Several Questions About DVC

[jberry5]

I think I originally posted this on the wrong board.

First a little background, our family is myself, DW, DS3, and DS2mos. Right now we plan to go to WDW once per year, and it would likely be for 7-10 days. When we do go, we tend to stay at the Values or Moderates. I'm just trying to cruch the numbers to see if DVC really works for us or not. My guess is if we were to buy in, we'd take 2 trips to WDW per year, for perhaps a shorter period of time. Now for the questions:

1 - How late can you generally book a room with DVC?

2 - Is it fairly easy to book a room at a resort that isn't your "home" resort?

3 - What type of discounts are available to DVC'ers? Annual passes? Dining? Golfing? Etc.?

4 - Can you buy in with other relations, say my DW's parents? And if so, is anyone familiar with that?

5 - If you can think of any other information that would be helpful in the decision process or things that maybe aren't as well known about DVC benefits, any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CarolAnnC]

#1 - There have been reports of people making day before or same day ressies. I would not count on this though. Ideally, 11 month mark at your resort will get you the type of room and almost any day of the year. I typically book around 3 months out but not for peak times such as holiday weeks. This will get me a villa but not necessarily in my resort of choice. December is very popular, and you want to book this before 7 months out.

#2 - See above. Also, if you are flexible with resort and type of villa you have a better chance of this happening.

#3 - Discounts to DVC members can be discontinued at any time, so these perks should not be considered when deciding to buy IMHO. When you check in to your DVC Resort they issue you the current Perks book which lists what is available at that time. Members and immediate family in same household are also eligible for AP discounts at this time - $100 off an AP.

#4 - I would caution against buying DVC with family members. The purchase is like a real estate purchase - it is an asset subject to all the owners' issues such as property division, divorce, bankrupty, etc. If there is a loan, all owners are subject to the responsibility of repayment.

From what you say, it sounds like you are excellent candidates to purchase DVC. Imagine what you are paying on your 1-2 trips per year in the values and moderates and this could be applied toward your ownership instead. Plus, DVC Resorts have far more amenities and offerings than any of the value or mods. Especially with a young family, the privacy that a one bedroom would offer you is worth its weight in gold! Nice to put the babies to bed then be able to enjoy a beverage or watch tv yourselves with your own quiet time. Good luck!

 

[jberry5]

Thank you CarolAnn.

That first one would be a big one for us. We have Spirit Airlines out of Detroit (2.5 hours from us), and then Allegiant Air at 4 airports within 90 minutes of us. Both of those airlines will run ridiculous sales at times, but generally a month or two out. As for some of the others, I do think as the boys get older we're going to be "sized" out at the Values, heck we have a queen at home, and I'm trying to talk DW into a king, so I can get a better night's rest. So the space and bed sizes is likely the most important aspect to us, as we tend to not spend much time in hotels or at the WDW resorts. Not to say the other amenities wouldn't affect our decision, because if we do buy in, I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up going a bit more often than we currently foresee, and then wouldn't have the "got to do it all" attitude at the parks, and would relax more at the resorts.


Thought of a couple other questions I do have.

6 - If you buy a resale of say 75 points, could you in the future buy 25, 50, or whatever amount of points from Disney? Would they have to be the same property and fiscal year?

7 - For an example let's say I have 75 points and am planning a vacation. The time we want to go requires the following points:

Monday - Thursday - 10 points per day
Friday - Sunday - 15 points per day

We decide to stay Monday, and check out the following Monday, so Monday through Thursday uses 40 points, Friday & Saturday use 30 points, now we only have 5 points left, but need 15 for Sunday, how does that work?

8 - Is there some place to see a listing of the DVC properties and the year they "expire"?

 

[CarolinesMom]

Thank you CarolAnn.

That first one would be a big one for us. We have Spirit Airlines out of Detroit (2.5 hours from us), and then Allegiant Air at 4 airports within 90 minutes of us. Both of those airlines will run ridiculous sales at times, but generally a month or two out. As for some of the others, I do think as the boys get older we're going to be "sized" out at the Values, heck we have a queen at home, and I'm trying to talk DW into a king, so I can get a better night's rest. So the space and bed sizes is likely the most important aspect to us, as we tend to not spend much time in hotels or at the WDW resorts. Not to say the other amenities wouldn't affect our decision, because if we do buy in, I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up going a bit more often than we currently foresee, and then wouldn't have the "got to do it all" attitude at the parks, and would relax more at the resorts.


Thought of a couple other questions I do have.

6 - If you buy a resale of say 75 points, could you in the future buy 25, 50, or whatever amount of points from Disney? Would they have to be the same property and fiscal year?

7 - For an example let's say I have 75 points and am planning a vacation. The time we want to go requires the following points:

Monday - Thursday - 10 points per day
Friday - Sunday - 15 points per day

We decide to stay Monday, and check out the following Monday, so Monday through Thursday uses 40 points, Friday & Saturday use 30 points, now we only have 5 points left, but need 15 for Sunday, how does that work?

8 - Is there some place to see a listing of the DVC properties and the year they "expire"?

