Pursuing my first DVC membership

[RiverBound757]

Hey everyone,

So since I'm new to the whole forum world, I figured what better way to jump in than to get some feedback on joining the DVC. My sister and her husband have been members of the dvc for a long time now and probably take 2-3 trips to disney a year from our native Virginia habitat, and I have been going to disney for quite some time now (either going with friends or crashing my sisters family vacation) but now I'm at the point where I started doing research into getting my own DVC membership. I already know I want my home resort to be AKL since it is by far one of my favorites, but I was looking into buying resale. I've weighed the pros and cons and as far as not being able to use my points on a Disneys adventure, a disney cruise or staying at the non dvc disney resorts if I were to buy resale isn't much or a concern. I still have plenty of options on other resorts I can stay at. So I made my decision on buying resale, now I'm kind of looking for input on about how much is a fair price to spend per point at AKL. I know that I want to have a loaded contract so I can use it on my trip in September, that is if there are no hold ups during the contract and I can find a place to stay one month out. So hopefully someone can give me some good input on how to avoid the ROFR and what a good price to offer for 200-220 points. Thanks in advance.

 

[MJ6987]

Hey everyone,

So since I'm new to the whole forum world, I figured what better way to jump in than to get some feedback on joining the DVC. My sister and her husband have been members of the dvc for a long time now and probably take 2-3 trips to disney a year from our native Virginia habitat, and I have been going to disney for quite some time now (either going with friends or crashing my sisters family vacation) but now I'm at the point where I started doing research into getting my own DVC membership. I already know I want my home resort to be AKL since it is by far one of my favorites, but I was looking into buying resale. I've weighed the pros and cons and as far as not being able to use my points on a Disneys adventure, a disney cruise or staying at the non dvc disney resorts if I were to buy resale isn't much or a concern. I still have plenty of options on other resorts I can stay at. So I made my decision on buying resale, now I'm kind of looking for input on about how much is a fair price to spend per point at AKL. I know that I want to have a loaded contract so I can use it on my trip in September, that is if there are no hold ups during the contract and I can find a place to stay one month out. So hopefully someone can give me some good input on how to avoid the ROFR and what a good price to offer for 200-220 points. Thanks in advance.

Hi, I can't really advise as I am looking to buy for the first time as well but I have found that if you look at the ROFR thread on here you can see how much similar contracts have actually sold for in recent months.

 

[Minniesgal]

I wouldn't hang my hat on finding so where to stay at 1 month out.

 

[RiverBound757]

I wouldn't hang my hat on finding so where to stay at 1 month out.

Ya, i wasn't sure if they would even have anything available 1 month out but I'm not really too picky for this year. I know I would like animal kingdom to be my home resort though but I'll take what I can get if it goes to closing in time. Worst case, I'll just have to borrow some points from my sister this year and pay her back haha.

 

[Msmithmd]

Ya, i wasn't sure if they would even have anything available 1 month out but I'm not really too picky for this year. I know I would like animal kingdom to be my home resort though but I'll take what I can get if it goes to closing in time. Worst case, I'll just have to borrow some points from my sister this year and pay her back haha.

There is a reasonable chance to get lodging one month out. But that is assuming you are willing to take a multiple split stay, possibly changing resorts or room types every day of your trip. Which wouldn't be much fun, even for someone like me who actually enjoys a split stay (with one resort change during a trip).

If it were me, I would book this September trip on cash, and plan on your first DVC trip 6-12 months after your resale contract transaction is completed. You will have decades to enjoy DVC. I would advise you to avoid having your first experience as a DVC owner be a frustrating one.

The other advantage to a cash reservation: if my suspicions are incorrect and you do indeed find a straight week on DVC points available, it is easy to cancel the cash reservation and proceed with your DVC booking.

 

[RiverBound757]

I don't mind so much moving around since most likely this will be a solo trip and I usually live out of my suitcase anyhow. But I understand what you mean about how frustrating it can be to do that. The contract that I was looking at already had banked points from 2013 so I wasn't sure if they expire in October which is the use year depending on how long you can bank points and all.

 

[Msmithmd]

Ah. The question is whether they are banked 2013 UY points, or 2012 points that were banked.

If they were originally 2013 points, they will be valid after banking during the 2014 UY (oct 1 2014- sept 30 2015.)

If they were 2012 points originally that were banked forward, they would indeed expire on Sept 30 of this year if not used. The broker can clarify their status for you.

The short and simple thing to remember is that points can be used a year early ("borrowed") or saved a year late ("banked"). This can only occur for a given point once. You can't roll them over repeatedly. And once you have either banked or borrowed a given point, you cannot reverse that transaction.

 

[RiverBound757]

Thank you for the info. I will have to check and make sure with them. Hopefully the process moves right along and I am able to book something.

 

[Cboyfanjoe]

We secured a 2 bedroom at SSR less then a month out last august, so you would probably get something there. SSR always seems to have rooms available even last min.

 

[Dasha Hermosilla]

We also had some success for our spring break trip 2 months out. We too stayed at SSR resort. The upside was too, that we were just happy to be there. It was also nice to try out SSR. As the resort of last resort seems to be SSR it was nice to stay there and know that on those times we don't do our normal uber planning if there is availability at SSR we are very happy with it and will stay there.

 

[RiverBound757]

Thank you both for the input!!! I haven't stayed at SSR but I have passed through there and I can already tell I won't be in the least bit disappointed if I had to stay there. I heard OKW is fairly easy to book on short notice too. Hopefully the contract will go through quickly without issue.