I'm sure you have heard this 1000 times...

[Dean]

I wasn't planning on chiming in because there are already great responses but I have to agree with Sammie on this one.

Make sure you LOVE your resort. That is the only guaranteed thing in your contract. They could change their rule the day after you purchase saying that you can only stay at your Home Resort for the life of the contract. No exchanges, internal or external. And if you end up not liking it, your only options would be to grin and bear it for the life of the contract or sell your contract.

So please pick your HR really carefully.

And you mentioned that you're a young family. Buying DVC is like trying to see your future. For now you think a studio here and there makes no difference. But when your kids get older (as another PP said), you might realize that you need that extra space, extra bathroom (only on newer DVC resorts) and washer/dryer...
Or that waking up to savannah view is the only way to vacation, or chilling on the boardwalk everynight is your idea of heaven, or that the pool at BCV is the only place to go.

If I were you I would wait until you see the different resorts DVC has to offer. Go check out all the resorts that you might be interested in before you purchase. Resale points will always be available. And as Chuck have mentioned, exchanges to cruise etc. is not the best cost wise. Maybe after you see all the resorts you realize that getting more points thru resale is worth not having the exchange option.

Good luck deciding!

I'd agree with getting enough experience with the various choices to make informed decisions before jumping. However, for the right person, owning one resort with the idea of never staying there isn't a bad choice. When the price difference was small, it didn't make sense to complicate life by buying a resort as a points cow. However, I feel the price difference has crossed over the line where buying based largely on price (and dues) can be a consideration. I don't think one has to love the home resort to make this a great choice but one needs to be comfortable staying at the resort most trips in case you can't get anything else. SSR resale is likely the best overall value for that purpose but it ultimately comes down to price. I wouldn't buy at another location, esp HH or VB, for this purpose because one would not have an 11 month window for the desired destination plus the dues are enough higher to make those not reasonable choices simply to get points but again, it ultimately depends on the prices. Personally, to make VB and HH worth it for the points alone, I'd think the price needs to be south of $25 a point inclusive of all costs for all but the smallest of contracts. Obviously if one intends to stay at VB and HH part of the time, this can (but doesn't always) alter the landscape of reasonable choices.

 

[Dean]

Thanks Chuck,

I think I understand what you are saying... so currently could I use my points to stay at a moderate or some cheaper WDW hotel? Maybe even a value?

Thanks
Kyle

Moderates and campground cabins, yes, values no. It'd cost much more than a DVC studio to do so thus it wouldn't make sense. Plus you can't stay at any option that has DVC attached.

 

[TheYellowDart]

Thanks Dean - I guess that makes sense. One thing I have not been able to find anywhere is a price guide for the non DVC resorts. Is there on online or do you have to call them each time?

Thanks!
Kyle

 

[Dean]

Thanks Dean - I guess that makes sense. One thing I have not been able to find anywhere is a price guide for the non DVC resorts. Is there on online or do you have to call them each time?

Thanks!
Kyle

Try HERE. There really are NO non DVC options that are reasonable to buy in for. The absolute best position to put oneself in is that of having exactly the number of points you'd use at DVC only. Since it's hard to know exactly, often a small cushion is in order depending on the unit size, length of stay and time of year one is looking at. For full weeks in a 2 Br for Magic or above, one really needs NO cushion but if one is looking mostly at studios during slower times, a significant cushion is in order, maybe 20%.

 

[TisBit]

Try HERE. There really are NO non DVC options that are reasonable to buy in for. The absolute best position to put oneself in is that of having exactly the number of points you'd use at DVC only. Since it's hard to know exactly, often a small cushion is in order depending on the unit size, length of stay and time of year one is looking at. For full weeks in a 2 Br for Magic or above, one really needs NO cushion but if one is looking mostly at studios during slower times, a significant cushion is in order, maybe 20%.

well, a small cushion might be in order in the event of another reallocation....the owners that ended up a few points short were in a tough spot. That has been addressed some with the small point rentals through DVC, but I would still give myself a 10-15 point cushion....with banking and borrowing it will take a long time to catch up...maybe need to add a night ever couple of years.

 

[TheYellowDart]

Hmmm, more to think about =) My thinking was to currently buy the minimum I needed for my vacation (100 points) because the increase is 25 points minimum. If I were to buy say 115 points and I needed to get up to say 120 or 130 I would have to buy another 25 and pretty much waste them. Is this correct thinking?

Also, whats this stuff about reallocation? I thought my points and the points per room never change?

 

[Dean]

well, a small cushion might be in order in the event of another reallocation....the owners that ended up a few points short were in a tough spot. That has been addressed some with the small point rentals through DVC, but I would still give myself a 10-15 point cushion....with banking and borrowing it will take a long time to catch up...maybe need to add a night ever couple of years.

As I alluded to, it depends on where you start out. IF one were looking at a full week in the largest unit size they might consider (2 or 3 BR) during a higher season, a cushion is likely not necessary. Since you're near to top of the points required, the risk of reallocation or life changes causing the need for more points is almost non existent. For other situations it varies with the specific circumstances. Even then, as you suggest, there are fairly simply ways to recover that include an occasional stay off points or simply paying cash for a night or 2 every few years.

