thinking about getting a timeshare

[joshua74133]

i have a few questions.
we are wanting to get a timeshare at the wilderness lodge but im not real sure how this point system works...

for instance we are planning a trip this next year in the middle of May for 7 nights that is going to cost in the neighborhood of $11k with stay, deluxe dining plan and tickets.

how many points does it take to have this type of trip?

 

[vicki_c]

Are you asking about buying into DVC, or are you asking about renting a reservation from a DVC member?

You can go to dvcbyrequest.com and there is a point calculator - put in your dates, the resort, and it will show you the amount of points for each size room.

Keep in mind that DVC points only pay for the room - tickets and dining are not included.

 

[joshua74133]

our goal on our next visit is to buy into the DVC... but we really dont understand how this point system works...

for instance here is what we are looking at

points Month closing Annual Dues cost
Wilderness Lodge-$75/pt. 190 March $500.00 1016.50 $14,250.00

190 points coming on 3/1/11 and 190 points coming on 3/1/12. Priced at $75 per point.

what does this all mean??? can we only go in march or is that just when the points come?

priced at $75 so does that men if i want to buy more points it's going to cost 75 per point?

 

[bookwormde]

Here is a link to the point charts for VWL, just add up the points for each night and that is your total (120 for a studio, 255 for a 1br and 318 for a 2br.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacation-club/VWL-Points.shtml

There is a link at the top of the page to the point charts.

You get how ever many points your contract is for, for your use year. If you are not in a hurry you should be able to get a VWL contract with most of its points for $65 or less. This contract expires in 2042 so you have 31 years worth of point (beaing availabe spread out over that timeframe). If you want to buy more mosts you have to buy another contract.

Each year there is a maitinance fee, currnetly about $5 per point.

You can borrow and bank points also plus or minus 1 year.

you can book at your home resort (VWL in this case 11 months ahead) or other DVC resorts at 7 months using points form the use year the reservaiton is in, or banked or borrowed points which you have moved into that use year (banking and borrowing are final trasactions so no reversing them is you cancel a reservation). Banking must be done in the first 8 months of the points use year,

Take your time and research before you buy both for an offering price and how DVC works after you purchase.


bookwormde

 

[Sandisw]

our goal on our next visit is to buy into the DVC... but we really dont understand how this point system works...

for instance here is what we are looking at

points Month closing Annual Dues cost
Wilderness Lodge-$75/pt. 190 March $500.00 1016.50 $14,250.00

190 points coming on 3/1/11 and 190 points coming on 3/1/12. Priced at $75 per point.

what does this all mean??? can we only go in march or is that just when the points come?

priced at $75 so does that men if i want to buy more points it's going to cost 75 per point?

When you buy DVC, you are given an annual allotment of points that can be used any time of the year, subject to availability.

Where you own your points is considered your "home resort". This gives you a booking advantage to book there over over non resort home members.

If you buy a contract with 190 points, with a March UY, every March 1st, your new allotment of points becomes active for stays. Points are good for one year, unless you bank them by the end of the 8 month of your UY. That extends the life for another year. There are always ways to deposit points in to RCI for an exchange but I don't know much about that since we only have used our points for DVC (which is where you get the most value from them).

You can also borrow points from the next UY if you ever want to take a vacation that uses more point than you own.

So, in May, a studio at the VWL would run you 120 points for 7 nights. You can book as many or as few nights as you want, you are not locked in to a week.

A 1 bedroom during this time frame would run you 255 per week. Depending on what you want, when you want to stay, and the resort, the number of points varies.

Buying VWL on the resale market will probably be a cheaper than Disney as I believe they are asking just over $100/ppt and resale is running in the 70's.

Good luck!

 

[Deb & Bill]

i have a few questions.
we are wanting to get a timeshare at the wilderness lodge but im not real sure how this point system works...

for instance we are planning a trip this next year in the middle of May for 7 nights that is going to cost in the neighborhood of $11k with stay, deluxe dining plan and tickets.

how many points does it take to have this type of trip?

No matter what timeshare you buy, you will still have to pay for tickets, dining and transportation. Those aren't included. So deduct those costs from your $11K and see what your lodging is costing you.

Plus different sized villas require different number of points. Check the link at the top of the page (DVC Point Charts) to find out how many points you would need for your trip in the type of villa you would want.

 

[joshua74133]

so when you buy into DVC, can you use your points for a Disney cruises?
or are we locked into going to orlando?

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

You can use your points for a Disney cruise, however you will find that the best value (based on point requirements) is using them for DVC resorts @ WDW.

 

[Figment2]

After the initial buy in there are also annual dues to consider.

Cyn

 

[TosaTrio]

If you think you want to buy, you need to do the math to see how much your current trip cost breaking out room, tickets and dining plan. Then see how many points you would need to purchase (or want to purchase) and see the cost of the points. Remember you can normally bank and borrow depending on the contract you buy or if you buy from Disney.

