need advice on points

[3pletprincesses]

I've been researching a lot over the past year about DVC, done a couple of tours while at WDW and have narrowed my resorts down. We would like to buy at either AKL or SSR. I know 2 big resorts but I like big resort but when push comes to shove, I would prefer AKL but SSR is a close second.

Now we travel annually to Disney since we had our girls almost 8 years ago with sometimes going twice in a year. Since we are a family of 6 with 7 yo triplets and 2 yo toddler, who BTW are Disney freaks like their mom, we still have a good amount of years ahead of us but 3 will go to college at the same time.

A 2 bedroom at AKL for the summer time which will probably end up being when we most likely travel due to school, we need 317-372 depending on week and that's fora Savannah view which will be a must unless we have a second trip planned then I will sacrifice the view in favour of extra days LOL. Standard view is 255-287 points.

How many points do you believe I should get and should I do one big contract or 2 smaller contracts ?

Sorry this was so long. I like to ramble

 

[disneynutz]

Buy the number of points needed for your vacations.

Smaller contracts will allow you more flexibility, you can add or remove when necessary should your needs or wants change.

Bill

 

[supersnoop]

How far in advance do you book your trips? I'm pretty sure you'll be able to book a 2-bedroom Savanna view at 7 months in the summer without any problems, so I'd opt for SSR with its lower dues.

Smaller contracts are certainly easier to sell, but they are more expensive to purchase. Maybe you should look for a 160 SSR and a 160 AKV to hedge your chances.

 

[com_op_2000]

... we need 317-372 depending on week and that's fora Savannah view which will be a must unless we have a second trip planned then I will sacrifice the view in favour of extra days LOL. Standard view is 255-287 points...

IMHO, you should look at the highest number 372 add @10% (37) to come in @409. I would get 4 100 point contracts. Points charts can and do change
over time. This way you have some flexibility, along with banking/borrowing, and maybe you can get in those extra trips.
Plus over the course of @50 years, your vacation traveling will change.

 

[3pletprincesses]

Does it happen often that they redistribute points in a resort? I hadn't tought of that aspect. 4 contract at 100 points each gives 1 contract per kids one we give them away to them.

We normally book bounce back so our trips are usually booked 1 year ahead of time. Sometimes it changes by a day or 2 but rarely does it change by weeks. This year is the first time in 4 year that i've changed completely going from Aug to Dec.

 

[Dean]

I've been researching a lot over the past year about DVC, done a couple of tours while at WDW and have narrowed my resorts down. We would like to buy at either AKL or SSR. I know 2 big resorts but I like big resort but when push comes to shove, I would prefer AKL but SSR is a close second.

Now we travel annually to Disney since we had our girls almost 8 years ago with sometimes going twice in a year. Since we are a family of 6 with 7 yo triplets and 2 yo toddler, who BTW are Disney freaks like their mom, we still have a good amount of years ahead of us but 3 will go to college at the same time.

A 2 bedroom at AKL for the summer time which will probably end up being when we most likely travel due to school, we need 317-372 depending on week and that's fora Savannah view which will be a must unless we have a second trip planned then I will sacrifice the view in favour of extra days LOL. Standard view is 255-287 points.

How many points do you believe I should get and should I do one big contract or 2 smaller contracts ?

Sorry this was so long. I like to ramble

If you must have AKV savannah view, I'd buy there. Just realize the long term cost owning AKV is going to be significantly more. Unless you'll stay AKV almost all of the time, I'd personally buy SSR and take my chances. I'd buy a single contract for now but likely in the 200-270 point range. Then if things work out well for you, you could buy a second contract in the 150-200 pt range, preferably at either SSR to be cheaper or at a higher end resort to give you more options.

