About to buy at Bay Lake. Mistake??? please help.

[Havana]

We struggled with the same questions. We wanted BLT, but we also liked the SSR price point. We ended up buying both. BLT points for when we absolutely wanted to stay there, and SSR points for when we didn't really care where we stayed, wanted to try different places, or tried for last minute trips. We were careful to make both contracts under the same UY.

 

[chalee94]

As stated, it will give you some time to see if you would like to have points at a different resort.

for the newbies, let me clarify that under no circumstances can you combine pts from 2 different resorts to book at the 11 month window.

if you have 50 BLT pts and 500 SSR pts, you have can only use pts from the BLT contract to book BLT and SSR pts for SSR until you hit the 7 month mark.

 

[montrealdisneylovers]

I encourage you to think about buying one contract now and one in a year or so. You could borrow from your next UY to have enough points for vacations until you get your next contract. Here are my reasons: 1) Addonitis is rampant and you may decide you would like to have 2 home resorts (e.g., one at EPCOT and BLT). 2) All prices are likely to go down, but IMO especially BLT given its relatively high cost now and increased competition from the GF villas (it will no longer be the only monorail DVC). When you buy your second contract, you can still have it "merged" if it's also BLT with the same UY. Good luck with your decision!

True, but it will still be the only one in walking distance. A really nice advantage when the monorail crowds are huge!!

 

[The 6 J's]

3) People have mentioned the different room types in regards to views. Can someone clarify what views are most desired? I'm guessing MK view, SV, LV (in that order). If this is the case... excellent!! We have stayed there 4 times in the last 2 years. 2 x's with lake view, 1 x with MK view and once in the contemporary garden wing. After a long day at the park and the organized chaos that is disney, we prefer the LV and sitting on the balcony with some peace and serenity. I have never stayed in a SV so I am curious on how those rooms are and what they look at.

Just to expand on this a little - the "most desirable" from one person's point of view might not be the most "in demand" from a DVC point of view. If you are trying to make a certain number of points work for a vacation for certain size group you may find that you wish you could get a standard view and those may be gone first through a combination of high demand and low inventory. I just tried to get a SV studio at BLT at about the 10.5 month mark for Nov trip and only lake and theme park views were available.

Also, consider how many people you will usually be taking, how often you will be going, how long you will stay, what season you will be going and what kind of view you want. How many points is that? You may not need to buy so many points in the first place.

 

[dbs1228]

I encourage you to think about buying one contract now and one in a year or so. You could borrow from your next UY to have enough points for vacations until you get your next contract. Here are my reasons: 1) Addonitis is rampant and you may decide you would like to have 2 home resorts (e.g., one at EPCOT and BLT). 2) All prices are likely to go down, but IMO especially BLT given its relatively high cost now and increased competition from the GF villas (it will no longer be the only monorail DVC). When you buy your second contract, you can still have it "merged" if it's also BLT with the same UY. Good luck with your decision!

I totally agree why buy 320 points now? Why not buy 160 point contract hopefully with 2011 & 2012 points then you will have access to 3 years of points upfront with borrowing. I keep thinking I want to add on to our BLT contract but I realized I do not need any more points until 2013 the earliest so I am going to wait, prices will go down.

I am also on the fence since 2 of our DD's have stayed at BWV (all 3 DD's LOVE MK) but the 2 who stayed at BWV as teens said they liked BWV as much as BLT because of the location. Now I am making myself wait and hopefully have an opportunity to stay at BWV and possibly add on there and do split stays of 5 nights each or alternate trips. Decisions, decisions!

 

[Frontside720]

Thanks for all the great responses again.

Very interesting points and it gives me lots to think about.

Couple things (again)

Two Seperate Contracts

Many people have suggested buying a contract now and another 1-2 years down the road when the prices decrease a little. The other option is to buy at another location to have some choice.

1) My issues are that I plan to go to Disney a few times a year and 160pts wont really cut it. Yes I can borrow from 2013 but that leaves me with no points for 2013or it leaves me with perpetual borrowing and only catching up on a year where I don't travel. Does this make sense or am I missing something? I also have the money now and may not have this extra money in 2013 so I'm thinking that nows the time to purchase.

