Math challenged DVC ???'s

[TwingleMum]

My DH & I love WDW but generally only go every 2-3 yrs. Typically stay for 7 days . Usually at a deluxe , lately concierge (hard to go back once you try it LOL). We have 3 DS under 3yrs old and are trying for #4 ( A DD please if God is listening LOL) . We love SAB and were considering buying into DVC at Beach Club.

1. Does it make sense to buy if you only go every 2-3 yrs?
2. I'll have 4 children (hopefully) under 4
3. Can you roll over points to next year? (if we buy 150 roll them and have 300 to play with next year)
4. DH likes to try different resorts, can we do non DVC resorts with our points? Like Poly?
5. How do you know that Disney won't keep raising points/per night , so you have to keep buying points?

Sorry so many questions , I'm very nervous about such a big $$ committment. I hate debt so I'd probably buy points cash. Do they give cash discounts?
Thanks for you patience & kindness

 

[WDWguru]

1. Does it make sense to buy if you only go every 2-3 yrs?

Absolutely! You can just buy fewer points and use banking/borrowing to combine for the years you do go.

2. I'll have 4 children (hopefully) under 4?

All the more reason! With six of you, you'll need two hotel rooms. Even at a deal, it's not cheap and still includes the hefty tax. Plus, those rates are guaranteed to go up over the next 39 years while your DVC points will not (see answer to #5). With DVC you can get a two bedroom unit with lots of room to stretch out, plus a washer/dryer and full kitchen!

3. Can you roll over points to next year? (if we buy 150 roll them and have 300 to play with next year)?

Yes! In fact, you can bank (roll over) AND borrow (from next year) at the same time. At any one time, you can have 300% of your annual allotment in your account to use. Certain restrictions and deadlines apply, but it's very flexible if you only plan to visit every other year.

4. DH likes to try different resorts, can we do non DVC resorts with our points? Like Poly??

Yes! But, I will give a caveat to this one. It's relatively expensive point-wise as DVC actually trades your points to Disney, which they must then sell as a cash reservation at DVC. It's not always possible, so they assume the risk but charge you a premium on points to do so. This is also something they could eventually do away with, however unlikely. Also, these points, unlike those at DVC resorts, are NOT locked in for 39 years. They are renegotiated and can go up each year.

5. How do you know that Disney won't keep raising points/per night , so you have to keep buying points??

In your contract it is guaranteed that the points needed for a particular DVC resort for a year CAN NOT GO UP - EVER! They can rearrange points, but any adjustment made must be made up somewhere else in the year. This is used primarily to adjust for Easter and other holiday dates each year. If points go up for one period, they must come down for another.

 

[todsue99]

LEt me see if I can help you with these. I am surprised no one else has answered yet.

1. Does it make sense to buy if you only go every 2-3 yrs?
- I am not sure how to answer this one, but the answer could be yes. I think you find yourself wanto go more as the kids get older.

2. I'll have 4 children (hopefully) under 4
- they will love it for years to come. Good luck with the girl.

3. Can you roll over points to next year? (if we buy 150 roll them and have 300 to play with next year)
- Actually you can. You can also borrow from the next year. That means you can have 450 points for a single trip, which would work well for you to use a two bedroom every other year or so.

4. DH likes to try different resorts, can we do non DVC resorts with our points? Like Poly?
- Yes you can, but you would be alot better off in a two bedroom with a kitchen and living room with 4 little ones running around. I do not know how you would be able to fit in at the Poly with 6, but that is me.

5. How do you know that Disney won't keep raising points/per night , so you have to keep buying points?
- They can night really raise the points, however they can move things around. They can charge more for a studio, but if they do that they have to charge less for something else. DOC will be able to explain better than me.

Sorry so many questions , I'm very nervous about such a big $$ committment. I hate debt so I'd probably buy points cash. Do they give cash discounts?
- Yes it is alot of money, but it is worth it for the memories. If you plan on going there on a consistant basis, it will also same money in the long run.

I hope this helps.

 

[CarolA]

I think there is one more concern.

You state that you normally stay at concierge at a deluxe hotel,

Can you deal with NOT having that perk or daily housekeeping? I could, but that is something each person has to consider.

However, with 4 kids you are going to have to get two concierge rooms which is going to get VERY expensive.

 

[erikthewise]

1. Every 2 years, yes. Every 3 years, no IMHO. But I'll bet this "every 2-3 years" bit turns out to be "at least every 2 years".

