DVC Owners

[TamiTaylor]

Can I ask some nosy questions?

How did you decide to where to buy points for your home resort? How many points per year did you buy? What are your dues like? Do you go to Disney every year? Do you rent your points?

[ilikedonuts]

We wanted to buy direct and not resale (direct prices were not anywhere near as high as they are now) We almost bought at AKV in 2010. Then changed our minds and decided to wait.. Then I got pregnant in 2011 and we decided BLT is perfect for young kids in strollers since well be spending lots of time at MK.

We own 220. I'm looking for another small 50 point resale contract though but I'm in no hurry so I'm waiting to see if resale prices will go as low as we feel like need to be to add on.

I think our dues were $1150 for this year (you can have them taken out monthly from a bank account or pay in full in January with credit or gift cards.

We go every year. We have waited until each kid turned 1 for their first trip so we've taken some time off but we usually double up trips the year before or after.

I've rented some of our points once (like 130 of them) when we couldn't use them because I was pregnant/DD2 was super tiny. No plans to rent them again as of now.

[ilikedonuts]

I think we paid $103/point. It was within a couple dollars of that. We could sell today for probably $125/point.

[krz1211]

We bought in 2013 and decided on OKW, really just because it was the cheapest! We love the location near Disney Springs, and are flexible in that we can use our points elsewhere. We only have 40 points right now, hoping to add on soon. We go every year for at least 1 small trip (we are only 6 hours away). We often will rent the 1 time use points to fill what we need. We paid $80/point. I do wish we had more points!
We will probably not ever have to rent out our points, as with banking/borrowing we will always hit Disney, Aluni, HHI, or Vero!

[alleinesein]

Bought directly from Disney.

Own at 3 DVC resorts- Saratoga Springs, Grand Californian and Aulani.

Purchased Saratoga Springs in 2005 when Disney was running a CM discount for the 50th Anniversary of Disneyland. The deal was too good to pass up (25% off).

Purchased the Grand Californian the day it went on sale and did the same for Aulani.

We have 600 points total- SS 250, Grand 100, Aulani 250.

Aulani is pretty much my moms property; her and my dad try to go every other year.

We use our points at Disneyland a few times a year and we have used them at WDW a few times. We did not purchase them with the intent to vacation at WDW.

I think our dues are around $4 per point. Each resort is a different amount and the dues for Aulani are the highest; we got grandfathered into the lower dues due to a Disney screw up. They had to honor our lower dues because it was in the contract; newer owners got hit with the higher dues.

We never rent out our points. We will give them to friends to use if we have extra during the year.

[TamiTaylor]

How do you know how many points you need

[Deleted]

Jun 13, 2016 20:30:02 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

Can I ask some nosy questions?

How did you decide to where to buy points for your home resort? How many points per year did you buy? What are your dues like? Do you go to Disney every year? Do you rent your points?

1)I bought points at Saratoga Springs because they were the cheapest resale THAT DAY ( sometimes OKW is a little cheaper) and we were on a BUDGET
2) I bought 160
3) 850 dollars a year... ish. 
4) We plan to go every other year twice. To get maximum value out of APs. 
5) I rent my points in the off year to help pay the dues. 

[Deleted]

Jun 14, 2016 9:58:28 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

How do you know how many points you need

I bought 160 because that was what I could afford at the time. I would rather rent a few here and there to extend a trip then have laid out more money than I could afford in the beginning. 

In 5 or so years I can see myself adding on another contract. 

[TamiTaylor]

Jun 14, 2016 10:21:46 GMT -5 @savestheday said:

Jun 13, 2016 20:30:02 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

Can I ask some nosy questions?

How did you decide to where to buy points for your home resort? How many points per year did you buy? What are your dues like? Do you go to Disney every year? Do you rent your points?

1)I bought points at Saratoga Springs because they were the cheapest resale THAT DAY ( sometimes OKW is a little cheaper) and we were on a BUDGET
2) I bought 160
3) 850 dollars a year... ish. 
4) We plan to go every other year twice. To get maximum value out of APs. 
5) I rent my points in the off year to help pay the dues. 

