What I've learned about DVC from these message boards!

[bangzoom6877]

Okay, for about one week now, I have been on these boards researching DVC like crazy, not to mention websites for resales, the actual DVC website, the "Dream" book I got yesterday, etc. I have learned A LOT of very valuable info here over the past week which has helped DH and I make the decision to buy a resale with BWV as the home resort, some time after the new year. Here are the key things I have learned:

1. Purchase at the resort you would like to stay at repeatedly.
2. DO NOT purchase based on any perks, valet parking, exchanging out, going on a Disney cruise, etc. These can all change at any time, and chances are they will between now and 2042/2054/2057.
3. Try to get a UY that is no more than 3 months before you normally vacation, if you have regular vacation habits.
4. Think first about your own family's vacation habits, then decide how many points are right for you.
5. BEWARE ADDONITIS!!
6. DVC resorts are NOT the exact same thing as deluxe hotels, and some folks really notice the difference, while others do not mind the difference or do not notice (they have never stayed in a deluxe, etc.).
7. Sometimes it is better to borrow points than to bank and then use them, so you do not lose any points, if you plan to go every other year like I do.
8. Sometimes it is useful to get an AP, but not always. Don't just purchase one because it is currently $100 off and you feel like you are saving money. You are not saving money if your original ticket purchase plan was much less than the cost of an AP. This is the case for us at least for now, because we are going every other year on a 5 or 6-day base ticket.
9. DO NOT expect to be able to stay at ANY DVC resort just because you can book 7 months out at a non-home DVC resort. You are only guaranteed to be able to book 11 months out at your home resort, and therefore this is the best choice as you will have more of a selection.
10. You CANNOT use the free valet parking to park at other DVC resorts for the purpose of going to a theme park in that area.
11. You are better off renting out your points and using that cash toward a different vacation if that is what you choose for that particular year, rather than spending points on the different type of vacation.
12. If you were not planning to go to Disney as often as you would as a DVC member in the first place, and you are only planning to go because you are a member and paid for it, you need to take a step back before you purchase and think about this extensively to see if it is right for you.
13. DO NOT buy a DVC membership in order to earn "income" from renting out your points, re-selling in the future, etc. There are no guarantees on either of these things.
14. If you really research it and ask the kind people here on these boards who have personal experience with DVC, it really is not that hard to grasp. It just takes some patience and the willingness to learn about it. Seems like once you get the hang of it (maybe after booking and going on your first trip), it gets easier.
15. There is more to do at Disney than theme parks. In fact, each DVC resort has a lot of things to do, and some are near some really fantastic areas that are not theme parks (BWV and BCV by the Boardwalk entertainment, SSR and OKW in the Downtown Disney resort area for example).
16. Currently, you can purchase any of the 3 DDP options for 2009 as a DVC member, regardless of whether or not you have purchased tickets. Of course, this can change any time, as can the DDP offer(s).
17. You can purchase your park tickets wherever and whenever you want topurchase them. Or you can opt not to purchase tickets at all and do other things.
18. Whirlpool tubs, FULL kitchens and washer/dryers are not in studios.
19. Studios are difficult to get, especially the closer it is to your vacation date.
20. Grand Villas are VERY difficult to get.
21. You can transfer points between members, but the home resort is that of the original owner of those points.
22. The people on these boards really are very friendly, kind and patient with all of the crazy questions I have had!! You all here are the greatest!

Okay, am I doing all right so far? There are even more things, but these 22 are off the top of my head!!!

DH and I decided that DVC is definitely for us, but we won't be ready to make a move until after the new year (saving money). So we will start actively looking around Christmas! We are also firm on what we want...150points at BWV, UY of either March, April or June (we travel in July). Our next trip to the World will be in July 2010 (as originally planned, even before we took our trip last month...we had already planned to go every other year!!).

 

[Laxmom]

By George, she's got it! Good luck with your purchase!

 

[Hunclemarco]

Congrats on your decision! I don't think you'll be dissapointed

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Hey Bonnie ~ I just checked in for a few minutes in between laundry, packing, etc. and I'm happy to see you've got DVC down!!! Now the hard part -- waiting for the perfect contract. Good luck!

 

[moredisneyplease]

You know sooo much more than I did when I purchased! Good for you for doing your homework!

 

[Mtnman44]

you forgot one: "BLT" = Big Lame Tower

 

[Buckeye Fan]

I'm impressed, my friend!!! You could teach us a thing or two!!!

 

[photobob]

You have researched and researched well. We look forward to giving you a big home when you join us!!

