Long Ways Away, But a Few WWYD Questions

[justbishop]

Just back from our first stay not only in a DVC villa, but also our first time in a deluxe resort, and we are officially spoiled

As you can see from my sig, another trip is a while off (I'd say at least 3 years), and in the meantime, we plan to pay off all of our CC debt so that we can eventually buy into DVC w/o the need to finance any of it. I'd love to end up owning about 200 points, but I do not see that amount in the cards for us by the time we would like to buy, so I was wondering which would be wiser, re: buying a smaller amount and planning to go every other year for a while. All pricing below is based on what I see AKV (where we just stayed and fell head over heels for) on the resale market now. I understand that pricing will change in 3ish years, and we also understand the difference in MF costs.

Scenario 1: buy a very small (25-55 pt) contract sooner rather than later, and utilize banking/borrowing and transfers from other members to fill out points for whatever we can afford to do each trip. Add on when we can afford it (same use year is preferable, correct?)

Scenario 2: save up a year or two longer and buy a 100-150 pt contract, allowing us to go every year, with the option of making use of banking/borrowing to take longer trips or get bigger villas to invite family and friends.

The other question that I have is about use year. We do not have any desire to travel in the late spring or summer peak times, and have concluded that we prefer fall (cheaper non-holiday fall seasons work for us) and probably even Jan-March. What use year would be best for us?

 

[Ryansdad0727]

I bought a 120 pt SSR contract through resale and did not borrow anything. It is really nice not to owe any money when you purchase DVC. I would for sure wait until you don't have to borrow. If you don't plan to go back for 3 years i would wait for 2 years then really start looking. At that time just buy what you can afford. Might be a 50 or a 100 point contract. You will have a better idea by then. If you are not going to go during peak times then you can get by with buying a few fewer points. Just buy what you feel comfortable with. You will always want more points nomatter how many you have.

 

[justbishop]

Oh, I would definitely not finance a purchase like this. Might possibly put it on the Disney Visa card (if possible) and then immediately pay that off, just to get the reward points, but this is not something we want to do until we have the cash in hand.

 

[thebigman65]

Oh, I would definitely not finance a purchase like this. Might possibly put it on the Disney Visa card (if possible) and then immediately pay that off, just to get the reward points, but this is not something we want to do until we have the cash in hand.

Then I would wait and save up enough to buy the 150. We go every year in the Fall (Oct/Nov) and again in Spring (Feb/March) and we have a Feb UY. That seems to work well for us. Good Luck

 

[cvjw]

Oh, I would definitely not finance a purchase like this. Might possibly put it on the Disney Visa card (if possible) and then immediately pay that off, just to get the reward points, but this is not something we want to do until we have the cash in hand.

We purchased 4 resale contracts, and were not allowed to use our credit card for any of the purchases - certified check or wire transfer only. If you plan on purchasing direct from Disney, I think they let you use a credit card for payment. Keep in mind that if you buy 2 smaller contracts, you will pay two closing costs, which are several hundred dollars each. I think I would just wait until I could buy one larger contract. Speaking as someone who has added on 3 times already, you can never have too many points!

 

[disneynutz]

IMO you don't have enough DVC experience to decide where to buy yet. I would hate to see you buy at the first resort you stayed in only to find out down the road that AKV is nice, but you really, really, love another resort more.

There are two ways to find your true favorite, rent a reservation from a DVC owner at different resorts and/or buy a smaller contract with the intention of using it for split stays so you can actually experience all of the resorts.

Bill

 

[justbishop]

So the consensus is to wait until we can afford to do a 100-150 pt contract, then?

IMO you don't have enough DVC experience to decide where to buy yet. I would hate to see you buy at the first resort you stayed in only to find out down the road that AKV is nice, but you really, really, love another resort more.

There are two ways to find your true favorite, rent a reservation from a DVC owner at different resorts and/or buy a smaller contract with the intention of using it for split stays so you can actually experience all of the resorts.

Bill

I see what you're saying, but looking at all of the resorts online, the only ones that appeal to us at all are AKV and BLT (the decor of BWV and BCV is offputting to us, and we SSR and OKW just don't hold any appeal for us whatsoever), and we know that our money will go much farther at AKV. When we own, we would probably book at BWI or BCV every so often simply for the proximity to Epcot, however, the AKV value villas (which we stayed in this trip and loved) are where the amount of points we can afford to buy will go furthest, and the 11 month booking window is important for snagging those.

I could see us adding on at BLT in the future, but in the forseeable future (the next 10-15 years), I don't see us being able to afford it, and I don't want to wait that long to get our foot into the DVC door.

 

[disneynutz]

So the consensus is to wait until we can afford to do a 100-150 pt contract, then?



I see what you're saying, but looking at all of the resorts online, the only ones that appeal to us at all are AKV and BLT (the decor of BWV and BCV is offputting to us, and we SSR and OKW just don't hold any appeal for us whatsoever), and we know that our money will go much farther at AKV. When we own, we would probably book at BWI or BCV every so often simply for the proximity to Epcot, however, the AKV value villas (which we stayed in this trip and loved) are where the amount of points we can afford to buy will go furthest, and the 11 month booking window is important for snagging those.

