I know what I am.
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If youāre freaky, own it 
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I am sorry, but I am NOT the only Disney freak around here.
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Never said you were.
Iām pretty freaky myself!
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Thanks! I ran the math and for the price difference, I think weāll likely buy at AKL because we like it and the difference i. Resale value ($100 to $110 average is what Iām seeing) is worth it to me to be at a resort I love.
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I bought AKL too! I thought it was ājust rightā on every consideration: price, expiration date, resort itself.
Unless you have a lot of wealth this has got to be the first thing to ask yourself.
Do you really want to go to WDW that many times? If you can afford to do WDW and other things: awesome. More power to you. Enjoy all the parts. But if you can only afford one trip a year the idea of WDW over and over is not attractive to some Disney fans.
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So you need to be a special kind of Disney freak? On the plane home in 2005 I called my husband (he was at home) before we took off. I told him then I did not care if I ever went anywhere else for vacation. It was true then, it is true now. I will cruise, but Disney is my preferred vacation. The wonderful thing about the Disney community is that we are not all alike.
Edited to add: I am who I am and I will not feel bad or apologize for my feelings.
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I was just agreeing with you for OP. Your quote supported my perspective.
It can be cost effective if you go every other year because you can bank or borrow into the year of the big vacation, which also would mean needing a smaller contract (since you could effectively double or triple it for the big vacation).
But if you donāt intend to go regularly, yes, it very well may not make sense.
We bought AKL when it opened in 2006. I am SO glad we did. The resale price now is what we paid then ($105/pt), so I have seen the value. AKL is magical: I have been able to not just run all my runDisney races but could invite my sisters and their kids to stay in 2-bedrooms so the cousins could have time together. Since we all live all over the place, and the ages range from 29 to 7, that has been priceless.
We just bought WL/CC last year because I wanted a third contract and DD loves it there (we used to have our special dinner at Artistās Point before it became the character meal) so that I could leave/deed a contract to each of my 3 kids (we have 2 AKL contracts). So I didnāt buy it resale because I want DD to have the membership benefits. I havenāt even stayed there on those points yet because of the COVID Crazy, but Iām going in a couple of weeks ā I cannot wait. And I have an 8 day stay booked in December in a 1-bedroom to be there for the Christmas joy and beauty.
And of course, Iām hoping some day I will be hosting grandchildren 
But just because it worked for me does not mean it would work for everyone. Just sharing to help your thinking.
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Well, I was already convinced and now Iām more so Iām a runner but havenāt done runDisney yet because we were a 16 hours drive away, 7 is so more manageable and the races look awesome.
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Late to the party, as usual!
Best things:
Being able to stay in the Disney bubble but have the facilities of a condo - full kitchen, washer/dryer, living space and a separate room from our (now adult but then teen) boys.
No one has to be a chauffeur and everyone has the choice of how long to stay in the parks A before going back to the resort to chill / swim / resort hop.
Pre-paid accommodation costs for a long onsite stay (10-21 days)
Worst things
Not having enough points.
Annual dues - itās a PITA not being able to pay these monthly as international owners, without jumping through hoops. Which means one big payment just after Christmas! 
Wishing we could go more often!
I donāt regret buying in. But since we can only go every three years (actually this year would have been 4 and now looking at 5), it does mean it will take longer to ābreak evenā. DH and I might find we end up selling after only just reached that point, especially with the current uncertainty around international travel. Pre-Covid it was nice knowing if we did sell we would get back our entire outlay, including financing and dues. Now we might not, but thatās OK with us. This was not why we bought in.
Must say being able to rent out our points for this year and next when we couldnāt come is nice, it means the annual dues are covered with some left over to put towards other things (like last yearās impromptu Washington DC trip).
We did buy direct, and benefitted from the Tables in Wonderland card (often available to all owners anyway), shopping and tour discounts. The Gold AP isnāt something that helps us, and the chances of our visits coinciding with Moonlight Magic are slim.
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I am not a DVC owner, but I have at multiple times played with the idea. So, I can only tell you why we ultimately decided against.
Ultimately, it comes down to cost. After factoring in initial outlay, plus annual dues, I found that we would have to own this for about 30 years before we broke even.
Thing is, for just the cost of the annual dues we can rent a house with nicer accomodations. For a little bit more, we can have much nicer. Which means the initial outlay is extraordinarily expensive which becomes very difficult to justify. Even if we stayed on property some times (like this year) it doesnāt help much.
