Thinking about DVC - HELP!!!!

[Winkmajic]

Long time viewer and first time poster. Wife and I are thinking about DVC for our family. Our twin girls are 14 months and they already think Mickey is very cool. I like Disney and wife deals with it. She is just not a big fan of being in the park all day every day. She enjoys the atmosphere at the resorts, the restaurants, Epcot and downtown. We have so many questions and can't decide what's best for us. Maybe some of you experts can help us with your thoughts and suggestions.

1. Direct or resale? We see there are savings to be had. We do like VGF though.

2. Which resort do we buy if we go resale? We have decided that we would buy AKV, BCV, BLT, HH and VGF at one point or the other. The problem is we can only afford to buy one this point so we have to decide. We like AKV cause we like the room and we know the girls will like the animals someday. We like BCV cause the reviews are awesome and we like the area. I like BLT cause it's a longer contract and the ease of getting to MK. She like HH cause she is afraid we won't ever be able to book there unless we are owners. We both like VGF because it so nice. We just wish we knew how availability would be at resorts when they aren't your home resort. I don't see us every going over XMAS or spring break.

3. How concerned should we be about contract expiration?

4. If we don't own HH can we get in? This is important to the wife.

5. Monera financing. Opinions? We want to have paid off in 12 months.

6. How easily can points be rented if we didn't happen to need them for a year?

7. How many points should I buy? Is a 100 a good place to start?

8. If we buy direct are there every any deals? We actually did the tour last week and it did not seem there are any specials. They pretty much said you have to buy a 100 points and they are 165 each. How many you want? I like to think I am getting a deal. The free coffee and ice cream didn't cut it.


If you can help us out it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Dean]

Long time viewer and first time poster. Wife and I are thinking about DVC for our family. Our twin girls are 14 months and they already think Mickey is very cool. I like Disney and wife deals with it. She is just not a big fan of being in the park all day every day. She enjoys the atmosphere at the resorts, the restaurants, Epcot and downtown. We have so many questions and can't decide what's best for us. Maybe some of you experts can help us with your thoughts and suggestions.

1. Direct or resale? We see there are savings to be had. We do like VGF though.

2. Which resort do we buy if we go resale? We have decided that we would buy AKV, BCV, BLT, HH and VGF at one point or the other. The problem is we can only afford to buy one this point so we have to decide. We like AKV cause we like the room and we know the girls will like the animals someday. We like BCV cause the reviews are awesome and we like the area. I like BLT cause it's a longer contract and the ease of getting to MK. She like HH cause she is afraid we won't ever be able to book there unless we are owners. We both like VGF because it so nice. We just wish we knew how availability would be at resorts when they aren't your home resort. I don't see us every going over XMAS or spring break.

3. How concerned should we be about contract expiration?

4. If we don't own HH can we get in? This is important to the wife.

5. Monera financing. Opinions? We want to have paid off in 12 months.

6. How easily can points be rented if we didn't happen to need them for a year?

7. How many points should I buy? Is a 100 a good place to start?

8. If we buy direct are there every any deals? We actually did the tour last week and it did not seem there are any specials. They pretty much said you have to buy a 100 points and they are 165 each. How many you want? I like to think I am getting a deal. The free coffee and ice cream didn't cut it.


If you can help us out it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

1. Assuming DVC is a good choice for you otherwise, you'll have to decide the VGF value. It only makes sense if you're going to use essentially all of your points at VGF, otherwise it'll cost you more than just paying cash or buying less points and paying cash for VGF for the rare trip there. I'd ONLY buy DVC for DVC stays. There is no reasonable way to justify buying DVC for DCL or other exchange options given the current situation.


2. Personal choice but my top recommendations for you aren't on your list. They are SSR and BWV. SSR because it's the best value and lowest dues and BWV due to the location and standard view option. You can get into AKV for most any time with planning and owning SSR and using for AKV will be as cheap as owning AKV and using value rooms plus it will be cheaper every time you use it for something else. IMO one of the biggest mistakes newbies make is overbuying. This includes too many points, too many resorts and too expensive a resort. The other is buying too few points.