 

[paults]

hope your doing resale. If you don't need all 300 plus pts right away I would look at the TSS and find something around 200 pts or smaller but no bigger. With banking and borrowing you'll be fine . Then next you can all on with same UY to get what you want. I think it's still cheaper than buying direct at $130 pt +

good luck

 

[3pletprincesses]

Oh not buying direct for sure. Ssr would be abiut 400 cheaper in maintenance fees per year. Yes if staying at AKL I want Savannah view but I think Akl is big enough that even 7 months out I could that view just not sure of a 2 bedroom with view.

You are making me re think akl and back to SSR but that's 3less years for about the same pp price

 

[Minniesgal]

Oh not buying direct for sure. Ssr would be abiut 400 cheaper in maintenance fees per year. Yes if staying at AKL I want Savannah view but I think Akl is big enough that even 7 months out I could that view just not sure of a 2 bedroom with view. You are making me re think akl and back to SSR but that's 3less years for about the same pp price

We are AKV owners and I have a 2 bedroom SV booked last August which I changed for a mix of BLT and Treehouses last August. About 2 days after 7 months my son announced he really wanted to go to Kidani so I tried to change it to include 4 nights in a 2 bedroom Savannah View. Could only get two, wait listed and stalked and it never came up in 7 months. That was late August. AKV is getting busier now they have sold out and it isn't as readily available as it was.

 

[DenLo]

We cannot separate where we want to stay from where we want to own. So we buy where we want to stay. I also think in the near future having the extra bathroom at AKV will be a factor for your family. So even though SSR would save you money, I think I would still go with AKV and have the home resort advantage with a 2BR that has three baths. Even AKV gets a little tricky to book in the extra busy October through January 7th time period. And as the kids get older you might change your vacation period and go at Christmas. Or you and your DH might have a getaway weekend for Food and Wine.

As to how many points and contracts, if you plan to travel to WDW yearly, the 400 points divided up equally into four contracts sounds great. But it might be hard to find four 100 points contracts resale with the same UY. I would be happy with contracts less than 150 points and as long as all of them have the same UY, then you can easily combine the contracts and only have one member number.

Good luck!

 

[3pletprincesses]

We are AKV owners and I have a 2 bedroom SV booked last August which I changed for a mix of BLT and Treehouses last August. About 2 days after 7 months my son announced he really wanted to go to Kidani so I tried to change it to include 4 nights in a 2 bedroom Savannah View. Could only get two, wait listed and stalked and it never came up in 7 months. That was late August. AKV is getting busier now they have sold out and it isn't as readily available as it was.

That's what I'm affraid of and Savanna view is important to me. That's the only me that I request plus as I get older I can see myself liking it even more then now. We do appreciate our time at the resort now with 4 young kids and I can't imagine it will change. We made it si that resort time I'd part if our vacation just as mych as psrks if nit mire Kwim

 

[3pletprincesses]

Would you all agree that an April or June us the best for summer or fall travel?

 

[chalee94]

Would you all agree that an April or June us the best for summer or fall travel?

april is a good UY if you rarely plan to travel to wdw in jan/feb/march. june UY works as long as you don't go very often in march/april/may.

 

[robinb]

Would you all agree that an April or June us the best for summer or fall travel?

I really liked mid-May until my DD started school. After that, we were restricted to summer (mid-Jun to Labor Day), spring and Christmas breaks.

While buying 4 100 point contracts seems like a great idea at first blush, it's going to cost you more than one larger contract since 100 point contacts are in high demand so they fetch higher prices and you would have to pay 4 separate closing costs.

 

[3pletprincesses]

I really liked mid-May until my DD started school. After that, we were restricted to summer (mid-Jun to Labor Day), spring and Christmas breaks.

While buying 4 100 point contracts seems like a great idea at first blush, it's going to cost you more than one larger contract since 100 point contacts are in high demand so they fetch higher prices and you would have to pay 4 separate closing costs.

I live May and we too went before the gurls started school. I can pull them out for a week just a ciuple mire tears but after it wiuld be a bad idea. I think I'll get 2 200 points contracts like I first thought.


