Questions about purchasing DVC

[disneycruising]

My DH & I have been considering DVC for some time now...10 years. After a LOT of research about DVC and how it works, We have decide to purchase points at BLT.

We attended out first DVC presentation on board the Magic (a few years back) when they where doing Vero Beach. Which we had no interest in. We love WDW. We did a second DVC presentation on our last cruise (Oct 2008) and heard about BLT. My Dh & I love this location...being on the monorail & close to MK.

We are going to be in WDW over the Christmas Holidays. Then on a 4 day cruise on the Wonder for New Years. My question is should we tour and purchase while at WDW or do it on the cruise ship. Does it make any difference?

Can someone tell me the process of purchasing?

If we purchase at WDW in Dec vs on the ship in Jan...does this matter?

 

[The Rivers' Rats]

I am not sure about which is better, but if you take a phone tour now (through a referral) you will get a Disney Gift Card and referal incentives for any potential purchase. It may be worthwhile to take the phone tour now and then see how it stacks up against the information that you hear during your upcoming trips. I wish that I'd have known about using a referal when I purchased during my trip to DL last year, it would have saved me a few bucks....

 

[Namsupak]

Wow you just decided today? The BLT price just went up this past weekend for new contracts. I believe it is $120 up from $112. I am not sure what the new incentives will be or when they will start them. Previously it was $5 off. Earlier in the year Disney was offering a free cruise as well, that varied in length depending on the point purchase. It was all category 9 though so if you wanted to upgrade you would be adding in that extra cash. If I were you I would definitely wait and see how this increased price pans out. I'll share with you some observations I have made regarding DVC. First, don't let this price increase scare you, there may be a better incentive around the corner. Plus I don't really see the price increase as being that great of a difference since the maintenance fees are rather low for now. Second, go on both tours. I know you are thinking this is going to waste your time, but this is a big and potentially long term investment certainly worth a few hours out of your day.

The reason I suggest this is because often the cruise incentive tends to be better. However you need to see what the wdw incentive is first for a baseline. We have bought from both places and we often keep in touch with our land guide, Brad Smith, more often. At the wdw presentation you will actually get to see a model room, and will probably get some fast passes and ice cream at the end. The guides are low pressure so listen to their presentation and then go home to think about it. When you go on the cruise go to their presentation and compare the incentives. Now when we bought we had a certain amount of time even after the cruise to buy with the incentive we were quoted, this may vary depending on the season though. Just make sure to find out before you leave the ship.

Then you can make your decision about which incentive you like better. Since you are talking about a couple weeks between your trips I would guess that the deals aren't going to change for the worse. BLT was $112 for most of 2009 I doubt they will make a drastic change a few months after the increase to $120. A great website to see current incentives is dvcnews.com.

I'll also give you an example of two purchases we made. We bought at one resort for basically a cash incentive that amounted to $15 off per point. Then when we went on a cruise a few years later we bought at an incentive that included $10 off per point, a $500 onboard credit, no closing costs, and DVC gave us points from the current use year and the points from the previous year. We basically just spent those points to go on another cruise. So you can see there was some difference.

On the cruise line forum someone posted the cruise incentives they got in Sept 2009, I believe he was quoted a price of $97 per point for BLT, after incentives, or he could forgo the cash incentive pay more and get a free cruise. Obviously this is changed by now but hopefully you can see how dynamic the incentives can be. Lastly another thing I have noticed with Disney DVC and this is not 100% but it seems like when they have a new resort out then they make great incentives for the previous resort they built. For example hey were offering great deals on AKV and SSR while BLT was still $112. If you have anymore questions about DVC please feel free to PM me. You are picking a great resort. I am looking to add on soon too I just want to wait till our December cruise to see the incentives myself

 

[Crystal_27]

We just returned from cruising on the Magic, and I think that the incentives were a *little* better onboard than if purchasing at WDW. Also, those who purchased on the ship were entered in a drawing for a $300 stateboard credit, so I guess that's another "pro" of purchasing onboard. Given the news of the recent price increase, it's probably good that you're waiting until December to buy to see what Disney does in terms of adding incentives. As to the process of purchasing, it really couldn't be easier. The paperwork will take about an hour to prepare and sign and, if you close at Disney or on the ship, you'll immediately be in the DVC member system and can start making reservations.

Either way, best of luck to you, and I hope you have a fabulous holiday trip!

 

[puente0629]

I think you should purchase at Disney...take the tour and you get fast passes for your theme park choice, you get to see BLT and you can have all your paperwork done right there. Last thing, I heard was that the prices will increase on Nov. 1 from $112 to $120, so I would purchase soon.

Hope this helps...

 

[Namsupak]

Here is the New Member promotion right now
Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Villas****

$120 base price less $5.00 promotional discount; 160+ points

Special Offer: With a referral from a current DVC member, prospecitve owners will receive a $25 gift card for completing a sales presentation via telephone.

