Advice For First time Buyer (resale)

[lilsonicfan]

Points taken. I do love Wilderness Lodge. It's one of my favorite times to travel to DW, just after Thanksgiving rush and before Christmas rush. I don't mind split stays at all though. Actually I prefer them. Maybe that'll change when I get older! I really love AKL too.

On this basis, I would choose CCV in your case. Long contract, ability to get studios there at a hot time of year with 11 month booking window, you can still book into AKL at 7 months which isn't ridiculously hard except for value/club.

 

[dave_shoo]

On this basis, I would choose CCV in your case. Long contract, ability to get studios there at a hot time of year with 11 month booking window, you can still book into AKL at 7 months which isn't ridiculously hard except for value/club.

Yea. I hear you. Just need to justify the extra up front cost of 3-4k.

 

[smileyanna]

You've all been extremely helpful thank you. I've sort of begun to lean way from SSR given I don't actually want to stay there. However cost is still important to me and given small contract size I'm targeting (100) I have been leaning to AKV. However I love Wilderness lodge and there are good prices on BRV, and the dues aren't too different between BRV and AKV.

I'm 41. My partner is 10 years younger but we have no kids and won't. I had been looking at only longer contracts for obvious value reasons. BRV will expire when I'm 60, while AKV 20 years or so later. I'd guess I'd still like to go into my 60s but probably less often. Maybe she'd go with family after I'm dead, but really I've been thinking of longer contracts to sell on the backend and recoup some small value.

What are your thoughts on shorter contracts vs longer ones? It's very difficult to project this out. All the older resorts contracts ending might make it impossible to stay anywhere but your home resort home the 2040s too. Thanks!

Why not search for contracts at both BRV and AKV? You can have a lower threshold price for BRV given the earlier expiration. Consider at what price you would be truly indifferent between AKV (and all its pros and cons) and BRV (and all its pros and cons). The same holds for CCV!
The right contract is a mix of attributes, including use year, points, home resort (and expiration), and price.

 

[dave_shoo]

Why not search for contracts at both BRV and AKV? You can have a lower threshold price for BRV given the earlier expiration. Consider at what price you would be truly indifferent between AKV (and all its pros and cons) and BRV (and all its pros and cons). The same holds for CCV!
The right contract is a mix of attributes, including use year, points, home resort (and expiration), and price.

I have been looking at all 3 places. AKV and BRV about the same pries but with much longer contract for AKV. CCV 30-40 points higher with longer contract and currently lower dues.

I still have no idea what use year is the right one lol.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Yea. I hear you. Just need to justify the extra up front cost of 3-4k.

I do get that, but as intamin and others mentioned, it's 3,000-4,000 more now, but spread out over the last 11 years of the contract that it has beyond AKL's expiry, that's very little for that chunk of time (of course, 11 more years of annual dues too).

Easy for me to say. I bought a bigger contract at SSR resale!

 

[dave_shoo]

I do get that, but as intamin and others mentioned, it's 3,000-4,000 more now, but spread out over the last 11 years of the contract that it has beyond AKL's expiry, that's very little for that chunk of time (of course, 11 more years of annual dues too).

Easy for me to say. I bought a bigger contract at SSR resale!

Ha! My first thought was SSR since I'm a crazy person who will be happy to check the website 5 times per day for months to find availability. I don't want to stay there ever tho. Not a fan. Who knows, I still might decide that's the best choice. It's just tough since I can't mess around with the site ahead of time to see how successful I'd be at getting a room. Plus I do plan to rent my points every few years and the premium at other resorts helps.

 

[RoseGold]

Ha! My first thought was SSR since I'm a crazy person who will be happy to check the website 5 times per day for months to find availability. I don't want to stay there ever tho. Not a fan. Who knows, I still might decide that's the best choice. It's just tough since I can't mess around with the site ahead of time to see how successful I'd be at getting a room. Plus I do plan to rent my points every few years and the premium at other resorts helps.

