Hi, Jen! My first DVC contract, 125pt Polynesian resale, passed ROFR!! I’m in the process of closing it now. I chose Polynesian for a few reasons - large studios, lower dues, long contract until 2066. Also just love the Poly vibe. Buying resale made sense for me, because I wasn’t super interested in the properties Disney is incentivizing right now, and the blue card perks weren’t worth an extra $10,000 to me. Also, the resale restrictions on Riviera were a nonstarter. Totally understand if Riviera is still worth it for other folks, but it just wasn’t for me. I’m hoping to take my first DVC trip for one week in June or July 2023. This first trip I think I’m going to book solely at the Poly, but in the future I definitely want to stay at other DVC properties at WDW. Thanks again for your great videos, and teaching me so much about DVC. 😁
As DVC owners, we actually use a similar strategy to getting rooms, 11 months at our home resort of Saratoga Springs, and look into 7 months at others… we have 200 points. If we were to buy more points, we’d try to get 25 more points… which would give us enough to do 14+ days per year at our home resort. Thanks for this. I enjoyed your thoughts immensely!
Sounds like you've got things pretty well dialed-in. I hope you're able to get that 25 point add-on, it would be REALLY great if you could find it on the resale market! Thanks so much for watching! 👋
We seem to be a on a very similar trajectory! So we now own 3 contracts. Our first was resale at AKL which is the resort that has my heart. That’s also our largest contract at 200 points. Next we ended up buying 150 (split with a friend which is a unique situation) at Riviera. I didn’t want to like Riviera because of the resale restriction, but WOW. I love it too. Finally, we recently added on 120 points at Aulani. We found a great loaded resale contract and were just able to use three years worth of those points (thank goodness borrowing restrictions went away!) to book our first trip to Aulani for next summer. I think I see us primarily using our AKL and Riviera points for WDW and possibly renting out the Aulani points to pay for other trips. Total points owned = 470 (technically 395 if you subtract half of the Riviera contract).
We bought resale of the Polynesian in June, it had three years worth of points on it and we were able to immedietly book 3 trips over the next year! This was one of those contracts that screamed "now is the time". I believe we will have broken even with our investement within our first 4 years! Our strategy is to incrementally purchase directly now to earn blue card status. We're buying 75 points at the Grand Floridian while its at the 207 price point with savings, and then we plan on buying 75 points on the new DisneyLand DVC Tower when it goes on sale. From there we should be satisfied, but I could easily forsee a resale contract buy of Boardwalk of 100 points or so. That way we are covered at all our favorite resorts, locations and have a lot of options in taking friends and family!
We have 3 home resorts with 505 points. We purchased them all direct. AKL, BR, and Riviera. Just like you we also like having a resort close to each park. We have been doing split stays for a few years and really enjoy it. We do 1 week at one resort then 1 week at another twice a year. This also gives us a chance to try different food options within the resort. We are considering adding a small contract at the Disneyland Tower when it goes on sale.
I love your strategy of staying for a week at each one. That sounds like a good amount of time to really relax and enjoy each resort. That Disneyland Tower is going to be VERY popular! Be sure to let us know if you end up adding on there.
Long story short, years ago, Disney made a mistake with our booking at Coronado Springs and moved us to AKL. Same thing happened with us, the second we stepped foot in Jambo House, we said, we need to find a way to stay here every time! We were DVC members at Kindani before our very next trip!!!😊
That's totally how they get you, right?! Once you stay at an amazing resort like AKL, you just can't go back! Lol! I never get sick of Animal Kingdom Lodge.
We love split stays even as non DVC owners. It enables us to afford a 2 or 3 night experience at a Deluxe resort that would be out of reach for a longer stay. We are hoping to become members one day soon, and as a mom of adult children (new grandmom as well), I'm intrigued with the concept of buying and borrowing. Just another way to use points to book larger accommodation stays so we could bring family along every few years. Appreciate your videos, you always share so much thoughtful information.
