If you could do it all again...?

[BillM]

We bought from Disney in 2/98. At that time OKW, BWV, HH and VB were available. We looked at all of them and chose OKW. It best fits our lifestyle.
What I would do over again would buy a resale. Didn't know anything about how to do that at the time. We bought 250 pts at OKW and have since added twice at OKW of 50 point each. Also a 50 point at HH. The only thing I would do over is add a 100 point package instead of the two 50's. In case of resale the 100 pt is easier and more economical to sell.
I do think use year is important. We were only offered Dec when we bought as it was 3 weeks before sell out at OKW. We would have been better off with an aug or Sept.

 

[Lesley]

Well, I'm not exactly a veteran DVC'r (make my first ressies next week!) but here is what I would do differently-

I wish we had more seriously considered DVC when we first heard of it in 1994, though I'm still not sure we could have done it then.

I'm very happy with our home resort, BWV, though I have yet to stay there. The location is perfect for my family....dh and I love World Showcase and my ds loves the studios (dd is not yet a year and has so far only shown a preference for character meals!).

I think I should have been a bit less "practical" about the number of points we bought.....after trying to plan out the next several years I realize that I want more points! Not so much to make our vacations longer but so that I'd feel more comfortable splurging on larger accomodations, preferred views, more weekends, and maybe even using some points outside of WDW...at Vero, HH or the Concierge Collection. I think a few years down the road we may almost double our points with a BWV resale....or just add a few points here and there at other properties..HH if we move to NC, maybe Vero, possibly VWL.


Lesley


1979 Contemporary
1992 Off-site
1994 Carribean Beach
1999 Fort Wilderness and Coronado Springs
2000 Polynesian and Old Key West
2002 Boardwalk Villas

 

[Peggy Sue]

>>And, Peggy Sue, why would you stick with OKW as your "home" resort>>

heymagic - We love OKW. When we took the tour in 1997, we were at the BWV sales office. They offered to take us over to OKW so we could see both on-site properties and decide which was best for us. We fell in love with OKW. It is really all a matter of how you like to vacation. For us, the larger units, beautiful grounds, quiet, parking right in front of unit were all big selling points. We knew immediately this was where we wanted to call "home". When OKW announced they had more points for sale last year, we immediately added more because we found we were planning more vacations than we initially thought we would. Before DVC, we went to WDW every 4 or 5 years. After joining DVC the number of yearly trips just seems to keep increasing! This year we already have 3 trips reserved.

We also enjoy the Boardwalk, and added our last 100 points there so we would have the opportunity to book there with the 11 month window. We like the BW area for our shorter get aways and you can't beat the location for getting to Epcot or MGM.

Although we love the MK, we spend most of our park time at Epcot, AK and MGM. WLV's are beautiful, but their location isn't a big draw for us. We decided to wait for the BC villas before we add more points because that will provide us with another 11 month window for making reservations in a location that appeals to the way we like to vacation.

The great thing about DVC is choice...With the exception of WLV's, we have been to all the DVC resorts and each one is charming and a great place to stay!

I think one of the reasons we keep returning to DVC properties for our vacations since joining in 1997 is we just can't face going back to a standard hotel room for a week! We are so hooked on the 1 bedroom and larger units..It is ture vacation bliss!

Good luck with your decision!

Have a wonderful day!

 

[TampaDisneyFreaks]

We bought in April 2000 at BWV. We bought 250 pts. 270 would have been more reasonable for us and now I think 350-450 would be a much better number. We like to go to Disney for weekends, but with the point costs on Friday and Saturday, it is hard even for a studio to do that more than once and still make the other trips we like to do (10 days in Sept at BWV, 4 or 5 days in Dec. on property, 3 days or so in Spring on property). We would like to do the week long cruise, but we would have to borrow points to make it worthwhile, plus we would still NEED to go for the 10 days in Sept.. So needing more points is a definite must. We regret not buying in earlier, but when we first toured in 1997, finances were tight and our guide was a huge turn-off. It was harder to get my wife to overcome her negativity towards our guide (we got a different guide when we joined in 2000, and he is awesome)than it was to free up the money to buy in. Plus we ended up buying at BWV and we enjoy that resort more than OKW (we love OKW, just love BWV a little more)

 

[Bennet]

One more sooner.

BWV is great with kids as you are walking distance to two parks. (pushing the stroller back for a nap at noon is easy and conveniant)

Our little guys love MGM shows and Tappestry at Epcot. The Keaster coaster is cool and while we have pool hopped to YC it isn't that much more popular with my guys.

<A HREF="http://members.home.net/dunlapsdisney/" TARGET=_blank><IMG src="http://members.home.net/dunlapsdisney/images/shoe_home_small.gif" width="125" height="42">
</A>
</P>

Disney silliness: Buzz's Spin, Parks, Parades MORE TAPESTRY and MORE OF THE Unfortunate Footwear of Walt Disney World: http://members.home.net/dunlapsdisney/

 

[heymagic]

I'm churning all this great information through my old mill! Buying in sooner is not an option of course, but I think many of you are saying that buying enough points to start is better. If you start with say 350-400 points at OKW for example, is that better than adding points later at other resorts? Would it give added flexibility when making reservations to add them later? The use-year of September seems like a good choice from the posts too.
I want to say that the best reason I have found for joining the DVC is all of you. Any vacation is very dependent to us on the people who are there, and the "community" feeling I get from all of you and your willingness to share your experiences is very important to my way of thinking.
Can you bear two more questions?
Is there a time,in your opinions, when it is too late to buy in? Also, does the "E-Bay" thing bother you? Can DVC get impacted by folks buying lots of points and taking the "hard to get" days? And, more importantly to me, does that threaten, in some way,the great "community" spirit that helps to make the DVC a good thing?

Thanks so much,

[This message was edited by heymagic on 02-21-01 at 11:32 PM.]

 

[BobH]

I bought 240 points to start. I would buy 300 if I had it to do over. Reason being you can't use the DVC system to its potential without having between 200-300 points. Get some of the point charts from a guide and figure out what type of vacations (and how many) you want to take each year - then you will have an idea of what meets your needs. You will see that you are not going to get to go outside of Disney with any fewer points.
I am a relatively new member but I have been going to Disney for 25 years and researched DVC for 2 years before buying. I would also stress buying at WDW. It seems to me this is where the majority of your trips should be if you are going to get the most out of the vacation club. Good luck!