Newbie trying to figure it all out - VGC??

[HIRyeDVC]

Crack addicts and people with bipolar disorder who encourage each other's exuberant spending

we have such high regard for all of us in this group.....

 

[mz-s]

You are all a bunch of enablers!

Seriously though...if we do it, we'd probably wait a year. So I'm just going to be hanging out on the board asking 50000 questions between now and then. And just talking it all out because I think my husband is already bored of hearing about it.

I wish I had a crystal ball to know if the price for resale is going to go up or down between now and this time next year.

The buy-in price becomes less important over time. Obviously it's important but over time the majority of your money is going to be in annual dues, not the buy-in. So wait until the time is right for you and your family to buy.

 

[psc85]

Following along with this, currently a RR direct owner, considering VGC resale or maybe waiting for VDH for an every other year strategy.

 

[NVDISFamily]

I shared the new pictures of the Grand Villa and the 1 and 2BR with @MrsNVDISFamily and she loves them too… I may be in trouble.

An easy solution to the buy VGC or buy VDH question… why not both?

 

[HIRyeDVC]

I shared the new pictures of the Grand Villa and the 1 and 2BR with @MrsNVDISFamily and she loves them too… I may be in trouble.

An easy solution to the buy VGC or buy VDH question… why not both?

What are you Bob Iger? Just buy EVERYTHING?!

 

[NVDISFamily]

What are you Bob Iger? Just buy EVERYTHING?!

Bah I’m not that cool. I’m just your average IT nerd remember

 

[ClaraOswald]

I shared the new pictures of the Grand Villa and the 1 and 2BR with @MrsNVDISFamily and she loves them too… I may be in trouble.

An easy solution to the buy VGC or buy VDH question… why not both?

 

[intamin]

I shared the new pictures of the Grand Villa and the 1 and 2BR with @MrsNVDISFamily and she loves them too… I may be in trouble.

An easy solution to the buy VGC or buy VDH question… why not both?

If they could just hold off sales for another 100 years when I have money that’d be fantastic

 

[HIRyeDVC]

If they could just hold off sales for another 100 years when I have money that’d be fantastic

you don't really need TWO kidneys do ya?

 

[intamin]

you don't really need TWO kidneys do ya?

God, by the end of this I’m just going to be a head and a torso wearing a t-shirt that says points are fun.

 

[NVDISFamily]

View attachment 741814

If you want to know the secret to why I can do this. I avoided the trap of buying the super fancy house in the city I really wanted a few years ago, moved out to the country and got a better house for less than half the price and locked in a great deal. That delta pays for the Disney madness for the family and the kids. I’m definitely not rich

 

[ClaraOswald]

Okay...I've read a decent amount about UY but I am still confused about what is best for us. When I sit down and try to figure it out...it just becomes a jumble in my head.

I know I'm repeating things from earlier in the thread but oh well.

Our favorite times are late January/early February, June, and early December. We have enjoyed Fall months as well though they can be so hot that I'm not sure when we'd do it again. And I'd consider March/April/May even some day, if our favorite months were a bust. But still...Jan/Feb, June, December are ideal.

It looks like VGC has a LOT of June UY for resale. So I feel like that's good for if we ever wanted to add a 2nd contract years down the road if we decide to do a bigger room or more trips.

Can you book any of the 12 months with any UY? Or does having specific ones makes it impossible to book certain months? Like if we have June UY, can we still book trips in February or not?

 

[NVDISFamily]

Can you book any of the 12 months with any UY? Or does having specific ones makes it impossible to book certain months? Like if we have June UY, can we still book trips in February or not?

Yes you can book any months with any UY. It just puts you at a little more risk if you have to cancel. For example, I have a 6 night stay at VGC in April using my June UY. This is considered more risky, but I chose to do it. I made this very ugly table that should help:

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2023	2023	2023	2023	2023	2023	2023	2023	2023	2023	2023	2023
					Points Loaded Into Account- Could have already booked for this month 11 months ago.
	"Danger Month"	"Danger Month"	"Danger Month"	"Danger Month"	"Safe Month"	"Safe Month"	"Safe Month"	"Safe Month"	"Safe Month"	"Safe Month"	"Safe Month"
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2024	2024	2024	2024	2024	2024	2024	2024	2024	2024	2024	2024
Must Bank 2023 Points by end of this month.				Any 2023 points not banked into 2024 use year will expire at the end of this month.	Points Loaded Into Account- Could have already booked for this month 11 months ago.
"Safe Month"	"Danger Month"	"Danger Month"	"Danger Month"	"Danger Month"	"Safe Month"	"Safe Month"	"Safe Month"	"Safe Month"	"Safe Month"	"Safe Month"	"Safe Month"

 

[ClaraOswald]

I still don't really get why those months are risky.

