Sanwich
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 3, 2012
- Messages
- 88
This post is mostly going to be me trying to talk myself through a game plan for the future, though I’m curious if folks have any insights or suggestions.
We have been DVC owners for several years (mostly resale before the newest restrictions were added), but in the past year we purchased a semi-small addon direct at CCV, intending to use it for a stay every other year. Prior to purchasing CCV, I debated heavily about it because we mainly stay in studios (no need for the amenities in 1 bedrooms), and of course I had heard about the studio availability issues at CCV. In the end we went with CCV anyway because we really, really love the Lodge, the aesthetic of CCV specifically, and the longer contract length vs BRV. We have used our new points a few times already, but not at CCV... though we purposely had stuff planned elsewhere and weren’t actually trying to get into CCV rooms.
So, over the past 4 months or so I’ve been keeping an eye on the RAT and I’m experiencing some serious fear/regret. We have no problem booking at or near 11 months, but the studio situation is way worse than I imagined. From what I could tell, they’re getting booked within minutes of 11 months, except for the chunk of April around Easter (not a time we would be going). The thought of having to fly by the seat of our pants at 7 months all the time is not particularly appealing, especially for the fall. In short, lesson learned and we’re considering selling that contract and buying elsewhere. This leads to the rest of my post...
Initially I was planning to wait for Reflections, banking on the fact that maybe they wouldn’t repeat the cabin mistake of CCV. But hey, it looks like they’re going to have cabins/bungalows after all, heh. Riviera looks nice, but of course it will have its own issues with the heavy resale restrictions. Once we make our next purchase though, I’m hoping that it will work decently for us and we won’t need to buy or sell again any time soon.
I considered buying Riviera direct, because at least there are no cabins, and we would be fine with staying in the most point-expensive studio category if need be. But I’m leery of the future... once a bunch of resale points are in the system, it seems like it may be CCV all over again with too many folks scrambling to book limited rooms.
I also considered just buying BRV, since the Lodge is where we wanted to own to begin with. We don’t even mind the actual years left on the contract, but the “no brainer” to go resale is less convincing now. Mainly I would still like to be able to use all of our points at Riviera, etc. for a stay if the opportunity arises, which means we would have to buy direct (I know, that’s just what Disney wants). Our UY also seems to be exceedingly rare for BRV resale contracts. But BRV direct prices are pretty crazy; is it ever justifiable to buy places like BRV or BWV direct?
There are a lot of unknowns at this point (especially with Riviera), which makes it more challenging to try and come up with a plan. We aren’t planning to sell or buy immediately, so I suppose there is a little time to see how certain things shake out. I do wish I could go back in time and do things right the first time, though.
We have been DVC owners for several years (mostly resale before the newest restrictions were added), but in the past year we purchased a semi-small addon direct at CCV, intending to use it for a stay every other year. Prior to purchasing CCV, I debated heavily about it because we mainly stay in studios (no need for the amenities in 1 bedrooms), and of course I had heard about the studio availability issues at CCV. In the end we went with CCV anyway because we really, really love the Lodge, the aesthetic of CCV specifically, and the longer contract length vs BRV. We have used our new points a few times already, but not at CCV... though we purposely had stuff planned elsewhere and weren’t actually trying to get into CCV rooms.
So, over the past 4 months or so I’ve been keeping an eye on the RAT and I’m experiencing some serious fear/regret. We have no problem booking at or near 11 months, but the studio situation is way worse than I imagined. From what I could tell, they’re getting booked within minutes of 11 months, except for the chunk of April around Easter (not a time we would be going). The thought of having to fly by the seat of our pants at 7 months all the time is not particularly appealing, especially for the fall. In short, lesson learned and we’re considering selling that contract and buying elsewhere. This leads to the rest of my post...
Initially I was planning to wait for Reflections, banking on the fact that maybe they wouldn’t repeat the cabin mistake of CCV. But hey, it looks like they’re going to have cabins/bungalows after all, heh. Riviera looks nice, but of course it will have its own issues with the heavy resale restrictions. Once we make our next purchase though, I’m hoping that it will work decently for us and we won’t need to buy or sell again any time soon.
I considered buying Riviera direct, because at least there are no cabins, and we would be fine with staying in the most point-expensive studio category if need be. But I’m leery of the future... once a bunch of resale points are in the system, it seems like it may be CCV all over again with too many folks scrambling to book limited rooms.
I also considered just buying BRV, since the Lodge is where we wanted to own to begin with. We don’t even mind the actual years left on the contract, but the “no brainer” to go resale is less convincing now. Mainly I would still like to be able to use all of our points at Riviera, etc. for a stay if the opportunity arises, which means we would have to buy direct (I know, that’s just what Disney wants). Our UY also seems to be exceedingly rare for BRV resale contracts. But BRV direct prices are pretty crazy; is it ever justifiable to buy places like BRV or BWV direct?
There are a lot of unknowns at this point (especially with Riviera), which makes it more challenging to try and come up with a plan. We aren’t planning to sell or buy immediately, so I suppose there is a little time to see how certain things shake out. I do wish I could go back in time and do things right the first time, though.
