Thinking about buying need help!

croach

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 5, 2002
Messages
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I was at WDW last week and went to a DVC sales pitch meeting.

I am seriously thinking about buying but would like your opinions on a couple of matters.

First what is a good level to buy in at or more to the point is 150 points enough?

Second how often do you guys use the points to go places other than WDW. Looking through the book its seems very expensive(point wise) to go to alot of the other places. We are married couple with no kids and probably wouldn't go to WDW every year.
We like alot of the options but don't know if we would get much value for our points.

Third, obviously you get max value for your points by going to WDW but if you are not going every year is the DVC worth it.

I know this is a long post with a lot questions but we are just looking for some opinions to help us with an important decision.

Thanks alot for everyone's help.:confused:
 
I am a Disney addict and have annually vacationed at WDW since 1971. We also enjoy going to the beach. Buying a DVC ownership ( Vero and OKW) made sense to us since we knew we would be vacationing in Florida at least every other year. We chose Vero as our home resort since when we retire we thought it would be a great place to vacation during the winter months. We also have points at OKW to take care of our park addiction. However, we also like to vacation in other locations, particularly the national parks in the Western US. That is why we have not added-on more points. We can't use points at the historic park lodges which we love to visit. I suggest starting out with a small contract and adding-on if you discover you need more points. Your vacation tastes may change over time especially if you have young children now. This is what happen to us:D BTW....just read you don't have children so this may not be a factor for you in making the decision. Finally, one last point. You can use your points to make outside exchanges but to do this all the time doesn't appear to me to be a good value for your points. I have onlymade outside exchanges 3 times since 1996. I'm glad to have the option but it is not the primary reason I bought my DVC ownership. My primary reason was to stay at the DVC resorts. Hope this information helps you with your decision.:D
 
We have been members for over 10 years and we are Disney Insane, we have grown kids and there children who use our point, and they visit about every 2 years. We go down between 3 &4 times each year, if I where to visit only once in awhile I would not go with the DVC, I think you would be better off just staying at one of the hotels. This is my opinon only, others may disagree, but I don't think the point exchange is worth the money.
 
I think many agree with your point that it is most cost effective to use your points within the DVC resorts.

I have stayed at resorts and used the concierge collection many times. The convenience of using the points certainly encouraged me to go that route with the CC.

Their are many perks that you can't put a price on...the DVC family is my favorite.

Good luck and let us know if we can help further!

Best regards,
Shontell
 

:
:D Hello,

You are correct in that you do not get a very good value for your points when trading outside of the DVC resorts. So, I have a couple of suggestions.

First, you didn't say if you were planning on having kids down the road. If so, you will want to take that into consideration. A studio or 1 bedroom would be fine now but if a couple of little ones come along (that will grow up to big ones) you will want a 2 bedroom later on.

Secondly, if you are a beach fan the Disney resorts at Vero and Hilton Head are top notch (plus HH has great golf in the area), so there is some flexibility outside of WDW.

All said, I would purchase in the 200 point range initially. Look closely at resales. Can save you 10 - 20 %. I purchased 350 pts back in 1997 and just did a 100 pt add on through a resale (the sponsors of this board).

If $ is tight 150 pts is ok. Keep in mind you can always bank and borrow. So 150 pts becomes 300 every other year.

Good luck.

dwb
 
I've posted this info before but not for you and as it turns out, the search funciton wasn't working last time I tried it a day or two ago. This is all my opinion, others will have thier's. I'll apologize in advance to those that have been it several times before.

DVC is worth it only if you plan to stay at a DVC resort for the majority of your points. As you correctly perceived, the other points options are very expensive. Interval International trades are the most reasonable after that followed by the Alaska Cruise and then I guess the Disney Cruises (as long as you compare to cash DCL and not RCCL, etc). Don't get me wrong, I love DVC, I just don't think the other options are a reasonable use of points on a regular or planned basis.

As to how many points, that totally depends. You need to give us more info like your family size, usual time of travel, length of vacations and the like. 150 is good to start with but many who do so end up adding on, sometimes multiple add ons. It also depends somewhat on the resort you chose. You can buy all resorts, just most must be bought resale. Since this is the cheaper way to go anyway, I'd recommend it unless you are set on BCV or VB. Don't fall for the ploy to buy at HH or VB mostly to use at WDW. While it can work, it adds an element of risk, not to mention increased fees over time.