2) The idea of buying a second contract at a different locations seems to conflict with what I'm looking for. I have no desire to pack-up half way through a vacation to stay at another resort. Perhaps when the kids are older this might work but I like to check in, fill the dresser with my clothes, and hide the suitecases till I leave. I like to feel at home. Also, I get into the issue with two contract numbers and always having to juggle the two in order to make an extended reservation. This may work for some families but I'm not sure it's best for me. If I really want to stay somewhere else, I will book 7mths out and understand that I will need to be extremely flexible.

Hope to decide soon.

 

[Dean]

Thanks for all the great responses again.

Very interesting points and it gives me lots to think about.

Couple things (again)

Two Seperate Contracts

Many people have suggested buying a contract now and another 1-2 years down the road when the prices decrease a little. The other option is to buy at another location to have some choice.

1) My issues are that I plan to go to Disney a few times a year and 160pts wont really cut it. Yes I can borrow from 2013 but that leaves me with no points for 2013or it leaves me with perpetual borrowing and only catching up on a year where I don't travel. Does this make sense or am I missing something? I also have the money now and may not have this extra money in 2013 so I'm thinking that nows the time to purchase.

2) The idea of buying a second contract at a different locations seems to conflict with what I'm looking for. I have no desire to pack-up half way through a vacation to stay at another resort. Perhaps when the kids are older this might work but I like to check in, fill the dresser with my clothes, and hide the suitecases till I leave. I like to feel at home. Also, I get into the issue with two contract numbers and always having to juggle the two in order to make an extended reservation. This may work for some families but I'm not sure it's best for me. If I really want to stay somewhere else, I will book 7mths out and understand that I will need to be extremely flexible.

Hope to decide soon.

You must make the decisions best for your situation, we can only respond based on our knowledge and what you post. This post seems to suggest you don't understand the basis for the suggestions. IF you only want BLT EVER and can afford to buy the full 320 points now without financing, I say go for it. I'd still suggest looking at resale. While I do think it's a good idea to have multiple smaller contracts, I do not think it worth buying direct to get OR paying much more money for. It's likely if you can find a resale contract in the 320 points range that you'll save a fair amount of money over two 160 point contracts even resale.

As for buying some now and waiting on the rest, I think that's a valid approach but not simply to buy in a couple of years at the same resort. Valid reasons to buy some now and some later, or some at one resort and some at another do exist. They include the fact it's very unlikely you'll actually stay the same resort almost all of the time, that SSR and some other choices are cheaper enough to justify the work involved and to avoid financing. My other suggestion was that I did not know if you were aware or interested in the GF option that should happen in the fairly near future. Owning say half your points at BLT and half somewhere else is NOT suggestion you move mid trip, I don't think anyone is suggesting that. Good luck with your final decision.

 

[js]

This is my first post on the forum but I have been researching for a while know. Great communitity, glad to be a part of it.

I'm thinking of purchasing a DVC contract for my family. (3 kids @ 5,3, & 10mths).

We have gone to disney 3 times in the last year and have stayed at the contemporary everytime. It's really convenient for us but it's ridiculasly expensive. Our last trip was $7K+ and our trip in April is $6K+ yes it includes meals and tickets for 4 days/trip.

Anyways, I don't see an end to our Disney vacations and I thought why not buy a resale contract.

My budget is $30,000 for points and that would buy me 320pts (2 x 160) at BLT.

I have no plans to travel in the summer months or during Christmas it would mostly be some time in the mid March/Early May/ or end of November (kids birthdays) although when all the kids are in school I may need to rethink that but I have no problems pulling them out for a week.

So I called one of the timeshare resale companies and the person I spoke with, suggested that I should buy Saratoga Springs points because 7 months out for booking BLT and the time of year I want to go should be fine.

Anyone have experience with loading up on cheaper points and booking better resorts in non-peak times? I'm sure there are hundreds out there.

