How many points do we need?

[Crazy4Disney06]

Dh and I are in the process of looking for a resale DVC contract that will allow our family of 4 to visit WDW once a year to once every other year. We have seen some amazing prices out there right now and figure we can always add on later if we need/want to. My question is would 50 points a year be enough for our family to stay in a studio at AK at least every other year? The resales listed for AKL seems to be listed at great prices right now and I would love to jump on it if in fact this would allow us to vacation at least biannually.

 

[mopee3]

What time of the year will you be going? How many days do you usually stay at WDW? These are the starting questions your family has to answer.

When you look at the point charts, you need to know when you will be at WDW. Different times of the year require more points. Because we live in the Pacific Northwest we like to go late October through early May. During that time the AKV can cost anywhere from 69 to 211 points per week.

Does your family enjoy free dinning? Perhaps DVC really isn't for you?

Moe

 

[cyndiloveswalt]

We do SSR for a week for 95 points off season, I think AK is around the same. Once you have some you'll want more, so I would probably look for closer to 100 points and not have to add on again and pay settlement fees, etc

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

What time of the year will you be going? How many days do you usually stay at WDW? These are the starting questions your family has to answer.

When you look at the point charts, you need to know when you will be at WDW. Different times of the year require more points. Because we live in the Pacific Northwest we like to go late October through early May. During that time the AKV can cost anywhere from 69 to 211 points per week.

Does your family enjoy free dinning? Perhaps DVC really isn't for you?

Moe

We usually go in the Fall, however this year we went in December. We have only done FD once and it was not a make or break for us it just fit into our vacation time frame. Just wondering why DVC may not be for us? Is it not worth it if we only vacation 1 a year or over other year to WDW or DL?

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

We do SSR for a week for 95 points off season, I think AK is around the same. Once you have some you'll want more, so I would probably look for closer to 100 points and not have to add on again and pay settlement fees, etc

Thanks for the advice! I just get so confused at "what" makes DVC a good deal for our family or not?

 

[mopee3]

We usually go in the Fall, however this year we went in December. We have only done FD once and it was not a make or break for us it just fit into our vacation time frame. Just wondering why DVC may not be for us? Is it not worth it if we only vacation 1 a year or over other year to WDW or DL?

No, it isn't how many times a year you go as to whether or not DVC is for you or not. It's more a case of what you are use to spending for vacations. Buying DVC is prepaying for Disney vacations and mainly at WDW and DL.
Accually you guys seem to be the correct age for what you are about to do.

My wife and I are 63 and 65 and I wish we had joined DVC when I was you age if I could have. Since joining in 2007 we have gone to WDW and/or DL every year 2x a year. We have taken many people with us and are in the process of a trip to DL this coming May, a 12 day trip in November of 2012, and a graduation trip March of 2013 for grand sons.

All that said DVC trips not not cheap, but not as expensive as going without DVC.

I didn't mean to insult you all. Just do the research which you are now doing.

Moe

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

No, it isn't how many times a year you go as to whether or not DVC is for you or not. It's more a case of what you are use to spending for vacations. Buying DVC is prepaying for Disney vacations and mainly at WDW and DL.
Accually you guys seem to be the correct age for what you are about to do.

My wife and I are 63 and 65 and I wish we had joined DVC when I was you age if I could have. Since joining in 2007 we have gone to WDW and/or DL every year 2x a year. We have taken many people with us and are in the process of a trip to DL this coming May, a 12 day trip in November of 2012, and a graduation trip March of 2013 for grand sons.

All that said DVC trips not not cheap, but not as expensive as going without DVC.

I didn't mean to insult you all. Just do the research which you are now doing.

Moe

Thank you! No insult at all! We average about $3000 for our lodging and tickets each time we visit WDW and about $1500 for DL. I have seen some recent resale listings for as cheep at $4000 for 50 points per year, or $6000 for 100 points. To me this would seem to make perfect since for our family......that is of course if I am looking at it right and not just through the eyes of a huge Disney fan that would love to be a DVC ower

 

[mopee3]

We normally spend about $5000 for, food (we use the DDP/DDXP), passes, and airplane tickets. This is for 2 of us, we have spent more than I had planned but I wouldn't change anything for the world. My friends and some of our kids wonder why we go back, time after time etc... Must have drank the Koolaid somewhere along the line.

