General DVC questions

[Schweino]

Hey all! So with our recent honeymoon we are sort of teasing getting a DVC - mainly because my parents are wanting to move to FL. While we are waiting for them to make that decision:

• We are from Nebraska - we don't get to FL often. We would most likely make a yearly trip down there, maybe twice some years.
• We wouldn't necessarily go to WDW every trip. We would also do some Universal trips, SeaWorld, Busch and relaxation/beach visits.
• The idea of essentially prepaying for lodging for vacations for 30+ years is very appealing.

We are looking at resale vs direct, and understanding that resale doesn't get the perks that direct do. I don't think we would visit WDW enough to make the perks worth the cost. So my questions:

1. We would definitely be looking at getting Deluxe studios with Value/Standard accommodations. I don't see a big difference between those two outside Value being a tad smaller. True/False?

2. The term 'villa' throws me a bit and I have read that people renting Villas don't have to pay for parking. Does that include resale buyers staying at a deluxe studio?

3. If buying resale, can you only stay at your 'home' resort (11 month booking window) or can you still book at other resorts (not new ones like Riviera) with the 7 month booking window?

4. What happens if your 'home' resort is closed for remodeling/refurb?

Thanks in advance for any help and clarification you can provide!

 

[nickys]

1. The only value rooms are at Jambo House at AKL. Ownership at AKL gives you home priority at both Jambo and Kidani. Value rooms get booked right on the dot at the 11 month window; in fact many people will “walk” those rooms. You absolutely must own at AKLto have any chance at all of booking them.

When calculating how many points you need, you should never bank on getting the cheapest type of studio at any resort. Get enough so you can book the next type up.

2. All DVC rooms are called Villas, even studios. They are studio villas essentially! No difference in terms of benefits, so yes you park for free.

3. Resale gives you the same options for booking as direct except when it comes to Riviera. If you buy resale at any other WDW resort, or Vero or Hilton Head, you cannot use your points at Riviera. But you can book at any of the original resorts (sometimes referred to as “legacy” resorts) at 7 months.

4. Until Covid, that has never happened before. Refurbs are done bit by bit, either by building, floor or just blocks of rooms. Just means there is less availability at the time of the planned refurb.

 

[Schweino]

Thanks @nickys - this helps tremendously. With AKL we would probably looking at getting a 150 point contract, which at 1 wk a year to be safe seems to be enough points to get the next category up.

Can you elaborate a bit on "You absolutely must own at AKL to have any chance at all of booking them." ? My dumb brain says that if I have a contract then I own it, but I am sure you are trying to say something else

Thanks again!

 

[correcaminos]

Thanks @nickys - this helps tremendously. With AKL we would probably looking at getting a 150 point contract, which at 1 wk a year to be safe seems to be enough points to get the next category up.

Can you elaborate a bit on "You absolutely must own at AKL to have any chance at all of booking them." ? My dumb brain says that if I have a contract then I own it, but I am sure you are trying to say something else

Thanks again!

The value rooms you need to own to book. They go fast. The standard rooms are fine and I have booked them as a non owner even. Just there are so few value rooms that they go very quickly and usually the day the 11 month window opens.

Just to clarify. Even with covid the refrubs are done bit by bit for DVC rooms. For hotel rooms they used to as well but now are being done in bulk.

 

[JaxFLBear]

Can you elaborate a bit on "You absolutely must own at AKL to have any chance at all of booking them." ? My dumb brain says that if I have a contract then I own it, but I am sure you are trying to say something else

It comes down to number of available Value Studios at AKV. There are only 18 of them. 10 of them are part of a 2-bedroom lock-off (studio and 1-bedroom w/interior connecting door). If someone books a Value 2-bedroom, there is one less Value Studio available to book. The remaining 8 Value Studios are dedicated units (not part of a 2-bed lock-off).

 

[nickys]

Thanks @nickys - this helps tremendously. With AKL we would probably looking at getting a 150 point contract, which at 1 wk a year to be safe seems to be enough points to get the next category up.

Can you elaborate a bit on "You absolutely must own at AKL to have any chance at all of booking them." ? My dumb brain says that if I have a contract then I own it, but I am sure you are trying to say something else

Thanks again!

