Considering buying at GF..help!

[kasey1988]

We went to an open house today and are heavily considering buying into the dvc at the grand floridian... Here is what we were told..
$15,000 purchase price for 100 points
They will give us a free 100 points
Our points will be available April 1

The only other resort they had available was the akl, but it was 44 years and not 50 and it was minimal price difference.

We like the idea of having our accommodations for vacations already paid for and the options of being able to visit other locations not only disney . It's just the 2 of us right now, but plan on having a family within a few years.



Hit me with the good. Bad and ugly!

 

[BCVTalsJam]

I say go for it especially the 100 free points! My wife and I bought at Beach Club before we had out daughter because we new would be growing our little family sooner rather than later. We would never ever dream of not having Dvc now. Good luck I say go for it!!

 

[DVCOwner]

If you have not considered buying resale you might want to check it out. I have purchased 150 points for DVC and 100 points on the resale market. You can save big buying resale.

 

[Tiggerish]

Are they giving those 100 points just for the first year, or are they effectively giving you half off the contract (100 extra points for life of contract). If the first, only you can judge whether you consider it a good value. If the second, take it and run!

I bought DVC in 1998 at something like $68 a point. I feel like I got a good deal, and every time they build a new resort, my deal gets better, but I can honestly say that I would not buy in now at the prices they're asking. That's just me, though; I'm not saying you shouldn't, just that I personally wouldn't.

If I were to be considering buying in now, I'd be looking at resale points at an older resort for under $100 per point. If you don't highly value staying at the GF, you could probably save a boatload of money by choosing a different home resort. If you do value being able to stay at GF each year, then it may be worth it for you to buy there. If you're young and will be able to enjoy the full benefit of the 50 year lease, and you have the funds, I won't advise against it. I've enjoyed the heck out of my DVC membership, and I've never even used it to stay anywhere but WDW. One benefit to having GF points is that they'll go further for you if you want to stay at any other resort. The points-per-night at GF are higher than at the other resorts.

 

[kasey1988]

We decided to wait. We still have some questions and our rep was on vacation and we also go home today so it was a lot to think about as we would need to buy before we fly out. We are hoping to save some over the next year to prevent financing , bit we are still very interested!

My concern is if gf sells out where would our home resort be? Would we have to wait for the poly? We have no interest in aluni being our "home"

 

[slappy magoo]

My concern is if gf sells out where would our home resort be? Would we have to wait for the poly? We have no interest in alibi being our "home"

If GF completely sells out, DVC usually has various pieces of inventory at some of the other resorts. If you wanted, say, Boardwalk Villas, they will probably have some stock because somebody was selling and Disney has the RIght of First Refusal, which is a fancy way of saying if you're selling your points, they have the right to call "Dibs!" and buy them from you, even if you have a buyer lined up. If for some reason you wanted Boardwalk and they didn't have that in stock, you could ask to be put on a waitlist until they get 'em, but no way to know how long that would be, could be days, could be a year or longer.

You could also look at the resale market yourself. The main disadvantage to resale is that they will only be valid at DVC resorts - you wouldn't be able to use them on a cruise, or transfer them to RCI points or anything like that. But you'll also save a considerable amount of money.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

One of the biggest points is to "buy where you want to stay". Inventory is not always available at the 7 month window, and the VGF have only a small number of rooms to book. If you really want to stay there, pretty much guaranteed, then you need to buy there. That way, you can book at the 11 month window, and it is doubtful that it would all be taken up in a day. Since it just started selling, there is no resale market for it, so you would have to buy direct from Disney. If you wait a year or two, there should be some available. But as mentioned, if you buy resale, you cannot use those points for many of the options - cruises, Adventures by Disney, resort collections (staying at POR or FW for example) so please take that into consideration. Good luck!

 

[BCVTalsJam]

Disney always has 5 percent of each resort unsold you have to demand it though because they want you to buy where they are selling.

Always buy where you want to stay! Then stay at the other resorts at the 7 month window but at least then your happy where you are no matter what.

If you do choose to buy resale not from Disney make sure you read everything and know all the details. Also if you do not buy directly fom Disney you can not use your points for the Disney cruises. Just so you know if that's important to you.

 

[MouseRight]

Look at the points charts for use of the various resorts. 100 Points will not get you much of a vacation at GF. You need 125 Points for a Studio Standard View Room at GF during the Adventure and Choice Seasons. It rises to 153 Points to 227 Points for the busier season and larger Villas. Of course you don't have to stay at GF. There are less expensive stays. If you can't afford the points necessary to stay in the accommodations you like for a week then you will need more points. You should consider purchasing at resale market. Of course that has it own issues. Plus family growth will require larger accommodations. We purchased 310 points in the beginning. Enough for a 2 Bedroom Villa in July. We added 100 Points when we moved to Florida and wanted multiple shorter stays. Of course, we purchased in 1993. A much different decision than at today's rates. Let me know if you have other questions.

