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

[KAT4DISNEY]

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.

I think they were referring to owning a different property as AKW opened in 2008 and still has 40+ years left. That's still a lot of vacations. SSR is just under 40. And still a lot of years and vacations. BCV only ever had 40 years.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

I think they were referring to owning a different property as AKW opened in 2008 and still has 40+ years left. That's still a lot of vacations. SSR is just under 40. And still a lot of years and vacations. BCV only ever had 40 years.

Ok gotcha ya. If thier referencing those properties then it would be a savings.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Ok gotcha ya. If thier referencing those properties then it would be a savings.

Yeah. If it's BCV that's definitely a tough one with the high resale prices and even much higher direct for the shortened years.

 

[JLS]

I am the OP - have not pulled the trigger yet but we are wanting to do a trip this summer to AKL and I see that prices are falling from when I first posted. There are some contracts in the $70s now for AKL and the low $100s for BLT. Do you think there is a trend of falling prices? And wondering if it is too late to try to buy right away to use the points this summer (July)?

 

[CKCruising]

I am the OP - have not pulled the trigger yet but we are wanting to do a trip this summer to AKL and I see that prices are falling from when I first posted. There are some contracts in the $70s now for AKL and the low $100s for BLT. Do you think there is a trend of falling prices? And wondering if it is too late to try to buy right away to use the points this summer (July)?

I would assume you are looking at a couple months from when you start the purchase until the points are ready for you to use. That brings you to the beginning of May. Doubtful (but not impossible) that you will be able to book something in mid-July (forget the week around the holiday).

 

[crisi]

Here is what I think....

I think that by the time your new baby gets old enough to really start enjoying Disney - your oldest may have started to outgrow it. It isn't a certainty, but its a possibility. With kids spread out that much, you'll have waves of Disney.

I wouldn't buy enough points to go every year - I'd plan on every other year - and I think looking at renting is a good suggestion. Your oldest two will be able to run off on their own at Disney in a few years - which may alleviate some of the boredom with "we've been here a dozen times and it isn't as cool as Universal" (or Hawaii, or skiing, or whatever else they get into). Also, your oldest may be entering Summer activity age, and that June-July window may be closing - my son had Summer ball during that time for years, my daughter is always doing Summerstock during that period. Look at what your oldest two are starting to get into and talk to parents of teens who have those interests. And make alternative plans - my mother comes over to "housesit" and make sure he doesn't end up with a party in our house - and he stays home - because there was the horrible vacation where he got dragged along - a petulant teenager on vacation is not fun (and its too expensive to bring someone who doesn't want to leave the hotel room). Hopefully, yours will avoid this stage - some parents get to skip it.

I wouldn't worry about BCV, especially if its a financial stretch. Its big advantages are the pool and the Epcot/DHS walkability. But the pool is again, something my kids hit a sweet spot for and were over in the blink of an eye. We like the walkability (we own at BWV) from that area, but we could live without that if it was a financial stretch and I was remaking the decision.

Your ten year old is on the cusp of rapid change - and you know how quickly babies change - you are going to turn around and discover that the oldest is off in college.

 

[Shellyred8]

To the OP, one more thing to consider: Your boys love the savannah view now, but will that be as great of a draw in the next few years for them as their likes change? They may grow to love the Boardwalk area or somewhere on the monorail as they get older. Just one more thing to consider.

We own at BWV and LOVE that area. We love being able to walk to EP and HS and I love the Boardwalk area at night. We also just put an offer in at WLV/BR, as we really enjoy that area too. I love the boat rides to MK and to the Contemporary.

Congrats on #3!!

 

[JLS]

Thanks for the great advice. I see the resales and it tugs on my heartstrings a bit because I think just in concept I still WANT to own DVC and have been having those pangs of "oh we should not have sold"... more so now that I feel like more Disney trips will be in our future and also Hawaii (we live in LA so a Hawaii trip is doable). I am going to keep looking at contracts in that 150-200 point range, so maybe it could be one short trip every year or an every other year longer trip, with option for Aulani if we can book it. Still on the fence about needing to buy at AKL since it seems like our preferred accommodation there - a 1 bedroom savannah view - is one of the easiest to get. I don't care for SSR, but I am also still looking at BLT contracts. I can see our oldest soon being able to bring a friend and walk around MK on their own or even take monorail to Epcot from there. He is turning 12 in a few weeks and on May 1 the baby will be 1 already. Where does the time go~??

 

[ldo]

We have 3 teens. A 1 bedroom works fine for us with the sleeper chair in either akv or okw. I would do enough points for eoy. Ditto what others said, dd#1 got bored of wdw at 15, but other 2 still love it. Sports and camps change summer plans.
Also, parking lot view at akv is not bad and there are tns of public animal viewing spots all over. We don't spend the extra points for savannah. $70 akv is a great price.

 

[JLS]

Hi - OP here, wanted to update everyone and thank you for the great advice. We put in an offer, $3 below asking, on a 216 point AKV contract and it was accepted. Got the use year that works best for us (December). I think this is the right number of points and we got a good price. I am excited to be an owner again.

 

[CarolMN]

Hi - OP here, wanted to update everyone and thank you for the great advice. We put in an offer, $3 below asking, on a 216 point AKV contract and it was accepted. Got the use year that works best for us (December). I think this is the right number of points and we got a good price. I am excited to be an owner again.

Congratulations! Good luck with ROFR (although, I'm thinking you won't need it).

 

[ktmo]

Hi - OP here, wanted to update everyone and thank you for the great advice. We put in an offer, $3 below asking, on a 216 point AKV contract and it was accepted. Got the use year that works best for us (December). I think this is the right number of points and we got a good price. I am excited to be an owner again.

I think that you made a great decision. I bet that you will be able to book something in July. I just purchased an add-on contract we closed in less than 7 weeks, still waiting on points to show up. Last year, I was able to book a trip for July in May. At first, I had a split stay between AKV Savannah Studio and BLT Lake View studio. Right before the trip, I was able to switch to BLT for the whole trip. Good luck.