DVC Rookie Q's

[jwhitty5]

Hello all, long time listener to Dis Podcasts but new to the message boards. My wife and I are going to purchase resale DVC in the next few months. We've researched UY, contract expiration years, and both work in the finance industry so we know exactly what to do and what NOT to do when purchasing DVC points.

Our question is about the ease of using points at a non-home resort. We understand the 11 month reservation versus 7 months out. SO---how hard is it if you bought 100pts at Old Key west to be able to use those at any of the other resorts? Is it really that difficult to book other properties to justify the extra $20-$60 per point spent buying the contract? If one can buy into Vero Beach super cheap per point, how hard is that to use those points to get the studios at OKW?

We love staying on property, we've rented points and stayed at OKW (loved it but it was extremely spread out), stayed at GF (loved it but not paying $145/pt), and both POR/FQ. We would love to be able to buy say 100 points at Saratoga and then add on 25 at Polynesian. Could we then be able to book Poly 11 months out and use all 125pts that we own?

So glad to have this community, I welcome your thoughts and opinions.

 

[skippytx]

Howdy!

I wanted to answer this question first

We would love to be able to buy say 100 points at Saratoga and then add on 25 at Polynesian. Could we then be able to book Poly 11 months out and use all 125pts that we own?

No. Only the points you have at that resort are eligible for the 11 month window. You couldn't use your 100 SSR points at Poly until the 7 month mark.

how hard is it if you bought 100pts at Old Key west to be able to use those at any of the other resorts?

The answer is "it depends". There are a bunch of variables depending on when you travel, what kind of room you like to book, where you want to stay. Longtime DVC owners have noticed the last few years have been busier for DVC.

Personally I believe in buy where you want to stay. I like to stay at Bay Lake and it was really tempting to pick up some OKW or SSR points for less than the price of BLT and hope/plan on using those points at BLT at the 7 month mark. We decided against that though and felt since we always want to be at BLT and wouldn't care to stay at OKW or SSR it would be better to pay extra for the home resort advantage.

It really depends though. If your going at a popular time, getting a standard studio at a different resort the 7 month mark isn't likely. If you travel during slower times, it might be possible.

Long story short I wouldn't buy points at a resort unless you were 100% OK staying there. If your heart will be broken if you can't book Poly at 7 months during Christmas week, you should buy Poly points.

 

[disneynutz]

You get what you pay for, if 7 months wasn't an issue for some, everyone would buy the least expensive resort.
Only you know how important the resort is to you, for us it is very important so we bought where we love to stay, book at 11 months, no waitlists, no games, don't have to hope and pray. We stay where we want, when we want.

Bill

 

[rer1972]

It's a good idea to know what room inventories for each resort look like in order to get a better picture of the demand for each resort. I like to use the info from the "DVC News" site to get an idea of how many rooms there are of the types I prefer (studios in our case) at each resort, and can get a pretty good idea of how hard it will be to get a room at that resort at peak seasons (fewer rooms usually means harder to get).

Also, as was noted below. It's better to purchase at the resort that you want to stay at. You can always add on or sell as your needs change.

 

[gillep]

You get what you pay for, if 7 months wasn't an issue for some, everyone would buy the least expensive resort.
Only you know how important the resort is to you, for us it is very important so we bought where we love to stay, book at 11 months, no waitlists, no games, don't have to hope and pray. We stay where we want, when we want.

Bill

This is what we have done as well, if I am spending that much money on DVC, I want to be able to easily stay where I love. We do sometimes use our points at other resorts at 7mo, but as a pp said that has been getting more difficult the past few years, especially in the fall and around race weekends, which is when we typically travel.

 

[Marionnette]

Hello all, long time listener to Dis Podcasts but new to the message boards. My wife and I are going to purchase resale DVC in the next few months. We've researched UY, contract expiration years, and both work in the finance industry so we know exactly what to do and what NOT to do when purchasing DVC points.