 

[Mrsdonaldduck]

Are they giving you the extra 100 points just for the first year? Or was it an extra 100 points each year (ie buying 100 points but getting 200 points)

 

[kasey1988]

If GF completely sells out, DVC usually has various pieces of inventory at some of the other resorts. If you wanted, say, Boardwalk Villas, they will probably have some stock because somebody was selling and Disney has the RIght of First Refusal, which is a fancy way of saying if you're selling your points, they have the right to call "Dibs!" and buy them from you, even if you have a buyer lined up. If for some reason you wanted Boardwalk and they didn't have that in stock, you could ask to be put on a waitlist until they get 'em, but no way to know how long that would be, could be days, could be a year or longer.

You could also look at the resale market yourself. The main disadvantage to resale is that they will only be valid at DVC resorts - you wouldn't be able to use them on a cruise, or transfer them to RCI points or anything like that. But you'll also save a considerable amount of money.

This is great to know! We are interested in either AKL,VWL, BLT or maybe the poly when that begins to sell.
I'm not sure if we would consider resale, we like the idea of being able to use the points on other locations besides wdw.

 

[kasey1988]

Disney always has 5 percent of each resort unsold you have to demand it though because they want you to buy where they are selling.

Always buy where you want to stay! Then stay at the other resorts at the 7 month window but at least then your happy where you are no matter what.

If you do choose to buy resale not from Disney make sure you read everything and know all the details. Also if you do not buy directly fom Disney you can not use your points for the Disney cruises. Just so you know if that's important to you.

Great to know!

 

[kasey1988]

Are they giving you the extra 100 points just for the first year? Or was it an extra 100 points each year (ie buying 100 points but getting 200 points)

The offer was just a bonus 100 points when we buy, not each year .

 

[GoofGoof]

If GF completely sells out, DVC usually has various pieces of inventory at some of the other resorts. If you wanted, say, Boardwalk Villas, they will probably have some stock because somebody was selling and Disney has the RIght of First Refusal, which is a fancy way of saying if you're selling your points, they have the right to call "Dibs!" and buy them from you, even if you have a buyer lined up. If for some reason you wanted Boardwalk and they didn't have that in stock, you could ask to be put on a waitlist until they get 'em, but no way to know how long that would be, could be days, could be a year or longer.

You could also look at the resale market yourself. The main disadvantage to resale is that they will only be valid at DVC resorts - you wouldn't be able to use them on a cruise, or transfer them to RCI points or anything like that. But you'll also save a considerable amount of money.

You can still use resale points for transfers through RCI. You just can't use them for stays in non-DVC Disney hotel rooms, for the adventure collection or for Disney cruise line. The trade-in value given for those things is really not worth it anyway. You could rent your points that year and use the money to book the same Disney cruise and have enough extra to pay for flights or other extras. It's a little extra paper work, but worth it.

 

[GoofGoof]

This is great to know! We are interested in either AKL,VWL, BLT or maybe the poly when that begins to sell.
I'm not sure if we would consider resale, we like the idea of being able to use the points on other locations besides wdw.

As a point of reference if you can find the size contract you want you can get a resale contract at AKL or VWL for between $80 and $90 per point. BLT for around $95 to $100. Could save you $5K to $7K upfront and help with not having to finance. Financing DVC is not a great option since the rates are really high. If at all possible, you will make out much better if you don't need to finance. You could also consider just renting points for a few years to save up and it will give you an opportunity to stay at some of the DVC resorts.

 

[MonoManBlue]

The offer was just a bonus 100 points when we buy, not each year .

Not to burst any bubbles here, but its not a "bonus".....your UY would be April, meaning you'd still get 2013 points, which is their way of saying "bonus" to get you to buy, and you'd have to bank those points by the end of November or schedule a trip.

 

[GoofGoof]

Not to burst any bubbles here, but its not a "bonus".....your UY would be April, meaning you'd still get 2013 points, which is their way of saying "bonus" to get you to buy, and you'd have to bank those points by the end of November or schedule a trip.

It's a bonus because you get the points without paying a maintenance fee on them.

 

[MonoManBlue]

It's a bonus because you get the points without paying a maintenance fee on them.

You pay the fee's....trust me, I just got the bill. You just don't pay it for the whole year. I owe a pro-rated rate for October, then November, and December.

 

[GoofGoof]

You pay the fee's....trust me, I just got the bill. You just don't pay it for the whole year. I owe a pro-rated rate for October, then November, and December.

You win. It's not a good deal.

 

[MonoManBlue]

You win. It's not a good deal.

Oh don't get me wrong, it's a great deal. But I have seen several points of people saying "we get XXX points for free".....which isn't necessarily the case. You're owned those points anyway......