Saratoga Springs -itching to make an offer

[eMoneyBug]

I am currently not a DVC owner. I have been to presentations in the past. I would be using the resort in Hawaii & occassionaly the Grand Calif. and of course DisneyWorld resorts as well.

Is SS the way to go on my purchase? I'm eyeing the 400 pt lot that is listed. What price per/point should I bid? mid or low $50s???

Your opinions would be appreciated

 

[disneynutz]

My opinion is that you should take some time to fully understand how the DVC works. The positives and negatives, limitations, rules, policies, and most importantly your ability to buy less expensive points with the intention using them at other resorts.

If that was a good strategy, only SSR and OKW would have owners.

Bill

 

[ELMC]

My opinion is that you should take some time to fully understand how the DVC works. The positives and negatives, limitations, rules, policies, and most importantly your ability to buy less expensive points with the intention using them at other resorts.

If that was a good strategy, only SSR and OKW would have owners.

Bill

You forgot to tell him to stay at a DVC resort to see if he would like it.

 

[DougEMG]

My opinion is that you should take some time to fully understand how the DVC works. The positives and negatives, limitations, rules, policies, and most importantly your ability to buy less expensive points with the intention using them at other resorts.

If that was a good strategy, only SSR and OKW would have owners.

Bill

In other words, your ability to book GCV with SSR points is going to be very limited (mainly because the resort is extremely small) and who knows how easy Aluani will be to book although it is a large resort.

A rule of thumb is if you don't care where you stay buy the cheapest place possible (which normal works out to OKW and SSR), but if you aren't going to be happy if you don't get the room you want, then buy at that location.

 

[dwight16]

i bought a loaded SS contract 160 with banked points the end of of 2010 for 58 a point. i just booked my second trip and got where i wanted both times. you just need to be flexible with times and places. go for the off peak times and you will get what you want. and SS will always have rooms as back up. i personally would say i would rather have 400 points at SS then 200 points at BLT

 

[disneynutz]

You forgot to tell him to stay at a DVC resort to see if he would like it.

Guess I'm getting older.

Since my answer and opinion is always the same, I should use the cut and paste function.

Bill

 

[Dean]

I am currently not a DVC owner. I have been to presentations in the past. I would be using the resort in Hawaii & occassionaly the Grand Calif. and of course DisneyWorld resorts as well.

Is SS the way to go on my purchase? I'm eyeing the 400 pt lot that is listed. What price per/point should I bid? mid or low $50s???

Your opinions would be appreciated

SSR might work for you but I doubt it unless you're very flexible and proactive for non WDW options. I too think you should spend more time getting to know the options and compromises. CA will be the most difficult for your stated goals. It may be that two or even 3 home resorts might end up being the best option for you. My guess is that 2 is the best (WDW & CA) as you've set it up. Whether DVC in general is a good fit for you, we don't know because we don't have enough information. My suggestion is to spend a few months gathering info, stay at a DVC resort then decide if DVC is a good choice. After that, you should have a better feel of what best fits your needs.

 

[htmlkid]

I am currently not a DVC owner. I have been to presentations in the past. I would be using the resort in Hawaii & occassionaly the Grand Calif. and of course DisneyWorld resorts as well.

Is SS the way to go on my purchase? I'm eyeing the 400 pt lot that is listed. What price per/point should I bid? mid or low $50s???

Your opinions would be appreciated

Price you pay is what you feel comfortable with. As for the resort as long as you are flexible it doesn't really matter. We purchased a fully loaded SSR 250 point contract for $52 a point last August and have stayed in BWV, Animal Kingdom, Wilderness Lodge, BLT's and this summer a week in Aulani without much of a problem. Even if we didn't get what we wanted initially we were able to wait list and have been lucky that way. And now with online booking its easy to check to see whats available!!!!

Good Luck!!!!!

 

[disneynutz]

In other words, you ability to book GCV with SSR points is going to be very limited (mainly because the resort is extremely small) and who knows how easy Aluani will be to book although it is a large resort.

