Advice please for a former owner who sold, regretted, and may buy back in....

[JLS]

Hi -
We bought DVC before having kids, back in 2003 when BCV was for sale directly. Paid $74 pp with incentives. 300 points. Used it a lot at various resorts. Always pleased. But a combination of factors last year made me decide to sell. My boys, ages 10 and 6, were starting to prefer to stay onsite at Universal for several days while in Orlando. My sister is a cast member and we can either stay with her in Orlando (although not as fun as a Disney resort) or take advantage of her discounts. And we have been on several cruises (Disney and non-Disney) and were thinking that we would start doing more "other" types of vacations and fewer Orlando trips overall. So on balance I felt like we could make a profit on the points sale and save the $1800 in a year in dues to put toward Universal or other vacations. I sold a loaded Beach Club contract for $108 per point. Now looking at prices I think I could have gotten a bit more for it, but anyway...

the DAY after we sold it I found out I was pregnant again. Boy #3, born in May. I took my boys to Orlando in March as a last trip with them before baby. We paid cash for a CM discounted room at Animal Kingdom. We absolutely missed being in a villa. This summer we were considering a family trip to Hawaii but no way was I going to pay cash for those rooms - just way too pricey. So I have started to mourn the loss of DVC and wondering if I made a mistake selling. I think if I had known about the pregnancy we would not have sold.

We are about to close on a real estate sale and I will have enough cash to buy back into DVC. My kids absolutely adore Animal Kingdom and I think that will always be their first choice, although my favorite is still BCV. So thinking about a contract at AKV. We probably would limit ourselves to around 5/6 days onsite at Disney and save 2-3 nights for Universal in a given trip.

Questions from you experts:
With a family of 5 do you think it is OK to plan to always stay in a 1 bedroom if it is the larger 1 bd such as at AKV? My memory is there is sleeping for 5 plus the extra bathroom.

How many points would you recommend?

Would you do smaller contracts or a larger contract if it was 250 points or more?

Is there a good argument in this scenario for not buying? I have heard that the rental market is now $13-15 per point (another thing I wish I had known..maybe should have just rented out my points).

With AKV we would likely always do savannah view. I do not want to be at that resort facing a parking lot! So how hard are those rooms to get (i.e. is there an argument for buying elsewhere if you can just stay there easily).

Thanks!!!

 

[cvjw]

As the parent of young adult/teen boys, I would suggest planning to purchase enough points for a 2 bedroom. Especially with 3 kids. As your kids get older, they appreciate having their "own" space and you will appreciate it too It is wonderful to keep the living area for living.

If you look at the points chart, it really isn't that big of a leap from a 1 bedroom to a 2 bedroom. Even though my boys are older, they still enjoy their disney vacations!

 

[Dean]

Hi -
We bought DVC before having kids, back in 2003 when BCV was for sale directly. Paid $74 pp with incentives. 300 points. Used it a lot at various resorts. Always pleased. But a combination of factors last year made me decide to sell. My boys, ages 10 and 6, were starting to prefer to stay onsite at Universal for several days while in Orlando. My sister is a cast member and we can either stay with her in Orlando (although not as fun as a Disney resort) or take advantage of her discounts. And we have been on several cruises (Disney and non-Disney) and were thinking that we would start doing more "other" types of vacations and fewer Orlando trips overall. So on balance I felt like we could make a profit on the points sale and save the $1800 in a year in dues to put toward Universal or other vacations. I sold a loaded Beach Club contract for $108 per point. Now looking at prices I think I could have gotten a bit more for it, but anyway...

the DAY after we sold it I found out I was pregnant again. Boy #3, born in May. I took my boys to Orlando in March as a last trip with them before baby. We paid cash for a CM discounted room at Animal Kingdom. We absolutely missed being in a villa. This summer we were considering a family trip to Hawaii but no way was I going to pay cash for those rooms - just way too pricey. So I have started to mourn the loss of DVC and wondering if I made a mistake selling. I think if I had known about the pregnancy we would not have sold.

We are about to close on a real estate sale and I will have enough cash to buy back into DVC. My kids absolutely adore Animal Kingdom and I think that will always be their first choice, although my favorite is still BCV. So thinking about a contract at AKV. We probably would limit ourselves to around 5/6 days onsite at Disney and save 2-3 nights for Universal in a given trip.

