Incentives for 2009 vs. Past Incentives

[malonefamily]

Originally Posted by jlewisinsyr

Nice deal, but they lose out on the other items like the cruise and developer points, correct?

We've never been on a cruise before, but we've been loving our WDW (and occasional DL) trips. We could travel with a group of four (we'd leave our 17 year old with a friend as she really doesn't want to cruise) and travel with our 2 yr old, 9 yr old, my wife and I. My wife is highly skeptical of cruising, but I've always thought it would be a fun change of pace.

We're buying a 125 point add-on at GCV (since we live in Seattle, it will be nice to have a DVC resort on our own coast for a change!) but we can't decide whether to go with the lower $$ or the cruise. If we pay the extra $1,000 by skipping the lower price point and take the cruise, how much are we saving (roughly) by not buying a four night cruise for four people in an Ocean view stateroom?

I'm assuming that it's much cheaper to pay the $1k now than to pay for a cruise with cash in a year or two...? Frankly, unless we're saving a large amount, we'd rather conserve cash. I tried to price a 4 night cruise with the website but found it pretty confusing. I _think_ it would cost us ~2k to pay cash but didn't understand gratuities, fees, taxes, or the best available rates for children to travel...

Thanks guys.

[Crystal_27]

Originally Posted by malonefamily

If we pay the extra $1,000 by skipping the lower price point and take the cruise, how much are we saving (roughly) by not buying a four night cruise for four people in an Ocean view stateroom?

I'm assuming that it's much cheaper to pay the $1k now than to pay for a cruise with cash in a year or two...? Frankly, unless we're saving a large amount, we'd rather conserve cash. I tried to price a 4 night cruise with the website but found it pretty confusing. I _think_ it would cost us ~2k to pay cash but didn't understand gratuities, fees, taxes, or the best available rates for children to travel...

Thanks guys.

I would say that the 4 nighter probably costs about $2,500 or so. However, keep in mind that you can upgrade to a verandah stateroom for a mere $100 (or less on some cruises) which ups the cost of the cruise (and therefore your savings) significantly - - probably $3,000-3,500+. We had actually initially chosen the cruise uncentuve but, upon looking more closely at DD's school schedule, we realized that we would have had to pull her out. Given that we are pulling her out for 6 days to cruise in September, we didn't think that the school would think too highly of us doing it twice. So, we opted for the discounted point price, saving us another $1,760. Our total savings with the $16/off per point for 220 points ended up being $3,520.

Good luck with your decision!!

[Silly Little Pixie]

Originally Posted by whitfamily

We just purchased about a week ago. When we toured in January there were developer points given on top of current $ off/pt at both AKV and BLT. Those development points are no longer available. We were able to join at Jambo AKV with a starting Dec. '08 use year. We got 200 pts now and will get another 200 pts in Dec....a nice buffer to start with

We actually came out on top by waiting until now. We got more $ off/pt and we also learned about using a DVC member referral. Like others we chose the $ off incentive over the cruise. We were told by a DVC guide when we called in that the current incentive are rumored to end June 15th. With current incentives and our member referral we got $18 off per point at AKV saving us $3600 (assuming you choose the cash incentives over the cruise). BLT would be $16 off per point with referral.

Good luck with your decision - I know we are so glad that we FINALLY chose to do it after sitting around for 3 years and watching the cost increase!

DANG!!!! Man, you got what I wanted. I originally wanted a Dec UY... was told that since only Jambo was available, I could get NO incentives, just pay full price. Told this by the guide, AND by the supervisor I called.

Fooey!!!!! I ended up with Oct UY, which was still okay, but no '08 points since it is Kidani. Did get the member referral discounts. Yes, I just paid in full already YESTERDAY.

Can't believe they ripped me off like that! But glad for you, what a deal!!!!!

[jerseygal]

I don't have my numbers in front of me, but if my memory serves me correctly, wasn't it $8 off per point from $104...Net of $96 per point..I thought that was Sept,Oct 08 pricing for NEW MEMBERS.

Matching incentive points..That was a great deal!

How does that differ from say GCV now for new members? Anyone?

Thanks for any infor!

[christa112]

I am with you on this. I actually called my guide and was told there was no 2008 points be offered either. Total Bummer.

Originally Posted by Silly Little Pixie

DANG!!!! Man, you got what I wanted. I originally wanted a Dec UY... was told that since only Jambo was available, I could get NO incentives, just pay full price. Told this by the guide, AND by the supervisor I called.

Fooey!!!!! I ended up with Oct UY, which was still okay, but no '08 points since it is Kidani. Did get the member referral discounts. Yes, I just paid in full already YESTERDAY.

Can't believe they ripped me off like that! But glad for you, what a deal!!!!!

[whitfamily]

Our guide and one of his associates didnt think it could be done. We asked him to go to his supervisor and call us back. When he did we got the Jambo w/Dec UY starting in Dec 08.

When we made the purchase he did tell us there were very few of those contracts/points available. So few that he rushed getting through our paperwork in fear that we would lose out to someone who got their contract in first.

