DVC Strategy - a challenge to DVC experts!

[Figment78]

Hey guys... I'm just wondering what you think the best strategy would be for purchasing points (how many and where) if these are your vacation preferences:

• xmas trips when the kids are young (early december)- WL (not villas), AKL
• spring / summer trips - GF, Poly, BC, BW
• fall trips - BC, BW
• xmas trips with older kids (during the holiday season)- BC/BW, WL
• Interested in trying sometime - SSR, Disney Cruise, Vero Beach (if we like it, it could become
  a summer vacation staple!)

(Also, I should mention our plan to avoid our kids going on a typical college spring break is to provide a really cool alternative - like Europe or something. Doesn't have to be using our points. Otherwise, the only out of country trips we ever plan to take is a Mediterranean Cruise for a special anniversary sometime.)

So - what would you do? How many points would you buy and where? Say, if you were going to buy between 200 - 400 points, where would you buy them to be able to stay the places mentioned above? Would you put all your points in one difficult to reserve place, like BCV, or would you spread them out?

[Ian]

I'd probably split, 200 points each at Beach Club and AKL.

[Cheloconnell]

I would check some point charts for each of the places you mentioned for the times you are thinking and the size villa. That way you can figure out exactly what you need in points. Since it is more and more difficult to get exactly what you want if it is not your home resort, I definitely recommend splitting your points up at least into two. We bought a resale for 230 points for OKW, but discovered it is very difficult to get into AKV savannah view unless you own there. We just bought an additional 50 point resale to be able to stay there a few nights in the fall or bank the points to make 100 every other year and stay there longer or in larger accomodations. Good luck in whatever you decide. We are using it for the first time in February and are very excited!!

[DizneyRox]

First off, using your points at non DVC resorts is:

a. Not good use of points.
b. Tough to judge plan for because the number of points necessary CAN and WILL go up over time.

So, if those are important, I would really take those out of the equation and put in a "placeholder" of an every other year using DVC and odd years paying cash.

The problem with this then is that DVC becomes less of a value if you don't go every year. The good news is you can somewhat mitigate this by getting 1/2 the points.

The biggest problem you are going to find is the holiday time at a DVC property. You'll need to make that at the 11 month mark at your home resort. So, if you really want BC/BW, then that's where your points should be.

Personally, I don't think you'll have any trouble staying elsewhere at your times (especially SSR) if you are patient, although the early December trips might be a problem at times.

So, I'm guessing that a 1BR is up your alley. That's about 350 points, cut that in 1/2 and you are looking at 175. Add a little just in case and a 200 point contract would't be horrible. If you wanted to be picky, maybe 213, which would give you the option of adding a weekend day to the trip in case you needed to due to flights, etc. You may be able to get away with borrowing/banking to make that up at times, but with a 1/2 contract it gets tougher to rely on that fluff.

The whole problem with this is, BC or BW expire in 2042, which doens't give you a ton of time to enjoy it. Not sure where you are in the family stage. This will certainly get the kids through college, but maybe not a lot after that.

Now, if location isn't important, you can certainly buy at AKLV or even SSR (you can get these for a song) which will get you out to 2057, and WKLV will get you some of your location preferences.

But, I'll remind you, DVC's value is really in a every year vacation, and the best value is to stay at DVC resorts (in the villas). Using points for a cruise, etc will surely blow the value out the door. Also, my above mentioned 213 point contract really won't get you much in terms of a cruise or Disney Collection stay in your preferences. As an example, in Regular Season 2009, a "cheap" Grand Floridian room will cost you 416 points. It was 405 in 2008, so you can see it DOES go up.

Hope that helps shed some light on things...

[Maleficent's Dad]

As DizneyRox mentioned above, using DVC points at non-DVC Disney resorts usually is not a good deal for the member.

The thing is, places like the BCV & BWV are extremely popular and will grow in popularity as DVC continues their expansion. So if staying at those locations is important to you in the future, you should try to own some points there.

As pointed out by Cheloconnell above, your best bet is to look at some point charts to get an idea of what you might need to buy. Not only do points vary by size of accomodations and when you go, but also where you stay.

Click here for the Timeshare Store's website (an Intercot Sponsor) - they have point charts available for each property.

Good luck with your decision!

[DizneyRox]

OH yeah, my point stay are PER WEEK, not per night. I neglected to include that.

[hlkeck]

My recommendation is buying BCV and NOT splitting with AKL. AKL has been relatively easy to get into and even though I had to get waitlisted for a savannah view because I only booked at 6 months out, it came through within a few weeks. There are restrictions if you split your points - you could book 11 mos out at BCV, but you could only use your number of BCV points, so if you wanted to use both points on something bigger - then you'd have to wait until the 7 month time frame anyway...Given the times you want to go and how difficult it is to book BCV - and if you don't mind the shorter contract - that's my recommendation.