Questions from you experts:
With a family of 5 do you think it is OK to plan to always stay in a 1 bedroom if it is the larger 1 bd such as at AKV? My memory is there is sleeping for 5 plus the extra bathroom.

How many points would you recommend?

Would you do smaller contracts or a larger contract if it was 250 points or more?

Is there a good argument in this scenario for not buying? I have heard that the rental market is now $13-15 per point (another thing I wish I had known..maybe should have just rented out my points).

With AKV we would likely always do savannah view. I do not want to be at that resort facing a parking lot! So how hard are those rooms to get (i.e. is there an argument for buying elsewhere if you can just stay there easily).

Thanks!!!

If you'll go routinely and DVC is enough of a plus for you, a resale at AKV or SSR is not unreasonable. A 1 BR at Kidani will do for quite a while, I wouldn't buy more than enough for that for the 6 days or so unless you're looking a Choice or Adventure season then you might want to consider a cushion. You may also want to consider a timeshare that works for both locations as well as other trips (non DVC), it'd be a lot cheaper up front and likely modestly cheaper each year. You're likely looking at around 200 points based on what you've posted, if you find a great contract at that level or slightly larger, I think you'd be in a perfect situation. I wouldn't go up to 270 to 300 unless you're OK with renting but I don't think 230-250 would be out of line. By owning there, if you needed a 2 BR you could plan for, you'd have the possibility of the value category which would stretch your points quite a bit and is cheaper than the 1 BR savannah.

 

[MouseOfCards]

Agree with the PPs, you should start planning for the 2 bedrooms. Don't look back with regret; you've been blessed with a 3rd one. Whenever I look into the faces of our little ones, I can fully understand why some families keep having kids.

Regarding contracts, if you're planning to stay at AKV regularly and during the busy times and need the 11 month booking advantage, I would just get one large contract, or maybe split it into 3 smaller contracts that you can eventually pass on to your kids. If you like more than one resort, you could get 2 or 3 smaller contracts (that you could pass on to your kids) at different resorts, and with banking and/or borrowing, have 11 month booking advantage for all your trips at different resorts alternating every 2 or 3 years.

BTW, congrats on #3!

 

[JLS]

Thank you so much for the responses so far! This is helpful. My kids are obsessed with AKV, specifically savannah view, so I think we would always do at least 3 nights of a trip there, but the other resorts we really like are Bay Lake Tower and Beach Club. I know now that we are not owners at BCV that it will be difficult if not impossible to stay there. I don't want to buy back into BCV because of the really high cost (this is where the selling regret comes in!!) but AKL seems reasonably priced and considering whether a small contract at BLT makes sense. We are fine with Lake View at BLT. How difficult is it to get 1 or 2 bedroom lake view there at the 7 months window? Maybe we could do 160 points at AKL and 100 at BLT or something like that, unless getting a couple of nights at BLT for the occasional stay is a good possibility at 7 months. I think with BLT and a very young child it is so nice to walk to the MK.

And yes, feel so blessed with our 3rd. I always wanted 3 but thought I was passed my window for that to happen. Surprise! My CM sister, who is in marketing, pointed out that this new addition significantly raised Disney's valuation on our expected lifetime spend... so there's that. LOL.

 

[Dean]

Thank you so much for the responses so far! This is helpful. My kids are obsessed with AKV, specifically savannah view, so I think we would always do at least 3 nights of a trip there, but the other resorts we really like are Bay Lake Tower and Beach Club. I know now that we are not owners at BCV that it will be difficult if not impossible to stay there. I don't want to buy back into BCV because of the really high cost (this is where the selling regret comes in!!) but AKL seems reasonably priced and considering whether a small contract at BLT makes sense. We are fine with Lake View at BLT. How difficult is it to get 1 or 2 bedroom lake view there at the 7 months window? Maybe we could do 160 points at AKL and 100 at BLT or something like that, unless getting a couple of nights at BLT for the occasional stay is a good possibility at 7 months. I think with BLT and a very young child it is so nice to walk to the MK.

And yes, feel so blessed with our 3rd. I always wanted 3 but thought I was passed my window for that to happen. Surprise! My CM sister, who is in marketing, pointed out that this new addition significantly raised Disney's valuation on our expected lifetime spend... so there's that. LOL.