My main concern is that I don't want to stay at Saratoga Srpings (have before, decent place) because it's not convenient for us when we fly into orlando and don't rent a car. Not to mention in our ealy years it's nice to walk back to our resort and do a swim break.

I'm really torn because $30/point is a lot of money and I want to make the right decision.

Thanks in advance for any/all replies.

My children are now older, 18 and 14 but when they were smaller, we always traveled to Disney whenever we wanted, usually in September or October. We saved the summer for beach vacations. I also never had a problem pulling each one out of school, since they both did well. I put pullout in September, October or November/December and they use to get 1 1/2 off for Easter and sometimes would take them out the beginning of the half week.

Anyway, since my dd started high school four years ago at a college prep private school, there is no way I can take her out for a vacation, let alone Disney. The first day she took off from school was last year as a junior, it would be just too much school to make up. SO, if we aren't pulling her out, we are not going and not pulling my son out.

The moral of my long-winded post is that although you "think" you may only vacation one way now, vacation patterns change as the kids get older.
Heck, my dd is starting college end of August and I booked a trip this year with my dh, ds and my mom end of Aug/beginning of Sept. (without my dd) before school starts for him. In the future, since he will be in HS next year, February may now look good.

I have never had a problem booking what we wanted at 11 months (I own SSR BUT we wanted to purchase there to stay there) and not have had a problem at 7 months but as the owner of 3 timeshares (2 in Florida and one on HHI.not Disney), I can tell you BOOK WHERE YOU WANT TO STAY and NEVER PURCHASE FROM THE DEVELOPER... Resale is your friend
IF you know you want to book BLT at 7 months and won't be happy if you don't get it, BUY THERE, not SSR. I like SSR not only because of the layout, I LOVE that we are in walking distance to DTD and having older teens, this is a great feature for them if they bring friends or they just need some hang out time themselves.

You have three young children. Do you ever travel with grandparents or aunts/uncles. I have older kids and my mother is with us on EVERY Disney trip (the rule since she purchased the points for us and pays the maintanence LOL). A 1 bedroom, definately won't cut it. You'll need a 2 bedroom so make sure you look at those point charts to see what a week costs in points at the resort you desire. Now that my kids are older, not only does my mother come, sometimes we are now taking friends.

Also, look for a contract, if it is in your budget, that will allow you to get at a 2 bedroom. There are 4 in our family and we could not do a 1 bedroom.
I haven't read all the posts so don't know if you are purchasing resale (that is how we got our 420 points, but I was lucky, my mother, karensi, purchased them for us) but that is what I would do. I purchased a few years ago, so we get the same "perks" as those that purchased direct with Disney regading we can use our points on DCL (did that last year) and ABD, but know that you will not be able to do this with resale. If you ONLY plan on using your resale points for Disney Resorts, this is an excellent option.
Find the thread on What has Recently Passed ROFR for Disney and you have a baseline on what you can offer.

Good luck, you've come to the right place to ask questions.

 

[dbs1228]

OP I am sorry I was rambling a bit, I am not suggesting split stays at all for you and would not do it myself unless I am staying more then 8 nights. I know how it is with little ones. I would look at the point charts for BLT around the time you think you will travel and figure out how many points you need over the next 2 years. We bought BLT, would not consider anywhere else until we started staying at different resorts. Still love BLT and glad we bought there but with 280 points and looking at the Grand Villas which I would love to be able to stay in some day we simply do not have enough points for a 7 night stay unless I use 3 years worth of points!

Good luck on your quest and let us know!

 

[Frontside720]

Thanks Dean, JS, DBS,

I am definitely not buying from the developer. The cost savings of buying resale out way the added benefits of purchasing directly. Do I wish I could have been looking a year ago to get those extra benefits... yes but ce la vie.

My thoughts are two buy the two separate contracts and hopefully I will be happy with them both at BLT. If for some reason 7-10 years down the road I think I want to own elsewhere I can either sell one of my contracts or purchase more points elsewhere.

I'm going to shop around for two contracts or possibly one big one if the price is too good to pass up.

