New Poly DVC Owners

[kandlsutton5]

Five years ago, we looked into DVC (I know - should've gotten in then). We did the tour at Saratoga, but we didn't particularly want AK (high maintenance fees and bus transportation), Aulani (too far for home resort), and 1BR at BLT (for our family of 5) required more points than we could "afford", or so we thought at the time.

We had loved our stay at the Poly in 2007 and enjoyed AK-Kidani in 2010, but since then the cost of rooms at the deluxe resorts has become more than we want to pay. Since then, we've stayed at Art of Animation and we just got back last week from a 5-night stay at POR. Although the accommodations were nice, we did have issues with loud neighbors, smoking on the patio outside our room (DS has asthma), and waiting for bus transportation (yes, the Poly spoiled us).

We were able to squeeze in a tour of the Poly Villas and Bungalows on one of our MK days. The Poly just feels like home, and now it is. WE FINALLY DID IT and are NEW DVC OWNERS (and at a monorial resort too)!

The studios will sleep 5 and have 2 showers which fit our needs, both now and in the future when the kids grow up. The bungalows were awesome, and maybe one day we will be able to enjoy 3-4 days on the lake.

Still researching and trying to learn the ropes. Have 8/15 UY points and am toying with renting those out or may just bank them as we don't currently have any Disney plans until DD graduates high school in a couple of years. Any advice would be appreciated....

 

[JWG]

We're August use year, too. You could bank them to get that bungalow stay earlier
We're checking into the Poly in 2 days! First time staying there, very excited.

 

[PACVII]

Here now at the poly with our first official DVC stay. Have a studio on the 3rd floor with a lake view. Simply amazing to just watched the magic kingdom fireworks a few minutes ago right from our balcony. This is incredible. The view fantastic just hooping on and off the monorail at the TTC just a very short walk is great. Can not say enough good things. We are having such a great time as a family here.

We been coming for years. Have done all the value resorts and mods. Did wilderness a few years back and loved it. We bought into poly last year but did not have the time to get a trip in till now. This is how a stay should be at Disney. Very magical.

 

[kandlsutton5]

We're August use year, too. You could bank them to get that bungalow stay earlier
We're checking into the Poly in 2 days! First time staying there, very excited.

Have an MAGICAL stay! We toured the Moorea longhouse and its an EASY walk to the TTC for monorail access to Epcot or express monorail to MK. Make sure to watch Wishes fireworks from the poly beach!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

I'm so excited for you. The Poly rooms are fantastic. We really enjoyed our stay there this summer and are hoping to go back someday. Congrats. I hope you get lots of great vacations out of your DVC.

Take the next few days and read these boards thoroughly. Learn all you can about DVC and make sure the purchase is right for you. I think you have ten days to cancel, if it ends up that it wasn't all you expected. We have loved every minute of our DVC ownership.

 

[disneynutz]

You have 10 days after signing the contract to change your mind, now is the time to read the purchase threads and poly threads to verify that you made an informed decision.

Bill

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

You have 10 days after signing the contract to change your mind, now is the time to read the purchase threads and poly threads to verify that you made an informed decision.

Bill

Like Bill, I'd also encourage you to really review DVC and consider if owning is definitely the best option, and if it is a good option, then if PVB is the best location to own. Considering that you do not go every year, nor even every other year I'd question owning. Did you also consider renting? And even if you did cancel now it's easy enough to call and buy again in the future. There's a whole world of resale out there that could mean you regularly stay in larger accommodations such as the 1BR BLT you mentioned and so far PVB is easy to get into at 7 months although what happens once it sells out is yet to be seen.

 

[kandlsutton5]

You have 10 days after signing the contract to change your mind, now is the time to read the purchase threads and poly threads to verify that you made an informed decision.

