Looking for opinions about add-on points

[DisneyFamily7]

We have our first DVC contract in ROFR right now for 240 points at AK. I was originally looking for more like 300-350 so I am looking for another one. My original thought was to get the exact same use year at AK and that way as our family grows (we have 5 kids, 4 grown and a grandbaby) we could book big vacations at WDW and have all of our points together with one UY to be able to book a big vacation at AK for a lot of people when we want to. That being said, we also anticipate wanting to do beach vacations sometimes. My question is, how easy is it to book at the beach resorts, Aulani, VB and HH at 7 months? Should I be adding on one of those places instead, or am I okay to give myself lots of points at my original home resort for booking large trips and still take some beach vacations with a 7 month window. Thank you! I’ve tried to do my homework but I’m still a newbie

 

[davidl81]

We have done Aulani three different times in 2 bedrooms at 7 months and have not had any issues. But I do not know about Vero beach at 7 months though.

 

[Sandisw]

Just to clarify, Whether you buy more AK or another resort, you want to keep the UY the same so you can combine the points from both contracts for a single trip.

Different UY is an entirely different membership. That means no combing together without a transfer. or You’d book some nights on one and some on the other. Unless you want it for different travel times, one UY is easier,

Now, if you get AK, all can be used at 11 months.,,.if you get others it would be at 7 months but each set could book their own resort at 11...so AUL points can be booked at AUL and AKV there at 11.

Honestly, I’d think about how often you want the beach trips vs, big ones at WDW. If spending more time at WDW wins, I’d go with more AKV.

 

[RoseGold]

There’s a lot in between locked down, expensive Disney timeshare and “beach vacation.” There are many, many other resorts/timeshares all over the US beach destinations of similar quality. If I were going to lock myself into Disney for a non theme park property, I’d need a reason, and I can’t think of what that might be.

If I were going to do this every now and then, I’d actually use some kind of WDW points. They are better long term values, and I’m not interested in a coastal timeshare with hurricane risk.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

We have our first DVC contract in ROFR right now for 240 points at AK. I was originally looking for more like 300-350 so I am looking for another one. My original thought was to get the exact same use year at AK and that way as our family grows (we have 5 kids, 4 grown and a grandbaby) we could book big vacations at WDW and have all of our points together with one UY to be able to book a big vacation at AK for a lot of people when we want to. That being said, we also anticipate wanting to do beach vacations sometimes. My question is, how easy is it to book at the beach resorts, Aulani, VB and HH at 7 months? Should I be adding on one of those places instead, or am I okay to give myself lots of points at my original home resort for booking large trips and still take some beach vacations with a 7 month window. Thank you! I’ve tried to do my homework but I’m still a newbie

The member fees are super high if you own at those resorts.

 

[Spork24]

We own at BLT and added on a few years ago at BLT with the same use year. We have been pleased having all of our points in the same big bucket. We have used them at resorts other than BLT, we even scored Grand Californian last October.

don’t have too much info on Vero Or HHI. I do think HHI is pretty hard to book in the summer at 7 months. My gut is Vero is less seasonal than HHI because Florida is warmer than SC in the off season, maybe another user can confirm.

I am very interested in visiting Aulani so I watch it’s availability fairly often and it seems to have some of the best 7 month availability of all the Disney resorts.

 

[harmon54]

So I am pretty new also and kind of asking myself the same questions. We have a resale at SSR and we had a big trip planned to Aulani in March with those points - which was relatively easy to book at that time. Of course it got cancelled and it still has not opened. We would love to visit some day but whenever it does open I don’t know if there will be a run on points at that time and no availability or it will be still really hard to visit Hawaii so it will be wide open!
So we had to find a use for some of our points and still wanted beach time this year and we grabbed a 2bedroom at HHI- we fell in love with the place and I want to go back possibly yearly. However I have heard it it really hard to book but not sure that will stay true going forward or if I will get lucky again. I would like to buy minimum direct points but even though HHI is only $135 per point the fees are at $9.10 and likely to increase. AUL fees are high also. With HHI I would only get blue card benefits until 2042 - and you can find resale contracts there for about $75 per point.
So then I go back to AKV which I do love but I can buy Riviera cheaper right now and get a longer contract but those dues are $8.31 so almost as high as HHI. So I keep going in circles myself. I do think the point about it being safer to buy at WDW is a good one. At least for my direct points I should stick with that. Or maybe I just buy more resale and skip the direct points altogether - if only we had a crystal ball!

 

[Wedgeout]

If your original 300-350 plan was because you wanted enough to book your desired trips at AKV then build onto your AKV portfolio with same UY. If was just to have points, other resorts are fine but have to consider only the points at each home resort can be used 11 months out.

 

[Wedgeout]

If your original 300-350 plan was because you wanted enough to book your desired trips at AKV then build onto your AKV portfolio with same UY. If was just to have points, other resorts are fine but have to consider only the points at each home resort can be used 11 months out.

