Please give me some advice

[sammy823]

As we speak, I am in Orlando at Vistana resort (time share) using my in-laws week and I was wondering about buying into a DVC time share (the new resort which is opening). I know it is much better to buy time shares on the secondary market, but I wanted to get your opinions. I don't quite know how the pt. system works and the Disney people weren't too forthcoming with answers to my questions without going to their seminar. I wanted to know how many pts. do I need. I was also wondering if I am buying pts., why does it matter which resort I buy into? Aren't the pts good at all of the resorts? Any info you guys/gals could give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Rick.

 

[todsue99]

This a tough question to answer. The amount of points you buy really depends on how often you want to go, what size room you want to stay in and what time of year you plan on going. There are people who have 150 points and others with a 1000 or more. I happen to fall in the middle. We have always stayed in a 2 bedroom which is more points than a studio. If you give us a little more on what you are looking at and you might find a few more answers. One thing on note, it doesn't matter how many you buy it is never enough.

Points are good at all the resorts, but your home resort(were you buy) allows you to book 11 months out instead of 7 months.

Also, SSR will be good until 2054 while the other resorts are only good until 2042.

 

[sammy823]

We would not be going more than 1 week per year and I am sure that my wife would want at least a 1 and probably a 2 bedroom.

How does SSR seem like it will compare to the existing resorts? Is it a good or bad idea to purchase directly from Disney?

 

[Disney Doll]

All of the DVC resorts are quite nice, albeit different in theme. SSR seems as if it is going to compare just fine to the rest. As another poster stated, you'll also get an extra 12 years on the contract if you purchase there.

As far as where to buy, buy where you want to stay. If you like being on the Boardwalk, and close to Ecpot and mGM, then buy at BCV or BWV...you'd probably be doing resale, as I a don't think DVC has any points left in either of those resorts, but check with them directly. If you prefer the MK, then buy at VWL, because you have boating transportation to the MK. OKW is good if you are a golfer, and it's also close to DD. SSR will be close to DD and golf as well.

As far as how many points you need...somehere on this website is a points calculator, which can give you a good idea of how many to buy, based on unit size, length of stay, and time of year. Obviously, the bigger the unit and the longer the stay, the more points it will take.

As far as where to buy from...well, if you decide SSR is the one for you, you can only buy from DVC. The others can be purchased from timeshare resellers...The Timeshare Store is the one recommended by this website, and DH and I bought a resale at OKW through them a couple of years ago with Pat Spell as our agent, and it was quite effortless, very organized, no problem. If you buy resale, you have to come up with a way to finance....I have heard of some very creative financing options. There are folks that have purchased the points using their Disney VISA card and then paid off the card with a home equity line of credit. That way, they get the benefit of the VISA rewards and the tax break of the home equity line. Others have refinanced their home for more $$ than necessary, and used the extra to purchase.

The first contract DH and I bought was through DVC. We took a 10 year loan, with the idea that we'd pay it off in a shorter period of time. The 10 year loan had the smallest monthly payment though, and our thought was that if we had a month where money was a little "tight", we only had to pay the monthly payment. We ended up paying that one off in about 3-4 years, so it worked for us. You really begin to see the benefit of the DVC once you have paid off the loan!

Good luck with your decision. If you are down there, perhaps you could take a few hours to go to a presentation. It is not a hard sell thing, and could really enable you to see what's what.

 

[BigDisneyKids]

sammy823

If you can spare a few hours (2), go to the presentation. We did it in December and found it very informative, but never pushy. We went around 6pm, I think we were the last tour. It wasn't crowded nor did they try to get rid of us either.

We left with all of our information but didn't make our decision until Feb and still got all the benefits offered at the time of the presentation. (Don't forget about the price increase soon.)

Good Luck!!!