[lockedoutlogic]

Based on your preferences.....

I wouldn't go near DVC.....

All of your preferences are either A. A really bad use of points B. Nearly impossible times get reservations at the selected locations....possibly even if you are at the home C. Both (the most common denominator


IF you had to buy....splitting between WL and BC/BWV is your only chance to even come close to getting those preferences....and you'll probably need 300 or so points...at least....depending on how much of those occasions you want....

WL at Christmas?
BC at Food and Wine Festival?

That's kinda like my wish to find a copy of the Magna Carta in my basement hidden under some rocks.....

those are probably the single hardest places to get on the DVC calender for those times....

and as others have stated....it might get that much worse....

picking those two as homes is your only option from here on out...

[Tinkermom]

I am confused. Most of your preferences are NOT at DVC properties or am I reading your post incorrectly??? DVC points for NON-DVC resorts are VERY high on a per night basis and NOT a good use of your points. You would not get much use out of your points if you use them outside of the DVC resorts.

We have stayed at non-DVC resorts only twice in the 8 years we have owned. Once was for our 15th wedding anniversary at the Poly concierge and the other was also at the Poly for 2 nights as an add on to a DVC stay. We considered both of these a splurge. Typically you can stay 2 in a DVC studio for the same amount of points as 1 night in a non-DVC resort.

All of the DVC resorts are beautiful and we feel spoiled having a kitchen and all of the extra room. We really have no desire to stay in a "regular" hotel room anymore. We own at both SSR and Vero and have never had a problem getting a ressie. We are flexible though and like staying at a different resort each time so "buy where you want to stay" does not apply to us.

Good luck with your decision!

[Brownie54]

Lockedoutlogic stated: "B. Nearly impossible times get reservations at the selected locations....possibly even if you are at the home ". Is this true? I asumed if you made a reservation at exactly the eleven month window at your home base, you could get in no matter what time of the year.

[DizneyRox]

Lockedoutlogic stated: "B. Nearly impossible times get reservations at the selected locations....possibly even if you are at the home ". Is this true? I asumed if you made a reservation at exactly the eleven month window at your home base, you could get in no matter what time of the year.

True... If the number of people who want to stay at the holidays exceeds the number of DVC rooms available even those owning at he resort CAN have trouble booking rooms. 11 months is for the date, it has nothing to do with use year or anything else that would give anyone priority over anyone else.

It's 11 months from check out (which recently changedto check in I think) so unless you called every day and made one day reservations, it culd be hard. Going by check in doesn't make it any easier, I might say it's harder actually. But there are some creative ways to game the system.

[Tinkermom]

True... If the number of people who want to stay at the holidays exceeds the number of DVC rooms available even those owning at he resort CAN have trouble booking rooms. 11 months is for the date, it has nothing to do with use year or anything else that would give anyone priority over anyone else.

It's 11 months from check out (which recently changedto check in I think) so unless you called every day and made one day reservations, it culd be hard. Going by check in doesn't make it any easier, I might say it's harder actually. But there are some creative ways to game the system.

Ok, while it might be difficult I would NOT call it "nearly impossible" to get in at popular times (i.e. December). It would depend on your home resort as some are smaller than others. We had NO problem getting in at SSR for 12/18-12/23 this past year and I missed my 11 month window and called at 9 1/2 months out. Not only that but we wanted to add on 3 nights (which would have been 12/23 - 12/26) once we got to WDW so I called 2 DAYS OUT and rooms were available at both OKW AND SSR!!!! We ended up not extending our stay as we could not get flights to work out.

WLV tends to be a very popular resort at Christmastime and is smaller than say SSR so could be difficult even at 11 months out. There is always the wait-list as well as trying at 7 months out as long as you are willing to stay where there is an opening.

Just wanted to add a positive take on this. It seems that most of the folks who "have trouble" getting ressies or cannot get ressies are trying to stay at one particular resort. We love ALL of the DVC resorts so whereever we can get in is just fine with us!

[DISNEYFIX]

My recommendation is buying BCV and NOT splitting with AKL. AKL has been relatively easy to get into and even though I had to get waitlisted for a savannah view because I only booked at 6 months out, it came through within a few weeks. There are restrictions if you split your points - you could book 11 mos out at BCV, but you could only use your number of BCV points, so if you wanted to use both points on something bigger - then you'd have to wait until the 7 month time frame anyway...Given the times you want to go and how difficult it is to book BCV - and if you don't mind the shorter contract - that's my recommendation.

Above is a realistic explanation.
Lear all you can before you buy into DVC.
Buy where you want to sray is the rule to live by.