Our question is about the ease of using points at a non-home resort. We understand the 11 month reservation versus 7 months out. SO---how hard is it if you bought 100pts at Old Key west to be able to use those at any of the other resorts? Is it really that difficult to book other properties to justify the extra $20-$60 per point spent buying the contract? If one can buy into Vero Beach super cheap per point, how hard is that to use those points to get the studios at OKW?

We love staying on property, we've rented points and stayed at OKW (loved it but it was extremely spread out), stayed at GF (loved it but not paying $145/pt), and both POR/FQ. We would love to be able to buy say 100 points at Saratoga and then add on 25 at Polynesian. Could we then be able to book Poly 11 months out and use all 125pts that we own?

So glad to have this community, I welcome your thoughts and opinions.

First rule of timeshare ownership: Buy where you want to stay.

If you want your points for WDW vacations, then buy points at a WDW resort. Those VB points may be cheap but their MFs are higher than the WDW resorts and the contracts expire sooner than many of them. In the long run, it will cost you more per point to own at VB than it will to own at SSR.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

We understand the 11 month reservation versus 7 months out. SO---how hard is it if you bought 100pts at Old Key west to be able to use those at any of the other resorts?

As others have said: It depends. Depends on time of year -- I certainly wouldn't count on it during Fall Frenzy (October through marathon), or the lowest-cost studios most of the year (BWV or BLT Standard, AKV Value) or certain other studios (VGF studios can be hard at 7, AKV Club is a unicorn at best even for AKV owners at 11 months). If you have points enough for a 1BR it becomes easier to book at 7.

If one can buy into Vero Beach super cheap per point, how hard is that to use those points to get the studios at OKW?

Again, it depends. If you want to stay on-site, don't buy Vero Beach. Also, include the cost of dues in your calculations. VB means you never have 11 month booking, and do pay some of the highest dues in system.

We would love to be able to buy say 100 points at Saratoga and then add on 25 at Polynesian. Could we then be able to book Poly 11 months out and use all 125pts that we own?

Nope. You could use the 25 at Poly. You can't just mingle and suddenly get to use cheap points from one resort to block owners at another from their booking window, and it would be a hot mess in the system. Each contract retains its home resort, and cannot be used before 7 months at another.

 

[jwhitty5]

You guys have cleared up a lot. I am glad I finally decided to post.

Other questions-- does anyone think with the new DVC resorts coming that there will be less interest in the older ones to slow down the demand that weve seen recently? I've seen about a 10-15% increase in the resale market since last November. To those that could go back in time and re-do their purchasing experience what would you change? What other advice do you have for rookies like myself and I?

 

[skippytx]

I don't see DVC slowing down, and not the older resorts right now. The interest in the resorts is generally somewhat based on location. The Epcot resorts are heating up with Toy Story and Star Wars lands opening in the next couple of years, and who knows what they'll do for the 50th.

If I could do it over, I would have bought sooner ( less cost pp). I'm OK for the number of points I have right now, but definitely wish I would have bought in late 2016 instead of mid 2017.

edit: Another huge DVC driver (in my opinion) is the cost of the WDW hotel rooms keeps going up at a rapid pace. The AoA family suite we stayed in for our 2015 trip has increased from about 350 a night to almost 500 a night. It actually pushed us to renting DVC points for our 2016 trip and well after I stayed at Bay Lake that was all she wrote about that.

 

[Marionnette]

You guys have cleared up a lot. I am glad I finally decided to post.

Other questions-- does anyone think with the new DVC resorts coming that there will be less interest in the older ones to slow down the demand that weve seen recently? I've seen about a 10-15% increase in the resale market since last November. To those that could go back in time and re-do their purchasing experience what would you change? What other advice do you have for rookies like myself and I?

