On the fence about buying DVC

[Newbie500]

Hi everyone! I recently joined here and this is my first time asking a question. I've read on this board about where to buy, use year, ROFR, direct vs. resale, banking and borrowing and maintenance fees. (thank you for posting all the great info). My question is this. If I want to stay every Christmas/New Years for around 10 nights, at BLT, in a one bedroom, how many points should I buy and what would my banking/borrowing options be? How would I be able to book a room for more than one week at a time? My reason to buy is to make BLT our family holiday vacation home.

 

[kniquy]

how many points should I buy and what would my banking/borrowing options be? How would I be able to book a room for more than one week at a time? My reason to buy is to make BLT our family holiday vacation home.

To figure out the number of points you would need go to Davids DVC - and use the cost calculator. I find that this is the best for figuring out points cost and is a great way to see the room points cost for all resorts and all room types. So you want BLT -- there are standard rooms, lake view and theme park - of course theme park will be the most expensive and standard the least. Generally the lowest points rooms of all resorts will book up the quickest.

As for banking and borrowing -- this really depends on the UY you buy and the number of points you buy. Seeing you are planning on going every year I would buy the needed points for your 10 day trip -- this is typically a high point DVC "season" so the points for this room for 10 nights will be high. It is generally recommended to add 10% in points as a buffer in case there is ever a points re-allocation.

Will you really want to spend every christmas and NYE at WDW? This might really depend on your family make up. It is a very high point time - just a quick look at 10 nights at BLT 1BR - the points can range from a standard @ 448 points to a lake view @ 604 = this means a pretty hefty BLT contract. At 448-600 points you are looking at spending $67,000-$90,000 (resale) to accomplish this every year. You will likely not find a 500-600 point contract so this would mean having to find about 2-3 resale contracts to get the number of points to cover this trip every year. Now if you only wanted to do this every other year then you would only need to buy 1/2 the amount of points (224-300 points) so you could bank one year into the next and then book using 2 years worth of points.

Doable, certainly if you have the funds, but honestly people buy into DVC to save money and to use their point efficiently - such as visiting Sept - Mid december where the points cost is the cheapest for DVC.

Keep researching and asking questions. There are many different ways to make DVC work for you.

 

[Newbie500]

We have stayed all for cash at Poly (2016), off campus at Grand Cypress (2017) (because we booked late) and at GF (2018), all at Christmas time. Each on campus booking was at a discount of around 20-25% from a Disney visa card promotion or something like that. Coming home from Disney last year it hit me. I want to keep coming back and stay on campus but I get this feeling that with DVC I'll at least have something to show for all those room costs. On the other hand, maybe I should just keep paying cash and not be locked in for such a long commitment. I don't know......…...

 

[katandmouse]

I love the idea of a BLT family holiday home!

Here is a link to the BLT point chart for 2019 and 2020: https://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacation-club/BLT-Points.htm
Just be aware that DVC can reallocate the points, so you may want to factor in a little buffer.

You could use up to 3 years points at a time - bank the year prior plus this year’s plus borrow from next year. If you plan to go every other year you would only need to buy half the number of points for your trip. If you go every 3 years you would only need to buy 1/3 the points.

For home resort advantage, you can book a stay 11 months out for up to 7 nights at a time. So to book a 10 night stay, you could book the first 7 nights as soon as the 11 month window opens. Then the next day, modify your reservation to add the 8th night, and continue for 2 more days. (I’m pretty sure that’s how it works but hopefully someone else can chime in too). Alternatively, you could wait until 11 months from the 4th night of your stay to book the whole thing at once. Depending on time of year (I think that’s a pretty popular time) and room type (especially standard) there might be a risk of not getting the first few nights though.
There was a recent thread about this on the Member Services board: https://www.disboards.com/threads/first-time-booking-9-night-stay-question.3752480/

 

[Newbie500]

Just read the links. Thank you Katandmouse and thank you Kniquy for the advice!

 

[bwvBound]

TO ALL: Did/does BLT sell fixed weeks? Can a fixed week be 10n vs 7n? Wouldn't this situation be a candidate for fixed week even if it had to be 7n fixed + 3n gamble?

 

[crvetter]

TO ALL: Did/does BLT sell fixed weeks? Can a fixed week be 10n vs 7n? Wouldn't this situation be a candidate for fixed week even if it had to be 7n fixed + 3n gamble?

Fixed weeks are for 7 nights only (you can only buy the following week to guarantee further than 7 nights). Also BLT did not sell any. It started with Aulani and continued with VGF, PVB, CCV, and DRR.

CCV had a special "floating" fixed week for race events. So that if the race event moved DVC would move the fixed week to cover the race day you bought. Though my understanding is they didn't continue this with DRR.

 

[Bruin_mouse]

TO ALL: Did/does BLT sell fixed weeks? Can a fixed week be 10n vs 7n? Wouldn't this situation be a candidate for fixed week even if it had to be 7n fixed + 3n gamble?

Fixed weeks weren't sold until Aulani started sales (after BLT). Also, you can't buy a new fixed week once a resort isn't actively being sold anymore. They do show up occasionally on the resale market though.

 

[crvetter]

Also, you can't buy a new fixed week once a resort isn't actively being sold anymore.

Apparently some people on here reported being able to do so.

 

[CarolMN]

AFAIK, the site POS must have the fixed week option for Disney to sell one. BLT does not.

 

[bwvBound]

re: Fixed week
Thanks, All! Personally, I wouldn't jump into DVC with intent to book the holiday period on a regular basis w/out the fixed week. A bit too much "risk" in that plan for me. If booking with family & friends ... one wants a bit of certainty.