Argument on home resort options please

[trilliank]

DH and I have decide to buy resale dvc. He wants to buy into Wilderness lodge, I say it has the shortest contract let's buy at BLT or AKV. Also there are 5 of us, FYI. He thinks wl is more affordable and doesn't want to stay at AKV because of the distance to the parks. And BLT is too expensive.
Is it worth the money to buy into WLV if there are only 26 years left?

 

[prune1977]

Personally I'd buy into SS unless you go a busy time of the year. Thats what we have and it works well as weve not ever had a problem getting resort we want to stay at.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Everyone says, "Buy where you want to stay."

I agree.

 

[chalee94]

Alternatively, "buy where you don't mind staying."

But if you really want VWL, buy there.

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

We purchased @ BCV when we were 58 & 55 so the 2042 expiration date wasn't a factor for us. YMMV.

 

[ParkHoppers]

I would strongly consider buying where you would like to stay the most as the non home resort 7 month window only gets more and more competitive as DVC builds more and more resorts. Take into consideration not only your DVC buy in cost but the overall cost of your vacations. The combined cost of everything is the most important equation to help decide which DVC resort to buy into IMO.

Example: say minus your lodging each vacation cost you $5000. Over 20 years that's $100'000.
So if Saratoga cost you $12'000 and BLT cost you $22'000 after the 20 years of Disney vacations you are looking at $112'000 spent or $122'000 spent. $10'000 more over 20 years ( or $500 a year over 20 years) doesn't seem to bad to me to go from Saratoga Springs to BLT. Annual fees are another lesser consideration but as of now I believe BLT is on the low end

 

[bumbershoot]

He thinks wl is more affordable and doesn't want to stay at AKV because of the distance to the parks. And BLT is too expensive.

WL is more affordable to buy into? To stay at?

He doesn't want to stay at AKV because of distance to parks...honestly, it all seems about the same to me. For one person's quick jaunt to MK from WL there's our nearly hour-long wait in early December because the boats were full. Nice wait, with family, not too cold not too hot, and my son lost a front tooth on the dock there, so there are memories, but it was a long wait. We generally have a rental car, anyway, so distances don't mean much to me.

And since he's talking about buying and staying, does that mean you will ALWAYS be booking home resort 11 months out? Because that's when it matters where you stay. We bought in '09 and I had our first home resort booking and stay for this year's princess run. So it wasn't until March 2015 that we did our first 11 month booking.

Bay Lake is too expensive to buy into? Or to stay at?


How old will you be when WL expires? Will it matter at that point? Since he sees that it's more affordable, do you guys get that it might well be BECAUSE of that expiration date? Can you break it down to how much per year? Do prices come more in line when you look at it that way?

Will you guys actually be happy with your 11 month home resort booking year after year?

We bought Bay Lake direct before it opened, and ultimately we aren't choosey about where we stay (except after 3 stays (2 family and 1 solo for me) at AKV we have little interest in staying there again), so buying SSR/OKW resale would have been a terrific idea for us.

 

[suebeelin]

If you want to stay at VWL during the Xmas season you need to buy there.

Otherwise, you can usually get into VWL otherwise at the 7mo mark.

If you're considering akl bc of the longer shelf life, might as well buy SSR. Whenever I book or switch out at the 7mo mark, I cringe using my BLT and bwv points. I wish I had SSR points for those instances!!

 

[supersnoop]

The initial price is but a small portion of the overall cost. When you consider the maintenance fees and contract expiration, the best values are SSR, BLT, and AKV, in that order.

If you want to spend the majority of your trips at one particular location, then you need to consider buying there.

 

[trilliank]

We have stayed at the Contemporary 4 of the last 6 trips and love it which is why I want BLT, but if it isnt too hard to get that reservation I would prefer to buy at AK because the buy in is cheaper. We usually book trips 6-9 months out and go March, June and/or Dec (usually 2 of those) So if we wanted to stay at BLT in March would we be able to get that 7 months out? That is my fear, that it will be booked. But I think Animal Kingdom looks really nice, we have never stayed there. Too many decisions!