With VGC, aren't all months pretty risky if you have to cancel since it's so hard to get rooms after the 11 month window?

I feel like if we ever had to cancel, we'd just end up losing our points that year or something.

 

[NVDISFamily]

I still don't really get why those months are risky.

With VGC, aren't all months pretty risky if you have to cancel since it's so hard to get rooms after the 11 month window?

I feel like if we ever had to cancel, we'd just end up losing our points that year or something.

I'll try to explain. I have a few trips coming up. Some more risky and some less. Here we go.

Mid-September 2023 trip. Let's say at any time up to 61 days before that September trip I cancel. So let's say at the start of July something comes up and I know it's not wise to keep that September trip. I cancel. The points move back into 2023 use year and I have a long time to either book something else, or as long as those are not banked or borrowed points, I could still bank them into 2024 (I'd have until January to make this call).

Mid-April 2024 trip. Early February something comes up and I realize I need to cancel. I can cancel the trip, but the 2023 points I've used to make this tip can no longer be banked and are "stuck" in the 2023 UY and will expire at the end of May 2024. I'd have very few options to use those points. Would be best to keep the reservation and try and rent it out on the cheap.

 

[ark101]

They are risky because you cannot bank the points anymore if you have to cancel the trip. Any points from the cancelled trip will HAVE to be used up by June. Sure you may not find anything to book if you cancelled prior to the danger months but at least you can bank them for next year and do a cash stay if necessary.

 

[CarolynFH]

First of all, have you seen this thread yet? Understanding Use Year can be very helpful.

The issue with cancellation and UY has to do with banking windows, as explained above. If you have a trip booked in the last 4 months of your UY and have to cancel at short notice (but longer than 30 days out so holding doesn’t apply), you can’t bank those points and have only to the end of that UY to try to use them “somewhere, somehow” in the DVC system, which might mean booking a different resort or renting out those points to avoid losing them.

So basically, it’s better if you don’t routinely travel during the last four months of your UY. IOW, if you buy a June UY, your February trips would be riskier than January trips - but if you never have to cancel, or if your cancellations always occur within 30 days of checkin, it’s irrelevant.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Thanks! This really helps a lot.
And I've seen that thread but I think I need to bookmark it and just re-read it a lot. Ha!

So if we like Feb/June/December.....June would be a good use year as only February would be the risky month. Do you guys think June is probably the best for those? Or would December UY be best? (Though it seems like there aren't as many December UY contracts out there.)

I know UY Feb/Mar/April would be the worst so I wouldn't consider those at all.

June UY is risky for February but good for June, December, January.
August/Sept/October would be risky for the June trips but okay for Jan/Feb/Dec.

 

[intamin]

Thanks! This really helps a lot.
And I've seen that thread but I think I need to bookmark it and just re-read it a lot. Ha!

So if we like Feb/June/December.....June would be a good use year as only February would be the risky month. Do you guys think June is probably the best for those? Or would December UY be best? (Though it seems like there aren't as many December UY contracts out there.)

I know UY Feb/Mar/April would be the worst so I wouldn't consider those at all.

June UY is risky for February but good for June, December, January.
August/Sept/October would be risky for the June trips but okay for Jan/Feb/Dec.

Depending on how early you go in December, December would actually be the best UY. There's a good amount of December UY out there but the distribution varies by resort. December would essentially be good from December through August 1st with your danger period being 8/1-12/1.

Alternatively you could also do October but it would put your June trips in danger then so I would do December personally.

 

[Dobermanns]

Depending on how early you go in December, December would actually be the best UY. There's a good amount of December UY out there but the distribution varies by resort. December would essentially be good from December through August 1st with your danger period being 8/1-12/1.

Alternatively you could also do October but it would put your June trips in danger then so I would do December personally.

I second Dec UY being the best UY for trips in Dec, Jan/Feb and June, because those trips all occur within the first 8 months of the UY, your banking deadline.

I have both Dec and Jun UY at VGC, precisely because I like to stay there year round and don’t want to worry about being past my banking deadline if I have to cancel.