 

[javamom]

WTG Bonnie! Looking forward to being your Boardwalk neighbor! We bought a Boardwalk resale of 170 points. Good luck, you did the research, now the hard part... waiting for January.

Any chance that you will be cruising the listings and grabbing a "choice" one before then??

 

[Grandbuddy]

You might want to look at the cost of "pre-paying" for your park admissions in a way OTHER than APs. Check out the cost "per admission" when purchasing a 10-day non-expiring park hopper with water park fun and more. Not only do you get all 10 of your theme park days, no matter how long it takes to use them; you also get 10 admissions to water parks or Disney Quest (sadly, admission to PI will not be a benefit for much longer), no matter how long it takes to use them - even after you might have used all your theme park admissions. That COULD work out to a full 20 days of ticketed activities, if you work it right. (You can enter and re-enter the same water park multiple times on the same day, with your one ticket. So the kids can still get a nap.)

 

[kellybus]

Sounds like you have it!!!!! Don't forget, you can always come back to the forum to ask more questions. Good luck WAITING!!! If you can wait till January!!!

 

[vicki_c]

3. Try to get a UY that is no more than 3 months before you normally vacation, if you have regular vacation habits.

For the umpteenth time, will someone explain this? I keep getting confused.

You wouldn't want your UY to be right AFTER you normally vacation, isn't it? For example, if I normally vacation in November, a December use year wouldn't be good for me because if I had to cancel I would only have until the next month to use my points before I lose them.

So, why would it be "no more than 3 months more"?

We have an August use year (didn't pick it-- it's what we got) but we normally vacation in January / February, and I think that works out really well -- if we did cancel we have 5-6 months to use our points then.

 

[Caskbill]

For the umpteenth time, will someone explain this? I keep getting confused.

You wouldn't want your UY to be right AFTER you normally vacation, isn't it? For example, if I normally vacation in November, a December use year wouldn't be good for me because if I had to cancel I would only have until the next month to use my points before I lose them.

So, why would it be "no more than 3 months more"?

We have an August use year (didn't pick it-- it's what we got) but we normally vacation in January / February, and I think that works out really well -- if we did cancel we have 5-6 months to use our points then.

There's nothing special about 3-months, it's just a ballpark figure. If you look at when you vacation, and then figure there's a chance you'd have to have cancellations, all you really want is that the returned points are still bankable.

Let's say you ONLY vacation in November. Also you need to cancel at least 30 days ahead. So you'd cancel no later than the end of September. In this case, any UY from February to October would be OK, because under this scenario you would still be in your 8-month banking window.

If you vacation over a spread of dates, say November to January, then you'd want to get a UY month such that the 8-month booking window is still applicable for any cancellation you might make, which could be anything from September to November.

Personally I think people fret over use year too much. It doesn't mean a thing except in the single instance where you need to cancel a reservation. In 15 years of ownership, we have never cancelled a reservation.

If you do need to reserve something at 11-months and hope to switch over to something else at 7-months, then of course that becomes a cancellation and new reservation. But in most cases you're probably just swaping the points used one place and use them somewhere else, so banking returned points is probably not an issue.

 

[Caskbill]

9. DO NOT expect to be able to stay at ANY DVC resort just because you can book 7 months out at a non-home DVC resort. You are only guaranteed to be able to book 11 months out at your home resort, and therefore this is the best choice as you will have more of a selection.

Actually the only guarantee is that you get a 4-month preference over non-home resort owners.

There's no guarantee you'll be able to get what you want, and with the new booking rules, hard to get dates may all be reserved by others before you can even call at your specific 11-month window.

 

[crisi]

I think the only piece of conventional wisdom you are missing is "financing will eat into any savings you get over paying cash for your vacations."

Oh, the other finance related one:

"DVC will pay for accomodations - think carefully about buying if transportation, admission, food, souvieniers are going to be a burden....."

 

[Moeluv4u7]

Congratulations Bangzoom on your thorough research and the fact that you still found DVC to be right for you & yours! I did the same, researched it out fully and mostly be visiting these boards! The people here really are terrific! Every single one of you have helped me out, if not directly to my questions, indirectly by reading all of the posts from previous days, weeks, months, years- Yes! I went back some ways to find various info! We are still awaiting closing & I am so nervous! LOL Excited but nervous!
Bangzoom, I think all of us will still have questions on occassion so don't forget the Disboards! It has become addictive for me! I think I have been on everyday since we started looking into it & I may be on everyday until we go on our first trip ever next year! Yep! We have never been but I have always been a Disney Fanatic and my dream has been to go to DisneyWorld!
Congrats Again!

