Just wading into scary waters

[FatherForce]

Hi All,
I have been lurking here for awhile, catching snippets of info where I can. My wife and I have decided we want to go DVC. Being from Indiana, we would want to visit twice a year, once with our 2 adult kids for 6 or 7 days, and once just the 2 of us for 4 or 5 days. We were thinking 300 Points initially.
Now, here are my questions if I may:
1) It looks like we will be buying into the Riviera through DVC itself. The perks will be helpful to us. That being said, would it be sensible to buy a smaller amount of points resale at a different resort to be able to have 2 home resorts. I think I discerned that these points can be combined. Correct?
2) Can I buy just a portion of points on resale offered . Example: Could I buy 75 points at CCV from a listing of 200 points?
3) Are we insane?

As always I respect the opinions of the Dis Board, and am very grateful to Pete and crew for keeping this alive for us.

 

[The Jackal]

If someone is selling a contract with 200 points you can’t break it up. Only DVC can break it up. Points at 2 resorts is good, because people like 11 month priority in different areas of WDW. Riviera costs a lot of points to stay there. You would have to calculate and see how many points you would need for your 2 stays a year. They add up quickly. Good luck. We started out with 150 points resale and now have 350. We just need more.

 

[Livelovedance]

1) It looks like we will be buying into the Riviera through DVC itself. The perks will be helpful to us. That being said, would it be sensible to buy a smaller amount of points resale at a different resort to be able to have 2 home resorts. I think I discerned that these points can be combined. Correct?

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there is a yes and no to your question on combining points. At the 11 month mark, you can only make reservations at your home resort. So if you have a total of 300 points (with 200 points at Resort A and 100 points at Resort B) and decide you want to stay at Resort B, you can only make your reservation at Resort B with your 100 points at the 11 month mark. At the 7 month mark, you can book anywhere with all 300 points. I'm still learning as I go along so I'm looking forward to reading how the rest of your questions are answered. Good luck with your decision!

 

[igrsod]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there is a yes and no to your question on combining points. At the 11 month mark, you can only make reservations at your home resort. So if you have a total of 300 points (with 200 points at Resort A and 100 points at Resort B) and decide you want to stay at Resort B, you can only make your reservation at Resort B with your 100 points at the 11 month mark. At the 7 month mark, you can book anywhere with all 300 points. I'm still learning as I go along so I'm looking forward to reading how the rest of your questions are answered. Good luck with your decision!

You are correct. And with the way things are going, there is no guarantee that you can combine those 300 points for one resort for your entire stay at the 7 month mark. We have done split stays though and they are kind of fun and not a huge hassle to be honest.

 

[igrsod]

Hi All,
I have been lurking here for awhile, catching snippets of info where I can. My wife and I have decided we want to go DVC. Being from Indiana, we would want to visit twice a year, once with our 2 adult kids for 6 or 7 days, and once just the 2 of us for 4 or 5 days. We were thinking 300 Points initially.
Now, here are my questions if I may:
1) It looks like we will be buying into the Riviera through DVC itself. The perks will be helpful to us. That being said, would it be sensible to buy a smaller amount of points resale at a different resort to be able to have 2 home resorts. I think I discerned that these points can be combined. Correct?
2) Can I buy just a portion of points on resale offered . Example: Could I buy 75 points at CCV from a listing of 200 points?
3) Are we insane?

As always I respect the opinions of the Dis Board, and am very grateful to Pete and crew for keeping this alive for us.

DVC is great. We finally bought resale last year after many years of himing and hawing. Wish we did it sooner.
1. You can only combine your points at the 7 month mark. Having two home resorts is only necessary if you NEED to stay at those two resorts to be happy. Just wondering if there was a reason you were looking at buying Riviera direct? From our experience, the resale market was much cheaper and we needed decades for the perks to pay off vs. the cheaper resale price.
2. You cannot break up a resale contract sadly. They have to be purchased as is.... only Disney can break up the points to smaller contracts.
3. You might be insane..... we all are a bit Disney crazy. Honestly, if you plan on going twice a year and you like staying at the deluxe resorts, it's a great deal.

 

[Jack_Sparrow_NJ]

Hi All,
I have been lurking here for awhile, catching snippets of info where I can. My wife and I have decided we want to go DVC. Being from Indiana, we would want to visit twice a year, once with our 2 adult kids for 6 or 7 days, and once just the 2 of us for 4 or 5 days. We were thinking 300 Points initially.
Now, here are my questions if I may:
1) It looks like we will be buying into the Riviera through DVC itself. The perks will be helpful to us. That being said, would it be sensible to buy a smaller amount of points resale at a different resort to be able to have 2 home resorts. I think I discerned that these points can be combined. Correct?
2) Can I buy just a portion of points on resale offered . Example: Could I buy 75 points at CCV from a listing of 200 points?
3) Are we insane?

