My biggest tip for people considering a DVC purchase

[rutgers1]

Having been part of the DVC family for 2 years (not long, but long enough to get a sense of things), I really only have 1 tip for people who are considering a purchase. The tip is to buy at your favorite resort, not necessarily the one that Disney is selling at that time.

If there is one thing that has caused us frustration over the past two years, it has been wondering if we would be able to get our desired resort at the 7 month window. This is a major concern for us, as we are teachers and have to travel during peak times. Our home resort is nice, but there is another one that truly "fits" us.

If you are just starting to play with the idea of buying DVC, my suggestion is to slow down a bit and consider your options. If you haven't toured all of the DVC resorts, consider visiting all of them. Once you figure out which one you like the best, look into resale either through Disney or a company like The Timeshare Store.

 

[mrsR123]

I concur. By where you want to stay has been the mantra for quite some time. Staying someplace is a bonus if you're happy with where you book at 11 months.

 

[Granny]

I agree, with a couple stipulations:

1. You must consistently plan and book at least 7+ months ahead, preferably 11 months in advance. Otherwise, it really doesn't matter where you stay.

2. You must be in a position that you would be disappointed to regularly stay at the resort Disney is actively selling. For many people, just being at WDW is awesome and home resort is not that critical.

There are other considerations, and anyone who asks is usually given the BWYWTS mantra.

 

[Rpsemont]

We did just that. When we bought, they were selling SSR, but we told our guide we wanted BWV and lo and behold, one day he called and had BWV points. While I know it's not for everyone, we love it there - walking distance to 2 parks, great late night food options at ESPN, there USED to be free valet parking. I had originally thought booking at 11 months would be a real pain, I wasn't much of a planner. But have found that school vacations and holidays really do define our travel, so have gotten used to it.

 

[rutgers1]

BWV is where we wanted, too. I'm sure I would like BCV also, but haven't stayed there. For me, the location can't be beat given the parks we most like to visit.

 

[delaneyc52]

We were so Disney naive when we bought into DVC 10 years ago. Vero was the soup du juor and thats what we bought. It was obviously an impulse buy and I so wish I had waited and researched because our first love is BWV. Hopefully we will do some buys and sells in the coming year.

 

[El&Asmom]

I think it's obviously very important if you want to go to the smaller, popular resorts during busy DVC times, or if you want a specific resort most of the time. However, we tend to travel during slower periods and are pretty happy at most any resort. We have only stayed at our home resort, (at WDW) once and even then had other choices when booking. We have always been able to get in where we have wanted at the 7m or less booking time.
So if you are happy at multiple resorts, or go during slower times, it's not quite as important, and you can get away with buying what's less expensive or has a later expiration date.

 

[sandieb]

My piece of advice is to buy what you can afford by using the money you have budgeted for vacations. Try not to finance even if you need to wait an extra year to purchase.

My other advice is to buy resale! There is quite a savings by doing so.

I concur - buy where you want to stay. We have contracts at BCV and Hilton Head and love them both.
Hakuna Matata
Sandie

 

[granolacruncher11]

ITA! I thought I had really done my research before we bought but I had no idea that you could you buy other resorts. Don't regret our purchase and we do love our home resort but....probably would have chosen another resort had we known.

 

[tidefan]

For many people, just being at WDW is awesome and home resort is not that critical.

We may be in the minority as we fall in to this group. I think that they call it "Buy where you wouldn't mind staying". Quite honestly, I don't get the whole "have to be at a certain resort thing", but I respect those that do. Different strokes for different folks. Our goal is to try them all.

Now, this being said, we have found that we like having the Treehouse Villas (best DVC villas, IMHO) available at 11 months, but not having them wouldn't be a deal breaker. I'm fine at OKW or SSR or wherever.

 

[Inkmahm]

We own at 3 different resorts for the 11 month advantage. AKV is for our spring trip, BWV is for our October trip and VWL is for our Dec trip. We could probably get AKV in spring even if we didn't own there, but we want concierge sometimes. For that, odds are better if you're an owner. Same for October at BWV and December at VWL. Odds are MUCH better if you are an owner than if you are booking at the 7 month mark.

We also like BCV and BLT so sometimes I do switch to other resorts. I like having the option.

 

[Tigger031266]

Its a funny thing but I don't usually care where I stay. I figure, I am in Disney and just happy to be on vacation.

We love BWV so it is like 100% awsome, our least fav resort is probably AKV which is like 99% awsome.

Every resort seems to have its own unique cool thing:
AKV - The animals obviously
BCV - That Pool
BWV - The Boardwalk
SSR - DTD and Theming
OKW - Best Rooms and quiet
BLT - The views

I love them all almost equally.

 

[Cee]

We love BWV so it is like 100% awsome, our least fav resort is probably AKV which is like 99% awsome.


I love it!

 

[jakenjess]

We may be in the minority as we fall in to this group. I think that they call it "Buy where you wouldn't mind staying". Quite honestly, I don't get the whole "have to be at a certain resort thing", but I respect those that do. Different strokes for different folks. Our goal is to try them all.

We fall into this group also. We own SSR (and love it there) but have stayed at every WDW DVC except AKV, which we will try sometime soon, plus we've stayed at Vero. We love them all and would never be disappointed anywhere. We usually go at slower times of year, but now that our oldest is starting high school that will be more difficult. However, we would always be happy to be at SSR or any available resort. I love the variety!

 

[Chim Chiminy]

We are usually happy to stay at any of the resorts, and enjoy getting to try them all out.

Saying that, I am really happy we own at BCV so we have the 11 month window. I don't think we would have a great shot there during F and W in Oct. without it.

 

[FOXFIELDZOO]

I wish we would have known about resale before we purchased,Still very happy we did it and when we add on I will go re-sale,The incentives with disney have not been that great to go back with them.