A rule of thumb is if you don't care where you stay buy the cheapest place possible (which normal works out to OKW and SSR), but if you aren't going to be happy if you don't get the room you want, then buy at that location.

Great advice but I see one flaw. Most people don't know what makes them happy until they try out various options. They may think that they will be happy anywhere in a studio until they stay in a one bedroom at BWV, Boardwalk view.

We experienced the same issues. We thought that we would love BLT, the location, the Theme Park views, (marketing illustrations seemed to put the fireworks on the balcony), the cheaper dues that our Guide kept telling us about.

Well as many of you know, it's our least favorite resort and we didn't realize it until we stayed at all of the resorts. [

Bill

 

[disneynutz]

Price you pay is what you feel comfortable with. As for the resort as long as you are flexible it doesn't really matter. We purchased a fully loaded SSR 250 point contract for $52 a point last August and have stayed in BWV, Animal Kingdom, Wilderness Lodge, BLT's and this summer a week in Aulani without much of a problem. Even if we didn't get what we wanted initially we were able to wait list and have been lucky that way. And now with online booking its easy to check to see whats available!!!!

Good Luck!!!!!

I understand what you are saying and I am happy that things have worked out for you but I'm curious.

You seem to travel a lot and obviously spend a ton of money on your vacations. At what point do you think you opinion might change?

It would drive me nuts knowing what my upcoming vacation is going to cost me a few thousand dollars in addition to my DVC costs and not knowing for sure that I can stay where I want.

Bill

 

[eMoneyBug]

Thanks for the insights so far. More information. Live in Los Angeles, so have gone to Disneyland and stayed at all the DLand Hotel and GC and Paradise many times. Have been to all the islands in Hawaii several times, but have never seen Aulani, although heard good things from several friends that have stayed there. Only been to Disneyworld twice, but did tour Animal Kingdom, Bay Lake, Boardwalk and probably other properties that are Disney but not DVC.

I have 12yr boy and 9yr girl and they ranked the properties:

B G
1. Aulani Aulani
2. BLake Vero Beach
3. AKV GC
4. GC BLake
5. VB SSR
6. SSR AKV

So now I'm thinking maybe getting lower point values at 2 or 3 places, like Vero Beach, AKV & SSR. This way it's low cost, I can just hope to get in at GC and be flexible to goto Aulani. And when we fly to Orlando, it's possible we could goto Vero & WDW in the same trip. Anybody, ever goto Vero and WDW in 1 vacation?

Your posts are much appreciated!

 

[Dean]

Thanks for the insights so far. More information. Live in Los Angeles, so have gone to Disneyland and stayed at all the DLand Hotel and GC and Paradise many times. Have been to all the islands in Hawaii several times, but have never seen Aulani, although heard good things from several friends that have stayed there. Only been to Disneyworld twice, but did tour Animal Kingdom, Bay Lake, Boardwalk and probably other properties that are Disney but not DVC.

I have 12yr boy and 9yr girl and they ranked the properties:

B G
1. Aulani Aulani
2. BLake Vero Beach
3. AKV GC
4. GC BLake
5. VB SSR
6. SSR AKV

So now I'm thinking maybe getting lower point values at 2 or 3 places, like Vero Beach, AKV & SSR. This way it's low cost, I can just hope to get in at GC and be flexible to goto Aulani. And when we fly to Orlando, it's possible we could goto Vero & WDW in the same trip. Anybody, ever goto Vero and WDW in 1 vacation?

Your posts are much appreciated!

A lot of people combine VB with WDW trips. DVC is only reasonable of those that can plan ahead (at last 7 mo, better 11 mo) and those that are flexible. I'd suggest you investigate and stay in a DVC option and in the mean time, gather all the info you can. Then if it still seems right for you, maybe buy something smaller, maybe at WDW and try it further. You can always buy more points later. GC will be your most difficult reservation in all likelihood so owning there might be best but not cheapest. You've got to be realistic and flexible for non home resort options and plan ahead for home resort reservations.