Just look at the points charts and figure out how many pts it takes when you typically go. But remember as someone said you will probably end up adding on.

I need 200 more right now, but wonder if I want, at this time in my life more Maintance Fees.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The only thing DVC gets you is lodging. You still pay to eat, to get to Orlando, your park admission. And dues go up every year. They are now in the $4-6 range per point.

 

[chalee94]

this might be a good thread to start with: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2740145

50 pts will currently work for 6-7 nights every other year in an AKV studio during lower point seasons.

some things to consider:

DVC studios all have 1 queen bed + 1 pullout sofabed (except at OKW, which has 2 queens). your kids may not mind the sofabed when they are young but down the road...

if you are looking at value studios, there are only 18 or so available (so you'd need to book around 11 months out to guarantee that you'll get one) and also, they are smaller than the other AKV studios, so it might get cramped depending on your kids' ages.

DVC can move around which dates are in which seasons. to raise point costs for early december, for example, they would need to make something else less expensive, but that may still frustrate your particular situation.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

The only thing DVC gets you is lodging. You still pay to eat, to get to Orlando, your park admission. And dues go up every year. They are now in the $4-6 range per point.

I understand this. When we add in the food and airfare we typically spend about $5000 for 6nights 7days, but did go cheap on a value this Christmas and did 5 nights 6 days for a total of $2750.
I guess what confuses me the most is why anyone buys in to DVC club in the first place if most DVC owners are the ones who tend discourage others from it?

 

[zavandor]

I guess what confuses me the most is why anyone buys in to DVC club in the first place if most DVC owners are the ones who tend discourage others from it?

For me it's the opposite: I really appreciate comments from owners who warn about the cons of owning DVC. Who can know better about it? I don't think they discourage, but they know that during the tour DVC only shows the best of owning, they also know about the worst.
If I'll buy, when the pixie dust settle I'll be left with an expensive contract that requires more payment every year. Will it be worth for me and my family? Being aware of every pros and cons will help non regretting any decision I'll make.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

For me it's the opposite: I really appreciate comments from owners who warn about the cons of owning DVC. Who can know better about it? I don't think they discourage, but they know that during the tour DVC only shows the best of owning, they also know about the worst.
If I'll buy, when the pixie dust settle I'll be left with an expensive contract that requires more payment every year. Will it be worth for me and my family? Being aware of every pros and cons will help non regretting any decision I'll make.

Thank you for this point!
We are looking at buying resale a small contract (50 to 100 points) at about $4500 dollars'ish. I think for this amount of money we really can't go wrong. I can understand how those who spend thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars have a lot more to consider financially.

 

[AJA]

We are looking at almost the same thing, every other year in a studio (currently our DD is 7 when she's older we'll probably want a 1 bedroom and add more points). I'm looking at 70-100 point contracts. 50 just doesn't seem like enough.

We were also thinking with 70-100 if we spend our points wisely we could bank some points and go every 18 months once in a while. We like to travel in Sept/Oct, Jan/Feb and May so I want to have enough points I could travel every other year in May, or every 18 months in Sept/Jan kwim?

 

[chalee94]

I guess what confuses me the most is why anyone buys in to DVC club in the first place if most DVC owners are the ones who tend discourage others from it?

some of us may go a little overboard in trying to knock some pixie dust out of the newbies...we just want you to have realistic expectations coming in.

i've hugely enjoyed stays at OKW, AKV-jambo house and BLT. different vibes but wonderful resorts...and at prices lower than booking direct for cash. i'm glad i bought. i'm also glad i bought a small contract, as you are planning to do (but my small contract has gone from an "every year" plan to an every other year plan as point charts have been reallocated - so i'd suggest buying a few more pts than you expect to need.)

