A new spin on "buy where you want to stay" vs. "points are points"

[jade1]

I guess the bottom line is, if it REALLY matters which resort you stay at, then buy points there. It's not particularly relevent how easy it is to get reservations today at a non-home resort, since in 10 years the situation might be totally different. Or might not be, who knows?, but there is an element of uncertainty involved.

The main difference I see between buying "points" and buying a "resort" is you will never have to worry about getting a room in your favorite resort over the next 30-40 years if you bought where you wanted to stay most of the time and can take advantage of the home resort booking window. On the other hand, if you simply buy "points" it's more of a gamble and nobody can guarantee you today that a few years down the road, you will definitely be able to book a room at your favorite resort.

So if choice of resort makes or breaks the vacation, I would choose to buy at that resort and eliminate the possibility of disappointment in future years. Of course, if choice of resort isn't all that important, then buying the lowest priced points at any resort makes good sense and OKW tends to have both lower points costs and lower maintenance fees.

 

[Daitcher]

I know this is an age-old debate here ("buy where you want" vs. "points are points"), but I have a specific question that may make a difference.

My first choice is BWV, but obviously OKW is cheaper in both per point price as well as maint. dues.

However, we never visit during peak times...only go during the lowest season, as we have a dd who has a medical condition and can't handle major crowds/lines.

How important is the 11- month window if we will not be traveling during any season other than value?

Thanks--

Don't let the naysayers on here scare you. These are the same doom and gloom folks that talk about how much harder it is to book at 7 months. This hasn't transpired. We never book at our home resort and with the first six trips we have always gotten our first choice. We are leaving this Friday for a week at VB in a Beach Cottage. We even booked that at 7 months. Buy OKW and save some money in upfront costs and dues. By the way September and January are not busy months. The only exceptions to this are Labor Day weekend and the firt week of January as many kids are still off from school. Busy DVC times are October at BCV& BWV because of F&W Fest. , the whole month of December seems busy as well as of course spring break periods meaning the month of April. Don't sweat bookings it isn't a problem if you have some level of flexibility.


DAVE

 

[Daitcher]

I would take into consideration that low point times are high DVC times (early Dec, Jan, etc.). Also, that new members join every day. That could mean a lot more people trying to get the smaller resorts (BCV, VWL, BWV) in a few years when SSR sells out. Then you have the possiblity that Disney could build another, even larger, DVC resort which would add even more members.

I would buy OKW only if you would be happy staying there. If it would "ruin" your trip somewhat not to be able to get your first chice of a location or resort, then I would buy there. This is just my opinion of course! Good luck!

This is the attitude I mentioned in my other post. It WILL NOT BECOME TOUGHER TO BOOK AT 7 MONTHS UNLESS YOU MUST HAVE A SPECIFIC RESORT. If all the SSR owners decide to book up the smaller resorts so be it. #1 they can only do that at 7 months and two even if they did SSR would be empty. We could all at least stay there. There will always be space for everyone. Everything is proportioned out. Don't sweat it, we all can be taken care of. This applies no matter how big DVC gets.



DAVE

 

[dizplanner]

Actually, there will not "always" be space, not now, not in the future. This is because of week shifting. Disney has sold points assuming that an equal number of people want to go every night of the year. Of course this is not true - more people want to come on school break times than other weeks. So while resort shifting leaves the same number of rooms available, week shifting does not. I think Disney helps balance this by trading out slow weeks when people use their points for non-DVC and not trading popular weeks.

So people will call for rooms and find there are no rooms available. Will this happen at 7 months? Probably not. But the closer you get, the greater the chance all rooms will be booked.

Now, I do think the smaller resorts fill up faster than the larger resorts. Does it happen at the 7 month window? Probably not for most dates. It is just a matter of numbers. Assume 10% of owners want to switch. With ~140 rooms VWL will have 14 rooms available. OKW with ~540 rooms will have 54 rooms available. Assuming you were trading just between these two resorts - all of the VWL owners will be happy, but 40 of the OKW owners didn't get to trade. Yes, they still have a room at OKW, but they didn't get what they wanted. Of course reality is a lot more complicated - more resorts to trade between, different size units, different percentages of people trading, different lengths of stays, people's plans changing all the time, different popularity of resorts over time, etc.

So at a given point in time, it will be easier to get into the larger resorts. However not everyone takes advantage of the 11 month window nor do they all call right at the 7 month window. So if you can call at 7 months, you will probably still get what you want, although you may need to use the waitlist occasionally. Since you are on the waitlist early, you have a good chance of getting what you want.

 

[jarestel]

Don't let the naysayers on here scare you. These are the same doom and gloom folks that talk about how much harder it is to book at 7 months.

I don't think anyone here is trying to scare people, Dave, just pointing out that there are no guarantees that someone will be able to easily book certain non-home resorts in the years to come. Nay-sayers? Nay, my friend. Gloom & doomers? Nope, just suggesting the possibility that in 20 years things might not work exactly as they do today.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

If you have your heart set on a particular resort AND you can and would book 7 months or more in advance then buy where you want to stay. Otherwise I don't think it matters.

