New here - need help

[kstinw19]

I am seriously considering buying into the DVC soon, and have been reading lots of your posts, but still have a few questions:

1. If we buy into SS at $101/point, and will probably go one week every year, should be buy enough points to cover a week at the time of the year we want?

2. We usually go in the Adventure time of the year, but as the kids gets older that may change. Should we buy the choice season just to cover ourselves points wise, or should we just borrow each year from the year ahead? Or rent points?

3. Has anyone ever used their points at a non-DVC hotel, like the Polynesian? Our two favorite hotels are BC and Poly, and we are partial to Poly while our kids are little. (haven't stayed everywhere yet, but used to work at WDW so I know the place well). How much of a pain is it and is it worth it to buy in if we want to stay there?

4. We have taken two tours and had the same guide both times, but are not really fond of him b/c he was really pressuring us. Can we request someone else when we call?

5. Since our favorite is BW, should I buy used? (I know, I know...buy where where you plan to stay..)

I really appreciate any input all of you "experts" may have.

 

[Tink10]

Hi!

We were in a bit of the same dilemma as you.......

We had a very hard time estimating just how many points we'd need for the future and were in love with the BWV and really wanted to buy there......

I'd read over & over again that we should buy where we wanted to stay and we totally intended to. We started off with a very small BWV resale that luckily passed ROFR, but before we even closed, we decided to purchase SSR through Disney.....We did another add-on at BWV through Disney & thought we were pretty much set.

That was a year ago.......We started out with 250 points, assuming that it would be enough. Needless to say, it wasn't because we realized that we really would rather stay in 1BR villas and we'll travel at all times of the year.

We also realized that we NEVER book our vacations at 11 months out so it was silly for us to buy where we wanted to stay, because we usually book 4-5 months out & the 11 month advantage wasn't going to help us.

So, now, we have 450 SSR points & 100 BWV points. It's enough to pretty much do all the things that we want, and then some. We also have just enough BWV points to guarantee us a room at 11 months IF we ever decide to book that far ahead.....

As far as using points at the Poly.....I'd recommend renting points & using the proceeds to pay for the room in cash.....The number of points required to stay at non-DVC properties is crazy!

Good Luck!

 

[Doug Wolfe]

It seems like yesterday my kids were little. But, here I am and suddenly they are 9, 11 & 15.

I would strongly consider the fact that your kids will grow faster than you might like. Adventurer & Choice seasons may not really be an option for you in a few years, unless you are willing to pull them out of school. Because of school and summer football practice we can only go right now in Magic Season, better known as "the middle of the summer."

Yes, you can request a different guide, although they will try to talk you out of it. My guide is Byron, he is very good and never pressured me.

If you buy SSR, your DVC ownership runs until 2054...any other DVC resort is 2042. How old will you be in 2042? Does 2054 make better sense?

You can certainly use your points at Poly, but I personally am so spoiled by DVC accomodations I would not use them at a standard Disney hotel. Just me. Others may have different idea's.

I noticed you also like BC. DVC has villas at BC, they are called the Beach Club Villas, BCV. So you can stay on the BC property and still have access with the kids to Storm-A-Long Bay.

Finally, there is no reason to pay $101. Ask them what their current promotions are and get a better deal.

 

[OneMoreTry]

Staying at Polyor other nonDVC resort is a waste of points. If you do the calculations you will see it is very inefficient. It's much better to rent the points and use the money you get to buy a stay there (a hassle). OR buy half the points you need per year, bank every other year and pay for every other year at a nonDVC.

We have 300 points which seemed right at the time, but with our 5 kids we are so busy it's hard to use them. We have ended up using a lot of them at HH which is closer and we like it as much. We've built up a bunch so next year we're taking the inlaws (if they'll go) to a GV at OKW. I hope.

I think the 300 will be right in the future. There are times I would like to buy more but doubt we'd use that many -- though I wish we would/could.

 

[Disney MAINEiac]

That's cool our guide is Byron as well and we were very pleased with him. We own SSR and are very happy with it. Tho we have also stayed at BCV and have not had a problem with reservations (we travel in feb. mostly to escape the cold in Maine What ever u decide and where ever u stay it is still the best vacation experience ever, so enjoy.

 

[byoung]

1. If we buy into SS at $101/point, and will probably go one week every year, should be buy enough points to cover a week at the time of the year we want?
Yes I would.

2. We usually go in the Adventure time of the year, but as the kids gets older that may change. Should we buy the choice season just to cover ourselves points wise, or should we just borrow each year from the year ahead? Or rent points?
Good to buy, you can bank the points.

3. Has anyone ever used their points at a non-DVC hotel, like the Polynesian? Our two favorite hotels are BC and Poly, and we are partial to Poly while our kids are little. (haven't stayed everywhere yet, but used to work at WDW so I know the place well). How much of a pain is it and is it worth it to buy in if we want to stay there?
Some have I haven't to me not a good use of points.

4. We have taken two tours and had the same guide both times, but are not really fond of him b/c he was really pressuring us. Can we request someone else when we call?
Yes you can

5. Since our favorite is BW, should I buy used? (I know, I know...buy where where you plan to stay..)
I bought BWV from Disney last year, no closing cost and I got the 2004 points.

 

[CPTJAK]

I talked to Disney in March and they had any use year any number of points with current years points no closing costs. So I think it wouldn't be a problem to buy direct if you do not want to go through resale.

Of course through resale you can still get some good contracts at BWV.

 

[tomspixie]

Hi there! We have been thrilled with DVC. We have an obnoxious number of points...and I wish we had even more. We love it so much that we actually bouth a second home 12 minutes from The World. Crazy, but true. What it allows us to do is to cruise with our points...we booked 2 cabins, Cat 6 and 11 for 5 for the Med and did it on points!!!! Had to borrow one year, but we could!! WOOHOO!! When our friends are paying $14,500 for one less person than we have and only one cabin. Anyway, we have taken our entire families down for trips...DH family has 33 of us! We couldn't do that with a single layout of cash. We have let office staff stay down for a week. We have stayed at The Whitehall in Chicago on points.

While we LOVE our Disney resorts...occassionally we have chosen to spend a couple of nights in different resorts...ie Polynesian, Contemporary, Grand. My daughter would really like to do AKL...with points we can do a night or two at the Concierge level and really make it special.

Good luck with whatever it is you choose!
Pixie Dust Wishes!!!!

tomspixie