Points...

[SRB4x41ab]

After many days or asking questions on here and reading just about everything I can think of. I think I have made my mind up on where I'm going to purchase my DVC at. However, I do have one final question. So, if everyone who reads this could once again pass along his or her advice it would be greatly appreciated.

After a few responses I will do some editing to my post.

1. What is the minimum amout of points you would recommend purchasing?

2. There is only 3 in my family

3. We will be most likely traveling the first full week in Dec. Sun-Fri

4. I'm looking at purchasing my points at VWL and if the studio is anything like the regular resort rooms than a studio would be fine for us right now.

Making my reservations in 11 months advance is not a problem for me.

 

[alice99]

After many days or asking questions on here and reading just about everything I can think of. I think I have made my mind up on where I'm going to purchase my DVC at. However, I do have one final question. So, if everyone who reads this could once again pass along his or her advice it would be greatly appreciated.

What is the minimum amout of points you would recommend purchasing?

That depends on the resort and how many points it requires for you to stay there.

I figured that and added an extra few points as a cushion.

 

[dairyqueenmom]

After many days or asking questions on here and reading just about everything I can think of. I think I have made my mind up on where I'm going to purchase my DVC at. However, I do have one final question. So, if everyone who reads this could once again pass along his or her advice it would be greatly appreciated.

What is the minimum amout of points you would recommend purchasing?

How many are going to be traveling? What size villa will you most often want to rent? How often do you want travel and what time of year? Are you going to do Sun-Thur, or full weeks? And what resort do you want to stay in most often?

 

[dcfromva]

What is the minimum amout of points you would recommend purchasing?

This is the toughest thing to figure out (IMHO . ).

The answer to this question is variable and depends on several factors:

1. How often do you plan to visit?
2. How many folks will be in your party (for most visits)?
3. What size of accomodations do you plan to use (for most visits)?
4. What time of the year do you plan to visit (for most visits)? If you aren't sure about this, then approach the question from another angle:
5. What would the likelihood (percentage wise) of visiting WDW during Christmas/NYE and/or Spring Break?
6. On which property (or properties) would you stay for most visits?
7. How long will your visits be?

 

[Moeluv4u7]

Yes, will you be staying at a studio or always need at least a 2 BR or larger? and also, what time of season is your "main" travel time? Also, do you plan to visit once a year, multiple times a year or every other year... etc etc

We bought AKV for 200 points - our family of 7 will always need at least a 2 BR and we plan to visit once a year for a week (minus weekends) during Spring or Summer with a twice year trip about every two to three years- Also to have points available for our oldest DS' who will soon be in college to vacation with their friends in a studio on occassion...
In other words, very soon our vacation ways will change with our oldest ones leaving for college in the next 2 years (our oldest is going next year and 16 year old will be going year after next) - We bought enough to be able to fluctuate and be flexible (and this was before reallocation of points chart) I am glad I had the insight to buy a few more than exactly needed- I did that due to us also wanting to be able to stay at various resorts without worrying about the point difference... With AKV having so many options in room caegories, it prompted me to think about will we always want a Savannah view?... so on and so forth-
All kinds of things will influence how many points you should buy- don't forget you can bank the year you don't use all or any and borrow from the year after if you know you won't be planning a large trip that later year...
That's why DVC is going to be perfect for us! Good Luck with your decision- make a few "fun" vacation sheets as to how you may vacation say for the next 5 years and go from there... check how many points would be needed for an anticipated stay during each of those times... Don't forget you can always add on...

 

[dairyqueenmom]

Well, it is 65pts for that reservations. So you need to decide if you would like to have a cushion of points. I would probably not go any lower then 90-100pts. I doubt you can get a resale under 100pts, or you will need to buy two 50pt contracts. 100pts give you the option of a shorter adult only trip, that is huge for me. We love our cushion of points that allows for a weekend night stay, due to cheaper flights on Friday or Saturday. You can always bank those extra points for a longer trip every other year, or splurge on a 1 bedroom, to get the full kitchen.

 

[drusba]

After many days or asking questions on here and reading just about everything I can think of. I think I have made my mind up on where I'm going to purchase my DVC at. However, I do have one final question. So, if everyone who reads this could once again pass along his or her advice it would be greatly appreciated.

After a few responses I will do some editing to my post.

1. What is the minimum amout of points you would recommend purchasing?

2. There is only 3 in my family

3. We will be most likely traveling the first full week in Dec. Sun-Fri

4. I'm looking at purchasing my points at VWL and if the studio is anything like the regular resort rooms than a studio would be fine for us right now.

Making my reservations in 11 months advance is not a problem for me.

Go here for point charts that show both 2009 and 2010 points needed: http://gallery.me.com/drowells#100081 There is a change in 2010 because they are shifting points around mainly to make weekends less costly and weekdays more. If you are considering buying, you should assume you should buy more than minimum you need for planned trips so you can withstand any future point shifts. Generally, though they cannot change total points for the resort, they can change points for any given night by raising them as long as they also lower them by an equal amount elsewhere. That kind of shift can be up to 20% per year (up or down) for any given day of the year. The 2010 shift is only the second that has ever occurred but you should still assume that to be safe you should get more points, probably 20% more, than the minimum needed for planned trips.

