Advice???

[Woodcourt]

We are trying to decide what to do...

Trying to figure out what would be our home resort and if we want to buy it from Disney or a resale. Planning to talk with someone at Disney on Monday. DH got information from the Timeshare store today. We just dont even know where to start.

We are planning a trip for New Years and beginning of Jan. Will it be hard to get a place for Jan 1? If we bought into SSR, do you think we could get Wilderness Villas? Our dilemma is time. If we buy new, from what I understand we will get it closed and available to book sooner? If we get a resale, we have a much longer time frame. If we could get it in time to use for our New Years trip it would be great, but if we cant, we might just wait until we are there to tour some of the places and make a decision.

AUGH!...We dont make quick decisions on our house and I am glad as we never have an ounce of buyers remorse. I think we will go ahead and buy in, but just am not sure what our time frame will be and which route to take..

Any suggestions? Thanks for listening to my thought process

 

[rparmfamily]

We just bough this past week. We got our membership number on Friday and DH was already calling for reservations! We haven't even gotten any paperwork yet LOL. I think DH called our guide last week and it would have been quicker but DH gave the wrong c/c # so our guide had to call us back.

We went thru Disney for a couple reasons. We live in Fla, and are very familiar with all Disney resorts. We toured SSR about 2 weeks ago and it is beautiful with a great location with many ammenities. We bought SSR thru Disney because of the additional 12 years that you get with SSR, plus the incentive that DVC is offering of 2005 points plus 2006 points. Our month is Oct, so right now, we have 2005 pts and in Oct, we will get 2006 points. We also did the easy DVC financing as well.

I must say, doing the DVC tour of SSR was what got us. We've been thinking of joining since 97' and we finally did! We don't regret it at all, in fact, we can't decide where to stay first in July!

 

[rparmfamily]

I'll add that I have no idea about Jan. I'm sure some more DVC peeps will let you know more about it.

 

[disworldnum1]

Before we bought we stayed at the resort,rule of thumb is buy where you like to stay.If i had known about resales back then I definitely would have saved money and gone through the process that way.Good luck on whatever you decide

 

[bicker]

Yup, that's great advice: Buy where you plan to stay. We own at VWL and always call at the 11 month point to assure that we get to stay at our home resort. More and more folks are learning to do that, so it is becoming increasingly difficult to exchange into the more desireable DVC resorts.

 

[mowog]

"Act in haste, repent in leisure"- I say don't rush and buy just to get some one time points- although it may cost more later (or maybe less if they have a promotion like the winter 83/ point special). If you're positive you'd be happy staying at SSR for all your trips then go for it. If you would like to stay at BWV, BCV, VWL then sit back, take a breath, and evaluate your options. As mentioned the resale market, although slower to get into the system, can often get you the points you want at a good price.

Jean and Bob

 

[Cinderpals]

I bought resale because I wanted the option to stay at the BWV or BCVs at any time. It did take about 6 weeks for me get through the process, but I was able to book during New Years at the Boardwalk late in August for some reason, stayed on a waitlist until December for boardwalk view room for 29th! It was easy to get New Years Day ressies, but not so easy for 29th and 31st.

You can also buy other resorts through WDW if they have points available, plus I believe there is a minimum of 100 or 150 pts for the 1st contract.

 

[pb4ugo]

take a breath and make the decision where you want to stay when you visit wdw vs do you want the extra contract years and point incentive; if ya want the years and price, then it is a no brainer to buy at ssr.

if you want to be sure that you can stay at your favorite resort by booking at the 11 month mark, then you need to decide weather you buy resale or from disney...disney does sometimes have points available at the sold out resorts - you just hafta be able to outlast your guide telling you that they are giving the best deal at ssr so that you can find out if there are points available where you want to buy [my friends bought in that way - just told the guide that they would hang up and call back until they found a guide willing to sell them a contract where they wanted to buy!]

if disney does not have points where you want to stay, then you can waitlist until the guide can find you what you want and calls you back with it OR you can go to this forum's sponsor and tell them what you want - tha might be your best bet to make sure you get the contract where you want to stay.

