How Many Disney Vacation Club Points Do You Need?
We’ve received a lot of emails from prospective Disney Vacation Club members, and by far the most common question in those is, “how many Disney Vacation Club points do I need?” Putting aside the tongue-in-cheek “zero” answer since no one really “needs” Disney Vacation Club points, this is a really difficult question for us to answer without knowing a lot more about the person asking it.
Instead of picking a number that would end up being arbitrary for at least 75% of you based on our circumstances, here are the variables we think you should consider when determining how many Disney Vacation Club points to purchase, along with some additional insight and analysis. We’re pretty cautious when it comes to these things and we also approach Disney Vacation Club primarily from the perspective of value rather than convenience or quality of life, so your mileage may vary on all of this.
Consider this article a companion piece to our Disney Vacation Club Buying Guide. That Guide has been one of the most popular articles on our blog (and we’ve updated it a few times since originally posting it), and reading that is sort of a pre-requisite to reading this, as much of what’s there is assumed in this post. For instance, we don’t explicitly mention it here, but this article assumes you’re purchasing via resale (well, now we explicitly mentioned it!), which is the smart thing to do, and gives you ability to purchase fewer points than Disney’s minimum.
Other things are assumed as well, and if you’re thinking about buying into Disney Vacation Club, it’s a good read. This post also assumes that you’re going to buy Disney Vacation Club in the first place. While we are members, Disney Vacation Club is not a good option for everyone. Don’t just assume it’s going to be great for you–read and do the math.
With that said, here are some of the things you should consider before determining how many Disney Vacation Club points you should buy…
How Frequently Do You Visit Walt Disney World?
When you first sit down with a Disney Vacation Club Guide, they will tout Disney Vacation Club as the ultimate vacation solution, a membership that will allow you to vacation at thousands of destinations around the world without worrying about accommodations.
The fact of the matter is that the only pragmatic use of Disney Vacation Club points is on Disney Vacation Club accommodations, most of which are at Walt Disney World. (Yeah, we know there are Disney Vacation Club resorts in Hawaii, California, Hilton Head, and Vero Beach). You can certainly use your points at non-DVC resorts, but in virtually every single one of those situations, you’re better off paying for those hotels out of pocket. We cover the reasons why in our Disney Vacation Club Buying Guide, but this is irrefutable fact.
That’s something to let sink in. In order to get actual value out of Disney Vacation Club, you have to use it at the Walt Disney World Disney Vacation Club resorts, and the handful of other DVC resorts that are out there. When determining how many Disney Vacation Club points you need, we highly recommend not approaching it from the perspective that if you want to visit some international destination or go on a cruise, you can always put your points to good use that way. Yes, you can put them to use that way. No, you won’t be putting them to “good” use.
So, how frequently will you use your points at those resorts, most of which are at Walt Disney World?
What’s Your Average Length of Stay?
This variable and the next one are pretty obvious, so I’m not going to waste too much time on them. Average length of stay is largely self-explanatory, but it also contemplates how that stay is broken up. If you visit 6 days per year, but those are all weekend nights, you’re going to need more points than someone who stays 8 days per year all on weeknights.
A second part of this is when do you visit? If your family tradition is an Easter visit, you will need to purchase more points than someone who likes to visit in mid-January. In fact, you’re going to need about double the points.
What Type of Accommodations?
Pretty self-explanatory. Do you have a particular Disney Vacation Club resort at which you must stay? (If so, you need to buy there as your home resort.) Are you flexible on accommodations, not minding a mix of different Disney Vacation Club resorts?
Do you primarily want Studio, 1-Bedroom, 2-Bedroom, or Grand Villa accommodations? What about view and other categories? Will you always want the same type of room? Will you want to do occasional trips where you take the whole family and stay in a Grand Villa? Will you want the occasional couples’ getaway in a studio?
It might help while considering these variables to use a Disney Vacation Club point calculator or look at a point chart so you have an idea of what’s realistic.
How Will Your Circumstances Change?
