Help with first attempt [exchanging for DVC]

[AlbertaTravel]

I am trying to do an RCI transfer to a DVC 1 bedroom or 2 doesn't matter. I don't think I can get picky at this stage. So here are some questions.
What months would be the easiest to get into.
I have a 33 pt trade.
How often does anything come up?
iF I do get a trade can the dining plans be purchased or are they less expensive if you book a hotel directly? Maybe the question should be do we have the same privileges as the DVC owner or a person who just books the hotel.
Probably will come up with more questions but that's it for now.

 

[rickandcindy23]

33 points won't get anything at Disney, not even off times.

It's a wonder why more resorts don't offer shuttles for a reasonable price. Disney is it for those who really love the convenience of the transportation.

 

[tschwa2]

Summer Bay Resort has a free shuttle. It may not be the most convenient.
http://www.exploriaresorts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Platinum-Summer-Bay-Orlando-Spring-Summer-2015-Shuttle-Schedule.pdf

 

[AlbertaTravel]

33 points won't get anything at Disney, not even off times.

sO what would I need if 33 is t enough. I can deposit more.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Depends what season you want for the number of required points. I would make sure to have at least 40 for most seasons, more for summer or spring break. I mostly book with Club Wyndham points and pay dearly for the privilege of staying on Disney property.

 

[AlbertaTravel]

Depends what season you want for the number of required points. I would make sure to have at least 40 for most seasons, more for summer or spring break. I mostly book with Club Wyndham points and pay dearly for the privilege of staying on Disney property.

Being this is my first time attempting any kind of exchange what did you mean by pay dearly for the priviledge

 

[DeniseM]

Being this is my first time attempting any kind of exchange what did you mean by pay dearly for the priviledge

She means that DVC is an expensive exchange, because it requires the commitment of a large number of points. DVC is also highly sought after, and difficult to get on an exchange.

 

[Bailey#1]

January seems to be the month with the least about of TPU for a Disney exchange. This year most of the TPU for a 1 BR SSR was 36 TPU. There was for a few days a few 30 TPU's pop in but I think that is rare. April looks like 46 TPU are needed, and I think the second half of last year 52 TPU were needed.

 

[AlbertaTravel]

She means that DVC is an expensive exchange, because it requires the commitment of a large number of points. DVC is also highly sought after, and difficult to get on an exchange.

Yes. I discovered that yesterday. I logged into RCI and saw Disney in the area designation under Orlando. Checked it out and there were 2 weeks in a one bedroom. Saratoga. Went to check with someone about dates and of course 10 minutes later they were gone. Learnt my lesson.

 

[DeniseM]

Yes. I discovered that yesterday. I logged into RCI and saw Disney in the area designation under Orlando. Checked it out and there were 2 weeks in a one bedroom. Saratoga. Went to check with someone about dates and of course 10 minutes later they were gone. Learnt my lesson.

For future reference, you can put an exchange on hold while you check the dates.

 

[Polly Metallic]

The last few one bedrooms were 27 TPU for May. I was stunned it was so low!

 

[AlbertaTravel]

The last few one bedrooms were 27 TPU for May. I was stunned it was so low!

I saw quite a few yesterday but if I'm going to try this I have to make sure we are far enough out to reserve everything (whatever that may be. Still reading up on booking at Disney)

 

[bnoble]

Don't worry about that too much. You can make restaurant reservations at six months, but you really don't have to. The Fastpass+ date might matter more, but unless you have a few very popular/low capacity things on your list, even that isn't a big deal.

 

[elaine]

agree with PP. And even 60 days out for FP is only necessary for a very few rides (7 Dwarfs--no big deal if you skip it-IMHO, and Anna and Elsa meet/greet). Most restuarants will have openings at 3-4 months out, except a few--and there is really nothing so special at WDW that you couldn't just skip if you couldn't get a reservation--IMHO. For ex, you cannot get Cinderalla's castle for breakfast--no big deal, just go to the Princess one at Epcot instead. I've been to almost all of them--trust me, one or two princess/character meals are more than enough--and my kids went for 5+ years not even knowing that such things even existed and still had a marvelous time. May is a nice time for WDW. Summer months will be higher TPUs.

 

[bnoble]

I've had very good luck with last-minute reservations---the night before or even morning of. The new cancel policy requires you cancel by midnight the night before or you are charged $10pp for a no-show. That tends to free up a nice chunk of interesting places to eat in the last few days before the reservation time. This worked for me even during Christmas and Easter weeks, two of the busiest weeks of the year.

 

[paxsarah]

Depends what season you want for the number of required points. I would make sure to have at least 40 for most seasons, more for summer or spring break. I mostly book with Club Wyndham points and pay dearly for the privilege of staying on Disney property.

She means that DVC is an expensive exchange, because it requires the commitment of a large number of points. DVC is also highly sought after, and difficult to get on an exchange.

That's an interesting perspective, because I think using Wyndham points to exchange into DVC is an extremely good value, probably one of the least expensive ways to stay in a DVC unit. I recently confirmed an exchange for late May in a SSR 1BR for 105k Wyndham points. The same week at Wyndham Bonnet Creek would be 126k for a 1BR. Taking MFs into consideration and adding the $209 exchange fee and Disney's $95 because-they-can fee, the DVC exchange is still less than $200 more expensive. And the difference would be almost entirely wiped out by a week of parking fees at the parks, because we don't have annual passes. If I split the cost of my exchange into a nightly rate, it's less per night than rack rate at the Disney All-Star resorts for my dates.

I will say that exchanging into DVC is something that we can't count on - deposit patterns have changed significantly in the last year or so, and even though we still do see quite a number of SSR 1BRs coming up (and very little else), even that could change again at any point. So you do pay intangibly in terms of uncertainty, and also in terms of space (2BR units used to be fairly common, but now it's almost exclusively 1BRs). And compared to non-DVC Orlando TPU exchanges or Last Calls, the DVC properties are going to be more costly. But with the Wyndham points grid, we've been very luck to exchange into DVC several times for what we consider to be a very reasonable cost.