Newbie trying to figure it all out - VGC??

[ClaraOswald]

We would likely go to VCG every 12-18 months. Alternating with February/June/December....so example....

June 2024 VGC
December 2025 VGC
June 2026 HHI if we have 'extra' points
February 2027 VGC (or WDW?)
June 2028 VGC
June 2029 VGC
December 2030 VGC

Basically we might skip 1 trip every few years in favor of WDW (we still haven't taken our son there...not sure how he'll like it compared to DLR.)

Obviously that's just a rough idea because who knows which year we'll want to go during which month. Or what life/health will be like. But it would be something like that. We did Disneyland in June 2022 and then in February 2023 and decided that is probably a little too close together for us. So I think at least a 12-month spacing is ideal. But we sometimes want to drive and June is best for that. And sometimes we like to see the Christmas stuff. Or have the nice weather, lower crowds of February. So that's pretty much why we alternate. And I'm not sure if a smaller contract for VGC would really work for that.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Oh yeah...what does SAP mean in this context?

Are you saying get a cheaper 'home' contract direct or resale? And then use it for bookings 7-months in advance for other places?

I do wonder what 7-month availability is like for the WDW resorts we'd like (probably Beach Club) or for HHI.

If we knew if our son would love trips to WDW to where we would want to alternate more often, I could see the benefit of a contract for out east as well. But at this point, I do worry he might just end up missing his favorites from DLR while we're there.

 

[Chili327]

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"

How did you create this, i need to save it. lol (its not an image i can save) I'll try a screenshot.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Oh yeah...what does SAP mean in this context?

Are you saying get a cheaper 'home' contract direct or resale? And then use it for bookings 7-months in advance for other places?

I do wonder what 7-month availability is like for the WDW resorts we'd like (probably Beach Club) or for HHI.

If we knew if our son would love trips to WDW to where we would want to alternate more often, I could see the benefit of a contract for out east as well. But at this point, I do worry he might just end up missing his favorites from DLR while we're there.

There will never be a one-size-fits-all solution for your future vacation needs. And truth be told, the way you vacation and where you’ll want to stay will likely change. Having said that, DVC can be great because of the flexibility of where all you can use your points. But you going straight to owning VGC kinda precludes that just because you’ll be paying such a huge premium to own VGC and the lack of value to use them elsewhere. One obviously cannot buy as many points to satisfy all your wants and needs. But in your case, I would buy a less-than 100 point VGC to strictly use at VGC and buy a separate small and cheap resale contract like SSR or Aulani for SAP. SAP stands for sleep around points. Points you buy for cheap to use on the network at 7 months. There is a reason why most people on these boards have multiple contracts. Once you buy and start using your contract, you’ll learn more about your preferences and future desires as you experience more stays. No amount of vlogs, threads, or articles can teach you that. Only experience. But it’s really fun to experience it. And you can’t do that until you take the plunge. It’s a leap of faith! Good luck! It’s a great time to be a new DVC buyer right now.

 

[ClaraOswald]

There will never be a one-size-fits-all solution for your future vacation needs. And truth be told, the way you vacation and where you’ll want to stay will likely change. Having said that, DVC can be great because of the flexibility of where all you can use your points. But you going straight to owning VGC kinda precludes that just because you’ll be paying such a huge premium to own VGC and the lack of value to use them elsewhere. One obviously cannot buy as many points to satisfy all your wants and needs. But in your case, I would buy a less-than 100 point VGC to strictly use at VGC and buy a separate small and cheap resale contract like SSR or Aulani for SAP. SAP stands for sleep around points. Points you buy for cheap to use on the network at 7 months. There is a reason why most people on these boards have multiple contracts. Once you buy and start using your contract, you’ll learn more about your preferences and future desires as you experience more stays. No amount of vlogs, threads, or articles can teach you that. Only experience. But it’s really fun to experience it. And you can’t do that until you take the plunge. It’s a leap of faith! Good luck! It’s a great time to be a new DVC buyer right now.

The problem is that 100 points doesn't seem like it would be enough for our stays. We will likely do at least 6 nights. For a studio that is 128 points for early June/early December trips (a bit less for February trips.) But we suspect we will want to switch to 1-bedroom when our son is older. I think we would be stretched pretty thin with 100. I'll have to sit down and run the numbers though.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

The problem is that 100 points doesn't seem like it would be enough for our stays. We will likely do at least 6 nights. For a studio that is 128 points for early June/early December trips (a bit less for February trips.) But we suspect we will want to switch to 1-bedroom when our son is older. I think we would be stretched pretty thin with 100. I'll have to sit down and run the numbers though.

Yeah. It will never be enough and addonitis is real. Good on you if you buy your first contract and never buy another one. If you’re prepared to pay, then by all means, go get that VGC! Don’t let anyone on these boards tell you how you should buy or use your points.

 

[NVDISFamily]

How did you create this, i need to save it. lol (its not an image i can save) I'll try a screenshot.

I cant remember if I used Excel or Google Sheets. I would guess Excel on the desktop. With that said I have a much better live version I actually use for forecasting my future trips out a few years to make sure I don't waste any points. I'm somewhat new so I'm not sure if it's done (likely will always be tweaking it).

