Thinking about Becoming a DVM.. Pros/ Cons?

[blancosofhollywood]

Hi there,

My Husband, 19 month old and I just spent 4 nights in Disney and we were interested in the DVM program. We went to the sales pitch and saw the AK model and fell in love. We are toying with the 160 points or the 250. I know it is a Big range, but if someone could give us some guidence that would be great!!

 

[AKV707]

We recently bought at AKV. We bought 210 pts. What we did was look at the charts and plan out a few years of trips to get an idea of what we needed. We stsrted at 160, then we thought 180, but figuring a summer trip and a short off season trip, 210 worked best for us. We figured we should get the amount we think that we need now, as point prices will only increase in the future when we add on.

We know that we will be adding on in the future, but we are good for what we think we will use over the next few years.

Consider the trips that you will likely take and the level of accomodations that you will need. Good luck choosing. DVC is one of the best things that we have done.

 

[vandy]

I am sure some of our DISboard veterans will give the usual fantastick list of pros and cons, but I just wanted to highlight what we have found. PROS: having prepaid vacations until 2054 (for SSR). Just watching regular resort rates going up this year brings a smile. Flexibility to use our points for different DVC resorts. CONS: Maintenance Fees. Be prepared to pay for these yearly or monthly. Even with fees, DVC is a great value for us, just a mental thing with another monthly payment. Another con is keeping up on your points, banking, borrowing etc. Nothing extreme, but you do need to keep on top of these. Lastly, trying to rent points if for some reason we can not use them or bank them. For us, with six people in our family and grandkids on the horizon, the pros FAR outweigh the cons.

 

[ScottakaMickey]

We are sem-local FL's, and had a difficult time, many many years, deciding how many points we needed. At one point I calculated how often we were going over to WDW, which was mostly weekeneds, and we needed somewhere around 350 points, which was way too much, so we didn't buy. We finally realized that we should get a small amount, and ended up buying 160 AKV points with the double developer point option. We will see how our usage goes with the knowledge that if we need more, we can always add on.

If you are a planner and can predict your usage going forward, then you can use the charts and calculate the number of points you'll need and then buy that number.

Its a very personal decision and from what I've learned there is no wrong decision here. I will say, that if you do go greater then 160, have them break up the number of points into smaller contracts. So, if you buy 210, you can get a master contract at 160, and either one add for 50, or two at 25. This way it give you flexibility in selling down the road.

Good Luck with your decision.

 

[vandy]

One other thing, if you feel you can go to WDW every year, go with the number of points you can afford (including fees) to meet your vacation plans. Otherwise, you can buy the smaller amount and bank one year to have two years worth (320 pts), or bank and borrow to have three years worth (480 pts).

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you decide to buy, you can start out with 160 and then add on more as you need them. It's very easy to add on. Then later on, if you decide you want fewer, you can just sell one of the add on contracts (we have four, plus one master) or the master contract and still have some points left over to use.

 

[blancosofhollywood]

Thank You So Much>>>> I Am Going To Have My Husband Read All Your Comments. It All Makes Sense. I Really Want To Do It, But The Point Thing And The Fees Were Getting Me Nervous...

I Look Forward To Chatting With All Of You More In The Future. Thank You Again.