So, despite my excitement at the idea, reality sets in and I realize once again this is just another timeshare with all the pains that entails.
Nowā¦I will say that we almost never actually stay on property. Againā¦due to cost, and that we can get more for less elsewhere. But if you are the type that just really has to stay on property, or you have to fly instead of drive, then it becomes more worth it. It will still take years to break evenā¦but there is the appeal of knowing you have a Disney trip at your fingertips each year!
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Question: remind me the borrow/bank rules. Can you borrow 100% of your next year points and bank 100% of your prior year points to triple your purchasing power? Or is it limited to a certain percentage?
So if for example I wanted 300 points every three years, could I buy 100? And if I was just short, how could I make up the difference? Could I pay the difference to Disney or would I have to rent from someone?
Youāve got the banking/borrowing rules right. Right now, you can only borrow up to 50% of your next year points because of COVID rules (I do not understand the why of the rule, maybe because there is such a huge overhang of 2019 and 2020 points that need to be prioritized?), but normally, yes exactly.
On banking, you have to plan ahead and think it through, because you have to bank 4 months before the end of your use year. So, for example, I have March use year, and if I want to bank any of my 2020 points I have to do so by October 31 for them to be available to use in the 2021 Use Year.
You can buy one-time points from DVC ā I forget how many (Iāll go look and report back). But they cannot be banked or saved.
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In normal times, yes. Currently members are restricted from borrowing more than 50% of their points from the future. #thanksCovid
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What are one-time-use Vacation Points, and how do I use them?
A.
As a Disney Vacation Club Member, occasionally you may find yourself in need of just few extra Vacation Points in order to book that perfect dream vacation. You can bank, borrow and transfer from another Contract. Or take advantage of another option: one-time-use Vacation Points.
You have the option to purchase up to 24 additional Vacation Points each Use Year. One-time-use points may be used for Disney Vacation Club accommodations in the 7-month booking window. One-time-use points may not be used for Home Resort Priority. A Member may purchase one-time-use Vacation Points for Disney Collection and World Collection reservations, provided the booking window for that trip is open (for example, Disney Cruise Line reservations may be open up to 2 years in advance). One-time-use Vacation Points may not be purchased for Concierge Collection reservations.
The purchase just needs to occur at the time youāre making the reservation that requires them.
- Rates are subject to change, but currently Members enjoy a rate of $19 per one-time-use Vacation Point including taxes. Thatās $16.89 per one-time-use Vacation Point plus $1.89 tax (6.5%) plus $1.01 resort tax (6%).
- You wonāt be able to cancel or refund your purchase of one-time use Vacation Points, nor will you be able to transfer, bank, or borrow them.
- In the event that your trip does not unfold as planned and your reservation must be canceled, be aware that one-time-use Vacation Points expire at the end of your Use Year.
Availability of one-time-use Vacation Points may be limited or suspended from time to time, and the fee is subject to change.
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@Jeff_AZ took care of the 1 time use from Disney piece. You could, as you suggest, also rent from someone, but there is a downside in that it would have to be a seperate reservation, so you would have to change rooms. Additionally you can have someone transfer you points. Once transferred you could use these points to book on your own.
A conversation in chat today highlighted that Disney says you cannot get money for transferring points. But many of the rental sites often have transfer listings so who knows?
I would not buy just enough points to go every 3 years because you lose a lot of flexibility and it feels risky to me. I did however buy enough to go every 2 years. If we wait longer I can use the points to size up or stay extra nights.
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My conundrum is that I would only go to WDW every three years at the most since itās so far away from us. But we go to Disneyland every year so I could get points at GCH but they are SO expensive. And once I had those maybe Iād save them up to use at WDW? But meh probably not cause Iād use them every year, so Iād actually need to get points for both coasts!
So maybe I just keep paying cash and have the flexibility to go either place and get cheaper rooms sometimes and only splurge if i have extra income.
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The rules are that you cannot be paid for transfers of points. People do of course. It just means that DVC will not get involved in any dispute at all, and if the CM doing the transfer hears anything to do with payment they often refuse to action the transfer.
It is more risky all round, because itās a final process. The owner cannot get them back, so tend to expect full payment up front. Or a three way call to MS.
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