 

[supersnoop]

but if it isnt too hard to get that reservation

You haven't said which type of room you intend to book. Lake view at BLT is often easy to book, and one-bedrooms always book up last. You'll never get a standard view studio at 7 months at BLT. There are only 18 "value" studios at AKV, and 5 "club" rooms. If you intend to book those, you need to own there. If you want a standard or savanna room at AKV, those are commonly available at 7 months. Here's a studio showing studio availability:
http://disboards.com/threads/predic...-some-1-bedrooms-vgc-update-10-21-15.3419112/

I would prefer to buy at AK because the buy in is cheaper.

Buy-in is such a small part of the purchase. If all you care about is the price, SSR is a better value. If you want to book "value" or "club" rooms at AKV, buy AKV. If you don't care where you stay, buy SSR. I own BLT because it's a great combination of value (lowest on-property dues), and also a high-demand location.

 

[Sammie]

I would never buy a DVC location based on transportation. As bumbershoot stated it all comes out to be near to the same when you visit all parks during a stay. One resort might be walking distance to a park but long rides to another.

Also as you keep your DVC over the years your preferences and will change.

 

[MountainMouse]

We have stayed at the Contemporary 4 of the last 6 trips and love it which is why I want BLT, but if it isnt too hard to get that reservation I would prefer to buy at AK because the buy in is cheaper. We usually book trips 6-9 months out and go March, June and/or Dec (usually 2 of those) So if we wanted to stay at BLT in March would we be able to get that 7 months out? That is my fear, that it will be booked. But I think Animal Kingdom looks really nice, we have never stayed there. Too many decisions!

If you could I'd buy BLT especially since you like the Contemporary so much. With the more expensive dues of AKL, BLT is cheaper over the long run. I debated between BLT and AKL when I bought a couple of years ago. Almost jumped the gun on a AKL purchase that fell through and I'm glad it did because it gave me time to research the pricing and see the value in BLT.

 

[ParkHoppers]

We have stayed at the Contemporary 4 of the last 6 trips and love it which is why I want BLT, but if it isnt too hard to get that reservation I would prefer to buy at AK because the buy in is cheaper. We usually book trips 6-9 months out and go March, June and/or Dec (usually 2 of those) So if we wanted to stay at BLT in March would we be able to get that 7 months out? That is my fear, that it will be booked. But I think Animal Kingdom looks really nice, we have never stayed there. Too many decisions!

Like others in here have said it is important to know what type of rooms you are likely to stay in. Not sure about March and June but we like to go in early December which is very popular with DVC members due to the lowest points needed to stay plus it's Christmas time. For that time of year BLT ,Poly, GF , WL and possibly BW and BC can be very tough at the 7 month window. Studios can be very tough to get and I,m sure even one and two bedrooms also. Maybe others will chime in on this. I feel like the lower buy in resorts were a better option in the past as far as booking at 7 month window. I feel it has gotten much harder recently and will only get worst in the future as Disney seems to be building more DVC which means more people in the pool. We love the monorail resorts because you feel so connected to the other monorail resorts and end up hanging out at those resorts quite often due to how easy they are to access via monorail. But it is all what one person likes over another so your decision should be based on what you think you like and will like going forward. Anyway you cut it if you are vacationing a lot in Disney you will most likely be spending a bunch of money. Tough to avoid that hard truth.

 

[trilliank]

To clarify: there are 5 of us, kids are 8, 9, and 13. We usually stay club level tp view contemporary but in Dec are staying at the cabins so our niece (16) can stay with us. We would like to stay in 1 bdrm, but would be ok with a studio as long as it slept 5. So my 1st choice would be the 1 bdrm at BLT - either Lake or TP view. 2nd choice would be a studio at the Poly OR a 1 berm villa at AK. We have spent well over 50K on Disney over the. Past 5 years so I don't know why it is so hard to decide to spend 20-30k on dvc! We should have bought in 5 years ago!