of course you already know that buying ssr or whatever is available from disney gets you into the system almost instantly and waiting for a resale or something not readily available keeps you out of the system for an unknown amount of time. and if you want to finance, disney financing is a snap! [don't know about the timeshare store - haven't bought resale yet - don't wanna snub them for financing]

what's the worst that could happen?
1 - you wait to get a contract where you want to stay - but there are no ressies available there for this jan 1st - so ya hafta stay at another dvc resort [not so bad in my book].
2 - you don't get to stay where ya want this year but you've got the opportunity to book for next year at your 11 month window.

take the time to prioritize what's important to you when you want to visit wdw [where to stay, how long to stay, proximity to parks/dtd, when to visit, what do you want in your resort], write it down, and when you read through your analysis you should be able to see what you want to do and you should be able to feel good about your decision.

 

[browniemtb]

I agree with most about buying where you want to stay. If BWV, VWL, or even BCV are where you want to be than hold out for a resale. I read some where yesterday, here on some ones post, that even BWV are sold out again. Not sure if there is a truth to this though. I've never seen the SSR resort but I'm sure its beautiful and getting ressies there seem to be easier than the other resorts. But BWV, BCV, and VWL have a definite advantage, in my eyes, being conecting to the theme parks. As far as getting ressie for New years.....I've never done it but have read that it can be hard....SSR may have the extra 12 years but boy its sure nice nice being able to walk to Epcot with my little ones. I'll wait and add on when the CRV or Poly villas open....
Good Luck
Brownie

 

[abner1776]

If you are looking for 1/1/07, then that means that the 7 month window opens up on 6/1/06 for non home resort ressies. Even buying resale, you should be able to close the deal, process the paperwork including ROFR and get your contract in the DVC system by 6/1/06, but I hear that there have been delays with DVC, so how knows.
VWL is generally pretty full over the Xmas holidays, so I am not sure that you could get a ressie even now if VWL was your home resort.
With the 7 month window fast approaching and with your uncertainty about your home resort, you way want to rent points for 1/1/07 and get your ressie and then take the time and determine where you want to stay for the next 36 years and what use year you will want...you would not want to make a hasty decision now just to satisfy a 1/1/07 need and then regret it a couple of years down the road.

 

[NYMomof4]

Another thought would be the question of how many points you want. The minimum buy-in at SSR is 150. If you wanted more at another resort, you could then add on through resale or DVC to have a second home resort. THe # of points for the second resort should, however, match the # you need to stay there at the 11 month booking window because you cannot combine contracts that are at different resorts to get the 11 month booking.

Example: You want VWL at New Years and it costs x points every year. You would want that # points for each year or if you plan it bi-annually you could bank or borrow to have the # points needed.

SSR is a 150 minimum so that would be the start # to buy there.

I guess what I'm saying is that might take time to get an idea of your vacationing needs, so before buying a boatload of points at one resort, I would take some time to think about it

 

[popsmensahbonsu]

I'm torn on this as well. I'm pondering an add on here and I just can't decide. Do I want a good resort or do I want those 12 extra years to enjoy SSR? It is, after all, WDW. All the thoughts here have been great, keep them coming.

 

[byoung]

I like to go in Oct and mid Dec and like staying at BWV during these times. That's why I bough at BWV. Other times I like to go to the other resorts.

 

[Disney Doll]

A few thoughts from a somewhat experienced (9 years in the system) DVCer:

1. What is more important? Having the extra 12 years at SSR or being able to book another resort at the 11 month window? This is where "buy where you want to stay" comes into play. Your home resort is the one that you have the 11 month booking advantage for. If you love BCV, BWV, VWL or OKW, don't buy points at SSR, because it will set you up for disappointment if, down the road, you are only able to book at your home resort. When DH & I bought in 1997, there was only OKW & BWV available. The others hadn't been built yet. OKW was cheaper per point and for dues and the rooms were larger. BWV had the location of being close to Epcot and MGM, but the price per point and dues were more expensive. DH & I looked at both properties. We asked ourselves one question "If the DVC had to change their rules somewhere down the line and we could only stay at our home resort instead of being able to trade out, could we be happy always staying at OKW?" The answer was yes. We liked the resort that much that we would always be happy staying there, we would always be glad to have the 11 month booking window there and so on. That, and the fact that it was overall less expensive, led to our purchase there, which we have never regretted.

