When did you add points?

[BL2020]

Pre DVC - During our family trips (2 kids) usually stayed at Swan/Dolphin using Marriott/Bonvoy points plus the educator's discount. Still like those hotels and find them reasonable and great location. We also rented points a few times at BCV and BWV.

First DVC - Summer 2020 during COVID resale prices were pretty low so decided to take the plunge and got a good deal on150 pt BLT resale. I would have preferred an EPCOT resort but couldn't justify the short time window. By this time we were empty nesters, but our kids still like disney so we planned to share the points with them. Didn't get to use our points till fall 2022, late booking split stay between BWV, SS and AKL, all great, but still haven't been to home resort.

Next DVC - Signed contract this morning for 150 Direct VGF and immediately bought annual passes for DH and myself (my big fear is that annual pass sales would halt again). The multiple incentives really brought the price down close to what we had paid for resale in 2020. I think we will make up the difference in just a few years with the annual pass discount. Putting my kids on this contract so they can benefit from the discounts too, trips planned for BLT for family in sept (studio) and feb (one bedroom). Not as thrilled with the point charts at VGF, but DH and DD are really excited about the resort and I'm excited about the lack of resale restrictions and being able to reserve at the newer resorts as a direct purchaser.

Total 300 points, hoping we're good!

 

[MartyParty]

Pre DVC - During our family trips (2 kids) usually stayed at Swan/Dolphin using Marriott/Bonvoy points plus the educator's discount. Still like those hotels and find them reasonable and great location. We also rented points a few times at BCV and BWV.

First DVC - Summer 2020 during COVID resale prices were pretty low so decided to take the plunge and got a good deal on150 pt BLT resale. I would have preferred an EPCOT resort but couldn't justify the short time window. By this time we were empty nesters, but our kids still like disney so we planned to share the points with them. Didn't get to use our points till fall 2022, late booking split stay between BWV, SS and AKL, all great, but still haven't been to home resort.

Next DVC - Signed contract this morning for 150 Direct VGF and immediately bought annual passes for DH and myself (my big fear is that annual pass sales would halt again). The multiple incentives really brought the price down close to what we had paid for resale in 2020. I think we will make up the difference in just a few years with the annual pass discount. Putting my kids on this contract so they can benefit from the discounts too, trips planned for BLT for family in sept (studio) and feb (one bedroom). Not as thrilled with the point charts at VGF, but DH and DD are really excited about the resort and I'm excited about the lack of resale restrictions and being able to reserve at the newer resorts as a direct purchaser.

Total 300 points, hoping we're good!

Love it! In the same camp. Bought our first DVC points in 2016 at Poly 190 and...have...never...stayed there. I wonder how common this is amongst us DVC folks? Perhaps an upcoming poll?

 

[holden]

Bought 200 resale in 2014 (we have a blue card) and added another 200 two years later. Same home resort (BLT) same use year.

 

[Magic•Happens]

Bought in 2016 with a small 85 pt Poly direct back when the minimum for benefits was 25 points. Then we added on CCV which we recently sold to get our VGC contract. I guess you could say we traded in home resorts! We travel to the West Coast much more frequently, but we’ll keep the Poly contract for the benefits since we don’t have APs.

 

[RichVIII]

Like others - preDVC we stayed offsite using points. My MIL decided to do a once a lifetime trip and we were split between two places we could walk to the parks since she had mobility issues. BLT one bedroom….With a year we purchased our first contract. Within the next year we had purchased two more times. Every time we felt like we “had enough” points. I have tracked our points usage and much like life, the more you make the more you spend. We added on last year again and I always looking. Like others I wish we had added more on back when prices were lower. Even when direct was far more reasonable I wish we had added more.

 

[paults]

we bought in 2002 at BWV and on our first trip we could only get VWL. After that we bought 2 more contracts in 2003 at BWV. One direct and another resale. 400 total

 

[bakerworld]

We purchased the 160 minimum for '08 direct at AKV because it was the current 'deal' (and it was a deal). We didn't stay there until '11. What we really wanted was BLT but it wasn't selling to non-owners in August '08 so we purchased 100 points the following November '09. We thought we were done until '12 we could no longer transfer in BCV during the fall so we purchased 55 points and added 30 points in '18. All our membership contracts are direct and we're done. We purchased just for us but we do share with family and the last two years we've rented points. We're going less and for shorter stays due to a home situation.

