Potential ownership: comments & questions... UPDATE... Membership info has arrived!

[glamdring269]

***UPDATE***
Ended up getting a 75 point October UY contract at VWL. We received our membership number yesterday and of course I've been playing with the site this morning. Woo hoo!

Advance apologies for the long post... here goes!

We're currently on vacation and I'm actually posting this from our studio at AKV-Jambo while on an afternoon break between a morning of DHS and a fun night of Not-So-Scary Halloween partying ahead. Unfortunately the fun ends soon as tonight is our last night.

Anyway, we're staying here on rented points and are considering buying in to the DVC. I've researched this for awhile and we also did the tour earlier in the week (mainly because we were already in DTD, it started raining, and we happened to be near the DVC booth!)

About us...

1) Two adults, no kids
2) Most likely to travel during October, followed by late May/early June, followed by Christmas.
3) Thinking of a contract 100 points or less to get started. Preferably in the 50-75 range if we can find one.
4) Not interested in credit. Cash purchase.

So, as part of our trip we explored many of the resorts. Like I said we're staying at AKV and, while I really enjoy the resort itself, I think we will likely pass on ownership here as the long bus rides are not favorable. That's not an absolute deal breaker but definitely not a positive.

Here is what we decided in terms of ranking the available resorts after visiting...

1) Beach Club / BWV (with preference towards Beach Club)
2) Poly (eventually)
3) AKV / BLT / VGF
4) SSR / OKW (could become #2 if we decide cost/point more important than 11 month booking)

Full disclosure, we did not visit VWL so cannot comment on those. We really liked the VGF rooms but after walking through the place we realized it's just not our kind of place. I won't get into the why of that statement for risk of offending people. BC/BWV are perfect for us considering we really enjoy Epcot and F&W.

Questions...

First, and possibly most important, does this even make sense if we would only visit once every two to three years? I think we would likely alternate between the two (once per two / once per three) for awhile but would eventually start to come more frequently as we get older.

Second, I like to plan but am not always able to plan 11 months out. I can however pencil something into the calendar in advance and hope it works out. Normally I would know in plenty of time for banking purposes if something is not going to work.

Third, given that our primary months are so scattered (October, late May/June, December) I assume use year does not matter quite as much. October is our primary target so I would assume somewhere in the Aug/Sep/Oct range but would appreciate your opinions as well.

Let me sum this up by saying that I really appreciate you taking the time to have read this and appreciate any advice you have to offer.

 

[chalee94]

First, and possibly most important, does this even make sense if we would only visit once every two to three years? I think we would likely alternate between the two (once per two / once per three) for awhile but would eventually start to come more frequently as we get older.

every other year can work. for "every third year", i'd stick to renting and not buy in.

Second, I like to plan but am not always able to plan 11 months out. I can however pencil something into the calendar in advance and hope it works out. Normally I would know in plenty of time for banking purposes if something is not going to work.

DVC works best if you can plan 11 months in advance. once you get inside 7 months, there may be a risk of not getting your home resort (especially for dec stays, or oct in the boardwalk area)...but if you are ok with things working out like that sometimes, it's no big deal.

but remember that you can only bank pts 1 year forward. if you wind up canceling your every other year stay, some of the pts (banked or borrowed) would not be bankable into the next UY and would expire at the end of that UY...and if you couldn't go again till 2 years out, none of the pts would be valid for that next stay.

Third, given that our primary months are so scattered (October, late May/June, December) I assume use year does not matter quite as much. October is our primary target so I would assume somewhere in the Aug/Sep/Oct range but would appreciate your opinions as well.

oct/sept/april would be my suggestions - just so you don't travel in the 3 months prior to the start of the UY. but if you never cancel, UY month would never be an issue.

if you planned on adding-on more pts later, you might want to look at which UY months are more commonly available.

 

[crisi]

It makes sense to me. We only go every other year and its worked fine.