Your contract gives you x number of points that you can use to book an available room, whether a studio or a Grand Villa or something in between. You are competing with every other AKL owner to book those rooms. You have no guarantee to be able to book a particular room type or even any room for the dates you want.

Only “guaranteed weeks” give you that guarantee, and those are only available at Poly, Copper Creek and Riviera (maybe Grand Floridian, not sure).

 

[Schweino]

Got it - so when people say you need to own to book, it means AKL needs to be your home resort and you need to grab them on the 11 month mark on the day. I believe I have that understanding correct but please correct me.

The main reason we were looking at AKL is because it looks awesome and the resale contracts seem manageable if we want to pay up front and not do financing. I may take some time to do some math and look at the other resorts too. Appreciate you all!

 

[nickys]

Got it - so when people say you need to own to book, it means AKL needs to be your home resort and you need to grab them on the 11 month mark on the day. I believe I have that understanding correct but please correct me.

The main reason we were looking at AKL is because it looks awesome and the resale contracts seem manageable if we want to pay up front and not do financing. I may take some time to do some math and look at the other resorts too. Appreciate you all!

Yes, that’s correct.

 

[Schweino]

Last question that I just thought of - can you book a room using a combo points and cash? Let's say I want to book two rooms for a week but I'm say, 20 points short. How does the math work there?

 

[nickys]

Last question that I just thought of - can you book a room using a combo points and cash? Let's say I want to book two rooms for a week but I'm say, 20 points short. How does the math work there?

You can book rooms for cash through DVC. Often you can get a 25% discount the rack rate. Each night must be booked either using points or using cash.

You can also buy up to 24 one-time-use points to complete a booking.

You can also bank points forward and borrow points from the next use year. The rules around this can be changed; for example currently you can only borrow 50% of your points.

 

[Schweino]

You rock @nickys - appreciate you taking time to answer my noobie questions!

 

[seascape]

As a Disney stockholder and DVC owner I love the DVC resorts. However, as a consumer, I have to say DVC resorts are over priced both directly and resale. Resale DVC's get not benefits anymore but are still way to expensive. If you look on EBAY you can usually find Wyndham Bonnet Creek contracts at pennies on the dollar versus resale DVC contracts plus the maintenance fees are lower. Therefore, ai recommend people buy Bonnet Creek and then you can take advantage of all the Wyndham resorts around the country without the outrageous RCI fees.

 

[Darstarr]

If I may add my two cents...
You are a newlywed, you may need more room (more points) someday
It’s cheaper to buy them now than 5 or 10 years from now.

 

[Schweino]

As a Disney stockholder and DVC owner I love the DVC resorts. However, as a consumer, I have to say DVC resorts are over priced both directly and resale. Resale DVC's get not benefits anymore but are still way to expensive. If you look on EBAY you can usually find Wyndham Bonnet Creek contracts at pennies on the dollar versus resale DVC contracts plus the maintenance fees are lower. Therefore, ai recommend people buy Bonnet Creek and then you can take advantage of all the Wyndham resorts around the country without the outrageous RCI fees.

Interesting - took a look at their 1 BR's and they are quite appealing. However, when researching Bonnet resales on the Goog's, this looks extremely more convuluted than researching DVC resales. I see low prices for 160k points and then high prices for 100k points. Super confused and may need to learn more about this because I am so lost!

If I may add my two cents...
You are a newlywed, you may need more room (more points) someday
It’s cheaper to buy them now than 5 or 10 years from now.

I see what your pointing at there!!

 

[seascape]

Interesting - took a look at their 1 BR's and they are quite appealing. However, when researching Bonnet resales on the Goog's, this looks extremely more convuluted than researching DVC resales. I see low prices for 160k points and then high prices for 100k points. Super confused and may need to learn more about this because I am so lost!


I see what your pointing at there!!

