Purchased Too Many Points

[emchen]

Most of those are not going to be very good deals, but some will be. For example, we stayed in an oceanfront 1BR at Marriott's Kauai Beach Club last summer. That would have cost 130 DVC points, which is a decent value. At $18/pt, that's pretty close to what an owner would pay at that resort just in annual fees for that room.

Feelings are cyclical, but right now yes, we have purchased too many points-- but it's all stemming from one feature available to us-- Interval.

II Getaways has been a very effective vaccine to addon-itis. I stayed in a 2bd/2ba MVC for $67/night(tax inc!) at a non-DVC destination. Compared to the $300+/night in dues at my home resort for the same time, I knew our future would include more non-Disney. Instead of constantly browsing the resale aggregators and disboards, I'm now checking II for cash deals. Of course everyone's travel habits are different, so fortunately ~60 days have worked for my family.

We don't plan on selling, but that's not to say that thought hasn't come up to sell all my contracts except for one 25-pointer just to keep my DVC-Y and Interval Gold (to DVC staying with II). We still love Disney, just not as much as we did years ago.

Shhh, that's my family's secret too! We did 3 weeks at $352/week last October close to property at one of the MVC's booked through the getaways. Such a great deal!

Ok you guys, this has really intrigued me.

However, the rooms I've seen so far are so dated! Reminds me of the Marriot Vacation Club at Ko'Olina in 2019, when we stayed for a night immediately after our first time in Aulani. The difference couldn't be starker between DVC rooms and non-DVC rooms. Has that been an annoyance with the II Getaways?

 

[pianomanzano]

Ok you guys, this has really intrigued me.

However, the rooms I've seen so far are so dated! Reminds me of the Marriot Vacation Club at Ko'Olina in 2019, when we stayed for a night immediately after our first time in Aulani. The difference couldn't be starker between DVC rooms and non-DVC rooms. Has that been an annoyance with the II Getaways?

We booked a stay at Sheraton Vistana, so can only speak for that resort. We watched some room tour videos on youtube prior to booking it and requested a room in a section we knew was recently refurbished. The villa itself was great. For a 2BR villa it was sprawling: huge living room, separate dining space with a big dining room table (not like the ones you see in SSR, BWV, BCV, BRV). I think if it were on property, it'd be a favorite because of the size alone!

 

[emchen]

We booked a stay at Sheraton Vistana, so can only speak for that resort. We watched some room tour videos on youtube prior to booking it and requested a room in a section we knew was recently refurbished. The villa itself was great. For a 2BR villa it was sprawling: huge living room, separate dining space with a big dining room table (not like the ones you see in SSR, BWV, BCV, BRV). I think if it were on property, it'd be a favorite because of the size alone!

Ok. That is definitely great to know. How about in HI or Mexico? I imagine being on Disney property, there is a standard. But I fear the standard in Maui is 70s or 80s plush furniture. My brief research along Mexican Riviera was more hopeful with all-inclusive rooms looking much more updated and pricing very reasonable (including the all-inclusive fees).

Can someone start a thread here who has experience with resorts off property and perhaps even outside of FL? Which II Getaway resorts are on par or better than updated DVC rooms? @Brian Noble?

 

[AstroBlasters]

Ok you guys, this has really intrigued me.

However, the rooms I've seen so far are so dated! Reminds me of the Marriot Vacation Club at Ko'Olina in 2019, when we stayed for a night immediately after our first time in Aulani. The difference couldn't be starker between DVC rooms and non-DVC rooms. Has that been an annoyance with the II Getaways?

I would be interested to learn more about your experience.

My wife likes to go to Longhi’s for brunch and says she could see us wanting to be there more once the kids are grown because Aulani is always busy and doesn’t have a lot of adult areas.

 

[Brian Noble]

I might not have sufficient Pixie Dust discernment, because I find most of the brand-name resorts in the area to be at least comparable in terms of upkeep. The non-DVC units tend to be better equipped, and are often a bit larger. For example, they almost always have a dining table that seats at least six comfortably, which is unheard of in a DVC 2BR.

Our stay at Cypress Harbour last spring for a Universal-oriented trip was great.

If you go into such a stay looking for reasons why the units aren't what you are expecting, you will probably find them. But I think you have to go looking---and to be fair, you can do that in pretty much any DVC room as well.

 

[emchen]

I would be interested to learn more about your experience.

My wife likes to go to Longhi’s for brunch and says she could see us wanting to be there more once pir kids are grown because Aulani is always busy and doesn’t have a lot of adult areas.