Doing split stays with cash reservations is also a great strategy! Just be sure that you put the deluxe resort stay at the END of the trip, right? You definitely don't want to downgrade. Fortunately DVC has just dropped their borrowing restriction that they put in place during the pandemic. You can once again borrow your full allotment of points, which would make your strategy of taking larger trips every few years work. Thanks so much for watching and commenting! Best wishes! 😃
Great minds think alike Jen :) We have the same home resorts except instead of Poly we have an Aulani sub dues contract but we’re planning to add on Poly in a bit after the tower opens up!
We tend to do several trips per year... Jan for wife's Bday, March for son's spring break, May for either Mothers day or my Bday, Sept. for son's Bday and 1st week of Dec for Holiday decorations. We don't do all every year, usually 2 to 4 of them per year but usually it's Sunday through either Weds or Thurs. I like having small contracts where I usually end up borrowing from the following year to book a trip. Since there's certain resorts we use at different times of the year, different use years work out best for us.
Purchased my first resale contract in May 2021: 25pts at HH for $86/pt. Knew immediately I would need more than 25pts so purchased a second 25pt contract at VBR for $75/pt. Zero regrets.
Thank you for all of your insight & knowledge surrounding DVC! Your channel has been incredibly helpful during my husband and mine's journey to purchasing our first DVC contract direct at GF! :) Greatly appreciate your thorough and easy to understand videos! :)
Jen, your knowledge of DVC is impressive, why aren’t you working for Disney’s vacation planning line. Haha. I get my DVC brush up with your video’s and always learn something new. We bought direct-cash-back in 2006 when Saratoga was new. We personally don’t like it, and rarely stay there, but that’s another story. We bought 100 pts @ Vero Beach even if the expiration date is not as long, because we love it and go there often, plus it was so hard to get that beach house, unless it was your home base. Finally, next month I get to celebrate my 60th birthday there with family. Super excited. I would love the Riviera. Maybe that’s our next move. Great info you always give out. Thanks
We haven't visited Vero Beach yet, but we hope to get there some day. I know it has some VERY dedicated fans! Thanks so much for watching and sharing your experience and insight! Best wishes!
Interesting insight into split stays near a park of interest. We also have 460 points currently, 300 direct RIV and 160 resale BLT. Might add some at VGF or additional RIV direct depending on how studio availability works out at VGF at 7 month window. Hoping this addition of studio space frees up studio availability around the world of DVC, fingers crossed.
It’s certainly not going to hurt that there are 200+ additional studios out there. Your resale BLT is a fantastic value. The dues there have historically been very reasonable. Thanks for watching! 😎
Jen this is great! We've been members since 2001 and I've never been a strategy girl. And I hate split stays, LOL. But we've also only carried 200 points. I learned a lot in these 23 minutes!
We were currently talking about getting more information for DVC…. I was so concussed but can’t wait to binge watch all your videos with the hubby. So much great information !
Well, come on over if you want to lose hours of your life that you won't get back! Lol! DVC is a huge rabbit hole, but if you're looking for the info, we've certainly got it! I look forward to meeting you in the live show! 😎👋
Our first resale contract just passed ROFR. Already looking to buy more. Would love an update video on how you've built your portfolio and what ownership changes you're considering in 2024/25.
That's wonderful! Congrats! To be honest, we haven't changed our strategy at all since making this video. We have a pretty good amount of resale points and some direct points as well. We have enough points to do all the things we'd like, but not so many that we're overwhelmed with the maintenance fees. We feel like we're in a pretty good place right now in terms of our DVC contracts.
We just closed on our poly resale contract and chose to only get 110 points to keep our yearly dues very manageable and then we’ll plan to rent points for split stays on future trips in combination with our points…there’s all sorts of ways to make dvc work which is part of the fun
That sounds like a good strategy. I like the idea of keeping the dues low. That's the only big caveat about having more points - the dues can add up quite a bit. Thanks so much for watching today! 👋
Diect purchase 600 points our homes Saratoga, BLT,AKL member since 2008, since our kids 3 and 5 yrs old , now they are 17 and 19 snd still enjoying Disney World . Split stay is fun thing to do we don’ mind moving around.
