Buying resale in 1-2 years - some questions

[Mrs. Bob Loblaw]

My husband and I are saving to buy a resale contract. I'm 11 weeks pregnant, which puts a dent into our savings plan (for the best of reasons!), but having our first child also increases our desire to own DVC. We know it'll happen, we just don't know if having a baby will postpone the plan for a year.

We are both teachers, but we have 2 weeks off every Christmas. Our primary travel time would be part of the premiere seasons - just after Christmas through New Year's, and then 4-5 days the first week of January when things become quiet. We hate the heat, so it's unlikely we would visit during the summer. We might go during spring break sometimes, but the heat killed us then on our last trip (mid-90s and humid - bleh).

Our primary consideration when thinking about which property we would like is the expiration year. BLT is 2060 and AKV is 2057, which would give us Disney vacations until I'm nearly 80 - yay!

Here are some of my questions..

Is there any word on whether the contracts expiring in 2042 will be increased for a price? I would love to consider other properties, but 2042 only gets me to age 64, and that's just not enough Disney for my lifetime.

Since we will be traveling during the busiest times of the year, I was wondering if transportation at AKV will be a problem, since there are only buses there? Would 1 resort be better than the other during Christmas week?

Since we'll mostly be traveling at the busiest times of the year, would we have much of a chance of getting a 1 bedroom or even a studio at our non-home resort at 7 months out? We would like to try some of the other resorts, such as BWV, BCV, and both of the 2 properties we are already considering.

We like the theming at AKV much more than at BLT, but in your opinion, does access to the monorail make up for that?

 

[Msmithmd]

Responses included in your post below:

"My husband and I are saving to buy a resale contract. I'm 11 weeks pregnant, which puts a dent into our savings plan (for the best of reasons!), but having our first child also increases our desire to own DVC. We know it'll happen, we just don't know if having a baby will postpone the plan for a year.

We are both teachers, but we have 2 weeks off every Christmas. Our primary travel time would be part of the premiere seasons - just after Christmas through New Year's, and then 4-5 days the first week of January when things become quiet. We hate the heat, so it's unlikely we would visit during the summer. We might go during spring break sometimes, but the heat killed us then on our last trip (mid-90s and humid - bleh).

Our primary consideration when thinking about which property we would like is the expiration year. BLT is 2060 and AKV is 2057, which would give us Disney vacations until I'm nearly 80 - yay!

Here are some of my questions..

Is there any word on whether the contracts expiring in 2042 will be increased for a price? I would love to consider other properties, but 2042 only gets me to age 64, and that's just not enough Disney for my lifetime."

No word, except for OKW which has had an extension option that wasn't well conceived by DVC. No one knows for sure what will happen.

"Since we will be traveling during the busiest times of the year, I was wondering if transportation at AKV will be a problem, since there are only buses there? Would 1 resort be better than the other during Christmas week?"

Most AKV owners feel the transportation is very good there. But there's no denying the convenience of walking to a park.

"Since we'll mostly be traveling at the busiest times of the year, would we have much of a chance of getting a 1 bedroom or even a studio at our non-home resort at 7 months out? We would like to try some of the other resorts, such as BWV, BCV, and both of the 2 properties we are already considering."

There is always a chance. New Year's Eve is the single highest demand DVC day of the year so you'd certainly have to reserve your home resort early and take a look at what's available at seven months.

"We like the theming at AKV much more than at BLT, but in your opinion, does access to the monorail make up for that?"

In general the monorail doesn't save time over bussing. But it's cool. Definitely intended as a "ride" you don't have to buy theme park admission to enjoy. As a a general guess (individual trips will vary) these guidelines would be true:

BLT will be much quicker to MK.

AKV will be much quicker to AK.

AKV will be much quicker to Epcot, as from BLT you have to take two separate monorails to get to Epcot whereas it's one bus from AKV.

Both resorts are a toss-up to Hollywood, just depending on when you arrive versus the bus arriving, at the stop.

Perhaps the most important consideration though, is point cost per stay. Really look at what you get per point at the two resorts. You will get a lot more, days or a bigger room in certain AKV categories for the same points as a BLT reservation. See for yourself. Good luck with the baby and the decision...

 

[Disney Spaz]

First off congrats on the baby.

OKW did a contract extension years ago and I couldn't tell you if DVD felt it was a success or not so no clue if they would extend at the resorts you listed. Plus those DVC resorts are attached to CRO resorts so it is anybody's guess about contract extensions. I would make a purchase choice counting on it though.