Here is the Current Member promotion
Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Villas****

$112 per point 25-49 points
$112 base price less $5.00 promotional discount; 50+ points

The November 1st date is the change to $120 for current members. The new member price is already increased.

 

[disneycruising]

Thank you everyone for the great info. What did we do before the internet and all our great DISfriends.

I like the idea of doing both to see what one has a better deal. Since, we are going to be in WDW & on the cruise the same week... Do you just tell each guide that you are looking for the best deal at each place? Or just not say anything?

Can some one explain how the use year works. My DH says you get to pick what month you want it to be? Is this true? Anyone have any tips on how to pick your UY?

 

[MouseMomx2]

ne explain how the use year works. My DH says you get to pick what month you want it to be? Is this true? Anyone have any tips on how to pick your UY?

Disney is usually selling one particular Use Year but you can often get a different one by asking.

Your Use Year determines when you get your points. Ours is October, which means we get our new points on 10/1 of every year. If given a choice, you want to pick a Use Year that is just before the time you traditionally vacation. This allows you to schedule your trips for just after your Use Year begins. In the event of an unforseen trip cancellation you'll still be early enough in your Use Year to bank unused points rather than lose them.

I also wanted to add this...You say that you like to cruise (as do we). If you are planning to use your points primarily for DCL cruises DVC is probably not the best deal for you. An occasional cruise or trade is a great option, but regularly using your points this way is not a good value. The cruise points can (and do) go up each year while the DVC resort points do not. DVC can re-allocate the points within a given resort, but the total number of points for that resort cannot change. Therefore, your points will retain their value at the DVC properties but will lose some value for trading out.

I'm not assuming that you do want to use your points just to cruise. I just thought I'd mention it in case that was your plan.

 

[dizfan]

Thank you everyone for the great info. What did we do before the internet and all our great DISfriends.

I like the idea of doing both to see what one has a better deal. Since, we are going to be in WDW & on the cruise the same week... Do you just tell each guide that you are looking for the best deal at each place? Or just not say anything?

Can some one explain how the use year works. My DH says you get to pick what month you want it to be? Is this true? Anyone have any tips on how to pick your UY?

Here's a great thread explaining Use Years

 

[disneycruising]

I also wanted to add this...You say that you like to cruise (as do we). If you are planning to use your points primarily for DCL cruises DVC is probably not the best deal for you. An occasional cruise or trade is a great option, but regularly using your points this way is not a good value. The cruise points can (and do) go up each year while the DVC resort points do not. DVC can re-allocate the points within a given resort, but the total number of points for that resort cannot change. Therefore, your points will retain their value at the DVC properties but will lose some value for trading out.

I'm not assuming that you do want to use your points just to cruise. I just thought I'd mention it in case that was your plan.

Yes, we love the DCL and have done alot of cruise. This is a part of why we haven't purchased DVC before... It didn't work number wise with the cruises.
Plus, with four children we need 2 rooms every time!

As we have been booking our Christmas trips this year to WDW (2 rooms @ CBR) we once again wished, that we had already bought our DVC points...

I love the idea of being able to do WDW.. but also Vero Beach, Hilton Head Island, Grand California Villa's, & may be someday the resort in HI.

 

[disneycruising]

Here's a great thread explaining Use Years

Thank you for the link.

 

[Namsupak]

Disney is usually selling one particular Use Year but you can often get a different one by asking.

Be persistent about this, for example we only buy in our use year. This makes things much easier as far as keeping track of points.

I also wanted to add this...You say that you like to cruise (as do we). If you are planning to use your points primarily for DCL cruises DVC is probably not the best deal for you.

I agree that for the value the cruise line or RCI is not the best, but I feel that it depends on how you look at it. We have had a lot of value over the years from our points. After we took one trip to disney and I saw our room costs it is pretty easy to see the value of DVC, if you like to stay in deluxe accomadations. There are definately certain situations that DVC becomes more valuable, but I urge you to think of DVC as a pre-paid vacation. We don't look at it as an investment or a like another timeshare. I paid for all of our points in full, and have spent our points on stays 7-10 days at a time. We were married at Disney and used our points to pay for guests' rooms. We have also been on cruises using the points. I have not used the RCI since basically we go to WDW for vacations every year.

Now if I look at the room costs I would have had to pay for our rooms and our cruises we are about 75% of the way to the break even point. Obviously you have to overcome maintenance fees yearly but for every 100 points you can estimate about $400-500 which amount to one night in a deluxe resort. We pay the maintenance fees and then for the year we can take vacations without paying for acommadations or cruises. Whereas if we just paid cash every year we would be paying a greater amount, especially with a cruise. Whether you are using points for DVC resorts or for other things it really helps to keep your finances stable since we are never really looking at a huge out of pocket expense for a vacation.

For more info on on DVC value for your type of vacationing I would suggest this mousesavers link

I am sure you have already looked at all of this but hopefully some more info helps you.

One more thing I forgot to add is if you are cruising using points use cash to pay for the non adults that helps to keep the point value up as well.