Do you have kids now? Will you have kids in the future? Will you be empty nesters in the future? Do you like taking advantage of the “free” dining promotion or pin codes? Will you get a part-time job as a monorail pilot at Walt Disney World when you retire? Will you want to take a break from Walt Disney World to see the world? Will Disney build a super-rad Disney Vacation Club resort in West Virginia? Will your kids go into the College Program?
The above are just a handful of questions, many of which you can’t possibly answer now, but all of which would be changed circumstances that might lead to you “needing” more or less Disney Vacation Club points. The presence or absence of kids is a big one most people probably consider, but have you thought about the others?
If you or someone you know works as a Cast Member, that gives you access to discounts and special offers almost all of which are better deals than Disney Vacation Club. If you’re a free dining fan, you might not want to miss out on that. If Disney builds a Disney Vacation Club resort in West Virginia, obviously you’re going to need all of the points you can get.
These examples are really just for the sake of illustrating the point that your circumstances today aren’t a good proxy for how many points you’ll need in the future. Disney Vacation Club is a long-term commitment, and the break-even point is a long way down the road (unless you do fuzzy math that doesn’t account for maintenance fees or the time value of money).
How Few Points Can You Get By With?
We wholly reject the common advice that it’s better to have too many points than too few. If you’re approaching Disney Vacation Club from a value perspective, that doesn’t even begin to make sense. (And if you’re not, just buy the maximum number of points you can afford–after all, if it’s not a matter of value, why not just buy as many as possible?)
A common refrain we hear from owners is that they wish they would have bought more points initially (and many do add on), but many owners don’t get enough use out of their vacation. You can always add on more points, you cannot get money back for points you find yourself not using. Because of this, our mantra when it comes to buying Disney Vacation Club point is, “how few points can you get by with?”
Granted, there’s a transaction cost to adding on points, but you’re still much better off buying 50 more points via resale than you are buying 220 points to start and later finding out that you only needed 120. We think you’re better off playing it conservative with your initial buy, and adding on points if necessary once you have your feet wet and have a better handle on how you’ll use the membership. (You should get your feet wet before you even buy, and we highly recommend doing this by renting Disney Vacation Club points to make sure it’s right for you, so you don’t make an expensive mistake.)
To that end, if you’re unsure if the number you’ve arrived at based on the above factors is right for you, our advice is to purchase half as many points as you “need.” Planning for vacations decades in advance is downright impossible, and this strategy gives you the best of both worlds. You have the Disney Vacation Club membership and its perks, plus the ability to use it to book rooms when necessary, but you also (in the immediate future at least) don’t have as many points as you “need,” allowing you to take advantages of good promotions (like the “Free” Disney Dining Plan) or vacation elsewhere if you want a change of pace.
This strategy isn’t going to be ideal for everyone. If a big part of Disney Vacation Club for you is getting good value for your money, we recommend you embrace this. If Disney Vacation Club is more about convenience for you rather than value, you might just want to purchase as many points as you currently “need.”
I Don’t Want to Think…What Do You Recommend?
Letting someone else do the work and not thinking is the American way! Here, let’s assume we’re figuring this out for a family of 4 that wants 1-bedroom units for a week each year, with no preference as to resort or time of visit. This family is full of die-hard, 3rd generation Disney fans that never plans on vacationing elsewhere and doesn’t want to hassle with booking stays out of pocket. This family would need a minimum of 222 points to be guaranteed accommodations at Old Key West in Magic Season, which is the second highest season.
We think this is a good starting point for the decision. We chose Magic Season as the season to consider for these “travel anytime” folks to allow them to visit whenever. No, they won’t be able to visit during Dream Season, but that’s only Easter week and the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, and they’d have to be crazy to visit then. We chose Old Key West as our benchmark resort as Old Key West is pretty easy to book, and if these people want to play it safe, having enough points to book at Old Key West is a smart bet.