Does anyone think with the new DVC resorts coming that there will be less interest in the older ones to slow down the demand that we've seen recently?
No, I don't think that it will change demand at the other resorts. People like the older resorts for various reasons. BCV for SAB, BWV for the low point requirements. BLT for the ability to walk to MK. Etc. Those things are not going to change and people are willing to pay for the home resort advantage at them. OTOH, more and more DVC resorts being built means that there is an increase in competition to book non-home resorts at 7 months.
To those that could go back in time and re-do their purchasing experience what would you change?
I would have bought slightly larger contracts instead of adding on smaller contracts bit by bit.
What other advice do you have for rookies like myself and I?
If you have not stayed in a DVC villa yet, rent points from an owner and stay at a couple of the resorts that you're interested in before purchasing. Staying DVC is not the same as staying in a resort hotel room. You wouldn't buy a car without doing a test drive, right?

 

[jwhitty5]

What other advice do you have for rookies like myself and I?
If you have not stayed in a DVC villa yet, rent points from an owner and stay at a couple of the resorts that you're interested in before purchasing. Staying DVC is not the same as staying in a resort hotel room. You wouldn't buy a car without doing a test drive, right?

We've stayed in the studios at OKW and loved it, even with 4 adults. I loved having two actual beds in the room and being so close to Disney Springs. Would not mind OKW being our home resort but the 2057 contracts are hard to come by on the resale market.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The addition of the new resort at Riviera will increase booking pressure at 7 months at popular resorts. Once people realize this, they'll want to buy older resorts that are their favorites.

 

[mustinjourney]

Here's a great chart that should help you to visualize the availability. It was from a few years ago, so it isn't current -- but it is still good for generalities.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...tudios-some-1-bedrooms-prepared-2015.3419112/

 

[disneynutz]

Don't look at yesterday or today to determine booking patterns. DVC continues to increase in size and booking continues to become more difficult. DVC in the past was semi popular, now with so many resale brokers and rental brokers, the word is out and DVC mania has begun. The DVD party at Epcot sold out in 6 hours and the projected attendance is 15 to 20 thousand in attendance. Web site was crashing and it took 35 minutes of continued attempts to make a reservation.

Bill

 

[sndral]

My suspicion is that the rental market is concentrating demand in the 'popular' DVC seasons making it harder and harder to book @ 7 months during those times.
I always smile when people ask whether they can buy lots of cheap points and a few expensive points and lump them all together @ 11 months to reserve at the 'expensive' resort - if that strategy worked we'd all have 25 point contracts at our favorite resorts and hundreds of SSR points
If I had it to do over again I would have bought my VGF contract direct when DVC was selling them, those points sold out fast and then it took me a long time to locate a resale contract in the correct use year for me.

 

[lovin'fl]

So OKW owner here(then added BWV and HHI). Let me give some thoughts.

We have stayed at every east coast DVC resort except VGF and the new CCV (though have been to VWL twice) and we have our first Poly stay coming up in January. We use our BWV pretty much just for BWV and HHI pretty much just for HHI. But OKW is our least fave resort so we use those for everywhere else. It has gotten harder at 7 months to book other resorts since we first bought in 2006. I think it's because there are more and more new DVC members to compete with. But we like to switch around and try all the resorts. We like different resorts for different trips. That's why we added the BWV because we do love to stay there for F&W every year and that is tough to get at 7 months. We also bought the HHI so we could stay there in the summer months and that too is tough to get at 7 months. So I suggest you look at what types of trips you likely will be taking and if you need the 11 month advantage for those trips, then it's best to buy that resort.

Also, it is cheaper to buy HHI or VB points but the annual dues are so crazy high they eat up any savings pretty fast. Plus if you do get shut out of all other resorts at 7 month window you are stuck at an off WDW property. I only suggest people buy at those if they plan to stay at those places frequently (maybe not 100% but often).

