How Many Of You....

[panfan]

Have only 150 points??? We just bought BCV two weeks ago with 150 points. We usually make it to WDW once per year and only for 5 nights sun-thurs as we own a restaurant and weekends and longer trips are out of the question at this stage in our life. We figured that 150 would allow us to enjoy the vacations we are already taking with nicer accomadations: the one bedroom villa. We will be at BWV May 25--30. HOWEVER, after spending quite alot of time on these boards lately I am finding out that most of you have A LOT of points. That got me to thinking--maybe I should just buy more now! A second annual trip would not be out of the question for us--we just cant go for long periods of time. It really is not so much a financial issue with the 150 decision , just thought that's all we needed for now. I don't know if any of this makes sense. Would it be better to buy more points now ?? Or see how it goes for a couple of years then add on. And to those of you with only 150- how is it working for you.

Thanks for any insight!!

 

[Barb]

We started out with 230. Before the ink was dry, we added on another 50. When BCV opened up, we did another add-on of 100. We're always considering more. The timing just has to be right.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We started with 175 at OKW. We now have 300 at OKW, 100 at VWL and 100 at BCV.

 

[wdwnut]

hi: we started with 210 at bwv and added another 150 right before it sold out. ideally, we'd like to add about another 60 so we can split it evenly with the kids. however, with grandchild #1 on the way, guess what i'm thinking?

 

[panfan]

How do you use all the points?? Is it mostly long.......... stays or just bigger accomadations or several trips a year?? Oh yea--Am I the only DVC'r with only 150??

 

[Cruelladeville]

Welcome Home! We began with 170 points, which we thought was a huge amount, in 1997. Well, it's 7 years later and we are up to 700 points, and still thinking of more, since our adult children tend to vacation with us. Eventually, we would like to get points at OKW, once the economy evens out again. We vacation 3 times a year.

 

[Barb]

We take at least two trips a year. I usually take a solo trip and then we have the family tri which typically runs 2 weeks-a week at WDW and a week at Vero Beach.

 

[TIdoublegaER]

My sister has 150 points and it is working out just fine for her. They went to VB last year for 5 nights (sun-thurs), they paid for one night of our GV this year and since they have points to bank, they are planning on taking a cruise next year.

We started out with 150 at HH and then added on another 50 at HH. Then we decided that we didn't want to give up going to HH one year to go to WDW, so we bought a OKW resale and decided we needed to go to HH and WDW every year. Then we decided that it would be nice if we could do some of the member getaways too, so we bought 150 points at BCV. Guess what?? Now we feel that we need to do a week at HH and 2 weeks at WDW each year!!

We have to stop buying points because I only get three weeks of vacation a year and well...next year I start getting 4 weeks so ... maybe...

 

[panfan]

Thanks for the great replys!! I guess what I can expect is--the annual trip soon won't be enough for us!! I guess once you join DVC your whole vacation philosophy sort of changes. Instead of asking youself " Are we going to go to WDW again this year?" The question becomes more like when are we going and how many times!!!!

 

[CarolynK]

We too originally bought 150 points, figuring that would be enough...then we added on 300 after our first or second trip. Then two months ago, we added on, through resale, another 310 points! We like to go at Christmas/NY and spring break, which eats up alot of points. And with my kids, we're getting to the point where taking them out of school is less of an option.
As far as waiting a couple of years to add on, the price per point keeps going up, so I'd probably buy sooner rather than later if you really want more points.
By the way, even with the amount of points that we have, we had to borrow from 2004 to make all of our travel plans for 2003. And all points are going to WDW vacations.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Our son is 9, and we hate for him to miss too much school, so we take vacations when school is out. So we use more points. We have taken a family member or two along as well, so we get at least a one bedroom. We also did the DCL (4 night cruise) on points that used up all our points for one year plus points from the next. We go twice a year and we use points on weekends.

 

[SCDizneyDawn]

How do you use all the points?? Is it mostly long.......... stays or just bigger accomadations or several trips a year??

