Need Advice on # of pts that I will need to buy to suit my Disney "Fix" :)

[Disney Devoted Daddy]

DW and I are going to be purchasing a DVC in the next 3-4 months and I need to know what amt of pts. would suit my Disney travel needs. Here is my sitaution.

There are 5 of us (DW, me and three kids 3, 5, 6)

We hope to vacation to Disney at least once/year and possibly twice/yr.

We stay Sat to Sat on our current past trips ( I could see just paying for final day with cash so pts would be used Sat to Fri)

We are fine with fitting 5 into the smallest possible room that Disney allows to save on pts.

We will probably go in October for sure once/year and then maybe in March for twice/year off and on we can make time.

We have stayed at SSR, DWL, and Fort Wilderness. We like deluxe resorts.

My question is..What is the "right amt. of points" that we need to acheive our needs.

THanks in advance.

 

[WALTSAGOD]

DVC POINTS CHART at the top of the page will allow you to plan your heart away.

 

[browniemtb]

With a family of 5 you may consider AKV since some of there smaller villas can hold 5. What we did to figure this out is that we knew when we wanted to travel and in what size unit so we looked up that week in the points charts and bought.....Other villas each have a different capacity...studios and 1 bedroom generally 4 people, 2 bedroom 8 people and GV hold 12. All things to consider when the kids get older. I'm in the same boat with 3 but for now my little one can get by and not be counted. Points wise we have stayed in both 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom villas but have yet to venture from the BWV. Good luck in your quest......
Brownie

 

[Deb & Bill]

The smallest DVC unit your family of five can stay in is a one bedroom (non-value villa) at AKV. All other one bedrooms legally only sleep four plus one under the age of three. So you have moved up to a two bedroom for other resorts. You cannot stay in a studio with five.

If you are only able to go when you can take your children when school is out, figure that into your calculations. Your March trip could wind up being Spring Break time - harder to get and points go up. October is Food & Wine Festival - another harder time to get.

Use the points charts at the top of the page to get an idea of what you might need. The cash discount is not always available, so you could plan on paying full price to MS for the last night.

 

[msabol01]

Another thing to consider, which I hadn't done prior to reading advice on here, is to plan your vacations between Sunday and Thursday. Points go up dramatically for Friday and Saturday night stays.

 

[CPTJAK]

I believe this is an easy one. AKL is only resort that allows officially 5 in a 1 bedroom.

So based on your needs I would buy the minimum 160 points direct from disney and add on later if needed as it is easy to add on points as needed.

160 pts will get you a 1 bedroom sun-sat all times of year but easter/xmas/new years weeks.

 

[wisbucky]

Another issue you may want to consider is will the children as they grow all be willing to continue to share the room with mom and dad? If you dont see that as a problem then staying in a studio all the time is fine. However; remember points are going to go up in price as the years go on. It seems that many people find they enjoy having more space in their rooms and end up adding on so they can stay in a two bedroom. It was just a thought and something to consider.