I Need Advice--wanting to buy DVC but still have questions

[Snoopygirl]

Ok....so I've really been going round and round all week on wether or not to but directly from Disney at SSR or do a resale at SSR or OKW. We are a family of 4 (DD's are 3 & 7) and we would probably go to WDW every 2 years and maybe go to DL every year. We are currently planning a trip to DL in March--and I want to stay at a Disney resort w/ pts.

So....if I buy a resale at OKW...when I want to buy more pts....do I have to add it to my OKW account or would I be able to buy pts at SSR? Would I have to buy 150 pts. there??? I keep thinking of the 12 extra years at SSR....that would be nice for our girls in the future.

Ugh! I just don't know what to decide. Should I just buy resale at SSR??

Oh yeah....If I buy direct thru Disney at SSR...would I get the 150 pts. right away so I could use them at DL?? That really confuses me.

Another one...I got the DVC book in the mail and on the page where it has the pts. for the DL Hotels...it says in fine print--All reservations are subject to availability and Members may not book and travel on the Disney Collection vacations within the last 60 days of their Use Year. What is the deal w/ that???


Thanks so much for any help and advice you can give me!!

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

If you buy resale you have to wait until your contract goes thru. I don't know how long that takes. However, DVC has the 1st right of refusal on the contract, so you may not be able to purchase the contract because DVC bought it back.

I bought a 150 pt contract last year from Disney and was able to make Ressie the moment I put down my deposit. My Guide was great because I had a cash reservation at Vero Beach for two nights during presidents week (very busy time) and she was able to change that into a points reservation. (This is not easy to do, because cash & point reservations are totally separate inventories). In addition, she was able to book me 3 nights at the BWV (my home) 5 months before my trip. She definitely worked her magic!!

The 60 day rule means that say your use year is June. That means that your points refresh (you get new points) every June 1. Since the DL resort isn't a DVC resort, they have to sell your points in order to buy your DL vacation. Therefore, if you are going to travel from April 1 to June 1 you need to book your stay there before April 1st, to allow them to trade your points. They do this because if you don't use your point or bank them they are gone, but if you trade them, they need time to make the trade. So in summary, you could book March 25 and travel on May 1, but you can't book after April 1st. Although you can book May 1st and travel on July 1st (because this is a different use year).

Once you buy the initial contract add ons need to be made in 25 point increments and you can buy any resort you would like. If you do buy different resorts you can only reserve the number of points you own at each location. You cannot use 175 points to book at SSR when you own 150 at SSR & 25 at OKW at the 11 month window. If you are at the 7 month window it doesn't matter.

Good luck with your decision!!

 

[ACDSNY]

With the current promotion they are running I'd go with direct from Disney. You'll get into the system faster.

If you did the OKW resale, you could still buy SSR either from Disney or resale.

In our new vacation planner it reads the Disneyland Resort Hotels are excluded from the last 60 days of their Use Year statement. Which means you can book them within the last 60 days of your Use Year.

I'll send you a PM if you need a referal name.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Plus, if they do build a DVC at DL, you'll have a great place to go every other year.

 

[tstan65]

If you buy resale you must have the points at the resort you buy and have the use year specified in the contract. One advantage to buying from Disney is the ability to pick the exact numer of points you want and they finance without a problem. I know some people who tried to buy resale points and had trouble financing. We just got off the cruise ship and were told Disey is running a 15th anniversary special taking $15/point off making new points $86 which is quite a deal. Another issue is that Saratoga points are good for longer that OKW points (I own at both resorts).

 

[rinkwide]

Plus, if they do build a DVC at DL, you'll have a great place to go every other year.

...and if they don't?

 

[the who #3]

i think you would be ok buying thru disney or a resale if you make sure that all add-ons or additional contracts are the same use year. i still am not sure about having two different resorts. get some good advice on that one. in all the talking i did, still something went wrong.

i purchased 250 pts at ssr and an add-on at ssr for 25 pts. this after i questiioned disney about bcv (which is what we really wanted) and was told that it would not be for sale at all, that ssr was the only thing being sold.

i later found a resale of 150 pts. at bwv, and after looking at bwv, decided that would be almost like bcv. it did not have the same use year but was close, june and august, the resale co. did not tell me that it could be a problem since the uys were close. i did purchase and will manage use both or sell one. altho i will lose a few points here and there. having to move from one resort to another in the middle of my vacation is not a vacation.

when trying to get thru the contract signing the resale closing company got somebody elses contracts in my file, and sent me the wronge contracts (be careful of this) and when i called to say something was wronge they did not seem to have time to talk to me. so when the next set of contracts were sent, they were also wronge. after a call to the resale co. and another call to the closing co. the right (maybe) contracts were sent to me.
i signed and paid in full.

when my warrenty deed arived in the mail, it had been opened and the contents removed. all papers had been stapled together, several times, and unstapled. i had no way of knowing if i had recieved everything or not. i call the closing co. and asked to speak to the person (ms. smith) who signed the cover letter. after asking if i had recieved everything she just said you get what is in the envelope. i asked her what she put in the envelope, explaining that i am just trying to find out if anything was lost, she stated that she did not have anything to do with what was there and i just get what i got.

i then recieved a call from dvc quality assurance who informed me that the contract no. that the closing sent with the deed was not the correct no. and gave me another one over the phone. when i asked if the difference in contract nos. could cause trouble down the line the answer was YES.

i paid for the contract in full and hope someone is not going to try to hold me responsible for someone elses financing. i am probably going to have to sell one or the other of my homes (resorts) to fix the mess. with a confussion of contract nos. even that may be difficult.

i find myself not knowing what to do. you should be ok, but i would buy resale in person, not on line or by fax. i know the timeshare store is a good company, the problems seem to have come from the time share closing company. they don't seem to be very competant. i am sure they did not open the envelope, but they should have been willing to go over with me the items that were put in the envelope. their aditude was that they had more important things to do than making sure contracts and paper work were correct.

disney is just about the greatest form of vacation in the world and i do trust them. i do plan to keep some form of my dvc, i just have to figure out how to fix this mess.

 

[rantnnravin]

So....if I buy a resale at OKW...when I want to buy more pts....do I have to add it to my OKW account or would I be able to buy pts at SSR? Would I have to buy 150 pts. there???

If you buy resale at OKW, when you want to buy more points it could take a number of different routes:

1) buying fewer than 150 points, at ANY resort (could be SSR, VWL, OKW...etc), through DVC: must be a subcontract of the OKW contract and have the same Use Year

2) buying 150 or more points, at ANY resort, through DVC can be its own contract with ANY UY you choose

3) buying ANY number of points at ANY resort via resale can have any UY, but you'll need to find the right contract, wait on ROFR, pay closing costs **(add-ons through DVC for existing members have no closing costs)

Oh yeah....If I buy direct thru Disney at SSR...would I get the 150 pts. right away

Yes. you will be able to book your first DVC vacation using points right away

Should I just buy resale at SSR??

Personally, I'd go direct through DVC with the promo they're offering now. Any resale contract you'd find for SSR will likely be stripped (no points 'til 2008) and you'd have to wait to receive/book/use your points.