Bill

Looks like you have multiple home resorts. Can I ask whether you bought from Disney or though a resale? I love the resort and I think we will be able to rent out points in the years we don't use them. Price/point was more than I wanted to pay, but we assumed that we would spend more for deluxe resort accommodations on our next 4-5 trips than the DVC buy-in. Am I overlooking something?

 

[kandlsutton5]

Like Bill, I'd also encourage you to really review DVC and consider if owning is definitely the best option, and if it is a good option, then if PVB is the best location to own. Considering that you do not go every year, nor even every other year I'd question owning. Did you also consider renting? And even if you did cancel now it's easy enough to call and buy again in the future. There's a whole world of resale out there that could mean you regularly stay in larger accommodations such as the 1BR BLT you mentioned and so far PVB is easy to get into at 7 months although what happens once it sells out is yet to be seen.

We've considered renting, but was always a little leary of it. On average, we go every 3 years. We figured bank year 1 and borrow year 3. That would get us 3x our points every 3 years. And renting out points helps cover dues, etc.

DH and I plan to go more often after kids are out of the house. And we would love to take the grandkids someday. Now just seemed like the right time and the right place. It felt like home. If we decide to purchase additional points in the future, we would consider from a resale at our other favorite resorts - AK and WL. Then the kids could fight over which one they want down the road!

 

[ziravan]

If you bought at least 130 points, I would consider buying a fixed week. The guide likely didn't tell you about it. There are definite advantages to owning a fixed week, and very little downside.

If you're within your 10 day recission period, it's easy for them to trade out contracts to a fixed week. After the recission period ends, they won't.

 

[ziravan]

 

[ziravan]

For 163/164 points, you could have a guaranteed/fixed week 49 or 50 Lake View contract

Even if you traded out each year and used the points elsewhere, that fixed week will have a higher resale value. Currently only about 2% of Poly contracts are fixed weeks, so a fixed week, early Dec contract would be a very rare contract to have.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/purchasing-a-guaranteed-week.3436056/

 

[AnnaS]

Sounds like you want Poly as your home resort - Congratulations and Welcome Home! I bet you will find yourself wanting to vacation more frequently once owning DVC

 

[Dean]

Five years ago, we looked into DVC (I know - should've gotten in then). We did the tour at Saratoga, but we didn't particularly want AK (high maintenance fees and bus transportation), Aulani (too far for home resort), and 1BR at BLT (for our family of 5) required more points than we could "afford", or so we thought at the time.

We had loved our stay at the Poly in 2007 and enjoyed AK-Kidani in 2010, but since then the cost of rooms at the deluxe resorts has become more than we want to pay. Since then, we've stayed at Art of Animation and we just got back last week from a 5-night stay at POR. Although the accommodations were nice, we did have issues with loud neighbors, smoking on the patio outside our room (DS has asthma), and waiting for bus transportation (yes, the Poly spoiled us).

We were able to squeeze in a tour of the Poly Villas and Bungalows on one of our MK days. The Poly just feels like home, and now it is. WE FINALLY DID IT and are NEW DVC OWNERS (and at a monorial resort too)!

The studios will sleep 5 and have 2 showers which fit our needs, both now and in the future when the kids grow up. The bungalows were awesome, and maybe one day we will be able to enjoy 3-4 days on the lake.

Still researching and trying to learn the ropes. Have 8/15 UY points and am toying with renting those out or may just bank them as we don't currently have any Disney plans until DD graduates high school in a couple of years. Any advice would be appreciated....

It sounds like you're not overly educated on DVC currently, bought retail and the highest cost property and don't plan to use for at least 2.5 years or so. If you can rescind, I'd do so and get more educated on your choices. One can always buy in later, likely more cheaply than the current price in a couple of years resale. You lose nothing of value resale. I'd also concur that IF I were going to buy the Poly retail, I 100% would get one or more fixed weeks depending on how many points I felt I needed.