Buying timeshares on EBAY is confusing because some people ask for too high a starting bid. That said. look up Bonnet Creek Timeshares for Sale and there are 5 right now. I would suggest an annual points contract and there are 2 interesting ones. First one for 157,500 points starting bid is just $15.00. The other is for 500,000 points and starts at $1,950.00. I would prefer the 500,000 points but the $1,950 is a little high. The 157,500 points may not be enough for you. The one thing to remember is $1,950 wouldn't get you enough points for any trip to WDW but with Bonnet Creek you could have 2 weeks and a day in a 2 bedroom deluxe unit, during the peak time, for the 500,000 points and the only thing you lose is magic hours and free themepark parking. But with a 2 week trip an annual pass would provide free parking and a discount on certain purchases, and think of the money you save.

Edit to add Saratoga Springs comparison.

A 2 beedroom peak time non preferred room at Saratoga Springs is 409 points and would cost over $30,000 for a resale contract.

 

[Schweino]

@seascape I think that is where I get confused. How could 160k points be $15.00?! I get there are maintenance fees but for $15.00 I feel like either I am missing understanding or just not getting it!

 

[seascape]

@seascape I think that is where I get confused. How could 160k points be $15.00?! I get there are maintenance fees but for $15.00 I feel like either I am missing understanding or just not getting it!

It is a starting bid. What is interesting right now is how many great deals there are for other timeshares. Of course the only reason is they are not DVCs and the resale market stinks right now. If and when it comes back the prices will go up but never to the DVC level. Plus they contracts never end. That can be good or bad but if you keep it and use it, timeshares are a good deal but it is not an investment and in actuality worth nothing. I purchased almost all my Wyndham points before they started the Ovation Program which buy back points for almost nothing from those who purchased directly and take points at most resorts from resale customers for nothing but let you out of the maintenance fees. Think of it this way, you save a fortune on your purchase, you get a 13 month window to book your vacation at your home resort, 10 months elsewhere and there are many more resorts you can book for no additional charge. If I were buying today I would not have purchased my DVC points but I purchased before the second round of restrictions and paid a lot less. Finally, for the next few years DVCs are going to be very hard to book unless you book at your home resort. There are do many banked points that it will take years to work through. So if you buy a DVC only expect to book at your home resort and stay away from Copper Creek and the Poly because they have the bungalows that are going to make it extremely hard.

 

[WWWD]

I will caution you about buying time shares for pennies on the dollars that are available. If no one else is interested and it’s viewed by several people, then there is a reason. Most timeshares do not have an end date like DVC, which means you are responsible for maintenance dues for life. A popular destination with a well maintained resort might be great now, but not so much in 15 years. Collection agencies who go after people defaulting on their timeshare are very aggressive.

 

[seascape]

I will caution you about buying time shares for pennies on the dollars that are available. If no one else is interested and it’s viewed by several people, then there is a reason. Most timeshares do not have an end date like DVC, which means you are responsible for maintenance dues for life. A popular destination with a well maintained resort might be great now, but not so much in 15 years. Collection agencies who go after people defaulting on their timeshare are very aggressive.

I agree with you about most timeshares. The best for BBC resale is DVC, followed by Marriott and then Hilton. I would put Wyndham forth. Wyndham's biggest problem in my view is their sales people. Stay away from them no matter what they offer. But, their resorts are nice and they have locations all over the US that you can visit and that is why I think they are very good. Now, the contract does last forever and that has good and bad points. The good is that it is not ending in years like many of the DVC contracts. However, Wyndham has the Ovation program and if you have had the contract for years they will take it back and give you one years worth of points for it. As for maintenance of the resort and why I said buy Bonnet Creek is Orlando is their headquarters and Bonnet Creek is their pride and joy. The place to look for information on all time shares including DVC is the tomeshare users group at www.tug2.com

 

[Schweino]

Researched a bit more this evening - reading reviews on different companies (boy that was a mistake) and what not. From reading the vast majority of complaints spread across multiple companies, it seems like that:

1. People complain about the lack of availability. However, we generally do not travel on a whim - we plan out months in advance and generally 6+ months. The reviews don't state how far ahead they are trying to book for where they are experiencing issues, which makes it frustrating. Are they complaining because they fail to plan ahead, or because there is a legit problem with trying to book?

2. People don't like that maintenance fees go up. Welp..lol.

3. People had no clue what they were doing (woops).

Not sure a timeshare would be in our best interest if availability is really a problem, but appreciate everyone's input here!