Newbie looking to join DVC, please Help!

[Dopey97]

Hello every one, I will be staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge in November, this will be me and my family 1st time. After booking the resort and looking at how often we travel to Disney I was looking at purchasing points with DVC. I wanted to know if AKL is a good resort and also how does current members feel about being a member of DVC?

Background:
We are a family of 5(myself, parents, brother, & daughter) from Miami and I wanted to know if everyone will be considered a member of DVC? My daughter is 6 and I think having the AKV as our home resort will be nice. I am looking at buying 160-200 points, as we travel during non-peak season. We visit Disney no less than 2 times a year and we stay in one of the resorts. We have stayed at the Value & Moderate Resorts and with our November trip we are trying out a Deluxe Resort for the first time, and that is one of the things that caught my eye about DVC is the use of Deluxe Resorts. I am just looking for honest feedback about DVC. Any suggestions or advice you can offer, please feel free to do so.

Thank you

 

[disneylvrnMS]

You are definately a great candidate for a DVC purchase if go at least twice a year. I can't give you much information about staying at AKV. We do go to the resort to eat at Boma each trip tho and we love Boma.

We are are family of 3. Son is actually 20 and rarely goes with us. We own 270 pts at SSR. We try to go at least twice a year and once every other year to DL. We love the DVC accommodations.

You will find out more information on these boards than you will find anywhere else. Be sure to be up to date on what ALL of the current incentives are.

Take the DVC tour while you there. It will not take much of your time and will give you a great deal of information.

Only the names included on your Deed will actually be considered a Member. You can list others as associates.

 

[Moeluv4u7]

Dopey.
We are a family of 7- My DH & myself & 5 kids w/ our oldest being 17 yrs- My husband is listed as an associate on our membership I say "our" membership because to us it is but only I am listed on the deed- As an associate it gives him capabilities to also make ressies for us- I am still waiting to see if any tax issues we need to be aware of w/o him on the deed- But You all sound like great candiditaes for DVC- We live in NC so twice a year trips are few and far between right now- (Next year though... YAY!!!) W/ so many in our family it is a great way to stay in better accommodations, large enough for all of us and still enjoy Disney OR just enjoy the resort! We bought at AKV for 200 pts and will maybe do an add on later at another resort (we are still thinking which) - For us DVC gives us the opportunity to vacation where we didn't before and in better areas than we did before as well as let kids invite friends, we can invite family, or gift a ressie which we could never have done before. Maybe we will be able to start visiting more often on a regular basis- Right now due to work schedules andkids school schedules it just isn't close enough to be feasible yet. Good Luck w/ your decision!

 

[Dopey97]

It seems like every one is happy with joining DVC.

 

[1-407-WDWJUNKIE]

It seems like every one is happy with joining DVC.

Well, at least those who hang around DVC forums all day...

Seriously, we don't regret buying in. There is no question you can vacation at WDW cheaper if you take advantage of the best specials (such as 40% off codes and Free dining) and stay at Values/Moderates, and I'm sure you get some good Florida Resident discounts too. But DVC makes staying at the better locations and in more spacious accomodations much more affordable.

 

[Dopey97]

Yes, I get the Fl discounts, but they seem to offer few rooms with the discount and it is not that easy to get the discount for all the days in your stay. I just had this problem when booking my stay for Nov. I had 3 nights and I wanted to add a 4th night and the FL was not showing for the 4th night I wanted to add, so they wanted me to pay 2 deposits because they would have had to make 2 reservations. So I am looking for something where I do not have to deal with the hassle of trying to get a certain rate. I was able to get it worked out and I think it was because they saw Nov, will be my 5th visit this year. See I am spending a lot of money on rooms and yes they may be 3 & 4 nights, but those nights do add up. So I think DVC is the way for me to go. I am so looking forward to staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, so I can get a feel of what my home resort will be. I am also going to try and schedule a tour while I am there; do you feel that is best? How long are the tours?

 

[1-407-WDWJUNKIE]

A big question is whether most of your nights are weekends or weeknights - Friday and Saturday cost a lot more points than the rest of the week. Take a good look at that when figuring how many points you may need. 5 short stays of weeknifgts is a lot cheaper than 5 short stays over long weekends.

You definately sound like someone who ought to buy. I forgot all about deposits and such - even when making cash reservations through member services you don't need to put any deposit down. Making reservations through DVC is a dream compared to WDW Travel.

Now making reservations when you arrive one day, the in-laws another, then everyone moves from seperate studios into a two bedroom a couple days later, and part of the reservation is points, and part of it cash, and then you have to make changes... not so much of a dream.

