How many points would we need?

[shortypots]

Ok folks, not that I am saying that I have sold my husband on DVC yet, but when I have, I want to be able to tell him this is the number of points we should get.

Here's our situation:

1) Ages : 29+34, no kids, no plans for them
2) we have family members that we wouldn't mind staying with us from time to time, but not on every trip
3) Every 5 years we would probably bank our points to go for our annniversary in St Lucia
4) Might bank our points every other year to get a longer trip every other year (not sure yet)
5) Occasionally might trade for Hawaii, or some other exotic locations, not all the time though as I would have a hard time giving up Disney to go elsewhere.
6) vacation times are very flexible since we do not have children. Would probably enjoy going April/May, Oct, or December timeframes. And would more than likely go for a week to 10 days each time we go to get the most of our vacationing there.
7) 1bd's would be nice for cooking, but we could easily stay in a studio without complaint.
8) Location of where to use our points really doesn't matter much to me. If I am in Disney, I am a happy camper! Might want to try different ones from time to time just to see what they are like. We are both from NY originally, so there is something to be said for us with the Saratoga springs resort. I would probably buy there for the additional years usage.
9) Since we have no kids or plans for them, passing it onto them is really not much of a concern.

So what do you think? I was thinking of somewhere between 150-170 pts at SSR. Do you think that would work?

Wishfully thinking...

 

[dianeschlicht]

Look at the points charts and figure out when and where and what size unit you are most likely to want. Base your decision on that. Rembember that your vacationing plans and habits might change in the future, and you might find that being a DVC owner might mean you will WANT to travel to WDW more frequently. That is what happened to us. We really enjoy taking family and friends along, so our original 230 points didn't seem enough, so we added another 150. Our 380 points seems to be perfect for us, but we are empty nesters and we usually stay at our home resort (OKW), so points are less there. Look at the point charts and think what you are most likely to do NOW and maybe in the near future. If your vacation habits change, you can always add on more points or another resale in the future.

 

[J and R's mom]

We're new to DVC as well (since we haven't been able to use our points yet). We decided to start off with 150 points and planned on going once a year (typically early Dec). We were going once a year BEFORE we had kids and plan on keeping it that way now or maybe once every-other-year once the girls get older and we have to pay for their plane tickets and schedule around school, etc.

If we need more, we'll add on later...probably buy the add-on off these boards.

Good luck with your decision. I look forward to enjoying ours.

 

[Disney Doll]

I'll tell you our story.

DH & I, no kids. Now age 43 & 46, but when we bought in 1997, we were 35 & 38. We bought 200 points at OKW. We were able to maximize those points every year by careful budgeting, paying cash for expensive weekend time and using points for less expensive weekdays. We went twice per year, usually stayed in a 1BR or larger, if we brought friends/family with us.

In 2001, we bought a 2nd contract for another 230 points. We were getting to the point of not necessarily always wanting to move from cash hotel to DVC, so we felt we needed more points to offset the weekend point values.

So, we have a total of 430 points, divided into 2 contracts, both of which have OKW as our home resort. We too thought we'd stay in a studio, until we stayed in a 1BR for the first time. Let me tell you...once oyu do a 1BR, it's hard to go back to a studio. It's just nice having a separate bedroom from your living space...just feels more relaxing to be not laying on your bed while you're relaxing in your room. It's nice to have the full kitchen to make breakfasts, it's nice to have the washer/dryer right in the room. It's just nice...