FYI - if you copy/paste that table into Excel it should likely format well I would guess.

Here is how I built my tracker for California DVC points -




The one for WDW points is a bit more built out but a lot more to manage. I'm a nerd on those kinds of things so I like to build things like this.

 

[AstroBlasters]

We would likely go to VCG every 12-18 months. Alternating with February/June/December....so example....

June 2024 VGC
December 2025 VGC
June 2026 HHI if we have 'extra' points
February 2027 VGC (or WDW?)
June 2028 VGC
June 2029 VGC
December 2030 VGC

Basically we might skip 1 trip every few years in favor of WDW (we still haven't taken our son there...not sure how he'll like it compared to DLR.)

Obviously that's just a rough idea because who knows which year we'll want to go during which month. Or what life/health will be like. But it would be something like that. We did Disneyland in June 2022 and then in February 2023 and decided that is probably a little too close together for us. So I think at least a 12-month spacing is ideal. But we sometimes want to drive and June is best for that. And sometimes we like to see the Christmas stuff. Or have the nice weather, lower crowds of February. So that's pretty much why we alternate. And I'm not sure if a smaller contract for VGC would really work for that.

You could always get a small June contract and then use it every other year and use cash stays in-between.

June 2024 VGC- 2024 and borrow 2025

December 2025- Cash

June 2026 HHI- Rent with cash

February 2027- banked 2026 and borrow 2027 points

June 2028 - cash

June 2029 VGC banked 2028 and 2029 points

December 2030- cash

If you find out that you don’t want to do cash stays, then you know you made the right decision and get another contract.

 

[NVDISFamily]

There will never be a one-size-fits-all solution for your future vacation needs. And truth be told, the way you vacation and where you’ll want to stay will likely change. Having said that, DVC can be great because of the flexibility of where all you can use your points. But you going straight to owning VGC kinda precludes that just because you’ll be paying such a huge premium to own VGC and the lack of value to use them elsewhere. One obviously cannot buy as many points to satisfy all your wants and needs. But in your case, I would buy a less-than 100 point VGC to strictly use at VGC and buy a separate small and cheap resale contract like SSR or Aulani for SAP. SAP stands for sleep around points. Points you buy for cheap to use on the network at 7 months. There is a reason why most people on these boards have multiple contracts. Once you buy and start using your contract, you’ll learn more about your preferences and future desires as you experience more stays. No amount of vlogs, threads, or articles can teach you that. Only experience. But it’s really fun to experience it. And you can’t do that until you take the plunge. It’s a leap of faith! Good luck! It’s a great time to be a new DVC buyer right now.

Great wisdom here. That's one downside to VGC is that the points are a bit pricy and also it's such an awesome/special place that your points will "feel" locked into VGC. This started me on my spiral to look around for less expensive points and now I've gone off the deep end. If you do plan to make it to WDW or Aulani every two years buying some less expensive points will be hard to avoid.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Great wisdom here. That's one downside to VGC is that the points are a bit pricy and also it's such an awesome/special place that your points will "feel" locked into VGC. This started me on my spiral to look around for less expensive points and now I've gone off the deep end. If you do plan to make it to WDW or Aulani every two years buying some less expensive points will be hard to avoid.

Right now, I'd suspect WDW every 3 years, maybe. But hard to say at this point.

As for cash stays...I feel like those would really add up quickly, if we wanted to stay on-site.

 

[ClaraOswald]

You guys....I totally understand why I see people with multiple contracts and multiple locations. When I started my research it made no sense to me. But now...I get it.

Last night I was telling my husband how it might be more difficult to get a studio at Beach Club at the 7 month mark so we should have a back-up choice when the time comes. So for fun, we started looking at a couple other DVC resorts in Florida. And he already pretty much fell in love with Boulder Ridge Villas. If we stay there some day and love it...he'll probably want to go all the time. Ha! Of course, by then...those contracts will have even less years on them. What will happen exactly with the villas when those contracts are up??

 

[AstroBlasters]

You guys....I totally understand why I see people with multiple contracts and multiple locations. When I started my research it made no sense to me. But now...I get it.

Last night I was telling my husband how it might be more difficult to get a studio at Beach Club at the 7 month mark so we should have a back-up choice when the time comes. So for fun, we started looking at a couple other DVC resorts in Florida. And he already pretty much fell in love with Boulder Ridge Villas. If we stay there some day and love it...he'll probably want to go all the time. Ha! Of course, by then...those contracts will have even less years on them. What will happen exactly with the villas when those contracts are up??

I would assume that the points all expire and they will create a new association and sell points to new buyers after a refresh.

No one really knows what Disney will do because it hasn’t happened yet.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

You guys....I totally understand why I see people with multiple contracts and multiple locations. When I started my research it made no sense to me. But now...I get it.

Last night I was telling my husband how it might be more difficult to get a studio at Beach Club at the 7 month mark so we should have a back-up choice when the time comes. So for fun, we started looking at a couple other DVC resorts in Florida. And he already pretty much fell in love with Boulder Ridge Villas. If we stay there some day and love it...he'll probably want to go all the time. Ha! Of course, by then...those contracts will have even less years on them. What will happen exactly with the villas when those contracts are up??

