Newbie Questions

[AmyDek]

Hi All,

I'm at the very beginning of my serious research as to whether to purchase DVC. I've considered it for years, and now that our family is growing my husband and I are finally getting ready to make a decision.

A teeny bit of background: My husband and I have a 2 month old daughter and are planning to grow our family over the next few years. I'm a stay at home mom and he doesn't have restrictions as to when we can travel such as with a teacher. My dream has always been to take my kids to WDW every year and I've always seen DVC as the way to do that! Before my daughter was born, My husband and I typically spent a week at an all inclusive in the Caribbean and about 10 days in Europe each year. We're expecting that the trips to Europe may be on hold until our kids are older and will be replaced with WDW. It would be possible for us to not finance the purchase of DVC depending on how many points we buy, however not completely ideal.

So here are my questions:

1- how hard is it to stay at a resort other than your home resort? Since our family is brand new it will be some time before we have school schedules to deal with when vacationing and won't need to travel at peak times- we do want to purchase at a resort that we love and would love staying at, but would like the option for variation as well.

2-what is a good number of points to start out at? I was thinking around 200?

3- We're looking at both resale and direct. If resale I'm mostly interested in BWV- I have stayed there before on rental points years ago and love the boardwalk, however, since our kids will be on the younger side for a good portion of our ownership, are we going to regret not being in the magic kingdom area?

4- Are there any downsides to BWV that a newbie such as myself would be interested to know?

5- While I know that we should plan on using our points for Disney Vacations, I'd like to know that we have other options should we want to skip a year here or there. I know that if we buy resale we can't do cruises etc. with our points, but 200 points won't get us very far anyway. My question here is- will 200 points get us a week anywhere else? For example a condo in the Caribbean etc? Has anyone else done this? Would this be a good option for myself and my husband if we didn't want to go to WDW so often when the kids are older?

6- If we were to purchase DVC this year our immediate plan would be to bank this years and combine with next years points and use them next November to go to Hawaii just us and then the following spring when our daughter is almost 2 to take her to WDW for her first trip. Does that plan make sense or am I dreaming?

As I said- my research is in its infancy- I know I have a lot to learn. I appreciate any advice as well as your patience with my lack of knowledge!

 

[Pirate Granny]

Welcome...good to read a lot before you consider. I would look at the point charts to see what Hawaii DVC in November and when in the spring and how many points in a studio or 1 bedroom do you need/want.

7 month window...hummm it's hard to judge as it would depend on where you want to switch to and what season, and how many nights...I've gotten BLT three times now, but I only wanted one night, and once had to take the first night rather than the last night (worked out well anyway). Two studios and one 2 bedroom.

I can't comment on BWV as I will stay there for the first time this September in a pool/garden studio...which I got at the 7 month window...one day at a time...took about a month...I had a back up reservation at A of A. My adult children are wigged out about the clown pool, especially at night...but our grandson loved it (pool hopped from BCV one afternoon).

Good luck and congrats on your new daughter.

 

[disneynutz]

Your questions are common ones. Take severals days to read through other posts in the "purchase" section of the DIS it will give you a good feel of what ownership is all about.

Here's my feelings.

DVC may save you some money on an equal sized room compared to paying cash.

DVC will probably cause you to go more often to WDW, this takes away any savings.

Financing can add thousands to your purchase price.

Buying resale is cheaper than buying direct.

DVC is not a club, it's a bunch of people who bought a timeshare.

DVC rooms don't get updated as often as cash rooms.

Disney is the winner in the timeshare game, we are just along for the ride. They make all of the rules and will do what's necessary to continue to make a great profit.

All related expenses, dues, travel, food, admission tickets, Disney stuff, will continue to increase in price every year.

Once you get down to the number of points and resort, you can work the numbers to see if DVC will save you some money.

Good luck and have fun!

