How did you figure how many points to buy?

[Honeymooner04]

My husband and I have finally come to the decision that we'd like to buy into DVC. We've been every year since we've been married and we recently had a baby who I'm dying to introduce to the World we think it just makes sense for us. We've already decided to purchase through Disney at Saratoga Springs but the big question for us is how many points. We think what we will want to do is vacation for a week every year in a studio while our daughter is little and upgrade to a one bedroom when she's older so we think we'll go with 240 points. We also live a day's drive from Disneyland so we will probably go there once a year or every other year for a shorter stay. However after doing much research here on the DIS boards I see member with much, much more than that as well as members at our level and I'm curious how you came to your number of points? And do you think 240 is the right amount for us? I should note that we're not planning on having any more children. Anyway, any insight you have will be much appreciated. We're waiting for our guide to get back into the office on Monday to begin our purchase!

Patty

 

[Chuck S]

WE started out at 230 points (which wsa the minimum at that time). Then we added on (3 times) as we saw we were more comfortable in one bedrooms, and how often we wanted to invite family and friends. We have a total of 345 points now, some years we borrow, some years we bank, but it seems to be "just right" for us over all.

 

[WOW]

We first bought in 94 with 210 points. I was the one with the affliction "add-on-itis"........we kept adding on until I felt comfortable. We wound up with 600 points over several years and I have been happy ever since.....No more "add on itis" for me......not now anyway!!! Good Luck.

 

[Granny]

I'd say if you think you are going to start out for a few years with studios only, then 240 points is a pretty nice total. Once you've figured out your vacation needs a little better, you can decide if you want/need to add more points.

With a young family like yours, I think it's great that you are thinking of vacations. But you don't want to stretch yourself to get more points.

Let's say you find out in 5 years that you need, say, 50 more points. Even if prices have gone up $10 a point by then, that $500 might not be as important as keeping yourself with more financial flexibility right now.

By the way, we are a foursome and thought that a 1BR would be our best bet. We quickly figured that a 2BR would be much better for us and we ended up with about twice as many points as we started with.

It's hard to know vacation patterns for the next 48 years. The way you have figured your needs seems to be a pretty good one to me. Good luck with the purchase decision.

 

[eliza61]

We calculated based on how we traveled to WDW in the past. We always go in the summer (I don't take my kids out of school) and we always stay for 10 days. So we purchased enough points to stay 10 days in August.

 

[cobbler]

We are a family of 4 and figured if we were going to buy DVC then we wanted to be able to do a 1bdrm. Our line of thinking was why buy DVC for a studio only. Now that is just OUR thinking.

So with that in mind, we went with 220 points. That will give us a 1 bedroom for a full 7 nights during the 2 seasons we travel most often. Choice and Adventure. We also looked at the point chart across the Disney property DVC's and noticed that would cost us 214 points during the most expensive season of the two, and at the hotels that take the most points. So giving us a little cushion of 6 was fine.

Now we do plan on staying home at Saratoga most of the time and we could have 194 or 200 for a more round number but we wanted that extra just in case. And if I would have paid a wee bit more attention I should have bought 225 points because that would give us a full week during 3 seasons at Saratoga. But I didn't because June and August we can't travel, hubby's work won't allow. May would even be stretching it too. So that leaves the first 2 weeks in Feb which is a possibility but not likely.

Well and that is where those extra 6 points come into play that we used for a slush fund 225 one year, 215 the next and we are still good

 

[byoung]

Decided to start with 200.

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

We stared with 150 (Minimum buy) at VB and then added 41 points (resale) at VB a couple years ago. That has been enough, but now that DS is getting to be school age, and we will probably end up travelling mostly in the summer I'm wondering if we don't need another 50 to 100 points. The big question is where. Part of me thinks just add on at VB, but then I also think about adding 100 at HHI and then do a trip every other year down there. However, sometimes I think about just going in a different direction and looking at a Marriott property.

 

[NCRedding]

I bought at HH because I felt that if I decided I didn't like going to WDW, I could always drive to HH, where I love the beach. I also wanted to have the 11 month booking opportunity there. I purchased 155 points which was enough stay in a one bedroom the first week of June for 6 nights, not including Saturday.

Now, after we bought, NC redesigned our school calendar where, for the next few years, school doesn't get out until after 6/10, when the points go up. AND, we decided that we loved vacationing in a two bedroom. AND, we still love going to WDW and have only used our HH points for a 3 night stay, SO, we just have to play around to see what we can do with our points.

 

[bongo59]

How did you figure how many points to buy?


well.........we looked at our bank account and saw how many points we could afford to buy then and bought them.

 

[AlaskaMOM]

How did you figure how many points to buy?


well.........we looked at our bank account and saw how many points we could afford to buy then and bought them.

EXACTLY!

 

[cavecricket]

I know its foolish but I wanted enough points to stay at AKL if I REALLY needed to as I was an addict for the AKL....now that I am with the DVC I dont think I will need the AKL anymore! ( not until it goes DVC at which point I will buy the heck out of it!!! ) ....We bought 200 which I beleive was just enough for about a week at AKL....though we use the 200 pts for 2 weeks a year....this year its VWL for 14 nights!!!!!

 

[pouncingpluto]

We went with 200 because it seemed like it was just enough to give us a little flexibility, in terms of studio versus one-bedroom, various seasons, and II trades. 150 is a bit limiting.

 

[Honeymooner04]

Thanks for all of your input! We decided to go with our original estimate of 240 because we felt that gave us enough flexibility to do multiple vacations a year and would allow us to use bigger accomadations once our daughter gets a little bigger.

Patty

 

[spiceycat]

don't buy your 240 in one contract.

have 150 contract, then a 90 or 100 one - or 2 fifties....

if you have to sale (I know never) - it is easier to get ride of 150 and less points than over 200 points...

besides then you still have your smaller contracts so you are still a DVC member...

 

[ACDSNY]

don't buy your 240 in one contract.

have 150 contract, then a 90 or 100 one - or 2 fifties....

if you have to sale (I know never) - it is easier to get ride of 150 and less points than over 200 points...

besides then you still have your smaller contracts so you are still a DVC member...

This was the best advise I received and I'm glad I have my 220 points split between 3 contracts. You never know what life might throw you!

Of course, I initially purchased 100 points thinking we would go to WDW every 2-3 years and do DL in between. Too bad I don't have enough self control to do this. Our add on was done right after our first trip.

 

[Lenc324]

I bought what I could afford and I'm happy

 

[DisneyKidds]

When deciding how many points to purchase, we figured out how many points we'd need for our family of 5 to stay in a 2Br for a week once a year in the summer. A lot more points than we currently need while the kids are small and a studio does the job, but we didn't want to have to worry about purchasing more points again in the future. We ended up with 325 points, split between two resale contracts at BWV and VWL.

We've managed to find a way to use all those extra points , but now I fear we'll have to eventually add more points so we can keep making two trips a year. Dangerous thing, this DVC.

 

[SWVA BGSU Fan]

We purchased a 250 point contract based upon 2 factors:

1) It allowed us to stay 7 nights in a one bedroom annually based upon our travel habits.

2) The price was affordable to us.

I hope you that you will enjoy DVC as much as we have. 240 points should offer some flexibility for you. I haven't checked the points chart recently but I think you should be able to stay 6 consecutive nights in a 2 BR most times of the year (without borrowing).