When we bought (in Feb 2006) we had a trip planned for July 2006 in which the rooms were going to cost us $7500 (not renting points but directly through Disney). There were 12 of us and we had reserved a 2BR and Studio. Instead we bought 175 points (which worked for our trip with banking and borrowing) and applied the $7500 toward the purchase of DVC. That covered about 1/2 the buy in cost.

The key was we knew we were interested in buying and this helped us pull the lever. At the time I wasn't aware of renting points.

Good Luck!

Gail

 

[joshua74133]

so this trip next year is going to cost me $9200 for the 2 bed villa are you saying we should just use the 9200 towards buying the 190pt DVC and then rent the rest of the pts for our room?

honestly it would be nice to buy then to rent 9200 is 7/8 the cost of the villa DVC i want.

i know about the annual dues

 

[Sandisw]

so this trip next year is going to cost me $9200 for the 2 bed villa are you saying we should just use the 9200 towards buying the 190pt DVC and then rent the rest of the pts for our room?

honestly it would be nice to buy then to rent 9200 is 7/8 the cost of the villa DVC i want.

i know about the annual dues

If you really think that getting DVC is for you, then it would certainly could make sense to put that money toward the purchase.

The only piece is that with a May trip only being 4 months out, availability will be limited and you may or may not be able to still get that 2 bedroom villa for the trip.

And, resale takes between 4 - 6 weeks to complete the process so you would not be an owner and in the system until sometime around March 1st.

A 2 bedroom villa at VWL in May does run 318 points for a week's stay. That 190 point contract would give you enough points to go every other year in those same accommodations.

When we bought, we had been planning a trip to the CR and the room was to be around $2200. We ended up buying DVC before hand so that we could apply that to the purchase. We bought in the winter though and were not traveling until August.

We started samll, 50 points, and then within a week of closing on that contract, added on directly through Disney. Because of this, I was able to get a reservation I was happy with.

Good luck!

 

[joshua74133]

so where can i find a point calculator for a disney cruise? we just want to make sure if we make this investment we have a lot of diff options

 

[Deb & Bill]

so where can i find a point calculator for a disney cruise? we just want to make sure if we make this investment we have a lot of diff options

Those points are negotiated yearly and can and do go up. Right now there is very little space on any of the cruise ships for 2011. It appears that DVC members have filled up the available cruises on points.

It takes a whole lot of points to cruise using points.

DVCNews.com has a points chart for Disney Cruises, but they only go through 2010. That might get you an idea of what it requires.

 

[joshua74133]

ok so last question...
say we have 275 points saved and someone in my family wants to go to disney world, can i sell my points to them?

 

[Deb & Bill]

ok so last question...
say we have 275 points saved and someone in my family wants to go to disney world, can i sell my points to them?

You make them a reservation, put their name on it and they use it. If you want to charge them for it, determine what they want to pay you.

 

[CPTJAK]

so where can i find a point calculator for a disney cruise? we just want to make sure if we make this investment we have a lot of diff options

examples for 2011 cruises:

3 niths cruise: 50-100 points per person

7 night cruise: approx 130 to 180 points per person (3 and 4th person are less

I believe that if you are going to go to Disney at least every other year and you want to stay on property than buy a contract with enough points to use for your timeshare stays. Do not buy with intention of using for cruises or exchanging into RCI for other timeshares as Disney is the cream of the crop and way to valuable to use for cruises or exchanges. You can buy other much cheaper timeshares for other locations. If you want to go on a disney cruise you would be better off renting your points for cash to someone and using that cash for a cruise..Renting is extremely easy to do.

Also if you are spending 9K on a 2 bedroom, yes you should definitely either buy DVC now rather than after your trip or rent from someone on the rent/trade board for a lot less.

 

[Sandisw]

ok so last question...
say we have 275 points saved and someone in my family wants to go to disney world, can i sell my points to them?

What you can do is book a reservation using your points for them. You can then collect whatever amount you would like.

The reservation, however, remains under your membership and all calls about it will have to come from you. They will not be able to talk to MS at all.

But, many members rent out reservations to both family, friends, and strangers when they can't use their points and/or have an excess of them.

 

[rhax07]

The most points you can save is 2 year's worth. So, if you're planning on buying 190 pts per year, you can only roll one year's worth of points over to the next year. Buying in 2011 will give you 190 points. Roll those over to 2012 and you'll have 380 points come the first day of your Use Year in 2012. You can also borrow up to one year's worth of points, so technically you would have 190 from 2011, 190 from 2012, and you can borrow all 190 from 2013. That would total 570.

You can't "sell" them, but rather "rent" them. You can do the same thing with your DVC points that you can do with any deeded property. Sell, rent, etc. So, you can rent whatever you aren't going to be able to use and the usual selling price is $9-$11 per point. If you're Annual Dues are around 500 bucks per year, renting 100 points at 10 bucks will pay two years worth of dues. Kinda nice really if you're not going to be able to use them or roll them over. And you can make reservations for anybody you want. Hope this helps.

 

[joshua74133]

thank you so much for your guys help... i cant wait to become a DVC member... Me and my wife are not telling any of the kids about the trip until we get on the plane. they have never been to Disney world so the look on there face's is going to be money.

Im hoping we can video it but we will be on the air plane.