Add On at Original "Home" OR Different Resort - IF Haven't Stayed Anywhere Else?

[ArRzrbk]

I am seriously planning to buy more Points for our family. Don't have the money yet, but I know this is gona be necessary....

1.) We loved our first trip "home" to the BCVs, and are already planning 2006 and 2007 trips.

2.) We want and need more than one trip per year - very high stress jobs right now that we need to get away from

3.) We want longer stays - 4 nights didn't cut it.

4.) The whole family is on board (serious family reunions) - Gram is helping us pay for DVC right now, so we can't say no. This is as much her deal as it is ours, though she keeps telling me to stop thanking her and that this is her "gift" to us. We love our family lots anyway and don't live close, so I'm very OK with taking anyone and everyone as often as we can. Anyway...

My question is...

Should we add-on at our "home" or buy another contract at another of the great DVC resorts to get another "home" booking advantage?

Each resort has it's advantages, and we are planners, so maybe it would be nice to have the ability to basically guarantee those options at 11 months out. BCVs don't have GVs, and it seems like we are gona want/need those fairly regularly - we're a close knit family. Another thought, we love the beach. Maybe we should own at HH or VB?

The problem is that we have only stayed at the BCVs - loved, loved, loved them BTW. We have toured all the other resorts on Disney property, but never stayed at any of them. Never been to HH or VB. So...

Should we wait to actually stay at the ones we are considering, before buying? If we do that though, we may not be adding on until 2007!

I figure we'll be at BCVs again next year, or at BWV, if I can get Standard View - need to save some Points to carryover into 2007 for the family reunion. For the reunion, I am sort-of planning on OKW - we only own 210 Points, and if everyone goes, I'll be booking for 16 people. That's a lot of Points! I also think I can squeeze in a trip to HH next year and maybe VB this year or next as a day or two add on to the Disney World trip.

Anyway, what do you all think? What are the pros and cons of owning two resorts? Should we wait to see the others or not? Why do you think we'd love owning at say...

BCV and BWV?

BCV and OKW?

BCV and HH OR VB?

FYI...at this time SSR and VWL aren't considerations in my mind. Just didn't care for SSR theming, and VWL don't have GVs.

Anyway, thanks for your help on this advance, advance planning. I don't wait until the last minute, and I research things to death, but it usually pays off. The family was pleased with all I did to help us to decide to join DVC and with my "home" resort choice of the BCVs, so I guess the way I am is a good thing

 

[tiggercrew]

Your family is lucky to have someone that plans things out so well. I guess it comes down to personal preference...we bought at HH because we loved it but also for the 11 month window. We are talking about an add on and will probably choose a WDW resort for the 11 month window there. Just remember, the 11 month window is only for the points you have at that resort.

Good luck and enjoy your planning!

 

[Merilyn]

We own at OKW and added on there several times. We decided we wanted the option to stay in a cottage at VB and the 11 month window was the only way. We added on there to have that option. It is a little confusing sometimes with more than one home resort but it is doable. It should depend on your desire to stay other places and have the 11 month window there. HH and VB in cottages, GV's and summer time is harder at the 7 month window. As far as WDW, personally I wouldn't want 2 home resorts there but I know many do and like it that way.

 

[CarolMN]

My opinion -

The only reason to buy another home resort is to get the home resort booking advantage. So the first question you would have to answer is:

Will I regularly need the home resort booking advantage at the "new" resort? Keep in mind that if you don't need it all the time, you can trade/rent points and get the booking advantage that way.

Second question: Will I be able to buy enough points to make that booking advantage practical? For example, if I can only afford 75 points, will 3 x75 or 225 be enough points to do what I want to do every third year?

If you can answer yes to both questions, then you must weight the extra tracking effort against those advantages. Keeping track of two different resorts is not as easy as keeping track of one.

You will need to tell MS what points to use for every reservation you make and you will need to get in the habit of asking MS to verify the status of the points in each contract after every call. If you are using the every other year or every third year booking option, there is a good chance you will end up with a few points here and there that will expire before you can use them. (It's hard to use up the exact amount in those scenarios - not impossible, but difficult). If that is going to bother you, think hard about having two resorts. If you do not get the same use year, you will have additional items to keep track of,

All that said, many here have multiple home resorts and we seldom read of problems. Just know that it's going to require more time and attention on your part - Caskbill's excellent planner notwithstanding, LOL.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Frozenfingers]

I have to second what Carol says.. unless you have the same uy, it can be difficult to manage the points. Additional banking deadlines on top of keeping the contract use/balances straight is a haslte that can be avoided with everything in the same uy.

I wouldn't give up on SSR so readily.. the family may like it there. Since you already have a main contract, there are good incentives to add on right now. I didn't think I cared for it when we toured twice, but after staying there with friends, I changed my mind and purchased. Each building having 2 GV's is a plus to me, as I am sure that I will never get one at OKW at the 7 month window.. We may never use the GV's, but it is nice to know that we have the option should we require it..

50 years isn't a plus to me, but it is to my kids...
I didn't have to wait for the "perfect" resale either.. and, I can add on again if the mood strikes..

 

[Simba's Mom]

From my experience, don't buy points at a resort you haven't stayed at yet (although I know that sometimes that's not at all practical-just my experience). We did that, then after our first trip to our "home" resort and one other DVC resort (only because we called MS and said "Give us someplace different the last night, just so that we can try out all the DVC resorts"), DH fell in love with that other resort (in his case, OKW). So now we're selling those former home points so we can buy at OKW, because he's become one of those OKW lovers who wants to be able to say "I'm an OKW owner".