However, I wouldn’t put another offer in until that first one clears ROFR. When it clears, you know for sure your UY.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

So I am pretty new also and kind of asking myself the same questions. We have a resale at SSR and we had a big trip planned to Aulani in March with those points - which was relatively easy to book at that time. Of course it got cancelled and it still has not opened. We would love to visit some day but whenever it does open I don’t know if there will be a run on points at that time and no availability or it will be still really hard to visit Hawaii so it will be wide open!
So we had to find a use for some of our points and still wanted beach time this year and we grabbed a 2bedroom at HHI- we fell in love with the place and I want to go back possibly yearly. However I have heard it it really hard to book but not sure that will stay true going forward or if I will get lucky again. I would like to buy minimum direct points but even though HHI is only $135 per point the fees are at $9.10 and likely to increase. AUL fees are high also. With HHI I would only get blue card benefits until 2042 - and you can find resale contracts there for about $75 per point.
So then I go back to AKV which I do love but I can buy Riviera cheaper right now and get a longer contract but those dues are $8.31 so almost as high as HHI. So I keep going in circles myself. I do think the point about it being safer to buy at WDW is a good one. At least for my direct points I should stick with that. Or maybe I just buy more resale and skip the direct points altogether - if only we had a crystal ball!

I personally would only buy at HH or AUL (resale or direct) if you want to go at least every other year, ideally every year, simply because of the high member fees. If you will be going there occasionally, you might as well take the booking risk with less expensive points. It is a big difference. If you buy 200 points at HHI verses 200 at SSR, that’s around a $600 difference per year ($800 at Vero ). Plus, that gap could increase, as they are stand alone beach resorts.

 

[dvc lover 1970]

If adding on resale i would choose HHI to add on if choosing direct for blue card I would do a mix of HHI and AKV points. Also if doing direct I would do an ocotber or December use uear to get the 2019 points. Yes it's a new membership but you can transfer the points between contracts one time per year.

 

[CarolMN]

If adding on resale i would choose HHI to add on if choosing direct for blue card I would do a mix of HHI and AKV points. Also if doing direct I would do an ocotber or December use uear to get the 2019 points. Yes it's a new membership but you can transfer the points between contracts one time per year.

But remember that transferred points do not show up online. You have to call MS to use them, and you also have to keep track of them yourself. The transferred points retain their original Resorts and use year tags.

IMO, multiple memberships are a pain unless you plan to use them separately and never have to combine their points to pay for the same stay. YMMV.

 

[dvc lover 1970]

So I am pretty new also and kind of asking myself the same questions. We have a resale at SSR and we had a big trip planned to Aulani in March with those points - which was relatively easy to book at that time. Of course it got cancelled and it still has not opened. We would love to visit some day but whenever it does open I don’t know if there will be a run on points at that time and no availability or it will be still really hard to visit Hawaii so it will be wide open!
So we had to find a use for some of our points and still wanted beach time this year and we grabbed a 2bedroom at HHI- we fell in love with the place and I want to go back possibly yearly. However I have heard it it really hard to book but not sure that will stay true going forward or if I will get lucky again. I would like to buy minimum direct points but even though HHI is only $135 per point the fees are at $9.10 and likely to increase. AUL fees are high also. With HHI I would only get blue card benefits until 2042 - and you can find resale contracts there for about $75 per point.
So then I go back to AKV which I do love but I can buy Riviera cheaper right now and get a longer contract but those dues are $8.31 so almost as high as HHI. So I keep going in circles myself. I do think the point about it being safer to buy at WDW is a good one. At least for my direct points I should stick with that. Or maybe I just buy more resale and skip the direct points altogether - if only we had a crystal ball!

Again, if you want the blue card, I would probably go with RR direct and buy AKV all resale. Buy the minimum at RR for the blue card. You could even break the 100 point into 2 fifty point contracts if you wanted to. There are good buys on resale for AKV. RR is a beautiful resort so I do not think you will be disappointed there, but I agree the fees are high. 100 points is nice for five nights in studio or couple weekends with food and wine - buy the rest at AKV

 

[Sandisw]

Again, if you want the blue card, I would probably go with RR direct and buy AKV all resale. Buy the minimum at RR for the blue card. You could even break the 100 point into 2 fifty point contracts if you wanted to. There are good buys on resale for AKV. RR is a beautiful resort so I do not think you will be disappointed there, but I agree the fees are high. 100 points is nice for five nights in studio or couple weekends with food and wine - buy the rest at AKV

Just want to say if someone buys 100 points for the minimum and is allowed to break into 2 50s, if you sell one and fall below the 100 for benefits, you now be subject to new minimum.

So if the reason is blue Card benefits, then I’d probably get the 100 since you can’t sell anyway.