Learning the Ropes

[iankh]

I have just gone to contract on a VWL resale. The ROFR waiting period has begun.

I do have some questions regarding things I have seen in this forum and was hoping some of you could answer what must be some very basic questions I have.

Annual Passes (AP)

I know that DVC members get a discount on AP's but is it worth it? In our case, we would go down to WDW every 12 to 18 months for about 7 to 8 nights. Based on that, is it a savings?

Disney Dining Experience (DDE)

Again, given this pattern, I asuume the break even point is at spending $375 in meals? Are there any downsides to this for a 7 to 8 night stay?

Reservations

If I pass ROFR on this purchase, it will probably take a few weeks before I can book. Any thoughts on the likelihood of getting a 1bedroom at VWL toward the middle of August (12 - 19)? Any thoughts on getting a 1 bd anywhere ?

Other Tips

Are there any tips that new people like myself should know? Things that you have learned as part of the compendium of shared wisdom?

 

[tamu91]

Annual Passes (AP)

I know that DVC members get a discount on AP's but is it worth it? In our case, we would go down to WDW every 12 to 18 months for about 7 to 8 nights. Based on that, is it a savings?

I believe the breakpoint is 9 days so AP pass, even with DVC discount, might not be the best option for you economically. However, AP does offer some perks such as DDE, room discounts, etc. that might make it worth while. But in general, unless you make at least 2 trips within 12 mos, AP is not the most economic option.

Disney Dining Experience (DDE)

Again, given this pattern, I asuume the break even point is at spending $375 in meals? Are there any downsides to this for a 7 to 8 night stay?

Again, you have to purchase the AP pass in order to use the DDE, unless you are a Florida resident. You have to take the AP cost into consideration vs. buying say a 8 day ticket with hopper options. I did not include the non-expire option since you'll be doing 8 days on a single trip.

Reservations

If I pass ROFR on this purchase, it will probably take a few weeks before I can book. Any thoughts on the likelihood of getting a 1bedroom at VWL toward the middle of August (12 - 19)? Any thoughts on getting a 1 bd anywhere ?

The entire resalel process can take about 8 weeks so if you pass ROFR and close by end of March, you should have a fairly good chance of getting a 1 Bdrm at VWL for August. If not, you should have no trouble at OKW or SSR

Good luck on your ROFR and do you mind posting the details of your contract? I'm just curious

 

[iankh]

Good luck on your ROFR and do you mind posting the details of your contract? I'm just curious

I don't mind posting them, but believe it or not, right now I'm afraid of jinxing the deal. Is that weird or what?

 

[disney junky]

Good luck and I hope everything goes through for you....

 

[WDW LOVR]

I have always just did the numbers. If an AP costs you $200 more than a normal ticket and you can save more than $200 in AP discounts, buy one no matter how many days you are going. E.G. If you plan on eating at quite a few sit down restaurants, the AP could pay by itself even without DDE.

Just run the numbers.

We will pay cash for weekend nights because we don't have enough points for the number of nights we want to stay and an AP can save us enough on the room rates only to make sense to get one (we're planning on a BWV add-on soon to try and remedy that problem).

 

[tjkraz]

I know that DVC members get a discount on AP's but is it worth it? In our case, we would go down to WDW every 12 to 18 months for about 7 to 8 nights. Based on that, is it a savings?

Maybe. Maybe not. The breakeven analysis has gotten pretty foggy since the introduction of the Magic Your Way passes and all of the components that are now optional.

The discounted AP would cost about $300 per person today. But, the 10-day MYW pass with no expiration, no hopping and no plusses is $329. If you're going for 8 days, the MYW may be more economical because you pay about $30 for two extra park days that you could save for another trip.

But you'll also need to consider your use of some of the perks. You need the AP to get the DDE, AP holders also get 10% off at World of Disney, etc.

So the answer to your question just has too many factors for a general answer. Lay out all of the options and see which works best for you.

Many DVC members get APs because they vacation at least 1x per year. For example, a member that vacations every October could go the fourth week of Oct 2005 and the second week of Oct 2006. Both of those trips fall under the same 365-day period for one AP. So, instead of buying an AP every single year, you can get away with buying APs every two years.

Again, given this pattern, I asuume the break even point is at spending $375 in meals? Are there any downsides to this for a 7 to 8 night stay?

Actually, AP holders only pay $50 for DDE, making the breakeven just $250. The only thing you would want to do is verify that there are restaurants that appeal to you. There are very few counter service meals on the list. If you regularly eat sit-down meals, you'll probably more than make up for the cost in 8 days.

If I pass ROFR on this purchase, it will probably take a few weeks before I can book. Any thoughts on the likelihood of getting a 1bedroom at VWL toward the middle of August (12 - 19)? Any thoughts on getting a 1 bd anywhere ?

No problems getting one anywhere. If you don't get VWL, go on the waitlist. If you're first on the list, it only takes one cancellation for you to get in. 7 months is an awful long time for folks' plans to change.

I've often heard that the 1B units are the last to fill up. My own experiences seem to confirm that.

Good luck.

 

[iankh]

Some really good points. I hadn't considered planning 2 trips within a 12 month period to take advantage of the AP.

I think some of our vacationing pattern may change too. We might consider a few more shorter trips. I suppose if we had the APs the airfare from Chicago is pretty cheap, only $150 or so. It would beat sitting at home.

 

[lllovell]

Becoming a DVC member will probably change how you vacation. It certainly has us. We are looking forward to actual weeks of vacation at WDW now, not 8-9 short weekend trips. I suspect our flow will change as will the restaurants we frequent (which is why I definately opted for the DDE card - since it is good at most {maybe all - didnt check everyone} of the DVC site restaurants - i.e. Olivia's at OKW, etc.).

My head is still spinning a bit trying to decide how to spend our points for this coming year. I have a 6 day trip planned in April, but not sure beyond that. TOO MANY CHOICES!

(we also have done family vacation in the past - whole family...extended...and want to continue to do that as well, so my planning involves lots of other factors besides simply where to stay at WDW. my head is gonna splode soon )

 

[DebbieB]

Some really good points. I hadn't considered planning 2 trips within a 12 month period to take advantage of the AP.

I think some of our vacationing pattern may change too. We might consider a few more shorter trips. I suppose if we had the APs the airfare from Chicago is pretty cheap, only $150 or so. It would beat sitting at home.

You can go once a year and still get 2 trips out of one annual pass by planning your next trip a week earlier. We always have AP's but only purchase them about every 18 months by planning our trips accordingly. For example:

May, 2003 - buy new AP for trip 5/10/03 to 5/16/03
May, 2004 - use same AP for trip 5/2/04 to 5/7/04
Dec, 2004 - buy new AP for trip 12/4/04 to 12/10/04
Nov, 2005 - use same AP for trip 11/26/05 to 12/2/05
May, 2006 - buy new AP

 

[iankh]

Debbie8,

I had never considered looking at it as a 12 month span like that. Thanks! You see, I knew there was a compendium of wisdom to draw from!