3. Not very other than it plays into the inherent value of the contract. That's why I feel SSR is the best value to get into the system due to the lower dues, relatively low buy in, good availability of contracts and use years and the like. IMO UY is one of the most important issues for many and can make as much as a years worth of points difference or even more for some.

4. Yes but mid June to mid August will be tough for HH and possibly not workable, esp if you want other than a 2 BR. If you're set on HH for a portion of the time you might consider a different timeshare than DVC either for that portion of your vacations or maybe for everything.

5. IMO, if one can't pay for it they can't afford it. I'd simply wait, save and pay cash.

6. It's fairly to very easy to rent.

7. See above, depends on how you'll use them. I'd assume a 1 BR for the usual length and frequency you're accustomed to. I'm guessing that'll put you more in the 150-200 pt range or maybe even more. Since smaller contracts command a premium and are more difficult to find the right one, I'd buy at least 150 if DVC makes sense for you in general. You could go for around 150-170 then consider adding on later as you develop your true preferences on experience and usage.

8. See above. Other than if you must have VGF it makes no sense to pay that price in your situation. Far better to underbuy say SSR and wish you'd bought VGF than the reverse.

 

[moran66]

Long time viewer and first time poster. Wife and I are thinking about DVC for our family. Our twin girls are 14 months and they already think Mickey is very cool. I like Disney and wife deals with it. She is just not a big fan of being in the park all day every day. She enjoys the atmosphere at the resorts, the restaurants, Epcot and downtown. We have so many questions and can't decide what's best for us. Maybe some of you experts can help us with your thoughts and suggestions.

1. Direct or resale? We see there are savings to be had. We do like VGF though.

2. Which resort do we buy if we go resale? We have decided that we would buy AKV, BCV, BLT, HH and VGF at one point or the other. The problem is we can only afford to buy one this point so we have to decide. We like AKV cause we like the room and we know the girls will like the animals someday. We like BCV cause the reviews are awesome and we like the area. I like BLT cause it's a longer contract and the ease of getting to MK. She like HH cause she is afraid we won't ever be able to book there unless we are owners. We both like VGF because it so nice. We just wish we knew how availability would be at resorts when they aren't your home resort. I don't see us every going over XMAS or spring break.

3. How concerned should we be about contract expiration?

4. If we don't own HH can we get in? This is important to the wife.

5. Monera financing. Opinions? We want to have paid off in 12 months.

6. How easily can points be rented if we didn't happen to need them for a year?

7. How many points should I buy? Is a 100 a good place to start?

8. If we buy direct are there every any deals? We actually did the tour last week and it did not seem there are any specials. They pretty much said you have to buy a 100 points and they are 165 each. How many you want? I like to think I am getting a deal. The free coffee and ice cream didn't cut it.


If you can help us out it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Ill give you the short answers if someone else wants go on further fee free

1 resale it saves you money

2 buy where you like best and see yourself staying many times you can book anytime in the year just as long as you plan 7 to 11 months in advance

3 no so much you may sell before your contract ends of course its nice to have a longer contract but I would say it shouldnt be a decision maker

4 I have extreemly limited booking at HH but i am sure offseason you shouldnt have any problems I have read in the summer months if you wanted to rent though instead of using ur own points it seems HH points are often for rent

5 home equity loan if you cant pay cash i dont know what monera is but I would think home eq loan is cheaper

6 Very easily esp if you dont care about making a ton of money off it

7 for 4 ppl? 100 points sure thats a good start if you dont plan to go every year or maybe 1 time per year a week at a time its best to look at point chart and research this first though thoroghly

8 If you prefer more money to less money I dont think there is really much of a reason to ever but direct but some people may disagree

 

[disneynutz]

Learn about UY, banking and borrowing.

Buy SSR resale and save some money.

Try DVC for a few years, see if it's a good fit.

