Please be kind, I'm a newbie

[huffy]

Just returned from DW in April. Did the Vacation Club tour and think it could be a good fit. After much reading on the subject, still have questions. First off, pretty sure I would go resale. Just can't do those other prices.
My daughter and I are the Disney freaks and she loves VWL, which is where we usually stay. From the posts on this forum it seems because of its size it might be hard to book.
Also, don't want to go into debt, so is it stupid to just start with a small amount of points and hope to keep adding on.
Would appreciate any advice you seasoned vets can give me.

 

[EOD K9]

If you don't plan on using points for cruising or using the Disney collection, and just staying DVC, resale is the way to go. If you buy resale, getting a contract and VWL would give you the 11 month window. Obviously, DVC, gives you flexibility to stay at other resort property. You absolutely must be flexible. I totally get your not wanting to go into debt comment. You could buy a small contract for about 100 points. That should be sufficient for a studio for a week depending on where and when you stay. Good luck!!

 

[216bruce]

I'm a VWL owner and bought resale (before the restrictions, by a few months). Only once was I shut out and that was for the 2015 Wine and Dine race weekend. So, is it possible to get shut out? Obviously yes. But, if you plan way in advance and are the least bit flexible, then you should be OK. It is a smaller resort, but among the best without a doubt.
AS far as contract size goes...buy what you can afford and no more than you are VERY comfortable with. Life can change in the blink of an eye and you don't want to get saddled, even short-term, with something that hinders day to day financial reality. Like stated above - 100 points is a good start and adding on is always an option.

 

[jsrausch22]

We have 3 contracts. The first one we bought direct because we didn't know there was a resale market. The other 2 we bought from the timeshare store. Great experience with both. We paid cash for all of our contracts. We don't plan on using our points for anything other than DVC so the resale restriction doesn't bother us. We now own 240 points and I think that is the perfect amount for us (until the grandchildren arrive).

 

[huffy]

Thanks all for your kind advice. Very helpful. Guess our concern was even if we tried to book at 11 months we would be shut out. My daughter is a teacher so we usually end up coming the week before Easter. Not ideal with the crowds but better that in the heat of summer.

 

[DisDadWoz]

I am just looking at your comment when you note you don't want to go into debt. This will put you into some debt so if you really are worried about it, please make sure it is right financially for you. Life has a way of throwing curves so be prepared as even on resale these are not cheap. Okay, now that my soapbox has now crashed in from me standing on it I would go with what you feel you need for a weeks stay at high demand season. This way you always have enough to stay when you need to and if you want to carry some over you can upgrade to a bigger or more scenic room.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

The chances of getting shut out at 11 months is extremely slim, since you are only competing against other owners. That is not a concern you should have.

 

[Seanual757]

I just purchased DVC back in March we purchased directly from Disney. At the time we could not find what we wanted from re-sale (current weekly emails) plus the deal DVC was offering since we were looking at 200 points a year they will give us an addition 200 points )the earlier deal last year was buy your DVC and get 1 week in Hawaii for FREE). Seeing that we are local and we stay 3-4 times a year at Disney and the amount of money we have paid over 3 years staying is ¾ of what our 200 points at GFV cost us. So for our family it was a no brainer to purchase DVC and since we plan to use the collection and maybe down the road use points to cruise we choose direct.

I will say we booked two trips this year for DVC and I booked at exactly 11 months out for my home resort 2 rooms for a week and I got lucky as they were almost gone.

But DO what you can only afford.

 

[WWWD]

If you have to buy direct from Disney because you just do not want to buy resale, you can buy any resort even sold out ones. It may take longer as Disney waits on exercising their first refusal rights, but the points will come in. Disney will have no problem buying at a discount and selling to you "full price" wherever you want to buy into. However, you still only get the contract years for that resort.

 

[slappy magoo]

I agree that at the 11 month mark you should rarely have trouble getting a room, and even less trouble if you're flexible with your dates. For example, the week you want might be unavailable because of an overlap of just one day - all rooms are booked the first night you want to arrive, or perhaps the last night. So if you shift your arrival and departure by one day, you could be OK, that sort of thing.

Saratoga Springs is looked on by many as the red-headed stepchild of DVC but it's got one great thing going for it - because it's so huge, there's pretty much always room at the inn. And resale prices are significantly lower than almost anywhere else on property. So you can always buy there, pretty much never worry about getting a room at the 11-month mark, and still try to swap out at the 7 month mark.