Did you do through Disney or resale?

[Deleted]

Jun 14, 2016 10:26:43 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

Jun 14, 2016 10:21:46 GMT -5 @savestheday said:

1)I bought points at Saratoga Springs because they were the cheapest resale THAT DAY ( sometimes OKW is a little cheaper) and we were on a BUDGET
2) I bought 160
3) 850 dollars a year... ish. 
4) We plan to go every other year twice. To get maximum value out of APs. 
5) I rent my points in the off year to help pay the dues. 

Did you do through Disney or resale?

resale. I bought before the new restrictions. 

[TamiTaylor]

Jun 14, 2016 10:34:46 GMT -5 @savestheday said:

Jun 14, 2016 10:26:43 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

Did you do through Disney or resale?

resale. I bought before the new restrictions. 

What are the new restriction. Can you by a mix of direct from Disney and resale?

[Deleted]

Jun 14, 2016 10:36:53 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

Jun 14, 2016 10:34:46 GMT -5 @savestheday said:

resale. I bought before the new restrictions. 

What are the new restriction. Can you by a mix of direct from Disney and resale?

New restriction is that NEW resale buyers don't get the AP/ Dining etc discounts that OLD resale buyers and Direct Buyers get. 

You can buy a resale package of whatever # of points and then as a DVC owner you are eligible to add on as little as 25 points at any time direct through Disney. So then you won a direct contract and can be eligible for all the discounts. 

So for example you buy 125 points at AKL this year resale. 
Later on you want to buy more points. As a DVC owner your minimum direct purchase is 25 points. You can buy those and reap all of the direct buy benefits forever as a Direct Owner. 

[curbsideprophet]

Is the direct buy minimum more if you are not already a DVC owner?

[ilikedonuts]

Jun 14, 2016 11:39:23 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

Is the direct buy minimum more if you are not already a DVC owner?

They sometimes do slight 'deals' for existing members but it's usually some extra points or something. Not a big savings or anything.

[ilikedonuts]

Jun 14, 2016 9:58:28 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

How do you know how many points you need

We looked at what a 1 bedroom would be for a week at our home resort during the time we would usually go. Somewhere like SSR, AKV, or OKW it's usually a lot less per night then somewhere like BLT or Poly.

[alleinesein]

Jun 14, 2016 9:58:28 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

How do you know how many points you need

Look at the point chart and figure out how many points you need to get the type of room you want in the season you will visit.

Our points were determined by the minimum amount that Disney required us to buy at the time (160) and then we decided we needed enough points to cover a 2 bedroom villa during the seasons we would travel to WDW.  

[Mrs. ChanandlerBong]

We wanted direct not resale. Our choices were the poly or aulani. So we have poly.

We are brand new to this, so our next 3 spring breaks are planned for the poly...with one year of us trying to get to Vero Beach if there's openings.

We bought 200 pts based on our districts calendar for spring break for the next 5 years. That gets us a week during those time frames.

I'm not sure what dues were.

[Mrs. ChanandlerBong]

Fwiw, I think the minimum we could buy as new buyers was 100. I think add ons through Disney are 25 pts. We will probably add on through resale at a later date.

[beeks]

Jun 13, 2016 20:30:02 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

Can I ask some nosy questions?

How did you decide to where to buy points for your home resort? How many points per year did you buy? What are your dues like? Do you go to Disney every year? Do you rent your points?

I chose AKV for our home resort because I loved the value room studios that were only 9 points a night in the slower season. We got a 100 point contract because it gets us 10 nights a year in those rooms and we will only ever have 1 child so it's plenty of space for us. Dues are a little over $600 a year. We bought resale and it had two years worth of points on it when we bought, so for a couple years we went multiple times per year but now we are down to one long 9 day trip a year. We have rented our points out a couple times with no problem. We paid $63 a point 3 years ago. I am too cheap to pay the direct price and the restrictions don't matter to me because the discounts are sort of crap anyway. 