I could see us adding on at BLT in the future, but in the forseeable future (the next 10-15 years), I don't see us being able to afford it, and I don't want to wait that long to get our foot into the DVC door.

Seeing pictures on line is much different that experiencing the resort by staying there. We bought BLT before staying there and it is our least favorite of the resorts. Booking a value at AKV will be a real contest even at 11 months as the number of owners at AKV continues to grow.

You have mentioned being able to afford it a couple of times. Owning a DVC interest is a luxury purchase that will cost you thousands of dollars per year and coming up with that kind of money with a growing family is really hard to do. I know that we could not even think of such a purchase when we were young and starting out.

DVC will always be there and it is only a consideration if you can make full use of the cost savings. Disney is banking on the fact that you won't. As posted so many times here on the DIS, DVC only makes financial sense if you vacation at WDW every year or two and you intend to vacation there for many years to come.

The magic of Disney should be enjoyed without the worry of being able to pay the bills.

Bill

 

[justbishop]

No worries, as I mentioned, we would not consider buying until we can realistically afford to pay cash for it, as well as keep up with MFs as they increase in the future. We do have a growing family, but we also have a good idea of where our finances are going in the future

 

[Greysword]

As you can see from my sig, another trip is a while off (I'd say at least 3 years), and in the meantime, we plan to pay off all of our CC debt so that we can eventually buy into DVC w/o the need to finance any of it. I'd love to end up owning about 200 points, but I do not see that amount in the cards for us by the time we would like to buy, so I was wondering which would be wiser, re: buying a smaller amount and planning to go every other year for a while. All pricing below is based on what I see AKV (where we just stayed and fell head over heels for) on the resale market now. I understand that pricing will change in 3ish years, and we also understand the difference in MF costs.

Welcome and congrats on your villa stay!

To be honest, you shouldn't really worry about how many points to buy, since you won't be using them anytime soon. Maybe in a year and a half, you could begin the serious discussion on where to buy and how many points. Basically, no sense in buying something you won't use for a while. Currently, Disney has some great deals that are better than DVC (I think they are restarting the 4/3 deal) in the short term.

In the meantime, you could keep the excitement going by learning as much as possible about DVC.

The other question that I have is about use year. We do not have any desire to travel in the late spring or summer peak times, and have concluded that we prefer fall (cheaper non-holiday fall seasons work for us) and probably even Jan-March. What use year would be best for us?

Personally, I would suggest a September UY in this scenario. That said, your plans are going to change and you are likely going to want to be able to travel in the summer as your kid(s) get older and in school. Just be aware that the worst four months for cancellations on a Sept UY are May - August (Rule of 4 is in effect).

Good luck and have fun!

 

[justbishop]

Oh no, not planning to buy yet! We are thinking that we will take about 3 years, between having another baby and paying off CC debt to be able to start accumulating cash on hand (and our tax refunds) to pay for it. In the meantime, we will not be traveling to WDW at all

As for time of year travel, pulling kids out of school is a non-issue in our opinion. We have been in the summer before and just refuse...we are miserable in the heat! Aside from that, we are leaning heavily toward homeschooling anyway

 

[disneynutz]

No worries, as I mentioned, we would not consider buying until we can realistically afford to pay cash for it, as well as keep up with MFs as they increase in the future. We do have a growing family, but we also have a good idea of where our finances are going in the future

Sounds like you have everything under control.

As a owner for several years, we find that in addition to the contract cost, it's the expenses that cost the most. Dues, transportation, food, admission tickets, and buying all of that Disney stuff, we spend around $1000 per adult per trip and the cost increases each year. That's currently around $5000 a year. Don't get me wrong, we love Disney, I just never realized what we committed to when we bought our first contract.

Bill

 

[justbishop]

Sounds like you have everything under control.

As a owner for several years, we find that in addition to the contract cost, it's the expenses that cost the most. Dues, transportation, food, admission tickets, and buying all of that Disney stuff, we spend around $1000 per adult per trip and the cost increases each year. That's currently around $5000 a year. Don't get me wrong, we love Disney, I just never realized what we committed to when we bought our first contract.

Bill

Oh, I hear ya on the extras! Thankfully, we can drive to Orlando without much discomfort (from upstate SC, ~9 hours), and we learned our lesson on trying to do too much time in the parks on this past trip. We felt like we went TOO much, so tickets shouldn't be too difficult to budget for (and we'd probably be buying them anyway, even if we didn't own DVC, lol! We are fairly frugal as far as spending cash in the parks and stuff goes, and I actually think that we could rack up enough Disney Visa reward points to pay MFs as well as most (if not all) of the DDP (which we happen to really like) with "free" gift cards, if I start paying bills with it.

I just figure that the additional expenses (i.e. everything BUT accommodations and MFs) are things we'd probably be buying on a yearly or bi-yearly basis anyway, since we plan on taking our kid(s) to WDW that often for quite a while.

