When did you add points?

[tom1944]

We are a first-time buyer with a trip coming in August. We purchased 180 points at SSR. Our resale contract came with 90 banked points so we had 270 for this trip. We will bank 2 points so we will have 182 points for August 2024. We have a week at BLT this trip.

We can take the exact same trip August 2024 if available at 7 months by borrowing 86 points from August 2025. If I do my calculation correctly, we will even have enough points for a trip August 2025 by borrowing from August 2026 points. Other acceptable resorts would be less points-most likely SSR, Kidani or BRV.

I would need to add points or skip a trip prior to August 2026.

While August trips are not my preference until my daughter leaves teaching that is what we will book. Our preference is January/February and that period is better for points than August.

While I want additional points, I also believe it makes sense to see how our trips pan out and waiting makes more sense than purchasing points at this moment.

I see there are some good deals on direct points now and while I think our next purchase will be direct. I am concerned about buying more right now.

I am interested in the experience of other DVC owners and the process you took in making an additional purchase. Was it immediate or did you wait until you had taken several trips?

Thanks

 

[Jayunit09]

Bought 150 direct in April 2022

Added on 50 points resale at Same resort/use year in February 2023. Wanted enough points for a 2 bedroom during NH school break every other year.

 

[Sandisw]

We bought resale so we could immediately do an add on with member incentives when we bought. BLT was just starting to sell and so we wanted in with less than the original 160..

But, I sold the resale contract within 6 months so I could then add on more at BLT....and that was just after our first ever stay! So, pretty quick!

 

[tom1944]

I did not buy resale to be able to buy direct with member incentives but I am glad we did resale first.

 

[LittleBitGoofy]

We closed on resale (BCV 200pts) in April '23. A few days before closing on that resale contract the APs returned and we had a pre-planned cash trip coming up in a few weeks so we quickly bought a direct contract (VGF 200 pts) in May '23 so we could swap our day tickets to APs and save a bundle on the upcoming DVC trips we had already planned.

Our resale came with an extra 400 pts ('21 & '22 UY). We rented out 200 pts and used the extra 200 pts to book exactly 400 pts worth of trips (3 separate visits) in our '23 UY. From that I saw we could easily use 400 pts in a year, so coupling that with the opportunity to go ahead and get our Sorcerer APs it was a simple choice (simple, but not easy - a lot of $$ in a short time).

If APs hadn't come back at that time before our trip we probably wouldn't have so quickly bought another contract and it might not have been direct. If APs had returned before we contracted on resale then maybe we would have just bought 150 at VGF and started there.

Short answer: Less than a month after closing on our first contract (resale) we doubled our pts with a second contract (direct).

I'm a spreadsheet/numbers guy. I projected our trips for the next three years to see what level of points use we could expect to do and that helped me figure out if it made sense.

 

[Bmramaut]

We bought resale in March 2023, purchased an add on direct at RIV a month later. Saved a ton not buying the full 150 direct from Disney (which was the minimum at the time) but still ended up with 150 points.

 

[Spinster Travel]

I bought my first contract (resale) with 120 Poly points to get started and then added on three months later direct with a 25 point OKW(e) contract. Then I added on another 35 point contract a year later which I did resale. It had been my intention to add 25 points on direct every 6-12 months, but that was before they skyrocketed the OKW direct cost. With Poly coming on board next year, there is a good chance that I'll sell my two smaller contracts to replace with Poly (depending on Poly being a new association or not).

 

[Nursemanit]

In hindsight- I would rather have bought all my points direct if this deal was around last summer I would have done 350 direct

 

[PalmettoPath]

I like your comment about seeing how it goes with what you have. That's what we did. After a few years we got a better sense of our usage patterns and then we made a decision about adding-on (how many and where), which we have done.

 

[Disney_escape]

We are a first-time buyer with a trip coming in August. We purchased 180 points at SSR. Our resale contract came with 90 banked points so we had 270 for this trip. We will bank 2 points so we will have 182 points for August 2024. We have a week at BLT this trip.

We added on about 1 year later, then again 1 year after that and just closed on another last week.
I grew up going to Disney about once a year (never staying on property, family couldn't afford it), luckily, we had family in Florida. As an adult we went with the kids about every 2-3 years as schedule/sports allowed, and where fortunate enough to stay on property. As my kid got into their older teens we found ourselves going more and bought DVC. Now that they are in college, we find we have much more time and do 3-4 trips a year (3-4 day weekend trips, and a one week with the kids), so the original 125 points has turned into 550, woops.
We have also found that now we do Disney different than before, we used to say we 'did Disney as a sport' and now it is more relaxing since we know we will be back soon.
A recommendation I saw a couple years ago makes a lot of sense, if you are buying a large number of points control the size of the contracts so that if your lifestyle/travel changes in the future you can dispose of the excess points. If buying direct easily done, and definitely doable in the resale market with a little extra time.

