We're in!!

[jlowejd5]

DW and I have been talking about joining for a couple of years now, and we just signed the paperwork this week. And to top it all off, we were on the Disney Wonder when we signed! They were throwing some large-sounding incentives our way, and the price was just too good to be passed up.

So I now have something completely brand new to obsess about, since I've spent most of the last ten years memorizing everything I can about the parks and DCL.

I'll try not to ask too many obvious questions, but I'm guessing I will.

Yay me!!

 

[DVCGeek]

Welcome home! So, feel free not to answer but some typical things people intruduce with:

What resort did you buyas you "Home Resort", how many points (one contract or multiple smaller ones?), and what incentives (Another cruise and a "gift card" for $5 off per point @ BLT or $6.25 @ AKV) did you get?

Again, congratulations!

 

[jlowejd5]

Yeah, my bad.

We bought at Animal Kingdom. We ended up buying 270 points to start with. We figure that will last us a while, at least until we retire and want to live at WDW permanently.

The on-board incentives were pretty lucrative. It was the $6.25 per point "gift card", which we just put towards our downpayment. They also gave us a free RCI week, and the option of either a 7-day cruise or an extra set of points. The cruise offer was a category 9, which is the porthole room, and we're spoiled on having our verandah (at least a category 6), so we took the extra set of points.

So now we are trying to figure out how much of 540 points we can spend this year. At least initially, we're planning a week at AKV in October, maybe a concierge studio (if they're available, which we haven't even looked into yet). We're also talking about taking her folks to Hawaii for a week and maybe a couple of other long weekends here and there, just to get away for a while.

 

[DVC Mike]

Congrats!

 

[5forDiz]

........At least initially, we're planning a week at AKV in October, maybe a concierge studio (if they're available, which we haven't even looked into yet).......We're also talking about taking her folks to Hawaii for a week and maybe a couple of other long weekends here and there, just to get away for a while.

HOME and CONGRATS to you & your family

Just fyi, you are still within your AKV home resort priority booking window for a reservation at AKV so you may want to see if concierge studio for October is available now & promptly book it
( at 7 months or less before October check-in date <7 month window begins on March 1st> all non-AKV DVC members would also be able to call MS for ressie's at AKV so you'd be competeing against them ).

And if you do happen to ever find yourself in a position where you may not utilize your points and have missed your banking deadline ( note that Developer Points cannot be banked & must be used by expiration date they carry - don't know if you may have received these as an incentive ) check out Rent/Trade board here on the DIS where you'll find members (and non-members too) who may be interested in renting a reservation using your points.

Best wishes & many happy DVC adventures in the years to come

 

[AnnaS]

Congratulations and Welcome Home!

 

[mickeymark34]

I too am looking into buying into the DVC, but I have many questions about it. We would be buying into the Villas at the Grand Californian Hotel and Spa in Anaheim, since we live in California. Do points automatically bank if we do not use them? Is there a fee for banking them or using them early?

 

[dankevork]

I too am looking into buying into the DVC, but I have many questions about it. We would be buying into the Villas at the Grand Californian Hotel and Spa in Anaheim, since we live in California. Do points automatically bank if we do not use them? Is there a fee for banking them or using them early?

The points do not automatically bank, you must do this at least 3 months prior to the end of your UY.

There is no charge to do this, the only time you run into a charge is if you are less than 3 months until the end of your UY and you dump them into RCI use.

 

[DVCGeek]

The points do not automatically bank, you must do this at least 3 months prior to the end of your UY./QUOTE]

I thought banking was FOUR (4) months. Could be wrong...

 

[Whistlewhileyouwork]

Congratulations!!! Welcome Home!!!

 

[5forDiz]

The points do not automatically bank, you must do this at least 3 months prior to the end of your UY./QUOTE]

I thought banking was FOUR (4) months. Could be wrong...

You are correct DVCGeek - points CAN'T be banked during last 4 months of the Use Year.

For the poster who asked the banking question if your Use Year
begins on February 1 for example you would have until September 30 to bank all or part of that Use Year's allotment of points ( 2/1/09 receive 200 pts then bank 200 pts or part of no later than 9/30/09 and those points will then be available to use during 2010 Use Year ( from 2/1/10 through 1/31/11)

and there is no fee for banking.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

HOME!!!

AKV is a beautiful resort! I just love it.

 

[DiznyDi]

From one Buckeye to another... Home!

 

[disney1474]

Welcome Home!!

 

[Hankthetank]

How exciting! Congratulations and welcome home!

 

[oakmanner]

Welcome Home! Thanks for doing your part to jump start the economy...

 

[jlowejd5]

Gawrsh, thanks all.

I spent most of this morning (when not pretending to work) playing around on the DVC and RCI websites. It's going to take me a while to digest everything and make some selections. Man, there's a lot of choices.

 

[Disneypirate85]

CONGRATS and HOME

 

[kerickson]

Yeah, my bad.

We bought at Animal Kingdom. We ended up buying 270 points to start with. We figure that will last us a while, at least until we retire and want to live at WDW permanently.

The on-board incentives were pretty lucrative. It was the $6.25 per point "gift card", which we just put towards our downpayment. They also gave us a free RCI week, and the option of either a 7-day cruise or an extra set of points. The cruise offer was a category 9, which is the porthole room, and we're spoiled on having our verandah (at least a category 6), so we took the extra set of points.

So now we are trying to figure out how much of 540 points we can spend this year. At least initially, we're planning a week at AKV in October, maybe a concierge studio (if they're available, which we haven't even looked into yet). We're also talking about taking her folks to Hawaii for a week and maybe a couple of other long weekends here and there, just to get away for a while.

Note that the extra set of points you received (Developer Points or DP's) expire Oct 3, 2009 and can't be banked or transfered, can only be used at SSR, DLR Hotels or RCI. If you bank into RCI you have 1-2 years extra to find a match and use them. If you don't find a match you lose them... Just wanted to make sure you had all the details! SSR may book up as we get closer to the expiration date...
Also, you can upgrade the cruise to a better category room, I'm not sure yet on the cost. We opted for the cruise incentive because we couldn't plan another trip before Oct 3...

 

[justloveit]

Congratulations and Welcome Home!