My first post, lots of questions..LONG!!

[DREAMINOFWDW]

Hi Everyone,
First I want to say I am new on the boards here and have learned a whole lot from everyone so far and thank you for that!! A quick background:

I contacted DVC in November to get some information and then when we were there in December 2000 DH and I took the tour. Now I also have to say that I am head over heals for WDW and was really pushing for this. DH loves our WDW vacations too, but not like me, but would also love to travel elsewhere! Anyway, after the tour and the info DH agreed that the concept is super, we were nervous of the monthly commitment. We were seriously considering it when we left and taking advantage of the MB program and the 10.95% financing. Well, it kind of fell by the wayside and with the holidays, blah blah blah. So I realize that I kinda missed the boat with the MB offer, after reading many posts the advantage just does not seem to be there anymore and BWV and the last point increase. Well, after reading about a possible point increase in June, we started to talk about it again. DH said to call Jim McCoy again and see what we can do. We have a trip scheduled for Sept 29-Oct. 5 this year staying at ASMovies using the super CVZ $49. per night code. Well, of course if DVC pans out for us we will be staying at WLV!!! Now my questions, and bare with me cause I am sure I will think of more!!

1. How long after purchasing can we make our ressies? Are our chances of getting I would imagine a studio at WLV for this year good?

2. How do you calculate your per night point amount? We would arrive during Adventure season but check out during Choice season. Does it change or would it be Adventure my entire stay since that is when we arrive?

3. Is there a minimum amount of points to borrow? I am most positive a studio would be just fine for us and our 17 month old, but our first stay in a 1BR would be so great!! Purchasing the minimum 150 could and doing my math, could I borrow only 13 points from next year?

4. The point exchange for other destinations other than WDW, have a lot of you done this and is it easy and worth it? All of the locations in the DVC book look so...plush and not kid friendly!! And I just wonder bottom line, is DVC only most beneficial at WDW resorts, including HH and VB of course.

5. If we were to purchase through Disney our home resort would be WLV which I know some have said the location is not the best. But I figured out the other night, given that we have a little one, most of our WDW time maybe spent at MK therefore not making the locatin a problem. We really did like the location of BWV and the upcoming BCV but dont want to have the higher point cost!! Anyway, I know a lot of you have purchased the resales, if we were interested in BWV is there any kind of obligation of registering with an agent at Timeshare Store? I understand that you have to be ready to buy if something comes up, but I just dont want to miss out again!!

Thank you all for any information you can give. I definatley want to make that call to Jim McCoy ASAP!!!

Lisa

 

[jfulcer]

I'm gonna try to answer some of the questions here. Anyone else feel free to chime in.

1) Very shortly. Normally you get a temporary number to use (at least we got one right away) to make ressies with.

2) Use The DIS's DVC point chart here.. It will allow you to calculate the point cost of your stay. If your stay runs over to a new season, that new season's points would apply for those dates.

3) Ummm, 150 is the minimum I think. Hint: Purchase as many points you can. The more points you have, the greater the flexibility staywise. I don't know about other DVCers, but the extra cost of the 1BR is worth it so we can put DD down to sleep and DW and I can stay up later watching TV, etc. If you only purchase 150, you may think to yourself in a year or so "I wish I had bought more points". You can borrow as many points as you want from next year, but remember, that's those points less you have for your vacation next year. Not to open another can of worms, you may want to think about renting those points from another DVCer for your stay.

4) You will get the most value for your dollar if you stay at DVC resorts( HH, VB, OKW, BWV, VWL). It's not the best thing to buy DVC to use at other on site resorts, but it may help you avoid monotony 10 years from now. I couldn't comment on other trade out locations being kid friendly as I've not done it. Obviously you may want to research the place in question and find a 'kid' friendly place to go.

5) Buy where you think you are going to stay. You may think that BWV isn't something you want now, but what about in 15 years when your kid is older? So, maybe a resale might not be a bad idea. But then again, with Disney Transportation, the VWL gives you access to just about everything, including direct access to MK. I don't believe you have an obligation to buy if you register with the timeshare places. I could be wrong, and someone correct me if I am. Obviously deals may come up that you may not like, so I would think the logical choice is you get to pick which deals you want to make an offer on. Then again, with the way DVC sells you may not have a lot of choices. You cannot go wrong with buying at any resort, they are all nice. Just (again) buy where you want to stay more often.

Jeff <img height="80" width="55" src="http://www.angelfire.com/art/jfulcer/goofhead07.gif"> <img height="80" width="125" src="http://www.angelfire.com/art/jfulcer/vacclub01.gif">
8/95 WL - Honeymoon!
3/97 Offsite
3/99, 3/00 Offsite - Premier Vacation Homes
11/99 Offsite (Tampa!)
8/00 Wilderness Lodge
9/00 Offsite - MOWC
3/01 VWL (DVC points)

 

[mrsdon]

Hi Lisa
As soon as your paperwork has closed from DVC yyou will be able to book your trip. I also think that you are able to borrow points right away.
Be careful booking that 1 bedroom,because you will get spoiled and then the studio will seem so small.
Good luck with your decision.

 

[Ed T]

You mentioned an interest in a resale and if you are committed to a resale broker. Actually you are not committed to anyone until you have made your deposit and signed the offer. I would however recommend getting on more than one resale brokers list since they handle different contracts. Here is another name for you if you are interested.

Jaki Apetz at A TIMESHARE BROKER 888-345-2622. The resale market is very active and you need to be able to react quickly so it is important to know what you want and how much you are going to be able to spend.

Good luck

Ed
DVC 1994

 

[kem330]

We listed with Jaki and A Timeshare, it is important to get on their list because many sales never make it to the boards. Also if you buy with Disney you can make a ressie as soon as you put down your deposit,and get your contract to sign. You will not close for a month or so after signing the purchase agreement. If you purchase a resale, you can not make a ressie until a few days after you close. This can take 2 1/2- 6 weeks.

 

[DVCDAVE]

Hi ! and welcome. First, I will say that my other DVCers did a great job answering your questions already. All I can add is this. Jim McCoy is our CM too. We first bought from him over the phone last August sight unseen at BWV. At the time we took Richyams advice here on the board and split our purchase up, and bought 1/2 our points at BWV and waited to buy our other 1/2 at WLV, which wasn't on sale yet in August. We told Jim this up front, and we need his assurance on several points. 1) We wanted both contracts to be a March use year for ease of management, and 2) We wanted to finance both contracts at the favorable 10.9% rate, less our deposit. Jim understood this and gave us his word that all was doable, and made a point to get his manager's OK, and mark his computer. You see the 10.9% is only good for 30 days from the time they offer it to you. But in our case, they viewed it as a situation where we were trying to do the deal, but the resort wasn't ready yet. In any case when we went doen this march to enjoy BWV, Jim sent a Van over to get us and give us a tour of WLV. We is a great guy ! Good humor, honest and sincere. I can call him a friend, my wife too. I like him a lot, and think highly of him.

WDW:
76,77,78,87,FW
92,Offsite
95 POL
96(2), GF,Offsite
97,GF
98,99,00,FW
8/00 DVC member @ BWV
3/01 BWV, FW
3/01 DVC member @ WLV
11/01 BWV !