Best part of AKV-J is the value villas = lots of room for less points. BLT's standard view is similar. BCV we only do studio villas. Truthfully I don't care for the 1Br & 2Br kitchen set up in AKV (value has an island versus a peninsula) and BCV so I'm not included to bump up like BL and value AK. I think that peninsula kitchen set up is in SSR and BRV.

 

[tidefan]

We actually looked at DVC back in 2002 when BWV was on sale. Did not buy at that time as we were expecting our DD the next year.

Went back in 2007 and bought a 200 pt SSR contract. We are in driving distance (about 8 hours) to WDW, so we found that with APs, we could go more often, so...

Took a cruise in 2008 and added on another 110 pts at SSR. Now had 310 points and could go a couple times a year making the AP work out better.

The next year, BLT went on sale and we bought 100 pts there. Should have bought more. We really enjoy our BLT stays (and they have always been in studios there, yes they are small, but they are to us the best use of space of any studios). Now at 410 pts. In 2012, we did our first stay at Aulani in a 2 bedroom. We decided that we really enjoyed Aulani and would not stay there in less than a 1-Bedroom.

Fast forward to 2013. We were at SSR and they announced that VGF would be built and go on sale and that booking would open for owners while we were down there. Added on 100 pts at VGF1. Booked a stay the next NYE in a standard view studio. Now had 510 points..

Another couple of years and PVB went on sale. Added on again on the cruise, this time, 190 pts. Brought us to a nice, even 700.

We have enjoyed these points by going multiple times a year and using APs. We use our BLT to stay over Labor Day weekend and go to MNSSHP. Other than that, we would just get what was available when we decided to do a trip.

Our thinking changed during COVID. First, they stopped AP sales (and we had given ours up, thinking we could buy them again when things restarted), so it didn't make sense to go to WDW 3 to 4 times a year as we had been doing. Second, our DD was now getting through High School and into College (yes, it goes quick...) and didn't want to come with us as much. So, we decided that it was just cheaper to go to Aulani. Went in 2021, 2022, and just got back from a trip here in 2023.

Now AP sales restarted and we have them again, so we will go more to WDW. That said, I think we have plenty of points. Actually, like @bobbiwoz, we were also extremely disappointed in the decision to add BPK into the VGF condo association. We have no desire for the new hotel rooms that were added into VGF, so we may consider selling our VGF points if we can't get into Deluxe Studios fairly easily at 11 months. We've got one booked for January, but we'll see how it goes from there. I think that the whole VGF2 debacle has soured us a bit on DVC as it's really the first time that I think DVC acted in what could be considered against the interest of current owners (although the attempted lock-off premium point chart attempt comes to mind as well) and really has given me pause.

That said, we'll enjoy what we have as long as we can.

 

[kanerf]

Looking back through my records I purchased a 40 point resale contract at OKW in 2011. I have been adding on ever since. I am now up to 733 points across multiple contracts and resorts. I usually buy small contracts with the idea that they are easier to sell.

 

[LittleBitGoofy]

For the folks who have a stack of points spread around in smaller pots, I'm curious if you have any "looking back, I should have..." thoughts/experiences. I like the idea of having 11-month windows at a variety, but then I consider maybe we should bulk up at just a couple instead.

Currently, we own 200 at BCV (resale) and 200 at VGF (direct). Kinda thinking about bumping up another 100/150 at VGF so we can do larger rooms for extra days at VGF. But wondering if that might be misguided and should spread out with, for example, 100 at PVB where it'd just be studios anyway and a 100pt budget would be enough for a good number of days.

I'd be curious if the owners who have had years of booking around, dealing with the 11-month vs 7-month, availability challenges, etc. had any thoughts/recommendations on how they might do-it-over with their add-ons.

