Quick question

[mykidsrock76]

We just took the DVC tour on Saturday and we are seriously considering buying.

What are the advantages of buying direct through Disney? The resale prices I've found are great.

Also I keep reading about use years. What's that? The rep at Disney told us our points would run April - March. But some of the resales we've seen say October or December. We typically travel in the fall months, so what use year/month should we look for?

TIA!

Thanks!!!

 

[jennylyn_b]

Use year is when you get your points. It determines a few things such as your banking window, travel restrictions such as you cannot book and travel on a cruise or such within the last 4 months of your use year. If your use year is April, then you would have to bank by Nov 30 th.
Many ppl will argue buying resale versus direct. We have purchased 3 contracts direct from Disney. We have our reasons that we are not comfortable with resale. Yes, you can get points resale much cheaper. Keep in mind though that the points are good for.DVC resorts and not cruises, adventures by Disney and other collections.


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[Sandisw]

Resale is definitely going to save you money in terms of buy in price than going direct.

Currently, resale points have restrictions on them in terms of using them for the Disney Collection, which includes cruising, Adventures by Disney and the Concierge Collection. However, these options are perks for all owners, even those that buy direct, so they can be removed for everyone at any time. Not a reason, IMO, to spend double since there is no guarantee they will always be there.

When you buy DVC, it comes down to buying points to use at your home resort only. As long as the resort you own belongs to the "club", you can trade to other DVC resorts. It's unlikely the trading to other resorts will ever change, but I think its important people understand the nitty gritty and be comfortable with it.

In terms of UY, having one that starts before typical time of travel, if you have one, allows for the most flexibility if you have to cancel or change a trip (at least 31 days out--other rules apply for canceling/changing within 31 days) as you have a longer period to reschedule the trip or still bank points if you know you cant. So, with a fall travel, I would go with August/September UY instead.

When you buy through Disney, they will tell you a UY, but you can always ask for a different one if it better suits your needs.

The resale process will take longer and it could be 2 months or so before you will have points available to schedule a trip but if you have the time, and don't need the financing--which is easier through Disney--then checking out resale would be a good idea!

Good luck!!!

 

[disneynutz]

Do yourself a favor and spend some time reading the posts here on the DIS. Your questions come up often.

I took 2 years to research and I still don't know it all.

Bill

 

[mykidsrock76]

Do yourself a favor and spend some time reading the posts here on the DIS. Your questions come up often.

I took 2 years to research and I still don't know it all.

Bill

Wow! I'm hoping it doesn't take 2 years. But we are not rushing either. We are not planning a trip for another 2-3 years, so we have plenty of time.

 

[ELMC]

Wow! I'm hoping it doesn't take 2 years. But we are not rushing either. We are not planning a trip for another 2-3 years, so we have plenty of time.

By coming to these boards you will most likely be a lifelong learner about DVC. But prior to purchasing you should try to develop a fairly good understanding of the following concepts:

• How use year works, including banking, borrowing and cancelling
• Direct vs. resale, prices and uses of points
• Different home resorts, their expiration dates and the benefits/drawbacks of each
• Points charts and how many points you would realistically need to purchase for your planned vacation times
• Maintenance fees (aka your commitment to give Disney your money for the next 30-50 years)
• Exit strategies, such as reselling your contract or renting out unused points

I think I've covered the biggies, but please feel free to add on to the list if I've missed anything.

 

[chalee94]

Also I keep reading about use years. What's that? The rep at Disney told us our points would run April - March. But some of the resales we've seen say October or December. We typically travel in the fall months, so what use year/month should we look for?

your pts aren't valid for the normal calendar year. they can be used for stays during their 12-month "use year."

if you have a sept UY, your pts are valid for stays from sept 1 to the next aug 31. for example, a stay during 4th of july week 2013 would take place during your 2012 UY (sept 1, 2012 to aug 31, 2013).

a sept UY works better for travel between sept 1 through (maybe) march or so. you can book any date regardless of your UY and UY has nothing at all to do with when you can call to book...but if you wind up needing to cancel, traveling early in your UY will give you more options. OTOH, traveling in the last 2-3 months of your UY (jun-july-aug for a sept UY) means you might cancel a few months in advance of your reservation - which normally works out great - but you would be past your banking window (which closes april 30 for a sept UY) and as a result, have fewer options to avoid losing pts.

you might want to bookmark this thread about UY for reference:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1942668

 

[joelp]

By coming to these boards you will most likely be a lifelong learner about DVC. But prior to purchasing you should try to develop a fairly good understanding of the following concepts:

• How use year works, including banking, borrowing and cancelling
• Direct vs. resale, prices and uses of points
• Different home resorts, their expiration dates and the benefits/drawbacks of each
• Points charts and how many points you would realistically need to purchase for your planned vacation times
• Maintenance fees (aka your commitment to give Disney your money for the next 30-50 years)
• Exit strategies, such as reselling your contract or renting out unused points

I think I've covered the biggies, but please feel free to add on to the list if I've missed anything.

Concerning your Home Resort - it should probably be the place you would want to stay if that became your only option in the future ... For example, if you bought at SSR because it's the cheapest, but didn't like it and would not want to stay there, you're running a bit of a "risk" ...

Another thing to consider when buying direct vs. resale is the # of points you can afford/plan to buy - and whether it would ever be practical to actually use them for the non-DVC Resort options. In our case, we were looking at paying cash and buying about 100 points (to use for an every other year trip to WDW). So even banking and borrowing to the full extent would give us only 300 points every three years to use for a cruise or Adventure by Disney - and 300 points doesn't get you much for those kind of trips ... So from that perspective, there was even less reason for us to buy direct.

Take some time and check out the DISBoards threads - a few months of "research" will pay off big time!!

 

[Dean]

We just took the DVC tour on Saturday and we are seriously considering buying.

What are the advantages of buying direct through Disney? The resale prices I've found are great.

Also I keep reading about use years. What's that? The rep at Disney told us our points would run April - March. But some of the resales we've seen say October or December. We typically travel in the fall months, so what use year/month should we look for?

TIA!

Thanks!!!

Truthfully there are no items of real value buying direct. Financing is easier and the retail points can be used for cash type exchanges, neither good choices associated with buying or usage. The best option is to buy the points you need, possibly with a small cushion of around 10% max, at a home resort that gives you 11 months at the location you want to stay as a minimum (WDW for many). After that, the best home resort is the one that gives you something you're happy with most trips that's the cheapest possible. That's SSR if you're happy staying most trips there. It's likely you won't have to stay more trips there but it's possible. I would not buy BLT or BCV unless you want most trips at those locations. I would discourage financing a luxury purchase. As for the cushion, it's a larger issue if looking at studios and/or the lowest seasons. One looking a 2 BR for Magic season or above likely needs no cushion at all and may need less points than they think. There are always ways to supplement the points and one can always add on later if they needed to.