In your case a studio at VWL for Sun to Fri in early Dec starting 2010 will be 65 points (unless you mean you will also be staying Fri night and leaving Sat, in which case the points needed will be 85). If you purchase through Disney, the minimum is 160. If you purchase on resale market, there is no required minimum but finding lower point (under 100 points) contracts can be difficult and sometimes you may have to waitlist for a resale to get a low point contract. Also, purchasing a low point resale can be in actual cost per point higher than a larger point contract at the same per point price because buyer usually pays closing costs and closing costs do not very much whether you buy 50 points or 200, i.e., you are likely going to pay in the neighborhood of $350 for closing on a 50 point contract and about the same on a 200 point contract. In any event, what you buy may be dictated more by what you can find on the market rather than points you actually need.

 

[chalee94]

1. What is the minimum amout of points you would recommend purchasing?

2. There is only 3 in my family

3. We will be most likely traveling the first full week in Dec. Sun-Fri

4. I'm looking at purchasing my points at VWL and if the studio is anything like the regular resort rooms than a studio would be fine for us right now.

Making my reservations in 11 months advance is not a problem for me.

as you know, you'll only "need" a studio so you could get by with a small contract. based on 2010 pt charts, you'll need 65 pts to stay at VWL sun-fri (or 85 if you are staying on fri night), but you should allow for a few more pts in case the weeknights change again. 75 is probably a good number if you are planning 5 night stays...but 100 would be better if you can swing it. you'll be limited to looking for resales so i'd call the timeshare store and get on their email list.

the biggest difference IMO between a hotel room at WL and a studio at VWL is that you only get one real bed in the VWL studios. the 3rd person will wind up on a doublesized pullout sofabed. i've slept on one before at SSR and they are fine for sleeping but it still feels a little strange for an adult. (OKW is the only DVC resort that has studios with 2 real queen sized beds.)

for reservations at VWL in early december, you definitely want to call early on the first day you can do so (especially if other VWL owners have been "walking" their reservations.) i suspect you are already too late to book a stay at VWL for 2009.

 

[yasuern]

I will try to answer each ?


1. What is the minimum amout of points you would recommend purchasing?
100 by your current post 200 points if you are like the rest of us that end up buying add ons or resales after our orignal purchase

2. There is only 3 in my family

You will be amazed how fast you may want to go 2x/year and also want more space see below

3. We will be most likely traveling the first full week in Dec. Sun-Fri

For this year 12/6 in 12/11 out 5 nights sun-thurs its 60pts and if you believe a studio is all you will need I'd look at 100pts BUT are you planning more children? how old is your current child - We are a family of 3 (2 adults 1 now 14y/o) and ALWAYS get a 2 bdrm for 3 people - many times a niece or nephew comes with us so it may be 4 people at times but after a day in the park its very nice to have the extra space so you can spread out and the adults can have some much needed privacy

4. I'm looking at purchasing my points at VWL and if the studio is anything like the regular resort rooms than a studio would be fine for us right now.

I think the key words here are RIGHT NOW - I don't know how or why but after we purchased we went a lot more and we ended up also buying 2 OKW resales - Once you do a 1bdrm I beleive you will never want a studio again for an extended stay

Making my reservations in 11 months advance is not a problem for me.

This is great because you will be competing with the greatest number of DVCer's making ressie for the exact same time - this is one of the most if not the most popular time for DVCers to go to WDW 2ndary to low points/ressie



Just remember BUY WERE YOU WANT TO STAY!!!

sue

 

[dianeschlicht]

I agree with Sue. We originally thought we could get by on 150 points for the same reasons mentioned, but when we purchased we decided on 230. We were already empty nesters, so we didn't think we would need more than that. We did know we wanted AT LEAST a 1 bedroom though. I frankly don't think the true advantage of DVC over a hotel is realized if you don't at least stay in a 1 bedroom.

Well, it only took one year, and we started singing a different song! We booked a 1 bedroom for our first trip with us and adult DS. We got home and immediately booked a GV for an extended family group trip! That lead to buying another contract (this time 150 points). So you see, you should probably plan on double what you are thinking of for that first stay! I will say that we have been VERY happy with 380 points over the past 11 years, and our 69 point AKV add-on actually gives us a few more than we really need.

 

[princessfionasmom]

We are a family of 4 as you can tell by my sig. I just bought 50pts resale last May at OKW which is great for us, for now. But I definitely want to add on, already. While the kids are small, a studio at OKW is great, but as they grow, we definitely want to be able to have a 1 bed. With our 50 pts, we banked this years points (we have Oct use year) and we will use our next years points in Oct for 9 nights in a studio at OKW (and still have 2 points let over to bank til the following UY). There is no way we would go for this long if we didn't have our points. If I were you I would TRY to get at least 75pts (preferably 100) resale. You can get by with just the 75 points.

Good luck and

 

[bobbiwoz]

Another consideration is that you want December at VWL. DVC in their point allocation seems to put a premium on December at VWL, and there was speculation that early December in general could (should?) be moved to a more costly period. Again, this is purely speculation here on the Disboards, but I wouldn't buy less than 100 points.

Bobbi

 

[Sandisw]

I think that a 100 pt contract, as many others have said, will work out as a start for you. While you may only need 65 or so for a studio, you want a cushion JUST in case you have trouble getting a studio and need to move up to a 1 -bedroom for some of the nights. At least, you would have some breathing room if this were to happen (but it sounds like you would be booking at 11 months so it should not be an issue).

 

[Anal Annie]

I would go for at least 100 points on the idea that you may not always travel that first week in Dec. and you may want to go during a higher season or try a larger unit with banking & borrowing. (Your kids school or sports might get in the way one day!) 100 pts. would give you a little cushion should they adjust the point charts again or if you decide to go at another time of year.

We are also only a family of 3 but started out with 250 points because we knew we'd probably almost always be in studios but we wanted enough points to be able to try different resorts at diff. times of the year & make multiple trips per year.