1 or 2 contracts help.

[emmamc252]

Ok so after reading literally everything we could find on resale dvc hubby and I sat down last night to thrash out what we wanted. I know that might sound stupid but we really hadn't discussed the finer details.

So what we want is to go studio lower season value animal kingdom for 8 nights and studio standard view bay lake tower for 6 nights.
We come from the uk so 2 weeks is perfect at disney, if we do universal or a beach it tends to be additional days so 2 weeks is good.
We love akl and the value rooms are so good on points we definitely want to own there! We've tried getting in the value with my mums points (ssr) at the 7 month window and wait list and for our length of stay never managed it. So owning here is essential.
2 weeks is a long time though and we like to do a swap, try another hotel. Apart from wilderness lodge and grand Floridian we've stayed at all property and bay lake tower is by far our favourite! We have got in standard view once and lake view once but both were only for 4 nights. Although we love bay lake tower it's expensive in terms of points so we can't afford to just own here (unless we win the lotto!) realistically I think we'd stay here 2 out of 3 years although hubby does love it so much I guess we may end up there every tear!nits definitely important to hubby.

So we NEED 90-100 points akv, and we need 100 points for blt but do we need to own here? Lake view is more expensive on points so we wouldn't have enough points, would be borrowing etc. would we get in?
So our 2 options are
1- buy a 200 point akv contract
2- buy 100 akv contract and 100 point blt contract.

Th closing costs on 2 instead of 1 contract plus wire transfer fees etc make it about $450 more expensive plus smaller contracts (I've read are higher priced?

Thoughts?..

 

[disneynutz]

If you know what resorts you want, then buy there for the best chances at getting your reservation.

IMO there won't be any slow times in a couple of years.

Bill

 

[newdeal]

I am an amateur and just started looking at DVC however your comment about winning the lottery doesn't ring true to me. From a purely financial perspective here are my thoughts.

On the resale market the difference in cost per point really isn't that high between AKV and BLT and the maintenance fees at BLT are lower which will help offset it in the long run. So in this perspective over the life of your contract the BLT points may cost less. Also the BLT contract goes for 3 years longer which when you take the cost of yearly point depreciation into account the BLT points are worth more as they have depreciated 3 years less

From what I have read standard view at the BLT is very tough to get and so at 7 months I am not sure you will be able to get it without owning there.

As far as value rooms at AKV go they also seem to book quickly, so if you want those rooms owning there is important. However the cost per point of AKV is around 20% higher than SSR and the maintenance fees are also higher 20% higher than they are at SSR and the savings on a value room vs. a standard room at is also about 20% of the points total. Therefore you would save money by buying SSR points, and the maintenance fee difference will make up for having to book standard vs value.

At the times you book at BLT it wouldn't matter if you had cheaper points from SSR or more expensive points for AKV.

For me I would buy more points at SSR as the most cost savings. If that wasn't appealing them I would split between AKV and BLT knowing financially it didn't make sense but as a way to make sure you almost always get what you want.

 

[emmamc252]

That's a good point, I will get my calculator out again and see how many points we would need to buy at ssr to get in regular akl and lake view and compare prices!

 

[Dean]

Ok so after reading literally everything we could find on resale dvc hubby and I sat down last night to thrash out what we wanted. I know that might sound stupid but we really hadn't discussed the finer details.

So what we want is to go studio lower season value animal kingdom for 8 nights and studio standard view bay lake tower for 6 nights.
We come from the uk so 2 weeks is perfect at disney, if we do universal or a beach it tends to be additional days so 2 weeks is good.
We love akl and the value rooms are so good on points we definitely want to own there! We've tried getting in the value with my mums points (ssr) at the 7 month window and wait list and for our length of stay never managed it. So owning here is essential.
2 weeks is a long time though and we like to do a swap, try another hotel. Apart from wilderness lodge and grand Floridian we've stayed at all property and bay lake tower is by far our favourite! We have got in standard view once and lake view once but both were only for 4 nights. Although we love bay lake tower it's expensive in terms of points so we can't afford to just own here (unless we win the lotto!) realistically I think we'd stay here 2 out of 3 years although hubby does love it so much I guess we may end up there every tear!nits definitely important to hubby.

So we NEED 90-100 points akv, and we need 100 points for blt but do we need to own here? Lake view is more expensive on points so we wouldn't have enough points, would be borrowing etc. would we get in?
So our 2 options are
1- buy a 200 point akv contract
2- buy 100 akv contract and 100 point blt contract.

Th closing costs on 2 instead of 1 contract plus wire transfer fees etc make it about $450 more expensive plus smaller contracts (I've read are higher priced?

Thoughts?..

First, you're looking at the lowest accommodations in terms of cost & size as well as the lowest time of the year. That gives you no wiggle room for other options, larger villas, you can't get the difficult to reserve cheaper view or if any reallocation occurs that is negative to your situation. So I'd caution you against cutting it that close in total points unless you're prepared and have a plan when you'd be short. Also remember that the dues are higher at AKV. As you've described, I'd personally look at BLT resale for around 200-250 points. You'd still have potential access to the standard view rooms at BLT and while you likely wouldn't get the value rooms, you could still get standard view at AKV with BLT very easily. Getting BLT from AKV is going to be far more risky. By saving roughly $500 on the second closing and maybe $120 per year by having cheaper BLT dues over AKV, you'll compensate for the higher BLT cost in a few years. Another alternative would be to go with SSR with yearly fees close to BLT and a much cheaper buy in. You should be able to get AKV fairly easily but not value and should be able to get something at BLT most years if you plan exactly at 7 months out. If you were at 150 or more each, I'd consider both.

Another option for your situation is to buy an in between contract of say 150-180 maybe at BLT and see how it goes. It's likely you'd be fine over time if you're prepared to either skip a year occasionally and/or to supplement a given trip every few years in some way by cash, getting a transfer, renting some from another member or staying off property, etc. Then once you have a feel for how things will work, you could always do a future add on that better fits the situation based on the better info you'd have at the time.

Obviously there are many similar variations that you'd have as options.