Points needed for 1 bed stay

[elisern]

I was talking to a friend of mine who has a large family and 200 points. We have been contemplating a timeshare so asked her about hers. She said 200 points gets the whole family 2 bed anywhere every year (without buying addl points) and they usually go in high season.

My confusion lies in that when I look at the provided points calculator and it looks like you can barely get a deluxe studio during 'choice' season for that.

Am I reading the provided 'point calculator' incorrectly?

 

[vicki_c]

Maybe if you listed what you are specifically seeing, someone could tell you whether you are wrong or not.

By the way, is your friend talking about a DVC timeshare or another timeshare? When you say "anywhere" I wasn't sure if you meant anywhere at WDW, or anywhere in the world.

PS - I just took a quick glance at the point charts for a few resorts, studio during choice season and I show low 100s for a week.

 

[elisern]

Maybe if you listed what you are specifically seeing, someone could tell you whether you are wrong or not.

By the way, is your friend talking about a DVC timeshare or another timeshare? When you say "anywhere" I wasn't sure if you meant anywhere at WDW, or anywhere in the world.

PS - I just took a quick glance at the point charts for a few resorts, studio during choice season and I show low 100s for a week.

My friend has dvc saratoga springs 200 points (2 bed/2ba) and she is talking about trading it for any disney property (and was told they have properties around the world, not just at disneyland/disneyworld)

I was looking at the timeshare store points calulator area where they give needed points to stay in various size units at various times of the year

 

[Sammie]

Depends on where you are staying, when you are staying and how long you are staying and the size of the unit.

Here are the points needed for DVC resorts

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacation-club/DVCpoints.shtml

on 200 points in a 2 bedroom at SSR the most she will get is 5 nights during the week during Choice season which is the lowest season needed for points.

she has 200 points, she does not have a 2 bedroom unless she books that. As to using DVC at other locations, yes you can but it is not as easy as the sales people make it out to be.

The best usage of DVC points is using them to stay at DVC resorts. They are too high for anything else and there are much less expensive ways to travel to other locations.

 

[elisern]

Thank you. Those are the charts I looked at before. Based on what I see and have read it is looking like you would have to drop somewhere between 60-80k for a resale unit to get enough points to stay annually in something besides a stuido in a non peak time and that's a little too expensive for us.

...doesn't jive with what my friend said. I will have to ask her again because I must not have heard her correctly.
I appreciate everyone's help

 

[bookwormde]

What you are descibing is 400-600 points

If you are looking do not forget resale which can be bought at times for below $50/pt

 

[ToddyLu]

Maybe your friend banks and borrows her points. She can bank 2010 and borrow 2012, then use current 2011 points for 600 total points. That would probably get the 2 br for one week with a few extra points for a long weekend in a studio or something. She would not be able to get a 2 br at WDW for one week without doing this in some fashion. So maybe her family goes every other year and uses 400 points. She could stay in a THV at SSR for 242 during low point season, and she would have to get 42 points from somewhere.

For perspective buying direct from Disney and financing, as DH and I did. Our 210 point purchase was financed for $17,388.00 in June of 2009. We purchased at AKV and incentives last June were decent. The interest with financing through Disney at a preferred rate was and is around 10.75%. That is a high interest rate and some think stupid to pay but our vacations have been worth and it is the choice we made...moving on...The purchase price was $23,520...plus closing $327.27...less the credit of $6,132 (down payment and incentives)for a finance of $17, 388. Our monthly payment plan is about $237 (10 yr loan) with an $80 MF monthly. It is hard to see real cost sometimes when you are beginning to look at DVC, without calling a Guide to get numbers. I thought if you are looking at point charts already you might be interested...and am giving these figures of ours to be helpful. A new purchase direct from Disney also gave us use of 2008 points, so our first year we had 420 points to start (we only had to pay the 2008 point MF only at around $500). This has allowed us to bank and get 2 studios with SV at AKV last year and this year. Once 2012 rolls around we will not be able to do this as easily because through banking these "extra" points will be gone. We will maybe need an add on if we decide to continue taking our parents.

I just wanted you to see the real numbers for a 210 point contract at AKV. Would we buy again, resale? Absolutely. Do I regret buying direct and financing? Absolutely not!! Didn't mean to hijack your thread and I hope we can welcome you to DVC at some point.

 

[jnsolomon]

What you are descibing is 400-600 points

If you are looking do not forget resale which can be bought at times for below $50/pt

Agree 100%. No way the OP would need to spend $60-80 grand. Most likely $25-$30 grand would do the trick.

 

[Tink6666]

We bought in at 200 points and can typically do a 5 night Sun-Thurs at MOST DVC resorts per yr. We vary between Studios, 1 BR to save up points so every other yr we can do a 2BR for a longer period. We purchased resale using the timeshare store at $68 a pt and also got banked pts with the deal. We are a family of 4, but have taken my parents and plan to again this next summer. One thing you may need to factor in is that as DVC members you will find you do not need to do everything when you go because you will be back so 4 or 5 days may be ok for you.

 

[Sandisw]

Thank you. Those are the charts I looked at before. Based on what I see and have read it is looking like you would have to drop somewhere between 60-80k for a resale unit to get enough points to stay annually in something besides a stuido in a non peak time and that's a little too expensive for us.

...doesn't jive with what my friend said. I will have to ask her again because I must not have heard her correctly.
I appreciate everyone's help

We own 210 points and that will get us 5 nights in a 1 bedroom every year and 6 nights every every other year in the summer (Magic Season). If I could travel in Choice seasion, we could get the full 7 nights. And this is without borrowing. If I want to go a full week in the summer and borrow points, it would take me 5 years before I would have to skip a year.

We stay at BLT so the points charts there are a bit higher than some of the other options. We have spent less than $20,000 on our points so it is possible to get yearly trips in the higher seasons.

You really need to research the resorts, the resale market, and when you might go. Then you can decide what you would need for your travel and go from there. But, there are ways to go in the higher points seasons and make it work.

Good luck!

 

[sissy_ib]

OP-what resorts are you looking at? How long are you looking to stay each year? If only a week you don't need more than about 200 points. Unless you are wanting to stay club level every visit.

 

[staceymay00]

Nope, that is not possible unless your friend is only using points every 2-3 years. A 2br at OKW during the lowest point season is 218 points. An AKV value 2BR in lowest season is a little under 200 pts. Those two I believe require the fewest points of the WDW resorts. SSR requires between 242 and 416 points for seven nights in a 2BR every year, depending on the season.

 

[Sammie]

The friend told the OP, they were going for a week every year with 200 pts in a 2 bedroom, as the OP has found out this is not possible.

 

[CarolMN]

I wonder if your friend was talking about RCI exchanges. Believe you can get a 1 bedroom in high season for 160 points. That's not a WDW vacation, just a vacation at one of the resorts that DVC points can be used to trade into. However, getting what you want, when you want it via RCI is never guaranteed.

 

[twinboysmom]

OP, I have 200 points at SSR. Currently you can buy them resale for about 35% less than I paid for them. I have used them quite a bit, taken multiple vacations during the year at times, never needing to borrow. If you would like to share your vacation needs(room size, time of year), we can probably help answer any questions you may have.