[DizneyRox]

Ok, while it might be difficult I would NOT call it "nearly impossible" to get in at popular times (i.e. December). It would depend on your home resort as some are smaller than others. We had NO problem getting in at SSR for 12/18-12/23 this past year and I missed my 11 month window and called at 9 1/2 months out. Not only that but we wanted to add on 3 nights (which would have been 12/23 - 12/26) once we got to WDW so I called 2 DAYS OUT and rooms were available at both OKW AND SSR!!!! We ended up not extending our stay as we could not get flights to work out.

WLV tends to be a very popular resort at Christmastime and is smaller than say SSR so could be difficult even at 11 months out. There is always the wait-list as well as trying at 7 months out as long as you are willing to stay where there is an opening.

Just wanted to add a positive take on this. It seems that most of the folks who "have trouble" getting ressies or cannot get ressies are trying to stay at one particular resort. We love ALL of the DVC resorts so whereever we can get in is just fine with us!

The portion that wasn't quoted was "Based on your preferences". Unfortunately, you are in a "weird" situation in that SSR is different. I would guess you can get rooms at SSR at 7 months any time of the year, probably even up to a few weeks before arrival many times the OP wanted to go.

The resorts they are looking for, WL, BC, and BW Villas, etc are nearly impossible to get into at less than 7 months, regardless of the time of year, let alone peak DVC usage times.

Wait until the waitlist restrictions start hitting and you (not YOU, but collectively US) need to guess which resort is going to have an opening that meets your desires.

[DVC Mike]

Lockedoutlogic stated: "B. Nearly impossible times get reservations at the selected locations....possibly even if you are at the home ". Is this true? I asumed if you made a reservation at exactly the eleven month window at your home base, you could get in no matter what time of the year.

I call exactly 11 months out, and I've always gotten my reservation -- always.

[lockedoutlogic]

I call exactly 11 months out, and I've always gotten my reservation -- always.

Just a suppositon....again - not a fact....just an educated guess -

but if the windows tighten (as they appear almost certainly to do), then the 7 month window will most likely all but disappear except in the most dead of booking times. If that happens, then I believe a new culture of booking will exist - one where people become institutionalized into simply booking at 11 months into their "home". Which of course is contrary to the very concept of DVC in the first place -IMHO.

So say that happens - a very reasonable assumption as DVC continues to peddle WDW contracts. Then would not the numbers continue to increase even at the 11 month window when it comes to demand?

And are the two periods in queston (WL at Christmastime and BC/BW during Food and Wine) not the most in demand blocks on the Calender? They are at this juncture....

Already there are alot of comments from even home members about having difficulty in the home resort range for BW and BC during the Food and Wine window....

IS is possible that it will get worse?

Besides....if you think that booking at your "home" 11 months out is reasonable (again....kinda contrary to the general premise and at a place we've all been to dozens of times at this point and certainly don't need 11 months notice at...)

then more power to you

[Ian]

Lockedoutlogic stated: "B. Nearly impossible times get reservations at the selected locations....possibly even if you are at the home ". Is this true? I asumed if you made a reservation at exactly the eleven month window at your home base, you could get in no matter what time of the year.

I'm fairly certain that if you call right at the 11 month window you'll get in at your home resort every time. The only exception might be room size ... like you may not be able to get a 2BR or a Grand Villa, because those are kind of limited.

We called yesterday and booked for Christmas week and had no problem getting what we wanted.

[TinkerbellT421]

All I know is DBF and I own at SSR. We made reservations @ SSR at 11 month window. Then 7 month window came up and we got our reservation at BWV. However it wasnt a "Boardwalk" view...But we were able to get a PREFERED view at the 7 month window. And then a month later we got a briliant idea to add two nights to out stay.....We called and there was no problem at all. SO I too would not say its IMPOSSIBLE to get your reservations. But in any case. I noticed most of your points would be used at BWV and BC....Have you thought about buying into a resale? I know there is a resale site here on Intercot. Maybe your best bet would be to buy points into the resort you will frequent the most. But I think that is all personal prefernce. If I were you I think I agree with Ian. I think would split 200 points between the two home resorts. But if you are looking into buying at BCV you will have to buy that via resale anyway because you are unable to buy those points through DVC itself. The only resorts DVC is selling now is BLT, SSR is almost sold out...that is until they start selling the tree houses. But either way I think with 400 points at purchase I would split between BCV and AKL. OR I would dump all 400 in AKV..But that IMHO.

[lockedoutlogic]

I'm fairly certain that if you call right at the 11 month window you'll get in at your home resort every time. The only exception might be room size ... like you may not be able to get a 2BR or a Grand Villa, because those are kind of limited.

We called yesterday and booked for Christmas week and had no problem getting what we wanted.

time will tell....

[Ian]

Well bear in mind this was SSR. I don't expect there will ever be a time when I call to book SSR at 11 months and can't get what I want.

Obviously, not the same for the others.