This is how IT begins.....

 

[ClaraOswald]

I would assume that the points all expire and they will create a new association and sell points to new buyers after a refresh.

No one really knows what Disney will do because it hasn’t happened yet.

Is 2042 the first year any of the original DVC contracts expire? I guess I can just google that. I need to read up on the history of DVC. Seems like it would be interesting. I only remember hearing about it on our trip to WDW back in 2008 but I didn't really take any notice of it. Over the past few years, I would run the numbers once in a while and every time I decided it didn't make sense for us. But staying at the Grand Californian just once has spoiled us, apparently.

This is how IT begins.....

If only my bank account had the ability to handle it all! Though really, since we live in Nebraska, we don't go as often as we might like (or would make multiple contracts worthwhile) because the getting there part is stressful for us. Wish we could teleport! Well, and I refuse to go to WDW is in the summer so that makes those trips tricky. We pulled our son out of school for Disneyland last month and I just got "the letter" from the district about excessive absences.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

If only my bank account had the ability to handle it all! Though really, since we live in Nebraska, we don't go as often as we might like (or would make multiple contracts worthwhile) because the getting there part is stressful for us. Wish we could teleport! Well, and I refuse to go to WDW is in the summer so that makes those trips tricky. We pulled our son out of school for Disneyland last month and I just got "the letter" from the district about excessive absences.

The term "excessive" is so relative. And we love WDW in late August! Sure the heat is downright murderous. But the crowds are so much less than those other peak times like Spring Break and Fall/Winter break. Even October is crazy packed. NO thanks. I'll take bad weather over crazy crowds anyday.

 

[Pens Fan]

Is 2042 the first year any of the original DVC contracts expire?

In 2042, Beach Club, Boardwalk, Boulder Ridge, Hilton Head and Vero Beach will all expire. 2042 was also the original expiration date for Old Key West, but some of those contracts have been extended to 2057 so that one is a mixed bag.

And I know you are focussing on VGC right now, but since you did mention Boulder Ridge, don't forget about Copper Creek - also at Wilderness Lodge. The rooms are slightly smaller as they were hotel room conversions, but they have the huge advantage of a 2068 expiration.

 

[ClaraOswald]

The term "excessive" is so relative. And we love WDW in late August! Sure the heat is downright murderous. But the crowds are so much less than those other peak times like Spring Break and Fall/Winter break. Even October is crazy packed. NO thanks. I'll take bad weather over crazy crowds anyday.

Yeah, they send a letter after 8 absences. And then I'll get another one at 10. They include illnesses in those which is really dumb. We actually have more than 8 so not sure which ones they didn't count (but I'm not about to tell them. Ha!)

We will likely only go to WDW in late January/early February. We haven't been there since 2012 though so when we do make it back it's going to be so different.

In 2042, Beach Club, Boardwalk, Boulder Ridge, Hilton Head and Vero Beach will all expire. 2042 was also the original expiration date for Old Key West, but some of those contracts have been extended to 2057 so that one is a mixed bag.

And I know you are focussing on VGC right now, but since you did mention Boulder Ridge, don't forget about Copper Creek - also at Wilderness Lodge. The rooms are slightly smaller as they were hotel room conversions, but they have the huge advantage of a 2068 expiration.

I haven't looked at Cooper Creek yet so I definitely will. I don't suspect we'll buy a contract for there but we might want to check it out sometime anyway. Wilderness Lodge is so pretty.

 

[NVDISFamily]

You guys....I totally understand why I see people with multiple contracts and multiple locations. When I started my research it made no sense to me. But now...I get it.

Last night I was telling my husband how it might be more difficult to get a studio at Beach Club at the 7 month mark so we should have a back-up choice when the time comes. So for fun, we started looking at a couple other DVC resorts in Florida. And he already pretty much fell in love with Boulder Ridge Villas. If we stay there some day and love it...he'll probably want to go all the time. Ha! Of course, by then...those contracts will have even less years on them. What will happen exactly with the villas when those contracts are up??

This story sounds strangely familiar. Recommend you don’t visit Animal Kingdom too…

CCV is a good spot. As long as you don’t mind the smaller rooms they are awesome and in some ways have an advantage of being in the main lobby. We are stalking BRV too but I’ll only buy points there if I can get it for an awesome value. At current prices I’d rather buy CCV.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

This story sounds strangely familiar. Recommend you don’t visit Animal Kingdom too…

CCV is a good spot. As long as you don’t mind the smaller rooms they are awesome and in some ways have an advantage of being in the main lobby. We are stalking BRV too but I’ll only buy points there if I can get it for an awesome value. At current prices I’d rather buy CCV.

It's weird. I own CCV. Love the theming. But I can't get myself to stay. The transportation options stink to me.

 

[ClaraOswald]

It's weird. I own CCV. Love the theming. But I can't get myself to stay. The transportation options stink to me.

Is it boat to MK and bus to everywhere else?