Help - trying to decide on DVC - questions galore

[cjsmom5]

We went to the DVC presentation last week while at WDW. The new AKL studios, 1-bdroom and 2-bdroom are gorgeous. We are still trying to decide whether to buy or not. We have a couple concerns and questions ... am hoping to gain some insight.

1) As DVC grows and more properties are introduced (possibly Contemporary - rumor has it/AKL/Disneyland Grand Californian, etc.) will it become harder to get a reservation than it currently is? The vastness of Saratoga Springs with the number of DVC members makes me think that perhaps the demand for rooms will increase rapidly making it harder to get ressies at resorts others than your home resort. Your thoughts?

2) If you buy a contract that only has 160 points and then a year later decide that you really need another 160 points can you add those to your contract - purchase those points - and then pay the increased yearly dues?

3) We are currently looking at the Boardwalk Villas and the Beach Club Villas on the resale market. It seems as if there are more opportunities at the Boardwalk Villas vs. the Beach Club. Is there a reason for this? We have stayed at the YC/BC so are very familiar with that resort but have never been over to the Boardwalk except to see the performers in the evening on the Boardwalk.

4) I know that no one can predict, but, from the discussions on the board how popular is the AKL going to be ... do you think? Might we be smarter to have that be our home? It is hard to tell since they have not built the resort. Also, I am concerned about the annual dues increasing with the cost to maintain the savannah, etc. being calculated into those ... I have heard that the AKL will be 80% DVC and only 20% Disney controlled rooms (so to say) which means that the DVC members would shoulder those costs. Perhaps I am wrong?

I am really "spinning" trying to figure all this out. Typically we go to WDW 2 times a year and stay from 4-9 days each trip. We used to stay at the mods but have graduated to the deluxes resorts primarily due to the queen beds plus our tastes have evolved. It all gets so confusing when one begins to look at all the options, etc. By the way we would be considered WDW veterans having been 21 times since 1993.

Any help, ideas and/or suggestions?

 

[DeeCee735]

<2) If you buy a contract that only has 160 points and then a year later decide that you really need another 160 points can you add those to your contract - purchase those points - and then pay the increased yearly dues?>

You can add on as little as 25 points (paid upfront), 50 points or higher (can finance). You will get a new contract with the amount of points you are adding on, they don't add them to your current contract, and it will always be the same use year. It also depends on availability of points for sale in your use year. We own at BW and added on small contracts twice - a couple of years apart. BW is a sold out resort - I waited and lurked on the resale boards, but I wanted a small amount of points, which wasn't available resale at the time. We went straight through Disney - the first add on was available in my use year right away, but the second time I had to wait a couple of months for points to become available in my use year. It was very very easy to add on through Disney, with points available right away (many resale contracts come "stripped down" whereby points aren't available until start of next use year).

As far as popularity of AKV, IMHO I think it will be/is very popular, making it advantageous to those who really want to stay there most of their vacations to purchase there. The recommendations you'll see on these boards alot are to buy where you want to stay the most, so that you get the 11 month window for booking, especially if you travel at the most popular times of year.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Figment2]

You have to remember the 11 mos & 7 mos booking windows. As a BWV owner, I can make my reservations at 11 mos at BWV and compete with only BWV owners. At 7 mos., anyone can try. I think as DVC expands it may force people to plan their vacations a bit farther out than they may be used to. It may also become important to call right at your 7 mos window.

I'm of the belief that you "buy where you want to stay" which is why I have Boardwalk as my home. If you either cannot or will not make reservations at 11 mos and/or you don't care where you stay, then it doesn't matter where you buy. I wouldn't buy AKV if you don't plan on staying there.

Getting a reservation at less than 7 mos depends a lot on when you want to travel. My friends and I love the last week of October and stay at BWV or OKW (their points). We've never had problems getting our reservations but then we book at 11 mos. About 4 mos. ago, my friends' extended family decided they wanted to go the same time and they are staying at SSR (and are waitlisted for BWV). The waitlist isn't looking good but they'll be happy at SSR. Same friends & I are also going for a long weekend in Dec. (again at BWV). Her kids decided they may want to come along so she called to see what was available (11/30 -12/4). There were no studios at any DVC resort; a couple of 1BR and 2BR but they would have to move every single night and I think there was at least one night when nothing was available. She wasn't surprised since we're talking less than 2 mos out.

Personally I think you don't see BCV resales as they are snapped up immediately. Beach club and Boardwalk rooms are comparable. A lot of people buy into BCV because of stormalong bay (the pool).

Bottom line - where would you be happy staying if you couldn't change the reservation at 7 mos? That's where I would buy.