Hmmm, more to think about =) My thinking was to currently buy the minimum I needed for my vacation (100 points) because the increase is 25 points minimum. If I were to buy say 115 points and I needed to get up to say 120 or 130 I would have to buy another 25 and pretty much waste them. Is this correct thinking?

Also, whats this stuff about reallocation? I thought my points and the points per room never change?

The total can't change but the points can be rearranged and have been. Of that small a contract, I'd want around a 20% cushion. Remember smaller contracts tend to be more per point than larger ones and that closing costs are relatively fixed.

 

[TisBit]

Hmmm, more to think about =) My thinking was to currently buy the minimum I needed for my vacation (100 points) because the increase is 25 points minimum. If I were to buy say 115 points and I needed to get up to say 120 or 130 I would have to buy another 25 and pretty much waste them. Is this correct thinking?

Also, whats this stuff about reallocation? I thought my points and the points per room never change?

The last reallocation changed the point structure of the rooms. Weekend nights used to be double to three times the amount of a weekday night. Many resorts did not have the rooms full on the weekends and many DVC members were booking Sun-Thurs stays because of the points costs of weekends (a decent number were even paying cash for weekend nights, just to avoid the high point nights). Disney dropped the weekend nights and raised the weekday nights pretty much across the board....the total for a week went down for some people and up for others, depending on room type or seasons. A lot of people that bought the exact number they needed for those Sun-Thurs stays could no longer get that five night stay and ended up short points.

I suspect in the next 5 years you will see weekends go back up in points, just not as dramatically as they used to be. As Dean said, if points go up for one night, they must come back down somewhere else....the point total for one room over a one year period must stay the same (roughly, there is some leeway due to just mathematical issues, maybe +/- 2%)

 

[sherpasmom]

Thanks for all the great info everyone. Our family has never really been picky about the rooms we are in. We have stayed at riverside and loved it and motel 6s on the road down and still had fun. Honestly for the first few years of visits we will pick a new place every time.

Still trying to decide on buying with Disney or buying with a resale. We really want cruises include and Disney said that is only with them. We decided for a first run we are only going to buy 100 points, most likely at SSR. Disney will give us this years points and last years so we would start with 200 and can roll those over as we go so we think it will work out. Then we could buy 25 at a time later if we find we need a few extra. Also, 100 points only comes to about $10,000 buy in and ~$450 a year and we could spend about 10 days at the time we want (off peak) and I see that is normally $2,500. Break even in 5 years and then cake for the next 40.

I just hope the extend, the only thing I don't like is I dont have it forever ;-)

Thanks again for all the great info.

Kyle

Just wanted to say as a new BLT owner your reasoning here is very lucid---it is the same as mine! I have the same plan, more or less.

Before I bought I did (and still do) have a Dream cruise cash reservation---I just used my points for our pre-night stay. So where I may have been staying only a day or so before our cruise, now I have a week before the cruise--kindof like a split stay but going to the ship for the second half of the trip.

My plan is also to either add on or do another smaller contract so that we can do Aulani, Cruises or whatever...as my DD gets older. It was important to me to have some flexibility with different kindsof trips.

I will say this, until I purchased DVC I've never had THREE reservations concurrently at Disney but I do now....and that's a very happy place for me!

 

[sandieb]

We had stayed in hotels and then one time stayed in the Fort Wilderness Cabins. It was SO NICE not having to eat out all meals and to have a small living area. We went on a DVC tour and bought the BCV during a presale. What a huge difference from staying in a hotel. It is so much more relaxing being able to cook some simple meals and snacks, throw in a load of laundry, and be able to put the kiddies to bed and have some kid free time. I think DVC contributes way more toward a relaxing vacation than the dining plan does. Also, little children often get antsy during long meals.

There are always different perspectives, and I hope you find the right answer for you.
Sandie

 

[ldo]

There have been analysis prior that have said staying at a moderate is a bit cheaper than buying DVC, and when you throw in free DDP, staying at a moderate is more cost effective. As you kids get older, staying in 1 room together will NOT feel like a vacation--but for now, why not?
Thus, I would buy enough points to vacation in the unit type you want every OTHER year. The initial price is lower, you can still take advantage of free dining every other year, and you are not locked into DVC every year. That gives you a lot of flexibility. You are young and your tastes might change. Your kids might get busy with school and sports and not want to go every year. You might want to explore other locations (and as other have posted, using DVc points to trade out, for cruises, etc., is not the most cost effective thing to do).
You can bank and borrow DVC points, if you want to go 2 years in a row. Personally, for that amount of points, I would save the money and buy resale, and not worry about trading for cruises, etc.(can't really do that with 100 points anyway)---resale prices are very good now and you WILL get your money's worth of 100 points at SSR for $65 a point or so. If you are traveling in lower seasons, you can almost always move at 7 months to another location. We love trying all the DVCs--each one feels like a different vacation. Elaine