 

[ParkHoppers]

To clarify: there are 5 of us, kids are 8, 9, and 13. We usually stay club level tp view contemporary but in Dec are staying at the cabins so our niece (16) can stay with us. We would like to stay in 1 bdrm, but would be ok with a studio as long as it slept 5. So my 1st choice would be the 1 bdrm at BLT - either Lake or TP view. 2nd choice would be a studio at the Poly OR a 1 berm villa at AK. We have spent well over 50K on Disney over the. Past 5 years so I don't know why it is so hard to decide to spend 20-30k on dvc! We should have bought in 5 years ago!

You should look at a 2016 DVC points chart. For instance a studio at BLT sleeps 4 and a one bedroom sleeps 5 and at Poly the studio sleeps 5. At wilderness lodge studio sleeps 5 and one bedroom sleeps only 4. I believe Saratoga Springs is 4 in the studio and the one bedroom. Check the points chart over before making your final decision on what would be best for your family.

 

[disneynutz]

It all depends on you. Will you be upset if you don't always get your favorite resort at 7 months? Do you feel like buying a resort with a shorter contract termination date isn't worth the money?

For us knowing that we will always stay at our favorite resorts is worth buying there and we love the resorts no matter when they expire.

Our Disney vacations will cost us several hundred thousand dollars, staying at a resort you don't really care for and guessing with a waitlist doesn't make sense to us.

Bill

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

To clarify: there are 5 of us, kids are 8, 9, and 13. We usually stay club level tp view contemporary but in Dec are staying at the cabins so our niece (16) can stay with us. We would like to stay in 1 bdrm, but would be ok with a studio as long as it slept 5. So my 1st choice would be the 1 bdrm at BLT - either Lake or TP view. 2nd choice would be a studio at the Poly OR a 1 berm villa at AK. We have spent well over 50K on Disney over the. Past 5 years so I don't know why it is so hard to decide to spend 20-30k on dvc! We should have bought in 5 years ago!

If BLT is your first choice resort, and you can afford the upfront cost, there is little reason to buy elsewhere. BLT is the second cheapest resort on a per point basis (behind SSR) over the life of the contract because of the low annual dues.

Annual dues 2016
BLT $5.28
AKV $6.41 ($1.13 more than BLT)
VWL $6.21 ($.93)

Buy in (lowest currently available contract with full 2017 points per **********.com)
BLT $113 pp
AKL $80 pp ($33 less than BLT)
VWL $85 pp ($28 less than BLT)

If annual dues stay the same, and you buy VWL, you initially save $28 per point compared to BLT, however every year you lose $.93 pp in annual dues. After $28/.93 = 30 years, VWL becomes more expensive (year 2046). So by the time 2042 arrives, BLT and VWL costs per point are almost equivalent, but you get 18 additional years on the BLT contract.

If annual dues go up the same % for all resorts every year, the break even point for BLT is even sooner.

There is a possibility that BLT annual dues may not always be low, so there is a risk to it. I wouldn't buy BLT because it's "cheap" (SSR is a much safer bet for cheap points), but since you say BLT is your first choice resort, seems like a good choice for you.

 

[Dean]

Everyone says, "Buy where you want to stay."

I agree.

I don't think it's accurate that everyone says this, many of us feel like Charles, buy where you don't mind staying. I'd add that for some buying where they'd prefer to stay makes DVC less cost effective and often not a reasonable choice. Also, depending on usage, they all function the same at the 7 month window. And the most important that essentially no new buyer without direct DVC AND Disney experience, knows where they want to stay only where they think they want to stay.

In this situation I think planning for a 2 BR is a necessity and the 1 BR with 2 baths the minimum to look at. Otherwise it's not reasonable to buy DVC. The planned usage (not necessarily preferences) would dictate my ultimate recommendations but I'd point out that BLT may not be more expensive long term. Actually from a long term value standpoint I believe it is, and likely will continue to be, the second best resale value after SSR. The dues over time will almost certainly make up the premium for price and if one makes use of the standard view options (booking at 11 months out), it can be an even better value.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

VWL is nice. We own at SSR and VGF and are very pleased. But we love VWL. We decided to hold off buying VWL for the new direct offering from DVC Copper Creek. Get the longer contract and newer units. More expensive though.