How many points are enough.

[Ian]

But, my Dh would like to be at a total of 500!!

By the time we're ready to retire, we'd like to have about 1,000 points.

[mprewitt]

We're at 462 points and holding, waiting to see what the next DVC resort is going to be.

[True Disney Fan]

We first started with 350 pts.Oct.'1.We are now at 600pts.

They come in handy for several trips a year. Now that grandchildren are around, we have larger rooms.

Plan to add more for more fun.

[FiggyFan]

How many points are enough?

I once saw the results of a survey that asked "how much money is enough?" The survey found that for every income level, the most popular answer was "twice what I make now!"

That said, we started with 150 points, and now have 350 .

Do you mind me asking how many there are in your family ?

There are three of us (4 if you count BIL who comes with us). We frequently have family members visit for a few days while we are there, and get a studio for them. We have also started taking the occasional winter weekend - about every other year. We are also looking ahead to more frequent trips when we retire.

[Horizon93]

We are at 210 right now. That should be plenty for the two of us for a few years. We are definirely planning on adding more down the line. Maybe get to 350 or 400.

[pogo]

There are three of us (4 if you count BIL who comes with us). We frequently have family members visit for a few days while we are there, and get a studio for them. We have also started taking the occasional winter weekend - about every other year. We are also looking ahead to more frequent trips when we retire.

Thank you for sharing. I think we've made up our mind to join. Now we have to wait for the right time and deal.

We are at 210 right now. That should be plenty for the two of us for a few years. We are definirely planning on adding more down the line. Maybe get to 350 or 400.

Thanks Ed.... I think any more than 200 points may be overkill for us at this time. We are thinking resale with double points to start and we'll be patiently watching for the right deal to present itself.

[DonLefNY]

Curently we have 435 (in 3 contracts). Some years we have to borrow and some years we bank unused points, so I guess we are doing okay in the points department.

[CandleontheWater]

I agree with the previous posters who suggested not financing to get extra points. You can always add on in the future as your family grows or your vacation habits change. I am in a contract with my parents and we currently hold 390 points. Enough for DH and I to take a weekend or two and the whole family (all 7 of us) to do one larger trip a year. As Dh and I grow our family we plan on adding more points (hopefully at the Contemporary ) but for now we are content with what we have.

[pogo]

Curently we have 435 (in 3 contracts). Some years we have to borrow and some years we bank unused points, so I guess we are doing okay in the points department.

Thanks Don. I don't think we'd have time to use that many points every year, with just the two of us.

I agree with the previous posters who suggested not financing to get extra points. You can always add on in the future as your family grows or your vacation habits change. I am in a contract with my parents and we currently hold 390 points. Enough for DH and I to take a weekend or two and the whole family (all 7 of us) to do one larger trip a year. As Dh and I grow our family we plan on adding more points (hopefully at the Contemporary ) but for now we are content with what we have.

Thanks for your input. I hope my DW never surprise's me by saying our family is growing. I couldn't afford DVC and a college fund again. We just finished with paying for two.

[Tink65]

Please be gentle with me since this is my first post. We have 5 different contract with 520 points. We live only 6 hours and I try to get down as much as possible. I would love to have more points however DH says NO.

[Horizon93]

Welcome to Intercot Tink65! We are a gentle but enthusiastic bunch.

[pogo]

Please be gentle with me since this is my first post. We have 5 different contract with 520 points. We live only 6 hours and I try to get down as much as possible. I would love to have more points however DH says NO.

My DW and I live in Western NY and we will not get down to WDW as much as you.

We like to visit during the end of April, but we'd also like to attend the F&W Fest and also early December to see WDW all decked out for Christmas.

We think maybe buying resale is our best bet, starting out with some extra points. Starting small and buying more as we go. We are in no hurry at this time and we are gathering information from our Intercot family before we join up.

I am very impressed that you would make this your first post. Thank you so much. I hope you will continue to contribute to our knowledge base. You will love it here on Intercot.

[mprewitt]

Apparently I didn't have enough. Just did another small add-on of 30 more points at VWL yesterday. The points were immediately available from DVC.

I now have 492 points split among 4 resorts. Yippee!

[Horizon93]

Congrats on adding the points. So far we are OK, but I can see us needing some more at AKV in a couple of years.

[mprewitt]

Apparently I still didn't have enough points. Just did another small add-on of 30 more points at BWV today. The points were immediately available from DVC.

I am now the proud owner of 522 points (210 at AKV, 120 at VWL, 120 at BWV and 72 at BCV).

Again, yippee! I guess this means I will get to spend even more time at WDW!

[Horizon93]

Wow, that is a great choice of home resorts! Congratulations and welcome home home home and home.

[Tiggerish]

It's interesting to see how many other "couples only" there are in DVC!

We bought 220 points, reasoning that we wanted enough points to stay for a week at our home resort (OKW) in a 1BR during Magic season. We take two trips, one in May for our anniversary/F&G Fest, the other in the fall for F&W, and usually stay in a studio. We have sometimes done three trips by staying away from Saturday nights.

We feel we have just the right amount of points for us.

[DVC Mike]

I just called my guide this morning and added-on another 30 points at BCV.

I now have 582 points spread across four home resorts.

Does this qualify me as a "Disney freak"? My friends sure seem to think so!

[Tink&Goofy]

We have 260 points now, after just adding on at AKV. We started with 160 - with the idea of going every other year or banking and borrowing and going every third year, since we are coming from the west coast. Well, the first trip down blew that plan out of the water! We are a family of 5, and have stayed mostly in the 1 bedrooms (which they allow), but its kind of tight, and I can see needing a 2 bedroom in the near future.

One thing that was not mentioned is the size of the contracts. If you purchase thru Disney now, the minimum will be 160 - which may be what you are looking for, or may not. If you purchase resale, you could opt for a smaller point amount - maybe purchase a couple of small contracts at more than one resort - allowing you the 11 month advantage at more than one resort. When we added on at AKV, we added 100 points - but split it into 2 separate contracts. This was primarily so we could give these to the kids eventually, but it also allows flexibility in selling off part if we choose.
We would love to own more - but likely won't at this point - unless (until) they announce villas at DL. Then we would be first in line!

I would do a hypothetical year. Determine when you would go, where you would stay, and for how long. Then add up the points. Banking & borrowing makes it flexible too.

[dephenn]

I only have 150 points and manage to make that work with a family of four, but I try and stay Sun-Thurs., taking first flights out and last flights home. It basicly comes down to what you feel you can afford and how long and how much you want to vacation and when. Will you want to vacation with anyone else like children or grand children some day, I know we got cought up in all that and are now catching up with our points again, but its worth spreading the joys of disney, and would do it again. So I guess I would suggest start low, you can always build it up. Best of luck and welcome home. Be care with resales, I notice most people put there vacation up for resale after they have used all their points for the preasent year and borrowed most if not all their points for the following year there for canceiling any savings when you average them out over the length of the contract.