As for booking Christmas time if you are willing to do split stays I think you will be able to do most of the resorts during the last half of your trip or if you are willing to call MS right at the 7 month mark you have a good shot at trying all the resorts.

We have stayed at both BLT and AKV during Christmas and IMHO both resorts were amazing but for very different reasons. BLT was cool to walk right to MK and avoid some of the traffic of using Disney transportation but we found the holiday decorations not to our taste. Very appropriate for the resort just not our cup of tea. We also found ourselves struggling to go to parks other than MK since it was so easy to get there. At AKV we felt more relaxed and more like we were on vacation. The theming was beautiful and the decorations really made it feel like Christmas. The transportation did take longer but it didn't bother us as we felt like going back to the resort was a vacation within a vacation.

So in short I would take AKV's theming over BLT and the monorail. Now that being said we just bought into VGF because for us it offers the best of both worlds. Monorail access but, for us a more relaxed homey feel an the Christmas decorations are to die for.

 

[Deb & Bill]

...We are both teachers, but we have 2 weeks off every Christmas. Our primary travel time would be part of the premiere seasons - just after Christmas through New Year's, and then 4-5 days the first week of January when things become quiet. ...

Don't count on the first few days of January being quiet. As long as school is out, the crowds will be there. Once school is back in session, then the crowds disappear. But the Marathon follows up quickly after that.

Is there any word on whether the contracts expiring in 2042 will be increased for a price? I would love to consider other properties, but 2042 only gets me to age 64, and that's just not enough Disney for my lifetime....

The OKW extension wasn't received that well. I know we did not purchase the extension even though the price was discounted for the first few months from $25 a point to $15 a point. Why pay for something that I wouldn't even start to use for over 30 years? If I was still alive? So now DVC has a resort with two different expiration dates. What do they do in 2042? Parts of some buildings will be expired, while others won't expire until 2057. They can't tear down that building and rebuild a new resort.

Since we will be traveling during the busiest times of the year, I was wondering if transportation at AKV will be a problem, since there are only buses there? Would 1 resort be better than the other during Christmas week?...

Since the parks, especially MK and Epcot do shut down, you need to be at those parks when they open or you might not get into the park. You might still be able to get into DHS or AK, but you'll need a park hopper ticket if you want to stil get into MK later on when it reopens.

Since we'll mostly be traveling at the busiest times of the year, would we have much of a chance of getting a 1 bedroom or even a studio at our non-home resort at 7 months out? We would like to try some of the other resorts, such as BWV, BCV, and both of the 2 properties we are already considering.

We like the theming at AKV much more than at BLT, but in your opinion, does access to the monorail make up for that?

Booking your home resort at 11 months out for this time period is essential. Changing at seven months out might be possible, but it will be difficult. That's why most seasoned members suggest you purchase where you don't mind staying if you can't get anything else at seven months out. Studios are usually the first to go and one bedrooms might be the last to go. But any lower point, preferred view, etc will go faster than the standard views. Except standard view at BWV goes as fast as the BW view at BWV. Leaving the preferred water/garden view.

BWV and BCV are going to be difficult at seven months out. You would have a better chance at OKW or SSR because they are larger resorts.

 

[chalee94]

Is there any word on whether the contracts expiring in 2042 will be increased for a price? I would love to consider other properties, but 2042 only gets me to age 64, and that's just not enough Disney for my lifetime.

i own at OKW and thought the OKW extension was an overpriced disaster. i would not count on extensions at any of the other 2042 resorts (or if they do, expect it to be way overpriced.)

Since we will be traveling during the busiest times of the year, I was wondering if transportation at AKV will be a problem, since there are only buses there? Would 1 resort be better than the other during Christmas week?

Since we'll mostly be traveling at the busiest times of the year, would we have much of a chance of getting a 1 bedroom or even a studio at our non-home resort at 7 months out? We would like to try some of the other resorts, such as BWV, BCV, and both of the 2 properties we are already considering.

We like the theming at AKV much more than at BLT, but in your opinion, does access to the monorail make up for that?

AKV vs BLT is all personal preference. i've had some transportation issues at AKV (slow buses) but still generally prefer that resort (i don't spend a lot of time at the MK). i love the theming at AKV. (i'd also never brave the crowds at MK during christmas week.)

buy where you don't mind staying. you might have access to other resorts at 7 months but you might not, especially going at those times of year. all i can tell you is that 1BRs are generally easier to get than studios.