What do you do with all those points?

[Sandisw]

Assuming you all do mainly studios, is that fair?

It really does depend. 900 goes farther when it’s only 3 or 4 nights.

For 2025 and 2026, it has been studios more than the other sizes because I traveled with people who I wanted them to have their own room…or it was just one other guest.

I don’t do studios if we have 3 or more.

 

[Steelers0854]

If I were planning on spending that much time in FL and didn’t want to own a house, I’d consider buying super cheap used timeshares outside DVC. Maybe Wyndham Bonnet Creek? I don’t need a full month at WDW; I just need some sun and warmth! The other option would be buying getaway weeks through Interval International. It’s shockingly cheap in Orlando.

The issue is if we did that we would have other costs like Uber or a rental car. With Disney I really don’t have to pay for any transportation other than getting there and back from the airport. Plus the goal with this isn’t about a generic trip to FL. If we bought a vacation home it would be near Disney with the intent to go to Disney as well as avoid the cold. So for us I’m not sure that this would be the best strategy but I do see how it could be a good fit for others.

 

[atthebeachclub]

A lot of people live in trailers as snowbirds. I’ve heard they can even be nice?

 

[CraigInPA]

We had a plan... We were going to stay in our home in the Poconos, stay at WDW for a month in January, visit my brother in Tampa for the month of February and part of March, and return to the Poconos in late March. That would have us miss about 90% of the snow. My brother and his wife, in turn, would come stay with us during the most hellish part of Florida weather, July and August. This was great until my brother retired, decided he hated living in Florida, and moved to North Carolina two years ago. He likes the summer in NC, so doesn't feel the need to leave there. It snows in NC in the winter, and our goal was to avoid that. As we are about to retire, we're looking at monthly house rentals as an alternative to our original plan.

 

[Lorana]

We have 2274 points, and spending time during retirement at Disney is definitely part of the plan, even though retirement is likely still ~15 years away (so who knows what may change in that time).

Our thought certainly was to be able to spend ~6 weeks of the winter at Disney, and potentially rent out the other points to help offset dues cost (though leaving some free for a small trip in the fall timeframe). This depends on whether we do the whole stay in a 1BR or split between 1BRs and Studios. If we used all our points, we could do at least 9 weeks in a 1BR, even longer if we managed to snag some Value 1BRs at AKV or split between 1BRs and Studios. We live in New England and while we love it here, escaping the winter for a bit would be nice.

We thought about a vacation home, but don't want to have to deal with the maintenance and issues when we're not there, and when we go to Disney, we want to be in the bubble. It's why we bought DVC. Also, DVC does have some flexibility -- our thought was that some years we could go out to Aulani or Hilton Head, some years we could trade in (or rent out) our points for villas in different parts of the world, or even spend a few weeks on back-to-back Disney cruises.

 

[cruisehopeful]

To me, the value in using DVC or another timeshare as a vacation home is not having to spend the vacation doing home maintenance. Even if pay someone else to do it, you'll still have to deal with gardeners, maid, handyman, etc.

Something that I've heard others do to extend their points is to stay in a studio most of the time and throw in a one bedroom every 5+ days to get the laundry done. Would you stay at WDW the whole time or break it up with Vero and Hilton Head? I*think* I would get overwhelmed being at Disney for that long, but maybe a place like Old Key West would provide a little peace and quiet.

 

[VGCgroupie]

To me, the value in using DVC or another timeshare as a vacation home is not having to spend the vacation doing home maintenance. Even if pay someone else to do it, you'll still have to deal with gardeners, maid, handyman, etc.

Something that I've heard others do to extend their points is to stay in a studio most of the time and throw in a one bedroom every 5+ days to get the laundry done. Would you stay at WDW the whole time or break it up with Vero and Hilton Head? I*think* I would get overwhelmed being at Disney for that long, but maybe a place like Old Key West would provide a little peace and quiet.

I think the Cabins are a good median here. While the MF to own there are prohibitive, having a full kitchen and spending close to studio prices is the game changer for that type of stay. No W/D but you can use communal W/D. FW has a much different feel and doesnt feel like you are in Disney per say, and you have lots of space from your neighbor.

 

[Steelers0854]

To me, the value in using DVC or another timeshare as a vacation home is not having to spend the vacation doing home maintenance. Even if pay someone else to do it, you'll still have to deal with gardeners, maid, handyman, etc.

Something that I've heard others do to extend their points is to stay in a studio most of the time and throw in a one bedroom every 5+ days to get the laundry done. Would you stay at WDW the whole time or break it up with Vero and Hilton Head? I*think* I would get overwhelmed being at Disney for that long, but maybe a place like Old Key West would provide a little peace and quiet.

We have never been to HHI or Vero, but those mostly certainly are a part of the conversation for us as well and great options to mix in. I agree with yours and the other folks points about a second home, we often forget about all the ancillary costs that creep in that make owning something that is someone else’s problem much more attractive!