Thanks for the search suggestion on current sale prices. That's a great idea!!

 

[Dean]

Thanks Dean, JS, DBS,

I am definitely not buying from the developer. The cost savings of buying resale out way the added benefits of purchasing directly. Do I wish I could have been looking a year ago to get those extra benefits... yes but ce la vie.

My thoughts are two buy the two separate contracts and hopefully I will be happy with them both at BLT. If for some reason 7-10 years down the road I think I want to own elsewhere I can either sell one of my contracts or purchase more points elsewhere.

I'm going to shop around for two contracts or possibly one big one if the price is too good to pass up.

Thanks for the search suggestion on current sale prices. That's a great idea!!

You're likely looking at around $2000 price difference between the one larger vs 2 smaller contract purchase. I think many people find they actually need less points long term than they think so you might consider an in between purchase and see how it goes, esp if you find a good contract that's not quite 320.

 

[Frontside720]

Well...

I put in 2 offers today for 2 separate 160 point contracts. My offers with the company I'm working with are conditional. Meaning... if both offers are not accepted I do not want 1 x 160 point contract. I don't want to be handcuffed to finding a 160pt contract to add on with the same use year.

I kinda low balled the two offers and one was accepted by one of the sellers and I'm waiting to hear back from the other seller tomorrow.

Fingers crossed

 

[Missyrose]

Good luck!

 

[js]

Well...

I put in 2 offers today for 2 separate 160 point contracts. My offers with the company I'm working with are conditional. Meaning... if both offers are not accepted I do not want 1 x 160 point contract. I don't want to be handcuffed to finding a 160pt contract to add on with the same use year.

I kinda low balled the two offers and one was accepted by one of the sellers and I'm waiting to hear back from the other seller tomorrow.

Fingers crossed

Good luck! Was your low-ball offer in line with what is passing ROFR by Disney, although I hear they are not buying back as much any longer.
Keep up posted and let us know how it goes.
Let me ask you, did you look for contracts with the same UY? I have two contracts, one was for 300 and then we wanted more points getting us to 420 but we made sure they had the same UY. I never had a problem booking and MS always seems to look at it as one contract.

 

[Frontside720]

Thank You,

Yes the two contracts have the same u/y and month renewal. I did check what they were currently passing for and my offer was on the low side. I offered $10/point less then what they were asking and the company I am working with gave me a range of what the offers were coming in at and I took the low end and so far one yes. There are a lot of contracts for sale and I'm hoping after Christmas is a good time to buy.

If I don't get this second contract I will put offers in on other contracts until I get what I want at the price I'm hoping for.

 

[Frontside720]

I just heard from the broker I'm working with and the second person accepted my offer.

The added bonus is that this person just cancelled a trip they had planned and I know have 314 points to use in 2012 for this contract.

So with the two combined I will have 522points in 2012.

Absolutely fantastic!!!

 

[dbs1228]

I just heard from the broker I'm working with and the second person accepted my offer.

The added bonus is that this person just cancelled a trip they had planned and I know have 314 points to use in 2012 for this contract.

So with the two combined I will have 522points in 2012.

Absolutely fantastic!!!

Awesome congratulations! Okay now the wait begins ROFR I know the feeling and excitement! I LOVE BLT! Enjoy!

 

[Missyrose]

Congratulations! I hope you have a speedy ROFR, I'm two weeks into mine and it's killing me!

 

[dbs1228]

Congratulations! I hope you have a speedy ROFR, I'm two weeks into mine and it's killing me!

Good luck to you too take a deep breathe the waiting is the hardest part and it is very exciting!

 

[Frontside720]

Thanks everyone. My wife and I are very excited and I'm really happy we decided to make the purchase.

6 weeks is a little long to have to wait but it gives me time to figure out when I want to go and review the benefits of being an owner.

I'm more anxious to see the online booking experience. I'm an owner of Club Intrawest and their online reservation procedure is fantastic. Hopefully it's just as good.

Thanks again to everyone for all their help and thanks to this forum for all of the amazing information.