but it's not as good of a deal as it used to be...and DVC, in differentiating between resale and direct contracts, does seem to be getting more adversarial against owners who want or need to sell. and as DVC takes a more competitive position against owners, it's hard for owners not to be a little less enthusiastic than before. (which is a long way of saying that you shouldn't expect to get much back, if anything, when you go to sell.)

it also helps if you know exactly what you are getting. some people are surprised by getting less housekeeping, sofabeds instead of "real" beds, no king bed option in the studios, having to book well in advance to get what they want...they are used to hotel stays and timesharing isn't what they expected. they assumed being a DVC "member" would get them a special status...instead they find themselves owing annual dues on points they waited too long to use and that expire without providing any value at all.

i don't think most of us would tell you not to buy (at least at resale prices), but we do want to make sure you've taken a good look at whether it would work in your particular situation or not. on the same topic, here's another good post from a long-time owner:

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43573894&postcount=29

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

some of us may go a little overboard in trying to knock some pixie dust out of the newbies...we just want you to have realistic expectations coming in.

i've hugely enjoyed stays at OKW, AKV-jambo house and BLT. different vibes but wonderful resorts...and at prices lower than booking direct for cash. i'm glad i bought. i'm also glad i bought a small contract, as you are planning to do (but my small contract has gone from an "every year" plan to an every other year plan as point charts have been reallocated - so i'd suggest buying a few more pts than you expect to need.)

but it's not as good of a deal as it used to be...and DVC, in differentiating between resale and direct contracts, does seem to be getting more adversarial against owners who want or need to sell. and as DVC takes a more competitive position against owners, it's hard for owners not to be a little less enthusiastic than before. (which is a long way of saying that you shouldn't expect to get much back, if anything, when you go to sell.)

it also helps if you know exactly what you are getting. some people are surprised by getting less housekeeping, sofabeds instead of "real" beds, no king bed option in the studios, having to book well in advance to get what they want...they are used to hotel stays and timesharing isn't what they expected. they assumed being a DVC "member" would get them a special status...instead they find themselves owing annual dues on points they waited too long to use and that expire without providing any value at all.

i don't think most of us would tell you not to buy (at least at resale prices), but we do want to make sure you've taken a good look at whether it would work in your particular situation or not. on the same topic, here's another good post from a long-time owner:

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43573894&postcount=29

Thank you for this post! Our expectations are pretty realistic and actually since we are late sleepers we actually get annoyed with the daily house keeping I think as long as we go in knowing what to expect we should not be let down!

 

[Sandisw]

Thank you for this post! Our expectations are pretty realistic and actually since we are late sleepers we actually get annoyed with the daily house keeping I think as long as we go in knowing what to expect we should not be let down!

And that is exactly the reason why so many of us point out the realities of owning DVC...to go in with eyes wide open and comfortable with what DVC will and will not do for you in terms of your WDW vacation.

Unfortunately, there are members out there who did not understand that a timeshare stay is not a hotel stay and that when you book DVC, you are no longer booking through Disney.

But, it sounds like you have asked the right questions, reviewed the right info, and will be making an informed decision which is what really should happen when deciding to take the DVC plunge.

We did in 2009 and can honestly stay, love DVC and would not want to visit DIsney any other way!!!

 

[mopee3]

We did in 2009 and can honestly stay, love DVC and would not want to visit DIsney any other way!!!

We took our first trip to WDW in 2006, bought DVC in 2007 after researching for a year,

but what Sandi says is so true for us as well!!!

I read posts about people who are negative about DVC and I could be as well, (no I couldn't) but I only get to live this day once and I don't need someone to tell me about all the negative stuff in this world, I can see it without looking too far.

If that is looking through Rose colored Disney glasses so be it.

When we fly in to Orlando and get on the shuttle to the main terminal, a huge smile lights up my face. This mouse place is truly my happy place!!!!!

Moe

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

Thank you all for your advise! My husband and I are now looking for the right contract for us and hopefully will be DVC (resale) owners in the next few months!!