Great video as usual! So fun to hear your personal DVC story/home resorts/strategy. Wow awesome that you've stayed at all the WDW DVC locations - hope to do that eventually. We are like you - enjoy split stays and preferably 3 days min at each. We wish we had the wisdom of smaller contracts before we bought in - tee hee. Spread that gospel! We do that now for all the reasons you mentioned. We do have just one use year which is so nice to maintain our sanity. Also want to make it to all the Asian parks someday (planning for Tokyo in 2024). Our first contract in 2020 was 400 points at Riviera (all one contract - oops). We're February use year which is the second most popular (after December) and works OK for us. We're West Coast like you so added on 200 at Grand Cal resale (not that there was an option since you can't even get on the wait list for direct) and then added on another 100 at Grand Cal. So we're currently at 700 total (400 direct, 300 resale). Fancy points for the win! You know we're planning to add on at Villas at Disneyland Hotel though. Love your shirt (Go Riviera!) and we are super excited to wear the Thank You Cast Members t-shirts we snagged from your Etsy shop (so many great designs!). Hugs from two of your many DVC friends/fans - XO Nich & Steve.
Heyyyyyy!!!! 👋 Thanks so much for watching! I was like "Vocaljazzfan"?! I think I know who this is!!! I hope you're having a wonderfully relaxing, chill summer! 😎 We just got back from DW, so we've got tons of great new footage to share!
@@TheMagicInTheMusic Oh awesome - looking forward to it! We're off to DLR in 21 days! Woot :-). I've decided I'm going to start wearing spirit jerseys on Mondays at school so I'm starting to collect finally (and wasting no time - haha). Up to 7 - stop me now! Magic Mondays here I come :-).
What's YOUR DVC strategy? Direct? Resale? How do you get the most out of your membership? If you're not a member, how would YOU use DVC? Check out our DVC playlist for more info: ru-vid.com/group/PL1oGx7aOVSWonZw9QaL-JIFJt3BF6Voc0
Thanks for all the info and tios. I am a new resale DVC owner (BW). When you have multiple contracts with the same UY, I thought you could only use your original contract at 11 months, and the rest had to be 7 months only.
I think you learn how to use DVC points as you go....we first bought points at the Poly and then bought contracts at Copper Creek -- all direct. We didnt know about resale options. All our points were from the same Use Year. Disney direct sales team forces you to do that. Thank you to them. BUT>>>>My husband wanted to stay at Boardwalk and i had problems getting reservations at that resort. My family was growing so we needed more points anyway. This time we got a great deal on a resale purchase of BWV contracts. we decided to dedicate our contracts for home resort stays. So we stay at BWV one year, stay at CC the next year, and then the Poly points were used for the extra stays. during the year. With this approach, we need contracts equal to half the points we need for our big family vacation for each resort. We can stay at each every other year. This simplifies the whole management of points for us.
to add to our saga, i decided i preferred VGF (after they built that walking path to MK) over CC so we sold our CC and purchased VGF. We own 7 contracts and never have a problem using our points. I have been cautioned by my husband that he doesn't like split stays, so we dont do that. During the Covid year we went to HH to avoid crowded parks and I truly appreciated the flexibility of DVC.
Sounds like a great strategy! I can see why you would like GF. I wasn't as into it until I stayed there and now it's pretty high on my list of favorite resorts.
Thanks for another great video! All of the DVC videos you have made have really helped figure out the best option for us to become members. We just booked our first stay for October at Saratoga springs with our first AKL resale contract we just closed on. What is your best strategy to get a room over at Disneyland with Disney world home resorts?
Hmm.... DL can be tough. We've been able to book studios at Grand Californian 3 different time (unfortunately we had to cancel one of them because they were closed for the pandemic!). Each time we chose a travel season that was NOT busy, we had flexible dates and we were also open to booking a 1 bedroom, if necessary. We just waited for the 7 month window to come up within our travel time period, and I began waking up early (we live on the west coast, so it was 4:45AM alarm a few days in a row) and tried to book. I think it didn't take more than 2 early morning tries to book at the 7 month window to get a reservation each time. I guess the key to getting GC at the 7 month window is traveling in the "off" season, being fast - treat it like trying to get a Rise of the Resistance boarding group, and being extremely flexible. Best of luck to you!
