Thinking of diving into DVC - thoughts on my plan

[lscrivan18]

Hi, I'd love thoughts and feedback on this idea I've been playing with. We are avid WDW goers, young family with a three year old that tend to average 1 long trip (7 nights) a year or 2 shorter ones (3-4 nights). I've rented DVC before at VGF and BLT. We prefer studios. We adore Riviera but I can't wrap my head around purchasing direct as I really won't use the perks. I'm contemplating purchasing two small 50 point resale contracts at BLT and RIV so we're not forced to only vacation at Riviera and alternate resorts each year. Any feedback on this is welcome.

 

[D-Trick]

Sounds like you know about the usage restrictions each resale contract would have.

I love your idea. Even with resale restrictions, starting small with a resale contract is the way to go! Dip your toes in the water and see how it works for your family. Addonitis is definitely a thing and you'll probably add more-- but I always recommend small resale first.

 

[takemetomickey]

My advice is to really consider the use year you purchase. I didn’t give this much thought on my first contract and it worked out being fine but I didn’t realize how big a deal the use year makes. If you are buying two contracts I’d recommend the same use year.

 

[DanCali]

Hi, I'd love thoughts and feedback on this idea I've been playing with. We are avid WDW goers, young family with a three year old that tend to average 1 long trip (7 nights) a year or 2 shorter ones (3-4 nights). I've rented DVC before at VGF and BLT. We prefer studios. We adore Riviera but I can't wrap my head around purchasing direct as I really won't use the perks. I'm contemplating purchasing two small 50 point resale contracts at BLT and RIV so we're not forced to only vacation at Riviera and alternate resorts each year. Any feedback on this is welcome.

Starting with resale is usually a good idea. If you decide you made a mistake you can usually reverse that decision without a big loss. And if you later decide to buy direct, you will often get a better deal as an existing member.

Given your travel habits, I am not sure that 2 small 50-point contacts would cover what you need. You'd probably need around 150 points to cover 7 nights in a studio at BLT. And then you also have your shorter trips to take care of. I'd start with maybe a larger contract of 150-200 points just at one resort.

One other thing to consider is the possible need of accommodations that sleep 5 sometime down the road. Even with two kids and shorter stays, we prefer the rooms that sleep 5, so our BLT stays are usually in a 1BRs for that primary reason. As a result, our stays in studios that sleep 5 at Poly or VGF tend to offer more "value for the buck" despite the higher costs of those resorts.

 

[ak517]

I echo what @DanCali said about larger accommodations. We stayed in a 1-bedroom with our infant son and brought my mom along and it was great to have a full size fridge and freezer even on our short stay. I also concur that I don't think 50 pts x 2 resale contracts will be enough for your current travel style. Even if you bank points and have 100 at either RIV or BLT/legacy resorts once per year, you're either shortening your trips or barely making it weeklong in a studio, let alone should you want to try a bigger room.

One final note: I'm not sure if you're doing this, but I want to preemptively discourage you from going into this process today by thinking about your travel plans in the future. For example, I had grand intentions of taking my extended family and here we are 2+ years into our membership and no big family trips on the horizon. We can't predict the future, so best to do what works for you and your family right now and adjust later on.

 

[Instagramhusband]

Hi, I'd love thoughts and feedback on this idea I've been playing with. We are avid WDW goers, young family with a three year old that tend to average 1 long trip (7 nights) a year or 2 shorter ones (3-4 nights). I've rented DVC before at VGF and BLT. We prefer studios. We adore Riviera but I can't wrap my head around purchasing direct as I really won't use the perks. I'm contemplating purchasing two small 50 point resale contracts at BLT and RIV so we're not forced to only vacation at Riviera and alternate resorts each year. Any feedback on this is welcome.

My only thought is you may be cutting yourself short a bit on the points for the amount of usage you wish for and depending on when you would go. Otherwise the small contracts especially at BLT are attractive.

 

[lilsonicfan]

We all have such different considerations. In your case with a young family and many many years left to vacation at WDW, I would strongly consider a direct contract at 150 points at RIV. Yes, some of the perks may not be terribly useful to you now (and who knows what perks there will be in the future) but the biggest perk is that you'll be able to stay at any of the resorts including newer ones, while also having a long contract and having 11 month home advantage at RIV. When some of the other near-ish Epcot resorts are up in 2042, you'll probably be quite glad to have booking advantage at RIV.

In my case, direct didn't make much sense, I probably won't go to WDW every year and my family is also older... for us I'd rather have more points for a bigger accommodation when we go.

I agree with others that 2 50-pt contracts may not go far enough for you.

 

[Instagramhusband]

We all have such different considerations. In your case with a young family and many many years left to vacation at WDW, I would strongly consider a direct contract at 150 points at RIV. Yes, some of the perks may not be terribly useful to you now (and who knows what perks there will be in the future) but the biggest perk is that you'll be able to stay at any of the resorts including newer ones, while also having a long contract and having 11 month home advantage at RIV. When some of the other near-ish Epcot resorts are up in 2042, you'll probably be quite glad to have booking advantage at RIV.

In my case, direct didn't make much sense, I probably won't go to WDW every year and my family is also older... for us I'd rather have more points for a bigger accommodation when we go.

I agree with others that 2 50-pt contracts may not go far enough for you.

I love reading the board about folks pov's and perspectives. I wish I had been reading the board 5 years ago when I first was considering DVC. I would have saved myself money sooner.

 

[bdrex28]

My advice is to really consider the use year you purchase. I didn’t give this much thought on my first contract and it worked out being fine but I didn’t realize how big a deal the use year makes. If you are buying two contracts I’d recommend the same use year.

100%

We just bought a resale contract. In the past we have always traveled to WDW in either August or September outside of a March and November trip.

