Time to buy DVC

[minnie411]

My husband and I have finally decided to buy DVC after many years of thinking about and numerous trips. We still have a few decisions to make before we do and was hoping for some feedback from you to help make them.

* Do you feel it is better to buy new or resale. We are currently leaning towards resale because of cost savings and we are in our forties and won't need 50 years of membership.

*How many pts do we need? We tend to travel to Disney with our two children every other year and stay for about 10-14 days. We would do either a studio or a 1 bedroom. Prefer a 1 bedroom for those longer trips.

*We love the Boardwalk Villas but do we buy at a cheaper resort with lower maintenance fees or buy where we love? How hard is it to get reservations outside you home resort? We tend to travel in the summer since my husband and I are both teachers.

Any input you may have will be greatly appreciated. It will help us make our decision. I can't wait anymore to own

 

[Sandisw]

We bought via Disney because we wanted to be guaranteed we would be able to stay at BLT with the 11 month advantage. I teach as well so I always go during the summer. It cost more, but where we stay is very important to us and MK is our favorite park. So, for us, the savings of resale (about $5000 comparing to SSR) was not worth it.

Having said that, if you are okay staying at someplace other than BWV, if you can't get what you want for the entire 10 - 14 day trip, then I say go with SSR as you get the a great buy in price and lower MF"s, plus the longer contract to 2054.

However, if you feel you would be disappointed in anyway if you can't get BWV for the trip, then I would go with BWV. To me, being happy and reassured is important as DVC is such a big investment.

To figure out how many points, use the point charts to see what it would be. I would find the 2011 point charts (they are a bit different than 2010) and price it out for 14 days at a 1 bedroom. Then just divide that in half and you will know what to shoot for.

Good luck!

 

[mopee3]

My husband and I have finally decided to buy DVC after many years of thinking about and numerous trips. We still have a few decisions to make before we do and was hoping for some feedback from you to help make them.

Congratulations... well almost.

* Do you feel it is better to buy new or resale. We are currently leaning towards resale because of cost savings and we are in our forties and won't need 50 years of membership.

Cost less to buy resale but not that much and it takes time to get your points. If you buy from Disney they may not have the resort you want right away.

*How many pts do we need? We tend to travel to Disney with our two children every other year and stay for about 10-14 days. We would do either a studio or a 1 bedroom. Prefer a 1 bedroom for those longer trips.

14 days at the Boardwalk, 1 bedroom standard view in 2010 is 420 points during Deam season. You never mentioned when you would take your trips so this may drive how many points you will need. However if you buy 210-250 points it will probably cover most of the need every other year.

*We love the Boardwalk Villas but do we buy at a cheaper resort with lower maintenance fees or buy where we love? How hard is it to get reservations outside you home resort? We tend to travel in the summer since my husband and I are both teachers.

Buy where you want to stay. Some resorts cost less to begin with but Maintance Fees will soon catch up and they will be the major cost for the DVC contracts.

I can't wait anymore to own

I couldn't either the Mouse got me.

Caio

moe

 

[chalee94]

* Do you feel it is better to buy new or resale. We are currently leaning towards resale because of cost savings and we are in our forties and won't need 50 years of membership.

resale is usually cheaper. unless you have to have points right away - go with resale.

*How many pts do we need? We tend to travel to Disney with our two children every other year and stay for about 10-14 days. We would do either a studio or a 1 bedroom. Prefer a 1 bedroom for those longer trips.

use the point charts linked above to ballpark how many pts you'd need for 12-14 days at your favorite resort in a 1BR during the summer. (make sure to look at the 2011 charts as well since there are some differences...although for a week-long stay, the differences should be minimal.)

*We love the Boardwalk Villas but do we buy at a cheaper resort with lower maintenance fees or buy where we love? How hard is it to get reservations outside you home resort? We tend to travel in the summer since my husband and I are both teachers.

if you're happy to be on wdw property even if you're not in walking distance to a park, buy at SSR or OKW and save a few bucks. if you can swap out for BWV or whatever at 7 months - great! - and if not, you'll still be happy.

but if you're going to spend the week or two wishing you were closer to the activity at the boardwalk - AND you can plan 11 months in advance and take advantage of the home resort window - then pay a little extra and buy where you want to stay.

 

[ToddyLu]

DH and I are 45 and 41, no children. We can go just about anytime of year but prefer Oct/Dec. However we plan vacations a year in advnace becasue DH is a Fireman and that is the way they schedule. We purchased 210 points directly from Disney and while on the phone the Guide stayed on the line and patched us in to make our reservations right then. We have not regretted our purchase for a moment and only wish we could have time to do a 14 day trip...our are usually 10 days.