2. DVC does usually have some points available at other resorts besides the one they are currently "pushing"...in this case SSR. Sometimes you have to be a bit "firm" to get what you want. I recall a post rom a DVCer where he actually said to his guide "I want to buy points at BCV. If DVC doesn't have them available, then I will go to a resaler". Miraculously, after he said that, BCV became available.

3. We bought a second contract at OKW in 2001 through Pat Spell at The Timeshare Store. The points may not be as quickly available as they are if you buy them through Disney, but the service at TTS was great. The drawbacks with a resale are the right of first refusal process (ROFR) that you have to go through and the fact that you have to have some sort of financing. I could be wrong, but I don't think TTS offers any kind of financing. But, we had cash avialable, and the resale process for us was pretty seamless...6 weeks from start to finish.

4. Try to tour the resorts for yourselves instead of listening to what folks here are saying. I like all of them for different reasons, including SSR, which is getting a lot of negative "press" lately. Each resort has pros and cons, but agian, you have to feel comfortable at the one you choose. You have to feel like you will enjoy the resort.

5. The buying process, either through Disney or TTS would certainly get you a contract in time to book for New Years. As far as booking VWL...if it's not your home resort, you can book it at the 7 month window. What I would do is book your home resort as soon as you can after you buy/close on your contract. That way you are sure you will have a room for your vacation. At the 7 month window, try and change to VWL. Don't be afraid to go on the waitlist and don't be afraid to split your stay, spending part of the week at SSR and part at VWL. Once the holidays are over, WDW empties out some, so you may very well be able to VWL for January 1.

Good luck in your decision.

 

[rinkwide]

...Do I want a good resort or do I want those 12 extra years to enjoy SSR?

Seems it's so easy to slam Saratoga Springs that you might do it even when your not trying.

 

[bicker]

Or is it simply easy to interpret a honest, well-intended comment as a "slam"?

 

[popsmensahbonsu]

Seems it's so easy to slam Saratoga Springs that you might do it even when your not trying.

I'm a little confused with this one? How was that a "slam" as you put it. If it was I don't see it and it wasn't intended that way. I am considering an add on for those 12 extra years. I'm weighing the extra years versus staying at another "more desirable" resort. SSR isn't our first choice but it is a DVC Resort. This is a tough decision, I wish I had a crystal ball with this one to see what the future holds. Any guesses on this?

 

[popsmensahbonsu]

Or is it simply easy to interpret a honest, well-intended comment as a "slam"?

Thank you very much for that and your comments on this and other threads has been very helpful. It is hard to sift for information amongst the senstivity and the resort bashing.

 

[Cinderpals]

I was in the same boat as you were in before buying through the TSS. Well, my guide at Disney was lousy, and never kept me informed about available points etc...I know the guide not to have!

I decided that I wanted 2 contracts at the BCV and 2 at the BWVs. I can always sell 1 or 2 later and purchase into SSR then when the extra 12 years will make a difference to me in the future. SSR rooms are readily available. I've never had a problem booking there. So, I didn't need 11 mo. priority there. ( I do like it ...quiet w/ view of Downtown Disney, easy access to Lake Buena Vista & Orlando etc) OKW sells out before SSR does has been my experience. BWV stnd rooms, BCV, BWV PV are more difficult to book beyond the 7 mo. Not impossible at all, but need to waitlist. I bought for the 11 mo. priority and resale potential incase this whole Disney World thing gets old! If I ever need more points, I may look into buying a less expensive contract at the HH. I would love to have 11 mo priority there.
I love the BCVs though!!

Can't finance through the TSS though, so buying through Disney makes sense if you're financing. Much quicker process too, no waitling for ROFR. You can also buy an SSR contract and purchase additional points at one of the other resorts. Initially, that is what I was going to do: purchase SSR, then add BCV and VWL points.