They actually sell by units (which are often combinations of several rooms) and you get a real estate ownership interest in a unit. Points are things that represent your ownership interest and are used to reserve rooms and as all discover points are what are important for all practicable purposesd and what unit or real estate you actually own isn't of much practicable importance. They actually sell 96% of the resort and keep 4%. What that means is that for each unit sold Disney always retains a 4% interest and basically has the right to book 4% of the rooms throughout the year (there is no real division between rooms just that Disney can rent 4% of the space). The total number of points sold actually equals about what it would take to reserve about 94% of the rooms each week of the year (when selling they assume some rooms will be out of service during the year and thus the 94% figure rather than 96%) . The total varies from resort to resort and depends on number of rooms (and sizes). As a Boardwalk owner, I am aware the total points sold are 4,888,849. Don't have actual numbers for others but OKW is likely close to 8 million and the others are significantly less than BWV.
It is easy but tedious for the paperwork--there is a lot to read and sign but each document shows you exactly where to sign with special mouse ears. Also much of what you get is in legaleze and thus can be somewhat difficult to wade through.Whole process does not take long. For example the last add-on we did (which requires all the same paperwork as a new sale and takes as long) took all of 9 days to complete (we called and gave credit card down payment, paperwork arrived three days later, we signed and returned it two days later and on the ninth day after our original call, they called to say everything was approved (you then wait about 30 days for closing but you can use points and make ressies before you close; closing is done in your absence and you receive a deed after about two months).
Not confusing generally. Just remember that you can always make ressie 11 months in advance at home resort and 7 at others and points you actually reserve with are ones that will be available at time of trip not time you call to make ressie. Where many have expressed confusion is over banking and borrowing and we have often answered questions about those points here. Banking and borrowing are explained in the documents you get but the questions usually do not arise until someone actually wants to bank or borrow and the answers relate to the specific circumstance at the time.