 

[ELMC]

I have 12yr boy and 9yr girl and they ranked the properties:

B G
1. Aulani Aulani
2. BLake Vero Beach
3. AKV GC
4. GC BLake
5. VB SSR
6. SSR AKV

In addition to the advice you received here, I would suggest that split stay vacations will give both your kids what they are looking for!

 

[ELMC]

It would drive me nuts knowing what my upcoming vacation is going to cost me a few thousand dollars in addition to my DVC costs and not knowing for sure that I can stay where I want.

Bill

I'm with you...and that's why I ended up buying two small contracts. One at BWV and one at BLT. For me, walking to the parks is my number 1, 2 and 3 top priorities. So it's split stays booked 11 months in advance all the way for us!

 

[disneynutz]

Thanks for the insights so far. More information. Live in Los Angeles, so have gone to Disneyland and stayed at all the DLand Hotel and GC and Paradise many times. Have been to all the islands in Hawaii several times, but have never seen Aulani, although heard good things from several friends that have stayed there. Only been to Disneyworld twice, but did tour Animal Kingdom, Bay Lake, Boardwalk and probably other properties that are Disney but not DVC.

I have 12yr boy and 9yr girl and they ranked the properties:

B G
1. Aulani Aulani
2. BLake Vero Beach
3. AKV GC
4. GC BLake
5. VB SSR
6. SSR AKV

So now I'm thinking maybe getting lower point values at 2 or 3 places, like Vero Beach, AKV & SSR. This way it's low cost, I can just hope to get in at GC and be flexible to goto Aulani. And when we fly to Orlando, it's possible we could goto Vero & WDW in the same trip. Anybody, ever goto Vero and WDW in 1 vacation?

Your posts are much appreciated!

I would think that you want to guarantee booking at the resorts that you will use most often. If that is VGC and Aulani, I would buy at VGC to start. Of course this means that you love staying at VGC and Aulani. If you don't know that for sure, then I would stay at different resorts until you know for sure.

Most of my advice is with the understanding that you will buy and hold. Another strategy is to buy a cheaper resort with the understanding that you may sell at a loss after you use the contract to stay at the various resorts and you make your ultimate purchase(s).

Bill

 

[bwvBound]

Greetings from San Diego! We own all our DVC points at SSR and have used these points for stays at most of the DVC locations including Grand Cal, Vero, Aulani and WDW (various DVC locations). Yes, we have a VB+BWV vacation scheduled for this June.

As warned earlier, Grand Cal has very few DVC units and can be difficult to book. We book Grand Cal for short stays (~2 nights) only by stalking inventory through the online reservation tool. It works -- but don't plan on finding 5+ nights in a row easily!

FWIW, owning Grand Cal points didn't fit our travel pattern. We tend to book visits to Disneyland "last minute" (3 days to 3 months from travel). This pattern doesn't take advantage of the Home Resort Advantage reservation window (7 to 11 months prior to travel) and leaves me competing with any/all DVC owner. For us, it really didn't help to own GC.

However, truth be told, it doesn't matter if I can't book Grand Cal. Most of our Disneyland trips include a stay at one of the two Worldmark properties nearby. Gotta love our Worldmark!

Thanks for the insights so far. More information. Live in Los Angeles, so have gone to Disneyland and stayed at all the DLand Hotel and GC and Paradise many times. Have been to all the islands in Hawaii several times, but have never seen Aulani, although heard good things from several friends that have stayed there. Only been to Disneyworld twice, but did tour Animal Kingdom, Bay Lake, Boardwalk and probably other properties that are Disney but not DVC.

