Sorry if this has been asked, but how many points do people usually buy?

[babar]

Say I wanted to take 2 eight day trips during the year. Is that a considered a lot of points? Also, are you able to choose which DVC resort you want, or are there limited options, and can you change the resort you pick at some point.

Again, sorry if this is a popular question.

andrea

 

[Richyams]

The FAQ near the top of the topic page will answer many newcomer questions.

Your number of points really has to do with how you want to vacation, when you want to vacation and what you can afford.

You may be able to get away with 200-300 if you want to cut out some weekend days, stay in a studio and go in the low seasons.

Personally, I like the low seasons, but I prefer to stay in the Grand Villas. I go 10-12 nights from Sunday night till a week from the following Wed or Fri. I do this once a year. 430 points works for me.

Two eight night stays in an OKW Grand Villa could run 600-to over a 1000 points. Two eight night stays in a BWV Grand Villa could run over 2000 points.

Studios would be much less and one or two bedroom units would be somewhere in the middle. There is a point calculator on this site to give you an idea of the number of points needed for various stays.

 

[CarolMN]

The number of points you purchase will depend on the size of the unit (studio, 1 Bedroom, 2 Bedroom or Grand Villa), the time of year you plan to visit, the length of your stay(s) and as Rich said, the $$$ you can afford.

Disney is currently selling HHI, VB and VWL. OKW and BWV are available via resale only. BCV are rumored to become available sometime late in 2002.

As an example, if you planned to vacation in Adventure season (January, September or first half of December) at OKW in a studio, point requirements would be:

8 for each Sun - Thur night
20 for each Saturday & Sunday night
80 per week


At VWL, the points for the same vacation would be:

12
22
104

Larger units require more points as do other times of the year.

If you would like to give us more specific information regarding your vacation plans, we can be more specific about point requiremetns. In the meantime, there is a lot of great information here on the DVC board. We found it invaluable in making our decision. Good Luck on making yours - whatever it may turn out to be.

Carol

 

[ScottOKW2K]

The standard answer on this board seems to be - not enough . The previous posters are correct in pointing out that you can best decide the amount you need by deciding on the resort that you would most prefer, the size accomodations you think you would need for your average trip, the lenght of your stay(s) each year, and the points required for all of the above at the time of year you would be most likely to go.
As you can see, this varies from person to person, and situation to situation. We purchased a contract of 250 points - but now I wish we had waited for a larger one. Well, we can always add-on later.

Hope this helps, ................ Scott

 

[Wes]

Here is a link to the thread that has a poll on this question

 

[Mooobooks]

If your answer to that question is very much, as in "never enough" then you should purchase as many points as possible. Also, BUY RESALE! I paid $53 a point last year through The Time Share Store. Why pay $75 a point now for EXACTLY the same thing? (Unless you feel compelled to buy at The Wilderness Lodge Villas. I own at Old Key West, but have not stayed there yet. My wife and I have, on our DVC points, stayed at the Yacht and Beach Club, the Grand Californian in Anaheim, and will be staying at OKW for a week in July, and VWL for a week in September. It really can't get better than that! We bought a 460 point contract.)
The least expensive way to get two full weeks a year at WDW is, as suggested above, to stay at Old Key West during January, September, or the first half of December. That requires only 160 points. You'll need at least 10 grand to take the plunge, but always remember that you'll save many times that in the long run as long as you want to go there for the next 42 years.

 

[drusba]

Based on figures provided in disclosure documents (particularly additional ones required in Illinois in which Disney discloses total points sold and total number of members per resort), the average member has between 270 and 290 points; that of course does not tell you what any particular member may have. People on these boards have anywhere from 150 to 2,000 (I remember a while back a post from a 2,000 point member who said they actually use them all). You can easily do a studio unit for two 8 night trips per year (but only one Fri and Sat night per trip and avoiding Easter and Christmas) for under 300; however, a one bedroom for the same period of time puts you more in the 500 to 600 range and a 2BR in the 600 to 700 range (depending on resort). If you want to look at point charts which show the number of points required every night of the year for every unit take a look at http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/dvc/7_DVCCharts/pointcharts.htm