Thinking about buying DVC

[andmordouglas]

Hello:

My wife and I are thinking about buying a DVC. We live in Southern CA and have two children (sorry, I don't have the proper acronymns down yet) and have been going to Disneyland every year at Christmas time. We love the decorations.

This past year, we stayed down at the Disneyland Hotel for the first time. We did three nights, had the adjoining Mickey Room for the kids (Dreams Tower) plus two day park hopper.

I paid $1800 for the room and 4 park hopper tickets. That got me thinking about doing a DVC because I would love to take the kids to Disneyworld for a longer duration stay either during the XMAS holidays while they are out of school or even for a week in the beginning of August.

I have ready many threads on the topic, and would just like to get some advice and feedback on your experiences and what others are doing to get the best bang for their buck.

My ideal would be to purchase enough points where I could stay one-week in August at Disneyworld (haven't decided on resort yet) and then three nights at Disneyland Hotel weekday during xmas holiday.

I may consider purchasing additional points for the pending Grand California Resort once they finish it or get in for minimal points on ground floor - enought to get me three weekday nights.

So, my initial thoughts after reading everything is to purchase 150 points for August which would cover 5 weekdays and then paying out of pocket for weekend nights.

Then, I would just need to find out how many points to purchase for 3 nights at Disneyland. Does anyone have any ideas?

I may also use the Disney Visa to purchase the DVC so I can earn reward points to help pay for some of the miscellaneous in the first year.

I am on the right track here? Any help and advice is appreciated.

Thanks

MD

 

[sjdisneywedding]

DL--if you plan on staying at DVC at DL during X-mas you better definaetly plan on buying points there. With the small number of room intially planned and the busy timeof xmas you will certianly need the 11 month booking advantage there.

the points should be comparable to the other resorts I would think

 

[drag n' fly]

Hello:

My wife and I are thinking about buying a DVC. We live in Southern CA and have two children (sorry, I don't have the proper acronymns down yet) and have been going to Disneyland every year at Christmas time. We love the decorations.

This past year, we stayed down at the Disneyland Hotel for the first time. We did three nights, had the adjoining Mickey Room for the kids (Dreams Tower) plus two day park hopper.

I paid $1800 for the room and 4 park hopper tickets. That got me thinking about doing a DVC because I would love to take the kids to Disneyworld for a longer duration stay either during the XMAS holidays while they are out of school or even for a week in the beginning of August.

I have ready many threads on the topic, and would just like to get some advice and feedback on your experiences and what others are doing to get the best bang for their buck.

My ideal would be to purchase enough points where I could stay one-week in August at Disneyworld (haven't decided on resort yet) and then three nights at Disneyland Hotel weekday during xmas holiday.

I may consider purchasing additional points for the pending Grand California Resort once they finish it or get in for minimal points on ground floor - enought to get me three weekday nights.

So, my initial thoughts after reading everything is to purchase 150 points for August which would cover 5 weekdays and then paying out of pocket for weekend nights.

Then, I would just need to find out how many points to purchase for 3 nights at Disneyland. Does anyone have any ideas?

I may also use the Disney Visa to purchase the DVC so I can earn reward points to help pay for some of the miscellaneous in the first year.

I am on the right track here? Any help and advice is appreciated.

Thanks

MD

Some of the DVC ol timers will be better to answer your question. I can say we purchased our contract at Disneyland in November. If you purchase your contract there you will have first rights to purchasing the new Grand Californian Villas when they become available. That would give you the 11 month advantage booking during the high seasons like (Christmas). The best advice I got off here is book where you want to stay. You can always stay at another resort but what resort do you want to have your 11 month booking advantage at?
My 2c

 

[JsMom2]

I wouldn't plan on using points for the Disneyland Hotel. It'd be costly in points, plus there's a $95 fee to book at any non-DVC property! I tried to look up the exact number of points for you, but the DVC website is down.

Also, if you are planning on going to WDW every year, think about how much those weekend nights are going to go up in price over the years. If you buy enough points for a week stay, then you are essentially locking in at today's price.

And yes, you can use your Disney Visa to get Rewards dollars. Also your purchase will be interest free for 6 months - up to $10,000.

 

[TisBit]

It sounds like you will be at DL mostly, so maybe waiting for the DVC out there is the best option, to have the 11 month booking window. Also, remember with points, you can bank and borrow points to make up for extra stays. If you are only going to WDW every other year, you might not need a ton of extra points. Right now you have to have a purchase the minimum of 160 pts, so might be a good idea to start with that, see how it goes and then add on later if you feel you need more!

I have found that my points seem to go further than I expected. It is amazing how maybe dropping one day off a week stay can save tons of points.