I have 12yr boy and 9yr girl and they ranked the properties:

B G
1. Aulani Aulani
2. BLake Vero Beach
3. AKV GC
4. GC BLake
5. VB SSR
6. SSR AKV

So now I'm thinking maybe getting lower point values at 2 or 3 places, like Vero Beach, AKV & SSR. This way it's low cost, I can just hope to get in at GC and be flexible to goto Aulani. And when we fly to Orlando, it's possible we could goto Vero & WDW in the same trip. Anybody, ever goto Vero and WDW in 1 vacation?

Your posts are much appreciated!

 

[eMoneyBug]

"SAN DIEGO"
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING YOUR INSIGHT!

I THINK WE MAY HAVE SIMILIAR MINDSET ON OUR DVC STRATEGY ESPECIALLY WITH THE VGC USAGE. It would probably be very short notice to plan VGC usage and 1 to 3 days at a time. I couldn't imagine booking 11months in advance as I didn't envision using VGC for a must have 4th or Thanksgiving or Xmas or NY type.

For Aulani, my kids get out of school in early June, so I would want to go asap, so the points are still in the lower bracket, which means it should be less demand right? And maybe going at weird times would be better for airfare rates as well!

For some reason, with all the choices at WDW, probably take many years to find favorites, so hoping this lower cost, multi resort DVC path will work for my travel plans.

 

[Kidanifan08]

. . . so the points are still in the lower bracket, which means it should be less demand right?

This is a common misconception of the DVC point charts. The lower point times of the year often are the busiest, as this tends to attract DVC members to travel during those times so they can stretch their points a little farther. In fact, the first two weeks of Dec is the lowest point values and yet is one of the busiest times of the year. Most of Sept, most of January, early Feb, and early Nov are probably the slowest times of the year. Early June can generally be reserved in the 3-6 months range, but there may not be much selection of resort at that point, and may only offer OKW, SSR and possibly AKV.

There are a couple of other important things to consider about buying a 400 point contract, or any contract over 250 points for that matter. It is a sizable chunk of change, and if you decide that you are not happy with your purchase in 3-5 years, these large contracts take longer to unload on the secondary market. Also, even if you do end up happy with your purchase, you can't divide those points up. So, if you think you want to give 200 points to each of your children someday, you won't be able to do that.

Good luck researching, but take your time. SSR and AKV contracts are widely available and can be had for great prices. I just got 105 points at AKV for $67/pt -- larger contracts could be had for the low $60's. Remember that SSR goes through 2054, AKV through 2057 and BLT contracts end in 2060. This may be important depending on your current age and future plans.

 

[htmlkid]

I understand what you are saying and I am happy that things have worked out for you but I'm curious.

You seem to travel a lot and obviously spend a ton of money on your vacations. At what point do you think you opinion might change?

It would drive me nuts knowing what my upcoming vacation is going to cost me a few thousand dollars in addition to my DVC costs and not knowing for sure that I can stay where I want.

Bill

First off I'll say that the memories from vacations last a lifetime so in my book its money well spent. With that said, we do have annual passes to WDW so the cost is not as high as you think, we also live in florida so transportation is not an issue. So although we do spend a fair amount on vacations, its money well spent.

I feel as our daughter grows older there will be a gap where we might not use it as much as now and then we might look into RCI Trades still she has kids of her own, and then its back to lots of WDW again!!!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

"SAN DIEGO"
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING YOUR INSIGHT!

I THINK WE MAY HAVE SIMILIAR MINDSET ON OUR DVC STRATEGY ESPECIALLY WITH THE VGC USAGE. It would probably be very short notice to plan VGC usage and 1 to 3 days at a time. I couldn't imagine booking 11months in advance as I didn't envision using VGC for a must have 4th or Thanksgiving or Xmas or NY type.....

Not being able to book with a lead time may be a problem. Especially with VGC since it is so small.

There are a lot of times of the year when members can't get the resort they want (anywhere in that resort) at 7 months out. And not just holiday times. I would never plan on booking VGC without 7 months lead time at a minimum.

Short notice and DVC (timeshares in general) doesn't always work out very well.