Questions about Joining

[Justin the Hook]

We just spent a great week 2 weeks ago at WDW. My wife and I have been kicking around the idea of joining the DVC since 2001 when we were there last time. I have a couple questions.

Disney just sent me a thing in the mail for the AKL that would cost me 16,649 for 160 points with 500 down. Does that seem right?

We only go on vacations once every 3 years or so anyway are you still able to bank one year and borrow from another to pay have enough points to go? If so 160 times 3 is 480 that is plenty of points maybe an over abundance for our needs.

Finally are you able to do a Magic Your Way dining package with this. I know 7 years ago you couldn't and that is one of the main reasons we didn't purchase. But if you could add this option to your tickets it would be well worth the money.

At the 16649 we would go on vacation 16 times over th 50 years that is 1040 a vacation for a place to stay for the week. That is a 700 dollars savings over the deluxe resort non peak season. does anyone else think like this or is it just me?

 

[marynvince]

and are the ideal DVC purchaser. If you are a fan of Disney and of the deluxe accomodations, go for it.

 

[5forDiz]

Annual Maintenance Fees for 2008 are $4.71 per point at AKV.

Many anticipate better upcoming incentives to purchase at AKV surmising that DVC will want to move that property along to sell out since they have opened sales on BLT at Contemporary and additional points for sale at SSR are anticipated with Tree House Villas becoming part of that resort. No guarantees but being patient could pay off in the next few months.

You can check resale market and become a member purchasing less than 160 points initial buy-in required when purchasing directly through Disney.

With banking and borrowing it is likely you can come to work out a trip every 3 years easily ( and perhaps even with less than 160 point buy-in) but of course that depends on what size unit you want, number of days and season you plan to travel in and also the particular DVC resort. It is good idea to review each resort's points chart to familiarize yourself with seasons, villa types, views/categories etc. to come up with a better idea on range of points that would suit your travel habits.

Once you are a member you can easily do add-on contract(s) for additional points that you find you might need as time goes on.

Presently DVC members can purchase Disney Dining Plan - it must be for entire length of your reservation and for everyone on the reservation.

 

[Justin the Hook]

Annual Maintenance Fees for 2008 are $4.71 per point at AKV.

Many anticipate better upcoming incentives to purchase at AKV surmising that DVC will want to move that property along to sell out since they have opened sales on BLT at Contemporary and additional points for sale at SSR are anticipated with Tree House Villas becoming part of that resort. No guarantees but being patient could pay off in the next few months.

You can check resale market and become a member purchasing less than 160 points initial buy-in required when purchasing directly through Disney.

With banking and borrowing it is likely you can come work out a trip every 3 years easily with less than 160 point buy-in but of course that depends on what size unit you want, number of days and season you plan to travel in.

Once you are a member you can easily do add-on contract(s) for additional points that you find you might need as time goes on.

Presently DVC members can purchase Disney Dining Plan - it must be for entire length of your reservation and for everyone on the reservation.

Thank you for your response. When buying the 160 points that is every year correct? Also, the addition of being able to add dining packages to the tickets is perfect a standard meal package and some snacks sounds perfect to me. Now I just need to move some things around to make this affordable for me. Here's hoping that a good Christmas bonus is coming my way.

 

[Pa@okw95]

Since you only go to WDW once every 3 years I would give some deep thought toward not joining DVC. There is the annual dues also that go up every year. I am old school when it comes to purchases and it sounds to me that you really may not have the money to pull this off, I base this on your comments. Like I said I am old school, meaning to buy into DVC you really should have a lot of excess money to do so.

 

[Justin the Hook]

Since you only go to WDW once every 3 years I would give some deep thought toward not joining DVC. There is the annual dues also that go up every year. I am old school when it comes to purchases and it sounds to me that you really may not have the money to pull this off, I base this on your comments. Like I said I am old school, meaning to buy into DVC you really should have a lot of excess money to do so.

I am very old school even though i am only 30. I hate wasting money and going over this for 7 years and going back again seems great. Moving money around is just my way of saying getting out of accounts that I don't touch. I doubt I would only take a loan out for this for a very small sum 5 or 6 grand and my christmas bonuses at work that, bonuses. I haven't touched them in 5 years, well i did buy myself a Wii a couple years back, but that is all.