 

[SLThomas318]

We only bought 100 to start and quickly added on later the same year when we realized we wanted to stay in 1 bedrooms and take at least 2 trips a year. We were always borrowing so adding on made sense. I second the advice above... add on in smaller contracts so you can always downsize if needed. We always split our add-ons into 2 contracts so we can divide things between our 2 kids down the road if they want it and so that we can downsize if needed in the future.

 

[Her Dotness]

We only bought 100 to start and quickly added on later the same year when we realized we wanted to stay in 1 bedrooms and take at least 2 trips a year. We were always borrowing so adding on made sense.

Getting into that bank-borrow cycle can really be frustrating. I know from ugly experience.

That's why my general advice to anyone thinking of buying in is to wait until you can afford at least 25pts more than you absolutely need for the stay level and trip frequency you want to have.

That is, if you go annually and want a studio, buy 25 more than you'll need to stay in your preferred home resort's studios. Reason why is that points can be reallocated from year to year. We bought the VGF minimum and had to add on a couple years later when we couldn't even get a studio there when we like to go without remaining locked in the every other year bank-borrow thing.

Also, and I speak from ignorant experience, DO NOT use those prior year/current year points you may have upon buying in to book a 1br for your first DVC stay. You will be immediately spoiled and will then realize how dumb you were not to have waited until you could buy enough points for the 1br+ levels and the pricey views.

Granted, a view isn't a big deal for most people. They can easily live without that preferred room or lagoon view. Even so, a nicer-than-standard view can be something you realize you'd enjoy more than you thought you would. Theme park view at VGF, for instance? As in watching fireworks from your balcony!

Also consider accessibility needs family members may have or may soon have when the arthritis worsens, for instance. DH needs a particular type of handicap accessible room that often is available only with lake view at VGF, costing us somewhat more points.

Oh, the things you don't know that will bite in a few short years!

 

[SLThomas318]

Getting into that bank-borrow cycle can really be frustrating. I know from ugly experience.

That's why my general advice to anyone thinking of buying in is to wait until you can afford at least 25pts more than you absolutely need for the stay level and trip frequency you want to have.

That is, if you go annually and want a studio, buy 25 more than you'll need to stay in your preferred home resort's studios. Reason why is that points can be reallocated from year to year. We bought the VGF minimum and had to add on a couple years later when we couldn't even get a studio there when we like to go without remaining locked in the every other year bank-borrow thing.

Also, and I speak from ignorant experience, DO NOT use those prior year/current year points you may have upon buying in to book a 1br for your first DVC stay. You will be immediately spoiled and will then realize how dumb you were not to have waited until you could buy enough points for the 1br+ levels and the pricey views.

Granted, a view isn't a big deal for most people. They can easily live without that preferred room or lagoon view. Even so, a nicer-than-standard view can be something you realize you'd enjoy more than you thought you would. Theme park view at VGF, for instance? As in watching fireworks from your balcony!

Also consider accessibility needs family members may have or may soon have when the arthritis worsens, for instance. DH needs a particular type of handicap accessible room that often is available only with lake view at VGF, costing us somewhat more points.

Oh, the things you don't know that will bite in a few short years!

Yes! We bought in about a month prior to a hotel stay so I stalked to try and swap out the hotel stay for points… ended up in a 1 bedroom and didn’t want to go back to the studio after that!

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

Our initial buy-in was 2 parts: resale + small direct immediately after closing. We thought that would be it. We were in a heavily borrowed position, so we added on ~a year & a half later. Every subsequent add-on has been 6-12 months later. We’ve accumulated over 1000 points across 6 resorts, and I’m still looking for another contract (it’s been ~15 months since our last purchase). My hubby thinks we’ve got enough points now, but I know how many we truly use (last UY we burned through over 1700 points )… so, we’ll see. TBH, we probably do have enough points at this stage in life, but I’d like to find out how many points it would take to finally get me into a banking situation & we’re definitely not there yet!!!

 

[Her Dotness]

Even with only two of us, the spaciousness of the 1br is sooooo much nicer. And that fully equipped kitchen is lovely, although about all we do is buy ice cream to have in the room and make tea or coffee. The in-villa washer-dryer us tremendously convenient, too.

I often wake up in the wee small hours and can't get back to sleep. I can go out to the living room and read, sort my Disney pins, watch tv, etc. without waking DH.

We feel so cramped in a studio that I can't envision how a family with the maximum in a studio manages to cope. There'd be people and their stuff everywhere.

 

[StoweFoSho]

I am interested in the experience of other DVC owners and the process you took in making an additional purchase. Was it immediate or did you wait until you had taken several trips?

Prior to DVC we either stayed off property or at a value resort like Pop Century. We purchased only 100 resale at the Poly at first to dip our toes into the DVC waters, thankfully ours came with banked points that helped us feel like we had more to begin with. We had already rented some points for our next trip at OKW before making an offer so we didn’t use any right away. Then COVID took out our first trip booked with points, so we were all banked-up when it came time to book a first trip on our own points.