Bill

 

[lovin'fl]

Hi All,

I'm at the very beginning of my serious research as to whether to purchase DVC. I've considered it for years, and now that our family is growing my husband and I are finally getting ready to make a decision.

A teeny bit of background: My husband and I have a 2 month old daughter and are planning to grow our family over the next few years. I'm a stay at home mom and he doesn't have restrictions as to when we can travel such as with a teacher. My dream has always been to take my kids to WDW every year and I've always seen DVC as the way to do that! Before my daughter was born, My husband and I typically spent a week at an all inclusive in the Caribbean and about 10 days in Europe each year. We're expecting that the trips to Europe may be on hold until our kids are older and will be replaced with WDW. It would be possible for us to not finance the purchase of DVC depending on how many points we buy, however not completely ideal.

So here are my questions:

1- how hard is it to stay at a resort other than your home resort? Since our family is brand new it will be some time before we have school schedules to deal with when vacationing and won't need to travel at peak times- we do want to purchase at a resort that we love and would love staying at, but would like the option for variation as well. We will have stayed at all the east coast resorts by this Dec, except the new VGF, some of them twice. Some places, the smaller resorts, and some views are tough to get...some times of the year are more difficult than other times. If you can be flexible, which it sounds like you can be for a while, you should be okay booking various non-home resorts at 7 months out. You should research what times of the year DVC is busy and what resorts and what room types. But, buying SSR via resale tends to be the best bang for your buck (when we bought OKW in 2006, SSR was selling new at close to $100pp and OKW resale was the cheapest WDW resort going).

2-what is a good number of points to start out at? I was thinking around 200?
We started with 200 and it was a good amount. We have since added 225 more (in multiple add ons). Our 1st contract was 200 points and all our others were 25-100 points each. I wish our 1st was broken up too. You may consider buying 2 or 3 smaller contracts. Smaller contracts are easier to re-sell and you can get a few more $$ for them. So, if ever you realize you don't need 200, you could sell off some of the points and keep some. You cannot break up contracts to sell. I also own at 3 home resorts so that we can have the 11 month booking priority at different places (one is HHI and that's one you need to own at to book trips for the summer...it's tough to get into at 7 month window. Not impossible but tough).
3- We're looking at both resale and direct. If resale I'm mostly interested in BWV- I have stayed there before on rental points years ago and love the boardwalk, however, since our kids will be on the younger side for a good portion of our ownership, are we going to regret not being in the magic kingdom area?We love Epcot and LOVE BWV and BCV (I wish our 200 OKW points were one of these resorts instead...though we would have had to buy less points for the same $$ and we've been able to use our OKW points to stay at those places anyway...and MIL and FIL love OKW and use our points to stay there). We like MK second. I don't know if you'll regret NOT buying a MK area resort. But BLT is the best resort for that since you can walk to MK. I do recommend buying resale unless you want VGF or a small add on contract (like 25-75 points...but new members have to buy 100). Resale can save you, up to, half the cost of direct (we bought 100 AKV points resale for $66pp this March...direct is $135 right now with incentives).

4- Are there any downsides to BWV that a newbie such as myself would be interested to know?Buses to the parks are rather awful (they also go to Swan/Dolphin and Yacht and Beach Club) and if you drive there, the parking lot isn't too close. And they have long long hallways. Some folks don't like the clown slide at the poll...google it and see what you think. It didn't bother us. We still prefer it there with these negatives...the location to 2 parks is fantastic and there are a TON of dining options near both BCV and BWV.

