New to DVC - Purchase VGC versus DLT or both

[MagicalMommaOf2]

I had bought my Copper Creek contract direct from Disney in 2018 after I had just gotten off a Disney Cruise and was in WDW for four days. Both my kids had their birthdays on that vacation and it was one of the best trips I've ever taken. Needless to say I was on a Disney high. I ended up taking a DVC tour and bought Copper Creek on impulse. Didn't know much about the resort itself but that's what they were selling at the time.

Had I done my research properly I would not have bought direct. I was all about using DVC for DCL at the time, come to find out it's a terrible value. At the time I also wanted to do more WDW trips but when it came down to it my wife is not a fan of Orlando weather or long WDW trips in general. She much prefers a quick drive down to Disneyland for a few days and back. I never stayed at Copper Creek. I've only used my points to trade for Port Orleans Riverside (long story), Aulani and got lucky at 7 months at VGC (felt like I won the lottery).

I'm completely sold on DVC but realize that I'm wasting money on a Copper Creek contract since WDW is going to be few and far between, especially since flying to Florida is that much more daunting after Covid. Also the resell prices for Copper Creek is almost about the same what I paid for direct so I'm happy to offload it without losing money from my impulse purchase.

I think the biggest factor for me is my travel patterns. When the kids were younger it was easy to pick up and fly any time of the year. Now they're a little older, they have activities and we don't pull them out of school anymore. It's just not easy to burn Copper Creek points. I have a lot of points stacked up on my Copper Creek contract and I'm debating trying to burn it on a Aulani trip (or WDW if I can convince the wife) this summer or just sell it. A DL trip though is still at least a quarterly thing so I would definitely be able to burn DLT or VGC points. Staying onsite turns a quick weekend DL getaway into a proper vacation.

Also if you buy resale VGC points you are able to use those at WDW, although you're not going to want to. The resale restrictions only apply to new resorts such as Riviera and DLT. If you plan on taking WDW trips at least once every three years then it might be worth while to looking into a WDW resort contract. But I found the advice of buy where you want to say is very relevant when it comes to us West Coast ppl.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you want any other input.

THANK YOU so much for sharing all of your knowledge and experience! I don't blame you one bit for getting caught up in the magic of DVC, especially with Copper Creek, literally such a gorgeous resort. Its funny that you mention your kids age and schedule because right now with a 4 and 2 year old its super easy to just grab them and go but I have considered how different things will be when our kids are busy with their own schedules. We've been looking at beach club because our kids are still at the age where they want to spend a ton of time at the pools.

It does make sense that you want to sell though, I am in definitely in no hurry for DVC at WDW but its just tempting being that you can get cheap resale contracts. Kudos to you that you wont be losing out on any money! thank you again for your input!

 

[RedVines2001]

THANK YOU so much for sharing all of your knowledge and experience! I don't blame you one bit for getting caught up in the magic of DVC, especially with Copper Creek, literally such a gorgeous resort. Its funny that you mention your kids age and schedule because right now with a 4 and 2 year old its super easy to just grab them and go but I have considered how different things will be when our kids are busy with their own schedules. We've been looking at beach club because our kids are still at the age where they want to spend a ton of time at the pools.

It does make sense that you want to sell though, I am in definitely in no hurry for DVC at WDW but its just tempting being that you can get cheap resale contracts. Kudos to you that you wont be losing out on any money! thank you again for your input!

My kids turned 5 and 3 on that vacation when I bought Copper Creek so it sounds like you're exactly where I was. Now my kids are 8 and 6 and what a world of difference it is now. Even DL trips have to revolve around school holidays. I wouldn't discourage you from a WDW contract, but I don't buy a 150 point direct contract like I did. I find it very hard to tell people to buy any direct contract considering the savings of resale and cutting of direct membership benefits. A smaller, cheap resale WDW contract where you bank and borrow may be the way to go to supplement the DL trips. While DL is home I do enjoy WDW as a vacation destination.

 

[MagicalMommaOf2]

My kids turned 5 and 3 on that vacation when I bought Copper Creek so it sounds like you're exactly where I was. Now my kids are 8 and 6 and what a world of difference it is now. Even DL trips have to revolve around school holidays. I wouldn't discourage you from a WDW contract, but I don't buy a 150 point direct contract like I did. I find it very hard to tell people to buy any direct contract considering the savings of resale and cutting of direct membership benefits. A smaller, cheap resale WDW contract where you bank and borrow may be the way to go to supplement the DL trips. While DL is home I do enjoy WDW as a vacation destination.

yes dreading planning our trips around school schedules then again, that is also what drew us to DVC because we knew there wouldn't be many last minute trips as time went on. 150 points is a lot, especially for WDW or so it seems to me! We were thinking of about 50 points because to my understanding you can bank and borrow and that would be really helpful to go every 3 years or so. you hit the nail on the head though with the pandemic, my 4 year old just turned 4 yesterday and He is not great about wearing a mask and just forget it with the 2 year old so I was hoping for some relief in restrictions for the flight. they both do okay for indoor rides at disneyland etc but 6 hours straight on a plane? no way! that has been my biggest hold up but I also want to be prepared because I didn't realize when I bought DVC that it could be almost a year before we would ever be able to use our points. little things we learn along the way!

 

[CarolynFH]

We were thinking of about 50 points because to my understanding you can bank and borrow and that would be really helpful to go every 3 years or so.

Be careful about this and look at the point charts before deciding how many points to buy. Currently you can't borrow more than half of your next year's points, and there's no indication of when that restriction might end. Also, don't plan to be rigid about going every 3 years, as you could end up with stranded points. So plan to go every 2 years at minimum, or else be comfortable with the idea of renting out some points from time to time.