Small 25 Point Saratoga Purchase

[jbman]

Just signed a contract to purchase a small number of DVC points - 25 at Saratoga Springs. This will be our only DVC contract.

I understand it is not going to be enough points to do very much any given year.

My thinking is that it will be useful to try some of the resorts that we wouldn't otherwise have access to, so if we do get an II exchange into OKW or SSR, maybe add a couple nights at the end at POLY or VGF or BLT or BCV. Or if we get an exchange into Newport Coast, add a night a VGC. Or if we go to Oahu, a night or two at AUL. We don't go to Disney World every year, so saving points and using every two or three years shouldn't be a problem.

Seems to me there are no real drawbacks in owning a small point contract, in that there are no minimum club dues, no fees to bank or borrow, I would get access to 24 one-time use points (I believe $20 per point), and one-night bookings are allowed, but thought I would check and see what Tuggers think if I'm missing something that makes this a bad idea?

 

[Plachaby]

It's not a terrible plan. Have you looked at the points charts to see what you can get with 25 points (or 50, or 75 if you bank and borrow) to make sure that amount works for you? Just beware that a lot of the rooms that cost the fewest points book the fastest (value studios, standard view rooms at Aulani), so won't be available to you as an SSR owner who can't book those other resorts until 7 months out.

It's also tricky, but not impossible, to add on to an Interval DVC exchange because those are often booked closer to check in, but if you are only doing a single night here or there, as a 25 point contract would allow, you may be okay. For example, I have an upcoming II exchange into a Marriott in Palm Desert, and was able to add one night at VGC (17 points) by using the waitlist. I would have preferred two, but I'll take what I can get.

The main downside I see is that you may feel like it's too small of a contract and you may be adding another one on before you know it.

 

[nomoretslt]

Did you do a price comparison for a 50 point contract? And is your contract fully loaded and not stripped? As @Plachaby said, the cheaper point rooms go quick. Friday and Saturday nights are more pointy too at WDW, not sure about California or Aulani. It sounds like a good plan though. I do lots of one night stays in a studio to bookend my long stays in one bedrooms. I’ve had good success with waitlisting for one night. Check in is after 4 pm and checkout is 11am. But you have access to the resort for 2 full days. You can’t book the Riviera with resale points. I’ve stayed at every DVC resort except Grand Floridian and the Cabins at the Fort (cheap points too). They are all great in my opinion. Something for everyone. Enjoy.

 

[jbman]

It's not a terrible plan. Have you looked at the points charts to see what you can get with 25 points (or 50, or 75 if you bank and borrow) to make sure that amount works for you? Just beware that a lot of the rooms that cost the fewest points book the fastest (value studios, standard view rooms at Aulani), so won't be available to you as an SSR owner who can't book those other resorts until 7 months out.

It's also tricky, but not impossible, to add on to an Interval DVC exchange because those are often booked closer to check in, but if you are only doing a single night here or there, as a 25 point contract would allow, you may be okay. For example, I have an upcoming II exchange into a Marriott in Palm Desert, and was able to add one night at VGC (17 points) by using the waitlist. I would have preferred two, but I'll take what I can get.

The main downside I see is that you may feel like it's too small of a contract and you may be adding another one on before you know it.

Yes, that's the danger of it working out well, it could be a gateway drug to more DVC points

 

[jbman]

Did you do a price comparison for a 50 point contract? And is your contract fully loaded and not stripped? As @Plachaby said, the cheaper point rooms go quick. Friday and Saturday nights are more pointy too at WDW, not sure about California or Aulani. It sounds like a good plan though. I do lots of one night stays in a studio to bookend my long stays in one bedrooms. I’ve had good success with waitlisting for one night. Check in is after 4 pm and checkout is 11am. But you have access to the resort for 2 full days. You can’t book the Riviera with resale points. I’ve stayed at every DVC resort except Grand Floridian and the Cabins at the Fort (cheap points too). They are all great in my opinion. Something for everyone. Enjoy.

I didn't really do a price comparison, but just generally been looking at the resale listings and what the prices are, with the small contracts seems like the price per point can jump a lot, this one was low enough I thought just go for it

 

[nomoretslt]

Just thought I’d mention it. 50 points could be slightly lower $$ per point and closing costs are usually the same. And if you have a fully loaded contract (25 points for current and next two use years) that’s good.

we love our DVC. And we love going 3 times a year. We can drive there now, so less stress. We really like hanging at the resorts. Parks in the morning. It’s not for everyone. We are not world travelers. Only had one trip to Europe…Italy & England. Cruised back home. Not in a hurry to go back. I travel vicariously by reading others trip reports.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Just signed a contract to purchase a small number of DVC points - 25 at Saratoga Springs. This will be our only DVC contract.

