Help, is DVC for our family?

[CarolMN]

Before you choose your home resort, be sure you understand the probability of booking a non-home resort at 7 months. It's going to depend on the season, the resort and villa sizes/views. Here are a few posts by one of our resident experts that will be of interest to you:

Booking at 11 months (during the Home Resort Priority Period)

Booking at 7 months (when a point is a point is a point)

Easiest "less expensive" villas to book at 7 months

Good luck with your research!

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

Before you choose your home resort, be sure you understand the probability of booking a non-home resort at 7 months. It's going to depend on the season, the resort and villa sizes/views. Here are a few posts by one of our resident experts that will be of interest to you:

Booking at 11 months (during the Home Resort Priority Period)

Booking at 7 months (when a point is a point is a point)

Easiest "less expensive" villas to book at 7 months

Good luck with your research!

THank you! This was a very interesting read. So if we continue to go during the VERY last week of august we should have some choices (And it looks like into much of Sept, excluding the end).

 

[com_op_2000]

THank you! This was a very interesting read. So if we continue to go during the VERY last week of august we should have some choices (And it looks like into much of Sept, excluding the end).

Not now.
EPCOT F&W this year starts on Aug 31st. That means the last week of Aug and ALL of Sept will start to get more busy.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

THank you! This was a very interesting read. So if we continue to go during the VERY last week of august we should have some choices (And it looks like into much of Sept, excluding the end).

The expansion of Food & Wine to cover all of September may have impact. Hard to say as yet as this is the first year.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Not now.
EPCOT F&W this year starts on Aug 31st. That means the last week of Aug and ALL of Sept will start to get more busy.

JINX

 

[Deb & Bill]

Checkout the past couple of posts in the rofr thread re: beach club and buying a split of direct and resale. Also that at bc you can have 5 in a 1bd. Downside is the expiration in 2042

You can have five of any age at the BCV one bedroom, but you won't have a bed for the fifth person. The one bedroom does not have a sleeper chair and only the studio has the murphy bed.

 

[disneynutz]

Everything changes, Disney changes, now they are adding events to increase the crowds all year long. DVC gets new management and it changes, they were slow to rehab the rooms and this year almost every resort is having work done at the same time plus they added additional restrictions for resale buyers.

About the only guarantee is your ability to book your home resort at 11 months.

 

[CarolMN]

Not now.
EPCOT F&W this year starts on Aug 31st. That means the last week of Aug and ALL of Sept will start to get more busy.

That would surprise me (if you mean more difficult to get a DVC reservation at 7 months). August & September are very hot and humid (and those months are still very nice in the northern parts of the US). That hot, humid weather isn't going to entice me to eat and drink alcohol, and I suspect many of the F&W regulars will continue to prefer October & November visits. Perhaps the August dates will entice more locals to visit on the weekends, but I honestly do not think the F&W expansion is going to make all that much difference for DVC reservations.

FWIW, there is still full availability for BCV studios & BWV Pool/Garden studios for all of August & September so I would expect that there will be at lest some availability for studios at those resorts at 7 months. We'll see, I guess.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

That would surprise me (if you mean more difficult to get a DVC reservation at 7 months). August & September are very hot and humid (and those months are still very nice in the northern parts of the US). That hot, humid weather isn't going to entice me to eat and drink alcohol, and I suspect many of the F&W regulars will continue to prefer October & November visits. Perhaps the August dates will entice more locals to visit on the weekends, but I honestly do not think the F&W expansion is going to make all that much difference for DVC reservations.

FWIW, there is still full availability for BCV studios & BWV Pool/Garden studios for all of August & September so I would expect that there will be at lest some availability for studios at those resorts at 7 months. We'll see, I guess.

Thats what I was thinking, we usually do that last week of August bc we go back to school right after labor day, but it is really hot, humid, and stormy, I think offering FW is moreso get the locals in on the weekends.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

And another question, the cast member we are currently dealing with is only there Mon-Thurs so I feel funny calling another CM and asking.
Our offer price for 160 points is 25,650.
With 10 years interest we would be paying 39,000 (eeeeek!)
If its paid off in 1 year how much would we pay?
Our incentive to buy now is if we buy within the next few weeks we are getting 160 extra points for $81 (Dec 2016s monthly due amount). Is this something they do often?

And if we continue to have 20 points left over after each vacation, do they always roll? Will we ever lose unused points?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Our incentive to buy now is if we buy within the next few weeks we are getting 160 extra points for $81 (Dec 2016s monthly due amount). Is this something they do often?

That's not an incentive. Those are points you're legally entitled to.

 

[LauraLea]

That's not an incentive. Those are points you're legally entitled to.

and I am not sure that a Dec UY is the best if you want to travel August/September.

Laura

 

[com_op_2000]

That would surprise me (if you mean more difficult to get a DVC reservation at 7 months). August & September are very hot and humid (and those months are still very nice in the northern parts of the US). That hot, humid weather isn't going to entice me to eat and drink alcohol, and I suspect many of the F&W regulars will continue to prefer October & November visits. Perhaps the August dates will entice more locals to visit on the weekends, but I honestly do not think the F&W expansion is going to make all that much difference for DVC reservations.

FWIW, there is still full availability for BCV studios & BWV Pool/Garden studios for all of August & September so I would expect that there will be at lest some availability for studios at those resorts at 7 months. We'll see, I guess.