If I had to guess what is high season in DVC -- December & the 1st week of January. MLK weekend, Spring break. Regular season -- President's through the last spring break, summer until early August, Food & Wine until Jersey Week. So for low season that would leave Sept, the second half of Jan to President's day, May prior to Memorial Day. What I find interesting is that my notion of low season is different from other peoples...other than MLK and the marathon I've never noticed a problem with DVC in January. I've never noticed a problem with it in September either.

 

[Dean]

This is the attitude I mentioned in my other post. It WILL NOT BECOME TOUGHER TO BOOK AT 7 MONTHS UNLESS YOU MUST HAVE A SPECIFIC RESORT. If all the SSR owners decide to book up the smaller resorts so be it. #1 they can only do that at 7 months and two even if they did SSR would be empty. We could all at least stay there. There will always be space for everyone. Everything is proportioned out. Don't sweat it, we all can be taken care of. This applies no matter how big DVC gets.



DAVE

It is my opinion that SSR owners and more recent OKW owners along with many VB and HH members will have a higher percentage of those looking to book at 7 months than those who own at BWV, BCV and VWL. But even if I am not correct, the sheer volume of points will create increased competition for the above resorts at the 7 month window. Will this create a problem for any one person, it depends. There are ALREADY times and resorts that are a problem at the 7 month window, even after day 1 of the 11 month window in some cases. So one should take their personal situation and compare to the circumstances and decide. The OP is very flexible and can travel at the lowest times so anything should work fine for them, even then there are no guarantees.

However, anyone buying "cheaper points" just to get in the system who wants a specific resort or a difficult time of year or a difficult to get unit type, should seriously consider buying the resort that will fit their needs most often. As for any predicted bottleneck, it will likely not be at it's worst until at least 2 years after SSR is totally sold out and essentially all new owners have stayed once or twice, thus were several years away at least. And anyone buying should consider that possible impact and make their best decision accordingly. Of course any new resorts, if there are any, will affect the problem to a degree one direction or the other depending on the type and size of the resort in question. The risk vs reward ultimately comes down to the risk compared to the price. I haven't seen enough price different to make even minimal risk a reasonable option for most people. Now if were were talking a price that was 30-60% or more less for one resort vs another on a per year basis like with many timeshare purchases, that would be much different.

 

[nestlejean]

Hi, We own at BWV but have stayed at other resorts for various reasons. Mostly because we couldn't book at BWV because we waited too long to book. I would advise to buy at BWV if you like it there. There are some resorts I don't care for much but have had to stay due to no ressies at BWV. It isn't a huge resort like Sarasota Springs will be and as more people buy into DVC, the somewhat "smaller" resorts will be harder to get if you wait. The 11 month window will be an advantage. BWV and BC are popular because of the location. You can literally walk to 2 resorts! BC is also well liked due to the pool. We looked at WL but haven't stayed there. It is close to MK. I still would choose BC or BWV as 1st choice due to location and we love the activites on the boardwalk. I want to not have to worry if I will get a room (when I plan enough in advance). Make the ressie and be done. You won't have to wonder for 4 months if you will get what you really want. You will already have booked it. I wouldn't worry about the cheaper dues. The little saved may not be worth the stress. It will be a hassle if 1 or 2 nights are available and you are waitlisted and have to play the "game". I found it to be much easier to be done with it and relax. We even got ressies for New Years Eve at BWV for the 1999/2000 year using home resort advantage. Good Luck and I hope it all works out for you.

 

[adamak]

I'd say pick OKW because you save money. And "money is money" is stronger arguement than "points are points".

Our home resort is BWV. In my experience, I don't have kids, we always go off season, or last minue for a long weekend getaway, I can almost always get any studio in places we want. As long as you're flexible, and don't need to book a 3 bedrm villa or XMas week, you can almost get what you want. However if you have requirements, like you must have 1-bedrm 1st week of Jan, then buy wherever you want to stay. But even then, OKW is not a bad option. The rooms are big and the bus runs the same way as other resorts.

 

[JandD Mom]

3DisneyKids,

I don't know the answer to your question since I am a new member, except to tell you what happened to us. Yes, we own at BW because that is where we intend to stay most of the time (for now) and because we will go during some of the higher demand times.

But we just settled in June and booked 9 days for the end of Aug in a 1 BR BWV, preferred view (2 days cash, 7 days with points) with no problem, at the end of June. This is not a high demand time. Then MS put us on the waiting list for a standard view for all 9 consecutive days.

Just before the 30 day window, the standard view came through on the waitlist. So we cancelled the cash res, and got ALL 9 days in the standard view 1 BR.

My point is we bought where we wanted to stay, and stayed at our first choice, but the 11 month preference did not matter for us since it was not high season.