 

[disneynutz]

Looks like you have multiple home resorts. Can I ask whether you bought from Disney or though a resale? I love the resort and I think we will be able to rent out points in the years we don't use them. Price/point was more than I wanted to pay, but we assumed that we would spend more for deluxe resort accommodations on our next 4-5 trips than the DVC buy-in. Am I overlooking something?

We have purchased direct when the price was right or before we knew better. DVD changes their purchase rules and costs so when we bought some contracts they didn't have closing fees, that is when we bought several 50 point contracts. The smaller contracts sell fast and at a higher price when you decide to adjust your holdings.

Our best lessons learned is to really know which resort(s) are your favorites and buy there. Also buy the best UY for your favorite vacation time. We will not vacation during the hotter months so our October UY is great for our Oct - May vacations with early December being our must do each year.

We did buy BLT direct prior to it's opening and we did get a 7 day Disney cruise for buying but BLT has become our least favorite resort.

Bill

 

[suebeelin]

I would like to chime in that a fixed week in early December is probably worth it, otherwise I would look at other options-- even ssr resales (unless you have a go to absolute fave resort).

Given the stock market recently (aka today) maybe, just maybe, resale prices will go down a wee bit.... You do have 3 yrs to wait it out, after all...

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

We've considered renting, but was always a little leary of it. On average, we go every 3 years. We figured bank year 1 and borrow year 3. That would get us 3x our points every 3 years. And renting out points helps cover dues, etc.

DH and I plan to go more often after kids are out of the house. And we would love to take the grandkids someday. Now just seemed like the right time and the right place. It felt like home. If we decide to purchase additional points in the future, we would consider from a resale at our other favorite resorts - AK and WL. Then the kids could fight over which one they want down the road!

Going every 3 years gets a bit tricky with banking and borrowing because you can easily end up with stranded points that would expire unless you have enough that you could rent out. For rentals there are brokers which can give a bit more security on a rental but even developing a relationship with an owner or two would likely make renting easier on your mind.

Currently Poly is very easy to book at 7 months most times of the year. I'd still suggest rescinding this purchase while you have that opportunity and taking the time to study DVC a bit more. As I mentioned its easy to do the paperwork again at any time but you have a very small window to rescind. You buy a resale for much less at a resort that has more villa options and should still be able to stay at the Poly some of the time or possibly lots of the time. How the booking patterns will fall out there will still be a few years away from figuring out but there are a lot of studios there and I personally think it will remain relatively easy to book. If the time is right to buy then stepping in with a less expensive resale can be an excellent way to start. Poly will be around for sale for a long time direct and even after that is done there will be resale for there too.

 

[Sammie]

DVC resorts and for that matter all Disney resorts are as good as their current management staff. We like the ability to move around and sample all the resorts at different times of the year. Also when a resort is under going major construction I would want the option to stay somewhere else.

If you plan to use your points for Disney cruises you will not want a resale. I know all of these DISers that have shared opinions will say that is not the best use of your points, but honestly my philosophy is I own them I will use them as best for me. Owning a luxury car is probably not the best use of car funds but many people enjoy them. Same can be said for larger homes, over a basic house.

If what you have works for you and you are happy with it, then congratulations on your purchase.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I would personally not want a fixed week. We have been going to WDW for over 35 years and DVC members for 18 years and no way would I want to be locked into a certain week.

You don't actually have to stay that fixed week; you can swap out for different weeks. I believe the advice to buy fixed weeks is to ensure resale value, in most cases. Weeks 48-50 will almost certainly hold value, because even if you, personally, swap out the points for a different week annually, when you sell, it guarantees someone a week at the hardest booking time of year.

 

[disneynutz]

You don't actually have to stay that fixed week; you can swap out for different weeks. I believe the advice to buy fixed weeks is to ensure resale value, in most cases. Weeks 48-50 will almost certainly hold value, because even if you, personally, swap out the points for a different week annually, when you sell, it guarantees someone a week at the hardest booking time of year.

Exactly, I just canceled our fixed week reservations for 2016 and 2017 to use he points for a different reservation.

Bill