Just got back from a quick trip and my husband finally said those dream words: what’s DVC?
Anyway, he is intrigued and officially doing research. We won’t pull the trigger very soon (we are researchers), but I would love to know what you all used for research outside of this forum.
I’ve started listening to the DVC Show from the guys at the Dis. I’ve also looked over mouse savers and some of what they have. Other blogs, resources, etc?
If there is any particular info or questions to consider that you’d personally like to share, I’m ready to take it in.
-direct or resale – and a strong argument can be made right now for direct
resort – one can debate this one: buy where you want to stay v buy the most economical contract IMO totally personal. And who knows, you might buy something you thought you’d never use (I own OKW, bought sight unseen!) and it’s one of our faves now.
number of points – after you hone in on the resort, look at the charts. Pick the highest/most expensive season, the number of nights you’d stay, and the room you think you’ll use most … and then buy enough points to cover that stay IN THE NEXT BIGGEST ROOM. Because if your preferred room size isn’t available, you’re probably NOT going to get the next smaller room; you might adjust your dates, but you might not be able to.
Use Year – aim for a contract use year that is as close to your usual travel dates without going over (think The Price Is Right). If you think you’ll usually travel in November, in other words, aim for an October Use Year. This will ensure you have the points to travel by your November dates, but should you need to cancel you’ll have 10 months to use those points before they expire, and you’ll still be ahead of your banking window provided you cancel more than 30 days in advance of check-in
know that addonitis is real. Face that fact now. Admit you have a problem before you even do. There’s no escaping it
As a local, you’d have been best off to go most economical without question because I’m betting you almost never (if ever) use the 11 month advantage. Which is really the only reason to buy at any one particular resort, really.
You are correct… in part. We do use our 11 months out for Aulani which is where my DH insisted on buying, but we also grab single nights here and here locally too. As many trips as we have made to WDW over the years DVC was the right choice but I wish I had considered dues etc. when buying a contract… oh well… live and learn
DVC really was the best decision we’ve made when it comes to our family vacations. In addition to the DVC Fan youtube & facebook group, I also like these two channels:
It’s so exciting to be starting this journey into DVC ownership. There are lots of possibilities.
Remember that while it’s not guaranteed you will save money using DVC, if you are already planning to go to WDW at least once every couple of years and prefer to stay at least Moderate if not Deluxe, DVC can result in significant savings.
That said, here is some of my advice:
Look at it from whichever perspective makes you feel best about it. There is no right answer, no objective truth. If you feel better owning DVC at a particular resort with a particular number of points, go for it. Whether buying direct makes you feel more secure in your contract, or if buying resale makes you feel like you’ve won the lottery – you do you.
I recommend reading through the DVC category and finding other people who were considering buying DVC and reading all the advice they were given.
Personally, I bought the resort that had the lowest lifetime dollars spent to lifetime points ratio: ((current dues x # of years remaining) + purchase price) / (contract points x # of years remaining). This calculation will vary based on the relative market prices, but for me it ended up being SSR.
Definitely get more points than you think you’ll need. “Top up” as the Brits say.
One thing I’m starting to figure out is that points are more valuable now than later, because you don’t know what will change in the future. If you’re going to WDW, stay on points whenever possible. Don’t save them up. Just buy more points if you need more.
When you are researching make sure you research how Riviera is “different”. If you decide to buy resale, Riviera would not give you the same booking rights that the other resorts do. If you buy Riviera direct, if you decide to sell- at some point restrictions may impact that sale price (no one really knows). Finally, if you buy resale, at any resort (other than Riviera) you will not be able to book Riviera.
I am a researcher also - took me almost 12 years to finally make the decsion. Mouseowners.com was and still is my go to for all things DVC info.
we own both direct and resale- but rules have changed since we bought in…
Take your time figure out exactly what you want and than what you need Figure out what your minimums are and start there…because as @OBNurseNH points out addonittis is real.
Keep in mind its still just a timeshare and all the same things you hear about timeshares apply to DVC as well. Ever increasing maintance fees, changing rules, difficulty obtaining reservations ect all apply
so with the last round of point chart changes I can no longer stay in a 2 bdr any month but September which absolutely sucks with my UY as it makes my reservation use-em or lose-em.
So I can either add-on to get back usage or stay less nights-
That said we opted to stay less nights on property
We have stayed twice in 2br. We are in 1br this trip and I’m a little sad. It’s terrible getting spoiled.
We have 300 and could do 2br if we didn’t want to split stay with other resorts (all of which are more expensive I think). DD wanted AKL-K for part of our stay and it’s her graduation trip so that’s what we’re doing. 1br it is!
We bought in because of the 2brd at OKW specifically- so that chart change hurt us big time-
My boys were over 6ft before they were able to drive lol so honestly we don’t really fit anywhere else comfortably lol although we squished at Aulani in a 1bd cause it was AULANI
We have been using our points for long weekends when the kids were in college but now that kids are out of school and into the real world I plan to bank so at least EOY big trips and supplement with our other timeshares on the others…
I find their first ones by far the most helpful - combined with other sources (like those people have listed)
As a resale owner, I agree with this. Particulalry if yoy nught be interested in resorts built in the future. In may case direct costs would have put DVC out of reach, but now I would like some dorect points.
For me this depends on when you travel. If you are traveling in high demand times - spring break, Christmas or the first weeks of December, I would say buy where you most want to stay. If you travel in Septemeber or will always book within 7 months, buy economical. (My experience is only recent, with the glut of points still in the system).
One comment for use year, later use years take a little while to wrap your head around, I have Sept and don’t get me use year points until late in the year. December refills at the very end of the year - it is a just a mental thing to get used to, it doen’t actually impact anything.
So far my math has the real cost of my trips to equal what a moderate resort would have cost me, but I stay deluxe.
This is the calculation I used. It kept me from buying BWV, which I love. My DD and DH wanted AKL hands down, and it was also coming up strongly on this list. Sonwe went with AKL
I also stayed away fro 2042 contracts in case I want to sell the contract - I figured they would be significantlt losing value at the point I would want to sell. For some poeple none of this matters because they just really love a particular resort and know they will never sell.
I have 120, but we are a family of 3 and can stay in studios. But I joined in 2020 and have already bought 60 transfer points and 19 one time use points, and have a stay in July where I am paying OOP. So, we need more points!
I am saving up to get 60-80 at the new Poly resort. Hoping it will be a part of the same condo association.
DH got 350 so we could stay a full week at Aulani, we can stay in a 1bd for a week, standard view for less than the 350. We are going again in Sept, 8 nights, w/ DD’s family and have a 2 bdrm for 472 pts. (poolside garden view) we’ve waited listed for standard view of 376 pts. When we bought the contract, we started w/ 700 points.
