Points? Do required amounts change?

[moepanz]

I would like to know if someone can tell me does Disney every change the amount of points needed for a stay for example:

If I buy 160 points at BLT and that is enough for what I need for my vacation every year (same time every year)
Has Disney every up'ed the amount of points required for stays. Like has adventure season always stayed the same amount of points for a week or has it increased over the years requiring people to by more points?

I am sorry if this is confusing but I just just learning to speak "DVC".
TIA
Maureen

 

[RescueRanger]

Yes, the amount of points can change for a certain time period. In fact, there were major point changes the 2 previous years. The thing that cannot change is the total number of points for the whole year. So, if a certain time period goes up in points, then another time period would have to go down. I'm trying to simplify it as much as possible. I hope I haven't confused you.

 

[Kidanifan08]

There is a provision in the contract for point re-allocation. This was done recently, in fact. The total number of points for a given resort over the course of the year and the different room types cannot change, but they can be shifted across the different seasons and room types.

When we purchased, we bought enough points for a week in the room type that we wanted during the Magic season. With the recent point allocation, we are now 4 point short if we want that room type. This caused a severe case of addonitis, and it is no longer a problem! --- I mean, the lack of enough points is no longer a problem. I am still not sure I am cured of the addonitis!!

I would suggest buying perhaps 8-10 points more than necessary so that this may be less of a problem for you with future re-allocations. You can always bank anyextra points from the current UY into the next UY and perhaps have an extra day for your trip with those extra points.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I believer that the points have changed for single nights in 3 of the last 4 years. However, 2012 has the same point allocation as 2011 with the exception of moving holidays, like Eastertime. The overall number of points in a resort can't change, but certain nights got more expensive and others less so. Weekend nights used to be nearly double the point cost of a weekday and now they are not nearly as expensive as they were.

DVC is supposed to work best when the resorts are filled every day, and weekends used to have empty room...at least that was the reasoning as we discussed the problem her on the DIS.

We have always booked long weekend stays so for us, our points stretch farther now....others aren't as lucky.

Bobbi

 

[disneynutz]

I believer that the points have changed for single nights in 3 of the last 4 years. However, 2012 has the same point allocation as 2011 with the exception of moving holidays, like Eastertime. The overall number of points in a resort can't change, but certain nights got more expensive and others less so. Weekend nights used to be nearly double the point cost of a weekday and now they are not nearly as expensive as they were.

DVC is supposed to work best when the resorts are filled every day, and weekends used to have empty room...at least that was the reasoning as we discussed the problem her on the DIS.

We have always booked long weekend stays so for us, our points stretch farther now....others aren't as lucky.

Bobbi

According to the CM's at several of the DVC resorts that I talked to, weekends were never slow. IMO Disney re-allocated points to sell add on contracts and to offer one time use points. I know that 3 out of 4 of our vacations have required more points than before the reallocation.

Bill

 

[com_op_2000]

When I purchased back in '93, I had enough points for 27 nights a year in a studio. Now after the reallocations over the years I am down to 22 nights a year .
As PP have said, make sure you purchase more than you need, so you do not run into future problems.

 

[DebbieB]

According to the CM's at several of the DVC resorts that I talked to, weekends were never slow. IMO Disney re-allocated points to sell add on contracts and to offer one time use points. I know that 3 out of 4 of our vacations have required more points than before the reallocation.

Bill

I disagree. There have been times I've stayed at OKW in the past and the parking lots around the rooms were empty on Saturdays. Then Friday morning all you saw were people taking suitcases out. I usually stay Saturday to Friday so that I only have 1 weekend night. When I've checked in on Saturday at BWV, there was no line. On Sunday, it was crazy.

 

[mdsd8700]

As others have said the overall total amount of points for the entire year stays the same, points needed for weekend/weeknights and seasons can change. Although as Bobbiwoz said the point charts for 2011 and 2012 are the same. We joined in 2010 and with those points charts our June trip this year would have been 15 points less, our November trip 16 points more, so I guess we were lucky that it basically evened out. Others as you have read did not fair so well.