In general, I'd recommend between 150 and 300 points. It's usually not a good idea to buy the EXACT number of points that you find when you look at the points charts. They can't change the total number of points but they can rebalance over time and if you have the exact number you NEED, you might end up losing a day or even two every trip for your trip. IF you're looking at a larger unit size, using weekends and higher season (Magic or Premier), you can buy basically what you need. The people that might get in trouble cutting it too close are those looking mostly at studios and 1 BR, lower season and Sun-Fri. I'd probably give yourself at least a 10% cushion, more in some cases.

Since you asked the last questions separately "but if you are not going every year is the DVC worth it", I'll answer more directly. The answer is frequently no. It can be if used correctly but it isn't unless you can and will use the points more at DVC resorts. It's also not worth it for weekend trips. BTW, many people buy a lower points total and go every other year or so. With banking and borrowing you can really get creative. That's part of the benefit of DVC, the flexibility. Too bad the non DVC flexibility is so very expensive in terms of points, which is the same as cash to me.

Good luck, I hope this helps.
 
When you use your points at other than WDW DVC resorts you get killed with the loss of value--it works out to about 30% of the value of the points-at least that was my case when I went to Sagamore (Lake George) with my points this summer. I would not buy in your case. You should be a WDW nut like most of us to buy. If you are not going to go at least once a year and I see you live in Virigina I would not do it. Virigina is so close that a true WDW nut would be there way more than once a year. At any rate use cash for now to visit WDW and if your tastes change you always can buy in later.
 
I agree with the other posts--unless you want to go to Disney every other year at least, I don't think it's wise for you to buy Disney. While I, too, am a Disney nut and currently have 450 pts, I vacation in Florida 2-3 times per year, as most nuts do. If you enjoyed your time at Disney, but not enough to return frequently, you might want to just pay cash. Disney does have a very flexible program, however, so if you are thinking timeshare, they are probably the way to go. Just be aware that all the benefits and flexibility come at a rather steep price for you.
 
I agree with the other posts--unless you want to go to Disney every other year at least, I don't think it's wise for you to buy Disney. While I, too, am a Disney nut and currently have 450 pts, I vacation in Florida 2-3 times per year, as most nuts do. If you enjoyed your time at Disney, but not enough to return frequently, you might want to just pay cash when you do go. Disney does have a very flexible program, however, so if you are thinking timeshare, they are probably the way to go. Just be aware that all the benefits and flexibility come at a rather steep price, and it's only a good value if you vacation regularly at Disney.
 
I'd like to weigh in as a non-Disney nut! No, it's probably not worth it if you won't go every other year. That being said, nobody said you had to be a theme park addict to get max use out of those points.

We've got 300 points. We sometimes go down just to hang out at the resorts. DH and I have gone down for the Food & Wine Fest (ok, that's in the park, but not a traditional "theme park" experience). DS and I have gone down to resort hop and see the Xmas decorations. The resorts themselves are relaxing, beautiful and well worth a trip even if you never set foot in a park. The resorts are beautifully themed and we can truly relax- the quality and service are reliable - we know we'll have nothing to worry about. There is plenty of shopping and entertainment available at WDW and close by in Orlando. And, by the way, Vero is awesome. We haven't tried HH yet, but we're looking forward to it.
 
If you know you will go to WDW at least once every other year then DVC would be worth it. If you are not going to be going to WDW at least every other year then there are many other timeshare/vacation clubs that have resorts as nice and sometimes even nicer than DVC resorts, have many locations that you can trade out to and will cost a lot less money than a DVC membership. I agree with other posters DVC is best for those who want to vacation at least every other year at WDW, VB or HH.
 
My one and only concern when purchasing DVC was the points values outside of Disney, although we do go to Disney every year.

DBF cleared things up for me in one statement,

"We can GO to those other places if we want to, and probably get them cheaper off season and PAY for them and use the points just for Disney"


SOLD!:p
 











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