Promotions - To wait or not

[Dean]

I agree, but I guess I have a moderate risk profile. I can't believe that the worst case scenario will happen. I guess if it does, I will cross that bridge then.

I assume the worst and hope for he best. The worst likely is we cont to own and the resorts close. Short of that is we can only use the points at DVC resorts. I don't think there's any risk for a resale owner being shut out of other current DVC resorts related to this issue or to be behind qualified owners. A given resort could leave the club and no one would have access. I think there is a VERY small risk of a VIP program that will give some owners a priority over others (all types) and that likely would incorporate the qualified vs non qualified points. Even then that option would likely be in the form of a priority wait list rather than direct reservation limitation.

 

[Metallurgist]

I am also considering ownership. I noticed that the yearly membership varies not insignificantly from resort to resort. Does this vary due to how old the resort is, and should this be a factor in determining the home ownership? For instance, 20 yrs later, would the maintenance fees to go up as the resort is older?

 

[Dean]

I am also considering ownership. I noticed that the yearly membership varies not insignificantly from resort to resort. Does this vary due to how old the resort is, and should this be a factor in determining the home ownership? For instance, 20 yrs later, would the maintenance fees to go up as the resort is older?

Both. Each resort pays it's own way but newer resorts do tend to be cheaper than existing ones that are similar. For example, I don't expect the difference for BLT to remain as great over time but I do expect it to be one of the lower dues.

 

[ovalhead96]

Bummer! Guess all I can do is hope and pray at this point!!!

Hope you get your room. Praying never hurts. Don't sweat it, something will come through

 

[vdub322]

Just to clarify, you got all the 2011 September UY points b/c you are currently in that UY. This is not a incentive; you got what you paid for. This is not a reason to buy direct (incentive-wise), though I understand that your time constraint would be an issue.

Yes, I do understand that it is not technically an incentive, but thanks for the clarification. To us, in our personal situation, it was appealing to us to have the points that we would have received in September 2011 (had we been members) even though we won't begin paying dues until May of 2012. I don't know if they backdated our membership because they needed more members to have a September use year, or what their reasoning for that was, but it was nice for us to be able to have those points to combine with our borrowed points from this coming September to book our first stay as members. We did a great deal of research and this was the best situation for us right now, but hopefully we can add on points through resale at some point.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Yes, I do understand that it is not technically an incentive, but thanks for the clarification. To us, in our personal situation, it was appealing to us to have the points that we would have received in September 2011 (had we been members) even though we won't begin paying dues until May of 2012. I don't know if they backdated our membership because they needed more members to have a September use year, or what their reasoning for that was, but it was nice for us to be able to have those points to combine with our borrowed points from this coming September to book our first stay as members. We did a great deal of research and this was the best situation for us right now, but hopefully we can add on points through resale at some point.

It was just a UY that they chose to give you and you should have been able to request any at AKV. Also, you will be charged pro-rated dues from the date that you sign the contract, not May. The payment does take a little while to be billed but that will be back dated.

 

[vdub322]

It was just a UY that they chose to give you and you should have been able to request any at AKV. Also, you will be charged pro-rated dues from the date that you sign the contract, not May. The payment does take a little while to be billed but that will be back dated.

Ok, yes, our dues will be paid from February 15th on, and we will pay those on May 1st. Maybe I should have worded it better. We will not pay dues from September-February, but we will have the full use year's worth of points. I'm not saying I got some incredible deal that would persuade the OP to buy direct over resale. I simply was posting my experience just this week so the OP could have another point of view. I do not claim to be an expert on DVC in the course of my five days in the program. If I had the luxury of time, I might have gone the resale route, and I may in the future, but I am happy with my purchase nonetheless.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Ok, well I will definitely be calling my rep tomorrow about this because she expressly stated to me multiple times that we will not be paying any back dated dues.

I'm not trying to say the way we did it is for everyone. I only posted our experience on this thread to inform the OP of what we went through just this week. We did a great deal of research, asked many questions and read our contract. If I had the luxury of time, maybe we would have went resale, but we did not. But I will be sure to triple check my info and make sure that our rep did not lie to use about back dated dues.

