Interested in DVC!!

[mom2rose&john]

Hi there, long time dis-board member but first time posting on this forum. I have been lurking around learning about the DVC program and am very interested in purchasing. I want to make sure this is a good fit for our family so I am taking a slow and easy approach. I have been watching the Youtube videos and reading threads on this forum and on Facebook. I figured it about time to introduce myself and ask question

First I a little about myself and family. We are a family of four from a suburb of Buffalo, NY. My husband and I have been married for 18 yrs. and we have a 16 yr. old daughter and a 14 yr. old son. We currently have an Aruba Timeshare that we have traded very successfully and had very memorable vacations. We have been to Orlando eight times. Six of those trips have been to Disney World and five have been onsite using the Moderate hotels (well, our first was at POP).
I am the only Disney fanatic, but my family is not but they do like to go every other to third year. Our kids will be off to college soon and will we be empty nesters. This will enable us to vacation off season and we plan on late January, Feb, April and all of May to be our time frame. And, our plan is to retire in eleven years if all goes well.
Our first timeshare purchase was an impulse purchase at La Cabana in Aruba on our honeymoon. In hindsight we totally overpaid but it has provided us with awesome vacations. We have a set Week 48 and plan to use that every year. Since then I have learned about resale and the DVC program.

We have never stayed in a DVC and I plan to visit within the next year to two. I know that the rule of thumb is buy where you want to stay but price does factor in. After a little research, I like the BLT and AKL Kidani for the fact that a one bdrm has two baths. Each DVC resort has so much to offer and it is going to be difficult to decide where I want my home resort.

The Use year confuses me most and would love help wrapping my head around it. So…that is my first question. Can you help me understand the use year and what month would be most beneficial as far as booking and banking?

I look forward to learning from the pros!!

 

[Marionnette]

Hi there, long time dis-board member but first time posting on this forum. I have been lurking around learning about the DVC program and am very interested in purchasing. I want to make sure this is a good fit for our family so I am taking a slow and easy approach. I have been watching the Youtube videos and reading threads on this forum and on Facebook. I figured it about time to introduce myself and ask question

First I a little about myself and family. We are a family of four from a suburb of Buffalo, NY. My husband and I have been married for 18 yrs. and we have a 16 yr. old daughter and a 14 yr. old son. We currently have an Aruba Timeshare that we have traded very successfully and had very memorable vacations. We have been to Orlando eight times. Six of those trips have been to Disney World and five have been onsite using the Moderate hotels (well, our first was at POP).
I am the only Disney fanatic, but my family is not but they do like to go every other to third year. Our kids will be off to college soon and will we be empty nesters. This will enable us to vacation off season and we plan on late January, Feb, April and all of May to be our time frame. And, our plan is to retire in eleven years if all goes well.
Our first timeshare purchase was an impulse purchase at La Cabana in Aruba on our honeymoon. In hindsight we totally overpaid but it has provided us with awesome vacations. We have a set Week 48 and plan to use that every year. Since then I have learned about resale and the DVC program.

We have never stayed in a DVC and I plan to visit within the next year to two. I know that the rule of thumb is buy where you want to stay but price does factor in. After a little research, I like the BLT and AKL Kidani for the fact that a one bdrm has two baths. Each DVC resort has so much to offer and it is going to be difficult to decide where I want my home resort.

The Use year confuses me most and would love help wrapping my head around it. So…that is my first question. Can you help me understand the use year and what month would be most beneficial as far as booking and banking?

I look forward to learning from the pros!!

Welcome to our little corner of the World!

There’s an excellent introduction to Understanding Use Year in this forum. I highly recommend reading it and then returning to this thread with any specific questions you have.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/understanding-use-year-updated-march-10-2019.1942668/

 

[Jack_Sparrow_NJ]

The Use Year which to me is a confusing term, is the month when you are given a particular years given allocation of points. So if you own 100 points with an April Use Year every April 1, 100 points will be put into your account. You do not have to wait until the points are in your account to make a reservation. But they must be in your account during the actual nights on property.

