Considering DVC, a couple questions

[DisneyFan1979]

I'm considering buying into DVC and have a couple questions:

(1) Is there a list somewhere of exactly what perks I would not be eligible for if I bought resale points right now versus through Disney?

(2) Could anyone guestimate or perhaps there is a listing somewhere of how many points I would need to buy to stay in say a 1-bedroom for 5 nights during low season and a studio for 5 nights during regular season, or something similar? Would 200 points do it? Or more? In sum, I'd like to be able to go to Disney 2 times a year during not busy times for a total of 10 nights.

[VWL Mom]

The points charts for DVC can be found here (http://www.dvc-resales.com/DVC-point-charts.htm) on our sponsor The Timeshare Store site. As you'll see 200 points might be enough for some resorts but others may be closer to 300. If you wanted to guarantee the lower points you might be best off buying there so you could book at the 11 month window.

The only difference in "perks" is that you would not be able to use your points to make reservations within the Concierge Collection, the Disney Collection or the Adventurer Collection.

Those Vacation Points will instead be valid for reservations at Disney Vacation Club resorts, as well as for the RCI® exchanges, Club Cordial and Club Intrawest.

[DisneyFan1979]

Thank you! The points chart is SO helpful.

[CajunDisneyDad]

As you can see from the point charts, some resorts are more than others. If you go to Dvcrequest dot com this guy has a points calculator so you can see exactly how many points it takes to stay at any of the reservations at any time. We have 2 contracts, one at Vero Beach and one at SSR. Total we have 220 points and that is plenty for us to go for 6 nights twice a year during off peak times in a studio. Now I am waitlisted right now to buy into Boardwalk villa because of the 11 month booking advantage and that is my personal favorite :) I have discovered a few challenges to booking at 7 months vs 11. The biggest challenge is booking 2 bdrm villa's. That is why we decided to bite the bullet and buy into boardwalk lol. As was stated earlier and on other threads, take into consideration which resort you think you would most like to stay at. That should be the resort you buy into. Good luck and hopefully you will be hearing welcome home soon :)

[Aurora]

Another possible consideration for which resort to buy into is the expiration year of the contracts at that resort. Contracts at the older DVC resorts (like the Boardwalk) expire in 2042; contracts at the newer resorts expire later. Saratoga expires in 2054, BLT in 2060, etc. Old Key West contracts expire in 2042, but some owners bought optional extensions into 2057.

If you're only intending to keep your DVC membership for a short time and then sell, this won't be a consideration. But if you intend to keep your membership for the length of the contract, or if you're concerned about selling a contract in 20 years that might only have a few years left on it, you'll want to look at the contract end date.

[NewDVCowner]

Also keep in mind that they do redistribute the points each year, so a room that did cost 58 points this year may cost 60 next year. The total number of points for the year remains the same, but the point cost can go up or down from year to year.

[DisneyFan1979]

Thank you all for your responses! I'm staying in a villa studio at the Boardwalk in September (got a great deal with the help of Magical Journeys!!) so that will help inform my decision.