#6 - Once you are a member you can purchase smaller contracts. They do not have to be the same property or the same UY.

#7 - You can pay cash for the last day or borrow points from the next year

#8 - All of the DVC properties expire at the same time except SSR and AKV (AKV has the longest contract currently. It expires in 2057)

 

[jberry5]

Thank you CarolinesMom, you were too quick for me, I was just getting ready to add one other question I had forgotten about. I thought maybe Disney would only sell you smaller point lots if you had reached their current minimum buy-in threshold.

9 - Is there a place to see not only the current maintenance fees per point, but perhaps a history of a couple years for it? I'm interested in seeing what type of increase this cost generally has.


And a follow up to my example where the day would cost 15 points, but I only have 5 left. Let's say I don't have the ability to borrow from the next year, let's say I already used those points up. What's going to happen to those 5 points? Could they be used towards a percentage of that last day's rate I'm going to pay cash for?

 

[CarolinesMom]

Yes, **************** has that information. Here's a link:

http://www.****************/DuesHistories.html

 

[crisi]

I think you need to very carefully read and understand the banking and borrowing rules for DVC. DVC can be a good deal, but its easy to lose points if you don't or can't plan your trips in advance. There have been people who have needed to use points late in their use year past the banking window (often people who bought resale so they "suddenly" got points they couldn't plan for - though recently there was a flurry of posts from people who had expiring VAKL developer points to be used that couldn't use them) who have discovered no availability to use those points.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Here is something posted on this board earlier:
Dues from 1991 - 2007

Year OKW BWV VB VB(sub) HH VWL BCV SSR
2007 4.40 4.85 5.63 4.39 4.98 4.73 4.63 4.12
2006 4.24 4.69 5.27 4.12 4.34 4.61 4.48 3.98
2005 3.86 4.41 4.87 3.84 4.04 4.35 4.27 3.83
2004 3.68 4.25 4.67 3.67 3.86 4.22 4.18 3.80
2003 3.49 4.11 4.36 3.45 3.70 4.05 3.97
2002 3.22 3.92 4.17 3.33 3.48 3.80 3.77
2001 3.13 3.82 3.97 2.70 3.32 3.63
2000 3.16 3.94 4.08 2.87 3.25 3.62
1999 3.16 4.02 3.99 2.82 3.18
1998 3.17 3.94 2.76 3.20
1997 3.14 3.84 2.90 3.16
1996 2.99 3.70 2.82 3.16
1995 2.84
1994 2.70
1993 2.63
1992 2.56
1991 2.51

Annual Increase 1992 - 2007

Year OKW BWV VB VB(sub) HH VWL BCV SSR
2007 0.16 0.16 0.36 0.27 0.64 0.12 0.15 0.14
2006 0.38 0.28 0.40 0.28 0.30 0.26 0.21 0.15
2005 0.18 0.16 0.20 0.17 0.18 0.13 0.09 0.03
2004 0.19 0.14 0.31 0.22 0.16 0.17 0.21 3.80
2003 0.27 0.19 0.19 0.12 0.22 0.25 0.20
2002 0.09 0.10 0.20 0.63 0.16 0.17 3.77
2001 (0.03) (0.12) (0.11) (0.17) 0.07 0.01
2000 0.00 (0.08) 0.09 0.05 0.07 3.62
1999 (0.01) 0.08 3.99 0.06 (0.02)
1998 0.03 0.10 (0.14) 0.04
1997 0.15 0.14 0.08 0.00
1996 0.15 3.70 2.82 3.16
1995 0.14
1994 0.07
1993 0.07
1992 0.05

Percentage Increase 1992 - 2007

Year OKW BWV VB VB(sub) HH VWL BCV SSR
2007 3.8% 3.4% 6.8% 6.6% 14.7% 2.6% 3.3% 3.5%
2006 9.8% 6.3% 8.2% 7.3% 7.4% 6.0% 4.9% 3.9%
2005 4.9% 3.8% 4.3% 4.6% 4.7% 3.1% 2.2% 0.8%
2004 5.4% 3.4% 7.1% 6.4% 4.3% 4.2% 5.3%
2003 8.4% 4.8% 4.6% 3.6% 6.3% 6.6% 5.3%
2002 2.9% 2.6% 5.0% 23.3% 4.8% 4.7%
2001 -0.9% -3.0% -2.7% -5.9% 2.2% 0.3%
2000 0.0% -2.0% 2.3% 1.8% 2.2%
1999 -0.3% 2.0% 2.2% -0.6%
1998 1.0% 2.6% -4.8% 1.3%
1997 5.0% 3.8% 2.8% 0.0%
1996 5.3%
1995 5.2%
1994 2.7%
1993 2.7%
1992 2.0%

The missing one is AKV, and the dues for AKV this year are $4.62/point.

Bear in mind that the maintenance fees are dependant on the taxes, insurance, and building maintenance etc. Those of us at OKW have seen our dues decrease a couple of times, but for the most part they will tend to go up annually. There is a 15% annual cap on them, I believe.