Who has less than 150 points?

[Mickey'sApprentice]

After reading dreamy threads about owning more than 1000 points, and living in DVC year round...I thought it might be fun and informative to look at how we Small Contracts live?

I would love to hear about how many points you have, your vacation habits, when you bought, if you plan to buy more points in the future, why you chose a small contract, and any challenges that you face as small contract owners. We are the folks that have "Stepped our toes in the water." So, are you enjoying your DVC? Any regrets?



I'd love to hear from folks with more than 150 points too, especially if you started out with less than 150 points.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

To start us off...

DH and I bought a 100 point contract at BWV in January 2006.

So far we've gone to HHI at Thanksgiving in a studio, taken extended family to BWV for 5 days using a 2bdrm and a studio, and will return in January to stay in a studio for 5 days including a weekend. We did transfer 70 points from another member through the DIS to get points for our big trip, and will use up all but 10 of our '08 points for our January trip.

We may purchase an add on eventually at the CRV! That has more to do with CRV. We are making out great with our points for now.

For us, we sat on the fence for a long time. We took the tour at the Boardwalk in 2002 and just couldn't justify needing 150 points. Of course the guide at the time said that it was impossible to purchase less than 150 points. Thank you DIS for letting us know differently.

Pros
We paid cash.
Our maintenance fees for '08 is $504.20
We have no problem using our points.

Cons
We have to be more careful making reservations.
Annual pass discounts don't do us much good.
We stay in studios more.
We avoid weekends.
Grand Villas, Cruises, ABD, etc. are pretty impractical for us.

 

[ACDSNY]

We started with 100 points at SSR in Sept 2005 since our kids were young adults we thought that would be enough for the two of us. Took a trip to WDW in Oct 2005 and our kids loved it so we added on in Dec 2005. My only regret is we didn't pay enough attention to our UY (Feb) so now I'm trying to justify selling our original contracts and purchasing a Oct UY.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Just purchased a 50 pt. Vero Beach contract June UY. I only purchased 50 pts. because we can get an ocean front inn room that has 2 queen beds and big oceanfront balcony for 5 days (Sun-Thurs.) It also has the same small kitchenette as the studios. If I go in other seasons that require more pts. I will just borrow or transfer from my BWV contract. We may not always go to BWV, but every summer we will go to Vero Beach!

 

[global_mom]

We bought a 50 point HHI resale in May 07. Our plan was to get our foot in the door and add more points in a couple of years. Our resale came with 50 banked points so we used that 100 points at AKV. We were then hooked for good! We then bought 190 (I have no idea why I chose 190 instead of 200) points at SSR this past Sept. Then we added another 100 SSR points so we have a total of 340 points. We were all set to add 200 more points during the current incentive program but got cold feet. DH is a Realtor and our local market has been cooling so we thought it best to keep our cash in the bank for the next year or so.

Anyway, that 50 point purchase was the beginning of a great adventure and we are soooooo glad that be bought DVC!

We dont plan to use our points on weekends so that we can stretch them. I work in an industry that requires me to frequent WDW so it is more economical for us to pay cash on the weekends.

We are a Dec. UY and we love it. The HHI purchase just happened to be a Dec. UY, it was not something that we did on purpose but it works great for us. We like to go to WDW in Jan. and March so we are very "safe" if we have to cancel. We also enjoy Oct. but can always pay cash for those trips if we are worried about cancellation that close to the end of our UY and outside of our banking window.

 

[StayFLA]

I just bought 50 pt at SSR. Waiting estoppel and closing. I went to FW in the 70's several times and offsite in 1983 for class trip. I loved it then and now I have children. Went on cash in Sept 07 and I want to go back every two years or so. I want to drive (from PA) and may set a tent up at FW for a day or two at FW for the younger boy. I want the wife to have a 1BDR for the jacuzzi, kitchen, SPA, etc. Well, actually the kitchen is for me, not her. I will probably add pts, but what we bought is in our budget ($4300 and $210/yr). We have to be able to afford the buy in ($4300 DVC, 3 ten day no expire tix, one AP for me (discounts) and then relax and shop the resorts to see where I want to buy into. The kids saw the parks, but they didn't play in the waterparks or Disneyquest and things like that. I want to slow down and have them see that. If we miss it, don't worry, we're coming back in 18 months. I would like to have kids enjoy the P&P, MNSSHP, & MVMCP etc.
This opens the door. Let's see where it leads.
Ralph

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

These are great! Keep 'em coming!

Has DVC changed your life, or at least your vacation habits?

 

[Terpy]

then slowly adding on in 25 or 50 point increments. I also own at BWV, BCV and AKV. I also own three Marriott's.

DVC allows me to indulge my desire to be on-site. With all the Marriott timeshare locations, it's a lot cheaper to see other areas with them.

