Almost ready to purchase...

GingerLee

Earning My Ears
Joined
Sep 9, 2018
Hi guys,

We are almost ready to purchase DVC and I have a few questions... Please note I am not new here - I have been on these boards since 2000 (luvthatdisney), but I cannot get into my old account - trying to get that figured out. We took a few years off Disney (after many years of yearly trips) due to many different things, but are ready to get back in the Disney mode. I am horribly homesick!!!

My DVC questions are:

1. We are now in our early 50's. Kids are grown - no grandkids yet, but our 2 kids love Disney and want to return. They can now help pay for expenses!! Is buying in at this age unheard of???

2. We have decided to buy 75 points direct at SSR (if possible) alternate resorts are OKW, BWV and BCV. We really like the Epcot area and the last resort we stayed at was BC. Is this even possible to buy direct? We will be utilizing the AP discount. We want to buy 50+ points resale as well.

3. Due to all of our jobs, we will be going home from late July - September most times. May take a Spring trip occasionally. Would a March, April, June UY be best for us?

Getting ready to call DVC in the next day or so to put in my request. Just want to make sure I am looking at this correctly!

Thanks!!
 
Hi guys,

We are almost ready to purchase DVC and I have a few questions... Please note I am not new here - I have been on these boards since 2000 (luvthatdisney), but I cannot get into my old account - trying to get that figured out. We took a few years off Disney (after many years of yearly trips) due to many different things, but are ready to get back in the Disney mode. I am horribly homesick!!!

My DVC questions are:

1. We are now in our early 50's. Kids are grown - no grandkids yet, but our 2 kids love Disney and want to return. They can now help pay for expenses!! Is buying in at this age unheard of???

2. We have decided to buy 75 points direct at SSR (if possible) alternate resorts are OKW, BWV and BCV. We really like the Epcot area and the last resort we stayed at was BC. Is this even possible to buy direct? We will be utilizing the AP discount. We want to buy 50+ points resale as well.

3. Due to all of our jobs, we will be going home from late July - September most times. May take a Spring trip occasionally. Would a March, April, June UY be best for us?

Getting ready to call DVC in the next day or so to put in my request. Just want to make sure I am looking at this correctly!

Thanks!!

1. We bought in in our mid-40s, with older kids and intent to keep using it with our eventual grandkids. I'm sure there are some who bought in with even more experience.

2. BCV is unlikely to have direct points available, as I understand it. SSR and OKW seem most likely of the four, BWV in between. But, won't know for sure until you call them up. They'll try to sell you on CCV pretty strongly, as that's where they have all the points.

3. Somewhere in the February-June range sounds good for that, yes. (But don't stress too much about UY.)
 
Hi guys,

We are almost ready to purchase DVC and I have a few questions... Please note I am not new here - I have been on these boards since 2000 (luvthatdisney), but I cannot get into my old account - trying to get that figured out. We took a few years off Disney (after many years of yearly trips) due to many different things, but are ready to get back in the Disney mode. I am horribly homesick!!!

My DVC questions are:

1. We are now in our early 50's. Kids are grown - no grandkids yet, but our 2 kids love Disney and want to return. They can now help pay for expenses!! Is buying in at this age unheard of???

2. We have decided to buy 75 points direct at SSR (if possible) alternate resorts are OKW, BWV and BCV. We really like the Epcot area and the last resort we stayed at was BC. Is this even possible to buy direct? We will be utilizing the AP discount. We want to buy 50+ points resale as well.

3. Due to all of our jobs, we will be going home from late July - September most times. May take a Spring trip occasionally. Would a March, April, June UY be best for us?

Getting ready to call DVC in the next day or so to put in my request. Just want to make sure I am looking at this correctly!

Thanks!!

1. All ages buy DVC.

2. Yes, it's possible to buy direct. They will sell any and all resorts but it does depend on what points they have at the time. You might have to waitlist until they have points to sell you but they also might have them right away - never know until you call.

3. With a Spring trip being a possibility I'd go with March UY. I'd not do an April or June UY. The best UY is one that gives you some free insurance against last minute cancellations by either having you still in the banking window or giving you as much time to rebook with the points before they expire. If not a March UY then a Feb UY would be my next choice.
 
Good luck!!! In the same boat trying to finally get my thoughts gathered before taking the plunge.... years of holding back & now I'm trying to get this contract just right!
 