Great video! As we just got our first DVC contract at Riviera July 2nd... gonna be a bit until we add on haha. Thank you for the insights! Maybe I can convince my wife when Poly Tower opens!
Our first was Bay Lake Tower, but we also have points at Kidani Village and Copper Creek. All our favorite places to stay at WDW. We're still a bit unsure about Riviera. It is beautiful, but the rooms seem so small in comparison to the points that are charged for them. 🤷♀️ The artwork throughout it is very lovely though, and we've been able to get some of the prints for our home. Our largest contracts were direct so we have the blue card, but we don't really use most of the "benefits ". I think we've been to Top of the World lounge twice since we've been members (2010). 😂
Sounds like you have a great combo of home resorts! We particularly love the Riviera studio because it's the 2nd largest DVC studio on property, after the Poly studios. The 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom villas are the 3rd largest on property (after VGF and OKW) and the grand villas is 2nd in size to VGF, so they certainly aren't small... but if Riviera doesn't "do it" for you, that's fair. You have some wonderful home resorts to enjoy. We've been up to TOTWL several times, and we actually have a video coming out soon about the newly rethemed lounge and our experience with the new policies and procedures there. Thanks so much for watching and commenting! Best wishes!
So much information! I think if you are going to have more than one home resort, it should be in different areas. I currently have AKV mostly for the remarkable point chart and overall value. But I also have Riv to cover Epcot and HS. You know what this means--I have to get a monorail loop home resort! I think this will be in a few years and it will most likely be GF but maybe Poly. Definitely not BLT, which is not me at all. I can beat you on split stays! Next month I'm doing one night each at GF, Poly and BW; and two nights at Riv! Blood sport split stay!
@@TheMagicInTheMusic I will let you know. This is my first time doing it. I am new to DVC and I want to sample all of the resorts as quickly as possible. I'm traveling alone. I would not impose this on others.
Great video especially on owning a small number of contracts. The benefits of being a DVC blue card holder seem to be non existent where all the benefits are fee based. To grow your channel, just a suggestion, you may want to put up more/bigger Disney themed items for your background.
Yeah, we definitely have a "small contract" strategy - several contracts under 200 points rather than one large one. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Loved this video I literally sat there with my husband saying "Yes thats what we were saying! " - We are just in the process of buying Grand Floridian Direct - I am a little bit too excited - we've ummed and arred over this for about 5 years then last week found out they were selling direct - we are from the UK so will only be travelling every other year (well thats our plan but lets be honest that will change to once a year!! ) we wanted direct and with 150 min points now we thought this is the time to do it.. the minimum points will only go up and up so we leaped - your video confirmed all our feelings - THANKYOU SO SO MUCH xxxx Love from The Nelsons in England xxxx
That’s wonderful! Congratulations! Yes, unfortunately they keep raising the minimum for the benefits, so it’s good to jump in if you know what you want. I hope you get to book your first stay soon. Welcome home!!! 🍾🎉👏
Congratulations! Welcome home! We have a "DVC Member Welcome Home" version of that shirt in our shop here: www.themagicinthemusic.com/products/welcome-home-dvc-member-unisex-t-shirt If you want different text on it, we offer a customized version in our Etsy shop here: www.etsy.com/listing/1246523884/dvc-member-custom-unisex-short-sleeve?click_key=8d30faba9c5a09b343366d50d874710eb45e7e61%3A1246523884&click_sum=fc13a95c&ref=shop_home_active_8&pro=1&frs=1&sts=1
Unfortunately, that's one of the videos that I do not have yet. Thanks for the suggestion! It's really easy, you just go to the reservation that you'd like to modify on your dashboard, click on the text of the reservation listing and it will expand to a larger view. Click the "view of modify details" button. Then click "modify" to make changes to either the resort/dates or the guests.