And random tips....
-if you buy more than one contract, buy them all the same UY. Just easier to keep track of and use, especially if you will borrow points a lot. (I have two UY and am in borrow mode all the time so I cannot transfer points from one to other to make a resie, cannot transfer borrowed points and cannot borrow transferred points)
-dont buy one large contract. Buy multiple smaller ones. If you ever need to downsize but don't want to sell ALL your points, you can just sell off one or two little contracts. (We initially bought 200 OKW and then a year later we moved and wanted to sell 100 but you can't break up contracts. So we kept them. Ended up using them just fine and needing to add more so all the add ons were 25, 25, 25, 50, 50, 55, 150....and had 100 at AKV which we did resell since we did not need the 11 month advantage there and we resold for $15pp more than we bought).
-buying direct may be the way to go for smaller contracts, especially an add on where you need to match your UY. They are hard to find resale and go for higher price and closing costs are higher with resale than direct.

Good luck! And I suspect prices won't be going down anytime soon ....just my opinion.

 

[Dean]

Hello all, long time listener to Dis Podcasts but new to the message boards. My wife and I are going to purchase resale DVC in the next few months. We've researched UY, contract expiration years, and both work in the finance industry so we know exactly what to do and what NOT to do when purchasing DVC points.

Our question is about the ease of using points at a non-home resort. We understand the 11 month reservation versus 7 months out. SO---how hard is it if you bought 100pts at Old Key west to be able to use those at any of the other resorts? Is it really that difficult to book other properties to justify the extra $20-$60 per point spent buying the contract? If one can buy into Vero Beach super cheap per point, how hard is that to use those points to get the studios at OKW?

We love staying on property, we've rented points and stayed at OKW (loved it but it was extremely spread out), stayed at GF (loved it but not paying $145/pt), and both POR/FQ. We would love to be able to buy say 100 points at Saratoga and then add on 25 at Polynesian. Could we then be able to book Poly 11 months out and use all 125pts that we own?

So glad to have this community, I welcome your thoughts and opinions.

VB & HH will be more in the long run because of the dues, they also pose more risk and removes the options of getting something at 11 months out on property. SSR will be the cheapest long term to get in the system or at least the best value. IMO one can get about anything at some time at 7 months but realistically likely not BCV, VGF or VGC on any consistent basis and likely not certain options consistently mostly value/standard view at AKV, BWV, VGF or BLT. It really depends on how flexible you are and how active/proactive one tends to be. Learning to use the wait list well is key to the 7 month window options. I wouldn't buy 100 SSR or similar plus 25 Poly unless one has a specific plan that the Poly points takes care of without using the other points. I'd buy the lowest resort I'm comfortable staying at most of the time, for me that's SSR. BLT will likely be the second cheapest long term.

 

[kboo]

...
Other questions-- does anyone think with the new DVC resorts coming that there will be less interest in the older ones to slow down the demand that weve seen recently?

I agree with @_auroraborealis_ - there will be a whole bunch of new owners, and new-to-DVC owners who will want to experience all the other resorts too (because that's part of the selling, as you are seeing), who will increase demand for the older resorts. (I'm not sure how DVD sells points, but if they sell Riviera before it's got rooms ready for occupancy, then you will literally have owners who are looking ONLY at non-home, older resorts for booking because their home resort can't be booked yet).

I've seen about a 10-15% increase in the resale market since last November. To those that could go back in time and re-do their purchasing experience what would you change?

We bought BLT 160 resale + 25 direct in the spring at $106 pp. Absolutely no regrets as to price or home resort! BUT --
I would have bought before 4/4/2016 to have all the benefits of direct at a much lower cost. We had 2 stays in DVC (one an actual points rental, another was a deeply discounted cash reservation) by April 2016, and knew we liked it and were probably coming back to WDW yearly. We just weren't quite ready to pull the trigger, do all the research, etc. But looking back, we probably would have bought resale and bought at BLT. EVen at those prices, even if we'd gotten the "wrong" use year, we still would have saved thousands of dollars, since we had 3 more DVC stays, all on rented points, in the next 16 months.

