This makes sense to me! For my first DVC stay, I managed to get 4 days at the VGC, but I hear this is a rare occurrence, and probably only happened because of the current situation.
I was thinking the biggest downside of only having enough points to use your DVC every 3rd year is that you are locked into that specific year for going to WDW, or else you lose those banked points. Thinking it through, you could rent those points. But it still leaves you without the flexibility I would prefer.
It sounds like you are best off with the flexibility. There are such good deals around DLR, even if they are not as nice as a Disney Resort. BTW, you know they are building new DVC at the Disneyland Hotel? Who knows what the opening price will be!
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Iāve been keeping my eyes peeled for news on that ā¦ I donāt know what price Iād jump on it. I should probably do some more research so I donāt wind up in an impulse buy situation! 
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Positives:
Location
Transportation
Location
Disney World
Negatives:
No guarantee on āextras/perksā THese you seem to lose every year versus getting new ones
(i.e. meal plan discount)
Fees for maintenance - this year there wasnāt a discount though the resorts are open for DVC points
The bank system is goofy (just my opinion)
The home resorts are sometimes hard to get even at 11 months. (first time in Polynesian since purchase was this August)
Booking outside of DVC resorts is not really value just better than losing them.
Buying them is addicting (yes despite my gripes it is)
I have lost all communication to my agent who sold me my first 75 (Polynesian) and second 75 (Cooper Creek) points. For us our new goal for the perfect amount of point is 200.
The handling of the Shutdown/ COVID thing cost us 75 points after being told to hold off on doing anything until things are clarified.
My recommendation is not to get into the whole DVC deal. It really isnāt a money saver. Discounts on purchases are available in other ways in Disney. You will never get your money back. It is the enjoyment only that you are investing in.
One last problem with Disney so far is that Disney is building up its resorts to a rumored 30. That increases the wait times forever on rides with lines. Disney is the master of making waiting seem like an adventure (except a few really really boring waits like Naviriver and MIckey Trainride (35 minutes in the August heat yuck)
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We purchased our first contract resale 9 years ago. We could actually sell that contract for twice what we paid and have had 5 great vacations on it. We loved AKL, so we added on a small resale contract that we only use for AKL. We have been able to get the value rooms at AKL but they usually book up within 5 mins of the first day of the 11 month window. So we donāt count on them but have been quite successful in getting them. With DVC the studio rooms Book up first, then the 2 bedrooms. The 1 bedrooms are the last to fill up. So if you are looking at studios at the 6 month mark it can More Difficult to get some of the preferred resorts. However if you are looking to get 1 bedrooms you will have the most availability of any of the resorts. December is a low point season and rooms seem to book up the fastest then. Just because it is a slow season for the parks does not mean it is a slow season for DVC. We do not regret our purchase. We would have been going to Disney anyway but now we donāt pay full price for their nicest hotels. Sure we could find cheaper hotels down the road from Disney but I love staying in the Disney bubble. FYI. DVC reservations do not have to pay for parking at the resort. Hotel
Guests pay for parking each night. So that also saves you a little more money.
Itās not for everyone but itās worked great for us.
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Wow, did there used to be deals on the dining plan??
I looked back to 2010 and I canāt find any. TiW has been presented. at times.plus the DVC 10% discount as the only options?
Ok, makes me feel better for my only recent resale purchase. And Iāve gotten the 10% off discount every single time with only a digital white card.
You could buy TiW if you want too?
Yes! I can. It just hasnāt yet made sense with one of my kids still being free at buffets and one paying kids price. I was looking forward to doing the dining plan for the first time on this coming trip because it was a split stay, but alas I think weāll just settle for the inexpensive Chef Mickeyās.
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There used to be special offers by the time we joined we were told they dropped them but āmight be back who knowsā
Hi! Iām still looking into this and have a question. Iām looking at a small contract at SSR to dip my toe in the water. It has 50 points from August 2019 banked forward to 2020. When will these points expire? just making sure I fully understand everything before going forward.
They will expire July 31, 2021. That means your stay needs to be completed by then. If you want it, grab it fast! Those small contracts go fast!
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Itās priced high at $135pp (I think) and itās full price only so itās been out there for 12 days. Iām keeping my eyes open though for one though.
You can contact the company and tell them you are interested if it drops (edited after I re-read). Keep in mind that low point, loaded contracts are generally higher priced.
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If thereās banked points on a contract I tend to try and subtract $10-15pp from the list price seeing as you could theoretically rent them out. In which case I agree with you that $120-$135 seems VERY high for a Saratoga Springs contract, even at 50 points.
Yes, direct is $165. I donāt think that savings is enough.
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and we love AKL and thatās where id prefer to be so Iām going to pass on this.
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