Just to be certain you understood what I was saying - the dues will be prorated to the date that you sign the contract. I mentioned it because the May date you were referring to might have been confusing in that your guide probably said you wouldn't be paying any dues until then but that is not the date that they are calculated from - just when you start paying. It does not back date all the way to Sept 2011.

When you purchase direct the dues are calculated to whichever is later of: 1) the date you sign the contract or 2) the date that your unit is available for occupancy (which really only is different if it is a brand new resort that isn't open yet) or 3) the date your receive your first points (which would only be different from #1 if a) they hadn't given you the current 2011 points and you had to wait for 2012 points or b) it was a new resort and points didn't exist until some date in the future. This would have written out in the contract you signed.

So, if you signed the contract today you will owe dues for 316 of 365 days in 2012.

 

[vdub322]

Just to be certain you understood what I was saying - the dues will be prorated to the date that you sign the contract. I mentioned it because the May date you were referring to might have been confusing in that your guide probably said you wouldn't be paying any dues until then but that is not the date that they are calculated from - just when you start paying. It does not back date all the way to Sept 2011.

When you purchase direct the dues are calculated to whichever is later of: 1) the date you sign the contract or 2) the date that your unit is available for occupancy (which really only is different if it is a brand new resort that isn't open yet) or 3) the date your receive your first points (which would only be different from #1 if a) they hadn't given you the current 2011 points and you had to wait for 2012 points or b) it was a new resort and points didn't exist until some date in the future. This would have written out in the contract you signed.



So, if you signed the contract today you will owe dues for 316 of 365 days in 2012.

I realized what you meant after I re-read the post a few times. Yes, I do understand we will pay dues from the date we signed the contract (Feb 15th). But if I am understanding correctly, our points would have been issued September 2011. I meant we were not paying dues from September 2011-February 2012. I apologize that I was confused by your post, or if I did not convey my intended point accurately.

 

[suncup1225]

Hey Melodyka thanks for the quick reply. A follow up: when we went to the show and tell for DVC the sales guy said if you book around the 7 month mark you will have no problems booking any area and they really fill up around the 3 months mark. Is that not true? If that was not true it is a pretty big drawback for us... we like to stay at a few different places and enjoy the freshness that has. We stayed at Riverside and it was really nice, no problem staying there again but picked Saratoga Springs this year just to try something new.

Do you have problems at the 7 month mark getting different hotels? Remember, we wont really be asking for a hotel unless we heard great things (first stay we are hoping for an AK stay, after that who cares we want to try them all)

Our DVC guide told us the same thing and we believed him lol. We own at BLT and twice now have had major issues getting a room at the 7 month out window. Do some more research before you buy...these boards are great at telling you the good, bad, and ugly. People on here are REALLY educated and I wish I would have found these boards before we bought! Good luck in your search!

 

[bigAWL]

Thought I would chime in...

I've gotten the following rooms at the 7-month mark:

• SSR 2BR for 8 nights in early Dec 2010 (nothing else available for any night of my stay).
• AKV 2BR Kidani Savannah view for 3 nights in Columbus Day weekend 2011. (I think only SSR and OKW were also available. Three weeks before the trip, when I tried to add one night to the front end, I couldn't find an open 2-bedroom anywhere in any WDW DVC on that night. Ended up booking the Poly for one night on points instead, which you can't do if you buy resale.)
• BLT 2BR MK-view for 5 nights in late June 2012 (I've since added two more days as they became available. I'm not sure what else was available, as this was my first choice.)

One option you have is to consider renting points for your next Dec trip from an owner of the resort you want to try before you buy. See if you like the resort. See if you like the DVC rooms (aside from decor, many rooms are very similar between the resorts, except maybe OKW).

Another thing to consider is the possibility of booking split stays. Maybe they only have a few days you want at one resort, you may be able to book the other days at another resort. This is another way to try out different resorts.

I own at the Grand Californian in DL. Because it is small, I believe the 7-month window can be problem for getting a room there during high-demand times). It's possible some time in the future they could build/convert more DVC rooms at DL, and maybe that would ease things a bit. But that's not going to happen any time soon, as far as I know.

 

[TheYellowDart]

Well.. I guess Disney is sold out of SSR:

http://dvcnews.com/index.php/resorts/saratoga-springs/news/1872-saratoga-springs-sold-out

Looks like we will be looking at resale =D

Kyle