Why did he have to say it?...

[kristenrice]

My DH (who doesn't worship all things Disney like I do ) just told me that he might let me buy a DVC membership "to get me to shut up about it"!

I don't care what his reason is, if he agrees to buy into DVC...

Here's my thoughts and I'd love some advice....even if it's to tell me I don't need the DVC

1) We have not made it a habit to take vacations which is something we'd both like to change. At this time, we have pets that require boarding when we travel and 2 DD's that don't particularly like long car rides. Over the next 7-10 years, we'd probably only vacation to WDW once every 3 years. In 11 years, DH will retire (and I doubt the dogs will still be with us ) so we will be able to travel more frequently.

2) Right now, our family will comfortably fit in a 1 BR. As our DD's get older, they might want their own room and beds so a 2 BR would be more appropriate. Since the oldest just started preschool, I have no idea what kind of students my girls will be. I do not have any objections to pulling them out of school for vacation, if necessary, but only if they are doing well and can handle the missed time.

So, here's what I figure....
If 10 years from now when DD's are 15 and 12, we want a 2BR at SSR for Sunday-Thursday night. If we don't want to pull the kids out of school and look at Premiere Seasons points, we'd need 225 points. Assuming that we bank and borrow appropriately, we would only need a 75 point contract to achieve this. If DH is really serious about letting me buy a DVC contract, I definitely need to look resale. I am wondering, though, should I look for a 50 point contract for now and then in 10 years, if we find ourselves wanting to travel more frequently and needing the additional points, purchasing another 25 point contract?

Right now, we have the money to buy the contract without financing. This is where the DH has to "let me buy DVC" comes into play. The money is coming from his father and grandmother's estates. (They passed away 2 weeks apart this summer. His mother died last year so the inheritance is now being disbursed) I told him that he can use the money however he sees fit. Most of it is going into our children's education fund but he said some of it can be spent on "extravagances". Would it be wiser to buy a contract for our immediate vacation usage (50 points) or look for one that would be the most we would ever need (75-100 points)? My instinct would be to try and find a 50 point contract for now. That way, our dues are lower while we have tuition and such to deal with and if we find that we can afford more and need more, great, we can always add on. This way, we can go once every 3 years and maybe even bring my parents along too!

Any advice?

 

[50 years Too!]

If you can swing it, I would say buy the 75 points now.
You don't know if you'll be able to find a 25 point contract in the same resort with the same UY.
Also, even though your girls are young, a two bedroom is SO nice. If you and your husband want to stay up and put them to bed early, no problem. Having two bathrooms is wonderful, too.

 

[debbiepump]

My husband wasn't thrilled with WDW at all until I bought into DVC (an inheritance also). WDW is somewhere I loved going to and always feel safe and happy to go solo (even though everyone always finds time to go, once they find out I'm going). Now that DH has had a taste of the DVC's, he loves it! He is happy with a max of 4 days there and likes to sit on the deck and watch the world or go into the parks with me for awhile. I had thought about selling, but now HE says no!! I think what he enjoys the most is that the DVC units are nice and large enough, he feels 'at home' there and when he does go, doesn't feel he has to spend his entire waking hours in the parks.
Happy medium for both of us. Best advice I can give you is to buy where you want to stay (I own at BCV) and consider even perhaps a week's worth of points. I'm always 'in the hole' with my points for some reason, be it more frequent trips than anticipated, more folks wanting to come along (thus having to get a 2 bedroom) and/or just wanting to escape our crappy Seattle weather. It is a financial commitment. The yearly dues, the tickets, transportation to Orlando, etc. So be sure and consider all that too.

 

[Caskbill]

I can see an argument for either a 75 point purchase or a 50 point purchase.

Just keep in mind that when buying resale, you don't get to choose the size of the contract. You can only purchase what's available.

I suggest you look at the resale market, compare the contracts being offered, the resorts being offered, and pick one that will meet your needs, whatever the size.

 

[KelNottAt]

I say three 25-point contracts. I know, hard to find. But, that's my suggestion.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you buy a resale and multiple contracts, it is much easier to manage the points if they are all the same use year. That throws more wrenches into your plan. But if you buy your next points from Disney, they will require the same use year.