By pushing F&W into Aug, Disney is now including the Labor Day weekend into the fall holidays. I have been able to transfer into BCV Labor Day the last three years at 7 months without any trouble. Now I believe this year and in future years transferring to BCV over that weekend will not be possible.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

And another question, the cast member we are currently dealing with is only there Mon-Thurs so I feel funny calling another CM and asking.
Our offer price for 160 points is 25,650.
With 10 years interest we would be paying 39,000 (eeeeek!)
If its paid off in 1 year how much would we pay?
Our incentive to buy now is if we buy within the next few weeks we are getting 160 extra points for $81 (Dec 2016s monthly due amount). Is this something they do often?

And if we continue to have 20 points left over after each vacation, do they always roll? Will we ever lose unused points?

First, I don't feel it's been made clear, but BCV studios now sleep 5 so technically you would fit in them if that is the location you really want.

And as your kids grow if you decide you wanted to stay in larger accommodations BCV is a DVC that has them - 5 can be booked in a 1BR there but you would need to bring an airbed or something for the 5th and providing the bedding and towels for them. Or, you'd have the option of a 2BR. Poly only has studios and the expensive Bungalows. The times you are looking at going are heading into and include the busiest DVC times. As mentioned, so far, late Aug/early Sept so far are not but Disney has been doing a great job at building the slow times so it's hard to predict the future.

And hold on with the direct purchase for the so called "incentive" which it is not - that is just the timeshare salesperson's gimmick line. December UY is not the UY you want for the times you outlined you travel. And.....those were not extra points - actually you missed the window to get last years points by 3 days now, but that's beside the points because again, December is not the UY for you. But, when you buy direct you always get the current years points. Up thru Nov 30 the current points for a Dec UY were 2015 points. Now it would be 2016 points. The 2016 points may sound like you're getting more but if you were to buy a Feb or Mar UY direct right now you would also get 2016 points.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Another thought - personally I'm not getting the feeling that PVB is necessarily the place for you. I think you're leaning towards it because of the DVC spiel about the extra points (not exactly a lie, but darn close if you understand how it works) and perhaps the belief that it is the only studio that holds 5.

Poly is also very, very point intensive compared to most of the other resorts (as is VGF). You could purchase less for the other resorts for your week stay.

At this time DVC studios that can be booked with 5 are: VWL, BWV, BCV, VGF and PVB. That's a lot of options. And the first 3, though shorter contracts, are also much less expensive to purchase resale. I do not recommend financing for a timeshare purchase - if you think you could pay off the contract in a year then I'd say to just wait and save for that year and then pay cash, or perhaps if you consider resale you can already do that and pay cash. That year could also give you a chance to go and either rent points to stay at or at least visit more of the resorts as you've expressed you have limited experience with the Deluxe resorts. And if you already think you'll be taking a year off it really isn't a bad time to take the opportunity to explore DVC more (and look at resale to save you thousands of dollars)

The potential seems to be there for your family to benefit from DVC since you do plan to go every year and do like the Deluxe you've stayed at. But, on the other hand, if you actually also like the moderates or values then it may not be a direction to take.

 

[supersnoop]

And another question, the cast member we are currently dealing with is only there Mon-Thurs so I feel funny calling another CM and asking.
Our offer price for 160 points is 25,650.
With 10 years interest we would be paying 39,000 (eeeeek!)
If its paid off in 1 year how much would we pay?
Our incentive to buy now is if we buy within the next few weeks we are getting 160 extra points for $81 (Dec 2016s monthly due amount). Is this something they do often?

And if we continue to have 20 points left over after each vacation, do they always roll? Will we ever lose unused points?

Sounds like they're charging about 5.5% interest. Can you get a better loan elsewhere? Once you pay interest, the value of purchasing DVC diminishes greatly. You should be able to find a simple loan calculator to see how much interest you'd pay for a shorter term.

Points can only be banked one time. If you're pushing 20 points forward this year, then you'll use those points first and bank 40 points. And the next year you'd bank 60 points. And eventually you'd hit a wall and either lose some points for book a few extra days.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

To build on PVB being very point intensive vs other resorts, for example, for one week starting the end of Aug crossing over into Sept comparing PVB standard studio as the base to rooms that have 5 sleeping spaces:

PVB standard view studio: 143 points
PVB lakeview studio: 173 points (+30 to PVB standard view)
VWL studio: 112 points (-31 to PVB standard view)
BWV standard studio: 96 points (-47 points to PVB standard view)
BWV preferred studio: 117 points (-26 points to PVB standard view)
BCV studio: 112 points (-31 points to PVB standard view)
VGF - consider it identical to PVB
AKV 1BR standard view: 192 points (+49 to PVB standard view and gives you a 1BR and 2 full bathrooms at Kidani)
OKW 1BR: 187 points (+44 to PVB standard view and gives you a very large 1BR)

It's just a look at that one time but the order of resorts in the point requirements will remain consistent thru out the year. Because of these differences it can potentially make a big difference in where you purchase. Considering MF's at each resort can matter too. But just buying what DVC is pushing at you can potentially cost you way more than necessary if it isn't where you intend to stay the majority of the time.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Sounds like they're charging about 5.5% interest. .

Never heard of DVC being less than double digits on the interest.

 

[supersnoop]

Never heard of DVC being less than double digits on the interest.

I was surprised, as well. I assumed the OP's "$39,000" figure was the total principal plus interest. If it's actually just the interest (payments totaling almost $65,000), then it's about a 15% interest rate.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

That sounds more usual.

It's why financing DVC is such a terrible idea. The interest rates are the kind of rate that should only be paid for life-and-death scenarios, organ transplants, whatever. Not a timeshare.