just joined DVC!! How many points to start?

[hmhs]

Driving home now from a great trip at WDW. We took the dive this morning and joined DVC!! We really didn't research it at all, which is unlike me, but since it was Disney we felt good about it.

We bought at the Poly, are paying full price upfront, like to go to WDW every year and usually stay 5-6 nights, like to stay at MK deluxe resorts and would like to go on a cruise in the near future.

Question 1: we bought in at 100 pts and will get 100 matching pts from Disney to start. We are wondering if we should have bought more, maybe 150? We can change until tomorrow and they will still match pts

Question 2: I see people talking here about buying poly points. What are they? Can u buy more DVC pts as needed?

Any advice would be great!!!
Thanks!

 

[disneynutz]

DVC will teach you that Disney isn't what it used to be.

My suggestion to you is that you rescind the contract and take the time to learn about the DVC, the resorts, how it works, why you really were not given match points, how you paid thousands more than what others are paying, and how using points for anything other than DVC resort stays is costing you extra.

Bill

 

[hmhs]

Can u elaborate a little more? How are we paying thousands more and not getting match points? We know about only staying in dvc resorts.

We just paid about a third of the buy in price for the trip we just took so it seemed like a no brainier to us.

Thanks

DVC will teach you that Disney isn't what it used to be.

My suggestion to you is that you rescind the contract and take the time to learn about the DVC, the resorts, how it works, why you really were not given match points, how you paid thousands more than what other are paying, and how using points for anything other than DVC resort stays is costing you extra.

Bill

Ca

 

[disneynutz]

There are so many things for you to learn, it's discussed here a few times each week. You bought the "match" points based on the UY that they sold you. They probably didn't explain UY in depth and why it matters and they made it seem like they were giving you something because you are special. They probably didn't tell you that you can buy any of the DVC resorts and not just Aulani, Poly, or AKV. If you buy resale and not direct you will save money, did they explain resale to you?

Bill

 

[magicaldisney]

Ditto to Bills advice. You purchased something that you really need to know how it works first. Do you know anything about how DVC works? Adding on to the above points that he made, are you familiar with the 11/7 month booking windows, are you familiar with point usage (how much and what time of year), are you familiar with all DVC resorts and what they offer, are you familiar with the different room types, are you familiar with banking and borrowing points?? The list can go on and on.

Are you thinking of using your points for the cruise you mentioned? Do you know how many points you would need for a cruise?

You are paying thousands more because you are buying direct instead of purchasing resale. However, you need to understand how resale works as well. The third you refer to that you paid, was that just the cost of the resort, because that's all you should be comparing to. You still have to pay for park tickets, food and transportation so those need to be taken out of the comparison. Do you realize how much you will pay per year for maintenance fees?

I'm not saying it's not a good idea for you to own DVC, it probably is, but if you aren't 100% familiar with how it all works you might be disappointed with the program and then you will have to go through a resale process to get rid of your points.

 

[hmhs]

Hi, thanks for your reply

Yes, I would say we are now at least familiar with everything u mentioned above from our session and since researching. Our rep went over the 11/7, point usage, banking, maintenance fees, etc

Buying Resale sounded like a lot of trouble so we didn't look into that too much

I guess what sold us was the bottom line price for the room we just had.... We paid 600 a night (stayed in a studio villa) and had we been DVC it would have been 170 a night (unless he lied to us). I know annual dues would need to figure into that comparison.

It seemed to me as I looked around on this board most people were pretty happy being DVC members. Is that not the case in general do u think?

Not sure if we would use points or not on the cruise, maybe for adults but not for the kids.

Again I appreciate your input!!

 

[DVCcurious]

Let me just say that if you are always going to stay at Poly in a Studio I think buying Direct is OK. Let's be realistic people, right now there are 0 Poly listings on the 3 main resale sights. So even if the OP wanted to buy Poly Resale he/she wouldn't be able to. It's not like this person is buying SSR direct.

Even if a Poly resale comes online I doubt it would be a real savings. Maybe 10% at most. Buying direct is easy and hassle-less. For 100 points at 170 per point you're looking at a savings of $1,500. Who cares? It's not like paying $170 ppt for AKL direct instead of $90 resale.

As for the question about room cost per night a Poly studio standard view is 18 points weekday, 20 points weekend in October. Poly has $6 per point dues. So a standard studio on a weekend would be $6 X 20 = $120. So it would be even less than the 170 he quoted you.