 

[Dopey97]

We usually come in on a Thursday or Friday and check out on a Monday. I know the points may be more, but I will still come out better joining DVC then continuing to make general reservations. I am thinking of starting out with $160 points and based on reading I will be able to purchase more points in the future, is this correct?

 

[hellerjw]

We hate it so much that we just added on another 200 pts at AKV after joining only a year and a half ago

We are only 9 hours from WDW, but if we lived closer I don't think our 400 pts would be enough to satisfy our Disney cravings.

We love AKV but I don't think you can go wrong with any of the DVC resorts. We stayed at VWL this past June and absolutely loved it too. Some of the other themes appeal to us more than others but we plan to stay at each over time.

There will be incentives for the new resorts Disney is selling (AKV, BLT & THV) so those may be a better bargain vs. resale than some of the older resorts.

 

[1-407-WDWJUNKIE]

Yes you can add on after your initial purchase.

You can add on in any amount over 25 points. So say you decide you need 216 points a year for your 'normal' vaction pattern you could later add on 58 points.

The least amount DVC will finance is 50 points, so if you add 25-49 points you need to pay in full for the points up front (you can of course find outside financing, such as home equity, etc).

It is easy to add on at resorts that are still for sale (such as AKV and BLT). Once a resort is sold out you go on a waitlist for that resort, which can take a while to get the points you want.

Once you buy a chunk of points you cannot ever divide those points up to sell or will to someone. I just added 108 points at AKV, but added it as 2 54 point contracts as I have 2 children so I can leave one contract to each child. Also, should I ever want or need to sell some points, I can sell off 54 points and keep 54 (small contracts also sell very easily on the resale market).

I hope that all helps.

 

[jblrn2b]

Okay - I am a newbie also. We - or I guess I- have been wanting to do this for a long time. We always stayed at the Poly and each trip was so expensive that in three trips we could have paid for a good portion of the DVC. So far we have two trips for next year SSR in February and Kidani village SV in June. Yeah!!!! We will be getting the most of our DVC points!!!!!

We have two boys (14, 8) and we will mostly stay in studios (I don't want to cook while I am there) but I am already thinking about a Christmas trip with my parents?!!! But that is why we only chose the minimum of 160 at AKV because we could stay for a week in a studio most times of the year.

I have a lot of friends who say that they never regretted buying.

Thanks 1-407-wdwjunkie I wasn't even thinking that you could add on extra points like that. We may do that next year after we pay off. Could I add on 25 points at BLT? our home now is AKL and does that make sense to add on like that?

I am so new I don't have the AKV avatar - could someone help?

Thanks to all Judith

 

[1-407-WDWJUNKIE]

You can add on 25 points at BLT if you want - though that won't get you much of a stay. Only the 25 BLT points can be used at BLT at the 11 month window. With banking and borrowing you could get up to 75 in one year.

However if you just want to start adding on as you can afford to pay for it rather than financing it is a good way to start building points at a second resort.

You can always spend some weeknights at BLT and move to AKV mid stay. Some people regularly stay at more than one resort per vacation. I prefer to stay in one room but to each their own. Bell services will move your luggage to the new resort for you.

I just grabbed my sig tag from another user who had one I liked. Add the follwing to your sig:

(IMG)http://members.cox.net/disneyvacationclub/images/dvc_sigs/bcv.jpg(/IMG)

But use square brackets - '[' and ']' - instead of parenthesis around the IMG tags.

 

[Dopey97]

If I buy in November, will I get my 1st set of points this year or next year?

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

We usually come in on a Thursday or Friday and check out on a Monday. I know the points may be more, but I will still come out better joining DVC then continuing to make general reservations. I am thinking of starting out with $160 points and based on reading I will be able to purchase more points in the future, is this correct?

As much as I love my 100 point BWV contract...I will be happy to sell it to you for $160/pt. Really, it won't be a problem.



(Sorry folks. I know this is a serious thread, but I just had to do it.)

I would seriously consider purchasing at a resort with cheaper standard views. We decided to stay Fri-Tuesday once and chose a standard studio over a boardwalk 1 bdrm so that the points wouldn't be outrageous.

 

[1-407-WDWJUNKIE]

If you buy 160 points now your 160 points cannot be used until May 1 as that is when Kindani Village - the new building - opens. They are sold out of the points for all the existing units in Jambo House so you are basically pre-buying points from the expansion.

