New & wondering about Increases after purchase?

[Moeluv4u7]

Okay not sure if my title actually speaks what I am asking- We are looking at a possible purchase into the DVC -YAY Still researching and not totally 100% sure yet due to other things we are confused about- "Q"- For the stay we are thinking of and would be a wise point purchase at AKV a 2 br villa Sun- thru Thur at a Standard view room during the regular season will be 31 points a night... 5 nights = 155 points - which is great!- BUT... say, 5 years from now, we are still getting 160 points a year and we want the same stay as we plan for 2009- are we getting the same stay for the same rate as now OR will that stay possibly cost i.e. 52 points per night? For those of you who are long term members what have you experienced as the economy has changed drastically since 10 years ago even?
Also, Where do I find a "glossary of some of these other acronyms- i.e. ROFR?? new one to me there- Very interested in this purchase - but still need more info to make sure we are not walking into something blindsided and end up w/ no vacations at all for 5 years just to save"bank" or borrow points in order to go again-
Sorry many "Q"'s here and I have been reading old posts as I find them - my searches arent pulling info for what I am really looking to have answered but dont want ya to pass up my post due to the irrational substance since I am babbling in my head at a mile a minute here- LOL LOL This is how I feel because our decision is so close but would like to still view all options before deciding and need much more info to make a better informed decision.

Thanks for your responses!

 

[browniemtb]

First off welcome to the DIS, you've come to the right place for your answers. As far as points for your stays, they are locked in and will never go up. So the stay at AKV will always be 155 points now and 5 years from now. Disney can reshuffle points around so if they raise a point value of one day they would decrease a value of another day. This is the bonus side of DVC, you lock in your Disney vacations at todays prices......About the terms, not to sure if there is a glossary or not but over time you will pick up on the lingo. ROFR is Right of first refusal - Disney has the right to buy back any points that are for sale in the market so they themselve can resell. So if you are interested in buying remember that there are points for sale through Disney for all the resorts. When we purchased they pushed us toward SSR - Saratoga Springs, but I said no thanks I want BWV - Boardwalk, all of a sudden they have points for sale so thats where we ended up. We took the advice from this forum and Bought were we want to stay the most. Good Luck

 

[MAO]

I think browniemtb said it well -- the point of DVC is to lock in the cost of a Disney vacation. I've owned for 10 years now and the only "disappointment" is that the cost to stay off DVC property has either increased significantly or become unavailable. What I mean by that is that the point value in 1998 to stay at a hotel in, say, London was a good 20 points or so per night less than it is now -- and many of the hotels that were listed as options in 1998 are no longer in the system.

The more you read, the more you'll see the three points I think are most important when considering DVC -- don't buy as an investment, do buy where you want to stay, and don't buy if you plan on usually staying at non-DVC properties. It's basically a hedge against inflation for a particular subset of Disney resorts, with a major advantage (the 11 month vs. 7 month) in reserving what you want at your home resort.

 

[RobDoc]

Points needed for a specific stay can be changed - either higher or lower - by DVC. This has happened only once , OKW points were changed from the original point chart back in 1996. Some nights were raised (mostly Value Season), some were lowered and most saw no change. Those owners who planned stays during Value Season either needed to modify their travel plans or purchase more points. Since the total number of points owned at a resort cannot be changed, it some nights are raised, others MUST be lowered.

As each new resort has come online with DVC, there has been an opportunity to modify the point charts for that resort. This has happened for both SSR and AKV where both have slightly different point charts than the earlier resorts. VB and HH also have varied point charts from the WDW resorts.

I do not expect any changes to be made to existing resorts in the foreseeable future - but DVC members do need to be aware that it is possible for point charts to be changed as described without notice by DVC.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Yes, point values CAN change, but it is more of a shuffle than an increase that can happen. Like Doc said...it did happen once for OKW in 1996. Since then, the only changes have been yearly adjustments for Easter.

As new resorts come on-line Disney may make the point requirements higher for the new resorts, but cannot adjust the annual allotment of points for an existing resort.

As for prices going up...I think you should pay much more attention to the maintenance fees than the point requirements. Maintenance fees have averaged 2%-3% increases per year, BUT may increase as much as 15% per year. (Timeshare laws will not allow an increase greater than 15%.)

 

[Moeluv4u7]

Thank-You This has helped w/ some of the many questions we have- We speak to our guide again on Tuesday and I have 2 full pages of questions- LOL - I know long term this is probably going to be better for us but I also want to make sure that what I am motivated for now can still benefit us for what we may want later- The 5 night stay thru the weekdays will be great now but in 5 years I may want to do non-resort or world or cruise etc and just want to also know how that works- Also, Resales... what are pros and cons to that because since I am not real 100% thrilled w/ AKV and didn't know others could be available I started looking into resales so we could get the home resort we really were looking for- Also though, I like having until 2057 rather than 2042/43 (I forget)- AND Thanks for letting me know about dues increase- I knew that the increase on those are possible but as far as how many times each resort had actually increased and at what rate- I also would like to take that into consideration. Overall we are (this close) to
finalizing our process. I want to complete so we can use as early as next year (hope that will be possible due to reservations being gone a possibility)- Also, Wondering about "pooling" points, reservation fees? and many other things- I may need to start a new thread- LOL