Sorry if I came across like it was horrible. MVC at Ko Olina was not. It was just what I expected of a timeshare room.

The public areas and lobby were great and rivaled that of Aulani’s. The room was spacious but a bit dated and pedestrian, ho hum. Old SSR as opposed to recent refurb. Old BCR as opposed to recent refurb.

The places I do not any recent experience with, like the Maui Interval International Getaway listings are way worse and are the ones I hope to get more info from members on. Are they the norm / standard outside of WDW and DLR?

 

[Brian Noble]

The Marriott I stayed at in Kauai is a hotel conversion. They did a nice job of it, but it is still a hotel conversion. We did not care about that, because the bed was comfortable and it was approximately 15 yards from the ocean with a central location on the island. Easy to walk between our oceanfront lounge chair and our room for snacks, etc.

Despite being in a protected bay, it was surprisingly pleasant. We weren't planning to spend much time there, but we ended up spending most of our week on the beach there; the resort provides lounge chairs just off the sand, which is a very nice touch.

 

[emchen]

I might not have sufficient Pixie Dust discernment, because I find most of the brand-name resorts in the area to be at least comparable in terms of upkeep. The non-DVC units tend to be better equipped, and are often a bit larger. For example, they almost always have a dining table that seats at least six comfortably, which is unheard of in a DVC 2BR.

Our stay at Cypress Harbour last spring for a Universal-oriented trip was great.

If you go into such a stay looking for reasons why the units aren't what you are expecting, you will probably find them. But I think you have to go looking---and to be fair, you can do that in pretty much any DVC room as well.

Any first hand experience outside of FL or not near any DVC resorts? In particular Maui, Kuai, Central America, Europe?

 

[Brian Noble]

I've stayed at a bunch of great resorts, though more through RCI than II.

The II places I've been to recently are Marriott Cypress Harbour in MCO (very nice), Kauai Beach Club (the aforementioned hotel conversion), and Vidanta's Grand Mayan (a "bubble" resort in Neuvo Vallarta with plenty of oceanfront palapas--we had a great time there. The unit was a little dated, but we were using a bonus week that couldn't get into the newer sections so who cares.)

We have a couple more coming up: a 2BR at Marriott Summit Watch in Park City UT for the 4th of July, and a 1BR at Marriott Aurba Beach Club in May.

We also have Wyndham La Belle Maison planned for March, an RCI resort in Phoenix in late Feburary, and Wyndham South Shore in Lake Tahoe lined up after the Park City week. The Wyndham resorts were booked internally, but they are all RCI-only.

Honestly, DVC is a pretty average timeshare operator. The recent refurbishments at e.g. SSR have moved those resorts up from "mostly okay" to "better than average" but I still have plenty of pet peeves about the typical DVC resort.

 

[emchen]

Kauai Beach Club (the aforementioned hotel conversion), and Vidanta's Grand Mayan (a "bubble" resort in Neuvo Vallarta with plenty of oceanfront palapas--we had a great time there.

Thanks for these!

Kauai Beach Club can be found in II? Didn’t come across it when I looked last night. Will also look for Vidantas Grand Mayan.

Is it true you are totally DVC-free or do you still have some of your old points?

 

[Cfabar1]

Honestly, DVC is a pretty average timeshare operator. The recent refurbishments at e.g. SSR have moved those resorts up from "mostly okay" to "better than average" but I still have plenty of pet peeves about the typical DVC resort.

I'm genuinely curious what they are given your experience with other systems. Here are mine:

1. High cost to own per week compared to other systems like Hyatt.
2. Small kitchen/living area
3. Older rooms have the awkward layout of a very small living room with the TV focal point against the kitchen countertops.
4. Patio/Lanai not being enclosed... VB this is particularly a problem due to noseums.

My favorite operator I think is Hyatt, which is now part of Marriott. I find under Marriott's leadership, it is going downhill, but still very good.

 

[Brian Noble]

Kauai Beach Club can be found in II?

It is resort code MKW

Is it true you are totally DVC-free or do you still have some of your old points?

I’ve had exchange stays that averaged the equivalent of about 300 pts/year, dating back to 08 or so—the last time DVC was with Interval. I’m not even a frequent flyer.

 

[bakerworld]

Has anyone ever felt they have purchased too many points. We own (removed by mod) and (removed by mod) Should we just rent our excess points or sell a contract?

