could just not pass up. I had been a Disneyland Cast member during college, and We have AP's to Disneyland, we knew the Disney Quality would be there, and we did see the model at DLR, so we were not worried.

 

[mamaprincess]

This is particularly applicable to SSR. It wasn't even built yet and we had never even gone to Disney yet. It's a long story but we were right on the money with that decision. Our first stay was in Congress Park with a DTD view when PI still had fireworks. We were in heaven. We have stayed at SSR everytime we have gone.

We have at least seen AKL and have always been in awe of it, but have never stayed there. We are excited to own there and look forward to trips there in the future.

 

[Judy WI]

Bought resale 100 pt at BCV. Had not even seen a room sample or been to the resort just liked Disney and thought this was the way to go. Were going to do the everyother year bank/borrow thing but got talking about it and added more before we went so we could go every year. And now also own at HHI and WLV.

 

[Merylj]

Bought SSR about march this year, then added on at AKV but just a small amount of points.
Very tempted again to do a small add on through Disney, the only thing holding me back is I can`t decide between BCV and BWV!
Our first stay is the 25th of this month!
You can put a price on the feelgood factor - its how much the points cost

 

[WoodysRoundup]

Yes, DW and I have added on twice (at AKV, and at OKW) and we still haven't stayed at our first "home resort" of SSR (although we do have a stay booked for next February). The AKV addon was a small addon to our first contract at SSR, but the OKW purchase was a new master contract so that we could have our grown kids on as full owners rather than "associates".

And you're right about it being a sickness -- here's how it goes:

Yes, indeed it is a sickness!

The first symptom is the euphoria of being a DVC owner.

But this is shortly followed by the obsession stage, where you may find yourself:
Frequenting internet forums dedicated to DVC.
Constantly pouring over point charts for the various DVC resorts.
Planning not only your next DVC vacation, but your next 3-4 vacations!

Then comes the depression stage, where you wonder why you didn't buy more points? And you begin to ask why things like work and school should get in the way of your Disney Vacation.

This moves into full-blown "addonitis". It may start as just a small addon contract at AKL or VWL but quickly may move into wanting to accumulate contracts at ALL the DVC resorts, so as not to miss out on any 11-month booking window!

At this point, there is no hope for you.

But then, there will be lots of joy!

So just go with it; have fun. And, Welcome Home!

HILARIOUS........and true!

To those who have added on small contracts at other resorts, how do you use those? I understand wanting the 11 mo. booking window. However, if it's a small contract, do you just waitlist for the rest of your stay or just take smaller trips? If we add on, not sure if we'd add on to our exisitng resort, or add on to another one.

 

[debbiedoo]

Bought SSR in building stages, unseen. Back in Oct 2003. The only thing I had to go by was drawings, and talk from here. It was interesting and scary at the same time. NO I do not regret my decisions.

Go for it

 

[Donald is #1]

I bought AKV in May and then added on in June. I hadn't even stayed at any DVC on points yet! I justified it by claiming to myself that the double developer's points incentive was just too good to pass up. Now that I have had my first DVC stay on points (OKW) I am already plotting about my next 2 add-ons.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We tried for a VWL resale, that was ROFR'd and we didn't want to wait any longer. They were selling VB, BWV and BCV as "new" at the time, and we opted for BWV for the SV points. As soon as we sent the papers in, we realized that we really did want some VWL points, and called our guide to add 50 points there. Those points were used for our first trip home in, and we never regretted, either decision!

Bobbi

 

[PSC]

One of my favorite things about these boards is that there is always somebody else who's "obesssion" is stronger than my own. Last year we bought a resale at BWV site unseen, and we were (ok, I was) thinking about adding more points before we had even stayed once at a DVC resort.

I'm proud to announce that I was able to withstand the pressure and did not add on until our first trip home.

Of course now we (ok, I) want just another 50 or so points and are waiting for just the right resale opportunity.

After that, I'm done.

 

[jemiaule]

Oh yeah.

We bought BCV (direct from Disney) & BWV (resale through TSS), but stayed our very first stay at OKW...and decided to add some OKW points.

It wasn't until September of this year that we finally stayed at BWV and then in October we finally stayed at BCV.

Oh yeah, and we also did an AKV add-on too this year and have yet to stay there. I wanted to for the trip this month but couldn't get in.

For the times we travel (and wanting/needing a 2 bedroom for the 6 of us) we have yet to be able to stay at VWL. I fear if we ever are able to get in there I will want points there too because I love the WL and know I will love VWL more.

The only place we have stayed that I have not wanted to do an add-on is SSR.

 

[disney54us]

We purchased in 97 in OKW when we were on our 2nd WDW trip, when we came home (not DVC home), my father thought we were nuts, after looking over all the info he had me purchase additional pts. in OKW (yes, I have OKW,VB And SSR but can't figure the banners so all I could get is SSR). that was before our first trip. since the first two contracts we have purchased 3 more. So no, your not crazy, just hope your first trip 'home' is the way it should be and not some of the mistakes/lack of customer service that we have been reading on the boards.

 

[WoodysRoundup]

To those who have added on small contracts at other resorts, how do you use those? I understand wanting the 11 mo. booking window. However, if it's a small contract, do you just waitlist for the rest of your stay or just take smaller trips? If we add on, not sure if we'd add on to our exisitng resort, or add on to another one.

Still wondering about this. If you do a small add on somewhere else (say 25-50 pts), how do you use those?? (referring to ques. above).

I'm finding all the responses on this thread very interesting.. Thanks!

 

[Donald is #1]

Still wondering about this. If you do a small add on somewhere else (say 25-50 pts), how do you use those?? (referring to ques. above).

I'm finding all the responses on this thread very interesting.. Thanks!

I believe that what you do is to bank/borrow points and only use your points every 2-3 years. So, let's say that you have a 50 point contract. Using banking, you would have 100 points every other year. Or using banking & borrowing, you would have 150 points every third year.

 

[RosiePosie35]

We added on before staying in a DVC resort. However; it wasn't an obsession. We bought the minimum on a Saturday at DtoD. Then spent the next few nights trying different scenerios using them with the point chart. We kept coming up short. So a few days later we added on.

 

[summergolf]

We bought 160 pts in Jan of this year. We bought a 65 pt addon months before our first trip home.

 

[disney54us]

We purchased in OKW and our first add on was in OKW. that gives us more then enough pts to book our vacation using the 11 mnth window. Our next was in VB when they were closing out and we purchased 70pts. Then we purchased in SSR and added on in SSR the following year. We use the VB pts last, to add to our length of stay, they are kinda just there, as extra pts not giving us 11 mnth window. I would suggest your first add on to be at your home resort especially if it is a smaller add on, then you will have a good amt. of pts. for vacations and the 11 mnth booking window. Down the line, you can start with another resort (because yes it does become addicting).

 

[wltdsnyfan]

Yes, we have added 2 times to SSR and are first time home will be in February 2008. Can not wait!