I can only afford 270 points now - Will this be enough for me? HELP?

[cdorval]

Did the DVC presentation last week, and can't get enough of this board, WDW and DVC out of my head. I really want the BCV, so my only option seems to go through Disney at $80/pt. I can afford 270 points at this time. Here is a list of my WDW visiting habits, and I hope with some creative banking/borrowing I can get away with 3,4 or 5 years worth of yearly trips before I need to take a year off to recoup points, or as most of you folks seem to do, buy more.

I'm hoping you more experienced point guru's can give me a thumbs up or down if 270 can be stretched enough for me. I will get 270 upon joining, and another 270, (540 total), in April 2003.

1). I will only visit during the most economical times, (Adventure, Choice and Dream).

2). I need a 2 br initially, (3 growing boys, 16, 15 and 11), and want to vacation for 12 nights next August. If I get a 2br and move out on Fri/Sat, I believe this trip will cost me a total of 468 nights. The 10 nights at BCV will cost me 340 points, and I plan on moving into CBR or something like that at 32 points for Fri/Sat. However I think I need 2 rooms for Friday and another 2 rooms for Sat for my family of 5, (total of 128 points for 2 nights - this 5 person family stuff stinks !!!) Hopefully at least one of the boys goes away soon !!!

3). This will leave me with 72 points for 2003.

4). I would also really like to do some type of long weekend in 2003 with just my wife, in a studio, somewhere within WDW.

5). I also would like to do this over and over and over again for the next few years.

My question is - Can I get creative enough with 270 to do what I'd like to do, or should I wait a while before purchasing to see if I can afford more points later, (300 may be my high end however). Thoughts? Thanks ....

 

[Richyams]

Buy now, you can add 30-100 or more next year...at a higher price per point.

Whenever the topic of weekends comes up, most people took the weekends into account when deciding the number of points to buy. Not many want to go through the hassle of moving out and back in just to save a few points.

You really need to look at the cost of a week, its still cheap.

I know that I couldn't be bothered moving for the weekend. I do take a tweklve night trip, arriving on Sunday and leaving a week from the following Friday. I do minimuze the weekend usage, but there is no way in the world that I would move out for the weekend to save a few points.

 

[BCVOwner2002]

I purchased 270 points at BCV. There are 3 of us but DS who is 17 always brings a friend along so we will never stay in anything smaller than a 1 BR when we travel together. This is enough points for us to stay in a 1 BR for 7 nights during most of the seasons.

You may want to download Caskbill's program. See the thread entitled, "Now Available: The DVC Planning Computer Program." This will show you how many points you need to take the various vacations you mentioned over the next several years. Hope this is helpful. Annmarie

 

[Lisa F]

I know there are some dvc members out there who would say the following suggestion is sacreligeous BUT have you considered getting two studios instead of a two bedroom? That would make your points go a lot further but you would give up the full kitchen and the livingroom, washer and dryer. My husband and I sometimes stay in a 1 bedroom (or two if we have guests) but other times we stay in studios and find them downright luxurious (especially compared to a regular hotel room). For 12 consecutive nights including two weekend nights in a studio it would be 188 per room, or 376 for the whole visit. That's almost 100 points less AND you don't have to move out in the middle of your stay. Then you will have 164 points for yourselves and you could splurge on a 1 bedroom during adventure season for 6 nights (if you exclude Friday night, arrive on saturday and leave the following friday... you also get the jacuzzi in peace and private!) The experience probably won't be much different for your sons since they will probably be using the "studio" portion of the two bedroom anyway, and you just switch which trip you get the luxurious master bedroom for. Then, when you add on more points you can live it up in a 2 bedroom all the time.

Just a thought.

Lisa

 

[Lesley]

Perhaps it would be best for you to make the best of what you can get for now....and when they run out, do what you have to do. It certainly would be better to buy any amount now and then add on later than to wait and pay a higher price per point, and maybe not even get BCV points.

Would using cash for some nights be an option? We tend to stretch our trips out by staying at another resort, usually with an AP rate, for a few nights...or staying in a studio for part of the trip then moving to a one bedroom (you could stay in 2 studios then move up to a 2br....)

And, frankly, if you can't get in quite that many stays on what you have....well, at least you have something! We'd love twice the number of points we have...and would have no problem using them up...but 200's what we've got and that's what we have to stick with for now (we have added on once already....)

For the biggest stretching....stay only in Adventure season, stay at OKW, and don't stay on weekends. Playing with any of those variables helps the points go farther.