If you would go to Poly every trip and pay $600 for a standard room you should see significant savings with DVC even with buying direct. Personally I think you made a good decision if Poly is what you want. If you just want to be on-site as cheaply as possible then choose SSR resale. But if you want Poly or Grand Floridian I think buying Direct makes sense.

This is my opinion if you'll book your trip at 10 months or earlier. If you book with short notice you won't be able to get Poly all the time and it will be a worse decision than buying SSR resale (all points are the same when you are within 7 months from your trip)

 

[hmhs]

Let me just say that if you are always going to stay at Poly in a Studio I think buying Direct is OK. Let's be realistic people, right now there are 0 Poly listings on the 3 main resale sights. So even if the OP wanted to buy Poly Resale he/she wouldn't be able to. It's not like this person is buying SSR direct.

Even if a Poly resale comes online I doubt it would be a real savings. Maybe 10% at most. Buying direct is easy and hassle-less. For 100 points at 170 per point you're looking at a savings of $1,500. Who cares? It's not like paying $170 ppt for AKL direct instead of $90 resale.

As for the question about room cost per night a Poly studio standard view is 18 points weekday, 20 points weekend in October. Poly has $6 per point dues. So a standard studio on a weekend would be $6 X 20 = $120. So it would be even less than the 170 he quoted you.

If you would go to Poly every trip and pay $600 for a standard room you should see significant savings with DVC even with buying direct. Personally I think you made a good decision if Poly is what you want. If you just want to be on-site as cheaply as possible then choose SSR resale. But if you want Poly or Grand Floridian I think buying Direct makes sense.

This is my opinion if you'll book your trip at 10 months or earlier. If you book with short notice you won't be able to get Poly all the time and it will be a worse decision than buying SSR resale (all points are the same when you are within 7 months from your trip)

Yes we would likely stay at a monorail resort every time....poly, cr or gf. I think our main concern would be availability of rooms there through DVC but we often go at non peak times and can book far out.

Thanks and please let me know if u have any other advice or input!!

 

[jekjones1558]

I agree with DVCcurious. I will also admit that we bought with little forethought but have never regretted for a minute. We bought 220 points initially and added on 930 more points over the years, so you know that we love our DVC. As long as you are aware of yearly dues costs and the 11/7 month booking rules, I think you will be fine. Note that using DVC points for a cruise is usually not very cost effective. Congrats!

 

[tachyonbb]

You are the perfect candidate for DVC. You go every year, you stay for a week or so and you enjoy Disney. We joined a few years ago and it has already paid for itself. If you were an occasional Disney goer this would not have been a good choice. The resale market is fraught with peril and IMHO it is not worth the hassle. Welcome to the club. One of the best things we ever did.

 

[supersnoop]

Yes we would likely stay at a monorail resort every time....poly, cr or gf. I think our main concern would be availability of rooms there through DVC but we often go at non peak times and can book far out.

Thanks and please let me know if u have any other advice or input!!

Keep in mind that there are only studios (and ridiculously priced bungalows) at PVB. BLT and VGF have studios, one and two bedrooms, and grand villas. If you will mostly stay at PVB, then a direct purchase makes sense. If you'd rather stay at one of the other resorts, then you should consider resale.

 

[magicaldisney]

In your original post you stated you didn't research it but you know more about it than you thought you did! You seem to have the important information all covered.

You asked if people are generally happy with their DVC. I can only speak for my family, but we LOVE our DVC. We have now gotten to where we prefer to have two bedrooms so we needed to add on points. Even if we were to travel with just the two of us we probably would still want a one bedroom. We purchased direct for our original points because it felt safe and it was easier and quicker. We added on through resale points. Now that I know how easy it is to go through resale and if I could do it all over again, I would have gone resale to begin with and will always continue to add on through resale.

The only thing I haven't seen answered yet is your question of the number of points you have and if it is enough. I'll be honest, I'm not familiar with the points needed for a Poly studio because we never have an interest in studios. I'm assuming you went through how many points you would need for the time you normally want to travel with your guide. If not, quickly find a points chart and figure that out. Yes, you can always add on points either direct or resale. (Here's a tip: if you do decide to add on the simplest thing is to add on the same resort with the same Use Year. Anything other than that might require you to transfer between contracts and that could get messy.)