Good Luck!

 

[drusba]

Since DVC's inception in 1991, point reallocations have occurred three times (actually two since the second was just spaced over two years). In the early 1990s, there was a change at OKW where points for some seasons went down and others up. For 2010 they did the first part of a shift of points from weekend nights, making them lower, to weekdays, making them higher; that was followed in 2011 by another weekend to wekday shift with the result that weekend nights, though still higher than weekday nights, are much lower than the were for the first 18 years of DVC and weekdays (Mon through Thurs) all became higher. For those who purchased enough points for five weekday nights once a year (a large number of members), that 2010-11 shift was very disconcerting. My guess is that you are not likely to see another one for some time and if you do it will likely be another seasonal shift rather weekend/weekday. In any event, the possiblity means that if one wants to be extra safe one should probably purchase somewhat more points than the exact number needed for an annual trip.

 

[ssawka]

According to the CM's at several of the DVC resorts that I talked to, weekends were never slow. IMO Disney re-allocated points to sell add on contracts and to offer one time use points. I know that 3 out of 4 of our vacations have required more points than before the reallocation.

Bill

Like DebbieB, I too disagree. The whole fact that some members are now short indicates that the resorts were at a higher capacity on the weekdays. If the members who are now short had allocated for weekend stays, they should not be short on points. This is not to say that they should have allocated for weekends. Everyone has their own vacation pattern. I'm just saying that's why they are short, because they were only staying weekdays.

 

[disneynutz]

Like DebbieB, I too disagree. The whole fact that some members are now short indicates that the resorts were at a higher capacity on the weekdays. If the members who are now short had allocated for weekend stays, they should not be short on points. This is not to say that they should have allocated for weekends. Everyone has their own vacation pattern. I'm just saying that's why they are short, because they were only staying weekdays.

We usually stay for two weeks at a time, arriving on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Bill

 

[ssawka]

We usually stay for two weeks at a time, arriving on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Bill

Right, that was my point. You ran into problems of being short on points because you primarily stay on weekdays, however I would say that the majority of guests are weekend to weekend. In that scenario, the point allocation should not really have affected these guests.

 

[scot@dvcstore]

The point charts for each of the Disney Vacation Club resorts are designed the year the resort opens and are "locked in". Disney can reallocate points within a given chart, though they can not add points. As an example for 2010, Disney reallocated points to make weekend nights less expensive and weekday nights adjusted upwards. Disney did this because they realized that most members were traveling Sunday-Thursday and not over weekends. Because the points for the weekend nights were so much more than the weeknights.

Any adjustment Disney makes should benefit their members. There have been two adjustments to the point charts since 1991 so it is not a common occurrence.

 

[DenLo]

Many people also get caught short on points because Easter moves from March 23 to April 25th. The two weeks around Easter are Premier Season. Only Easter and the December Holidays are premier points. Thanksgiving affects less days, but some days move in and out of Choice Season because of the U.S. Thanksgiving (4th Thursday of November).

In the reallocations in 2011 we found that for our vacation in 2011 we ended up paying less for the five days than we planned. The reason for this decrease for our trip is that the two weekend nights' points were lowered, but the points removed there were spread out over five week day nights for the whole resort. We only had three weekday nights, so our vacation costs less that we expected before the reallocation.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The point charts for each of the Disney Vacation Club resorts are designed the year the resort opens and are "locked in". Disney can reallocate points within a given chart, though they can not add points. ...

No, the point charts are not locked in. The total number of points for that resort (unless they add to it like they did at SSR and OKW) is locked. That's why they can't just change villa room categories (like at BLT from TPV or LV to SV). The total number of points never changes without new construction or demolition.

 

[disneydenisel]

The points we need to stay at BCV over Thanksgiving have increased from 237 (6 nights starting Saturday before) to 254 since 2005. Bummer for us, but we just borrow points to keep going at the time we love to go.