Question for DVC experts

[theostwalts]

Ok, so now that I have read just enough about DVC to be dangerous, I thought I should get some initial advice from someone who really knows what they are talking about...LOL

We are a family of 5 who has taken a family vacation at WDW for the past 2 years and will be taking a cruise this year. Our first WDW vacation was in Oct 2005, last year was Nov. 2006 and we have a Disney Cruise planned for this coming Nov. Our oldest dd is 16 and has 2 more years until college. We like the fall for travel because of lower crowds. We have stayed in deluxe resorts on both trips and would probably continue to do so on future trips.

To continue that type of vacation, how many points would we need? How many would we need if we wanted to also sneek in a long weekend in the summer at a one of the beach (HH or VB) resorts of even a long weekend at WDW?

Also, with whatever point amount you reccommend, what would the average costs be?

Thanks for your help and advice.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Check the DVC Point Charts listed at the top of the page. Figure out how many points you would need for each trip you make. With five, a two bedroom really a necessity. MS currently allows five in a one bedroom, but DVC does not provide any additional bedding or linens.

The DCL points are negotiated each year and seem to go up each year. We used points in 2001 for the four night cruise, but haven't since then. But we are a family of three, so it didn't require as many as it would for your family.

If you want to go to HHI or VB in the summer time, you probably need to get points at those resorts for those vacations. Remember, you can bank one year's points and borrow one year's points to get a total of three year's points every three years.

Weekend points are higher. So consider that as well.

If you want to go in the fall and stay at an Epcot resort, you'll want to purchase points at one of those resorts. They book early and are often sold out long before fall comes around.

If you can make your reservations at 7-11 months out, you'll need the home resort advantage. If you'll take any resort or can't book any sooner than 7 months out, you won't need the home resort advantage. Any points will do what you need.

Grand Villas go fast. Dedicated two bedroom villas with two queens in the second bedroom at BCV go fast. Boardwalk views go fast. Standard view at the BWV go fast.

If you buy resale, it will cost anywhere from about $82 to $95 a point. If you purchase through Disney at AKV, you can get points for about $95 a point. Annual fees run about $4-5 a point. They usually go up each year by a few cents.

 

[DrShifty]

I agree with Deb & Bill's reponse. There are certainly pros and cons to buying resale or directly from Disney (I've done both). Remember that you need to look over the point charts especially for your Home Resort since that is likely where you will stay the most.
I can't help you with the number of points you will need as when I bought, I thought that I had it all figured out perfectly. That's until we made 2 trips, increased our usage and had to add on (twice). I also figured my teenage DD would have less point usage when in college since she wouldn't be as interested in our family trips. WRONG. We have had to take a GV or 2BR and a studio since she wants to come(with friends). Also, she is interested in getting a room for her and her college friends for a few days during her spring break (which may change your fall travel plans and point needs).
If you go at least every other year, I would certainly buy as it will save you a fortune and the difference in accommodations is huge (and I used to stay in only the deluxe resorts before I bought).
Good luck.

 

[WDWfantasy]

Check the DVC Point Charts listed at the top of the page. Figure out how many points you would need for each trip you make. With five, a two bedroom really a necessity. MS currently allows five in a one bedroom, but DVC does not provide any additional bedding or linens.

If you decide to purchase an ownership at AKV, I believe that in all 1 bedrooms, except for the Value category, 5 can be accomodated with bedding/linens. That would be the most economical decision....points-wise.

 

[theostwalts]

Thanks for pointing out the point chart. That really helps out. When running the point compairson I used a long weekend in the summer at the Wilderness Lodge Villias and week in the fall at the Beach Club Villas in a 2 bedroom unit and came out to 412 total points. (130 for WLV and 282 for BCV) Let's just say I decide to purchase 300-400 points. Would it be better to split those up between different resorts? Or just buy at one? I am not a DVC member so when would Animal Kingdom be offered to new members? Also some of the resale seems to have a lot of banked points. That seems like a bonus to at least buy some resale.

Thanks Again

 

[crisi]

Thanks for pointing out the point chart. That really helps out. When running the point compairson I used a long weekend in the summer at the Wilderness Lodge Villias and week in the fall at the Beach Club Villas in a 2 bedroom unit and came out to 412 total points. (130 for WLV and 282 for BCV) Let's just say I decide to purchase 300-400 points. Would it be better to split those up between different resorts? Or just buy at one? I am not a DVC member so when would Animal Kingdom be offered to new members? Also some of the resale seems to have a lot of banked points. That seems like a bonus to at least buy some resale.

Thanks Again

That's sort of a personal preference question.

Some people have points at several resorts to use the home resort booking privledge. If being assured of your reservations at BCV and VWL is very important to you, you need to plan more than seven months ahead and own points at both resorts. In some cases, you'll want to plan eleven months ahead.

Other people find managing two contracts to be difficult (its a little more of a pain in the back end to track them). So they have their preferred resort that they own points at, and if they switch, great, if not, that's ok with them too.

But I would recommend that contracts over 200 points be split - you can't sell off part of your contract and its much easier to sell small contracts than large contracts.

 

[JimC]

Another consideration are dues. Over the life of the contract it is dues that comprise the bulk of your costs, not purchase price. November, excluding Thanksgiving week, is a slower period and may not require a home resort booking advantage for a two bedroom. You might want to consider SSR or OKW for the lower dues. SSR may be a better choice because the longer term contract may be a better value.

Agree that two contracts may make more sense for flexibility and ease of resale.

If you want to be absolutely sure that you can get in a certain resort at 11 months out then buy where you want to stay and do not worry about the additional marginal cost.