Cyn

 

[Pakey]

We love our DVC so I'm very biased towards it. First of all, I think that you should buy at the resort you want to stay at the most. You have the advantage of booking at 11 months for your home resort so you should pick that resort first. We own at 2 resorts because DH and I prefer Beach Club but our adult children prefer to be close to DTD so we own at Saratoga and use those points for the trips where the entire family goes.

We bought our first sale through Disney and then did the add on for the second resort through Disney also. We are currently doing a third add on for additional points through resale. Since we pay cash for ours, the advantage of going through resale was paying a little less for the points. If you go through resale for an add-on, you have to choose a resale that has the same Use Month as your original contract or you will have two contracts with different Use Months. I have read that many people don't mind that but I didn't want it so I had to find a resale that had the same use month which limited the options.

BCV vs BWV. The reason less is offered via resale on Beach Club is because it's a smaller resort and there are less owners there. I don't think it's any harder to get one over the other, percentage wise. It seems that equal numbers of people like BWV as BCV.

If I didn't already own so many points, I would be buying at AKL now as I love the resort and the location. I think AKL will be just as popular as the others. And if location didn't come into play for us, we would probably own at OKW because that setting and the sizes of those villas is amazing. We loved our stay there over any others.

What I'm trying to say is that each place offers something unique and special. It's an individual choice. Getting into non-home resorts is already a challenge, depending on the time of year you are planning to go. But you can book at your home resort and then waitlist for a different resort. Most people have success doing this. Still, I do not know if I would buy into a resort that I would not be happy staying at each time.

 

[rinkwide]

...how popular is the AKL going to be do you think?...

No one knows for sure but the Animal Kingdom Lodge is generally Disney's lowest priced and easiest deluxe resort to book.

 

[salmoneous]

4) I know that no one can predict, but, from the discussions on the board how popular is the AKL going to be ... do you think? Might we be smarter to have that be our home? It is hard to tell since they have not built the resort. Also, I am concerned about the annual dues increasing with the cost to maintain the savannah, etc. being calculated into those .

As you say, no one can predict. But here are my guesses...

AKL is usually the last deluxe resort to sell out, and AKV will be pretty large. Based on those two things, I think it won't be too hard to get a reservation there at the 7-month mark, except during the busiest seasons.

As for annual dues, today they are about $0.50/point more than I would expect for a "vanilla" resort. That's probably for the savanna and extra entertainment/education cast members they have. I don't see any reason for those costs to rise noticeably faster than other costs. So owners should expect to pay a little bit more each year, but I don't see the fees exploding.

 

[rsinj]

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[cjsmom5]

Thanks everyone for the answers so far. Sometimes I think I make things much more difficult than they need to be. I am still confused about a couple things and perhaps all you experts can help.

Thanks everyone for all the info but I am not sure I understand about Use Month and use year and how that works. Can you or someone else help clear that up for me? Also, when you talk about "add-on" is that if we were to say have 160 points at BCV and then decide we wanted to add on another 160 points. Would we buy a contract through Disney for those points? And, would it just give us then 320 points a year for the future with us paying the dues on all those points? Or would you actually have two contracts - one for 160 points and a second one for 160 points? Boy is my head spinning ... I probably sound totally out of it. Thanks everyone for your patience.

My thinking is that right now we could more affordably buy something on the resale market for BCV with points around 160 rather than diving in all at once with 300 or more points. Then in a couple years add on another 160 points when we are sure we will use it, etc. Is my thinking flawed here?

Sorry to sound so confused but I am one of those individuals who has to really know what I am doing before doing it. I get all the points stuff and how you use them but trying to figure out resale vs buying from Disney is getting confusing. We have contacted the sponsor of this board and are looking at their resales but am wondering if there are other reputable "agencies" handling DVC resales. If so, can you PM me with that info - if that is okay with the boards????? I don't want to break any rules.

Finally, how to you find "resales" in terms of points? Especially if looking to buy smaller chunks of points???? And, how would you contact Disney about buying a "resale" or "extra points?" Would we go through the same agent we met with when we were at WDW this last trip?

In discussions tonight my DH said he really loves AKL but when we were there this trip it really seemed a long way out. And, he is concerned that as the lodge builds up with the new DVC building that the bus transportation will get really crowded thus making having only busses as a mode a transportation a minus .... right now we are leaning towards the BCV although there are some attractive resales at the Boardwalk. Urghhhhh...and we really like the Wilderness Lodge as we have been there twice in the last 9 months for our stay. The bunkbeds, which none of the DVC's will have except AKL are a big hit with my DS -- but as he grows I'm sure he will grow out of that, also.

