New DVC Member Here - Advice Welcome

[SweetBelle]

Hi,

I decided to buy into DVC after doing some research here and elsewhere and I couldn't be more excited!!!

I recently visited Walt Disney World and met some DVC members on the Wanyama Safari. They raved about it and when I returned home I began seriously considering it. I love animals so I decided AKL was the place for me. My sales agent was very helpful and patient. He answered all my questions, wasn't pushy at all and let me contact him whenever I was ready to move forward. I know my use year is December and since I just went to Disney I'm not planning another vacation until 2015. My sales agent told me to be sure and bank my points by July (I think). I'm still waiting for my papers to come. I can't wait to be sitting on a balcony reading and overlooking the savanna. Any advice is welcome as I never sat through any information sessions and am new to DVC. Thanks in advance.

PS - this is also my first post thanks for reading.

 

[DizBub]

Hello and welcome.

Hope you have many years of wonderful trips.

 

[disneynutz]

Hi,

I decided to buy into DVC after doing some research here and elsewhere and I couldn't be more excited!!!

I recently visited Walt Disney World and met some DVC members on the Wanyama Safari. They raved about it and when I returned home I began seriously considering it. I love animals so I decided AKL was the place for me. My sales agent was very helpful and patient. He answered all my questions, wasn't pushy at all and let me contact him whenever I was ready to move forward. I know my use year is December and since I just went to Disney I'm not planning another vacation until 2015. My sales agent told me to be sure and bank my points by July (I think). I'm still waiting for my papers to come. I can't wait to be sitting on a balcony reading and overlooking the savanna. Any advice is welcome as I never sat through any information sessions and am new to DVC. Thanks in advance.

PS - this is also my first post thanks for reading.

I recommend that you read as much as you can in this section of the DIS, After reading, decide if DVC is still a good fit, if you bought the best UY, the best resort and if you are OK with paying more direct versus resale.

You only have a short time to change your mind and/or to modify your purchase if you decide to do so.

Bill

 

[CarouselOfLands]

I'd second what Bill said to make sure you are as happy as you can be with your purchase before the cancellation period ends. After that, welcome to DVC and enjoy a lifelong of memories and stays!

 

[sndral]

I just bought AKV as well a couple of months ago. I bought resale to save money as the additional benefits of buying directly from Disney didn't interest me.
Your banking window is the first 8 months of your use year, so in your case you can bank your 2013 points (which I assume you got) into your 2014 use year from Dec.-July. Once those points are banked you can use them for a vacation from Dec. 1, 2014 - Nov. 30, 2015 (this is your 2014 use year, even though most months are actually in calendar year 2015.)
The other important number is the 11 month home resort booking window, for example, I booked my first AKV stay using my new points for my Jan.1, 2015, vacation on Feb. 1. On June 1st my 7 month non home resort booking window opens for that Jan. 1, 2015, vacation. So on June 1st I can book another DVC resort for that Jan. vacation if I don't want to stay at AKV. You don't have to book right at 11 months at your home resort or 7 months for non home resort, but the longer you wait, the fewer options you have as things get booked.
While you wait for those papers to come you might want to do a lot of reading on resale, as it may suit you and cost a lot less money. In any event enjoy those future points.

 

[z28wiz]

Hi, I decided to buy into DVC after doing some research here and elsewhere and I couldn't be more excited!!! I recently visited Walt Disney World and met some DVC members on the Wanyama Safari. They raved about it and when I returned home I began seriously considering it. I love animals so I decided AKL was the place for me. My sales agent was very helpful and patient. He answered all my questions, wasn't pushy at all and let me contact him whenever I was ready to move forward. I know my use year is December and since I just went to Disney I'm not planning another vacation until 2015. My sales agent told me to be sure and bank my points by July (I think). I'm still waiting for my papers to come. I can't wait to be sitting on a balcony reading and overlooking the savanna. Any advice is welcome as I never sat through any information sessions and am new to DVC. Thanks in advance. PS - this is also my first post thanks for reading.

Like others have stated, a resale will save you about half the money you spent. You can get a loaded resale contract for around 70 per point. Read all the recent threads on this board. I just purchased a resale add on at animal kingdom December use year of 160 points and paid $12,000 total that's with seller paying all 2014 dues. Direct would have been in excess of $24,000 Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[bakerworld]

Resale assumes that you have $12K to purchase and some posters on DisBoards will say that if you don't have the $12K as 'loose change' then you shouldn't be buying Disney.

