Adding on DVC Points

You only get the 11-month booking window for the points that you hold at that actual resort. If you juggle your points, it should work quite nicely. So one year bank BLT and use AKL and the next year use AKL and bank BLT. Then in your example, you would have 320 points and AKL and 200 points at BLT in alternating years.

You can still purchase sold out resorts direct from Disney, but I'm not sure what the cost per point is. It shouldn't be the current $165/point because some of those contracts are already partially used. When a resale contract doesn't pass ROFR, Disney purchases the contract back and holds it in inventory until a member requests to purchase a sold-out resort. So that's how Disney can still sell points at OKW even though it's been sold out for forever.

I don't know about that rule of thumb for purchasing in the same use year. It kind of makes sense that you might want all of your points to turn over at the same time. It would be easier to manage and keep track of your dates that way. Although I can see where having your contracts 6 months apart could be helpful because you're getting more frequent influxes of points into your account.

When we added on, we added a small contract through Disney at the Grand Californian. We try to think about that contract like it's a stand alone, which gives us a Californian vacation every third year through banking and borrowing.

It's much easier to manage everything if you keep the same use year, and Disney will arrange that for you if you purchase through them. However, if you buy resale you would have to juggle whatever use year those points were purchased in.

If you add on through Disney you can buy at resorts that are no longer selling, there is however a caveat. If you buy through Disney at a sold out resort what happens is that you must wait until Disney is able to purchase the points back through right of first refusal. When they are able to do that, you have to be ready at a moments notice to make your purchase of those points with the full purchase cost. Disney will not finance an add on they have acquired through ROFR. The full purchase price has to be waiting in an account that you have given Disney permission to withdrawl at such a time the points become available. There is no warning, they just do it. Which is fine if you have an account set aside for just that. However not everyone has that flexibility.

CURRENT MEMBER ADD-ON PURCHASE PRICE THRU DISNEY

ANIMAL KINGDOM VILLAS*** $155 per point; 25+ points

BAY LAKE TOWER AT DISNEY'S CONTEMPORARY VILLAS****$170 per point; 25+ points

BEACH CLUB VILLAS*$155 base price; 25-point minimum purchase

BOARDWALK VILLAS*$155 base price; 25-point minimum purchase

OLD KEY WEST***$135 base price; 25-point minimum purchase

POLYNESIAN VILLAS & BUNGALOWS++$165 base price; 25-point minimum purchase

SARATOGA SPRINGS**$135 base price; 25+ point purchase

VILLAS AT DISNEY'S GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT & SPA+$165 base price; 25-point minimum purchase

VILLAS AT WILDERNESS LODGE*$155 base price; 25-point minimum purchase

I don't think it would be very hard to find a resale contract with a matching use year and resort. When we were considering DVC recently, I couldn't believe the amount of selection on the resale market.

Just checked the website where I bought Beach Club and something is going on with BLT. Only three available for BLT, priced at $111 or $112 per point. But they are all sale pending! Hmmm?!

I don't see why you would want to buy more BLT points unless that's the only place you want to stay...? If you bought elsewhere you could get 11month priority at 2 different resorts, one at blt where you already own and one somewhere else like the beach club for example?

This is actually the worst market for resale buyers I have ever seen. There is very little out there compared to the past and it's all stripped contracts. If DVC was trying to reduce resale values by eliminating the perks associated with them, it didn't work. They are in more demand than ever. Of course the whole thing is driven by the economy.

Remember for small add-ons DVC has no closing costs (less hassle) and sometimes you can get an extra year of points out of them.

I wish I had a small contract at VGC for use every other year (like Kristen), and a small one at BLT to stay there a couple of days every trip. But for the time being I just book at seven months. So far, I've been pretty lucky. And if I have to suffer at the Beach Club or Boardwalk for my whole trip, I'll just have to suck it up.

Am I assuming correctly that the price difference is because if you purchase at a sold-out resort that those points still expire in the same year that they would have originally expired at that resort? It looks like from this chart that OKW is the same price regardless or whether it is an original or extended contract?

Correct. All contracts retain their original expiration date except for OKW. All OKW contracts purchased direct from Disney, expire 2057. Following is the Key for expiration dates:

* Contract ends on January 31, 2042
** Contract ends on January 31, 2054
*** Contract ends on January 31, 2057
**** Contract ends on January 31, 2060
*****Contract ends on January 31, 2062(Aulani)
+Contract ends on January 31, 2064
++ Contract ends on January 31, 2066

Wow without actually doing the math, I think that makes OKW a pretty good value on price per point if you're looking for a direct contract. Too bad the dues there has gotten so high (inevitable really since they were the first and there are annual increases).