5- While I know that we should plan on using our points for Disney Vacations, I'd like to know that we have other options should we want to skip a year here or there. I know that if we buy resale we can't do cruises etc. with our points, but 200 points won't get us very far anyway. My question here is- will 200 points get us a week anywhere else? For example a condo in the Caribbean etc? Has anyone else done this? Would this be a good option for myself and my husband if we didn't want to go to WDW so often when the kids are older? We only use our points for DVC as the other options aren't the best use of points (it's better to rent out your points and use that cash to book the other vacations). We have done the beach places and actually alternate years with WDW and DVC beach trips. The years we do DVC we get the discounted AP and do 2-3 short trips and then the following year we do the beach (like Hilton Head and Vero Beach and that saves us the cost of APs, Disney dining prices and airfare. Yes, we drove to VB from MD and won't do that again. We will do HH from now on and drive there and hope to get to Aulani once, when we can afford the airfare).

6- If we were to purchase DVC this year our immediate plan would be to bank this years and combine with next years points and use them next November to go to Hawaii just us and then the following spring when our daughter is almost 2 to take her to WDW for her first trip. Does that plan make sense or am I dreaming?Sounds good...we are looking into Aulani as well (for one of our beach years...2014 or 2016...). The airfare is crazy, so it's best to do it before you have 3 teens like we do.

As I said- my research is in its infancy- I know I have a lot to learn. I appreciate any advice as well as your patience with my lack of knowledge!

Here ya go (answers in red). Good luck on your road to DVC ownership.

 

[drusba]

So here are my questions:

1- how hard is it to stay at a resort other than your home resort? Since our family is brand new it will be some time before we have school schedules to deal with when vacationing and won't need to travel at peak times- we do want to purchase at a resort that we love and would love staying at, but would like the option for variation as well.

2-what is a good number of points to start out at? I was thinking around 200?

3- We're looking at both resale and direct. If resale I'm mostly interested in BWV- I have stayed there before on rental points years ago and love the boardwalk, however, since our kids will be on the younger side for a good portion of our ownership, are we going to regret not being in the magic kingdom area?

4- Are there any downsides to BWV that a newbie such as myself would be interested to know?

5- While I know that we should plan on using our points for Disney Vacations, I'd like to know that we have other options should we want to skip a year here or there. I know that if we buy resale we can't do cruises etc. with our points, but 200 points won't get us very far anyway. My question here is- will 200 points get us a week anywhere else? For example a condo in the Caribbean etc? Has anyone else done this? Would this be a good option for myself and my husband if we didn't want to go to WDW so often when the kids are older?

6- If we were to purchase DVC this year our immediate plan would be to bank this years and combine with next years points and use them next November to go to Hawaii just us and then the following spring when our daughter is almost 2 to take her to WDW for her first trip. Does that plan make sense or am I dreaming?

As I said- my research is in its infancy- I know I have a lot to learn. I appreciate any advice as well as your patience with my lack of knowledge!

1. Depends on time of year and what you are looking for. AKV concierge, AKV value, BLT standard, BWV standard and boardwalk view, BWV GV's and OKW GV's at the Hospitality House area can be difficult at 7 months out much of the year. Also, non-peak times for DVC are different than non-peak times for Disney in general. End of September through Marathon weekend in Jan is the DVC peak time during which it can be difficult to get any near park resort and for some times (like first two weeks of December and Christmas week) it can be difficult to get anything at 7 months out other than SSR and possibly OKW. But other than the usual suspects noted above and once in a while a BCV studio and BLT theme park view, you can usually get something at a near park resort from the time starting after Marathon weekend and continuing until late Sep, including the holidays during that time. Also, studios usually fill before 2BRs, which fill before 1BRs, and 1BRs can sometimes be open in the DVC peak time at 7 months out when nothing else is.

2. A good number of points is what you determine you can handle financially and what you think you need for an annual trip, although it is suggested you buy a little more than what is needed for that trip because, though Disney cannot raise total points applicable to the resort, it can shift points needed by raising them for some nights or seasons as long as there is an equal decrease in other nights or seasons. One recommendation is to not buy a single contract with a large number of points, but instead one or more smaller point contracts. This has to do with your ability to resell later. Smaller point contracts, such as 100 or less, sell faster in the resale market and sometimes for a better per point price than large point contracts, such as 300 or more.