I'd suggest you buy one or the other and try it out, personally I'd do BLT as I suspect you can get into AKV routinely for a 1 BR savannah for some time but you might have to use the wait list. Maybe just buy the 150-170 range and give it a try then see.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

It appears you travel a lot during the summer, which makes sense with the kids and school. To stay in a 1BR AKV savannah view is going to be slightly less than 200 points so I wouldn't consider any more than that, especially since you mention doing fewer nights at times. You likely could be fine buying in the 180-200 point range and using banking and/or borrowing for your range of 3-5 night stays. You'll still have the Disney option for the stays you want but won't be as tied in to just it with excess points and can devote funds towards other locations too.

For many times of the year, especially summer, you'd frequently be able to get a 1BR at BLT. Maybe even anytime you wanted to change. The good thing is to own a resort you're willing to stay at should the switch not happen for whatever reason. And don't assume you won't get BCV although a 1BR there won't have 5 sleeping spots so you'd need an air bed once the youngest gets out of a pack n play. We no longer own there but still stay there just as much as we did when we did own there - which wasn't all the time with those points but we still stay there.

I really wouldn't recommend buying 2 resorts right now. Just buy back and see how things are working. Since you believe AKV will be a preference for a long time I'd just buy there - the purchase price difference to BLT is significant and any dues difference will take some time to make up. Buy in the range you think you'll use - as I mentioned 200 points would seem to be more than enough for a 1BR for the time being and you may always be fine with that. And if you decide to go with the 2BR in the future you might alternate or shorten up Disney by a night or just borrow until you need to take a year to replenish and then stay in a hotel or only at Universal. If you consistently come up short and are continuing to want to do Disney then you can always add on then and might have a better idea if a second resort is the way to go. Or you can get a large point transfer 1 year that would likely cover any shortages for a long time. There's lots of ways to work it which is the nice thing about not being locked into a particular length of stay nor unit.

 

[JLS]

Thanks. All of this is very helpful. I should have mentioned that the only times that are typically available for us to travel on family vacations is between June 15-July 15, due to my husband's schedule and the school calendar. So we are almost always looking at "Magic" season. View is not important to us other than at AKL. Its good to know that dates at BLT may be available from time to time at 7 months. I know that we would always be happy staying at AKL so it probably makes sense to buy there.

 

[ldo]

The 1BR in either AKV or OKW with the sleeper chairs are fine for our family of 5 (3 teens). The 2 bathrooms at Kidani are nice, but we don't even need 2 bathrooms. I would buy enough points to go every other year and see how it goes. Your kids will start to get into sports, etc. and your vacation habits could change. We cruise more than we used to. That way, you aren't "having" to go every year to use your points. With that, 160 points is a good amount for EOY in a 1BR and enough points with banking/borrowing to even get a 2BR some years.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Its good to know that dates at BLT may be available from time to time at 7 months.

The only reason I wouldn't say that you'd almost always have that as an option is because travel trends can change but for the near future I do think it would usually (maybe always) be an option to book a 1BR lakeview at BLT at 7 months for that time frame.

If you haven't seen this thread it was a snapshot of availability a year or two ago. It covers studios but has a few 1BR's including BCV which also showed availability for that time.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/pr...-some-1-bedrooms-vgc-update-10-21-15.3419112/

Again, just a snapshot of one year but you can see that it's not the busiest time and there often are options.

 

[kniquy]

If you are still in the mindset of wanting to do other trips then consider buying enough points to stay in a 2br savanah every other year. This way you can be plan other vacations that the older boys would rather do, such as universal. With such a large age gap I am sure that 10 yo won't want to do or won't be able to do Disney when he is 18 or so. At that point you will be able to do a 1 br or studio. You not only will save a bit on MF you will have flexibility to travel elsewhere on off years. This will also be a good size contract that when the kids are older and it is just you and your husband you could take a few adult only trips each year.

 

[kboo]

Commenting so I can follow - we are thinking of buying DVC and the thoughts in this thread are actually really helpful! We hope to try BCV next year, renting points, and then maybe will think about buying a resale contract. (Unfortunately, our top contenders are VGF, BLT, and BCV - not the cheapest to buy resale.)

To the OP - we were able to get a 2BR lake view at BLT in early march last year at the 7mo window, renting points, but we had to split the stay. That said, when we arrived, we ended up not having to check out and back in, and stayed in the same suite. And we got a lovely room that had a view of the MK fireworks from the balcony.

