What is your favorite Use Year ?

[🍀TwinsMom]

We have September for everything, and so far it has been fine. However, we THOUGHT we'd be traveling in the fall/holidays, and that almost never happens for us now that the kids are in school. We bought when they were 5 and 6 (both fall babies/red shirted for kindergarten,) and September-December is impossible to get away. Just wayyyyy too busy with school/sports stuff and the holidays and everyone's birthdays falling in there.

I know EVENTUALLY we'll do WDW October-December as schedules open up, but we are pretty locked in to long weekends MLK/President's Day/Memorial Day or February/April vacations (although we're doing a big extended family Thanksgiving at WDW this year, and I would love to turn that into a yearly event if we like it and don't find the crowds too horrid.)

I am not opposed to a second use year for the additional waitlists. I'm pretty organized, so I'm not worried about losing track of points and banking deadlines. Besides, we're usually still borrowing, so nothing to bank -- at least not yet!

The only use year I wouldn't want is December, because I find it incredibly confusing, and I don't like straddling November/December for Thanksgiving/peak DVC cheap point holiday season for walking reservations.

 

[radiodome21]

Disney gave me a February UY and that works for me. March would’ve been my other choice as we like to go Disney in the Spring and summer. My guide checked with me to see if that worked and said I could explore other options if need be. But we’ve gone in February in the past when work brought me to Orlando so I think that’s still the best.

We were just there on NYE and while it was great I’ll probably never go again at Christmas.

 

[Girlstar30]

Disney gave me a February UY and that works for me. March would’ve been my other choice as we like to go Disney in the Spring and summer. My guide checked with me to see if that worked and said I could explore other options if need be. But we’ve gone in February in the past when work brought me to Orlando so I think that’s still the best.

We were just there on NYE and while it was great I’ll probably never go again at Christmas.

How is the weather in February, is it fickle like January? When we went there was an "artic blast" in january and I'm not a fan of travel that time of year because of it, we like to utilize the pools and stuff and thought Florida in january would be an escape from the cold. It was actually colder than where we live

 

[radiodome21]

I’m with you on the weather. When we were there in February it was a 3 night stay at the Boardwalk. The first full day was like a rainy fall day in Chicago. But it was beautiful the other 2 days.

 

[Girlstar30]

I’m with you on the weather. When we were there in February it was a 3 night stay at the Boardwalk. The first full day was like a rainy fall day in Chicago. But it was beautiful the other 2 days.

Good to know, February is out for me too, totally bought the wrong use year

 

[kevtlas]

February was our first UY and we stuck with that for our next two contracts. During covid I found a December contract too good to pass up. Both have worked well for us but not sure I’d call one or the other a favorite. More like I just became comfortable working with them.

 

[Girlstar30]

February was our first UY and we stuck with that for our next two contracts. During covid I found a December contract too good to pass up. Both have worked well for us but not sure I’d call one or the other a favorite. More like I just became comfortable working with them.

This is going to be me, glad to hear you don't regret it!

 

[kevtlas]

This is going to be me, glad to hear you don't regret it!

Not even a little. I was worried at first but turned out to be for nothing. I don’t usually use together but even when I have it wasn’t much of a hassle. I’ve even been considering adding on again and just trying to get the best deal I can, even if that means a third UY lol

 

[Girlstar30]

Not even a little. I was worried at first but turned out to be for nothing. I don’t usually use together but even when I have it wasn’t much of a hassle. I’ve even been considering adding on again and just trying to get the best deal I can, even if that means a third UY lol

With December and February you aren't forced to go every year right? You can just bank december and february to run with the next December and feb?

 

[kevtlas]

With December and February you aren't forced to go every year right? You can just bank december and february to run with the next December and feb?

I try to stay in a constant state of borrowing so I never have to worry about feeling forced to go.

 

[Girlstar30]

I try to stay in a constant state of borrowing so I never have to worry about feeling forced to go.

Good to know that's the way, not that I'll never want to go multiple times a year, buy you never know i don't even have the points yet and they are already borrowed in my calendar for disney world and aulani

 

[RichVIII]

We thought we had the “perfect” UY in December until life changes. Now it’s the worse since we have started to do our Christmas trips in November. It did take me a few years to figure out Dec since you pretty much have to think of your 24 points as 2025. lol

 

[matt_in_nh]

I'll start - and lead with now I'm thinking of my family inheriting (and trying to keep it simpler for them) - I far prefer just having ONE use year. There are enough challenges with deadlines, booking priority dates, banking and borrowing, that multiple use years are too much to explain to them lol. If you need a spreadsheet, it's too much for my family

At first I liked my OCTOBER use year - seemed handy for Halloween and Christmas trips since we love the decor. No downside to that choice for me.

I eventually went with MARCH use year for everything. Again, because it worked well with the holidays, but gave me both January and February (great weather) to use the points if I had to cancel a December trip. The true deciding factor for me was the October 31 banking deadline that comes with a MARCH use year -- if I've not booked points for a Halloween or Christmas Trip by 10/31 Halloween (super easy date to remember) then I bank the points. Only challenge is that sometimes it's hard to find a March resale I like - seems it was not the most common at some resorts.

What did you pick, and why? Any regrets?

We like the same seasons and thought Oct was ideal. We ended up with Sept and because my wife and I can travel in Sept and the points charts are great I really like that. Planning g a trip for the end of Sept now. You make some interesting points for March though. I guess I like Sept because my least favorite mints would be June- Aug so I don’t really have to worry about cancelling trips in those months because I won’t hav those. Of course there is a ch ce I may want to go during those months at some point.

 

[DJRUK]

For us, we initially looked at a March Use Year since we tend to travel in April/May or September/October.

However, we ended up purchasing a 150-point Riviera resale contract with an April Use Year, which should still work well for our travel patterns. Buying resale before direct (since we’re aiming for the blue card benefits) should also give us a slight discount of a few dollars per point.

Being from the UK, we don’t have access to options like Magical Beginnings etc, so we’re certainly looking for ways to lower our overall cost when buying direct!

 

[Girlstar30]

For us, we initially looked at a March Use Year since we tend to travel in April/May or September/October.

However, we ended up purchasing a 150-point Riviera resale contract with an April Use Year, which should still work well for our travel patterns. Buying resale before direct (since we’re aiming for the blue card benefits) should also give us a slight discount of a few dollars per point.

Being from the UK, we don’t have access to options like Magical Beginnings etc, so we’re certainly looking for ways to lower our overall cost when buying direct!

Do they let you do d23 discount and chase visa?

 

[DJRUK]

Do they let you do d23 discount and chase visa?

I don't think we would be eligible for the Chase CC, since we aren't US citizens (no SSN/ITIN).

The D23 discount could be something we look into though - that's a good shout!

 

[Girlstar30]

I don't think we would be eligible for the Chase CC, since we aren't US citizens (no SSN/ITIN).

The D23 discount could be something we look into though - that's a good shout!

Yes $500 off!

 

[Girlstar30]

I don't think we would be eligible for the Chase CC, since we aren't US citizens (no SSN/ITIN).

The D23 discount could be something we look into though - that's a good shout!

I believe the lowest gold membership is less than $50 so that would take away a little but still worth it for $450 off

 

[DJRUK]

I believe the lowest gold membership is less than $50 so that would take away a little but still worth it for $450 off

Every dollar helps! Thank you!

 

[Girlstar30]

Every dollar helps! Thank you!

You're welcome That promotion is set to end April 28th for D23 and not sure if they'll renew it