3. BWV is our home and favorite and the kids (now grown) were always fine with it. It gives you two parks to walk or boat to, two dozen restaurants (Epcot area and parks), nightly entertain, an ESPN Club, and with boardwalk view, the best view on site.

4. Two downsides. First, BWV has the worst bus system on site for going to MK, AKL, and DD. It shares with Swan/Dolphin (two additonal stops), sometimes share with YC/BC (another two additonal stops), and delays seem often to be the rule rather than the exception. I have stayed at many resorts and used many bus systems and none of the others are as extremely incompetent as the BWV system. Second, the end date. DVC at BWV ends January 31, 2042 (same for VWL and BCV) while SSR is 2054, AKV is 2057, BLT 2060, and VGF 2064. If you purchase BWV, you are assured of only 29 more years. I consider that a serious downside for a young family with young kids. You don't realize it now but when you are in your 50s and 60s you will likely be going more than you ever do as a young family as long as you still have a contract, and that includes trips with grandchildren.

5. I am not sure of the going exchange point amounts since we have not done one in many years, but I vaguely recall that you really need about 270 points to get a week anywhere in an exchange, although that may be for a 1BR.

6. Aulani is possible in November at 7 months out so plan is not farfetched. However, check those Aulani point requirements because they are high. Click on "DVC Point Charts" at the top right of any main DVC thread page here.

 

[kshark1958]

In response about other options. Before Aulani was open we traded our points through RCI and was able to get a one bedroom in Maui for 165 points that would have cost us more then 2,400 cash and I think that is still the going rate for a lot of the exchanges.

 

[DisneyDenis]

I own 100 points at BWV resale. Currently looking to add another 400 points at SSR. Last trip I took my wife, 2 adult children and granddaughter. My 8 yo granddaughter really want to look out her window when she got up and see large animals (zebras, giraffes, etc.) So we booked 2 savannah view studios at AKV with my BWV points at 6.5 months at Spring Break time.

Disney never offers any discount on savannah view at AKV. Disney will discount other room types at AKV, but not savannah view. Others might question my cost, but I needed 2 years worth of points plus some extra for both rooms. So I calculated 2 years of membership fees paid + 2 years of straight line depreciation + $15 * 13 extra points needed. I found out what Disney wanted for the exact same studio on the exact same days, including room tax. The difference was a massive $4200. In addition I saved an extra $200 getting a slightly lower priced dining plan and the 10% DVC member discount on various purchases.

So, I saved $4400 on just this one trip and my purchase including closing costs was $6450. Instead of staying on the DVC (5th) floor, if I stayed in a regular "cash" savannah view room, I would have saved a slightly lower $4200 (including tax). Disney is crazy with their deluxe room prices.

Good Luck!

 

[AmyDek]

Thank you for all of the responses.

I will definitely keep perusing the boards to find answers to my questions. All of your advice is appreciated.

 

[lovin'fl]

Also, should mention...if you do go the route of 2-3 smaller contracts, it is best to get the same UY (can be different resorts) so that you will have 1 member number and all the points will be in the same pool. You just have to use home resort points only at 11 month window or wait until 7 month window and use all the points. So, if you buy 100 BWV and 100 BLT with same UY, you can book at 11-8 months: A- one home resort (BWV OR BLT) with banking/borrowing for the duration of your trip...or... B- a split stay between the 2 resorts...or you could wait until 7 months and book wherever is available with all your points. But you'd need the same UY for that. Get 2 UY (you will have 2 member #s) and you're basically booking 2 seperate resies and can link them. We have 2 UY and just used both to stay at BCV in Jan. We booked 2 nights with one and 3 nights with the other (or 1 and 4???). They linked the 2 and we got to stay in the same villa, but had to go to desk for new key cards...and the housekeeping kept trying to get us to vacate thinking we were supposed to check out. So, 2 UY can work. It's just not as seamless.