These folks are the conservative example. If we were calling the shots in that family, we’d get around 100 points. With only 100 points, the family definitely wouldn’t be able to do a 7-day stay in a 1-bedroom unit once per year, but they’d definitely have enough points to do it every other year by banking and/or borrowing, or they could use points for weekdays, pay out of pocket for weekends, etc. Plus, this allows them more flexibility in changing over time. As the kids get older and get out on their own, the parents can do weekend trips for Food & Wine Festival and adjust their traveling. They aren’t quite as locked into Disney if their habits change, but they still have enough points to get a lot of use out of Disney Vacation Club.
Overall, how many Disney Vacation Club points you need to buy is a personal decision that depends on a variety of factors. No one can tell you how many you need, and even though Disney Vacation Club guides are low-pressure relative to other timeshare salespeople, it’s important to remember that their job still is to sell you points, and some will try to sell you as many points as they can, not how many you actually need. Most are very helpful and will make great recommendations, but you ultimately are the one who has to live with your Disney Vacation Club purchase.
Rather than just taking their word as the gospel, give serious thought to how many points you really need. We recommend purchasing “as few points as you can get by with,” but this advice may not work for everyone. By following this advice, some of you may find you need 0 points and some of you may still need 500. We’re not suggesting a small amount of points for everyone (buying a very large allotment of points is going to be the right decision for some people), just a conservative number relative to how many you think you need. At the very least, hopefully this article gives you some good food for thought in considering how many points to buy!
If you’re thinking about joining DVC, be sure to read our Ultimate Guide to Disney Vacation Club. This covers the pros & cons, resale v. direct, how much money you’ll save, and other important things to know before taking the plunge. If you still can’t decide whether membership is right for you, “try before you buy” with the recommendations in How to Save BIG on Deluxe Disney Accommodations Renting DVC Points.
Your Thoughts…
How many Disney Vacation Club points do you own? How many do you recommend others start by purchasing? If you’re considering buying into Disney Vacation Club, how many points do you think you’ll buy? It would be great to get some actual numbers from others, so please share in the comments!
We purchased 174 points in the early 90’s. Our family uses these points every three years. We bank and borrow to get a two bedroom villa. This trip we stayed 5 nights at the boardwalk villas. Then we transferred to a two bedroom at the Grand Floridian Villas for 3 nights. Love both of the Villas. Have sprayed up to 10 nights depending on the season. Hope this helps someone.
We are a young family of 6! We have a 7,5,2 and 4mths old. We live in Australia so when we make the ‘big’ trip we do it for 14 to 21 days. We like to stay in delux accomodations so we generally spend around $18000/20000, obviously due to the distance and the cost we can only do it every 3 years or so. We were thinking that because we spend so much for our stay becoming a DVC member wound make sense as every 3 yrs we would have enough points to get two rooms or a 2 bedroom villa, but then again we would need heaps of points! What would you do in our circumstances?
There is definately a great deal to find out about this issue.
I really like all of the points you have made.
Also off season most likely late January
Can someone recommend how many points my wife and I would need for 2 week stay at GFV for one bedroom. We have no plans to share our points or take others.
I am getting very worried! I bought 300 points in 2011. We are in Villas at Grand Ca but we have never stayed there – too expensive. I had figured out that I could stay at the cheapest resort at the cheapest time for 6 weeks a year. With the 2016 points, I can only stay at the cheapest place at the cheapest time for 3 weeks! I was told that my points would always have the same buying power – somewhere. Well they don’t. I have had wonderful vacations but it is getting increasingly difficult to book vacations as well. It causes a lot of stress trying to jump from resort to resort in WDW every day to stay in DVC on shorter notice. I am getting very worried that what I thought would be enough point for 50 years will only be good for a few more years before I will only get a few days a year. Any comments?
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One consideration that I do not hear enough about is the maintenance fee. Annual dues are about $6/point, so if I have 200 points, my annual fee is $1200. My 200 points would pay for 6 days in a one bed room villa at Animal Kingdom in the “Magic” (second most valuable) season. If I paid $1200/year to stay somewhere 6 days then I am looking at an out of pocket cost of $200/day, (without maid service by the way) and that doesnt even address the capitol outlay for the points. I can stay in a lot of nice hotels off campus for $200/day.