 

[chalee94]

This will enable us to vacation off season and we plan on late January, Feb, April and all of May to be our time frame.

The Use year confuses me most and would love help wrapping my head around it. So…that is my first question. Can you help me understand the use year and what month would be most beneficial as far as booking and banking?

Booking is based on home resort. You can book your home resort at 11 months out or other resorts at 7 months out based on availability.

If you have a December UY and want to book a January stay at your home resort, you can call or go online in February the year before. If you have a February UY, you will quickly notice that February remains 11 months away from a January stay.

Use Year is about the dates for your stay. Nothing at all to do with when you can call to book.

If you have a sudden issue and need to cancel that January stay on short notice, a Dec UY means that the points used for that stay will not expire until later that same year in November.

If you have a sudden issue and need to cancel that January stay on short notice, a Feb UY means that the points used for that stay will expire later that month if not used for a stay by the end of January.

Ideally, you want to travel early in your UY, so for January to May trips, an October or December UY will typically work best.

 

[chalee94]

I do recommend bookmarking the Use Year thread posted above for reference.

 

[ELMC]

Welcome! The UY question has been answered above so I'll take a second to address a few of your other points/questions. The first thing to remember is that DVC is not necessary to visit Disney or even to become a regular. If you are happy staying in Mods then you might not need DVC. What DVC can do for you is get you into accommodations closer to the parks and/or get you in larger accommodations than your standard hotel room. If that's what you're looking for, then DVC might be a good fit. Please keep in mind that the costs associated with DVC have skyrocketed over the past few years. That's something to consider as you do your cost evaluations to determine whether or not it is truly a good fit for your family. Good luck and ask lots of questions!

 

[CraigInPA]

I would recommend renting some points to stay at your potential home resorts.

When my wife and I were looking, we narrowed our field down to three:
1. Poly, because we had stayed there about 20 times in hotel rooms
2. Beach Club, because we liked the ability to walk to Epcot and DHS
3. Bay Lake Tower, because we liked the ability to walk to the MK
We eliminated BWV, SSR, and OKW because they were too big. We eliminated GFV because of cost. We eliminated AKV because of the lack of a walkway to a park and the requirement to ride buses everywhere. We eliminated BRV/CCV because it did not have a Florida vibe. After looking at which long houses were converted to DVC, and our long love of the other side of the Poly resort, we crossed Poly off our list.
We rented points and stayed a week at BCV, and a week at BLT.
For us, BLT won out, because it felt like "home" being on the monorail loop with walking distance to MK.

 

[zavandor]

After a little research, I like the BLT and AKL Kidani for the fact that a one bdrm has two baths. Each DVC resort has so much to offer and it is going to be difficult to decide where I want my home resort.

If you are looking to buy in to stay in 1BR, you will be flexible in your schedule and visit mostly from January after marathon week end to May, then you probably don't have to stress too much about the choice of home resort. You'll be spoilt for choice. I recommend to buy a resort you like anyway (and BLT and AKV are both good value) because we do not know if booking patterns will change in the future or maybe you'll want to visit doring a different time when it's more difficult, so it's important to have an home resort you'd be happy to stay at. But currently, looking for a 1BR for the first 9 months of the year, a part from a few holidays and RunDisney events, you'd have plenty of availability.

 

[mom2rose&john]

Welcome to our little corner of the World!

There’s an excellent introduction to Understanding Use Year in this forum. I highly recommend reading it and then returning to this thread with any specific questions you have.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/understanding-use-year-updated-march-10-2019.1942668/

I am getting a better understanding of the UY. Thank you so much

What order can points be used? For example, my reservation totals 200 points and I have 160 points banked from previous UY. Can I use the 160 banked points first and then use 40 current year points?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I am getting a better understanding of the UY. Thank you so much

What order can points be used? For example, my reservation totals 200 points and I have 160 points banked from previous UY. Can I use the 160 banked points first and then use 40 current year points?

yes

 

[chainkid]