 

[ILuvDVC2]

I get your logic, OP, on the number of points you want to buy as your initial investment... but, we started with 150 points (buying directly from Disney), and then we started going every other year & taking friends/family with us. Four years after our initial purchase, we decided to add 100 more points.

When making your decision, don't underestimate how much you'll like taking DVC vacations, as you may find yourselves wanting to go more than your point ownership will allow sooner than later! I think 100 points would be a good initial investment since it'll give a you some additional vacation flexibility if your circumstances change sooner than later. However, I'm not living your life or in your exact situation, so you have to do what you think is best for your family.

Whatever you decide to do, I doubt you'll regret joining DVC!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

We own a 100 point BWV contract, and plan to bank and borrow.

Its hard to explain, but sometimes having small contracts can get you in sticky situations.

Let's say you know that a school break will either be the 2nd OR 3rd week in October. With lots of points, you reserve both and cancel the week you don't need.

We reserved the 3rd week, my sister's kids were out 3 days in the 2nd week, and had an extremely late Spring break. We found this out in late Summer with scarce availability.

We changed the trip to the 3rd week in April, and had to use 29 borrowed points to go to Hilton Head. We enjoyed it. It wasn't a headache.

We love our small contract and definitely made the right decision for us.

Advice: You lose some flexibility with small contracts. Be very sure of your plans, and please consider more than 25 points for this reason.

 

[epicureangirl]

All my many 'calculations' showed that it takes several years to get to that 'break even' point on a DVC contract. Seeing as you have young children, I think you'll have no problem using your points and will want more sooner, rather than later. Why pay the extra administration fees on a second small contract. I'd buy what I can now and start enjoying the trips with your young family. As the girls get older, the car trips will likely be more bearable when they're at the age they can get excited about the trip to Disneyworld.

BTW, my husband let me buy a contract so I'd 'shut up about it' too, and I couldn't be happier!

 

[javamom]

Lots of good advise here.

I'll tell you what we did. We sort of did something a little different. Instead of focusing on exactly how many points we "needed," we set a figure in mind that we knew that we could spent for a contract. Then, we went resale shopping. It didn't take long to figure out what we wanted, and pleasantly, we found a contract that would give us more points than we had origianlly thought.

Specifically, we were thinking about 120-150 points would be all that we could afford. But we found a 170 point contract that ended up costing us the same dollars. So, we went for it!!

Now, would I like more points? You betcha! But I am waiting to see what loverly offerings come up for addonitis here in the next few years.

So I guess my advice is not to fixate too much on that magical number of points, but figure out how to get the most points for the dollars.

You will get mixed answers on this, but I also agree with the adage to "buy where you want to stay." Things in DVCland change all the time, so you might as well keep that home field advantage.

 

[kristenrice]

Thank you all for the great advice. So far, DH hasn't brought the subject up again. I know that if we do take the plunge and buy into DVC, we'll want to purchase at OKW or maybe SSR. I think that a 75 point contract (if available) is what we'll be looking for. We've been to OKW once and our second trip will be in January. We loved it! I like the "feel" of the Wilderness Lodge too, but I like the more spacious rooms at OKW and SSR. I would love OKW, but the shorter contract was making me think about SSR also. I'm hoping that our trip in January will be an eye-opener for DH. I hope that when he sees how much our DD's love Disney World (which I am sure they will) he will want to come back as much as I do. Right now, he keeps saying that he has no desire to go to WDW any more than maybe 1-2 more times...total! Ok, THAT is going to change I'm sure once he sees his little princesses dressed up as little princesses and meeting their "heroines", he'll change his tune!

A secondary question....
Is there a way to find out detailed information about DVC without taking the tour? We took the tour in 2001 with my parents and we received a lot of hard copies of actual costs (annual dues, exchange options, etc). It would be very helpful if there was a media that included things such as banking/borrowing rules, annual dues and points charts for the non-Disney options. I'm really in the "just curious" phase right now and I do not really want any DVC guides calling. That actually happened about a year ago when I merely requested the DVD online. Suddenly, I had a guide calling our house daily and leaving messages. I was finally home one day and told him that I was merely curious and gathering information and not at all interested in purchasing at that time. He was quite "pushy" and not what I'd expected from Disney. Anyways....is there maybe an FAQ here that I'm not seeing? TIA!