After staying at all of the resorts, buy at your favorite(s) to give you the 11 month booking advantage.

Bill

 

[McCrae]

One point to consider when buying is how far ahead can you plan your vacation. You should also consider as your children start going to school you maybe limited to certain times of the year when you can go on holiday.

If you are not able to plan more than 7 months ahead the booking advantage of having a home resort does not matter and it's worth thinking about some of the cheaper resale resorts such as SSR. When you book after 7 months your potential holiday options will be more limited and you might not be able to book the dates you would like to go.

If you can plan your vacations more than 7 months out you should have no problems in booking your home resort, but unless you book at 11 months out you may find some room options are not available. If this works for you the best advice is to buy at your favorite resort.

The resale price for each resort at DVC is impacted by a number of factors, the size of resort, length of contract, popularity and the status of the resort.

SSR whilst a nice resort it is very different from the likes of VGF, BLT and AKV Kidani. The later are priced as more of a premium resort. IMO SSR is more like a good moderate level resort and this is why it can be bought at a much lower resale price.

 

[PlutoFan10]

I'd like to reply to number 6. If you only buy 100 points, depending on the resort and various factors (resort chosen, studio/1BR, view, season), you may only be able to do a short stay every year or bank/borrow to do a longer trip every other year or so. If you didn't use them one year, you don't have to rent them out -- bank them for later. You should review the rules of banking/borrowing and check out the point charts for each resort. If you're like the rest of us, you'll start with one contract and get another later. Personally, I wouldn't recommend HH as your first contract unless you plan to vacation there more than at WDW. We stayed at HH off season with no problem. As to other resorts, it is really a personal choice. Is being walking distance to a park most important? Resort look/feel? Where you can stay for the longest time on the fewest points? (VGF chews up points quickly.) Search for threads on resale vs. direct -- lots to learn!

 

[crisi]

Here are some things I've noticed.

Your girls are very little yet - they'll will be Magic Kingdom age for the blink of an eye - and you'll own DVC for a while - don't buy the MK resorts simply because they are close to the MK - unless YOU really like the MK. Eventually, you'll spend more time at other resorts - similarly, don't buy VAK for the animals - its easy to get as a non-owner, and there will be a few year window when the animals are really cool. Unless you like SAB, don't buy BCV for SAB - when your kids are young enough to need to be watched, but old enough to only be supervised - its a horrible pool - sight lines are bad. Then there are a few SAB golden years were you don't need to watch your kids - and then they'd rather just go to Typhoon Lagoon.

Your wife tolerates Disney - you probably won't own long term. You might be better off renting points - you wouldn't have the commitment - you'd have a flexibility at eleven months to stay anywhere that you can find an owner - and - depending on your assumptions - it isn't much more expensive (and depending on your assumptions, might be cheaper). That also means if you own - you'll own for possibly ten or fifteen years - unless your girls get old enough that they'd rather spend the week on a beach in Mexico - so look for ROI in ten years - the older resorts probably won't hold their value as well since they'll be much closer to end of life, but look at any salvage value as "that would be cool" - look for your ROI during ownership.

 

[nalajms]

Agree with crisi on the MK and SABs. We bought at resorts where we (adults) really want to stay, and will stay there 80% of the time. I just bought a resale at SSR for our "other trips", mostly made last minute or planning to switch out at 7 months.

I'd suggest buying in somewhere cheaper via resale. While your twins are young, you have flexibility in when you travel and will likely avoid the busy DVC times. You can try out the different resorts and see which one you really must stay in. Once your kids start school, it's a whole different story. I swore never to go during Christmas and NYE. With my oldest starting school this fall, I'm considering it. Heck, I have to take time off to watch him so why not just go on vacation

If you're sure about paying it off in 12m, I'd apply for a no interest CC right now. Start putting all your expenses on there and save the money from those bills for a resale. Or get something with a zero balance transfer & no interest for 12m. Personal loans will have pretty high interest rates. And avoid a HELOC if you can because that's putting your house up as collateral for a vacation.