Oh, definitely don't use points for the non-DVC resorts.....use cash! You get much better deals that way! You could rent your points out and get much more for them than you'd pay cash for a couple of weekend nights at a moderate. If you want to save, book studios at OKW or stay cash at a value or moderate resort.

 

[SlyHubby]

Originally posted by Lesley
Perhaps it would be best for you to make the best of what you can get for now....and when they run out, do what you have to do. It certainly would be better to buy any amount now and then add on later than to wait and pay a higher price per point, and maybe not even get BCV points.

Again the fallacy that price/point will go up forever. Some of you folks are going to have a heart attack when the price begins to fall and continues to fall from that point forward. It will happen - as time goes on, all DVC memberships have less time remaining on them - the price will not go up forever. Further, given time, BCV contracts will end up as resales just like every other resort. So, let's not have visions of grandeur that BCV is so fabulous that once it's sold out that's the end of purchasing BCV. FWIW, I've already seen a BCV resale show up - I believe it was on Shontell's website. I also believe that it sold very quickly.

For our friend here, if you are dead set on purchasing a DVC membership, see what the absolute best deal is that you can get from DVC directly, then check the resales. As I have said many times before, there is plenty of space available to stay at BCV using the 7 month window. Just today, I made reservations for BCV 3/23 through 3/28 without any problems - our home is OKW. So, if you can get a very good deal on resale points (maybe you can afford 300 points on a resale for the same price as 270 you could afford through DVC), it may be worth your while to purchase at a resort other than BCV and stay there when you can reserve at the 7 month window. Over time you are going to want to stay at other resorts - so why purchase at BCV if you can get a good resale at another resort? We've seen this before - where everyone has absolutely got to purchase at the "new" resort. Hogwash! When the resort isn't the newest any longer, the chatter changes. Watch, you'll see.

In any case, good luck with your purchase, however you decide.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

At 12 nights you definitely need to do at least one Annual Pass...and once you have the AP you have a access to some of the lowest room rates available.

If you don't mind changing rooms I would do a blend of the choices people gave you. 2 studios for your first week. Then get the AP rate for 2 nights...possibly in a 2 bedroom and then finish up your vacation in a two bedroom.

...I don't think I would do 12 nights in a studio even with one for the boys and one for you...speaking of which...won't you have a conflict with Adventure & Choice versus school? School age DVC'ers seem to most frequently be Dream.

I do have to agree with Slyhubby...if you don't mind being somewhere besides BCV why buy there? Especially if you have to have a 2 bedroom OKW would serve you better to stretch points...then do BCV when its just you & your wife. You are buying so many points that you should be able to get a good deal on a resale & be able to buy more than 270 points.


I know people say buy where you want to stay but so far it only seems to be an issue at limited times of the year....and thus far hasn't affected me.

 

[CarolAnnC]

My first DVC purchase was 270 points at OKW. I have since bought 200 Vero Beach and 200 BWV points too. I found that the 270 points were enough for 3 nice trips per year. We would avoid the higher point costs weekend nights and shorten our trips, or stay somewhere else if we arrived, say on a Saturday, for the first night.

The ability to add on or purchase additional points will be there in the future. Don't strap yourselves financially just to buy more initially. 270 truly is a great amount of points to enjoy some nice trips with!

 

[SheriB]

We're in the process of purchasing 175 points at BCV. This will allow us to get a 2BR during any time but Premiere season every other year for one week, including weekends (we just can't afford to go every year). Hopefully as my kids get older (dd15 and ds11), and don't necessarily want to go on vacation with us, my dh and I can come every year ourselves. Or, the opposite may happen, and we may decide to buy more points down the road.

I, like you, can't get enough of Disney and this board. We could have gotten a resale and purchased more points, but we decided to go with Disney financing for the tax benefits (we don't have enough on our home equity line of credit to finance the amount, and with a resale, we couldn't get that option). We tossed this whole scenario around for two weeks after returning from the presentation and tour at BWV. And even though everyone on this board has excellent advice, only you can decide how many points you will need for your vacation habits.

But ultimately, it's better to buy what you can afford now and work around that. At least you will have the opportunity to stay at the absolute best accomodations WDW has to offer! Good luck with your decision.

I'm still waiting for my first set of paperwork, and I'm getting ansy!
My guide forgot to send it out before he went on vacation(that's not what he told me, but I know that's what happened), and I've been waiting what seems like forever! Anyhow, good luck, and hope you decide to buy anyway!

Sheri