Hey Jen! I really trust your opinion because you are so knowledgeable. The DVC resale market website has introduced a new “swap” program in which you can exchange points (even resale points) for Adventure by Disney, cruises, and even for going to Universal. Do you know anything about this offer and do you think it a wise use of points? Thanks 🙏
Hi there! So nice to hear from you! Yes, I did hear about that program. It sounds like you have to fill out a request form to get an estimate for a particular swap. I can only see a couple of examples on their website. But all you would need to do is request a quote, then look up the cash price of the cruise and divide that price by the amount that you could earn by renting out your points (on that website, it's $16-$18 per point). I tried to do a quick calculation based on their example on the website... 4-Night Bahamian Cruise, on Disney Disney Wish, Departing June 5, 2023. They say it would be 217 points at the $18pp tier. It's certainly MUCH less than using points to book the cruise. I would NEVER recommend that! On the other hand, the cash cruise booking is listed as $2,752. If you divide that by $18, it would take about 153 points to be rented out to earn the money needed for the cash booking. Now if you rent out the points, you would also have to pay taxes on that income, so that would cut into the proceeds a little bit. As far as I can tell, it would be a little bit more expensive to do the exchange program than to rent out the points and book the cruise yourself with cash. On the other hand, you are paying for the convenience, which has value. Based on the example they gave, it doesn't seem like a bad value. I would say to get an estimate and do a price comparison. Another question that I have about it is if you can avoid paying taxes on the points rental by doing the swap, it may be worth it. I'd like to do a little more research on it, but it seems like it could be a good option. I'd say go ahead and get a quote and see! Best wishes! 👋😎
@@TheMagicInTheMusic wow! Thanks so much for taking the time to research this for me! I’m still trying to convince my husband that buying a resale dvc contract would be a good choice for our family and I was wondering if the swap program would help to convince him. Renting points is also a great option so thanks for the reminder!!
Hey Jen! Love your videos! I never thought I’d like to do a split stay due to the hassle to pack and move mid trip, but after watching your videos I have become more open to it. I like the idea of getting to stay in new/multiple resorts. Question: When you do a split stay, have you ever had issues adding on days to your existing reservation at the 7 mo window? I’d imagine certain times a year could be completely booked. Has that ever happened to you? And if so, what did you do?
Hi there! We often add days to reservations at the 7 month window... for example, for our most recent stay at Riviera, we had originally booked 3 nights using our Riviera points, then when our check-in date hit the 7 month window, we were able to add on 2 more nights to that reservation using points from another resort. We then picked up 2 nights in a studio at Copper Creek for the end of our stay. It would have been impossible for us to book at CCV for our entire 7 nights without the 11 month home resort advantage, but since we do split stays, we're able to experience a couple of nights at in-demand resorts because they are easier to find. That's how we've stayed at studios at Copper Creek, Grand Floridian, Bay Lake Tower, Boardwalk & Beach Club without owning there. Thanks so much for watching and commenting!
The difference is that the points can only be used at their "home" resort at the 11 month window. If you own a contract at another resort (many of us own at multiple home resorts), those points can't be combined for reservations until the 7 month window.
I designed it! I have one that says "DVC Member Welcome Home" available on my website. If you place an order, then send me a message, I can do custom text for you. Here's the link: www.themagicinthemusic.com/products/welcome-home-dvc-member-unisex-t-shirt?_pos=1&_psq=dvc&_ss=e&_v=1.0
Hey sorry I think you've got one thing mistaken I just called DVC and they said you cannot use resale contracts at Riviera at all even if you purchased before 2019 if This operator was wrong you could find out for us would be great
That DVC rep is incorrect. We just returned yesterday from a stay where we DID use resale points at Riviera that were purchased prior to January 19th, 2019. But any new resale purchases moving forward will NOT be eligible for use at Riviera.
I think you're asking about getting DVC reservations on short notice? Generally speaking, no. DVC is best suited to people who can plan 7-11 months ahead of time. It is possible to find reservations on short notice sometimes, especially at less busy times of year, but it's usually pretty difficult.
It allows you access to member benefits, which include the ability to purchase the Sorcerer Annual Pass at Disney World - even if you're not a Florida resident, access to certain member lounges, some discounts, and access to special events such as Moonlight Magic events.