 

[mariafh]

How many points you need should take some careful consideration. What I did and what helped is to first identify where, when, and how often you plan to vacation on a DVC resort. For us, it was BC every other year during April school break for 8 nights. Put together a plan of where, when, and how that covers the first couple of years. Then look at the points for the resort and just add them up. With children younger than school age, you can go off season to Orlando like fall or spring (before spring breaks). Orlando is unbearable in the summer due to heat. Once they hit school age, you will be severely limited to school vacations which are often the prime time for DVC in Orlando which means more points. Do the math and figure out the points and then that will determine how many points. For us, we figure every other year with banking/borrowing and 1 bedroom for that April break is about 170 points. Now where to stay. If HH is important and you want to get in at peak times, then go for HH. For Orlando, MK is only a focus until about age 10 or so. Then kids want also mgm and epcot. The nice thing about BW and BC is that teens can just take off as both MGM and EP are easily accessible via a walk/short boat. Resale is a lot cheaper and I would never go through Disney unless it was a relative new resort like the Poly.

 

[skier_pete]

You have some good questions and some really good answers already.

One point I wanted to make in terms of choosing a home resort...you need to choose something that you feel is right for you. It has to work for your family both as a price point and as a location. You can book into your home resort from the 11-month mark to the 7-month mark. However, some times of years and locations will be completely booked out by the 7-month mark, so even owning there you may have a hard time getting in if you don't book 11-months out. In particular, October - early Jan is extremely busy DVC season, and if you are going at that time of year to are basically forced to use your home resort 11-month window to get a place, especially if you want a studio. The rest of the year it seems easier to get some different choices.


SSR and AKV are the easiest resorts to book (shortest notice) because of their size and location. If you are certain that you want to stay at any of the other resorts, you probably should buy there to take advantage of the booking window. VGF are so new, if you are determined that this is where you want to stay, you should probably buy there, but only if you can afford it.

I agree with PP that if you care more about Hilton Head than Disney, you should probably buy there, and you could still use the points at Disney (but again may have a hard time booking October - December).

I would say you would come in with 150-200 points. It's enough to give you plenty of flexibilty on what weeks you stay and where.

 

[HokieGCC]

I just bought a resale at SSR for our "other trips", mostly made last minute or planning to switch out at 7 months.

I like this idea ... it had never occurred to me.

So after going to Disney for years and years we determined the best overall resorts for us were BC and BWV. We bought at BWV. There are lots of reasons we think this is the best place but it is mostly the boardwalk, point blank walking access to Epcot World Showcase and walking to Hollywood Studios (we have really grown tired of the buses). But - staying here takes some planning even for owners.

Your idea of having some SSR points for last minute trips is a good one and you might even get lucky from time to time being able to book at some of the more popular resorts. I need to factor this into my plans...

 

[chitwndan]

1. If you like VGF the cost differential is much less than other resorts. I'd strongly consider direct if buying VGF, but resale will still save you a few thousand depending on contract size.

2. This is one that will differ for everyone. 1st narrow it down to 1-3 based on the resort. You tube has tons of videos of every resort so you can get a virtual tour and see all the amenities. While buying at SSR has it's points, we didn't want to go that route as we found a resort that we would always be happy staying at. We might end up likeing another more down the road, but we will never be disappointed at staying where we hope to purchase.

3. Depends on your age. We're in our 30's so it's a big deal. If in our 50's I wouldn't care.

4. No idea.

5. As people said above a Home equity loan or HELOC is the best financing option. IMO the next best is taking a loan on your 401K if you are paying yourself back with interest and are CERTAIN that you will not be leaving the company.

6. Can't say. It seems easy through resale companies, but I can't be sure yet.

7. Depends on your travel plans. We are awaiting ROFR on a property which will be a little more points per year that we need for a week in a studio, as we plan to stay in a studio annually. If your family or tastes are bigger do the same for a 1BR or 2BR.

8. No clue