2. Look at your other lodging options for a family of 6.
-- two rooms in a deluxe -- expensive, and will become more so!
-- two rooms in a value or moderate -- not unreasonable, but no kitchen, no laundry, no jacuzzi...
-- a suite at a non-DVC WDW resort. If you have to ask, you can't afford it!
-- Fort Wilderness cabin or Doubletree suites. Cramped for six, not the same amenities.
-- Off-site locations, where you still need a suite or two rooms. Some good choices, but just not the same. You've already made that choice.

3. Yes, but only for one year. You can't roll those same points a second time.

4. The sensible thing to do here is to only buy enough points to cover your DVC stays, and plan to pay cash for other WDW resorts. Don't be afraid to split your stay! e.g. 3 nights at Polynesian, 5 at BCV. What could be better? (A longer stay, of course!)

5. The contract says DVC can't raise total point cost at DVC resorts. However they can, have, and will raise them at non-DVC resorts!

 

[Caskbill]

As an example of point usage, consider the following.

Disney's Poly resort on points, regular season (let's use Oct 3rd thru Nov 1st) is as follows:

Sun-Thurs, Garden view: 37 points/night
Sun-Thurs, Lagoon view: 46 points/night
Sun-Thurs, Concierge: 55 points/night

Fri-Sat, Garden view: 67 points/night
Fri-Sat Lagoon view: 83 points/night
Fri-Sat Concierge: 99 points/night


Staying at BCV (this is in CHOICE season)

Sun-Thurs, Studio: 12 points/night
Sun-Thurs, 1-B/R: 24 points/night
Sun-Thurs, 2-B/R: 32 points/night

Fri-Sat, Studio: 23 points/night
Fri-Sat, 1-B/R: 47 points/night
Fri-Sat, 2-B/R: 61 points/night

As you can see, you get a 2-B/R villa at BCV for fewer points than a regular hotel room, Garden view, at the Poly.

Many DVC members feel it is a waste to use DVC points at non-DVC resorts and save their points for DVC resorts, and pay cash at non-DVC resorts.

Hope this helps.

 

[Lisa F]

Everyone else has given good advice, but I just wanted to say that our first trip to disney as a couple, we stayed at the grand floridian main building concierge. Talk about spoiled (this was before all of the talk about it going downhill in the recent years). I can still remember walking down the hall in the main building and peeking into suites as housekeeping was cleaning then and fantasizing about the day that I'd be able to bring my whole family and stay in one of those suites. I wouldn't have to stress about getting connecting rooms, my husband and I would have a little privacy from the kids. Ah, to be rich. The cheapest 2 bedroom suite costs $1790/night during the holidays (of course my fantasies were about spending the holidays there!).

On our next trip to WDW we ended up getting a cheap AP rate at the Boardwalk Inn. It was my third choice and I was rather disappointed going into it, until I got there. We fell in love and never thought that ANYTHING would be able to follow concierge at the grand. We decided to check into DVC figuring it would not be a good deal for us, but we were wrong. It was. I saw that 1br/2br unit and couldn't believe how much it reminded me of those suites at the Grand. The best part? A week at the cheapest 2 bedroom suite at the Grand would cost $13908 with tax. 160 DVC points at $74/point would cost $11840. Dues for 3 years worth of points would cost $1920 for a total of $13760. So for roughly the same price as my "dream" vacation, I could buy enough points to be able to take my "dream" vacation 13 more times (every 3 years).

We bought more points than that and go more often and we don't have kids yet so we stay in a 1br, but every time I go I pinch myself because I can't believe I can afford to stay in a room like that mere minutes from both Epcot and MGM. Would I have ever dropped $14,000 to stay in a suite at the grand? Who knows, maybe someday that amount of money will not mean much to me or maybe I would've spent years saving for a once in a lifetime trip. Now I don't have to. Can you tell I love my DVC?

Lisa

 

[bcvillastwo]

At this point we've stayed at BCV in a studio, one bdrm, and two bdrm lock off and when I compare it to a Disney economy (All Stars), Moderate (Carribean), or Luxury (GF) frankly there is no comparison. We haven't had the pleasure of staying on the concierge level at GF or one of the other luxury resorts nor are we likely to rent a 2 bdrm suite at GF but based on my own experience plus what Lisa has said about her experiences I am truly amazed at the quality of the accomodations I can afford at such a reasonable price.

Try comparing apples to apples some time. Compare the cost of say, at BWV one bdrm with at the DVC cost to that same one bdrm at the rack rate, or the best rate you can get. From what I can see, the DVC rate always looks better.

Overall, considering the accomodations, the locations, the flexibility it's pretty hard to beat DVC. And Yes I know that some folks don't mind going out in town for $$ per night and some don't mind staying on sight for $$ per night but for me those days are over.