We have 525 pts (375 BWV & 150 BCV) and we really enjoy taking people with us to Disney, so we go two or three times, in either 1 br or 2 br units. This yr we are going two times, both times in a 2br, last yr we went 3 times, twice in a 1br for 7 nights and the third time in a 2 br for 6 nights. So, we like the bigger accomadations and also like to go multiple times a year. Eventually I want to be able to stay for longer periods of time, but it is not possible at this time! Right now I am trying to convince my husband that we need more points! Since they are going to be selling more BWV points, this will be a great opportunity to buy direct. We will see what happens.....

 

[CaptainMidnight]

I guess the question may be in what increments to you want to add points. If your going to add at least 150 points, and you want those at teh same home resort, you'll be fine waiting, you can find a 150 point resale. But if your thinking of adding on something less than that, say 75 points, and you want BCV points, you may want to consider moving forward now, BCV will be sold out soon, another post is saying within 6 to 8 weeks. Just a thought regarding your timing question.

Enjoy.

 

[mbw12]

Panfan,
we too have only 150 points and it is working out fine for us right now. We bought in 2000. but I do see where we are getting quite tempted to buy more! We have gone 4 times using the DVC....staying in studios. This year is our first trip using a one bedroom, so after that....more points may be inour future!!

 

[JimC]

Bought a contract at OKW resale for 300 points so we could do a week's vacation and have sufficient points for a two bedroom at OKW whenever we needed one. We only go during Adventure, Choice, Dream, or Magic seasons. We picked OKW because of the point cost savings, lowest maintenance fees, largest units, large property that is relatively easy to get reservations for, and its very laid back atmosphere.

Bought BCV because of location, SAB and 11 month window in October to December period. 170 points all I wanted to spend at the time (it would give us a 6 night stay during Choice in a 1 bedroom). Bought 45 point add-on before price increase to have a full week during choice available and wanted it at BCV with same use year (again for 11 month window and ease in tracking).

I also believe that contracts of 150 to 300 points sell faster on the resale market than larger contracts. No plans to do so, but it was a consideration in buying two contracts rather than one.

Congratulations and Welcome Home fellow PA resident.

 

[snarfieca]

We're quite happy with 150 points.
We don't get there every year so we borrow/bank points.
This year is a bank year (waiting to be able to book for next year wasn't fun) but next year we're planning on staying from Monday of 1 week to Friday of the next at WL & VB - not using points on the weekend. In the Summer we're going to DL & stay on points there.
We don't stay in peak season so our points go a lttle further.

Brenda
from Manitoba

 

[cgcw]

We have 150 points at BWV and are pretty content with that amount. It's working well for us right now. But, who knows in the future.

We also have 232 at HH. Most likely we will not use them for WDW because we enjoy our week at the beach.

 

[ncligs]

We started with 230 at OKW in 1999...........we now have 600 total pts (OKW-300 VB-300). We wanted to have the 11 month window on-site(OKW) and also ocean front(VB)....and we have 2 kids DS-28 DD-17 that will have a contract each down the road.
We like to take at least 2 trips of 6-7 days in a 1-2 BR, and also plan on getting the Beach Cottage

every summer at VB.This is for now, after we retire in 4-5 years, we have the option to stay for Jan

and most of Feb at OKW. Thats if we don't move to Florida.

 

[SheriB]

We only have 175 points at BCV. This will allow us to go every other year and stay in a 2 br for one week during summer. I'm hoping I can contain myself. We've been every year 3 years in a row now. Will I be able to skip a year? We still haven't heard from many 150 pointer's, mostly those who have double that and more! Panfan, it's not looking good for those of us with a "few" points. Since we won't be "home" for the first time until June, I'm afraid I'm going to want to add on. Uh-oh. Hold me back!

Sheri

 

[HorizonsFan]

We're doing just fine with 150!
This year, we're spending 5 nights at BCV, two nights at the Poly (on cash) and 5 nights at BWV with points left over. We've also done 10 nights at BWV including the weekend. Granted, there's just the two of us and we stay in a studio (standard if we can get it) but it's great for us. We'd rather stay in a smaller room and stay longer.