I am not a fan of buying points specifically for DCL. It does not give the best value on my opinion. Buy for DVC needs and pay cash for DCL. Your best DCL deal is usually to book your next cruise while on board the current cruise. I believe they book 18 months out.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you want that GV, make sure you get enough points at that resort to be able to reserve it at 11 months out. Or the two bedroom at BCV.

You can split those contracts up into smaller ones if you purchase directly from Disney. You can't split up any contract that is purchased resale or that you already own. Only Disney can split up the contract prior to sale.

If you purchase multiple contracts at multiple locations, try to get them all the same use year. It makes them easier to manage.

And if you can purchase a resale with banked points and current year points, that's a definite plus. Just be careful about the ones that are stripped (no points until the next use year and even after that).

 

[mikeandkarla]

Don't forget that if you purchase at SSR or AKV your ownership will expire in 2054 and 2057 respectively. All other resorts expire in 2042. You just have to figure which is more important to you: Being able to book 11 months out at your home resort or longer life contract. Assuming SSR or AKV is not your first choice. If they are, then your problem is solved.

 

[CPTJAK]

I believe AKV is available now for new members. If buying 310 points I would buy from DVC AKV 160 pts (minimum buy in) + 6x25pts=310

If sell in the future the 25pt contracts will be easy to sell and you can always keep different combos of points that way.

Also some members just buy enough points for a 2 br Sun-Thurs (lower point totals) and switch to $$ for weekends or stay off site cheaper to maximize costs. If money is a consideration?

 

[M&C]

Sounds like you have 3 kids. We have 2 and have bought all our contracts in two's: 2 @ 160, 2 @65 and 2@50. Seems like you should be able to have any combination of contracts and it still counts as one purchase. We also bought from Disney. Cleaner and faster that way.

Also, err on the higher side in the number of points. We're on our second add-on and we just bought our first contract in Jan 2006. We're now waiting on the next DVC property to start selling. Hoping it will be in California.

Good luck in your decision.
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M&C

 

[Dman67]

We have 2 and have bought all our contracts in two's: 2 @ 160, 2 @65 and 2@50.
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M&C

I also have a question that I thought would go well with this thread. I see a lot of DVC members talking about add-on points. If you add on are you also responsible for the annual dues on those newly added points? For instance, M&C said that they have 2 contracts at 160 points, as a ballpark estimate that's $1300+ in annual dues just for those points, correct? Now toss in the 2 contracts for 65 points each and the 2 for 50 points each, that's a total of another 230 total points, correct? If you take that and mulitply it by an average of $4.20 per point, that's another $965+ added to the $1300+ in dues. That seems like an awful lot of money to me. Are these estimates accurate?

Please don't take any offense to my post M&C. I'm just trying to get a feel for how much this will cost me each year when just talking points.

Dave

 

[Deb & Bill]

Like we always say, DVC is a prepaid vacation plan and NOT an investment to make money. After your points are paid for, and all you are paying is the annual dues, it doesn't seem so bad for what you get. That's why lots of people don't want to trade outside of DVC for anything.

 

[M&C]

No offense at all Dman67. I think Deb & Bill answered your question very well. The annual dues sound pretty bad, but if you look at the per point cost and what you get out, it all seems to even itself out.

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M&C

 

[theostwalts]

So with the points: If a time period takes say 250 points now, will it always take 250 points. In other words, will point values decrease?

 

[Deb & Bill]

So with the points: If a time period takes say 250 points now, will it always take 250 points. In other words, will point values decrease?

The only time points change are usually around Easter since that changes. They did reallocate points a while back.

However, DVC has the option of revising points, but they must keep the total number of points the same for the resort/year. So they could increase the points during the week, but decrease during the weekend. Increase points for the GV and decrease for the studio. Or increase for the studio and decrease for the two bedroom. Etc.

 

[mikeandkarla]

The weekly point values will never change. Not in 1 year, not in 30 years. Your MF change yearly, but at what seems to be at a smaller increase than room rates. The s-th prices can change, but how ever they do the opposite will occur with the f-s rates. Thus, the weekly rates remain unchanged. Make sense?

 

[theostwalts]

I think I have it. So if I want to go the week after Thanksgiving and I need for example 200 points, I will need only 200 points for that week from the time I buy in until my contract expires. Is that right?

 

[Deb & Bill]

I think I have it. So if I want to go the week after Thanksgiving and I need for example 200 points, I will need only 200 points for that week from the time I buy in until my contract expires. Is that right?

Not necessarily. Should DVC choose to reallocate the points for a resort (like they did with OKW a few years ago), you might need 210 or 190 points for that week. I don't think mikeandkarla is correct with their statement about weeks never changing.

The Public Offering Statement says the BVTC (Buena Vista Trading Company) (which has the sole authority to determine the number of points required from year to year), will in no case reallocate DVC Vacation Points by more than 20% for any Use Day from year to year except for special periods of high demand as determined by BVTC.

 

[hematite153]

The weekly point values will never change.

It's a bit more tricky than this. The value of a point will never change. But, the number of points needed for a specific night of the year could change.

As Deb & Bill said, DVC can reallocate the points throughout the year (subject to some restrictions) but the total number of points that they have to work with for every given unit cannot be changed.

So, if the full 365 days of a dedicated 2BDR would cost 16,000 points (note: there are restrictions against single owner owning this many points) then 30 years from now the same dedicated 2BDR would cost 16,000 points for the full year. Thus, the value of your points stays the same (and grows against inflation).

But, if you absolutely must travel during a specific week in Jan there is no guarantee that the week will continue to cost the same number of points.