I would never buy without visiting first as you never know which resort would feel like home to you. Do a fact finding trip and stay a night in each of your perceived favorites and then try Epcot resort DVC . I bought at Hilton head and AKV as well as Boardwalk in the beginning. I knew I loved BWV after staying there. I thought I would love AKV and don't. I sold Hilton Head due to difficult airfare. I have since added resale BWV a couple times. I thought I would want a magic kingdom DVC so did a whirlwind trip and stayed in each one for a couple nights. They were all nice but not something that I felt would work for me so bought more BWV instead. Your kids are older so the appeal of Food and wine festival and the adult like atmosphere of the Epcot area might appeal to them more than the remoteness of AKV. My older adults never want to stay anywhere else...location , location ,location. Each DVC is totally different and offers different experiences and only you can know what is most important to you and your family. BLT is a great location but is too sterile for us. GFV have gorgeous rooms but vibe is too stuffy for me. Poly my favorite has only studios or way overpriced bungalows. BWV has the grand villas with the best views and an enormous amount of space. I can bank and borrow points to take large family vacations and splurge for the grand and put others up in standard view at really cheap points and everyone is happy.

nother thing to consider is having a lot of points with several small contracts at one DVC is a big advantage over scattered contracts over multiple ones if you want to secure hard to get reservations. AKV is not as hard a get reservation as the Epcot area resorts . It is worth every penny we spent to belong and every penny we spent making the correct decision on home resort

 

[Deb & Bill]

Fiscal year for business is similar to UY. Everyone things of Jan 1 as the beginning of the year. Disney's Fiscal Year starts Oct 1. The US Federal government fiscal year starts on Oct 1. Some fiscal years for business starts July 1. School year begins end of August, start of Sept. Your UY begins the starts of your year when you can use that set of points.

 

[Jkarrows]

One other thing worth knowing is the Banking and Borrowing of points, you do have to bank your points before the end of your use year.

For example my use year is March every year but I have to bank my points if i am not going to use them before the 31st of October, not sure why you have to do this so far in advance but you do.

Someone else with a more understanding of why this is the case will no doubt explain why.

 

[Deb & Bill]

One other thing worth knowing is the Banking and Borrowing of points, you do have to bank your points before the end of your use year.

For example my use year is March every year but I have to bank my points if i am not going to use them before the 31st of October, not sure why you have to do this so far in advance but you do.

Someone else with a more understanding of why this is the case will no doubt explain why.

You must bank any current year points that you are not going to use no later than the eighth month of the year. You can bank those points once. You cannot bank them a second time. There is also the Rule of Four. If you are eligible to book the Disney Collection (you purchased direct or had resale from the early years as well as direct) or the other collections (not RCI though), you cannot book and stay during the last four months of the UY. DVC needs more than four months to sell the points you used to book that stay to pay for that stay. You can always book a DVC stay no matter where or when as long as there is availability.

 

[Jkarrows]

You must bank any current year points that you are not going to use no later than the eighth month of the year. You can bank those points once. You cannot bank them a second time. There is also the Rule of Four. If you are eligible to book the Disney Collection (you purchased direct or had resale from the early years as well as direct) or the other collections (not RCI though), you cannot book and stay during the last four months of the UY. DVC needs more than four months to sell the points you used to book that stay to pay for that stay. You can always book a DVC stay no matter where or when as long as there is availability.

What does amaze me is Disney claims to have DVC only resorts but when i look for a space around Christmas, DVC says no space but I can book this with cash direct with Disney for a lot of the DVC resorts.

No space on DVC at Saratoga, Old Key West, Beach Club, Boardwalk, Animal Kingdom, Wilderness Lodge, Grand Floridan, Polynesian, Copper Creek but space if I pay cash, rooms available from Studios, 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom and 3 bedroom rooms.

Hows that when some of these resorts are meant to be DVC only and re-sell as last resort.

 

[Deb & Bill]

What does amaze me is Disney claims to have DVC only resorts but when i look for a space around Christmas, DVC says no space but I can book this with cash direct with Disney for a lot of the DVC resorts.