For me this isn't a done deal, I don't have a crystal ball and can't seem to figure out this economy, but if I have the money I might just make it a go. Also, Wifey is the final say in a lot of this, well 90% in only get 10% of the vote.

 

[5forDiz]

Thank you for your response. When buying the 160 points that is every year correct? Also, the addition of being able to add dining packages to the tickets is perfect a standard meal package and some snacks sounds perfect to me. Now I just need to move some things around to make this affordable for me. Here's hoping that a good Christmas bonus is coming my way.

If you purchase 160 points each Use Year you receive allotment of 160 points; if your Use Year month is December then each December 1st you would receive allotment to use from Dec 1 2008 - Nov 30 2009 for example. If you didn't plan to utilize those points you would need to bank them into your upcoming December 2009 Use Year by July 31 2009.

Maintenance Fees tend to increase a bit each year; take a look at this thread posted here on the DIS for some additional info on MFs ( in post #2 by LisaS ) :

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1966427

Dining plan I believe has increased to $40 per adult per day for 2009 and this would be for plan that includes 1 sit-down/table service meal, 1 counter serve meal and 1 snack per day. Tip is not included so you'd pay that out of pocket on sitdown table service meals.

I did hear of another plan that is 2 counter service meals per day, 2 snacks & a refillable soda/coffee/juice mug to use at the resort you are staying at but I am not familiar with all details
( such as price & don't know if this plan is available when staying on points at DVC resorts ) so you probably want to check out dining board for more info.

Good luck.

 

[np4gp]

Dining plan I believe has increased to $40 per adult per day for 2009 and this would be for plan that includes 1 sit-down/table service meal, 1 counter serve meal and 1 snack per day. Tip is not included so you'd pay that out of pocket on sitdown table service meals.

I did hear of another plan that is 2 counter service meals per day, 2 snacks & a refillable soda/coffee/juice mug to use at the resort you are staying at but I am not familiar with all details
( such as price & don't know if this plan is available when staying on points at DVC resorts ) so you probably want to check out dining board for more info.

Good luck.

As for the counter service dining plan, I believe we are paying $30.99/pppday.

 

[dudelydude]

You have been given some great information here, but let me over-simplify this for you. I will offer what so many have told me and what I have relayed to others that have been in a similar situation as you and I. Paying over $16,000 for 160 points, giving you 480 points + developer points is a ton of points for alot of money for someone who vacations at Disney every 3 years.

Find the DVC resort you like the best, go the points calculator (found within the link above labeled "DVC Points Chart"), and buy a small resale contract for 1/3 points you need. If you need 150 points, buy a 50 point contract. Banking and borrowing will give you 150 points every 3 years. And then your annual dues will only be $200 - $300 every year on those 50 points. This will also allow you the flexibility to add another small contract later if you decide to start going every 2 years. And if it doesn't work out for you, your smaller point contract(s) will be easier to re-sell.

Hope that helps,
Joe

 

[kristenrice]

If you only plan on going every three years, use banking and borrowing to your advantage. Start by looking on the resale market. If you think 480 points is too many, figure out how many you'd need for your vacation. If you only need 240 points, look for a resale contract of 80 points. That will give you one vacation every three years using 240 points. I believe that AKV resales right now are running in the $95/point range for the smaller contracts. We just paid $92/point for ours. If you find a resale in the 80-100 point range for $95/point, your initial outlay would only be about $7600-$9500. There would be closing costs involved too, but only about $400 or so. This is a significant savings over Disney's $16K and you are not buying points that you don't need.

We were in the same boat. Disney's minimum buy in of 160 is fine for annual vacationers, but we're only planning on bi-annual trips. Our 100 points can get us 5 nights in a 1BR every 2 out of 3 years. I would suggest looking for a smaller resale contract, use banking and borrowing and then add-on if you find that you need more points.

Good Luck in your decision!

EDITED TO ADD: I see Joe was typing at the same time I was! Sorry for the redundancy!

 

[Dean]

Or you could simply rent from a member for once every 3 years. Given you only vacation once every 3 years total (if I understood correctly), I doubt you'd want to do DVC every time. I wouldn't buy OR would buy a small resale contract and use as PART of your trip with banking/borrowing. Spend some time with this and figure out what will/will not work for you and your situation.