[Sandisw]

Originally Posted by Silly Little Pixie

DANG!!!! Man, you got what I wanted. I originally wanted a Dec UY... was told that since only Jambo was available, I could get NO incentives, just pay full price. Told this by the guide, AND by the supervisor I called.

Fooey!!!!! I ended up with Oct UY, which was still okay, but no '08 points since it is Kidani. Did get the member referral discounts. Yes, I just paid in full already YESTERDAY.

Can't believe they ripped me off like that! But glad for you, what a deal!!!!!

Did your contract close yet? I would call your guide again and tell him that someone one has posted that they were able to get the Dec UY with 08 points. Not to start trouble, but maybe he/she will be able to find its available for your now. As long as the contract has not closed, they can make changes (I did it 3 times to get what I wanted).

Good luck!!!

[whitfamily]

Pixie--

I sent you a PM with the name of our guide and our info. Tell your guide to go and speak with ours and find out how he got us the DEC 08 UY at Jambo with all incentives. In total we paid $94/point and have already starting booking off of our 08 points.

[disdad09]

I am very happy with the incentives that we got.
We bought 350 points and received 350 points to use by oct 3 of this yr.
We hvae already booked a trip to SSR this august and used another 60 or so points to book a trip through RCI for the labor day weekend.
I placed the balance of my points with RCI that dont have to be used until the end of 2011.
With the use of the developer points first I had a very nice cushion to bank points the next year which will allow me to go on at least two week vacations per year plus some long weekends.
I am so happy with my decision to join DVC

[wtshirleydvc]

We bought in at AKL while on the Disney Cruise Line. We got $8 off per point, developers points equal to our yearly amount, a $500 onboard ship credit, and were able to finance it while at sea.
The financing isnt bad for today's banking standards... plus the loan is privately held. Which means it will not show on my credit report.


Not to mention... enough free DVC stuff to fill up an entire luggage bag!

[Silly Little Pixie]

Originally Posted by Sandisw

Did your contract close yet? I would call your guide again and tell him that someone one has posted that they were able to get the Dec UY with 08 points. Not to start trouble, but maybe he/she will be able to find its available for your now. As long as the contract has not closed, they can make changes (I did it 3 times to get what I wanted).

Good luck!!!

I got my cruise certificate packet on Friday... wonder if that means I have officially closed?

Originally Posted by whitfamily

Pixie--

I sent you a PM with the name of our guide and our info. Tell your guide to go and speak with ours and find out how he got us the DEC 08 UY at Jambo with all incentives. In total we paid $94/point and have already starting booking off of our 08 points.

I put in a call to my guide, unfortunately he was out of the office Fri/Sat. Hopefully, I haven't actually closed yet (not sure how to know if I did), and he can talk to your guide to find out how to do this. I am not even telling DH about this, he'll DIE if he thinks we could have actually gotten 08 points and didn't...

Hopefully I will hear back tomorrow and will know more. I'm not getting my hopes up though, my guide definitely doesn't seem like the type to rock the boat. Even when I pushed about this back in the beginning, he didn't offer to find out any more about it.

[Crystal_27]

Originally Posted by Silly Little Pixie

Hopefully I will hear back tomorrow and will know more. I'm not getting my hopes up though, my guide definitely doesn't seem like the type to rock the boat. Even when I pushed about this back in the beginning, he didn't offer to find out any more about it.

You should see a tentative closing date on your contract (usually within 30 days of the contract date). Here's some pixie dust for you - - hopefully, your Guide (or his manager) can work some Disney magic for you!

[christa112]

I am not sure if you will get the cruise and the extra 2008 points.

I can definately understand how your dh would feel. I am feeling the same way. Very disappointing to hear that some people are getting 2008 points while others are not.

I called my Guide and said nothing like that is going on right now, but people are still posting that they are getting 2008 points.

Originally Posted by Silly Little Pixie

I got my cruise certificate packet on Friday... wonder if that means I have officially closed?



I put in a call to my guide, unfortunately he was out of the office Fri/Sat. Hopefully, I haven't actually closed yet (not sure how to know if I did), and he can talk to your guide to find out how to do this. I am not even telling DH about this, he'll DIE if he thinks we could have actually gotten 08 points and didn't...

Hopefully I will hear back tomorrow and will know more. I'm not getting my hopes up though, my guide definitely doesn't seem like the type to rock the boat. Even when I pushed about this back in the beginning, he didn't offer to find out any more about it.

[whitfamily]

Originally Posted by christa112

I am not sure if you will get the cruise and the extra 2008 points.

I can definately understand how your dh would feel. I am feeling the same way. Very disappointing to hear that some people are getting 2008 points while others are not.

I called my Guide and said nothing like that is going on right now, but people are still posting that they are getting 2008 points.

The 2008 points were not an incentive for us. There just happened to be a Jambo contract with a Dec 08 start date available to us. So we don't get any extra points, we just started our clock six months earlier. That has allowed us to plan for this summer and next spring, all within 12 months of closing, and use points from two different UY's without any borrowing.

So we got the Dec 08 contract and all of the normal incentives. Our ability to do this was more driven by the availability of the contract vs. some type of incentive being offered.