It seems in general that DVC owners tend to be AP holders as well. That implys that they would go more often. So, if you are a DVC owner do you always stay on your points? Basically, do you buy enough points to make sure that having an AP is worth it? Or do some DVC owners just go say once a year for a week and buy regular tickets? I’m sure there will be many different answers, but I’d like to hear how others are making it work 
I think part of it is that out of state DVC owners can buy the cheaper APs like a Gold pass.
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Just looked that up…barely more than a 10 day hopper plus. Of course you wouldn’t get the “plus” part.
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I have done both. I have never gotten the gold pass, but a couple years ago they had the Platinum Plus AP for barely more than the Gold Pass. So for that year we did trips at the end of November/beginning of December and then another trip in September the next year. So we went to on two trips for the one AP if that makes sense. I have also bought just regular park hopper passes. I just booked a spring break trip and will probably by a gold pass before I go and then try to add in an October/Fall trip this year.
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Don’t forget to check the blackout dates…I think mid April is in there.
Will you stay on your points for both?
Yeah I did. Our Spring Break is in March and then have a separate break for Easter when the black out dates are
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For sure the March one. I haven’t decided about the October one. I would have to borrow a few points to do it as I have a December use year and I can’t decide whether it would be worth it or not
If I am able to book a standard studio at Boardwalk it’s only about 75 points so I would only need to borrow about 20 and then I would stay on points. If that’s not available then it will be up in the air
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I have two small contracts right now. I tend to book DVC for between 3-5 nights and then extend 1 or 2 nights at a moderate before. I have a gold AP and it is blocked Christmas and Easter.
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We go pretty much every other year or at least 18-ish months, so we don’t have APs. We also bought our DVC via the resale market since price was a big factor for us and the “membership extras” which are mainly AP discounts and parties with random dates, don’t really appeal to us!
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We bought DVC with the intention of a trip every 2-3 years. We stay on points and purchase tickets for trip.
We did AP one year when DVC had a great price. Since we already has a week trip planned and could add another week trip, it made sense. Of course a 3 trip popped in there because we had AP and could make the points work out. Magical Disney math.
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It is quite magical how Disney makes my bank account balance go to zero so quickly!
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I know DVC varies, but can anyone give me a ball park of buy-in cost and annual fees? If I wanted to get DVC that could cover a party of 5 for an annual 7 night stay let’s say.
This is a good guide to gauge how many points you would need:
This site tells you current buy-in cost:
This site gives current maintenance fees:
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I^m a UK owner so we save our points and visit every 3 years or so. We buy the UK tickets, fairly obviously!
Last and next stays at Christmas so we usually need to book a member cash room for some of it. Or rent maybe.
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We have enough points to stay DVC, and have APs. We usually go a couple of time a year, especially around runDisney events – it used to be always marathon weekend, but I’m diversifying. I also use my points to be able to book larger villas at AKL to be able to host my siblings with their kids who are still young so they get to see the magic --and I get to be at Disney with littles again since mine are grown.
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I think the first thing you need to decide is if you want to buy direct or resale. Direct they are actively selling Aulani or Riviera. You can also purchase and other resort . I know a few people that have recently purchased OKW direct. That direct cost is about the same as some of the newer resale contracts are selling for , with direct benefits. Of course you should only buy where you would love to stay.
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We bought DVC thinking we would go once a year. Now we go 3-5x/year and often don’t have enough points to stay DVC with every visit. Luckily, we tend to get military discounts if we don’t stay DVC. We are AP holders as well–gold pass.
Every year I promise myself we won’t go unless we can use points and every year I break that promise.
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Since becoming members, yes we always stay on our points. There may be a time when I would take a short trip on cash, at least until we are able to get the second contract we want in perhaps a year or two.
We do not have APs. We might consider having one member of our family get an AP for our trip next April as it will be a 10-day stay. Since the person with the AP gets the discounts and the MM, and since we are almost all always together during our trip, it is not necessary for all family members to pay the extra for the AP, even if it is only a small increase from the 10-day. I’ve been mulling it over.
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