If you're willing to enter the trenches of stalking (and you're not going peak), SSR is the plan for you. You might not get your first choice, but you'll be able to make something work.

I actually don't think SSR is even a huge disadvantage to rent out here and there. You book a spec rental and rent it to a service or on Facebook. If you are already stalking, this will be easy for you. I would have a hard time paying a huge premium for a speculative few hundred bucks on a theoretical rental. And you might be able to do better on the rental with SSR points anyway.

Edit: If you want WL at the holidays, you absolutely must have CCV points. I'd always buy CCV over BR unless you must sleep 5 in a studio. I don't even like WL, and I've seen some CCV that turned my head as SAP.

 

[dave_shoo]

If you're willing to enter the trenches of stalking (and you're not going peak), SSR is the plan for you. You might not get your first choice, but you'll be able to make something work.

I actually don't think SSR is even a huge disadvantage to rent out here and there. You book a spec rental and rent it to a service or on Facebook. If you are already stalking, this will be easy for you. I would have a hard time paying a huge premium for a speculative few hundred bucks on a theoretical rental. And you might be able to do better on the rental with SSR points anyway.

I do like to go between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Like staying at the Epcot resorts, MK resorts or AKV. Plus spring, but not spring break.

 

[RoseGold]

I do like to go between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Like staying at the Epcot resorts, MK resorts or AKV. Plus spring, but not spring break.

Nevermind, those are peak times. If you're willing to have AK savanna as a back up, SSR should work. But this is a risky plan at times that popular.

 

[dave_shoo]

Nevermind, those are peak times. If you're willing to have AK savanna as a back up, SSR should work. But this is a risky plan at times that popular.

AKV Savanah studio is def a backup I am comfortable with. Along with split stays.

 

[MsChristy12]

Points taken. I do love Wilderness Lodge. It's one of my favorite times to travel to DW, just after Thanksgiving rush and before Christmas rush. I don't mind split stays at all though. Actually I prefer them. Maybe that'll change when I get older! I really love AKL too.

That's also our favorite time for the holidays! It's great for travel in general, but that's also one of the busiest times of the year for DVC!! Mostly because of the lower point charts, but also definitely lower crowds compared to the last 2 weeks of December.
From what I learned, AKV is slightly easier to grab for the holidays at 7 months. They have a lot more studios than BRV. If I'm not mistaken, BRV has less than 50 studios vs AKV there are well over 200. Of course, there are still a lot of people fighting their way to grab AKV for Christmas too at 7 months, but you really won't get a studio during that time if you don't own at BRV.
Sounds like WL is where your heart is though...

 

[dave_shoo]

That's also our favorite time for the holidays! It's great for travel in general, but that's also one of the busiest times of the year for DVC!! Mostly because of the lower point charts, but also definitely lower crowds compared to the last 2 weeks of December.
From what I learned, AKV is slightly easier to grab for the holidays at 7 months. They have a lot more studios than BRV. If I'm not mistaken, BRV has less than 50 studios vs AKV there are well over 200. Of course, there are still a lot of people fighting their way to grab AKV for Christmas too at 7 months, but you really won't get a studio during that time if you don't own at BRV.
Sounds like WL is where your heart is though...

Appreciate all of you talking though this with me. I think you're right and my heart is Wilderness Lodge

 

[bakerworld]

Appreciate all of you talking though this with me. I think you're right and my heart is Wilderness Lodge

We originally joined DVC with AK and used the points to stay at BC for 3 years. Then we finally bought BC, which is our preferred location. It taught us the true meaning of spending your $ where you want versus the 'deal'. Expensive lesson ... not that we have ever sold points, lost points, or not used points. LOL

 

[MsChristy12]

Appreciate all of you talking though this with me. I think you're right and my heart is Wilderness Lodge

Have you seen this? Of course it's not 100% accurate but at least you can kinda get an idea, see the trends at each resort.

https://www.dvcfieldguide.com/availability-tables

 

[dave_shoo]

Have you seen this? Of course it's not 100% accurate but at least you can kinda get an idea, see the trends at each resort.

https://www.dvcfieldguide.com/availability-tables

Oh neat. I had not, thank you for sharing.

