How Many Points to Buy?

[Golden Rose]

DH and I just bought DVC - 165 points at AKV, and we're planning to buy some BWV (or possibly BCV) points because we love the Epcot Resort Area. I know I've heard the advice of figure out your typical use patterns and buy based on that, but we don't have a typical use pattern yet, and obviously, our pattern will develop based on how many points we end up with.

Prior to buying DVC, we'd started going once a year once DS turned 2 and were thinking about upping that to twice a year since he loves it so much. I tended to go about once every 3 or 4 years before that. We always stayed in deluxe hotels at club level, so we figured DVC was going to be completely worth it for us (assuming we could wean ourselves from the concierge lounges...) Before DS's second trip, we always stayed in the Epcot resort area because we liked having dinner in the World Showcase. We definitely need some points at BCV or BWV... I just don't know how many points to get.

The 165 we have now seems pretty skimpy... but we bought them with the intent to buy more points. We will often need a 2 bedroom because Disney is more fun with friends and family. So I was just curious... how many points did some of you end up with? Did you buy them all at once or add on over the years? How many home resorts do you find you really get a lot of use of the 11 month window for?

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

Hey Golden. Here's some history on how we use our points - it might help to see how we have changed over the years as we grew our family....

When I bought, I took the minimum of 190 (in 1993) and later added 60 more to bring me to 250. We mostly got 1 BR units at the time, with the occasional studio, and then we started taking friends and doing 2 BR. Now, we have 2 kids and the "2 BR with another family" vacation is becoming a chronic habit. Plus, since we live so close to Disneyland, we tend to stay over on special occasions. Therefore, I'm finding that I would probably love another 100 points, if we can afford it. (After having to get a studio to complete the last 2 nights of our AKV 1 BR vacation last year, due to lack of October inventory, we made a promise to ourselves never to get anything under a 1 BR again.) As the girls get older and don't want to share a 1 BR pull out sofa (if we go by ourselves) we'll maybe still need the 2 BR.

Keep in mind that we are juggling 2 different resort contracts (like you will be), so I have an 11 month window at OKW for 190 and the other 60 are VB points, giving me an 7 month booking window everywhere else (since we've never actually been to VB - anytime we've wanted to go, something happened and we couldn't).

Enough about what we do - let's get a starter formula for you.
I know you don't have a "pattern" yet, not to worry. What I would do is grab the point catalog and look at the times of year you want to go and what the points are for the type of room you might want. Mix it up a bit, too - take into account that you will be experimental and try all the DVC resorts on property - we have. Sounds like you guys might be like us, though, and want the minimum space of the 1 BR, so I would start with looking at those point costs.

If you can afford it, your goal is to get enough points to be able to book an entire stay out of that one contract, so you aren't trying to figure out how much you need to pull from each one for any given stay. Now, for some that have lower point totals, they book every other year out of one contract at a time, borrowing or banking the next year's points so they can spend 2 years worth of points in one shot. Example - us. We have to rotate them for stays. I use OKW primarily for our WDW trips. Then, I use my VB for DL, plus anything I didn't use out of OKW for the year. Occasionally, I may have to borrow out of the other contract, but at least I'm not Doing it every stay.

Once you get an idea of the highest point season you will be going, an average number of days (will you book weeknights?), and the total accomodation value, add up how much you need for 2 stays per year (if you are really going to go 4 times/year - that gives you 2 stays out of each contract), then buy that many points. (I would say use Premier and Dream Seasons as your value levels - that way you end up with a few to bank if you go in Adventure or Choice Seasons.) Make sure to add a few more points in for inflation (room values go up about 1-2 points a year).

Off the cuff - 350 -400 points total (including your current 165) would probably serve you pretty well for that many times/year, if some of your stays will be only 4-5 days.

I pretty much do 1 -7 night WDW stay and 3 nights at DLR (usually the DLH, but 1 night at GCH) for my 250. It's getting a bit harder, now that exchange costs have gone up as much as they have.... I remember when I could go down for 5 trips a year to WDW on my 350....

Hope that gives you a start. I know there are lots of other ways people calculate their target goal! Have fun with it!

 

[disneybride96]

We have 200 points and go about twice a year so far. We have done all sizes of rooms with groups from 2 to 11, although we try to stay only one weekend night on each trip. I think the largest variable is the season in which you do most of your travel. Luckily, we travel most in the off season.

 

[nyck]

This is such a hard question to answer because it is hard to predict the future. I am 32 y old, have no kids, and love disney to death. I bought my 1st DVC at BCV 5 years ago and love it. I have 300 points there and I am glad I bought there because it is my favorite place to stay. For awhile, I thought 300 would be enough for anything I wanted to do, but the longer I have had it, the more I use it. I typically go every 6 months, but I do like using the conciege collection hotels too, so that uses alot of points. Last December while on a disney cruise I bought 200 points at Saratoga Springs as well. Not because I really like there (it is too far from stuff for me) but so I could use those points for just about anything I wanted. So I have 500 points now and love having that flexibility and availablity. But now when I go on ANY vacation I tend to use points, so that way I really get my money's worth. Plus when I have kids I have my vacations covered. I use my BCV booking window everytime because it books quick( because it is the smallest), which is why my dues are also higher there than at Saratoga.