New DVC members

[Devo20]

We just came back from a Disney cruise and decided to buy into DVC. The incentive was getting 2013 points for free. We were very excited but now we are rethinking and need some advice. We purchased 300 points at Grand Floridian. We are a family of 5 and think this may have been too many points. Our thought at the time was 100 for each of our children. We go to Disney once a year and cruise once a year. We have heard the points are not a good value for cruising. We wanted to go to Vero Beach at the end of August and see that everything is a wait list so we are wondering what the value is, do you always have to go exactly 7 months prior at 8 am to get what you want and do you ever come off the wait list. We hate to buy plane tickets and then not have a place to stay. Would buying resale have been a better idea? We are so very confused....

 

[JWG]

Be leary of the "2013 points for free" argument. What use year did you buy? Unless it was February you didn't get 2013 points for free, you were owed those points. You get the points for whatever use year you are in (when buying direct) and the only 2014 use year to hit thus far is February. March forward are still in the 2013 year.

Additionally, if you bought 300 points, did you do it as 3 separate 100 point contracts? If not, you can't split them up between the 3 kids in the future.

I don't know if 300 is too many, VGF are expensive and use a lot of points. That doesn't seem too bad to me. We have 225 at BLT and it's not ever enough for what we want to do. We actually are likely to land at 300 or so in the end.

As to resale, if you really want VGF, you can't do resale yet, they haven't hit the market. Also, if you buy resale, you can't use the points for cruising (or other Disney Collection options).

Though, you are right that cruising isn't perceived by most as a good "value" due to the number of points required to cruise and the value you could get for renting those points and using the cash to cruise. Which could be a good optioin.

I'd read through the sticky note threads for more details, but if you are really sure about gifting these points to your 3 kids, I would make sure they are 3 separate contracts and if not, you can exercise your 10-day rescission option.

 

[keaster]

We just came back from a Disney cruise and decided to buy into DVC. The incentive was getting 2013 points for free. We were very excited but now we are rethinking and need some advice. We purchased 300 points at Grand Floridian. We are a family of 5 and think this may have been too many points. Our thought at the time was 100 for each of our children. We go to Disney once a year and cruise once a year. We have heard the points are not a good value for cruising. We wanted to go to Vero Beach at the end of August and see that everything is a wait list so we are wondering what the value is, do you always have to go exactly 7 months prior at 8 am to get what you want and do you ever come off the wait list. We hate to buy plane tickets and then not have a place to stay. Would buying resale have been a better idea? We are so very confused....

If u are that confused and overwhelmed u are best to cancel the purchase while u can and do some research. Technically u are not getting your 2013 points for free. For example if your use year is April u are still in your 2013 April use year right mow so those points are yours already! Your dues are probably pro-rated so that is a bit of a break. But I'm sure others will chime in with the same advice to do some more research before committing to that large amount of money.

Also... We did purchase on a cruise as well but we did not finance and the incentives were better (the price per point was reduced depending on how many points u bought).

 

[Devo20]

Our use year is in September. The incentive for buying on the ship (which we were told only offered because we were on a DCL) was that for buying 300 points we would get really 600 (so 300 now and 300 in Sept) and pro rated dues. They actually made a big deal out of that incentive. We did do 3 separate contracts. 100 points a piece. And we picked GFL instead of Aulani (which had really good incentives) because we thought if we ever needed to sell the membership that Florida would be a better home base. The price was the same whether we paid in cash or financed it ($155 per point).

 

[nalajms]

Our use year is in September. The incentive for buying on the ship (which we were told only offered because we were on a DCL) was that for buying 300 points we would get really 600 (so 300 now and 300 in Sept) and pro rated dues.

A Sept UY would still be in the 2013 UY right now, so technically you're due the 300 points. That also means if you tried to make a reservation for Aug 2014 that's more than 300 pts, you'd have to borrow from your 2014 Sept UY points.