While this is helpful, I don't expect rooms to be readily available at or after 7 months. Hard to know if I can or cannot push a few nights through by being crazy about checking the website.

 

[Sandisw]

OK can someone please explain this to me? I've seen it a lot but in my way of thinking, when the 2042 resorts are pulled, all their owners lose their points so wouldn't the overall distribution still be the same? Yes, there will be fewer resorts to go around (unless new ones keep popping up every few years and/or they create new associations at those older ones), but the number of owners booking will also be less. I'm just banking on still being able to get SSR, OKW or AK which are not as loved as the near-park resorts, with the VGF I'm thinking of getting (though I can't stand the point chart).

Two of the biggest resorts people want to stay at are BwV and BCV because of where they are.

When those are gone, resale owners won’t have many near park options left. While there are certainly owners of places like BLT, VGF and CCV who trade out to places like SSR, OKW, and AKV, it’s not sn equal balance against those wanted to trade from those places.

Yoy will have more people competing for fewer near park resorts. And, with the Epcot area off the table, it may mean fewer owners at the popular places leaving.

Plus, all the new points bought direct at RIV, VDH and whatever resorts come along restricted will be competing as well will be trying at 7 months.

Yes, the 2042 resort points are gone, but they are slowly being replaced with the unrestricted direct points.

So, we very well may see that trading gets harder and not easier for the popular places. Basically, I think the ease of SAP will no longer be what it is today.

 

[MsChristy12]

Oh neat. I had not, thank you for sharing.

While this is helpful, I don't expect rooms to be readily available at or after 7 months. Hard to know if I can or cannot push a few nights through by being crazy about checking the website.

haha I'm a stalker too!! Anything travel related - Flights, hotels, deals.....you name it, I stalk it!

 

[dave_shoo]

haha I'm a stalker too!! Anything travel related - Flights, hotels, deals.....you name it, I stalk it!

Def on the same page. I enjoy the stalking.

I think that makes me sound like a sick person. Maybe I am! But I cancelled and rebooked flights for Sept 4 different times as I stalked the website for a better deal. I didn't mind and it feels great! I feel like I can do something similar with DVC but I don't know.

 

[intamin]

Points taken. I do love Wilderness Lodge. It's one of my favorite times to travel to DW, just after Thanksgiving rush and before Christmas rush. I don't mind split stays at all though. Actually I prefer them. Maybe that'll change when I get older! I really love AKL too.

AKL is great during Christmas as well with the giant Christmas tree. Honestly I’ll likely end up adding CCV eventually too. I still can’t recommend SSR in good conscience because you straight up said you don’t want to stay there. Then add in the fact that you want to go in early December which is peak DVC booking. CCV or AK is the way to go here.

 

[MsChristy12]

Def on the same page. I enjoy the stalking.

I think that makes me sound like a sick person. Maybe I am! But I cancelled and rebooked flights for Sept 4 different times as I stalked the website for a better deal. I didn't mind and it feels great! I feel like I can do something similar with DVC but I don't know.

I won't even mention how many times I will book/cancel/rebook a rental car from Costco...It does make us sound psycho in some ways, but it's kinda my pastime?

For flights, I'm a Delta loyalist and I do this crazy thing that, if the flight I want on my travel date isn't the cheapest one, I will buy the cheaper flight that also works. Then I stalk Delta app daily...sometimes multiple times a day to see if the flight I want will drop. When I see it drop, I will switch my flight so I'll get the schedule I want but not paying extra! It's always gamble but so far, it has worked in my favor 9/10 times! It's not even always about the money we save, but it's the thrill and excitement that we feel when we scored the deal! Am I right?