Does anyone have an idea of what a value room is at Akl? I can't find much on the subject

 

[lovin'fl]

We have June UY with OKW and BWV...and we have Aug UY with AKV, HHI and BWV. I think June might be a good UY unless you think you might go frequently in end of May going into June, then go for April. We travel Aug, Dec and now Nov mostly so our June and Aug has worked well for us (though I'd prefer all Aug). Maybe go for the better deal...June or April.

You could do half at AKV and half at SSR (I like having multiple home resorts for multiple 11 month booking priorities). And I do suggest breaking it up into smaller point contracts but that would mean more closing costs as you'd pay them on each contract, but they are easier to re-sell and make it easier if you find the need to downsize (cannot break up a large contract).

If you want to get the most # of points that you'll need now, go for 400-ish. If you think you want to be conservative to see how you like DVC, maybe go with 250. We started with 200 at OKW and that did fine for a while as we just put all 5 of us in a 1BR...but then the kids became teens and that 1BR just didn't cut it anymore. And we liked to get use out of the PAPs so we began doing several shorter trips in a PAP year. And then family...they like to use the points too (it's been a rare occasion that we've been at WDW w/out any other extended family with us). So, we now have 505 and I hope, not so much DH, for a few more (45-95 more). 505 almost gets is 2 weeks per year in a 2BR.

 

[3pletprincesses]

Thanks for that input. 2 resort would save me mf and I could play with bank and borrow at both places and worse comes stay at Ssr every second year. Food for thought for sure

 

[chalee94]

Does anyone have an idea of what a value room is at Akl? I can't find much on the subject

in a section of jambo house's 5th floor, there was no room to build full size villas, so they built "value villas" that are 3 feet shorter than standard sized AKV villas. the 1BR and 2BR value villas do not have the sleeper chair due to the size reduction and occupancy is restricted accordingly.

value villas can have a savanna view (i've had one), pool view or parking lot view (had one).

there are only 10 value 2BR lock-offs at AKV jambo house ("lock-off" means a 1BR+a studio = a 2BR...and if someone books 3 value 1BRs, then there would only be a maximum of 7 2BRs left available to book). that means they can be very difficult to book after the 11 month window opens for owners. the value villas are located along the giraffe and ostrich trails in the map contained in the link below.

http://www.parkinfo2go.com/dvc-akv/floor5.php

naturally there are zero value villas in the purpose-built-for-DVC kidani village. (also, 2BRs at kidani have 3 bathrooms in a 2BR villa.)

 

[robinb]

I live May and we too went before the gurls started school. I can pull them out for a week just a ciuple mire tears but after it wiuld be a bad idea. I think I'll get 2 200 points contracts like I first thought.


Does anyone have an idea of what a value room is at Akl? I can't find much on the subject

Whoops! I didn't get that you were asking about Use Year. Sorry! The biggest thing to be aware of in selecting a UY is the Banking Window:

Use Year -- Last Day to BANK points
February -- September 30
March -- October 31
April -- November 30
June -- January 31
August -- March 31
September -- April 30
October -- May 31
December -- July 31

I think of the Banking Window as the last time I can cancel a reservation and not be forced to use the points in the current "year". We have an August UY since we usually travel in August, March/April (spring break) and Christmas. It works well for us even with trips in April since I know for sure if we're going prior to the Mar 31 deadline.

If you're still planning to go in May, an April UY would work well for you. The Nov 30 Banking Deadline will also work well for Christmas as you would already know by then if you need to cancel a Christmas visit. You would cancel and bank the points. The June UY would be the worst UY for you if you're planning a May vacation since there is no wiggle room if you book a vacation and cancel in March or April. You'll find yourself trying to unload hundreds of points at a discounted rate.

 

[HokieGCC]

When your kids are too young for school you can almost go whenever you want. When they are in K-12 you kind of end up with summers. However, when your kids hit college you have two good openings; January and May. Might want to think about that regarding use year. If you pick Dec or April you are set for both K-12 and the College years.