I understand it is not going to be enough points to do very much any given year.

My thinking is that it will be useful to try some of the resorts that we wouldn't otherwise have access to, so if we do get an II exchange into OKW or SSR, maybe add a couple nights at the end at POLY or VGF or BLT or BCV. Or if we get an exchange into Newport Coast, add a night a VGC. Or if we go to Oahu, a night or two at AUL. We don't go to Disney World every year, so saving points and using every two or three years shouldn't be a problem.

Seems to me there are no real drawbacks in owning a small point contract, in that there are no minimum club dues, no fees to bank or borrow, I would get access to 24 one-time use points (I believe $20 per point), and one-night bookings are allowed, but thought I would check and see what Tuggers think if I'm missing something that makes this a bad idea?

I had a similar plan as you when I started, purchased a 60 point poly cnotract as my first one. I now own 450 points…

 

[Janann]

Your purchase is a good idea as long as you have studied the point charts, and you like the options.

https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/vacation-planning/points-charts

 

[jbman]

Your purchase is a good idea as long as you have studied the point charts, and you like the options.

https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/vacation-planning/points-charts

I have looked at the Point Charts, I can see lots of options, I think availability is the bigger question for me.

I did look at a website that shows online availability, but I think it is hard to really know until I can start searching for something specific or try wait listing for nights as well.

Any given year we could use the 25 points or up to 49 with one-time use points and could have up to 99 if we bank, borrow and use one-time use points, so it's easy for me to imagine possibilities where we could use them.

Aulani and Grand Californian are two that I know for sure we are going to want to use the points at some point in the coming years, I could see those being a little tricky because it is just one resort and we would likely have specific dates that we would require as we would need to have an exchange in place first. So long as we got one-night at those places I think we would be happy enough, but two would probably be better. Most likely will be travelling to those places in March, April, or May, so VGC that would be anywhere from 20 to 64 points and AUL any where from 17 to 58 points.

Orlando there are so many different options I would hope we could get something, if we get an exchange into either OKW or SSR then added a couple nights at any one of POLY or VGF or BLT or VBC or BWV.

Also thinking if we are staying at a Marriott in Orlando even adding a ghost booking or two during the week if we are still going to go to the parks or an After Hours party.

 

[Janann]

Also thinking if we are staying at a Marriott in Orlando even adding a ghost booking or two during the week if we are still going to go to the parks or an After Hours party.

I'm not sure what you mean. If you are buying resale, you don't get any discounts or access to DVC member benefits.

 

[jbman]

I'm not sure what you mean. If you are buying resale, you don't get any discounts or access to DVC member benefits.

I meant one use case I could see would be if we went to Orlando other than for a full Disney trip and we were staying at Grande Vista for the week, but still wanted one day or night at Disney while we are there, if we bought a one-day ticket to Magic Kingdom, we might want to book a room at Bay Lake Tower for example so we could get access to early entry and extended evening hours on a Wednesday and then be able to walk back to the room at the end of the night, or same idea if we bought tickets for an After Hours Party or Not So Scary or Very Merry or Jollywood parties, we might want just one night for after the party and then spend some time at the resort the following day before going back to the Marriott.

 

[Janann]

I meant one use case I could see would be if we went to Orlando other than for a full Disney trip and we were staying at Grande Vista for the week, but still wanted one day or night at Disney while we are there, if we bought a one-day ticket to Magic Kingdom, we might want to book a room at Bay Lake Tower for example so we could get access to early entry and extended evening hours on a Wednesday and then be able to walk back to the room at the end of the night, or same idea if we bought tickets for an After Hours Party or Not So Scary or Very Merry or Jollywood parties, we might want just one night for after the party and then spend some time at the resort the following day before going back to the Marriott.

OK, got it. In the past I have seen "ghost" reservation to mean a reservation that is truly unused, and the only reason the reservation is held is for other discounts. In this case, you would be using the reservation.

 

[jbman]

OK, got it. In the past I have seen "ghost" reservation to mean a reservation that is truly unused, and the only reason the reservation is held is for other discounts. In this case, you would be using the reservation.

Yes, you're right, not a true ghost reservation

 

[elaine]

I bought 35 points at DVC HHI 10 years ago for HHI 11 month summer booking-we added night to an existing 4th of July week we had. We usually went EOY, so banking/borrowing allowed for 4-5 nights in a studio. Worked great.
You can also get transfers of more points from members (which keep that resort's priority). That's much better than rented DVC points, as you own them and can canx, rebook as much as you want. They keep the original exp date, vs. end of the UY for OTU points. Since DVC member now have more flex for transfers, feel free to keep me in mind.

 

[heathpack]

We own a 25 point contract at HHI, an 85 point contract at VGC, and just put an offer on a 50 point contract at BCV.