 

[TwingleMum]

Thanks so much for all your wonderful advise. I certainly won't need to stay concierge level everytime I go to WDW to have a magical stay. In fact our first few trips we stayed at CBR which we are still fond of and would return to in a heart beat. My Dh wants to try POFQ also. So we're not shee shee people it was just nice on the last few trips to be pampered. But with 7 mos old twins and a 3 yr old this will probably be our last concierge trip for a long while. But thats OK. They're certainly worth it.

What a great idea to split the stay and be able to try other resorts while getting the advantage of DVC. The people on this board are so savy its incredible.

We plan on checking DVC out when we're down for MNSSHP.

TODSUE - Thanks for the good thoughts about DD. Maybe we'll call
Belle.(half kidding)

Thanks again everyone.

 

[laceemouse]

Hi! We have 4 kids aged 12, 10, 8, and 5 (3 girls and 1 boy!) We own another timeshare which we trade with RCI and just bought 160 points at BCV. After you stay in a timeshare you WILL NOT want to go back to a regular hotel room. I can almost promise you that! Dragging all those kids to a restaraunt for 3 meals a day gets real old real fast (not to mention pricey!) Having a kitchen is great but the extra space, 2 bathrooms, and washer and dryer are a must as the kids get older! At this point we plan to go to Disney every other year and use our other t/s to see the USA!!! We would like to buy more points sometime but for now we are happy with this arrangement. Good luck with you decision! BTW, some people talk about missing the maid service in regular hotels. We always found it to be more of a hassle than a blessing. We just straighten up the covers and get back in the bed, which works fine!

 

[lacool]

We just came back from a week at WDW. My in-laws backed out at the last minute and my points were to expire before we went back again, so we ended up using the extra points that we were going to spend on a 2-bdrm on two nights at AKL concierge followed by 5 nights in a 1-bdrm at OKW. I should add that this was our first trip as DVCers. IMHO, the 5 OKW days were SOOOO much more luxurious than the 2 AKL concierge nights. We had so much more room, the kids had their own TV and could be put to bed hours before we had to go to sleep, and the Jacuzzi was fabulous after days of way too much walking.

Concierge was nice, and the Sunrise Safari (available only to AKL concierge guests) was very interesting, but It just was not enough to make up for the fact that the four of us felt squeezed into the hotel room.

Sure I had to buy my own glass of wine instead of getting it complementary from the concierge lounge, but enjoying it in my Jacuzzi, somehow it seemed to taste that much better!

 

[pwoodham]

I have to agree with the other posters. We have 5 ds, (good luck on that girl!!) and we would have much less enjoyable vacations without DVC. The room you have in a 2 bedroom is wonderful, and it really is a big help to be able to put some or all of the kids either to bed or watching a movie while you deal with the rest of the kids or just lay back. IMHO, there is no comparision to a regular or even upscale hotel room. It's so nice to have your own fridge for juice, milk, and formula even if you don't eat in the room. Another huge advantage for us is breakfast - the cost at the grocery store to feed us all breakfast for the whole week is about the same as just one breakfast out. You can plan your own snacks to take to the park so much easier, and the extra room is really nice at the end of a long, tiring day in the parks when you have to get all your gear ready for the next day (sorting out diaper bags and finding a place to put the light up toys you bought!). If you're going to WDW even every two years, it's the only way to go. I also advise buying at BCV or BWV, because you can get to at least two, and yes, three (if you count Magic Kingdom via the monorail) parks without packing everyone into the car. Much more convenient. Good luck on your decision!!

 

[Candace]

Maybe you should try renting points from a member (check the DVC Rent/Trade Board on this site) for a "taste" of staying in a DVC. Be sure to rent a 1 or 2 bedroom villa for the best experience. Like everyone has said, it sounds as if DVC would work for you, so give it a try by renting points. That is even better than just taking the tour. Good luck with your decision!

 

[msdis]

I see you like CBR, so did we. Still fond memories and still a nice place to visit, but it's not like home. We have only stayed in a non-dvc room once since joining. Last year we were out of points and stayed 5 nights at VWL then moved into the lodge for 5 more nights. Now let me tell you, CBR and POR was our scale, WL would have never been our level. I wanted to cry for 5 days and we vowed that if we did not have enough points in the future we would stay home. We usually stay in a studio and are happy with that. But regular rooms no matter what level, do not compare with DVC studios. We have stayed in a 1br and 2br also and that is like not even worth comparing. they are so much more superior.