We added on with 150 direct points at the Riviera just over two years after purchasing our first direct contract because we wanted direct and we added a third kiddo to the mix. Riviera and Poly gave us both a Monorail resort and a Skyliner resort. It did take some convincing to get my wife comfortable with spending the direct points money for 150 compared to what we spent on the 100 resale. Thankfully, they opened up AP sales to buy a Gold AP for about $50 more than tickets we had- just in time for us to save about $2200 to take some of the sting off of the direct purchase.

The next trip we ended up bringing my parents and spending a few more points, but had a great time and it solidified what and where we wanted with DVC. We also loved being AP holders again and so we were taking more trips. We added on 130 more Poly last year to prep for when kiddos are needing more space, and we just went under contract for 120 more at SSR for some sleep around points because we are going multiple times per year.

We will have 500 when we close on the SSR. We plan to bank and rent out anything that we aren’t using to cover our dues.

If you’re just going once per year, I would say hold off on purchasing more unless you really need home resort priority somewhere. The current incentives on VGF and RIV are enticing right now, but I still went with a smaller resale contract because I didn’t want to spend that much when I already have two resorts with good priority.

 

[macman123]

I went from 0-4000 points in less than 3 years........!

I own at BLT, PVB, RIV, VGF1 and 2, AUL, SSR

Cant stop the addiction

 

[RuntheMouse]

We purchased our first resale contract in January of this year. The deals were so good we ended up buying more one each in February, March and April. We already had annual passes and had a good conversation about how much we really go to WDW. We decided that doing our stays partially on DVC and partially cash wasn’t going to cut it for us so we bought enough to cover all our trips. We are at 425 points now and will add more but this covers us for now. We figure we’ll have a good idea in a few years what our ”forever” needs will be.

 

[E2ME2]

We are a first-time buyer with a trip coming in August. We purchased 180 points at SSR. Our resale contract came with 90 banked points so we had 270 for this trip. We will bank 2 points so we will have 182 points for August 2024. We have a week at BLT this trip.

We can take the exact same trip August 2024 if available at 7 months by borrowing 86 points from August 2025. If I do my calculation correctly, we will even have enough points for a trip August 2025 by borrowing from August 2026 points. Other acceptable resorts would be less points-most likely SSR, Kidani or BRV.

I would need to add points or skip a trip prior to August 2026.

While August trips are not my preference until my daughter leaves teaching that is what we will book. Our preference is January/February and that period is better for points than August.

While I want additional points, I also believe it makes sense to see how our trips pan out and waiting makes more sense than purchasing points at this moment.

I see there are some good deals on direct points now and while I think our next purchase will be direct. I am concerned about buying more right now.

I am interested in the experience of other DVC owners and the process you took in making an additional purchase. Was it immediate or did you wait until you had taken several trips?

Thanks

We were unaware of the DVC history & the resale market when we first bought (210-SSR-Direct in 2011 at $99/Point)
We were empty-nesters then, and were really looking for ways to spend time in Florida on our winter vacations. We spent the first 7 - 8 tears vacationing in 1BRs, and twice in a 2BR when one of our kids & their spouse would join us. Then as we got closer to retirement we though about leveraging the DVC as our yearly winter get away, and started adding points and staying in Studios. We added another 40 points at SSR - Direct in 2018.
When COVID hit, I was within a year of my retirement date, and had been perusing the resales when the bottom fell out, and we added on at SSR, BCV, & AKV at some historically low prices. We were managing those points well, and thought we might pick & choose a few more add-ons, when we decided to add on a small Direct purchase at AKV to get us 2 weeks there each year. (We did this while in AKV in Jan 2023) Then, immediately after that, we realized that the ROFR lady had gone missing, so we just added on a fully loaded BWV contract !
So - we went 8 years with 210 points, a few more at 250, then within the last 3 years we've gotten up to 920, and are using them to SnowBird!
We had the opposite experience of some who got spoiled in the 1BRs - - we saw them as a lot of unnecessary space for just the two of us, and we can vacation twice as long in a Studio!
All the DVC resorts have nice laundry areas, so we don't really need the 1BRs.

 

[DonnerB]

I own with my sister. We started with 100 direct points in May 2018 (CCV). Between our welcome home trip in a CCV studio and a trip to Aulani in a 2 BR, she was diagnosed with Celiac disease. We realized the full kitchen was going to become more important (plus laundry!), and added on 100 resale points in December 2020 when the market had dropped pretty well. I've since added on a small 60 point resale at Grand Californian (I'm LA local).

We travel mostly with our retired parents (who have 150 SSR points of their own), neither of us have kids, and we both have rather generous and flexible vacation schedules at work. So we haven't been limited on when to travel. We've crammed four adults in studios for a couple of days, and put 5 adults in a Grand Villa for an amazing trip to Hilton Head. I'd pick up a few more Grand Cal points if the right contract pops up, and we'd also consider a smaller Boardwalk resale because we love it there so much. As you can see...we have DVC lifestyle creep . Don't need more points, but know we'd fully enjoy using any we add on in the future. You'll get a feel for whether you need more points pretty quickly!