We just bought points at GF this week, I am so excited but have a TON of questions. We started with 100 basically to get into GF and b/c we wanted to pay cash. I intend to buy more points very soon, probably 69 to make it enough for a higher season weekly stay. Is it a requirement that I buy points IN the GF to stay weekly down the road. For instance, we have 100 its at GF, if they sell out soon and I miss another buying option and I buy 69 in Aulani can I use my 169 total DVC points to stay at GF for a week or basically do I have 100 points in GF days and 69 in Aulani days? not sure if I am clear on my question but I have asked our salesman and I kind of feel like I’m not getting a straight answer and I have googled it like mad and haven’t found a specific answer for this question. Thanks
You can use your 169 total points at ANY Disney Vacation Club resort. The key difference is that you can use 100 of those points to book up to 11 months in advance and 69 of those points 11 months in advance at Aulani. For general “anywhere” use at resorts other than those, you can book up to 7 months in advance.
Hope that helps! 🙂
I’m from England and we seriously contemplated the DVC 4 years ago. We go every year four 2 weeks, deluxe but we decided against the DVC after taking into consideration the yearly maintenence fee and then the cost of flights. It actually worked out a little worse because we would have had to buy the dining plan seperate too. I do however think it is probably worth it if you live in Florida or within a short 2-3 hours flight.
You also have the benefit of being offered the UK discounts to Walt Disney World, which are significantly better than the discounts offered to US citizens. You probably made the right call!
My wife and I have 60 points, bought from Disney. I have never heard of anyone buying that few points direct, but for whatever reason, Disney let us do it (they were willing to go as low as 50). But, we had special circumstances … it’s just my wife and I, we are on the west coast and have limited vacation time, we have no plans to ever have kids, so we’ll always stay in studios, and we were paying cash.
What good is 60 points? Well in two years we have stayed at Aulani for five nights, the Grand Californian for four, and we’ll be at the Beach Club next year for a week (if we can get it, we’re booked at SSR, our home resort, right now). When we bought the points, we expected to get one week every two years, and so far, that’s what we’re getting.
So my recommendation for anyone would be to buy as FEW points as you can, until you understand how you’re going to use them. The biggest mistake anyone makes buying a timeshare is to get too much, too soon, and then not use it. With 60 points, we’re not out much if we lose a few points or so due to bad planning or misfortune, but we do need to plan ahead to make it work for us. So far, it’s worked wonderfully.
The best part is that we’ll break even on our next trip. Then, we’ll consider whether or not we want to buy more points, but odds are, 60 will be fine for us for the foreseeable future.
Great, great points. Totally agree with you…as you can probably guess based on the article! 🙂
I just purchased 50 points yesterday at VGF and wondered if I made a mistake. I figured I’d keep it as my home resort but use them at AKL or BWV. I’m glad to hear that 60 has worked weel for you because I was really second guessing myself. 🙂
I’m going to try and buy another 50 points next year when some money is freed up.
Well, the wife and I are retired (over 65) Disneyheads. We live in Northern Illinois, so we can’t just run down to Orlando for a weekend of fun with Mickey and the gang whenever we want. For some strange reason, in 2003 we sat through the DVC presentation and ended up hooked on the concept and bought into the “system” with 220 points. After only a year, we discovered that 220 points was not enough so we added 50 more points, and that was not enough. So, here we are in 2013 with 420 points and we still find ourselves borrowing from the next year. Yikes!
For us, we like to take down family and friends to enjoy our Mickey experiences with us. After taking my sister down a couple times, she bought into the system herself, so I have added extra change to Mickey’s pockets. He should thank me.