However we just got back and my wife has now decided she no longer wants to go when it's hotter so we'll most likely do cooler month trips and leaning towards January.

The problem...my use year is February and I don't like that.

I'm even contemplating selling our current contract and buying one with a different use year.

 

[Instagramhusband]

100%

We just bought a resale contract. In the past we have always traveled to WDW in either August or September outside of a March and November trip.

However we just got back and my wife has now decided she no longer wants to go when it's hotter so we'll most likely do cooler month trips and leaning towards January.

The problem...my use year is February and I don't like that.

I'm even contemplating selling our current contract and buying one with a different use year.

Where did you buy?

 

[bdrex28]

Where did you buy?

SSR

 

[lscrivan18]

Thank you everyone for such great pov's! I am taking everyone's feedback to heart. Please keep it coming. It's always great to see both sides of the coin.

Just to make sure I have one assumption correct - I can bank 2024 to 2025, borrow 2026 into 2025, and use 2025 in 2025 to essentially triple the points for 2025 (with 0 points for 2024 and 2026)?

 

[Instagramhusband]

SSR

Same, both of my current contracts are June. I am under contract on what I thought was an April Poly, but it turns out it was March. It was such a good deal but I am not happy its March truthfully. I may resell once it goes through in a year.

 

[davidhr]

Thank you everyone for such great pov's! I am taking everyone's feedback to heart. Please keep it coming. It's always great to see both sides of the coin.

Just to make sure I have one assumption correct - I can bank 2024 to 2025, borrow 2026 into 2025, and use 2025 in 2025 to essentially triple the points for 2025 (with 0 points for 2024 and 2026)?

Yes that’s possible. Keep in mind that the banking/borrowing transaction is final. If you don’t use the points in 2025 you’ll lose those or be forced to rent.

 

[TinkAgainU]

Thank you everyone for such great pov's! I am taking everyone's feedback to heart. Please keep it coming. It's always great to see both sides of the coin.

Just to make sure I have one assumption correct - I can bank 2024 to 2025, borrow 2026 into 2025, and use 2025 in 2025 to essentially triple the points for 2025 (with 0 points for 2024 and 2026)?

Correct. And if you only want to go to Florida every three years, that's a perfect plan. I might suggest doing your math on an every-other year plan if you are flying in (3 years if a LONG flight, such as international).

Two other suggestions 1) purchase the field guide ($12 www.dvcfieldguide.com) which gives you a LOT of general info on availability (and room locations for example) in one place; and 2) use that, or something online, to figure out availability of specific rooms at your preferred resorts (ie: some rooms have only a couple of units total - so to give yourself a Much higher chance of booking something, use the higher point room in your calculations). An example is the 10 point rooms at Animal Kingdom or Boardwalk - you are only going to get those if you are INSANELY lucky because there are so few of them - but for a few points more, you can usually book a view room without nearly the stress - plus, you get a cooler room

 

[Rex1993]

We started with a resale VGC contract and then purchased VGF direct last summer. I definitely echo the use year advice. I gave pretty much no thought to this when we first purchased and just got lucky that it's worked out well for us. I don't love RIV so my bias is going to be against going buying that resort direct. However, I would strongly urge you not to purchase RIV resale. In my opinion, your family is too young to make the commitment to being locked into one resort, especially with your use patterns. We loved our stay at VGF back in April and it was great to so close to MK but both my wife and I agree that we missed being at Kidani. So while we have VGF points, we probably will use them at Kidani next time we go. If you're going multiple times per year, it's real nice to be able to switch it up and try different things and also make use of some lower points charts.

 

[Chuck96]

A 50 pt and 50 pt gets you 150 pts TWO out of THREE years. If that is good for you, you should be solid with that plan. If you intend on every year at Disney, you can pursue 75 point contracts, or use the third year to rent points elsewhere or stay off property.

 

[TinkAgainU]

A 50 pt and 50 pt gets you 150 pts TWO out of THREE years. If that is good for you, you should be solid with that plan. If you intend on every year at Disney, you can pursue 75 point contracts, or use the third year to rent points elsewhere or stay off property.

I sometimes spend the first night at a less expensive offsite hotel near Disney Springs (don't even unload the suitcases) since we get in so late. We've had flights cancelled or really delayed, and some hotels allow us to cancel up until 6pm the day of arrival. Nothing makes me more sad than to use good points for a hotel night we did not get to enjoy. All that said, it means I can either have fewer points or use that one night's points to book better rooms upfront.

 

[starsaber25]

I would recommend going with more points in your situation. Just to give you an FYI to stay at BLT in June for 3 nights I am looking at 51 pts for a standard view studio. That would be 57 points for a Lake View. That is also only travel season 4 out of 7 depending on when you want to travel. I would say maybe look into 75 points if you plan on doing your split contracts and do the banking/borrowing technique. I can't imagine the cost difference on the resale market is that much more for the extra 25 pts.

So if you really wanted to keep your points under 100 for each resort that I suggest going no less than 75 pts for each resort. That would give you just a little more flexibility when it comes to different accommodations and when you travel

 

[Instagramhusband]

I sometimes spend the first night at a less expensive offsite hotel near Disney Springs (don't even unload the suitcases) since we get in so late. We've had flights cancelled or really delayed, and some hotels allow us to cancel up until 6pm the day of arrival. Nothing makes me more sad than to use good points for a hotel night we did not get to enjoy. All that said, it means I can either have fewer points or use that one night's points to book better rooms upfront.

This is sound advice. We are about a 6-7 hour drive from WDW and if we are traveling on a work day, I normally like to book a hotel In St Augustine/Daytona and just do a 1.5 hour drive in the morning to Disney, I don't want to waste points on a DVC that I will barely enjoy.