[was5]

Jun 13, 2016 21:26:10 GMT -5 @starry said:

I picked BWV for the relatively cheap standard view rooms with a walkable location to some of the parks.

We paid $80/ point on resale. 150 points. Dues are a little over $6/point.

We aren't sure how often we'll go. Not every year. We will rent points some years most likely.

Just so I understand. Your initial purchase of $80x150 was a one time thing and now you just pay the $6x150 each year so you can use 150 points per year? Are those points yours for life as long as you pay the dues?

[ilikedonuts]

Jun 15, 2016 9:36:10 GMT -5 was5 said:

Jun 13, 2016 21:26:10 GMT -5 @starry said:

I picked BWV for the relatively cheap standard view rooms with a walkable location to some of the parks.

We paid $80/ point on resale. 150 points. Dues are a little over $6/point.

We aren't sure how often we'll go. Not every year. We will rent points some years most likely.

Just so I understand. Your initial purchase of $80x150 was a one time thing and now you just pay the $6x150 each year so you can use 150 points per year? Are those points yours for life as long as you pay the dues?

50 year contract from the date the resort opened. So beach club us 2042. BLT is 2060.

[TamiTaylor]

Do you know if the new renovations at WL will open up any DVC buy ins?

[ilikedonuts]

Jun 15, 2016 11:31:57 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

Do you know if the new renovations at WL will open up any DVC buy ins?

Yes.It's a completely different DVC resort. So it will be all brand new 50 year contracts but you won't get 11 month booking at the older WL DVC. They renamed it. I don't remember the name.

[ilikedonuts]

I honestly just love that my husband is locked in on taking a vacation yearly if I want for the rest of our lives lol he is not a vacation guy, but he has learned to love Disney so it's a win win for me. and I figure at some point once the kids can't be pulled out of school, well rent points and do our other bucket list trips or just use the points for adult only trips.

[aubreyann]

I just went to a DVC thing and based on what the sales person said, we could buy 75-85 points and get a week stay early June every year. We could do under the 100 points

[ilikedonuts]

Jun 15, 2016 16:38:41 GMT -5 aubreyann said:

I just went to a DVC thing and based on what the sales person said, we could buy 75-85 points and get a week stay early June every year. We could do under the 100 points

Only in a studio at OKW and AKV.

[aubreyann]

Jun 15, 2016 19:00:09 GMT -5 ilikedonuts said:

Jun 15, 2016 16:38:41 GMT -5 aubreyann said:

I just went to a DVC thing and based on what the sales person said, we could buy 75-85 points and get a week stay early June every year. We could do under the 100 points

Only in a studio at OKW and AKV.

We are okay with that for now.  Thanks!

[beeks]

Jun 15, 2016 19:22:12 GMT -5 aubreyann said:

Jun 15, 2016 19:00:09 GMT -5 ilikedonuts said:

Only in a studio at OKW and AKV.

We are okay with that for now.  Thanks!

Only in a value studio at AKV and you would need to own there to book one. There are only 8 and they book 11 months out immediately. 

[aubreyann]

beeks. Thanks.

[ilikedonuts]

Jun 16, 2016 10:19:25 GMT -5 spunbutterfly said:

So the only direct through Disney sales right now is Aulani and Poly, right? And if you wanted something with more than one room and a washer and dryer at WDW you only have the bungalows as an option to buy into.

I just priced it out (I think I did the math right.) and it's something like 70k for the first year for 350 points, so you could go once every two years (I'm assuming points roll over for a year?) for at least 5-6 nights. Do the other resorts ever open up again for direct sales?

Are there any extra fees or restrictions when resort jumping, like if we bought into Poly but wanted to go to Grand Californian instead one year, do they charge extra points to do so?

The new wilderness lodge will open in a year or two. I'd only buy poly if you want a studio.

You can book other resorts at the 7 month window with your points but some are very hard to get rooms at if you don't own there. Grand Californian is one of those.