If you can't book before the 7 month mark for VGF, you're better of looking at resale. And if you really want to stay at VB, it seems like a waste of money to spend $155 pp when VB listings are 1/3 the price.

 

[z28wiz]

Our use year is in September. The incentive for buying on the ship (which we were told only offered because we were on a DCL) was that for buying 300 points we would get really 600 (so 300 now and 300 in Sept) and pro rated dues. They actually made a big deal out of that incentive. We did do 3 separate contracts. 100 points a piece. And we picked GFL instead of Aulani (which had really good incentives) because we thought if we ever needed to sell the membership that Florida would be a better home base. The price was the same whether we paid in cash or financed it ($155 per point).

I just came of two cruise last week. There are no incentives for grand floridian. You may have misunderstood the guides or they just tried to make it sound like you were getting something free. Anyone on the cruise or off the cruise would get the 2013 points.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[disneynutz]

We just came back from a Disney cruise and decided to buy into DVC. The incentive was getting 2013 points for free. We were very excited but now we are rethinking and need some advice. We purchased 300 points at Grand Floridian. We are a family of 5 and think this may have been too many points. Our thought at the time was 100 for each of our children. We go to Disney once a year and cruise once a year. We have heard the points are not a good value for cruising. We wanted to go to Vero Beach at the end of August and see that everything is a wait list so we are wondering what the value is, do you always have to go exactly 7 months prior at 8 am to get what you want and do you ever come off the wait list. We hate to buy plane tickets and then not have a place to stay. Would buying resale have been a better idea? We are so very confused....

Disney is in the business to sell you a timeshare. The Guides are in business to sell, so they bend the truth and make ownership seem better than it is.

My concern is that you may not have the best UY for your travel patterns, you may have purchased a resort that isn't your favorite, and that you don't fully understand what you were sold, the rules, limitations, pros and cons.

All resorts are available for sale, all UY's are available for sale, and buying resale can save you thousands of dollars, the DVC Guides never told you any of this, correct?

You can either go forward with your purchase or rescind your contract now before it's too late to legally do so. Giving yourself time to read the posts here on the DIS is a good way to start the learning process. You are not alone, we see posts like yours every week.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

Bill

 

[bwvBound]

Our thought at the time was 100 for each of our children.

If that is the plan, be sure (SURE!) your account is written with three separate contracts (likely a master contract with two sub-contracts) as a single contract of 300 points cannot later be split or divided into smaller chunks.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

As others have explained the 2013 points were not an incentive. It was just a sales persons way to twist info to sell a resort that doesn't have any incentives.

So, my recommendation would be to cancel the contract while you are still within the cancellation period. You need to fax your cancellation in to DVC and the form and information on how to do that will be in your paperwork. Then take some time and learn about the program. And if you decided to buy the same 300 points from DVC in August you will still pay exactly the same and get exactly the same number of points just with a phone call (barring any price increases of course). And if you decide that 300 points at VGF was not the purchase to make for your family then you will at least be glad you took the time and not looking back and asking why you hadn't cancelled while you had the chance.

 

[Devo20]

You guys have been most helpful! We have decided to cancel our 3 contracts, rent points to see what it is all about and then decide. If we do decide to buy in we will likely look at resales. Thank you all for the great information.

 

[Msmithmd]

It never ceases to amaze me how the DVC timeshare sales people get folks to spend incredible amounts of money, without the buyers understanding fully what they are buying.

This deal was akin to buying a nice new car ($46,500 plus closing costs in this case,) while being aware that roads exist, but not actually knowing how to drive.

Good for you OP, for realizing that completely understanding what you are (and are not) buying is fairly important before you spend that kind of money.

DVC can be a great choice for vacationing, but I cannot imagine anyone committing to that level of investment without fully researching the purchase. Of course, thousands of people do so every year...and to be fair it works out pretty well for most.

But it's always better to do your due diligence before buying ANYTHING remotely near that expensive.