You do need to know that October through early January at both BWV and BCV get very busy - if you regularly want to stay there during that time, you should buy there, and if you do so, you'll need to book more than seven months in advance - as close to 11 as you can manage. If you can't regularly make the commitment at eleven months - buy SSR and hope you get BWV or BCV once in a while during F&W.

Also, you can only bank and borrow one year any direction - so if you bank points because you are going to F&W next year, then can't get your reservation because you can't commit early enough, you'll need to use those banked points SOMEWHERE before the end of your use year. You can bank the current years points - but the previous year - you'll need to find some use for them.

You'll want to go for a use year that leaves you plenty of time to travel if you have to cancel - so if you are planning on going MOSTLY in the fall - a late summer or early Fall use year is best.

 

[disneynutz]

If you care where you stay, buy where you love to stay, realizing that if you don't book at 11 months, you may have trouble getting what your want.

Buying a DVC interest may save you money depending on you, or it could cause you to spend more, you need to do the numbers.

UY is banking insurance should you have to cancel a reservation. You have 8 months from the beginning of your UY to bank your points.

Bill

 

[rowlands57]

As a BCV owner I can say the main reason for me to own there is the proximity to EPCOT. The ability to walk back to the resort after the close/fireworks is a great selling point. Not having to deal with any transportation after F&W is a big plus too.

 

[glamdring269]

I do have a question when it comes to booking. I can book home resort at 11 months out. There are no penalties to cancel that reservation if needed provided I do it outside of the hold period and in sufficient time to bank the points (assuming those points are not from a previous or future UY).

Is this correct? If so then I think I would be able to 'plan' without much issue considering when we would travel in October is fixed (tied to a teacher's schedule so fall break is known before the 11 month period). My schedule is the more volatile but would settle in with enough time to make a decision prior to the hold/bank timing provided my understanding in the first paragraph is correct.

Thanks again!

 

[chalee94]

I do have a question when it comes to booking. I can book home resort at 11 months out. There are no penalties to cancel that reservation if needed provided I do it outside of the hold period and in sufficient time to bank the points (assuming those points are not from a previous or future UY).

right. if you cancel more than a month in advance AND before your banking window closes (within the first 8 months of your UY), there are no penalties. any current pts can still be banked ahead to the next UY.

but if you are not traveling every year, you would always be using banked/borrowed pts, which cannot be banked ahead but must be used within the UY they were banked or borrowed into.

 

[Nabas]

I do have a question when it comes to booking. I can book home resort at 11 months out. There are no penalties to cancel that reservation if needed provided I do it outside of the hold period and in sufficient time to bank the points (assuming those points are not from a previous or future UY).

Is this correct? If so then I think I would be able to 'plan' without much issue considering when we would travel in October is fixed (tied to a teacher's schedule so fall break is known before the 11 month period). My schedule is the more volatile but would settle in with enough time to make a decision prior to the hold/bank timing provided my understanding in the first paragraph is correct.

Thanks again!

Yes, as long as you cancel 31 days before, there is no penalty. As you suggest, just book at the 11-month window when you think you might want to go, and then just cancel if your plans change. However, you need to be cognizant of the Use Year (UY) deadline.

Assuming your 3 most likely travel months are October, December, and May, then an October Use Year could work very well for you. With an October UY, your banking deadline will be May 31.

Assuming you want to go during Food & Wine Festival (F&WF), you'll have to own at BCV or BWV to be sure to book these. Yes, you'll hear stories along the lines of "we own at SSR and always can book at BCV". However, I'm suggesting that if you really want to be in a Crescent Lake resort for F&WF, don't count on it unless you own there.

The main advantage of BWV is a BWV room can be fewer points. For example, a week in a Studio in October is:

- BCV: 107 points
- BWV Boardwalk View: 107 points
- BWV Standard View: 78 points

Note that the annual Maintenance Fee at these two DVCs are similar, $5.84/point at BWV and $5.65/point at BCV.

Our first DVC purchase was at BWV because we liked the option of booking a "cheap" Standard View or upgrading to a Boardwalk View. The views from the BCV rooms are rather ordinary.

IMHO, BCV's big advantage is being able to use Stormalong Bay. But the pool tends to be very crowded with lots of "excited" children.

