ahhh this is so confusing...

[mello]

a. which resort?

b. Should we go resale or through DVC and get the incentives???? QUOTE]

Well I'd say, use your head to decide whether, when and how to purchase, and your heart to decide where. If your heart is at BWV then that's where your body should be too lol! You can always add-on at a newer resort at you get older if you decide the longer contract is important later. As for whether to go resale or through DVC - decide your budget and/or how many points you'd like, think about use-year, and then compare what's available for resale vs. what DVC has at BWV. You won't get incentives for buying one of the older resorts through DVC. Also, as you probably already know, your first purchase through Disney will need to be a minimum of 160 pts, so if that amount works for you it won't be an issue, but if you want less you might look at resale.

Hmm... thinking this through as I wrote it all out I was thinking that if I were in your shoes I might think about this: Figure out how many points I'd need for one of my two annual trips, and buy that many at BWV through resale. Then I might do an add-on through Disney at one of the newer resorts, buying enough points for my second annual trip. I don't know... we're still doing doing add-ons and trying to stay at each of the resorts to help us figure out how many points we're ultimately going to want where. But they're not helping us on that by continuing to announce new resorts lol! Best wishes in your decision making!

 

[DisneyKidds]

I second (or are we up to third, fourth....?) the suggestion that you should buy a BWV resale contract.

The most important thing to do is buy where you love and want to stay the most. If you are familiar with the BW, if you love staying there, if you love the access to Epcot and the Studio......you'll most likely regret not buying there. No offense to SSR or AKV, as they have a lot to offer in their own right, but if you are already hooked on the Epcot resort location and all the benefits it offers, if you love waking up, getting ready and having a quick walk or pleasant boat ride to one of two parks, if you love the dining options the Epcot resorts offer.......well, there is no way you will be truely happy owning at SSR or AKV, IMHO. Yeah, yeah, you can use SSR and AKV points to book at BWV at 7 months and get the extra years, blah, blah, blah. For starters, I don't care about the extra years. Will you even be able (read: young enough) to use them after 2042 rolls around? And you can't exactly count on booking BWV at the 7 month mark. Sure, there will be times when it's easy as pie. But if you want to go during a school vacation time, or during Food & Wine, or during the December holidays......you NEED the 11 month advantage.

I say resale because that will get you the best overall price when all is said and done. Takes a little more time, but it's worth the couple grand you'll save. We purchased both our contracts via resale and never regretted it.

Well, there is one regret, on my wife's part at least.....that we didn't buy at BCV. Don't let that be you years from now, wishing you bought at BWV.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

We own at BWV, OKW, and SSR. Love them all.

We bought BWV for the location and the STANDARD POINTS rooms.

We bought OKW for the lower points per room, the lower maintenance, the spacious rooms, and the 11 month window for the GV's.

We bought SSR for the longer end date and the awesome developer incentives at the time.

Here's MY advice, based on how I've been using my points. I HOARD my BWV points like crazy as if they were made of gold.

When I make std view BWV reservations at the 11th month mark and "think" about changing them at the 7th month mark, I scratch my head because while all the other locations are great too, why would I spend MORE points to move AWAY from the BWV?

If I book an OKW reservation at the 11th month mark, I am usually open to switching at the 7th month mark but would not be disappointed at all if we don't switch. The points are so much lower for the whole stay, the one bedrooms are sooooo spacious and it is soooo relaxing on that balcony. The only thing is that I would prefer to have a car when staying there. Ever since DME started, I've been traveling w/o the DH and the car rental so we havent been back in a while.

SSR is a beautiful resort also and I have no qualms staying there. However, I have no problems switching out at the 7th month mark either. The slightly lower points aren't incentive enough to make me feel bad about giving up my 11th month reservation. I KNOW that I will have ample opportunities to stay there in the furure. So, I do tend to try to "use up" my SSR points first and usually don't my 11th month reservations here.

If we didn't buy SSR yet and AKV was an option, depending on the incentives, I think I would have learn toward AKV only because of the 11th month window. There are prime units at AKV that are popular and more easily booked at the 11th month mark. Whereas, all the units and point tiers are the same at SSR, KWIM?

Good luck with your decision!

 

[shellbelle1971]

The only advice I'd add to the excellent perspective you're getting from other posters is:

Only buy BWV if you will reliably be able to book your trips more than 7 months in advance. If not, just get the cheapest points you can!

 

[flyerron]

Well, I don't think you can go wrong buying at any of the DVC resorts. They all have their strong points & very few weak points. Most people in your position over think this whole thing. No matter which resort you choose, you will still have the ability to stay at any other of the DVC resorts. Just do it!!

 

[rigsby25]

My two cents. Buy at Boardwalk. We bought resale - 210 pts. at OKW sight unseen. We love OKW. We have stayed at OKW, SSR, BCV, VWL but not BW yet. Why? It is never available. And we do travel off season May and October. We fell in love with AKL when we went there one day for breakfast, so we added on 100 points when it became available. We stayed there the first week of December, and I was a little disappointed in the rooms. I'm hoping Kidani Village will be better. Otherwise we will be using the 100 points to book at OKW at 7 mos. They are offering to extend OKW contracts for another 15 years for 15.00/point. Who knows, maybe someday they will do this at Boardwalk.

In a nutshell:

Buy resale
Buy where you will need the 11 month advantage to book.