I am so glad that there is a reputable place to go with all my questions and a place that has so many people wanting to help .... a big thanks to all of you!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Thanks everyone for the answers so far. Sometimes I think I make things much more difficult than they need to be. I am still confused about a couple things and perhaps all you experts can help.

Thanks everyone for all the info but I am not sure I understand about Use Month and use year and how that works. Can you or someone else help clear that up for me? Also, when you talk about "add-on" is that if we were to say have 160 points at BCV and then decide we wanted to add on another 160 points. Would we buy a contract through Disney for those points? And, would it just give us then 320 points a year for the future with us paying the dues on all those points? Or would you actually have two contracts - one for 160 points and a second one for 160 points? Boy is my head spinning ... I probably sound totally out of it. Thanks everyone for your patience.

My thinking is that right now we could more affordably buy something on the resale market for BCV with points around 160 rather than diving in all at once with 300 or more points. Then in a couple years add on another 160 points when we are sure we will use it, etc. Is my thinking flawed here?

Sorry to sound so confused but I am one of those individuals who has to really know what I am doing before doing it. I get all the points stuff and how you use them but trying to figure out resale vs buying from Disney is getting confusing. We have contacted the sponsor of this board and are looking at their resales but am wondering if there are other reputable "agencies" handling DVC resales. If so, can you PM me with that info - if that is okay with the boards????? I don't want to break any rules.

Finally, how to you find "resales" in terms of points? Especially if looking to buy smaller chunks of points???? And, how would you contact Disney about buying a "resale" or "extra points?" Would we go through the same agent we met with when we were at WDW this last trip?

In discussions tonight my DH said he really loves AKL but when we were there this trip it really seemed a long way out. And, he is concerned that as the lodge builds up with the new DVC building that the bus transportation will get really crowded thus making having only busses as a mode a transportation a minus .... right now we are leaning towards the BCV although there are some attractive resales at the Boardwalk. Urghhhhh...and we really like the Wilderness Lodge as we have been there twice in the last 9 months for our stay. The bunkbeds, which none of the DVC's will have except AKL are a big hit with my DS -- but as he grows I'm sure he will grow out of that, also.

I am so glad that there is a reputable place to go with all my questions and a place that has so many people wanting to help .... a big thanks to all of you!

There are other resale companies out there. Since the TTS is a sponsor here, you can't post others here and this is logical. Do a search on DVC resales and you should find others. That said, TTS is a reputable company with a larger source of resale contracts. I'm in the process of selling two through them and a third is listed with them.

If you purchase a "sold-out" resort through Disney, you will pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 a point. But your sale will be closed more quickly and you'll have quicker access to your points. A resale through a reseller usually takes 30-60 days to complete. If you purchase a sold out resort from Disney, you will still be required to purchase 160 points as a minimum. If you go resale, you can purchase any size contract that is offered for sale. Disney might decide to buy it out from under you, though, since they have Right of First Refusal. Also, you can't buy part of a contract. Only Disney can split up contracts.

There won't be any bunk beds at AKV. But there will still be some at AKL, which will not be available using points.

By the way - UY/UM is the same thing. You get your new points each year at the beginning of the month of your contract. So if you purchase a Sept contract, you'll get your new points every Sept 1 and the old points will need to be used or banked prior to Sept 1 (banking deadlines have recently been changed to 100% at 8 months after the start of your year). It doesn't have anything at all to do with when you make your reservations. You just have to have current year points (either the current year points, borrowed points that are now current year points or banked points that are now current year points) to make the reservation.

 

[Anal Annie]

Also, when you talk about "add-on" is that if we were to say have 160 points at BCV and then decide we wanted to add on another 160 points. Would we buy a contract through Disney for those points? And, would it just give us then 320 points a year for the future with us paying the dues on all those points? Or would you actually have two contracts - one for 160 points and a second one for 160 points? Boy is my head spinning ... I probably sound totally out of it. Thanks everyone for your patience.

My thinking is that right now we could more affordably buy something on the resale market for BCV with points around 160 rather than diving in all at once with 300 or more points. Then in a couple years add on another 160 points when we are sure we will use it, etc. Is my thinking flawed here?