No space on DVC at Saratoga, Old Key West, Beach Club, Boardwalk, Animal Kingdom, Wilderness Lodge, Grand Floridan, Polynesian, Copper Creek but space if I pay cash, rooms available from Studios, 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom and 3 bedroom rooms.

Hows that when some of these resorts are meant to be DVC only and re-sell as last resort.

You are just another person who doesn't understand how DVC works. DVC owns about 2% of each resort. They can use this 2% to cover any maintenance issues or they can sell it and the money goes to the resort. Every time an owner has their account foreclosed or DVC takes a contract in ROFR, those points are then DVC's to use to sell. When a resort is brand new, any unsold inventory is owned by the developer who rents it out for cash. Finally, any DVC owner who trades their points for a Disney hotel or other Disney Collection stay (like the DCL or Adv by Disney) has those points sold to pay for their non-DVC trip. So until no member can trade out their points, every member doesn't sell their contracts when they tire of them, every member pays their dues and fees to DVC as required, DVC will still own about 2% of the resort to sell. None of these can be used for points stays because they don't represent any points inventory. Those points traded by member have already been used in the trade, so they can't be used again for a stay on points.

The inventory you see on the Disney Reservation Center site can't be used for points stays because it is different inventory from member points inventory.

Nineteen years ago, we traded some of our OKW points to take a DCL cruise in Nov 2000. DVC had to pay for that cruise (DVC points aren't currency) to DCL, which is a different business. So DVC sold a reservation based on those points to someone else to pay for our trip.

 

[stewart715]

I’d reconsider BWV. It may be large (though not nearly as large as SSR/OKW) but not only is it cheaper per point than BCV, the point charts are also cheaper (so you’ll need even less points at a lower cost per point).

I am curious as to why size is such a major factor in your search. It’s the first time I’ve read BWV and OKW/SSR mentioned in the same breathe. BWV is not comparable to OKW/SSR. They are also nearly triple the size of BWV.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I’d reconsider BWV. It may be large (though not nearly as large as SSR/OKW) but not only is it cheaper per point than BCV, the point charts are also cheaper (so you’ll need even less points at a lower cost per point).

I am curious as to why size is such a major factor in your search. It’s the first time I’ve read BWV and OKW/SSR mentioned in the same breathe. BWV is not comparable to OKW/SSR. They are also nearly triple the size of BWV.

You need to book quickly at 11 months out to get those standard villas at BWV. You snooze, you lose.

 

[Jkarrows]

You are just another person who doesn't understand how DVC works. DVC owns about 2% of each resort. They can use this 2% to cover any maintenance issues or they can sell it and the money goes to the resort. Every time an owner has their account foreclosed or DVC takes a contract in ROFR, those points are then DVC's to use to sell. When a resort is brand new, any unsold inventory is owned by the developer who rents it out for cash. Finally, any DVC owner who trades their points for a Disney hotel or other Disney Collection stay (like the DCL or Adv by Disney) has those points sold to pay for their non-DVC trip. So until no member can trade out their points, every member doesn't sell their contracts when they tire of them, every member pays their dues and fees to DVC as required, DVC will still own about 2% of the resort to sell. None of these can be used for points stays because they don't represent any points inventory. Those points traded by member have already been used in the trade, so they can't be used again for a stay on points.

The inventory you see on the Disney Reservation Center site can't be used for points stays because it is different inventory from member points inventory.

Nineteen years ago, we traded some of our OKW points to take a DCL cruise in Nov 2000. DVC had to pay for that cruise (DVC points aren't currency) to DCL, which is a different business. So DVC sold a reservation based on those points to someone else to pay for our trip.

No i know how it works thank you, just amazed how it works.

 

[stewart715]

You need to book quickly at 11 months out to get those standard villas at BWV. You snooze, you lose.

That’s true, but I was referring to the point charts in their entirety. Not specifically SV Studios. BCV has same issue with their studios too.