Looking into this!

[Cara Sue]

My DH and I just took the tour Sunday and are real excited about this. Just trying to figure out how many points to buy now - and if we should buy resale or not. We live in Florida (2 hours away from WDW) and like to go for a couple days at a time vs. staying for a whole week.

Also, how far inadvance do most of you book to get the accomodations you want? Do I have to book out 6 months in advance?

TIA!!!

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

During popular times for DVC (early December, F&W Festival, etc.) most people book 11 mos. out at their home resort and then switch to other resorts at the 7 mos. mark (if available). If you are flexible about where you want to stay and the accomodations you need, you could probably make short-notice ressies. OKW and SSR tend to be available more than others due to the size of the resorts.

 

[spiceycat]

OKW has less points and bigger rooms....

both SSR and OKW are within walking distance of DD - they also both have boats/bus transportation as well.

 

[CarolMN]

If your short stays are over weekend nights (Friday & Saturday), you may want to reconsider DVC. The points requirements for weekend nights are significantly higher than those for the weekday nights (Sunday - Thursday). Since you are Florida residents, you'd probably be better off paying cash - especially if you can get a room with a discount.

DVC works best for those who can plan at least 7 months ahead, but if you are open to staying at any DVC resort, you should be able to book accomodations somewhere on much shorter notice.

Best wishes -

 

[spiceycat]

if you go with DVC then you have to buy 150 points.

resale you can find 25 points.

the weekends will be more - much more on fri/sat than sun-thurs.

 

[tjkraz]

My DH and I just took the tour Sunday and are real excited about this. Just trying to figure out how many points to buy now - and if we should buy resale or not. We live in Florida (2 hours away from WDW) and like to go for a couple days at a time vs. staying for a whole week.

Also, how far inadvance do most of you book to get the accomodations you want? Do I have to book out 6 months in advance?

If you aren't going to book more than 7 months in advance, Home resort is meaningless. But the closer you get to your check-in date, the fewer options you will have. SSR and OKW are the two largest resorts, and they tend to have rooms available on the shortest notice. If those two don't happen to appeal to you, and you can't see yourself planning 6+ months in advance, DVC is probably not a good fit.

If you decide it is a good fit, your best bet would be to either buy at SSR ($83 per point through DVC for 49 years of ownership, or you can get it a little cheaper resale) or OKW (in the mid-to-upper $70s resale for about 37 years of ownership.)