When I bought in, our home resort was/is Saratoga Springs at $85/point. When we added on, we were lucky to still get our points at $85. Looking at the prices now at the new resorts – $150+ per point, I feel fortunate that I have so many cheaper points that I can use to stay at the higher rent places like Bay Lake Tower and Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Resort. Sure, I have to wait until 7 months before the trip to book, but being retired, we can travel during the off-season when the crowds are not so bad and we have not had any trouble getting into any resort we wanted most of the time. We like all the DVC resorts, so if we can’t get into one, there are others to pick from. Our home resort, Saratoga Springs is really too far from our favorite park, Epcot, so we tend to stay over at the Boardwalk a lot and if we can’t get in there, there is the Beach Club or Bay Lake Tower with it’s access to Magic Kingdom and the monorail over to Epcot.
Anyway, I said 420 points is still not enough and you wonder why? We have a 42 year old son and 40 year old daughter and 3 grandkids from 18 to 8 years old. When we take them down, we have to get a 3 bedroom place, so that means lots of points. We don’t take them down every year because it is too expensive as we tend to have to help them pay for the trip, plus we have to take them when school is out or on holiday and that means the busy time of year when we don’t like to go. The years we don’t take them down, we have friends we like to knock around with, and so we have had as many as 11 adults with us at times. That’s another big hit on the points bank. We have had a blast in a grand villa at Bay Lake Tower with our friends but that cost us a big borrowing year and we are still trying to catch up. The last few times down, it has just been the wife and I so we can stay in a studio and build our point bank up again. This coming March we have a studio at the Boardwalk for the first week of the Epcot Flower and Garden show – less crowds the first week and the weather is pretty nice. After that, it will be the Epcot Food & Wine Festival in the late part of October when the weather is normally cooler and the kids are in school. So, for our DVC points, we like to go twice a year for 7 days each time. We buy annual park hopper passes so we can always get in the parks whenever we do get down there. DVC members get a nice price break on season passes.
For the way we live and play, 420 points is the place we stopped buying. The maintenance fees and taxes are over $1800 per year on this number of points and that has kept me from buying any more. We can work around this number of points by adjusting how many people we invite down with us. I do not regret buying this many points and we purchased these directly from DVC and not a reseller. I have been burned a few times during my life by taking the cheap way to do something and it backfired on me when there was a problem and the middleman disappeared and left me high and dry. So, I just deal directly with a service provider so there is no chance of finger pointing. Yes, it costs me more, but the peace of mind is worth the extra cost to me. That is just the way I operate.
We just got back from the end of the Epcot Food & Wine Festival in early November and already dreaming about the March trip coming up. I can already feel Mickey’s hands on my billfold or rifling in my pockets looking for spare change. We are typical tourists when we go down there, buying all the Mickey “made in China” overpriced clothes, trinkets, doodads, toys, etc. that we end up giving as gifts to others for Christmas and birthdays or just because. As long as we can afford it and have the health to travel down there, Mickey will have a steady stream of bucks in his piggy bank from our family for years to come. But we will not be buying any more points. The kids can split the 420 points we will them and do what they want. We will have certainly gotten our money’s worth out of these points and I hope the kids will take advantage of them when we are gone. After 10 years of ownership, we still have 40 more years to go with these points and that would put me at 107 years old. I can only dream that I will still be able to hang out with Mickey if I make it to 107. You never know.
While 420 points is more than I can imagine having for us, the “for us” part of that sentence is key. Everyone is different. I totally understand where you’re coming from, and if 420 points is what you need and want, more power to you!
I can understand your apprehension about buying via resellers, it’s not like “used” DVC contracts are like used cars or other second-hand products. It’s the same thing (well, with the exception of the clear restrictions), as the nature of this used product can’t really change. Just something to think about if you ever find yourself craving more points and not wanting to pay those high prices directly from Disney! 🙂
We’re up to 500 now, after we bought into Vero Beach. Like Rockster, we go thru our points by sharing them with family and friends.