You should have no problem going once every three years. Just rent out your unused points, which at BWV or BCV you'll have no problem doing for at least $11/point. Long term, assuming you buy 100 points and go only once every 3 years, the amount you net from renting your points will actually end up paying for most of your DVC stays.

 

[glamdring269]

I think we made a mistake, or discovery, depending upon your point of view.

Last night was our last and we decided to go out with a bang by attending MNSSHP. We had some free time before the show so decided to head over to VWL to check it out and then take the boat over to MK.

Wow! That place is amazing! I was not expecting to find what we found when we decided to go over there. In my opinion this was easily the best looking property on site. I'm probably subconsciously biased considering I'm from East TN and spent a lot of my childhood in the Smokies but I can't help what was basically forced into my being as a child (which I can also account for me being a Vol fan).

Anyway, this has really muddied the waters for us. We will most likely travel during F&W so the convenience of BCV and BWV can't be beat. That's a like. I loved the look of VWL.

Everyone says buy where you love... but let me ask this question...

For F&W, would it be better to buy BCV/BWV and use points at the 7 month mark if we decide to go to VWL? That may give us the ultimate flexibility but not sure just how difficult it is to get a room at VWL in October at the 7 month mark.

Thanks guys and I'm sure many of you can appreciate the 'torn' nature of these resort selections when choosing where to buy!

 

[glamdring269]

Y
The main advantage of BWV is a BWV room can be fewer points. For example, a week in a Studio in October is:

- BCV: 107 points
- BWV Boardwalk View: 107 points
- BWV Standard View: 78 points

Nabas, I appreciate the advice. I think what you've put here is especially good information as we know from our way of doing Disney that the room type just isn't important to us. Having the option to book a room for 78 points a week in October is a powerful advantage. And that's not even counting the fact that the buy in at BWV is tremendously less than BCV currently.

We don't spend a ton of time at the pool on these trips so not sure the difference between SAB and the clown pool are as important to us as shaving some walking time off of the journey to HS.

 

[disneynutz]

Are family has changed as time has gone on. F&W is nice to do once in a while but it's pretty much the same thing every year. An expensive tidbit of food and drink and plenty of people.

For the first few years we spent most of our time in the parks, now we spend most of our time at the resorts. Some like to get up for rope drop, we like to sleep in.

We bought Epcot/DHS area resorts and MK area resorts over the years. Our favorites are BWV, VWL, and we hope VGF.

Theming is something the Disney does well, when we go to Disney we want what other resorts can't or don't deliver.

Bill

 

[Dean]

Advance apologies for the long post... here goes!

We're currently on vacation and I'm actually posting this from our studio at AKV-Jambo while on an afternoon break between a morning of DHS and a fun night of Not-So-Scary Halloween partying ahead. Unfortunately the fun ends soon as tonight is our last night.

Anyway, we're staying here on rented points and are considering buying in to the DVC. I've researched this for awhile and we also did the tour earlier in the week (mainly because we were already in DTD, it started raining, and we happened to be near the DVC booth!)

About us...

1) Two adults, no kids
2) Most likely to travel during October, followed by late May/early June, followed by Christmas.
3) Thinking of a contract 100 points or less to get started. Preferably in the 50-75 range if we can find one.
4) Not interested in credit. Cash purchase.

So, as part of our trip we explored many of the resorts. Like I said we're staying at AKV and, while I really enjoy the resort itself, I think we will likely pass on ownership here as the long bus rides are not favorable. That's not an absolute deal breaker but definitely not a positive.

Here is what we decided in terms of ranking the available resorts after visiting...

1) Beach Club / BWV (with preference towards Beach Club)
2) Poly (eventually)
3) AKV / BLT / VGF
4) SSR / OKW (could become #2 if we decide cost/point more important than 11 month booking)

Full disclosure, we did not visit VWL so cannot comment on those. We really liked the VGF rooms but after walking through the place we realized it's just not our kind of place. I won't get into the why of that statement for risk of offending people. BC/BWV are perfect for us considering we really enjoy Epcot and F&W.