Can you really free up enough cash renting out your dvc points to use somewhere else. Even considering maintenance fees. Are you still only able to safe half your points for the next year or is that back to all your points? Thank you for all your hard work.
It looks like most rental companies are offering $16-$18 per point for rentals. After dues paid for the points (typically averaging about $8 per point right now), you would make roughly $8-$10 per point on a rental. So if you rented out 100 unused points, you could make $800-$1,000. You could make more if you arranged the rental privately, but I think it's smart to use a company to arrange the transaction for you. Of course these are just average numbers, but should give you a ballpark estimate. DVC recently lifted the borrowing restriction, so you are once again able to borrow the full allotment of points for the next use year. Thanks so much for watching and commenting. Best wishes!
I’m not a member and have been waffling back and forth. I’m in N. California so really want the new tower. Also want resale in Florida. Your answer has helped me decide on buying.
Hi, Jenn. I have a DVC question for you. If a waitlisted DVC reservation comes available, and one has already booked dining reservations for the original stay dates, then do those dining reservations all get deleted? -- or just the ones that are no longer on a resort reservation date? Trying to add one more day to our upcoming stay, and I would hate to lose the advanced dining reservations we already booked for the original dates. Thanks! This color yellow t-shirt is amazing!
This is probably a good question to verify with Member Services, but my understanding is that the dining reservations would not be deleted. I think this works the same as the old fastpasses did, which is to say that as long as you replace it with another eligible reservation fairly quickly, the reservations should be fine. Again, this would be a good question to ask on the chat feature of the DVC website, but I don't think you'll have any problem at all. Come to think of it... I think I've done this without giving it even a thought and nothing bad happened. Anyway, verify before you make the change but you should be okay. Congrats on your waitlist coming through!
Hi, Jenn. Member services answered my email right away. Here is what they wrote: " Reservations can be made up to 60 days prior to your visit for select restaurants, dinner shows, and dining events at theme parks, Walt Disney Resort hotels, and the Disney Springs™ area. Once booked, you would have to call to cancel dining reservations as they will not automatically cancel if you make changes to your room reservation. Members and Guests may make dining reservations online by logging into www.MyDisneyExperience.com (the new booking day starts at 6:00 AM ET) " - Katherine
Unfortunately they cannot be used for international parks. The best way to leverage your DVC points if not using to book at a DVC resort is to rent them and use the proceeds to book the non-DVC travel that you'd like.
It is possible to book stays that are less than 7 or 11 months, but it becomes more difficult to get longer stays and popular resorts will definitely book up. If you are traveling at a busy time of year for DVC, most rooms may get grabbed right away at 7 months. If you are traveling at an "off season" time, you may find options still available at 4 months. Usually most rooms are gone 3 months or fewer before your trip. Studios book first, then 2 and 3 bedrooms, 1 bedrooms are usually the last rooms available. If you have the points to book 1 bedrooms, those are your best bet for last minute reservations. DVC really isn't designed for last minute reservations, so I would caution you against it if that's how you usually travel. Best wishes!
That's a valid question. We only own DVC because these are the resorts that we ALREADY stay in every year at Disney World and Disneyland. We're simply staying there for WAY less than we would pay for the cash booking. If you don't regularly stay in these resorts, this wouldn't make sense. This Disney timeshare also has a thriving resale market and holds its value extremely well. That's why so many Disney fans own this when they wouldn't otherwise own a timeshare.
@@TheMagicInTheMusic its not less then you would have paid to stay in the same hotels if you back out the time value of the approx $ 40,000.00 you set on fire when you bought into this scam
Do you have an recommendations for a family of 3?? I’m not sure which resort we should aim for 🥹 I like Rivera but at this time my child is not a fan of the skyliner 🥹
It really depends on what you and your family enjoy. It you want great access to Magic Kingdom, Grand Floridian, Bay Lake Tower or Polynesian can't be beat. If you love Animal Kingdom, Animal Kingdom Lodge is a fantastic resort and is a good value in terms of points.