As for the great deals that Disney will probably be tossing to the masses in the future, I'm not sure that they would appeal to us much. Like I said, we have been totally spoiled by our 1br villa stay, and are just no longer interested in staying in the values or even the mods, really. Also, IDK that we'd want to be cooped up in a normal hotel room (even if it IS at a deluxe) with 1 kid (much less 2) for a week, and even with occasional discounts, the prices for villas booked through Disney Travel Co. are probably still going to end up so outrageous that we'd do better to save our cash to put toward buying DVC if villas are what we want, anyway.

 

[Ryansdad0727]

The thing i love about owning DVC is that i feel i can spend the extra money on different things now. Before i would pinch pennies because the room would be the majority of the vacation cost but now that cost is prepaid so i can splurge and still come out ahead.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

Seeing pictures on line is much different that experiencing the resort by staying there. Bill

Isn't that the truth! On the flip side, we've LOVED every place we've stayed. I'd own points everywhere if I could!

But to your point, there are places I'd be really disappointed if I couldn't stay at again. Since I own at OKW (which would always be my top pick - not DH's, but mine), I would really miss BCV. Funny thing is, I put off booking there because I had NO INTEREST in staying there. The decor didn't appeal to me, being close to Epcot really didn't (and still doesn't) mean all that much to me, the pool is cool, but...etc. But, when we stayed, I fell in love. And funny thing is, it had nothing to do with the things I mentioned before which most people like. It was more to do with the intimate feel of the resort, and the grounds. I'm a big grounds person, which is why I love SSR and OKW. And I just think the setting at BCV is lovely. The conveniences of the resort and the cool pool are just icing on the cake for me.

If I were buying again for the first time, I would purchase a small contract and take the time to stay at all of the resorts. I would even suggest that staying just once won't give you a true feel for the resort, but it's definitely a start. What we found, too, is that staying at different resorts didn't make our trip feel like, "Oh...Disney, AGAIN????" Each stay felt like a different vacation experience. We've stayed at all of the resorts (with the exception of BLT) multiple times, and I'm so glad we did. Instead of having 1 "home away from home," I have 6 so far (and look forward to having more)!

What I will say is after 5 years and 10 trips, I'm still thrilled with our purchase. DH and DS are wanting to venture out a bit (mentioned trying to go to CA next summer and Hawaii in 2013), but I still love the WDW experience. On the other hand, we have friends who purchased before us and sold their interest right before the resale changes went into effect. They liked cruises and trading out, and found that DVC actually made it more difficult and was more expensive than booking those trips outright. The beauty of a small contract, too, is you can always sell if you decide DVC is not for you.

Wishing you the best of luck with your decision!

 

[justbishop]

Thanks for all of the opinions, guys! It's a good thing I have a while to think about this

 

[supersuperwendy]

Good luck with your decisions! We bought AKV site unseen based solely on the point chart and thus far we've had amazing luck with snagging the value villas! I've also had a great luck booking concierge too, all at the 11 month window of course. The two bedroom at Kidani is HUGE and great. Now can I say they are my favorite resorts...not actually. I much prefer BWV and it will always have my heart, but the contract ends too soon for us. I like the ending date of AKV better. We started with 160 points and have added on 60 more (SSR) giving us 220. We now have enough to stay for a whole week at least once a year in a two bedroom no matter which season (except premier - 5nights/6days). I don't know if I could deal with only visiting every other year! That might be just right for you guys though! You may want to visit the other DVC resorts though before you buy. There was a time SSR held ZERO interest for me. Now I LOVE it! Soon we will have our first stay at OKW and I can't wait. I'm sure we'll love it like everyone else.

 

[Dean]

Just back from our first stay not only in a DVC villa, but also our first time in a deluxe resort, and we are officially spoiled

As you can see from my sig, another trip is a while off (I'd say at least 3 years), and in the meantime, we plan to pay off all of our CC debt so that we can eventually buy into DVC w/o the need to finance any of it. I'd love to end up owning about 200 points, but I do not see that amount in the cards for us by the time we would like to buy, so I was wondering which would be wiser, re: buying a smaller amount and planning to go every other year for a while. All pricing below is based on what I see AKV (where we just stayed and fell head over heels for) on the resale market now. I understand that pricing will change in 3ish years, and we also understand the difference in MF costs.

Scenario 1: buy a very small (25-55 pt) contract sooner rather than later, and utilize banking/borrowing and transfers from other members to fill out points for whatever we can afford to do each trip. Add on when we can afford it (same use year is preferable, correct?)

Scenario 2: save up a year or two longer and buy a 100-150 pt contract, allowing us to go every year, with the option of making use of banking/borrowing to take longer trips or get bigger villas to invite family and friends.

The other question that I have is about use year. We do not have any desire to travel in the late spring or summer peak times, and have concluded that we prefer fall (cheaper non-holiday fall seasons work for us) and probably even Jan-March. What use year would be best for us?

Save your money as if you'll be buying and spend more time doing research. IF you decide to buy, consider the minimum you'll likely use at DVC resorts and can afford without financing. Even if buying makes sense and you can afford such a luxury purchase, I wouldn't buy until you're within around 15 months of your next trip. For completeness, a DVC studio will likely be around break even compared to a moderate room and more expensive than a value and all are more expensive than many off property timeshare options for resorts that are just as nice and give you more non DVC trip options as well.