 

[TeresaNJ]

You guys have been most helpful! We have decided to cancel our 3 contracts, rent points to see what it is all about and then decide. If we do decide to buy in we will likely look at resales. Thank you all for the great information.

Smart move!

 

[chukdotcom]

You guys have been most helpful! We have decided to cancel our 3 contracts, rent points to see what it is all about and then decide. If we do decide to buy in we will likely look at resales. Thank you all for the great information.

Great. Really glad to hear it. Smart move.

 

[nabi]

It never ceases to amaze me how the DVC timeshare sales people get folks to spend incredible amounts of money, without the buyers understanding fully what they are buying. This deal was akin to buying a nice new car ($46,500 plus closing costs in this case,) while being aware that roads exist, but not actually knowing how to drive.

live in NYC, no need for a car your whole life, then accept a position at another hospital....you have to learn to drive rather fast.

Good job OP. Take some time.

 

[jmail048]

good move those sales people can be persuasive and tricky.

 

[Minniesgal]

Before we bought our first points ( we have added in 3 times) I went to the DVC presentation twice at SSR, I got the most recent points chart and I sat down and worked out when we wanted to go, where we wanted to stay and in what unit for how long for the next 4-6 trips. Maybe that is overkill but our life is changing as 1 child just left home a second goes soon so we go from 5 travelling to 4 then 3. I wanted to be sure the number of points we bought would work now and in the future. Ok so I know we won't use the points the way I outlines but at least I know with a bit of planning and thought I can find a way we are happy with to use all my points each year. We started with 220 points planning on once every 3 years but quickly decided every other year worked better and added on up to 430 and we are now finished.

I think in order to know what you want to buy where and how much it is worth going into that level of detail. For example we discovered we really want to go to the West coast as well in discussing it so one of our add one is at VGC. It took us ages to make the decision to buy as I wanted to be sure we knew how to use what we bought and I would advise doing something similar.

 

[disneynutz]

It never ceases to amaze me how the DVC timeshare sales people get folks to spend incredible amounts of money, without the buyers understanding fully what they are buying.

This deal was akin to buying a nice new car ($46,500 plus closing costs in this case,) while being aware that roads exist, but not actually knowing how to drive.

Good for you OP, for realizing that completely understanding what you are (and are not) buying is fairly important before you spend that kind of money.

DVC can be a great choice for vacationing, but I cannot imagine anyone committing to that level of investment without fully researching the purchase. Of course, thousands of people do so every year...and to be fair it works out pretty well for most.

But it's always better to do your due diligence before buying ANYTHING remotely near that expensive.

That's just as bad as people buying resorts without staying there first and really getting a feel for the resort, rooms, views, and location. Some people even buy new resorts before they are built then find out that they don't really care for the place.

Wait - That's our family.
The Magic of Disney is a very powerful sales tool and their reputation causes people to not question anything that they say or do.

Bill

 

[jmedrew]

We bought on a cruise last Sept and did no research. One question I have is what is the big deal about your Home Resort? Ours is AKV. We have never been there before and have a trip booked already. We just found out we are moving to florida (military) and have many more weekend trips in the plans...but anyhow,

Do different resorts have different incentitives? We werent given a choice I thought AKV were the only ones to buy at the time. Thanks.

 

[chukdotcom]

We bought on a cruise last Sept and did no research. One question I have is what is the big deal about your Home Resort? Ours is AKV. We have never been there before and have a trip booked already. We just found out we are moving to florida (military) and have many more weekend trips in the plans...but anyhow,

Do different resorts have different incentitives? We werent given a choice I thought AKV were the only ones to buy at the time. Thanks.

You can book your home resort 11 months out. All other resorts you can only book 7 months out.

 

[jmedrew]

You can book your home resort 11 months out. All other resorts you can only book 7 months out.

Ok...I did know that. I thought there might be more...lol.