Finally!!!

[Keeprskeeper]

After 4 years of gentle (OK sometimes not so gentle) proding, my DH has come to the conclusion that the DVC would be a good investment for us.

When we are there this February we are going to become members of the DVC. I do have some questions though......

Is it true with MAGICAL BEGININGS that if we buy while we are staying on property that they will apply the hotel cost to our purchase for part of the down payment???? (I understand that I would have to forfeit my points for the first year.....but due to other commitments we probably won't be able to return to WDW until the later part of 2005 anyway....)

I also saw on the DVC website that they are offering a $750 incentive.....

Is there any minimum number of additional points that have to be purchased at a time.....If we purchase 200 points in Feb... How many additional points do we need to purchase at a time???

I'm still in the state of shock I still can't believe that he has finally agreed to it. In fact he actually believes that it was his idea.

But I want to have all the facts before so I know what to expect...

Thanks
Barbara

[dcfromva]

Barbara,
Congratulations!! This is very exciting!

I don't know the answers to all your questions, but your guide will for sure .

Is it true with MAGICAL BEGININGS that if we buy while we are staying on property that they will apply the hotel cost to our purchase for part of the down payment???? (I understand that I would have to forfeit my points for the first year.....but due to other commitments we probably won't be able to return to WDW until the later part of 2005 anyway....)

This was an old promotion, I don't know they still offer it.

I also saw on the DVC website that they are offering a $750 incentive.....

The regular price for Saratoga Springs is $89.00 per point. Currently, they are offering a $5.00 per point discount and you get to keep your first year's allotment of points. The incentive would be larger in your case with 200 points (200 X 5) = $1,000!

With SSR right now, you can lock in the price and your dues/interest (if you are financing) don't start until April or May (depending on which unit your are in).

On the downside, you can't use your points until your unit is open (May for bldg #1 and June for bldg #2). I was thinking it was too bad about that because under normal circumstances, if you bought right away, you could use actually your points towards your vacation, but it won't work for a Feb trip.

Is there any minimum number of additional points that have to be purchased at a time.....If we purchase 200 points in Feb... How many additional points do we need to purchase at a time???

The minimum add of for cash is 25 points.
The minimum add on to finance is 50 points.
The minimum add on to take advantage of incentives is 100 points.
The minimum add on to get another Use Year and/or different resort is 150 points.

And speaking of Use Years, have you thought much about which UY you would like to have? Sometimes, folks buy into the program (folks like me ) without really understanding which UY is really best for them. I would be happy to provide more details on figuring out the best UY, if you need more info.

-DC

[Keeprskeeper]

What are some things to consider when trying to consider which UY would be best for us...It never even crossed my mind....My DH thought that we should purchase now, prior to our vacation and use our points. Can that be done????

Any pointers you can give me would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

Thanks
Barbara

[dcfromva]

My DH thought that we should purchase now, prior to our vacation and use our points. Can that be done????

If your vacation was scheduled after May/Jun 2004, then yes you could. I am making an assumption that it is SSR that you will buying: these points can't be used 'til SSR actually open.

However, it wouldn't hurt to ask your guide about this. There was a thing being offered last fall--special "developer points". I didn't think they were a particularly good deal for me--especially since I didn't need to use the points 'til December of 2004. The developer points could only be used until the resort opened--another negative.

What are some things to consider when trying to consider which UY would be best for us...It never even crossed my mind....

Do you have a time that you most often go to WDW? UY doesn't often matter, unless you have to cancel a trip.
Here's my example: We first bought BCV points with a Feb UY. We like to go during NYE. On NYE, the point values are at their highest. We also like to invite extended family along. So, we could get into a situation where we banked and borrowed all our BCV points in order to go to WDW on NYE. If someone had to cancel for some reason say in Nov (prior to the 30 day window), the most we could bank would be 25% of the current years points. If someone had to cancel within 30 days prior to our vacation, all the points would go into holding (3 years worth ) and we would have until Jan 31th to use those points!
On the other hand, if we had an Oct or Dec UY for a NYE stay, and there was a cancelation prior to the 30 day window, we could still bank 100% of the current year points and we would have until Sept30 (for Oct UY) and Nov 30 (for Dec UY) to use the previously banked/borrowed points.
Cancelations within the 30 window would not allow us to bank any points, but again we would have almost a whole year to reschedule the trip.
I think most members don't change their plans very much. But, I am a worrier. It makes me feel better to know I have a safety net to catch me.
-DC

[Keeprskeeper]

For now we vacation in Feb. But since DS is entering High School next year I'm not sure when we'll vacation........But since because of medical reasons I can't handle the heat, I'm sure we won't be there June, July, August, or September. We'll probably continue with February and just keep it to the week of school break.

What would be a good UY for us??


Thanks
Barbara

[dcfromva]

Keeprskeeper,

What would be a good UY for us??

Hmmm. This is going to sound strange, but if you are sure you will never go in the summer, then maybe an October or December UY would work out for you. The tricky thing is your DS is just entering HS, but that will only be 4 years. You will have this membership for 50 years!

For October UY , your banking deadlines are as follows:

100% March 31st, 50% June 30th, 25% July 31st.

(Any exchanges outside DVC would have to be booked prior to August 1st, though)

This would also give you some flexilbilty for Fall visits (October is a really lovely time to visit). Do you all get any time off the first part of November like the folks in New Jersey? This is another great time to go.

Or, December UY , your banking deadlines are as follows:

100% May 31st, 50% August 31, 25% Sept 30th (and any exchanges would have to be booked prior to October 1st).

If you think that you might do some exchanges (with the travel occurring in the summertime) and it would be unlikely that you would have most of your vacations scheduled in OCT or NOV, then maybe Dec might be a good UY for you.

I specifically asked for Dec2003 UY when we bought our SSR points. One reason was these points are meant to cover our December visits, but also because the Dec 2003 UY is the only UY which will receive 51 sets of points (all the others receive 50 sets).
I had heard that the Dec UY was sold out, but my guide didn't even bat an eye when I asked for it when we bought back in October.
If you did get a Dec 2003 UY, you would have to be careful and bank the points by May 31st 2004, if you didn't have any trips planned prior to Nov 30th 2004. (You would have to use these banked points by Nov 2005... or you could rent these points and use the proceeds to cover your Feb 2004 visit--though this option does come with the DVC owner taking some risks.)

I know this is a lot of info coming your way, I hope I didn't make it more confusing..
-DC

[djgiffordrn]

If you want to get to use the points for this February...what you can do is call them and ask if there are ANY points available for purchase from another home resort...when we were there last July...they weren't telling people that there were points available at the Boardwalk, but there were woohoo...as this is where we wanted. I just jokingly said to our guide...geeee I really love the Boardwalk...too bad we couldn't buy into here....and there ya go we bought in.

These points become available when Disney buys points back on the ROFR rule...

Good luck...I can't wait to go home in April!

[Keeprskeeper]

We inquired about using our points but because of our length of stay we were told that there wasn't any availability in any of the Vacation Club Villas. (President's week is busy). But just as well our vacation had been paid for in full. The credit went towards our down payment.

We are actually thinking about HHI for Thanksgiving.......Has anybody out there been??? How is it in November??

[ebud32]

Good for you . We became members in 2002 BCV they are just great. Thet are so close to everything.