How to determine the right number of points?

[Barbara C]

I'm really just dipping my toe in the DVC pool, so I really don't know too much about it (other than what I read on the DVC website).

What would be the ideal number of points for a family of 5 (2 adults, 3 children) to take a week long vacation at WDW?

Thanks.

 

[chalee94]

which resort and what time of the year? if you want to squeeze into a 1BR, you would need one with a sleeper chair (like the 1BRs at OKW, BLT and the non-value AKV villas) - otherwise, you will be better off with a 2BR...(the 2BRs at AKV-kidani and BLT have 3 bathrooms.)

there are DVC point charts linked in the top right-hand corner of the screen. it's easy to look there and see what might work for you.

 

[Granny]

As Chalee said, you can just look at the point requirements for the resort, time of year, and villa size to get a feel for how many points you need.

Personally, I would recommend planning on reserving 2BR villas for a family of 5. Keep in mind the contract will be for several decades and your children may be small now but will grow. And the extra bathroom in the 2BR villas at AKV and BLT make vacationing with five even better.

 

[DisneyMotherOf2]

Good Luck with your decision! We have 150 points for 4 of us, but are planning on doing an add on. Our children our 3 and 5 and our vacation habits for the next 10+ years will in all liklihood be traveling during school vacations and summer, which is when room points are higher. We can do 1 bedrooms for now, but will be wanting to upgrade to 2 bedrooms soon. We actually just had a 2 bedroom on our last trip as we had other family members with us. After experiencing a 2 bedroom it's going to be hard going back. Good luck!

 

[MinnieGirl33]

Whatever you think you will need... add a bunch more

 

[Dean]

I'm really just dipping my toe in the DVC pool, so I really don't know too much about it (other than what I read on the DVC website).

What would be the ideal number of points for a family of 5 (2 adults, 3 children) to take a week long vacation at WDW?

Thanks.

As noted, there are a lot of variables. If you have a track record of several years going to Disney AND staying on property, you should have an idea what type of resort you like and how cozy you are comfortable with. I'd rather see you buy too few points than too many but somewhere in the 200-300 point range would be a rough amount to look at for most people not looking at Xmas and Easter. I wouldn't buy more than you can buy with cash. Resale will be much cheaper, SSR points will likely be the best value for on property trips.

Likely the best number for you is to look at the resort you think is your minimum acceptable for a week in a 2 BR. Add about 10% if looking at Dream Season or less IF that resort is OKW or SSR. If you had to compromise for half that many points, I'm OK with that as you may not need a 2 BR every time, esp early on but may need more at times as well. There are always ways to stretch points if needed.

 

[crisi]

Also consider if you are really going to want annual vacations to Disney as the kids grow. We bought enough points for every other year - that's let us do other things in our off years (and if we really get the urge, we can transfer points from another owner or pay cash). Consider two contracts - one you can sell off when/if you decide every year is too much.

Now that the kids are older, even our every other year trips to Disney are a little much when compared with the other places we've gone.

 

[LSchrow]

Also consider if you are really going to want annual vacations to Disney as the kids grow. We bought enough points for every other year - that's let us do other things in our off years (and if we really get the urge, we can transfer points from another owner or pay cash). Consider two contracts - one you can sell off when/if you decide every year is too much.

Now that the kids are older, even our every other year trips to Disney are a little much when compared with the other places we've gone.

agreed: multiple contracts are likely your best bet.
however, our kids are grown and we still go 2-3x a year. 27yo DD and i go every may, DH and i go in october (usually with other adult couples, for the F&WF). i go with extended family every other august.
we don't go to the parks very much, but relax, play mini-golf, go offsite, etc, so our WDW trips are more similar to owning a home elsewhere and just enjoying the surroundings (we already live near beautiful beaches, and have a yard with all the bells and whistles - but we truly relax at WDW).
just something to consider - and yes, we've traveled extensively, but our BWV vacas are the ones we come home refreshed and rejuvenated from (other travels are fascinating, but certainly not relaxing, imho.).
if need/want be, we rent out our extra points (we have 400).

 

[Dean]

Also consider if you are really going to want annual vacations to Disney as the kids grow. We bought enough points for every other year - that's let us do other things in our off years (and if we really get the urge, we can transfer points from another owner or pay cash). Consider two contracts - one you can sell off when/if you decide every year is too much.

Now that the kids are older, even our every other year trips to Disney are a little much when compared with the other places we've gone.

Two contracts will add a cost to the process and allow one to buy less points, if that's an issue. The cost difference between tow 150 pt contracts and one 300 points contract resale at the same resort is likely around $2000 when you add in the two closing AND the fact that larger contracts tend to be cheaper and larger contract sellers tend to be more flexible. It can be a great choice for one who wants two home resorts, even at the extra costs and it can be a reasonable choice for one who wants a given resort part of the time (say half points at BLT and half at SSR).

 

[crisi]

Two contracts will add a cost to the process and allow one to buy less points, if that's an issue. The cost difference between tow 150 pt contracts and one 300 points contract resale at the same resort is likely around $2000 when you add in the two closing AND the fact that larger contracts tend to be cheaper and larger contract sellers tend to be more flexible. It can be a great choice for one who wants two home resorts, even at the extra costs and it can be a reasonable choice for one who wants a given resort part of the time (say half points at BLT and half at SSR).

But IF you want to hedge your bets against a fourteen year old who'd MUCH rather go to an all inclusive in Mexico, being able to get rid of half your points will save you long term in ownership costs.