 

[Dean]

Commenting so I can follow - we are thinking of buying DVC and the thoughts in this thread are actually really helpful! We hope to try BCV next year, renting points, and then maybe will think about buying a resale contract. (Unfortunately, our top contenders are VGF, BLT, and BCV - not the cheapest to buy resale.)

To the OP - we were able to get a 2BR lake view at BLT in early march last year at the 7mo window, renting points, but we had to split the stay. That said, when we arrived, we ended up not having to check out and back in, and stayed in the same suite. And we got a lovely room that had a view of the MK fireworks from the balcony.

BLT is the second cheapest on property looked at long term.

 

[kboo]

Thanks, good to know! Unfortunately (?) the adults like the Boardwalk area better (and I think our kids would be likely to grow into it), and ODD (who is 5) has already decreed that GF is her favorite since our stay there last April, and it seems like getting to stay at VGF you need to be able to book at the 11 month window. Though the convenience to MK can't be beat.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

I would not recommend a purchase at this time. Rent through legitimate brokers and owners. You will save just as much as if you had bought ( in 2003). Today's prices are just too high both resale and direct.

 

[Dean]

Thanks, good to know! Unfortunately (?) the adults like the Boardwalk area better (and I think our kids would be likely to grow into it), and ODD (who is 5) has already decreed that GF is her favorite since our stay there last April, and it seems like getting to stay at VGF you need to be able to book at the 11 month window. Though the convenience to MK can't be beat.

IMO it's a mistake to buy VGF to stay there part of the time and use at 7 months any significant portion. It'd be better and cheaper to buy elsewhere with less points and rent privately for VGF. I'd have to run the numbers some but I suspect you'd go over the line at less than about 80% at VGF and 20% elsewhere depending on villa type and the alternate resort option. BWV isn't bad if one buys less points and uses the standard view, it's cheaper per point and potentially cheaper points than BCV.

Now it might be that buying at VGF and another contract might be reasonable if you're planning to buy enough points, just realize that this would increase your costs a little with extra closing and the fact that currently smaller contracts sell for more per point (not guaranteed long term). But the second contract would likely be cheaper pp. I generally discourage the bank and borrow routinely situation because it adds risk but in this situation it might be the best option adding a smaller VGF contract. Lots of variables, just get enough information to get past the emotions and make a wise decisions given your circumstances.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thanks, good to know! Unfortunately (?) the adults like the Boardwalk area better (and I think our kids would be likely to grow into it), and ODD (who is 5) has already decreed that GF is her favorite since our stay there last April, and it seems like getting to stay at VGF you need to be able to book at the 11 month window. Though the convenience to MK can't be beat.

The time you look to book at VGF makes a difference, much like other resorts, as does the size of the villa. April? Studios could be tough for some parts at 7 months but 1 and 2BR's not so much. Studios are the toughest year round - sleep 5, high point costs resort so owners try to maximize. During the latter part of the year even owning there won't guarantee a studio.

 

[chainkid]

I would look at BC or BWV as an option only because you can get in AKV most of the time while you can hardly ever get in Epcot resorts during food and wine festival or other popular times of year. I found the older kids love the epcot area as it gives them more freedom to explore on their own. It might be a bit more at first but at BWV you can get the standard view rooms which will save you a lot and make it possible to stay in a two bedroom. I'm older so my solo trips with hubby are usually centered around events and although I own at AKV also it is too far from everything.

 

[JLS]

I would not recommend a purchase at this time. Rent through legitimate brokers and owners. You will save just as much as if you had bought ( in 2003). Today's prices are just too high both resale and direct.

Thanks, everyone, for the comments. BVW Dreamin, can you say more about this? the current price for AKL is around $85-88 per point resale. We paid $73 per point back in 2003 so its not that much more and the contract at AKL or SSR would be for more years.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Thanks, everyone, for the comments. BVW Dreamin, can you say more about this? the current price for AKL is around $85-88 per point resale. We paid $73 per point back in 2003 so its not that much more and the contract at AKL or SSR would be for more years.

Well now you have 15 years less on that contract and paying $10/pt more. And that contract price is probably for a large contract. Smaller contracts are going near $90/pt. So just not as good of a purchase plus now those MF's for Animal Kingdom are pretty high. Don't forget to factor in that cost on top of your purchase.