You “might” want to consider adding on @ VB. We stayed there over a year ago just to relax and do the un-Disney Disney thing. After seeing the Cottage, we added 100 points to our membership. And the points were inexpensive considering the new places, tho the annual dues/maintenance were higher.
We took the family down this past Nov, and everybody loved spending 3 nights there. Relaxed environment. By the beach. Sunrises with the waves crashing in the background. It was a nice ending to our Disney stay (after 4 nights in WDW OKW Grand Villa). Even my 83 yr old Dad enjoyed hanging out by the pool and reading.
Btw – on that trip, we stayed a night at Hilton Head. Another Disney gem. If we find ourselves with some extra $$$ …
I love your info here. I was curious for the 420 points and $1,800 per year fees How often can you go per year with your family in a 2/3 bedroom resort?
Our answer is that we never have enough. We purchased through resale into BCV about 7 years ago. We have added on to our BCV contract and then purchased Hilton Head to be able to book in the summer. Since I am a financial analyst at heart, I could not justify the cost of the initial purchase. However, it is not a decision I regret at all. We bought enough points to book a 2 bedroom every year for 5 nights. We usually go down early and stay offsite for the first 2 nights. We invite family or friends to go with every year and we have had amazing trips full of wonderful memories.
We are a couple with married children and grandchildren and bought 160 pts thru Disney with Animal Kingdom as our home resort about 6 yrs ago. We spend a week in February there every year. We added 60pts to AKL so that now we can get a week in a studio for two years and a 2-BR every third year so my son or daughter’s family can join us. We really like getting away from the Indianapolis winter, so even when the grandkids stop wanting to come every few years, we will keep going, maybe for longer trips.
My wife, 14 y/o daughter and I purchased 210 points, with Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge as our home resort, in 2008. We have visited Disneyland, Walt Disney World twice (including a 10 day stay at The Beach Club) and treated our family (9 people, 3 rooms) to a 5 day stay in Nashville, TN thru RCI. We love DVC and our points more than meet our vacation needs.
We are just finishing our first stay using our DVC points. We have 225 points that we purchased direct with Disney with Aulani as our home resort and we have 100 points purchased resale for the Grand Californian. We are currently finishing a five night stay in the VGC and I have to say that it was spectacular. We have always stayed in a regular room at the Grand Californian and now that we have been in the villas we will never go back. We are a family of four with a five and seven year old and have been coming to Disneyland for the last four years, we took the “plunge” last year first buying the direct Aulani points and then a few months later buying the resale. Our plan is to go to trade off years between Aulani and Disneyland. The space is great and the closeness to the park is great. It was one of the best purchases that we have made and are very excited for many many years of DVC ahead!!
DVC rarely makes financial sense for the vast majority of people. It doesn’t make much common sense either since predicting where and how you want to vacation 20+ years in the future is impossible- there are too many variables at play. There are tons of options (renting points, values, moderates, off-site, split stay, pin codes etc.) outside of DVC that offer flexibility and affordability without the long term commitment.
Also- BCV, BLT, WLV, GFV, and BWV are often booked up and getting 7 nights consecutively in the room type you desire is incredibly difficult. SSR and OKW are simply not worth the $$ for the experience they offer in my opinion.
As to it making financial sense, there are plenty of ways to make DVC work for you, it just depends on how you use it to your advantage. You are right, though, for a lot of people, it doesn’t make financial sense. They either don’t care, or don’t know that.
The great thing about Disney Vacation Club is that it holds its value. We could sell our contract today for more than we paid for it 4 years ago, and that’s even factoring in the transaction costs! ALL of our maintenance fees are offset by the money we save each year on Annual Passes, so those are basically a non-factor, too. That’s unprecedented for a timeshare, and that’s a great advantage if you ever find your habits changing and DVC is no longer for you.
Other places can be difficult to book, but we’ve managed to get several them (only BWV for 7 days–but that’s only because we normally don’t vacation for that long). Just as a lot of the advantages of DVC are overhyped, I think a lot of the downsides are overhyped. It’s not as hard to book as people make it out to be…you just have to know what you’re doing!