So many of us here have sold off parts of our ownership in the past few years - either due to economic concerns or due to changes at Disney or due to lifestyle changes. Its worth considering hedging bets. A week in a two bedroom every year is around 250-300 points. Two 150 point contracts makes things a lot more flexible over the long term - especially if you haven't really established a lifelong "Disney as a lifestyle choice."

 

[Dean]

But IF you want to hedge your bets against a fourteen year old who'd MUCH rather go to an all inclusive in Mexico, being able to get rid of half your points will save you long term in ownership costs.

So many of us here have sold off parts of our ownership in the past few years - either due to economic concerns or due to changes at Disney or due to lifestyle changes. Its worth considering hedging bets. A week in a two bedroom every year is around 250-300 points. Two 150 point contracts makes things a lot more flexible over the long term - especially if you haven't really established a lifelong "Disney as a lifestyle choice."

For many people in that situation, selling completely is just as reasonable as keeping half. As I noted, there's a cost to this option resale of around $2000 in the example noted. I don't feel that paying $2000 for future options at that level is worth it unless you get something else besides just the future option to sell. That's around a 10% premium (or 40-50 less points total) to do so. If that's the only issue, just buy less and stretch the points when needed in any one of a number of ways which is also the best choice for those that haven't proven their long term Disney people but want to buy in.

 

[TIGGERmetoo]

Good Luck with your decision! We have 150 points for 4 of us, but are planning on doing an add on. Our children our 3 and 5 and our vacation habits for the next 10+ years will in all liklihood be traveling during school vacations and summer, which is when room points are higher. We can do 1 bedrooms for now, but will be wanting to upgrade to 2 bedrooms soon. We actually just had a 2 bedroom on our last trip as we had other family members with us. After experiencing a 2 bedroom it's going to be hard going back. Good luck!

Just wanted to say I really like your avatar picture.

 

[Golden Rose]

You're getting a lot of good advice. Figure out how often you want to come - every year, every other year, or every third year. If you're not planning to come at least every three years, DVC is not a good fit for you at this time. Figure out what kind of room you're going to be happy with. A 2 bedroom will give you the most space and be the most comfortable for you, and you could fit in one at any of the DVC resorts. If a 2 bedroom seems like it will be too costly, then you need to make sure you own at one of the resorts where you can put 5 in a one bedroom, which currently limits you to BLT or AKV, or possibly OKW.

Figure out where you like to stay that will best meet your needs. If you're planning on regularly getting one bedrooms, you really need to buy at one of the three already mentioned. If you're planning on getting 2 bedrooms regularly, you can simply buy at whichever DVC resort you like staying at best that is within your budget. You can currently book at your home resort at 11 months, and all other resorts at 7 months. This could theoretically change, but it hasn't so far. With the number of resorts and DVC owners in the system, you'll be able to stay somewhere other than your home resort often, but you may not be able to get your first or second choice consistently.

The number of points you'll need depends on a lot of factors. Your choice of resort, your favorite/usual season to travel, and the size of unit you want.

We're a family of four, who enjoys traveling with other family or friends. If it is just us, we get a one bedroom, if we're bringing along anyone else, we get a two bedroom. We got enough points for our travel habits at the time we bought, but we're considering adding on because we really enjoy being able to get two bedrooms and traveling with others. We own 315 points split into 2 contracts. That is enough for us to do about a trip and a half a year, taking trips of 5 or 6 nights in less expensive seasons.

If you decide to buy, you might want to buy a few more points than you think you'll need in case of additional point re-allocations. Don't buy too many extras; if you really find you want more points, you can always add on.

 

[amberkow]

I'm really just dipping my toe in the DVC pool, so I really don't know too much about it (other than what I read on the DVC website).

What would be the ideal number of points for a family of 5 (2 adults, 3 children) to take a week long vacation at WDW?

Thanks.

The best answer is to start with that you can afford. It will crate more stress in the long run if if you buy what you want and not what you can afford.

 

[SassyLassy]

Lots of great advice given so far! I also am going to be buying within the year and the most important factors are determining two things a) what will your home resort be & b) how long do I want to stay? This will help determine how many points you are looking for annually or in my case every other year. You can rent points if you don't use your points one year but you don't want to go into buying thinking of what you can rent......go into thinking logically this is what I am going to use!

Good luck!!!

 

[Sandisw]

We started with 180 because we wanted to go every year and would rather just go for 4 or 5 nights, instead of a week, to make that happen.

We knew, once becoming members, that we wouldn't need the room for all the kids at some point--kids were 20, 16, and 12 when we bought in 2009--so we were okay with that.

Plus, as our group got smaller, our points would go farther. Of course, we made the mistake of staying in a 1 bedroom last year--only 3 of us--and realized that was a must from now on so are in the process of closing on a BWV contract to up our points to 330.

As mentioned, determine your needs, your time of travel, and your comfort level in terms of cost and go from there.

Because we travel in the summer, Magic Season, we knew we were planning for a higher point time. That would be my only piece of advice. Look at point costs over the entire chart and not just when you travel now, if you travel during the lower points time.

DVC can shift things in a chart and its possible that one day, some of the seasons will be adjusted. For example, they shifted things a few years back to make weekdays and weekends more alike in terms of points. People who bought for Sun - Fri stays were caught short and found they needed to adjust habits.

Good luck!

 

[sweetdana]

Also consider if you are really going to want annual vacations to Disney as the kids grow. We bought enough points for every other year - that's let us do other things in our off years (and if we really get the urge, we can transfer points from another owner or pay cash). Consider two contracts - one you can sell off when/if you decide every year is too much.

Now that the kids are older, even our every other year trips to Disney are a little much when compared with the other places we've gone.