Questions...

First, and possibly most important, does this even make sense if we would only visit once every two to three years? I think we would likely alternate between the two (once per two / once per three) for awhile but would eventually start to come more frequently as we get older.

Second, I like to plan but am not always able to plan 11 months out. I can however pencil something into the calendar in advance and hope it works out. Normally I would know in plenty of time for banking purposes if something is not going to work.

Third, given that our primary months are so scattered (October, late May/June, December) I assume use year does not matter quite as much. October is our primary target so I would assume somewhere in the Aug/Sep/Oct range but would appreciate your opinions as well.

Let me sum this up by saying that I really appreciate you taking the time to have read this and appreciate any advice you have to offer.

It seems like you have considered the variables and understand the system. For your stated goals, I don't think home resort is that important. In your situation a studio should give you options and savings you wouldn't have otherwise or would have to pay more for and/or depend on others with added risk. EOY is workable as is every third year. The issue with every third is if you have an issue and have to delay a trip you may lose points or have to rent them. It doesn't sound like you have one resort you must stay at most trips. If you decide to buy, I think simply the cheapest option that gives you a home resort priority at your desired location (WDW) is likely your best option. For most that is SSR or OKW with SSR being a better value with lower dues and a longer RTU. But BCV, BWV, AKV and VWL would all be reasonable as you don't have to stay there. The reason to move BWV to the top might be Food and Wine, esp if you're wanting to get BW view or standard view.

 

[DizBub]

My $.02......I would buy BWV to have access to the standard rooms at 11 months and take my chances for VWL and BCV at 7 months.

FWIW we own at BLT for the standard room advantage but note, you have to be prepared to book right at 11 months. We also own at BCV, also during F&W you pretty much need to book at 11 months since it's much smaller than BWV. I have come to realize that BWV is likely the better value over BCV especially if the pool is not a priority.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Deb & Bill]

...Wow! That place is amazing! I was not expecting to find what we found when we decided to go over there. In my opinion this was easily the best looking property on site. I'm probably subconsciously biased considering I'm from East TN and spent a lot of my childhood in the Smokies but I can't help what was basically forced into my being as a child (which I can also account for me being a Vol fan)....I loved the look of VWL.

Everyone says buy where you love... but let me ask this question...

For F&W, would it be better to buy BCV/BWV and use points at the 7 month mark if we decide to go to VWL? That may give us the ultimate flexibility but not sure just how difficult it is to get a room at VWL in October at the 7 month mark.

Thanks guys and I'm sure many of you can appreciate the 'torn' nature of these resort selections when choosing where to buy!

If you want VWL for the holidays, you really need to own VWL because it can be hard to get at seven months out for Thanksgiving and December. But October shouldn't be too bad. At least not as difficult as the Epcot resorts and BLT.

Wherever you buy, as long as you wouldn't mind staying there if you couldn't change at seven months out.

We own most of our points at OKW with a smaller contract at VWL (we used to live in Montana and loved going to Yellowstone and Glacier NP). But if we could only stay at OKW or VWL we would be happy.

 

[SFlaDisneyfans]

Here is what we decided in terms of ranking the available resorts after visiting...

1) Beach Club / BWV (with preference towards Beach Club)
2) Poly (eventually)
3) AKV / BLT / VGF
4) SSR / OKW (could become #2 if we decide cost/point more important than 11 month booking)

A couple of additional factors for thought. If Poly is high on the list and you plan every 3rd year then it may very well be completed for your next trip and be a viable purchase option.

What is your proximity to Disney? Are travel costs a major factor. If you are relatively close and might do spur of the moment trips/dont plan 11 months or more out then the home resort bonus isnt that important.

While studios are good for now, think 10 or so years down the road and ask if you might need a more economical point chart for a 1 bedroom. Also, dont discount a 1 bedroom just for a couple. Once you stay in one some folks find it hard to go back to a studio. This is a factor when looking at point charts for BCV versus BWL and VWL.

Hope this helps.