 

[Jason@dvcstore]

* Do you feel it is better to buy new or resale. We are currently leaning towards resale because of cost savings and we are in our forties and won't need 50 years of membership.

Be advised the resorts end the same time regardless if you buy from Disney or from The Timeshare Store, Inc.®

The maintenances fees and expiration date of a DVC membership at the
different DVC resorts are:

Bay Lake Towers $3.78 per point - Deed Expires 2060
Grand Californian $3.94 per point - Deed Expires 2060
Animal Kingdom $4.95 per point - Deed Expires 2057
Saratoga Springs $4.46 per point - Deed Expires 2054
Old Key West $4.87 per point - Deed Expires 2042 and 2057*
Beach Club $5.15 per point - Deed Expires 2042
Wilderness Lodge $5.20 per point - Deed Expires 2042
Boardwalk Villas $5.36 per point - Deed Expires 2042
Hilton Head $5.57 per point - Deed Expires 2042
Vero Beach $6.61 per point - Deed Expires 2042

*The Old Key West listings that end 2057 are indicated as such on our website.

Jason

 

[Jason@dvcstore]

Buy where you want to stay. Some resorts cost less to begin with but Maintance Fees will soon catch up and they will be the major cost for the DVC contracts.

In my opinion you should buy where you want to stay if you plan on making reservations more than 7 months in advance. With DVC if your reservation is less than 7 months in advance then be advised you are competing with ALL DVC members and some resorts book up quicker than others. For example, if someone loves the Beach Club and they choose to buy there but make their reservation 3 months in advance they may continuously find that their is no availability or very limited choices.


Jason

 

[AirGoofy]

We purchased resale, with no financing, at SSR. We went resale because of the lower costs and that Disney had a 160 point minimum. We did SSR for the Membership dues. We plan to stay at all the different resorts. The only one we could not get at the 7 month was HHI in June. We do not stay at WDW in Christmas, so if that is the time you plan to go, I would buy at the resort your would want most, since that is the busiest time. As for the number of points, if you go everyother year, calculate the number of points (add a few extra as Disney adjusts the points every year) and divide it in half. Thus, if you needed 200 points for a stay, and purchased a 105 resale contract, you could bank the 105 points, and have 210 to use every other year.

 

[Crystal_27]

* Do you feel it is better to buy new or resale. We are currently leaning towards resale because of cost savings and we are in our forties and won't need 50 years of membership.

I think that from a cost standpoint, that resale is almost always the way to go. However, if you are wanting to buy into BLT, then your resale options at this point are going to be very limited. Also, given the incentives for AKV and SSR that Disney is offering (big discounts plus previous year's points), then it might make more sense for you to buy through Disney for those properties as well. I would recommend researching the resorts fully to find out where you want your home to be, and then researching the point charts to find out how many points you are going to need (remember to take into consideration that you can bank and borrow points so you may only need half as many if traveling every other year). Also, feel free to post any questions you have along the way - - this Board is a great resource! Good luck!

 

[Dziactor]

It really depends on where you want to stay. If I had to do it again, I'd probably wait for a BLT resale. It seems more of these are coming and you could have a significant savings over buying direct for most resorts. If you have the time, and your arn't in a hurry go that way. I know I plan to contact the timeshare store as soon as I feel financially confortable buying more points.

 

[DenLo]

I'd buy where you want to stay. And buy enough points to cover the vacation you want. Check out the point charts and keep in mind that points can change for a specific week in the future. Only the total points for entire year remain the same. Individual days and weeks can go up or down. Since you have two children, I would buy two contracts of equal amounts and the same use year. That way you can leave the contracts in your will to your children or you can turn them over to the kids when they are adults with their own families.

As far as whether to buy resale or direct. I would price shop. Sometimes Disney offers pretty good deals but not on BWV. So if really want to stay at BWV then resale might be the best way to go.

If you have questions regarding Use year, here is a good thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1942668

 

[dphie28]

We just purchased a 100 pt contract thru Disney for SSR. I am a teacher, so we are bound to mostly summer/school vacations too. We bought through Disney because we had already planned a 6 night trip this May (over Memorial day weekend with 2 personal days added). If we did a resale contract, we would have had to pay cash for our May trip because closing would be too far into the future and we would have a hard time getting what we wanted. Buying through Disney, we got 100 2009 points, 100 2010 points and of course our 2011 points. This trip will cost us 274 pts for 6 nights in a VWL 2 BR with our in-laws. We will probably add on as time goes on but for now 100 will get us to our next vacation in 2012. We will probably add on in 100 point increments so each of our boys will have a contract when they have their own families.