 

[tidefan]

For the folks who have a stack of points spread around in smaller pots, I'm curious if you have any "looking back, I should have..." thoughts/experiences. I like the idea of having 11-month windows at a variety, but then I consider maybe we should bulk up at just a couple instead.

Currently, we own 200 at BCV (resale) and 200 at VGF (direct). Kinda thinking about bumping up another 100/150 at VGF so we can do larger rooms for extra days at VGF. But wondering if that might be misguided and should spread out with, for example, 100 at PVB where it'd just be studios anyway and a 100pt budget would be enough for a good number of days.

I'd be curious if the owners who have had years of booking around, dealing with the 11-month vs 7-month, availability challenges, etc. had any thoughts/recommendations on how they might do-it-over with their add-ons.

I wish we would have added on more BLT points instead of VGF, but that is with the benefit of hindsight...

 

[DSLRuser]

175 points in 2018 direct (august Cooper creek)......just now bought 190 additional resale (august old key west). We have moved from doing 1 big trip each year to 4-5 small trips, and have "borrowed" out as far as we can go. We needed to skip 2 years to get back on plan.

Family is growing as kids get married, we needed 2brs and soon 3brs. So double points it is.

 

[DSLRuser]

Love it! In the same camp. Bought our first DVC points in 2016 at Poly 190 and...have...never...stayed there. I wonder how common this is amongst us DVC folks? Perhaps an upcoming poll?

14 trips and only stayed "home" 1 time.

we do last minute trips 1-5 months out in 1 and 2 br. so we take what we can get.

 

[MsChristy12]

Before my first contract even closed! LOL! I started putting offers in again when my first one was still in ROFR.
I wasn't going to add-on, but then I thought about the 11-month booking window and we actually prefer staying in 1 bdrm, so a small contract is indeed "NEEDED"! haha I figured if it doesn't work out, I can always sell the small one.

 

[Louis morrell]

Purchased resale in October 2017. Added on direct about a year later. It didn't take long.

 

[BeachMouse1]

Our first contract was a 50 VGF with some banked points that got us I think it was 5 nights our first trip on points. The last day of our trip, my wife who wasn’t keen on buying to begin with, said we need more points! I was right on it and we just closed on our 4th contract. Owning DVC completely changed the way we Disney. We enjoy the non park stuff more and don’t kill ourselves when in the parks. We know we will be back so it’s a different mind set. It also allowed us to try different resorts for example we stayed at Boardwalk someplace we never thought we would like and loved it and now just bought a contract there

 

[Disney Spaz]

Values, and an occasional moderate were our standard trips for years starting in 1997. We had seen the DVC kiosks but had thought that was beyond what we could do so never stopped to get info until 2008 when I started researching DVC. Then during our 2012 Xmas stay our DS bought 50 AKV points, while still in college, since that is his favorite place to be. DH and I finally decided in May 2013 to buy in and within a day of us reaching out about AKV points they announced VGF, my dream resort.

We started with 150 VGF in 2013 and while I wanted more it got us a week in a studio. We stretched our and DS points for a few years and he added on 50 pts at AKV. Then in 2017 DH agreed to add 150 more at VGF. He had fallen in love with VGF and doesn't want to stay anywhere else. That put DS at 100 which is where he is still at and us at 300. Then they announced VGF2 BPK and we added 75 last year and another 50 this past April. Our add-ons started because DH loves the 1bdrms. We were upgraded to a Lake View 1 bdrm once when the studio we were supposed to be assigned had to be taken out of service unexpectedly and while the view was nice it was the kitchen that got my DH hooked and the laundry got me. The king bed didn't hurt either. Finally, DD loves CCR so a few weeks ago we added 75 at CCR. We now sit at 500 points and I could add on tomorrow if DH let me.

I do have to agree with others that I am concerned about all the BPK studios that were added impacting the larger rooms at the original building, which is our preference, but then we are part of the problem since we added on to extended our weeks stays to 10 days. Ironically I even asked when they started selling VGF2 if our deeds could be the original building but they were not allowing that.

We will probably add on more at some point as DD wants more CCR and DH and I want more VGF but we agreed to hold and see how the next year or so goes with DD graduating in 2024.