But 1 option to mention, and I don't know if it would help you, why not try to buy 2 smaller contracts at different resorts instead of 1 contract at the same resort? Many folks here far more knowledgable than I will tell you if that will help you or not.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[3DisneyKids]

LOL...looks like this debate will thrive forever!

Thanks so much, everyone for all of your posts and opinions. With each new post, I think, "Oh, that makes sense...that is what I will do." And then the next post says the opposite and I say "Oh, that makes sense..."

So, I still don't have the answer, but I am getting closer to making a decsion...

 

[3DisneyKids]

3DisneyKids,


But 1 option to mention, and I don't know if it would help you, why not try to buy 2 smaller contracts at different resorts instead of 1 contract at the same resort? Many folks here far more knowledgable than I will tell you if that will help you or not.

Good luck with your decision.

You just missed the last thread that I started...I asked what the benefits were of having multiple contracts...LOL

I really am trying to make the most informed decision possible before taking the plunge. The problem now is TOO MUCH information! You all know SO MUCH about all of the ins and outs of DVC--so now I can see things from all of these different angles and it makes getting to a decision hard...my brain hurts! Oh well--the boards are fun, so I'm not complaining!

 

[RAD]

LOL...looks like this debate will thrive forever!

Thanks so much, everyone for all of your posts and opinions. With each new post, I think, "Oh, that makes sense...that is what I will do." And then the next post says the opposite and I say "Oh, that makes sense..."

So, I still don't have the answer, but I am getting closer to making a decsion...

You might want to keep an eye on this poll http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=921778 ( I put it in this forum but the mod's moved it) to maybe help you decide.

 

[Disney Doll]

When DH & I were buying back in 1997, OKW & BWV were the only 2 available. We liked both...OKW for the spaciousness of the units & the relaxed feel, and BWV for the location. OKW was cheaper...per point & for dues.

The question we asked ourselves was "If DVC changed the rules, & we could only stay at our home resort, could we be happy at OKW?" The answer was yes, so we bought there, saved some $$, and have been able to stay where we want since, whether it be OKW, BCV, BWV...as a matter-of-fact, we will be staying in a 2BR @ BWV October 23-29 for the F&W Festival.

Chances are, you'd be able to get a unit at BWV most of the time. But, for those few times when you might not be able to...would it ruin your vacation? If not, go for price.

 

[3DisneyKids]

You might want to keep an eye on this poll http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=921778 ( I put it in this forum but the mod's moved it) to maybe help you decide.

Thanks! This should be helpful!

 

[jarestel]

LOL...looks like this debate will thrive forever!

Well, not forever, but at least for the next few years, LOL! I guess the point is that none of us can say with any certainty what demand will be for the BCV in 5-10-20 years from now. It may be that members who don't own there will still be able to book easily enough. It may be that most won't be able to get in at all. We just don't know. The difference is that when you purchase your points at the resort where you think you'll want to stay most often, you don't worry or care what happens in the future, because it won't affect you.

I won't pretend to know what will happen in the years to come since my swami hat isn't working all that well these days, but it's best to consider all of the possibilities before you decide to plunk down a bag of cash for something you may not really want.

Good luck!

 

[robinb]

I agree, and to expand on this YOU may change in the next 30 years. Just because you travel off peak now, you may end up wanting to visit during F&W or Christmas down the road. If you are going to be upset buy where you want to be. I know i would miss my home.

This is a great point. I bought at OKW before we had our DD and I could go at any time. Now that she's in school we are limited to school vacations. I really miss going in May!

 

[beachwalk]

Not to continue to drag this post on until our memberships run out, but, it is my understanding that being able to use our points at any resort other than our home resort is a perk that DVC does not have to honor forever. I think once they finish selling new memberships, they may remove this benefit and say, OKW people can only book at OKW... I may be wrong, but would like to hear the facts.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Not to continue to drag this post on until our memberships run out, but, it is my understanding that being able to use our points at any resort other than our home resort is a perk that DVC does not have to honor forever. I think once they finish selling new memberships, they may remove this benefit and say, OKW people can only book at OKW... I may be wrong, but would like to hear the facts.

THere are no "facts" just yet, but that is the strongest argument for "buy where you want to stay".

 

[CharlesTD]

I know this is an age-old debate here ("buy where you want" vs. "points are points"), but I have a specific question that may make a difference.

My first choice is BWV, but obviously OKW is cheaper in both per point price as well as maint. dues.

However, we never visit during peak times...only go during the lowest season, as we have a dd who has a medical condition and can't handle major crowds/lines.

How important is the 11- month window if we will not be traveling during any season other than value?

Thanks--

We always travel teh first 2 weeks of Dec and never book sooner than 7 months out we have never had a problem getting any of the resorts we have wanted and we do not own at any of the ones we have stayed at. We own HHI VB and now SSR. We don't see the point of buying where you want to stay when the 7 month window works great for our family that travels in Dec.