Help please for the DVC challenged *UPDATE Post #8*

[Mickey Fliers]

Help. My family and I visit WDW every year (sometimes twice/year) and are considering buying into DVC. Unfortunately, I seem to be somewhat "challenged" when it comes to understanding all of this stuff. I understand that you need to buy a certain amount of points, and that is the number of points you will reciever per year, but what is "use year"? Also, I need to understand the particulars of exactly how many points we will need. We are a family of five, so I think we are already going to have to shell out enough points for a two-bedroom. Someone, please, help me I am DVC challenged. BTW, everytime we go to WDW, we stay Deluxe (again family of 5 and my DH is spoiled, well okay, me too ) so we are already dishing out mega dollars to stay on site.

Another question, what is this current promotion?

Thanks. And please, use small words

 

[goofeydec]

i would go to DVC web site and request info on ownership it awnsered all tha questions i had and raised a few more witch my guide was happy to awnser. sounds like you are in the same boat i was in. i ended up going for it and cant be happier. good luck with whatever choice you make.

 

[aDVCwannabe]

http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/dvc.htm

i also sent you a private message

 

[dianeschlicht]

THere is a lot of information in the frequently asked questions at the top of this page for starters. If you are staying in Deluxes at least once a year, DVC is DEFINITELY going to be cost effective for you. That is the reason most of us purchased DVC! The good part is, the accommodations are BETTER than deluxe!

I reccomend you go to the Disney.com site and check out the DVC resort accommodations to get a good feel for each of the resorts. SSR is the one currently being sold by Disney, but the others are usually available for resales either through Disney, or from resellers like the one who sponsors this page. Also, allearsnet has the floor plans and LOTS of pictures of each of the DVC resorts on their site.

 

[spiceycat]

the latest sale ends today.

So unless you buy today - I would wait - they are generally a couple of months before they announced the next thing....

the smallest you can buy from DVC is 150 points.

that is enough (staying in OKW) for a 2-bedroom in the summer for 5 nights. (sun-thurs - leaving on fri)

staying at SSR it is enough for 4 nights (sun - wed) or (mon-thurs).

SSR would be your home resort.

you can get 15% off if you get a referral from a DVC member and do it today...

sorry for the rush - but this is a good deal.

at the top of the page is
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1571

there is also this site - to answer just about everything
http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacation-club/DVCpoints.shtml

it has a points chart....

 

[Disney Doll]

With the DVC program, you buy opints. You spend the points depending on the size of your unit, the time of year("season") you vacation, and the lengthof stay.

To determine the # of points you need, you need to determine when you genmerally vacation there and how long you generally stay. You have already determined the size of your unit. I believe that on this website is a points calculator where you could enter in some arbitrary dates, resorts, and lengths of stay and come up with an "idea" of how many points it would take to stay in a 2BR at the Beach Club Villas from February 10-17. The scenario I just presented would require 395 points.

Now, points can be played with a bit as well. When DH & I first bought, we could afford 200 points, so that's what we purchased. We did a little "creative" resorting, so that we could maximize our DVC points. What we would generally do is arrive on a Friday, stay Friday and Saturday night ina regular resort (ie-Carribbean Beach) and then move to the DVC resort Sunday. the per night point values for DVC resorts are much higher on the weekends, so you can conserve some points by not staying DVC on the weekends. We actually enjoyed that, because we still got to stay in our favorite non-DVC resorts and get a little "taste" of them, but the bulk of the time we were taking advantage of ouor DVC investment. It is a win/win for us to do it that way. Others may disagree, but moving between resorts isn't a huge issue as Disney's bell services does it for you if you so desire.

Use Year is the month in which you receive your full allotment of points every year. For example, our DVC contract has an October use Year. That means every October 1st we get 200 points. Those points either need to be "spent" or "banked" during the next 365 days. Spending them means using them for vacation. Banking them means that by certain dates you call the DVC and tell them you want to bank X amount of points into the next Use Year. You bank points when you don't think you will use them by the last day of the current use year.

For example, as I said, we have a 200 point contract. We have done most of our vacaitoning, and I have 19 points left. The last day I can use those 19 points is September 30, 2006. I am not going to be ussing them prio to September 30, 2006, so I have banked them into the next use year. That means that on October 1, 2006, I will have a total of 219 points...200 of the regular points + 19 banked points...to spend on vacation accomodations.

DH & I really looked at this program before we bought it. He is in real estate, and is anal about money, so he literally looked at it every which way from Sunday. Basically what it boils down to is that if you are going to vacation at WDW at least every other year, it makes sense to seriously consider the program, if it is something you can afford.

Best of luck with your decision.

 

[LisaS]

In addition to SSR, you can buy points at any of the "sold out" resorts (BCV, BWV, OKW, VWL, VB and HHI) either directly from Disney for $92/point or on the resale market. To get an idea of what's available via resale, click on the "DVC Resales" link at the top of this page. When you purchase directly from Disney, you must buy a minimum of 150 points but when you purchase a resale contract, the minimum does not apply.

Also, in case you aren't aware, in addition to the initial purchase of your points, you will pay dues in January every year. The dues vary from resort to resort and will increase about 4%-5% every year. Here are the dues for each resort for 2006:

BCV $4.48/pt
BWV $4.69/pt
HHI $4.34/pt
OKW $4.24/pt
SSR $3.98/pt
VB $5.27/pt
VB(sub) $4.12/pt
WLV $4.61/pt

 

[Mickey Fliers]

Thank you to all for the great info and all of the replies and PM's. I just wanted to update all of you on our decision. Unfortunately, I think we are going to pass on DVC for the time being. Several reasons:

1) My DH only wants to buy at VWL.
2) My DH is a Navy Pilot and there is no telling where we could be stationed next, including overseas. I would hate to have DVC and not be able to use it for awhile.
3) Our next two trips to WDW are for me and kids only, DH can't come.
4) Because of the size of unit we need, the points required is very high. Thus, it would take us 16 trips before DVC became cost effective (that includes dues). Although, having the big unit is certainly appealing.
5) In the next five years, we have other trips planned to the Bahamas, Hawaii and Italy. I just don't know how often we will continue to do WDW.

Thanks again for all of the quick replies and I wish you all well. If something changes, you will probably find me back here looking for more info.

Have a great day.