They will give you a matching number of Developer Points (so 160 if that is how many you buy) immediately that can only be used at SSR at the 7 month window or traded out to Interval International or Disnyland. These points expire one year from when you buy.

I don't know the use year - the month your points expire and you get new points - they are giving out for new sales right now, so you would have to ask.

They were actually allowing new AKV contracts of 100 points for a while though I am not sure if they still are.

 

[GranddadTom]

We bought two 150 point contracts through the Timeshare Store in 2005 and our only regret is that we didn’t do it sooner. We pondered it, researched it, talked to other people and fretted about it for some time before we jumped in. The way I figured it, your first two concerns should 1) can you afford it and 2) do you plan on continuing to go to WDW often and well into the future. If the answer to either of these is no or maybe, then DVC is not for you. The first question is tricky because when you want something badly, it’s difficult to be honest about whether you can afford to pay for it. 300 points will cost roughly the same as a new car PLUS you’ll have a yearly maintenance fee of around $1,500. If you can buy the points with cash, you can most likely afford to do this. If you have to finance the purchase, then you should think a little harder. For the answer to the second question, I’d advise you to start by looking at what you’ve done in the past – not what you want to do in the future. The reason I say that is because the cost of a WDW vacation is more (way more) than just the cost of the room. When I plan a WDW vacation, I figure the room cost to be only 25% of the total cost. You still need to consider food, transportation, park tickets, and miscellaneous (tips, boarding the dog, parking at the airport, gifts, etc.) If you’ve been doing this in the past and you know what to expect – great. If not, watch out, Disney vacations are expensive. Remember, once you buy into the DVC, you are committing to frequent trips there for the foreseeable future. If you’re still with me at this point, then I’d say that DVC is probably right for you. It allows you to do two things – stay in a deluxe hotel for less than the price of a moderate and, by using the 11 month booking window, guarantee (I’ve never not gotten what I’ve wanted when I used the 11 month window) that you will get the room(s) you want, when you want them. I will give you a couple of other pieces of advice. Go look at all of the DVC properties the next time you are there. They are all themed differently and you really should pick a home resort carefully (since the 11 month booking only works at your home resort). Walking around each property will give you a feel for how the transportation to the parks works, the size of the place, whether the rooms are accessible from outside or there is a lobby you need to go through, what the pools and restaurants are like, what the entertainment is like, parking – that kind of thing. The second piece of advice is shop around before you buy but on the resale side of things, watch out for contracts where the points for the current use year have been used up.

 

[Leebee1253]

Hi, my family and I ( Mom (60), Me (37), sister (35) , bro-in-law (35), niece
(4) and nephew (2) just came back from WDW after not being there for like 15 years. We had the best time and my mom is thinking about the DVC because we will definately be going every year because her grandkids are really young and she figures that she could transfer it over to them later on if need be and if they do that. Can anyone tell us what would be good to do?? We were thinking of the Bay Lake Tower in the Contemporarly Resort because we know that is still being built and it is on the monorail. We would need 2 bedrooms though because 6 of us in 1 would be too cramped. Can anyone recommend how many points would be sufficient to purchase for at least a 10 day vacation every year there? Also, how many years do we get with the purchase? And How much are we looking at?? Please advise. Also, if anyone can tell me any tips about it or how it is working for their family, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Lisa

 

[chalee94]

Can anyone recommend how many points would be sufficient to purchase for at least a 10 day vacation every year there? Also, how many years do we get with the purchase? And How much are we looking at??

a 10 day (9 night) vacation in the summer including 4 weekend nights would require about 500 pts for a standard view 2BR or 660 pts for a 2BR with a magic kingdom view. (point charts are linked in the top right-hand corner if you want to run some numbers yourself.)

500 pts would start at around $54,000 including closing costs. annual dues for 500 pts would start around $1850 per year.

i believe you would get 50 years of vacations, provided you keep paying your annual dues (which will increase over time).

if you can avoid weekend nights, you can save some money. you could save a little bit by going in the offseason. but with kids in school, that may be difficult.

 

[Donald's Main Squeez]

Here is the link to the BLT point chart for 2009. If you cannot open it - send me a PM with you e-mail address and I can send you the link.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacati...BLT-Points.htm

I can't remember what the annual dues are for the BLT - but someone can probably fill in that piece for me.

 

[sueh]

Here is the link to the BLT point chart for 2009. If you cannot open it - send me a PM with you e-mail address and I can send you the link.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacati...BLT-Points.htm

I can't remember what the annual dues are for the BLT - but someone can probably fill in that piece for me.

I just sent you a pm.
The link is not working.

Thanks