We chose SSR because as our 3 boys grow they will probably want to venture over to DTD more often. Also as they grow, we can get a 3 BR treehouse for less points than a Grand Villa and have room to spread out (as an alternative to a 2 BR).

Our use year is February...and our guide said being teachers, this better than a May/June use year because of the cancellation policy. If you cancel within 30 days, you have to use those points by the end of the use year. If our use year is June and we had a June trip planned, we would have a few weeks to reschedule those points and use them...highly unlikely! So, we would lose them. So, with a Feb use year, we can still manage to use them for the rest of the summer or into the Fall breaks.

BTW - we paid for our contract with a pension loan. 3.5% interest and payment is taken from our paycheck for the next 20 mos...and the best part -- the interest goes back into our pension.

 

[jessrose18]

subscribing, also interested

 

[Sandisw]

We just purchased a 100 pt contract thru Disney for SSR. I am a teacher, so we are bound to mostly summer/school vacations too. We bought through Disney because we had already planned a 6 night trip this May (over Memorial day weekend with 2 personal days added). If we did a resale contract, we would have had to pay cash for our May trip because closing would be too far into the future and we would have a hard time getting what we wanted. Buying through Disney, we got 100 2009 points, 100 2010 points and of course our 2011 points. This trip will cost us 274 pts for 6 nights in a VWL 2 BR with our in-laws. We will probably add on as time goes on but for now 100 will get us to our next vacation in 2012. We will probably add on in 100 point increments so each of our boys will have a contract when they have their own families.

We chose SSR because as our 3 boys grow they will probably want to venture over to DTD more often. Also as they grow, we can get a 3 BR treehouse for less points than a Grand Villa and have room to spread out (as an alternative to a 2 BR).

Our use year is February...and our guide said being teachers, this better than a May/June use year because of the cancellation policy. If you cancel within 30 days, you have to use those points by the end of the use year. If our use year is June and we had a June trip planned, we would have a few weeks to reschedule those points and use them...highly unlikely! So, we would lose them. So, with a Feb use year, we can still manage to use them for the rest of the summer or into the Fall breaks.

BTW - we paid for our contract with a pension loan. 3.5% interest and payment is taken from our paycheck for the next 20 mos...and the best part -- the interest goes back into our pension.

Feb UY does work for summer trips, but your guide is not correct that a June UY is poor (there is no May) for June trips. When you cancel 30 days or less, regardless of UY, those points go in to holding and can only be used for reservations 60 days or less and will expire at the end of the UY.

If you had a June vacation planned with a June UY, and cancelled, you would have until May 31st of the following year to use up those points, unless you cancel 31 or more days out, and then you can bank them or reschedule a trip. The UY that will offer the most flexibility, IMO, is one that starts just before you typically travel. We travel in July and August and have a June UY.

However, I do agree that a June UY is not good for May trips. Since this is one of the times you travel, avoiding that one was a good choice.

 

[minnie411]

Thanks to everyone for you very informative responses. We've decide to go with a resale because we feel it is more cost effective for us. Pretty sure we are going to go with SSR because it is cheaper per point and maintenance fees and we get the addition 12 years membership. Our job now is to watch the listings and find the right one for us. Thanks again!

 

[minnie411]

It is official we started the process today We are buying resale at SSR and I am very excited. We can't wait for our first stay as DVC members

 

[Crystal_27]

It is official we started the process today We are buying resale at SSR and I am very excited. We can't wait for our first stay as DVC members

Good for you!! Congratulations!!

 

[WizardLarz]

We just purchased a 100 pt contract thru Disney for SSR.

Ok, I thught that you had to purchase at least 150 points on a Contract thru Disney? That is the number I keep seeing in other threads. Plus I thought I saw BLT list at a min. of 160 points. So how were you able to do just 100 points?

 

[andreadoiron]

good for you on buying ssr! our home resort is SSR too and we have stayed at OKW, BCV and now AKL despite having to book at the 7 month window. i really don't think you will have an issue staying at some of the other resorts when you want a change from SSR.
not sure where you teach but last august we went to disney and got a 1 bedroom at BCV, no problem. i'm assuming that if you time it right, later in summer vs earlier, you could get into the boardwalk as well.
we are staying at the AKL, kidani section this June 1-7 and i only made resv 1 month ago.

 

[chalee94]

Ok, I thught that you had to purchase at least 150 points on a Contract thru Disney? That is the number I keep seeing in other threads. Plus I thought I saw BLT list at a min. of 160 points. So how were you able to do just 100 points?

minimum new contract purchased directly is 160 pts.

since BLT is selling well enough for DVC, they stick to this minimum.

SSR and AKV are selling a little slower, so DVC will sometimes relax the minimum required to get contracts sold at these resorts. it comes and goes.