As always I respect the opinions of the Dis Board, and am very grateful to Pete and crew for keeping this alive for us.

It’s good that you are doing your research and asking questions. There are many different angles to DVC and different reasons for buying in. If it works for you in your particular set of circumstances you are certainly not insane or at least as sane as the rest of us.

 

[bwvBound]

As for combining points from two different purchases (direct DRR and resale L14):

• They must be titled the identically and be the same UY.
• They combine only inside the 7 month window.
• They cannot combine for booking DRR or future resorts. They can only combine for booking L14 locations.

(L14 refers to the Legacy 14 resort locations prior to Riviera.)

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Hi All,
I have been lurking here for awhile, catching snippets of info where I can. My wife and I have decided we want to go DVC. Being from Indiana, we would want to visit twice a year, once with our 2 adult kids for 6 or 7 days, and once just the 2 of us for 4 or 5 days. We were thinking 300 Points initially.
Now, here are my questions if I may:
1) It looks like we will be buying into the Riviera through DVC itself. The perks will be helpful to us. That being said, would it be sensible to buy a smaller amount of points resale at a different resort to be able to have 2 home resorts. I think I discerned that these points can be combined. Correct?
2) Can I buy just a portion of points on resale offered . Example: Could I buy 75 points at CCV from a listing of 200 points?
3) Are we insane?

As always I respect the opinions of the Dis Board, and am very grateful to Pete and crew for keeping this alive for us.

Do you have certain resorts you like to stay at? And are you aware the DVC does sell points at all resorts if Riviera isn't at the top of your list to purchase for the direct benefits. You need 75 directly purchased points to get the benefits so purchasing the rest resale could likely save you several thousand dollars depending on where you are looking. Also, as mentioned, there's a big difference in the point requirements between some of the resorts so depending on where you are looking at it might vary the number of points you require for the stays you are planning on.

 

[gharter]

there are options with pros and cons.
If you have 2 different resorts with the same UY, you have options of mixing points. however, cancelling a trip may cause problems depending on when you cancel.
We own points at 2 different resort with 2 different UYs, for a very good reason.
We go twice a year.
We have BWV for the fall Food and Wine.
We have AKL for the spring Flower and Garden.
While there are issues keeping track of 2 different UY and resorts, it works for us.

 

[indyannamom]

I think it’s important to first look at this question:
Is Riverera where you want to stay most? If so, that’s great. If not, and you’re sure you want to buy direct, you can do that at most, if not all the other resorts too.

We own points at 2 resorts, one we bought resale and one we bought direct. There are pros and cons to both.
If you’re contemplating doing both, you may have more flexibility if you buy resale first and then buy direct with the same use year to match. If you buy direct first, you’ll have a much smaller group of options with the same use year on the resale market.

We lived in Indy and between the kids school schedules and the DVC hard to book windows... we usually find our best option is to book our home resort 11 months out, and then at 7 months, if we’re hoping to stay somewhere else that trip, we try to book the non-home resort...sometimes we could...and sometimes we were “stuck” at home...but it’s ok because we love our home resorts.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Don't buy for perks because they can disappear overnight. Buy because you want to stay in a DVC resort using your DVC points and it's the resort you like the best.

 

[Grumpy6264]

Don't buy for perks because they can disappear overnight. Buy because you want to stay in a DVC resort using your DVC points and it's the resort you like the best.

This is the best advise that can be given.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I would also suggest not buying Riviera until it is actually open and you can walk through it, smell it, see the pools for real. Even the model room isn't really enough. This is a 50-year commitment, and it's harder every year to book outside of home resort many seasons, especially for studios. If you decide Riviera was a bad choice once it actually exists, the resale restrictions will have you taking a bath on the initial purchase.

Resort sales pre-open rely heavily on emotion and fairy tale. I would caution not to snort the pixie dust.

 

[kniquy]

1) It looks like we will be buying into the Riviera through DVC itself. The perks will be helpful to us. That being said, would it be sensible to buy a smaller amount of points resale at a different resort to be able to have 2 home resorts. I think I discerned that these points can be combined. Correct?
2) Can I buy just a portion of points on resale offered . Example: Could I buy 75 points at CCV from a listing of 200 points?
3) Are we insane?

No you are not insane. If you travel to WDW as much as you say/plan and at least want to stay in moderate resorts then DVC is a great route to go.

Question 1) Riviera has some facets that people are not fond of. Main one being the resale restrictions should you need to sell. The other factor are the points costs compared to other resorts. What some people will do is buy a resale contract and then add on a 75 point contract at the same resort or possibly a different resort but with the same UY -- this 75 point direct contract will get you the perks.