Now I just have to decide when to jump in on my next direct purchase to top us off. I feel like im happy with my 150 at Poly and even though the Buy in right now is attractive im not sure i love the idea of 300 at poly. CCV direct is pricey still even with the current incentive.

Im thinking about waiting and seeing what happens with LSL. Im not sure if the pricing will be great when it launches as Ive never really tracked new resort offerings with DVC before. Also, who knows if we will like the property and it has the same downsides as Riviera with the resale restrictions so I guess I should be considering Riviera before it sells out, but we havent stayed there either and wont stay there until next January before our cruise.

 

[Pens Fan]

We have 1660 points and another 150 we are waiting to load. DVC is a huge part of our retirement plans. We live in PA, so avoiding as much of the winter as possible is the plan, and we did not want to deal with the hassles of owning and maintaining a second home. We typically head to HHI for the week of Thanksgiving and then head down to Copper Creek for between 1 - 2 weeks. Then we head back down in Jan / Feb splitting time between HHI and WDW (adding VB for the first time soon) for about a month. We mostly drive so don't have to worry about flight costs. We'd stay longer but my husband has to have a medical treatment every 4 - 5 weeks so we have to make the trip back to PA. Which honestly, I like. USPS only holds mail for 30 days at a time and it's reassuring to come back and check up on things, see our son, etc.

We usually add in some shorter fall or spring trips as well. We avoid summer like the plague. Our son and his fiancee sometimes join us for a short time as their vacation days allow. They also occasionally use our points on their own. We are all heading to Aulani this fall. Our son is listed as an owner on all of our contracts, so once we are too decrepit to use the points they can decide which contracts they want to keep and we'll sell the rest.

We mostly stick to resorts with favorable point charts. That was a big consideration in choosing our home resorts - CCV, HHI, and BWV. Thankfully those are our favorites so it all works out. We'll occasionally splurge on a more pricey resort, but only for a few days to save points. We almost always book a one or two bedroom, so a nice point chart is essential for us. We are not studio folks.

We have not regretted a single penny we've spent on DVC. We purchased our first 500 points (over 3 different contracts) direct from Disney. All of the rest are resale. We like our mix as we have plenty of points to occasionally stay at any of the restricted resorts, but buying so many through resale allowed us to afford so many more points. We have never rented any points. We had a rough couple of years where we couldn't travel much due to my husband's health but between banking and our son, managed to not leave any points on the table. He got the ok to travel last October and we've been happily blowing through our backlog ever since .

 

[Steelers0854]

We have 1660 points and another 150 we are waiting to load. DVC is a huge part of our retirement plans. We live in PA, so avoiding as much of the winter as possible is the plan, and we did not want to deal with the hassles of owning and maintaining a second home. We typically head to HHI for the week of Thanksgiving and then head down to Copper Creek for between 1 - 2 weeks. Then we head back down in Jan / Feb splitting time between HHI and WDW (adding VB for the first time soon) for about a month. We mostly drive so don't have to worry about flight costs. We'd stay longer but my husband has to have a medical treatment every 4 - 5 weeks so we have to make the trip back to PA. Which honestly, I like. USPS only holds mail for 30 days at a time and it's reassuring to come back and check up on things, see our son, etc.

We usually add in some shorter fall or spring trips as well. We avoid summer like the plague. Our son and his fiancee sometimes join us for a short time as their vacation days allow. They also occasionally use our points on their own. We are all heading to Aulani this fall. Our son is listed as an owner on all of our contracts, so once we are too decrepit to use the points they can decide which contracts they want to keep and we'll sell the rest.

We mostly stick to resorts with favorable point charts. That was a big consideration in choosing our home resorts - CCV, HHI, and BWV. Thankfully those are our favorites so it all works out. We'll occasionally splurge on a more pricey resort, but only for a few days to save points. We almost always book a one or two bedroom, so a nice point chart is essential for us. We are not studio folks.

We have not regretted a single penny we've spent on DVC. We purchased our first 500 points (over 3 different contracts) direct from Disney. All of the rest are resale. We like our mix as we have plenty of points to occasionally stay at any of the restricted resorts, but buying so many through resale allowed us to afford so many more points. We have never rented any points. We had a rough couple of years where we couldn't travel much due to my husband's health but between banking and our son, managed to not leave any points on the table. He got the ok to travel last October and we've been happily blowing through our backlog ever since .

Thanks so much for all your thoughts. This got me thinking if fixed weeks should be in the conversation…..

Ugh the rabbit hole is real.

BTW where is my enabler @Girlstar30 I thought she would have chimed in by now and talked me into 1,000 points

 

[Girlstar30]

Thanks so much for all your thoughts. This got me thinking if fixed weeks should be in the conversation…..

Ugh the rabbit hole is real.

BTW where is my enabler @Girlstar30 I thought she would have chimed in by now and talked me into 1,000 points

Your enabler just got back from spending more points at Disneyland hotel this weekend and now she needs to catch up on this thread and encourage others to do the same lolll

You only live once and deserve the very best in life ️

 

[tidefan]

What do you do with all those points? One word...

Aulani!