I find DVC and Marriott complement each other.

I'm up to 200 points now.

Terpy

 

[bluedoggy]

We bought a 100 pt OKW resale contract 3 yrs ago. We are empty nesters, only can take 1 vacation a year, and a studio works great for us. We go in off-season, so make best use of the pts. By adjusting our arrival dates, we have gone 1 yr ourselves, banked the balance of the points, then last year had enough to take DD, DSiL & DGrD in a studio of their own. This year, it was just us, and we should be good for next year with them. I know alot of people pay cash for weekend stays, but we bought DVC to have "prepaid vacations", so I will use the extra points if we need them to stay a weekend night or 2. This is why I really like DVC - you have personal control of how & when you can go - rather than other timeshares with a fixed week.

 

[ldo]

We have another timeshare at the beach and could not justify the price and time commitment of 160 DVC points. But after staying at DVC this summer, I really wanted to experience DVC on a regular basis without having to rely on renting points. 50 points was an amount we could pay cash for and has a small maintenance fee. 50 points is enough for a sun-thurs studio for a smaller trip and on years that we don't do that, we'll bank our points and then go the next year in a 1 BR for 4 days right before we go to the beach. Or we will bank and borrow and stay at VWL for a few days over the holidays--we have family in the area, so a full week in a timeshare is sort of a waste for us, anyway.
Next year, we plan to add 50 AKV points. With borrowing and banking, 100 points gives us a lot of flexibility--I can't see us needing more than that.
ps---love the idea of camping at Ft W--I can see me and the grandparents at VWL and my husband (ex-boy scout) and the kids setting up a tent for a few days---DH would probably go along with it if he got a hot shower and nap over at VWL while we hit the parks!!

 

[heather360]

I bought 110pts at BCV this past May. The contract came with 34pts in holding which we used for a studio in November. The studio was slightly too small for us because I travel with DM and we needed to use the pull out couch which then took up alot of space. I had a feeling that for future trips we would really need a 1 bedroom and this was confirmed.

I think the 110pts was a great way for me to get my feet wet with DVC. In the future I'll probably add 30-40 pts direct from Disney to my home resort at BCV. I'd like enough pts to have 8 nights in a one bedroom every 2 years. I think it's better to start with less points and then add to the contract than to realize you have to much.

 

[bub]

Great thread. We bought in with 3 other family members (my parents, brother and sister) and each purchased 55 points (really a 220 point contract). We are all on the deed. Our original purchase was in '96, and we have all taken too many DVC vacations to list. We did combine points one year for a GV at OKW and that was fun. My own family stayed in studios only for the first few years. Our kids were little, and we had never even seen a bigger unit (we bought sight unseen) and so we were content. One year we split a 2-bedroom with my brother's family. Of course, once we stayed in a larger unit, it was hard going back. We purchased 55 additional points (for 110total) so that we can stay 5 nights in a 1-bedroom every year. For the last few we have gone every other year, allowing us to stay for a weekend without changing rooms.

Even our small number of DVC points has given us lots of flexibility, and saved us money on rooms. We also save on food, as we enjoy cooking some meals in the room. Our challenge with 4 groups on the deed is keeping track of points.

 

[5 for WDW]

We bought into SSR at 150 points. We stayed 10 days in a one bedroom at 243 points. (We used 93 of our "bonus" points from when we purchased). I am using 48 points next week for a two night stay at BVW.

So.... we will definately be adding on in the future. We would like 300 points(so, purchase another 150) in the near future and then add on once our kids are grown for larger villas.

We want to be able to stay one full week/8 days in a one bedroom in the off season with a 2 night stay for DH and I without having to borrow from the next year.

We are not sure how soon we can do it but, that is our plan. I always heard add ons are addicting. After our stay at SSR I can totally see why. We are now officially spoiled.

 

[Mom B]

We started out with 100 points at Vero Beach a few years ago...and are just in the process of doing a 30 point resale at OKW. Paid cash both times...would like to have more but this will do for now. We will generally use the "bank and borrow" and do a large family group trip every 3 to 5 years (one 2 BR and 3-4 studios), and if we want to stay longer, go more often, or take friends, we are occasionally able to rent points quite reasonably from another family member who is also a DVC member. Occasionally we will do a short trip, just the two of us. We like having the Vero points because we usually travel in January and love a few days at the beach before hitting the parks, although someday we might switch and do the beach afterwards. My dream is to do Thanksgiving in a beach cottage, but we'll see how that comes together. With a smaller number of points, it takes careful planning, but with another Member in the family, and the option to use cash for the weekends (sometimes at a value resort, etc.) we're making it work. Traveling in the "off" season really helps too. We are so spoiled that I don't think we could ever stay OFF property. LOVE my DVC!