There you go again with your balanced and well informed perspective =). I will say it is absolutely unreal how Disney is able to maintain such incredible value even after our economy has been shattered to the point that you can get a week of a Wyndham timeshare for $200 in closing costs costs on eBay. Meanwhile Disney commands prices that continue to rise even on the resale and rental market. One thing it has done for the grand Floridian and will later do for the poly is allow you to stay there for significantly less than $300 a night with rented points.
Tom
Your absolutely right about knowing what your doing! I know this was the best investment I made 12 years ago. I have enough points to rent my time share and that helps pays my vacations!
I think you are spot on with your recommendations. We have 120 points at SSR that we bought through resale. We are a younger family of four and It’s enough points for us to get a 1 bedroom every other year with a few extra to stay 2-3 nights in a studio. We usually do a ten day trip every few years. We travel in January and have not had trouble getting a week at the Beach Club twice, we have also stayed at Animal Kingdom Villas and this coming trip we are doing a split stay between the Beach Club and Grand Floridian. We did not buy our points to use anywhere but at a DVC resort and after this stay our third our membership will more than have payed for itself.
When taking the plunge last week our guide actually recommending purchasing fewer points than we voiced our opinion on needing with the same explanation of the ability to add on later if we need to, so some guides do act in the best interest of us, the consumer. we were surprised to hear what he said but in the end it made us feel he was genuine and really looking out for our best interest. We went over the sanerios of when and how much ( we are already owners for over 10 years now so he was just complimenting the facts we already knew) and said to start you should be “here” in points.
One thing that I believe you have left out too, though I have not had a chance to read the entire article is that although you cover the seasons you seem not to mention 2 aspects of this concept.
1. The seasons are changing for DVC every year and more and more we are seeing the choice and high seasons contain more dates.
2. With this season crunching, all across the board is point inflation. More frequently than previous years point per night is on the rise across all seasons, at a unprecedented pace.
These 2 are the reason we need more points and grabbed the Grand ….200 points just doesn’t cut it for a family anymore..
it will be sooner rather than later where 200 points wont even get you a studio in the value season for a week.
So go against your do not over purchase because in this day and age a member needs to plan for their next 5+ years of visits and think how much could that studio cost me then, you cannot live in the present with DVC, you always have to think ahead.
And just adding on later causes a whole nother set of annual dues/a new contract and hopefully, you can get the same use year IF its available, just buy them at the initial process and you don’t have to worry about such things
Just my .02
The total number of points can’t change for a resort in a given year. So if Disney raises the point requirement in one season, they have to decrease another season by the same amount.
There’s no “point inflation.” You could get stuck with not enough points if your annual trip is changed from one season to another. But point requirements won’t just go up over the course of the contract.
Disney has, however, priced point values at newer resorts (BLT, VGF) higher than the older resorts.
Missy below is correct–your points cannot be diluted, only shifted within a year.
That’s GREAT to hear about your guide. We have encountered a couple of guides like that, but we’ve also encountered 2 who definitely were the type who tried to make the sale without regard for actual needs. In college, while we were considering purchasing DVC, we made a lot of visits to the “Doorway to Dreams” store in Chicago (now closed) and attended several presentations. Most were definitely good as far as pressure went (especially relative to other timeshare salespeople), but I think it’s still good to take a step back and think for yourself rather than just relying on them.
Thanks for the comment!
You’re right that this is a very hard question to answer, and is very personal to who is considering buying in. Ultimately, the friends and family we know who buy DVC end up vacationing to WDW more often than they did before. I think one of the most important steps is visiting all the DVC properties and really thinking about where you’d like to stay, as points vary so much. We bought 200 points because it was about what a week at SSR in a 1-Bedroom would cost in the seasons we’d visit. It wasn’t a scientific process, but now we just plan our vacations by what 200 points will get us in a year. Admittedly, many years we’ve had to supplement with cash rooms. I think that just means we should vacation less 😉