Realize that your adult children will not be eligible for AP discounts unless they are on your deed and thus members or still live in your home.
Also, the DVC discounts for APs can change and are not guaranteed to be offered going forward.
 
We bought @ BCV in our mid-50's. I'll be 87 when the contract expires (hopefully still above ground).
 
1. We are now in our early 50's. Kids are grown - no grandkids yet, but our 2 kids love Disney and want to return. They can now help pay for expenses!! Is buying in at this age unheard of???

We bought our first resale a little over a year ago. We were in our early 50's and our youngest DD had just graduated from college. We still take regular trips with our daughters (and soon to be SIL).

2. We have decided to buy 75 points direct at SSR (if possible) alternate resorts are OKW, BWV and BCV. We really like the Epcot area and the last resort we stayed at was BC. Is this even possible to buy direct? We will be utilizing the AP discount. We want to buy 50+ points resale as well.

Our first contract was SSR, but it was for 250 points. We added a 25 points SSR late last year to get the member benefits. We had rented points at BCV and SSR in the past. Like you we prefer the EPCOT area. Before DVC, we were frequent swolphin guests. As many have stated you can still buy direct, but you may have a long wait on the older in demand resorts (BCV). Most folks suggest buying resale first and following up with the direct purchase. It is easier to match UY that way. You want them in the same UY, particularly if they are smaller contracts than you typical stay needs. If you are going to be combining points, it is much easier if they are in the same UY. As far as staying is non-home resorts, you have much better chances in 1BR than studios. We have the luxury of having the enough points for a 1BR and with having 4-5 adults we prefer the space.

3. Due to all of our jobs, we will be going home from late July - September most times. May take a Spring trip occasionally. Would a March, April, June UY be best for us?

It is best to have the UY be right at when you typically want to stay. Cancellation and expiration are different for DVC and you want to know the rules. You can cancel with "no penalty" at 30-31 days. Inside of that points go into holding which means you can only use those points on rooms in the next 60 days from the new reservation date. That will typically be onesy-twosy nights available, likely in SSR. Very few studios anywhere. But even if you cancel outside of 30 days and have "no penalty" in having to deal with holding points, you may be up against you banking window. If you had a room booked in the last week of your UY (say 8/20-8/27 for a SEPT UY) and you cancelled at 3.5 months (on 5/10), the points would not go into holding, but you would have missed you banking date (4/30) and would have to do something by the end of August. Looking for something that late would very much limit your options. If that stay was scheduled for the first week of your UY (9/2 to 9/9) you could cancel on 8/1 of this year and the points would be usable all the way to 8/30 of next year (you have 13 months to plan and use the points). If you are a "we never cancel" kind of person, UY is less critical.
 


We purchased in our early 50's as well. Our kids still try and plan vacations to go to Disney with us. Sometimes it works, sometimes its just the 2 of us.
I would really think about how often you plan to visit, where you really want to stay and what type of room.
We started with BWV with a plan to get a studio for F&W each year and bank points to do larger rooms on occasion. We got enough points to do a 1BR with a few left each year. We no longer do the studio and love the 1BR. When you are thinking about points, realize than many of us upsize the type of room we stay in.
 
Thank you so much for all of your responses. Since our kids are no longer in school, DH and I have much more time to travel. And at some point may try one of the non-WDW DVC resorts. I sure wish we would have bought when we toured so many years ago...
 
1. We are now in our early 50's. Kids are grown - no grandkids yet, but our 2 kids love Disney and want to return. They can now help pay for expenses!! Is buying in at this age unheard of???
I bought for my 40th birthday. There is no age where it doesn't make sense as long as you are able to travel to WDW to make use of your contract.

2. We have decided to buy 75 points direct at SSR (if possible) alternate resorts are OKW, BWV and BCV. We really like the Epcot area and the last resort we stayed at was BC. Is this even possible to buy direct? We will be utilizing the AP discount. We want to buy 50+ points resale as well.
For the length of contract and cost SSR is certainly your best buy unless you buy OKW, which direct would give you the longer expiration but finding an extended resale will be difficult. There will also be Rivera opening next year, so you could buy your resale now at SSR and then by next year decide if you want to add on at the same resort or buy a smaller direct Rivera contract for the Epcot access. It would have a longer contract.

3. Due to all of our jobs, we will be going home from late July - September most times. May take a Spring trip occasionally. Would a March, April, June UY be best for us?
If you want those spring/summer months then probably a February or March UY would work for you.