I am surprised how workable the 25 point contract is. We own an EOY Marriott Barony Beach week in HHI. We can bank/borrow and add a few days to that for a 10 day stay.

The only real drawback to the small point contract is the closing costs are higher per point when you purchase. I kind of want to get another tiny contract at a monorail resort or Boulder Ridge/Copper Creek. Any then rotate stays between MK area, EPCOT area and AKL.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

We own a 25 point contract at HHI, an 85 point contract at VGC, and just put an offer on a 50 point contract at BCV.

I am surprised how workable the 25 point contract is. We own an EOY Marriott Barony Beach week in HHI. We can bank/borrow and add a few days to that for a 10 day stay.

The only real drawback to the small point contract is the closing costs are higher per point when you purchase. I kind of want to get another tiny contract at a monorail resort or Boulder Ridge/Copper Creek. Any then rotate stays between MK area, EPCOT area and AKL.

BLT is the winner there. Best points chart for small contracts to get studios, and good maintenance fees.

Also walking distance to Magic Kingdom can’t be beat. BLT is our favorite DVC hotel.

 

[ljmiii]

Also walking distance to Magic Kingdom can’t be beat. BLT is our favorite DVC hotel.

A second vote for BLT. Great point charts, expiration date, MFs, dining options, and the best transportation options (walk to MK and the ‘fun’ monorail to EPCOT).

 

[heathpack]

BLT is the winner there. Best points chart for small contracts to get studios, and good maintenance fees.

Also walking distance to Magic Kingdom can’t be beat. BLT is our favorite DVC hotel.

We’ve stayed there once for a single night, and are going for 5 nights in April. I not a huge fan of the “meh” theming but we’ll see if location can trump “meh” for us.

However I hate the busses so being able to walk into a park is a huge plus for us, and I guess we can monorail over to EPCOT without much trouble too.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

We’ve stayed there once for a single night, and are going for 5 nights in April. I not a huge fan of the “meh” theming but we’ll see if location can trump “meh” for us.

However I hate the busses so being able to walk into a park is a huge plus for us, and I guess we can monorail over to EPCOT without much trouble too.

It’s undergoing a refurb right now. You might get a refurbed room in April. Poly & GF are nice but the points for studios there are so steep that a “small” contract isn’t going to help you much.

 

[heathpack]

It’s undergoing a refurb right now. You might get a refurbed room in April. Poly & GF are nice but the points for studios there are so steep that a “small” contract isn’t going to help you much.

For some reason neither really appeal to me. And Poly would in theory be right up my alley.

However- let’s see if we get the BCV contract first and then we can reassess.

 

[jbman]

It’s undergoing a refurb right now. You might get a refurbed room in April. Poly & GF are nice but the points for studios there are so steep that a “small” contract isn’t going to help you much.

Seems like this depends on the season, view type, and day of the week to some degree, a Standard View Studio in September is 13 points for a weeknight at BLT vs 14 points at POLY, whereas a Theme Park View Studio in March is 29 points for a weeknight at BLT vs 41 points at VGF, a much bigger spread

I was thinking the first two weeks of May were a sweet point of lower points and a nice time to visit.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Seems like this depends on the season, view type, and day of the week to some degree, a Standard View Studio in September is 13 points for a weeknight at BLT vs 14 points at POLY, whereas a Theme Park View Studio in March is 29 points for a weeknight at BLT vs 41 points at VGF, a much bigger spread

I was thinking the first two weeks of May were a sweet point of lower points and a nice time to visit.

You’re definitely right that for the low points season and room types the spread is much less.

 

[jbman]

You’re definitely right that for the low points season and room types the spread is much less.

The thing I worry about is availability, I look at it and think hey I can book two nights at the Poly in early May and it will only be 34 points, that's a great deal, and it would be easy enough to use banked points or borrowed points or one-time use points to make it work, and if it was a Monday and Tuesday night, we could potentially get two nights of extended evening hours with a full resort day at the Poly in between, but if those standard view rooms are not available upgrading to fancier views or having to take a 1-BR is going to be a lot more difficult if not impossible with the small number of points.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

The thing I worry about is availability, I look at it and think hey I can book two nights at the Poly in early May and it will only be 34 points, that's a great deal, and it would be easy enough to use banked points or borrowed points or one-time use points to make it work, and if it was a Monday and Tuesday night, we could potentially get two nights of extended evening hours with a full resort day at the Poly in between, but if those standard view rooms are not available upgrading to fancier views or having to take a 1-BR is going to be a lot more difficult if not impossible with the small number of points.

11 month availability at the poly (because there are so many studios) is not a problem. However, 7 month availability (which includes OTU points) can be tricky at certain times of year.