I remember feeling like this. When we purchased direct DVC gave us 2 years of points up front because the resort was still being built. Then we added on because the hubs wanted to be in walking distance to MK and, once again, they gave us 2 year of points up front. We bought for us and we tried to buy minimums but we still ended up with 260 points which DVC turned into 520 points. We were begging our 'kids' (they were all in their 20's) to use them, which they did and it helped. But I remember thinking we were 'over sold' for a while. Of course, as we learned the DVC system and arranged family trips the points were quickly used and about 4 years later we were well into 'borrow' mode. LOL

It's just a learning curve. Give it time. You'll love the 2 bedroom villas with the kids and their friends. When we vacationed in WDW with young kids we went every 3 years. The resort is such a small part of the vacation.

 

[kboo]

My son is 11 and my daughter is 5 so going solo with just the kids is now a viable option. I would probably even bring a buddy for my son. I think we have settled on next trip doing 2 park days with the waterpark option and then just doing resort days and maybe checking out some other things in the area. We only have 200 pts but when I was planning the next few years it seemed a lot. But I think we'll try save for a 1 bd for 2025.

Mine are approx 12/8 and we still haven't been to the water parks! We are AP holders - the other benefit w going more than 1x/year, and we do shorter trips into the park, carrying less, and come back for meals/rest/pool/arcade. My kids can now stay out late and keep walking - for multiple rides at the parks, so our days are now a lot less planned (and in the summer, don't necessarily need G+).

Our first resale contract was 160 points but it had banked points so we had over 300 points to use that first year - we got "used" to more points really quickly!

Also - with kids that age - a 1br is REALLY nice - an old-timer here used to call it the "nookie tax" or something even though we were usually too exhausted to think about that. But it is nice to have a room where we could watch something or stay up a little longer without keeping the kids up.

 

[tom1944]

Mine are approx 12/8 and we still haven't been to the water parks! We are AP holders - the other benefit w going more than 1x/year, and we do shorter trips into the park, carrying less, and come back for meals/rest/pool/arcade. My kids can now stay out late and keep walking - for multiple rides at the parks, so our days are now a lot less planned (and in the summer, don't necessarily need G+).

Our first resale contract was 160 points but it had banked points so we had over 300 points to use that first year - we got "used" to more points really quickly!

Also - with kids that age - a 1br is REALLY nice - an old-timer here used to call it the "nookie tax" or something even though we were usually too exhausted to think about that. But it is nice to have a room where we could watch something or stay up a little longer without keeping the kids up.

We are a party of 4 for these trips and since we fly, I would rather do 1 trip a year for 7-10 days more often 9 or 10.

I have to decide if the 2 bedroom is worth the points or is the 1 bedroom with Murphy beds the way to go. Luckily it would be my wife and I who would use them since we go to bed much later than my daughter and granddaughter.

We stayed in the 1 bedroom at BLT and that worked and while the second bedroom would be nice is it worth the extra 50-60 plus points for each trip. Booking a room that accommodates 8/9 with only 4 on the trip seems like a poor way to use the points.

 

[kboo]

I have to decide if the 2 bedroom is worth the points or is the 1 bedroom with Murphy beds the way to go. Luckily it would be my wife and I who would use them since we go to bed much later than my daughter and granddaughter.

Agree - BLT will be really nice with the Murphy beds because the 1br has 2 full baths. Ironically, some of the newer resorts have a worse bathroom setup in the 1br than the studio, even though they sleep 5 with nice murphy beds. (RIV VGF, I'm looking at you - 2 separate places to shower in the studio, but only 1 shower in the 1br).

We stayed in the 1 bedroom at BLT and that worked and while the second bedroom would be nice is it worth the extra 50-60 plus points for each trip. Booking a room that accommodates 8/9 with only 4 on the trip seems like a poor way to use the points.

Totally agree, unless there's a bathroom issue like the one I just identified. That said - we booked a 2br last summer for may dad to join us and share with our kids (12, 8), and he canceled at the last minute. We did really like having the kids have their own bathroom in the BWV unit, but the kidani 2br (3 full baths) was ridiculous. My kids got spoiled.

 

[tx911]

Also - with kids that age - a 1br is REALLY nice - an old-timer here used to call it the "nookie tax" or something even though we were usually too exhausted to think about that.

Lol, I wouldn't have the guts with my kids right next door

 

[kboo]

Lol, I wouldn't have the guts with my kids right next door

Note I did not admit whether we did or not.

 

[tx911]

Note I did not admit whether we did or not.

That may be one for the "DVC Confessional" thread

 

[homey12]

For me, I kept borrowing into the next year and could never catch up. that’s when I knew we needed more points and went with a resale.