It is important when you need to cancel. For example if you have a Feb UY you have until Oct 31st to bank your points - so if you had a trip in Sept 2018 with 2018 UY points but had to cancel as long as you cancel more than 31 days out then you could then bank those points into your 2019 UY. But if you booked a trip in Dec 2018 with those Feb 2018 UY points and you had to cancel but didn't do so until November 2018 the you would have to use those points by Jan 31st 2019 because you cancelled beyond your banking deadline. This is where you could be left with points you can use or you would have to try to rent the points or the reservation out.
 
My grandparents were in their 60's when purchasing DVC when it was just getting started with Old Key West. I was in high school at the time. Had some great family trips and was one of the reasons that I purchased DVC for my family when the time was right.
 
We first took the tour at OKW at age 25.......didn't buy for 21 years until age 46.....like most, only regret is we should have bought sooner......but it is nice to know many of our vacations are cared for as we age.

Actually can't wait for the kids to be out on their own and give us Disney again by ourselves before the grandkids hopefully start showing up.
 
Realize that your adult children will not be eligible for AP discounts unless they are on your deed and thus members or still live in your home.
Also, the DVC discounts for APs can change and are not guaranteed to be offered going forward.
I don't think that they have to live at home as we added my mom to our deed to get the discounts and she still lives by herself.
 
2. We have decided to buy 75 points direct at SSR (if possible) alternate resorts are OKW, BWV and BCV. We really like the Epcot area and the last resort we stayed at was BC. Is this even possible to buy direct? We will be utilizing the AP discount. We want to buy 50+ points resale as well.
Not trying to tell you what to do, but I would look strongly at BLT for low MF if that is important or CCV for a nice resort close to MK. It also seems Disney is focused on improving this area still as the next DVC resort could be next door in between BRV and FWC. When our boys were little, we rented points at BRV and it was great with little ones for the short boat to MK.
 
I don't think that they have to live at home as we added my mom to our deed to get the discounts and she still lives by herself.
Yes - you added her to your deed, thus she is a member and entitled to member benefits. My son is on my deeds for the same reason, so both I and my household on the west coast and he and his household on the east coast have DVC discounted APs. I just wanted to make sure that OP was aware that unless her adult children were on the deed (and there are sometimes reasons to not add children to a deed) once they moved out of the house they would not be eligible for DVC discounts on APs as that was one of the reasons stated by OP for buying SSR direct.
 
Yes - you added her to your deed, thus she is a member and entitled to member benefits. My son is on my deeds for the same reason, so both I and my household on the west coast and he and his household on the east coast have DVC discounted APs. I just wanted to make sure that OP was aware that unless her adult children were on the deed (and there are sometimes reasons to not add children to a deed) once they moved out of the house they would not be eligible for DVC discounts on APs as that was one of the reasons stated by OP for buying SSR direct.
Thank you for clarifying that for me.

One of our kids still lives at home, but the other does not. We are adding the one that does not live with us to our deed. She and I are the Disney fanatics and we have already discussed passing the points to only her so we might as well just put her on the deed. Our DS (who lives at home) wants to go on trips occasionally, but does not want any ownership of the points now or in the future. Even though he lives with us, he will pay his own way to the parks and food, we will just provide the room.
 
Hi guys,


2. We have decided to buy 75 points direct at SSR (if possible) alternate resorts are OKW, BWV and BCV. We really like the Epcot area and the last resort we stayed at was BC. Is this even possible to buy direct? We will be utilizing the AP discount. We want to buy 50+ points resale as well.

I'm curious as to why you're looking to buy direct? 75 points doesn't seem like a lot to use on a cruise, ABD, or the other exotic uses for points.
 
I'm curious as to why you're looking to buy direct? 75 points doesn't seem like a lot to use on a cruise, ABD, or the other exotic uses for points.

Good question. With the kids mostly out of the household, not a big advantage to the AP discount either...
 
Good question. With the kids mostly out of the household, not a big advantage to the AP discount either...

The AP discount isn't tied to direct/resale purchases, though, is it? I thought it was just cruises, ABD, and the other exotic stuff that wasn't available to resale purchasers (which I just confirmed in the DVC FAQ).

So if the OP is planning to will the contract to the kids sooner or later anyway, I could see putting them on the deed from the start. Then the decision to purchase an AP or not is just the economic trade-off, and falls to the kids, based on their expected number of visits.
 

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