I not one of them - Welcome Home

 

[kenspidey]

Resale assumes that you have $12K to purchase and some posters on DisBoards will say that if you don't have the $12K as 'loose change' then you shouldn't be buying Disney. I not one of them - Welcome Home

And neither am I .... Welcome home

 

[z28wiz]

Resale assumes that you have $12K to purchase and some posters on DisBoards will say that if you don't have the $12K as 'loose change' then you shouldn't be buying Disney.

I not one of them - Welcome Home

Resale does not assume that. You can use Monera Financial. The timeshare store gives their name out. I am actually using them for a short term loan on the above purchase. There lending is very similar to Disneys and no credit check required.

 

[bruhl1j]

You will get opinions on both direct and resale. After that, remember to factor in the cost of a trip to WDW. Tickets, food, and transportation are important factors for DVC membership, too. For example, our family of four spends about $2000 for annual passes just to start. There is also a monthly cost (or once a year) for taxes and maintenance. That can be another $1000/yr. Depending on how much you eat on a trip, that is another 750 or so per trip.

I will save this for DVC, it has cut down the cost on the second trip per year. We have a Disney Visa and use the rewards for food. TIW helps save money. The discounts for golf and other things, adds up, too. Our second trip last year, cost about $700. Our tickets were paid for, DVC points paid for the room, we had $700 on our rewards card so it was a nice trip with little out of pocket at the time.

With some research, you should be able to pick a comfortable point level for your style of travel. DVC is nice because it is easy to fit to a family large or small. Have fun!

 

[SweetBelle]

Thanks everyone. I'll be sure and read my paperwork carefully and cancel if anything makes me uncomfortable. I also got the Disney card to earn points and intend to use them for food/tours. I appreciate your thoughts!

 

[DizBub]

Thanks everyone. I'll be sure and read my paperwork carefully and cancel if anything makes me uncomfortable. I also got the Disney card to earn points and intend to use them for food/tours. I appreciate your thoughts!

We have used our Disney Rewards points for different things. One year we paid our dues with the card and earned rewards. The next year we used the rewards toward Annual Passes. This last January we used the rewards toward our dues. When you get add-onitis (it's a malady that we get around here ) you can add DVC points direct with the card. 6 months 0% interest and you even earn rewards for that.

 

[lawboy2001]

Welcome home!

You've going to love DVC. Congrats on your purchase.

 

[ELMC]

Thanks everyone. I'll be sure and read my paperwork carefully and cancel if anything makes me uncomfortable. I also got the Disney card to earn points and intend to use them for food/tours. I appreciate your thoughts!

Congratulations on your purchase. One thing that hasn't been mentioned here is that you don't need to own at AKV to stay there. AKV is one of the largest and most remotely located DVC resorts. As such, there is oftentimes availability for many room categories at the 7 month reservation window (that is the date when resorts are able to be booked by all DVC owners and not just those with AKV as their home resort). Really you would only need the 11 month priority for Value rooms, Concierge Level and maybe during the most popular weeks of the year.

Given that, it is quite possible that you could purchase a different home resort with several additional benefits and still be able to stay overlooking the savanna to your heart's content. First, it would allow you the 11 month booking window at a resort where you might actually need it, and second, depending on if you choose to go resale, you could save a tremendous amount of money. As others have pointed out, you should take the time to research the difference between direct and resale. Cost wise it is about $70 per point. Benefits wise, well that depends on the user, but many feel that they do not give up anything of value by purchasing resale.

I'm not going to steer you one way or another, but it is nice to present the options. I will say this, however, if you are going to purchase direct, to me it makes much more sense to buy at the VGF. The cost is almost the same, the maintenance fees are relatively the same, the demand for VGF is astronomically higher and the residual value is much higher as well. Remember, just because you own VGF doesn't mean you can't stay at AKV.

There are many ways to "work" the system that are relatively easy and don't require you to be a timeshare guru. What I have suggested above is just one of them. If you know them, you will be able to maximize your value per dollar spent and minimize your risk. Remember, timeshares are inherently risky propositions, and nobody goes into them thinking the worst. But if something unfortunate does happen, I would think you would feel comfortable having more options available to you. Good luck with your continuing research!

 

[BestDadEver]

Congrats AKV are beautiful , I took my first DVC trip there and I loved it there .