 

[quandrea]

A couple of additional factors for thought. If Poly is high on the list and you plan every 3rd year then it may very well be completed for your next trip and be a viable purchase option.

What is your proximity to Disney? Are travel costs a major factor. If you are relatively close and might do spur of the moment trips/dont plan 11 months or more out then the home resort bonus isnt that important.

While studios are good for now, think 10 or so years down the road and ask if you might need a more economical point chart for a 1 bedroom. Also, dont discount a 1 bedroom just for a couple. Once you stay in one some folks find it hard to go back to a studio. This is a factor when looking at point charts for BCV versus BWL and VWL.

Hope this helps.

Sound advice. We started with 200 when we had only one child and figured studios would be fine. Fast forward one year when we tried out a one bedroom. First add on. Fast forward a few more years and we had twins!! Next add on. Now we own 860 points and wouldn't dream of a studio for more than a couple of night when it is just the two us.

I think akl is a great value point wise. It is also great that we get by in a one br there. Bay lake is the same but pricier per point and we don't like it as much as akl. We also own at ssr but it is less favourable for us because we need a two bedroom there. Keep your future needs in mind when buying.

 

[Nabas]

Nabas, I appreciate the advice. I think what you've put here is especially good information as we know from our way of doing Disney that the room type just isn't important to us. Having the option to book a room for 78 points a week in October is a powerful advantage. And that's not even counting the fact that the buy in at BWV is tremendously less than BCV currently.

We don't spend a ton of time at the pool on these trips so not sure the difference between SAB and the clown pool are as important to us as shaving some walking time off of the journey to HS.

Certainly, the walk back from DHS to BWV is shorter than to BCV. (BTW, we own at both.) Conversely, the walk back to BCV from Epcot is shorter. Which is "better" is a matter of personal preference.

If you ever have children, they might truly love Stormalong Bay (SAB) whereas some are creeped by BWV's clown slide.

IMHO, the Standard View Studio at BWV is one of the most difficult to book because it's so cheap. Setting aside purchase price, 78 points for a week in a BWV Studio during F&WF is an incredible value, even if it does mean looking at a parking lot. IMHO, only AKV (we also own there) comes close in terms of value and, given BWV's superior location, a Standard View Studio at BWV wins hands-down.

Long term, if you really love WDW, then you'll almost certainly get "add-on-itis" at some point and want to add points somewhere. We've never added at the same resort because we like to take advantage of the 11-month booking window when possible. My point is, focus on what you think you'll want to do for the next 3-to-5 years. Long term, your plans will change.

In terms of booking at VWL, VWL is very small and getting a Studio there can be difficult at the 7-month window. Only a few years ago it was the only Magic Kingdom area DVC. Yet with DVCs soon opening at all 3 Monorail Resorts, my prediction is that VWL will become easier to book going forward.

Getting into pure speculation, two of the most talked about locations for a future DVC resort are on Seven Seas Lagoon (between the TTC and the Contemporary) and on Bay Lake (across from the Wilderness Lodges). Both locations were targeted for hotels way back in the 1960s as part of WDW's original plans. Again, if either location ever came to fruition, then that would be yet another DVC in the Magic Kingdom area, perhaps making VWL that much more easier to book.

 

[PlutoFan10]

One more thing to add. Many of us had similar plans when buying DVC -- we would go to WDW every few years. Well, once you go as a member and start seeing those points come into your account, it's very hard not to go at LEAST once every year! These reactions result in "addonitis" and we succumbed, happily.

 

[DebbieB]

I don't know how old you are but one thing to consider is BWV, BCV, VWL expire in 2042. Take a look at the DVC Resource thread to get more specific dates for all the resorts:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2532406

 

[glamdring269]

Lots of good advice to keep in mind throughout this discussion. I appreciate all of it. Length of contract is definitely something worth keeping in mind when buying in to these resorts and is one factor I do want to consider. This is really a tough call in terms of home resorts. Is this usually the hardest part for most? Deciding where to buy considering I assume most of you can find pros/cons to any of the resorts?