Question 2) No contracts for sale are sold as what they are. You can not divide up a resale contract. Direct through disney you can request whatever amount of points you want (as long as they meet the minimum set)

The new resale restrictions to prohibit use of points at any new DVC resort build from Riviera forward. So if you bought resale points at any of the 14 legacy resorts you would not be able to use them for new resorts. For example - you could buy a CCV resale and then buy an OKW direct for perks. People do come up with combinations of contracts that will work for their travel needs.

You really need to figure out your budget, where you want to stay when it is family or just as a couple. Each resort has different room configurations - such as CCV and SSR if you need to accommodate 5 people you have to get a 2BR where as 5 people can fit in a studio at at Poly, BW, BC, BRV, VGF. Some 1BR can "accommodate 5" BUT you have to bring your own sleeping surface for that 5th person.

 

[keishashadow]

OP - Lots of good advice here

IMO, and that’s they key there. This is what works ‘for me’ your needs easily could differ.

300 points is an awfully big commitment at the get-go. We went low & slow, paid cash.

Really wouldn’t want to have that many points at the same resort on one contract. The bigger contracts tend to sale for less per point on the resale market.

Perhaps a main contract purchased thru WDW, then add on via smaller direct purchase or resales at one or two others wherein you could bank/borrow and stay at one of them on alternate years?

Have 3 different home resorts, lucky to be grandfathered in, but do meet the current DVC stipulation anyway as to # of points owned purchased direct for perks. I don’t see the current perks disappearing anytime soon but who knows

 

[FatherForce]

Thank you for all the information.
Looks like we need to rethink our plan.
We do want to buy direct for cache ( pixie cache if you will) if I am to be honest, plus discounts on Annual Passes and member events are enticing. We like the layout of the Riviera we've seen, and like the gondola being attached/adjacent is a plus. "New" has an appeal as well. The advice that we could buy a small amount of points from DVC at one resort and then buy at another resale is intriguing. We're not going to finance, as we planned on getting some money out of our home that we own. We've been without a mortgage payment for 5 years now, been to WDW 5 times in those years, and I keep kicking myself for not buying in already. I'll head over to the Timeshare store and poke around....
Thanks again

 

[chicagoshannon]

Something else to consider, if your adult kids plan to use any of the perks you get make sure to put them on the contract or they won't qualify. We travel frequently with my parents so when we bought we made sure they were also on the contract so they could get the discounts as well.

 

[FatherForce]

Something else to consider, if your adult kids plan to use any of the perks you get make sure to put them on the contract or they won't qualify. We travel frequently with my parents so when we bought we made sure they were also on the contract so they could get the discounts as well.

Thanks! Great tip.

 

[CarolynFH]

Something else to consider, if your adult kids plan to use any of the perks you get make sure to put them on the contract or they won't qualify. We travel frequently with my parents so when we bought we made sure they were also on the contract so they could get the discounts as well.

Thanks! Great tip.

Just be aware that DVC counts as an asset for any and all owners listed on the deed - can be an issue in case of financial aid applications, divorce, etc.

 

[Dean Marino]

I'm going to encourage you to buy DIRECT.... but not the way the DVC Agents will tell you .

Background: DW and I are DVC owners (direct) at BRV. We have 300 points. We bought in at 270, in 2012. We bought 30 more points in 2018.

KEY: All DIRECT, all at a so-called "Sold out" Home DVC . Point? NOTHING IS TRULY SOLD OUT. DVC forecloses, exercises ROFR every day. ALL resorts tend to have contracts available. You might need to WAIT a bit... but NO Resort is "sold out".

So, there are a few major things to consider with DVC....

1) PLEASE do not finance the "buy in" . This is not a traditional timeshare... as you own no real property? NO BANK will Finance this. Disney will - at Credit Card rates .

2) PLEASE buy where you want to STAY. The value of your Home Resort 11 month booking window goes up every day. Not going to say that the "stay anywhere" promise is bogus.... but it's approaching bogus .

3) 300 points is likely going to be close to an initial $30-$40 K cash investment. That made sense, for DW and I, as we were/are a RETIRED couple. Kids through College, no Mortgage, no debt, and lousy Bank Interest Rates (1%) when we bought in. We made out like bandits... but that was just OUR Family.

4) RESALE can be good. Side perks are diminishing, but 75 DIRECT Points will get you a "Blue Card". At minimum - I would suggest that you get that "Blue Card".

5) Watch out for Riviera. This resort has a whole NEW DVC contract - and no one is totally sure of what that contract DOES, with regards to the other CLASSIC DVC Resorts.

I'm sure others will perk up, and give you their advice. For us? We are just a 67 year old Retired Couple. We have hit "break even" within 6 years ("breakeven" is that point where DVC + dues has hit parity at the Home Resort, vs DISCOUNTED Main Hotel Rooms). We calculate all of this assuming ZERO resale value for the initial contract. In our case? our contracts expire in 2042...