Even buying last March (2017), I would have bought enough points to put us in a 1BR for a week each year. We are about 40-50 points short, and we easily could have afforded that. BLT studios are small, and we had sort of assumed that since our family of 4 was fine in deluxe hotel rooms, we would be fine in a studio. I mean, we'll be FINE (first world problems, indeed), in retrospect when we bought in we hadn't stayed in ANY studios, only a 1BR and a 2BR, so it was a very different experience. I've since learned that many people buy DVC and assume they will want to stay in studios only to decide later that they prefer larger units.

Alternatively, I would have also bought a smaller contract at BWV or BCV. At the time we were looking, all of those contracts were plentiful and seemed reasonably priced, so I assumed (again, that word) that the market would be relatively stable and we would have time to add on at our leisure at a comparable price.

I also would have considered 200+ at SSR more seriously. If we ever decided to go over Xmas, we probably wouldn't spend that much time at the parks, and at most other times there are other resorts available at 7 months in a 1Br.

What other advice do you have for rookies like myself and I?

These boards were invaluable to me when I was researching. Do a lot of research and ask plenty of questions, as you are. Don't make an overly emotional choice, especially if considering direct v. resale. As for home resort, that *is* a pretty personal and emotional choice.

We've stayed in the studios at OKW and loved it, even with 4 adults. I loved having two actual beds in the room and being so close to Disney Springs. Would not mind OKW being our home resort but the 2057 contracts are hard to come by on the resale market.

Here is where you come out ahead of a lot of people. There are a lot of DVC buyers who are like, "NEVER SSR!!" or "NEVER OKW!!!!" which results in both of those resorts being pretty good values. If you know you like staying there, then that's even better. People here are pretty vocal about their favorite resorts. I've stayed at all the deluxe resorts now except Poly, SSR and OKW. I'd like to try Poly because I like the restaurants there, but we've been to French Polynesia (including actual bungalows over a turquoise lagoon) and to Hawaii many, many times, so if we never get to book there at 7mo, I think I will survive. I don't think I'd set out to choose to use my BLT points at SSR or OKW at 7 mo, but if we had an unexpected trip on short notice and that's all there was, I would be happy to stay there too. We'd wait on BRV/CCV until our kids are out of strollers for good.

As for the resorts where I *have* stayed, there are pros and cons to each, and it's very personal how you come out on each resort weighing the pros and cons of each. If you love OKW (I have a friend who is an original owner there and loves it), then just wait for the right contract to come by, or have in your mind what other contracts would be equally acceptable (# points, UY and price) and bid on the first one that meets ALL of your parameters.

 

[supersnoop]

(I'm not sure how DVD sells points, but if they sell Riviera before it's got rooms ready for occupancy

That’s not how it works. They can’t even have points in inventory ready to sell until the units are available for reservations.

 

[CraigInPA]

To those that could go back in time and re-do their purchasing experience what would you change? What other advice do you have for rookies like myself and I?

Hindsight is 20/20... I'd have purchased more BLT points in 2009 when the economy was tanking. That also would have made me a pre-4/4/16 buyer, and saved me from buying a 30 point direct contract to get the direct member benefits.

The one not-so-hidden issue with buying resale at an older resort is that many contracts are lower number of points, which reflects the lower point cost to stay there. When you buy a 100 point contract at OKW, you'll get 8 nights at OKW in adventure season with 4 points left over. When you decide to stay at the Poly, you'll need 134 points to book those same 8 nights. It's pretty easy to find yourself taking shorter vacations in order to "stay within your points" at pricier resorts. Eventually, you'll tire of 5 and 6 night stays and add on to have flexibility when and where you stay. If you want to try all the various resorts, consider buying 200 or more points, which will put you into 1 bedroom villas instead of studios. 1 bedrooms are often universally available at 7 months, even during some of the busiest seasons.

As DVC continues to grow, the demand for some of the older resorts, especially the monorail resorts, will become more intense at 7 months. If you believe you'd prefer to stay at a monorail resort, you should buy there.