We are relatively new DVC owners so I don't bring the "experience" to this discussion and I'm not a good one to explain the "Use Year" thing but here's our thinking. We bought last Dec. at SSR because they were having a great "sale" thru Disney with a "Friends and Family" promotion. It was enough savings per point that we could buy 25 more points than we WOULD HAVE bought otherwise. AKV had just been announced, but it was not for sale yet nor had the date been announced for when it would go on sale. Our guide told us it would be significantly higher per point. It is our fav. resort, but it was going to be like $15 more per point. Meanwhile, we want to try out all of the DVC resorts over the years so that each vacation is different in some respect from the last vacation AND we want to "trade out" to other destinations every so often and use our membership like a real timeshare. So our "home resort" was not as important to us when deciding where to purchase. But the price WAS important as we wanted to start out with as many points as possible.

Even with our initial purchase, we split it into 2 contracts. The reason we did this was in case one day we decided we had a few TOO MANY points and we just want to sell off a few. You can only sell your contracts whole, you can't just pick a number and say you want to sell that many points and keep the rest. It's all or none. So we purchased a main contract of 200 points then did a 2nd contract of 50 points. It doesn't add anything extra to do it that way. The other idea behind doing this is that the smaller contracts are easier to sell as there are a lot of people looking to just add on a few points (like 50). You keep saying something about buying 160 points now and then doing another contract later for another 160 points - but you don't HAVE to purchase another big contract like that! 160 points is the minimum you have to buy THRU DVC as a new purchase. But you can add on as few as 25 points later, once you're a member. You can actually pick any number you want as an add on. OR if you start out with a resale purchase, you don't have to start out with 160 - you can start with 100...then you can add 50 or 100 or whatever later on down the road as you figure out how many you want to have.

We're already thinking about doing a small add-on at AKV - just because it IS our most fav. resort - enough points to be able to guarantee a stay there every other year. (And because we're already out of points 'cuz we're using them to cruise AND we have a cash ressie booked at AKL for 3 n. next July - so if we purchased more points that cash would be saved by the add-on!) Anyway, a 55 point add-on would cover our 3 n next summer or it would get us a full week in a Std. view studio in the "Magic season" every other year. A 68 point add-on would get us a Savanna view studio every other year in the "Magic season" and 59 points would get us a Savanna view studio every other year in the "Dream season". If we go with the 68 point add-on we could bank & borrow & go up to a one bedroom Std. view in the "Dream season" once every 3 years but if we buy 55 points that would be enough for 6 nights in a one bedroom. So we're still kind of playing around with the number of points to buy and what we can afford to do. But my point about this is to really study the point charts. Look at the one or two resorts you think you'll use the most and study the diff. size units and the seasons and try to figure out where you think you'll want to end up point wise.

THEN, just when we think we're close to making a decision about AKV they announce a new DVC resort in Hawaii.......I can see yet another add-on coming in 2011!

 

[chalee94]

Thanks everyone for all the info but I am not sure I understand about Use Month and use year and how that works.

not a big deal, it just tells you when your pts can start to be used and when they expire...and banking deadlines are currently 4 months prior to expiration, so that is useful information also.

for example, if your UY month is Oct, you can still call in november of the previous year to make a reservation at 11 months, even if your pts don't come on-line until oct 1. one situation to be wary of: if you routinely vacation in august or september, an oct UY month can limit you...if you call and cancel in june, you will be past the banking deadlines and very limited in your options for using those pts. whereas, if you typically vacation in december with an oct UY month, you can cancel 2 or 3 months ahead of time with no concern about the banking deadline.

My thinking is that right now we could more affordably buy something on the resale market for BCV with points around 160 rather than diving in all at once with 300 or more points. Then in a couple years add on another 160 points when we are sure we will use it, etc. Is my thinking flawed here?

buying what you can afford sounds like smart thinking. if you need more pts later, you can get them resale or through disney pretty easily...and buying a series of smaller (40 to 60 pt) contracts is typically a good idea in case you have to sell later...

 

[salmoneous]

If you do some searching, I think you will quickly find 4 places that have most of the published DVC resales. All are "legitimate" in the sense that they aren't going to steal your money or anything. But they offer varying levels of offerings and service.

One is the board sponsor. Like many folks here, I bought from them and am very happy with their service.

Another has cut a deal with DVC. As such, they have the most listings. But we've had a number of reports of people getting shoddy service from them (slow to return calls, file paperwork, etc.) They do have a number of happy customers and have the largest selection, so I wouldn't rule them out completely.

The other two are a smaller. I haven't seen many reports about them, but all I've seen have reported good service and successful transactions.

As for use year, they govern when you get your points. Pay particular attention to this when comparing listings.

Consider two listings, both with 160 points available today, one with a September use year, and another with a December use year. Very different contracts. The 160 September points are 2007 points. The 160 December points are 2006 points. You'll get another 160 points on December 1st 2007.