Newbie Question!!

[penguin77]

My wife and I are about ready to buy SSR property and we were wondering something. If we sign up by the end of the month for 150 points do start out the with 150 points or do we have to wait some amount of time for them? is So how long before we get our points?

 

[JimMIA]

I am assuming that you are buying SSR direct from Disney, rather than resale. Buying from Disney there are two dates which are important - your use year and your closing date, with the closing date being the most important.

Buying direct from Disney, you can make reservations almost immediately, but your stay cannot commence prior to your closing date on the contract.

Because DVC contracts are tied directly to specific buildings, the closing date is contingent on a particular building at SSR receiving a Certificate of Occupancy from the local building and zoning department. Until closing happens, you are not quite a DVC owner.

Your points are actually deposited into your account on the first day of your use year month, but that is not especially important. You can make reservations for stays after closing, but before your use year begins, and simply borrow the points.

If you are thinking about buying SSR resale, the whole picture changes radically, so let us know if that is your plan.

 

[tjkraz]

I am assuming that you are buying SSR direct from Disney, rather than resale. Buying from Disney there are two dates which are important - your use year and your closing date, with the closing date being the most important.

Buying direct from Disney, you can make reservations almost immediately, but your stay cannot commence prior to your closing date on the contract.

Actually the Estimated Occupancy Date is more relevant than the Closing Date. If DVC is still selling units that are not yet open, owners cannot use their DVC points until the unit listed on their deed is part of the program. The closing will occur 2-3 weeks before the unit is ready for occupancy.

 

[penguin77]

That once the deed is signed we get the points to use, but we cannnot use them if the building is not ready yet. So then if we buy in June, every June we will be "recharged" with more points to use. And if we do not use a previous years points we lose them after one year.

 

[RobDoc]

That once the deed is signed we get the points to use, but we cannnot use them if the building is not ready yet. So then if we buy in June, every June we will be "recharged" with more points to use. And if we do not use a previous years points we lose them after one year.

If you have a June Use Year, your compliment of points will be renewed on June 1 each year. They are valid thru May 31 the following year unless bankedm which extends their use an additional year.

If you know you will not use all of your points some year, you have 6 months to bank up to 100% of the points, 9 months to bank up to 50% of the points and 10 months to bank up to 25% of your points. These totals are cumulative- so if you have already banked 50% of your points within 6 months, you won't be able to bank any more after that time period.

Enjoy!

 

[JimMIA]

That once the deed is signed we get the points to use, but we cannnot use them if the building is not ready yet. So then if we buy in June, every June we will be "recharged" with more points to use. And if we do not use a previous years points we lose them after one year.

When you buy, you will be assigned a use year by Disney if you are buying direct. If you are buying resale, the contract will already have a use year. If you buy in April or May (because the prices are rumored to be going UP in early June), your use year will be later in the year. I'm not sure of the month; ask your guide about that specific information.

But the use year is not the starting date for the use of your points. You can make reservations almost immediately. As tjkraz correctly pointed out, it is the occupancy date of the building which is the critical date for the inception of your usage. You cannot actually stay in a DVC resort until that date.

Use Year is the basic period during which your points are available. So, for a December use year, 2005 points would be added to your account on December 1, 2005, and they would be available until November 30, 2006. Each succeeding year, your annual allotment of points would be deposited in your account on December 1.

If you don't anticipate using all your points, you could bank them forward as outlined above by Doc. Any points banked expire at the end of that use year if not used.

You can also borrow up to 100% of next year's allotment of points at any time during the year. Borrowing only occurs when you make a reservation you do not have points for, and then only in the exact number of points needed to cover the reservation. Like the banking mentioned above, borrowing totals are cumulative. So, if you have a 150 point contract, you could borrow up to a cumulative total of 150 points from your next year's allotment. You cannot borrow points banked from the previous year.

Also, if you borrow points, it is important to understand that you can't put them back if your plans change. The same is true of banked points - once banked, they stay there; you can't "unbank" them. The way I try to keep that straight is that you can move points once in whatever direction, but they stay where you move them.

So - in the scenario you describe - you could make reservations almost immediately if you purchase direct from Disney (important because availability is an issue during some time periods), the reservation would have to be after the occupancy date for your particular building at SSR, but it would NOT have to be after the start of your use year. If it was prior to the start of your use year, you would just borrow the points.

If we have failed to confuse you, please let us know.

 

[SpoonfulofSugar]

If you are buying at SSR before the building is finished, I don't think your use year will start until the building is done. When we went for the tour in November 04, we could have bought then, but our use year and first points would have been May 05 because the building wouldn't be finished until then. They were offering us $1500 off because of the wait for the points.