 

[Laxmom]

you forgot one: "BLT" = Big Lame Tower

I love that!!!!

For the umpteenth time, will someone explain this? I keep getting confused.

You wouldn't want your UY to be right AFTER you normally vacation, isn't it? For example, if I normally vacation in November, a December use year wouldn't be good for me because if I had to cancel I would only have until the next month to use my points before I lose them.

So, why would it be "no more than 3 months more"?

We have an August use year (didn't pick it-- it's what we got) but we normally vacation in January / February, and I think that works out really well -- if we did cancel we have 5-6 months to use our points then.

We have the same UY and same vacation schedule and it works well for us also! I think it is just that there are some UY that could cause problems if not thought out carefully.

Congratulations Bangzoom on your thorough research and the fact that you still found DVC to be right for you & yours! I did the same, researched it out fully and mostly be visiting these boards! The people here really are terrific! Every single one of you have helped me out, if not directly to my questions, indirectly by reading all of the posts from previous days, weeks, months, years- Yes! I went back some ways to find various info! We are still awaiting closing & I am so nervous! LOL Excited but nervous!
Bangzoom, I think all of us will still have questions on occassion so don't forget the Disboards! It has become addictive for me! I think I have been on everyday since we started looking into it & I may be on everyday until we go on our first trip ever next year! Yep! We have never been but I have always been a Disney Fanatic and my dream has been to go to DisneyWorld!
Congrats Again!

I know exactly what you mean. We have been to WDW before but never stayed on property. We made our first DVC trip last month and it was the best yet! The people of this board gave me advice that made our trip absolutely memorable. I can't imagine having purchased and traveled without having this resource! Thanks to all!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Not ony do you have all the advice right, but you REMEMBERED it, and that is great to see! Can't wait to welcome you home next year!

 

[bangzoom6877]

You might want to look at the cost of "pre-paying" for your park admissions in a way OTHER than APs. Check out the cost "per admission" when purchasing a 10-day non-expiring park hopper with water park fun and more. Not only do you get all 10 of your theme park days, no matter how long it takes to use them; you also get 10 admissions to water parks or Disney Quest (sadly, admission to PI will not be a benefit for much longer), no matter how long it takes to use them - even after you might have used all your theme park admissions. That COULD work out to a full 20 days of ticketed activities, if you work it right. (You can enter and re-enter the same water park multiple times on the same day, with your one ticket. So the kids can still get a nap.)

20 days out of a 10-day ticket? So you mean, if we were to use up all 10 days at the 4 theme parks, we would still have 10 days left for water parks and Disney Quest, which would never expire? Does that mean that on any future trip I could use this ticket for Disney Quest (I know my boys will LOVE it there when they get a bit older)? So, if we go in 2010 with a 10-day park hopper with water park fun and more, if we go to one of the 4 theme parks everyday, then when we go in 2012 we could go to Disney Quest one day with the same ticket, then when we go in 2014 we could go to Disney Quest with the same ticket, and maybe they want to go to one of the water parks, then we can still use the ticket for this on the next trip and on future trips until we run out of days on it, provided that we get the no expiration option? This could come in handy for future trips if this is the case. Am I understanding this correctly? If so, thanks so much for pointing this out. If not, thank you anyway for pointing it out, it could come in handy!

 

[Grandbuddy]

20 days out of a 10-day ticket? So you mean, if we were to use up all 10 days at the 4 theme parks, we would still have 10 days left for water parks and Disney Quest, which would never expire? Does that mean that on any future trip I could use this ticket for Disney Quest (I know my boys will LOVE it there when they get a bit older)? So, if we go in 2010 with a 10-day park hopper with water park fun and more, if we go to one of the 4 theme parks everyday, then when we go in 2012 we could go to Disney Quest one day with the same ticket, then when we go in 2014 we could go to Disney Quest with the same ticket, and maybe they want to go to one of the water parks, then we can still use the ticket for this on the next trip and on future trips until we run out of days on it, provided that we get the no expiration option? This could come in handy for future trips if this is the case. Am I understanding this correctly? If so, thanks so much for pointing this out. If not, thank you anyway for pointing it out, it could come in handy!

With my 10-day park hoppers with water park fun and more sitting in a safe place, awaiting my next trip. (They are now actually 8 day park hoppers, but with all 10 days of wp fun and more remaining.)