 

[mickeyman]

I believe it's 99 points if you go during value season for 6 nights any other time of year you would need more points than that

 

[magicaldisney]

One more thing to keep in mind as you move forward because you mentioned traveling at non peak times. Non peak times for Disney is not the same as non peak times for DVC. This might make a difference on the number of points you think you will be needing.

 

[Dean]

I'd cancel until you do more research. You will have great difficulty reserving VGF and BLT standard view so owning the Poly wont give you any advantage there. As noted, you didn't get free points. You need to decide what the best home resort is for you, whether buying resale is better for you and how you'll use it. You could buy 150 points at BLT for around the same price and you lose nothing of value going resale currently since you said you wanted monorail most of the time. If you decide the Poly retail is the best option, I'd suggest you buy a fixed week even if it's not a week you'll generally use.

 

[davper]

We really didn't research it at all, which is unlike me, but since it was Disney we felt good about it.

I hope your choice turns out to be a good one for your family. But buying something you know very little about is a very bad choice. Start reading this ASAP before your right to rescind expires.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/★-☆-★-the-dvc-information-center-★-☆-★.3436037/

 

[davper]

Yes, I would say we are now at least familiar with everything

I wouldn't say you are familiar. You spent a couple of hours with your guide (aka Salesman with self serving interest)? You will need to spend days reading and asking questions before you are familiar.

Buying Resale sounded like a lot of trouble so we didn't look into that too much

There was no trouble. When I bought my 2 contracts, I knew upfront that it would take 3 to 4 months before being completed. Most of that time is due to Disney dragging their feet.
I found the contract I wanted, made the offer, sent the check, and sat back and patiently waited.

Our rep went over the 11/7, point usage, banking, maintenance fees, etc

The guide told you that you could make reservations at 7 months for any of the other resorts you wanted. But did he tell you that you are unlikely to get what you want at the 7 month mark during popular DVC times? If you bought at Poly thinking that you will stay at VGF or BLT, you are going to be in for a surprise.
The guide told you that if you have to cancel, the points go back to you for later use. But I bet they didn't tell you that if you cancel within 4 months of the end of your use year, you won't be able to bank them? Try and find a room 2,3 or 4 months out. Not impossible, people get lucky all the time because someone had to cancel. Just don't hold your breath.
Did they tell you that MF go up every year. So far the greatest increase has been 14.8% YOY. That is the extreme. You can reasonably expect about 4% YOY.
etc. They told you enough to make it seem like a no brainer.

I guess what sold us was the bottom line price for the room we just had.... We paid 600 a night (stayed in a studio villa) and had we been DVC it would have been 170 a night (unless he lied to us). I know annual dues would need to figure into that comparison.

The 170 is not far from true but the 600 is rack rate. You could stay in that room for less than 300 per night without being a DVC member.

It seemed to me as I looked around on this board most people were pretty happy being DVC members. Is that not the case in general do u think?

Most people are and we are not trying to discourage you from buying. Just do it with open eyes.

Not sure if we would use points or not on the cruise, maybe for adults but not for the kids.

My understanding is that it is cheaper pay cash than use your points for the cruise. I don't cruise so this was never an issue for me.

 

[Savagekids]

All good tips above, one point no one has hit on yet. Do not finance. If you have to borrow funds, look for a cheaper contract on the resale market that is within your budget.

 

[Popouri DVC]

One bedroom villas or larger will likely spoil you. It's delightful to have the extra lounging space, jetted tub and full kitchen. Even if you don't plan to cook, it's great to make breakfast in the villa before hitting the parks!

After staying in one bedrooms, whenever we go to Disney on cash and not points, we end up in a hotel room and feel like we greatly miss the one bedrooms.

I'll echo what others here are saying: if poly is the place you want to be the most, buy direct, but look at the points chart to see if 100 points is enough... And remember that poly only has studios or $$$$ bungalows which you absolutely cannot book with only 100 points

If you want to stay at Bay Lake Tower or the Villas at The Grand Floridian sometimes, you'll be booking at seven months and competing with all of DVC for those rare studios/ standard views...

You could cancel your contract and do a lot of research to ensure you buy EXACTLY what is best for your family. They will have poly to sell for quite awhile.

I'd also look into a fixed week option if you always want to stay at the poly and always plan to go the same time each year. I wish the fixed week option had been explained to me by my guide when I bought VGF a year ago...

 

[quinnc19]

You could stay in that room for less than 300 per night without being a DVC member.

I'm curious about this point. I have never seen rooms (even regular hotel rooms) go for less than 450 or 500 in the last 5 years.