AKV vs. BLT - DVC Purchase Question

[culli]

We are considering a DVC membership. Can anyone give me any reason to buy one resort over the other? Is there an advantage to either one for a first time DVC member? I'm referring to Animal Kingdom and Bay Lake Tower since those are the two we are considering.

Really comes down to where you want to stay. I would go with BLT as I feel it will be harder to book at 7 month window, lower MF and for me I just don't get AKV. I feel AKV has exposure to have their MF go up on a regular basis due to the animals. Many people like different resorts for various reasons and the nice thing about DVC is there is a wide variety. Many people rip SSR as not their thing.........well I for one don't get the appeal of AKV. I can see maybe staying there once in awhile but I see BLT having a larger appeal in the long term.

Remember at the 7 month window pts are pts only difference is how much you pay in MF.

 

[ajseagles3]

Is there a specific reason that you aren't doing an analysis of owning at all DVC resorts? There are simply too many resales out there to ignore. I truly believe that all of the resorts offer something different to various needs and demographics, so there is no need to only look at AKV and BLT.

 

[gkrykewy]

For Tara, here's the history of maintenance fees at the WDW DVC resorts only (beginning in 1996, the first year there was more than 1 resort open) -- note that this chart was made on a PC rather than a Mac, and so it looks crappier:

Is there a specific reason that you aren't doing an analysis of owning at all DVC resorts? There are simply too many resales out there to ignore. I truly believe that all of the resorts offer something different to various needs and demographics, so there is no need to only look at AKV and BLT.

I would agree with this. If you don't have a strong home resort preference, I would be all over an SSR resale contract.

 

[denegate]

Wow! This is all great information. I have so much more to consider than I first thought. I really appreciate all the input and advice. I believe we will look into resales at this point now also. The maintenance fee's over the life of the contract is something that I cannot ignore at this point also.

 

[ssawka]

Is there a specific reason that you aren't doing an analysis of owning at all DVC resorts? There are simply too many resales out there to ignore. I truly believe that all of the resorts offer something different to various needs and demographics, so there is no need to only look at AKV and BLT.

I can't speak for the original poster, but for us it was "Location, Location, Location!" We do not rent a car when we go to WDW and do not want to rely on buses for our transportation. That is why we are buying BLT. Well that, plus the longer contract.

 

[simmons_m]

Does the date that the resort is planned to open have an impact on the maint fees? i.e. b/c BLT opens so late in the year could the fees be lower this year could they be much higher next year due to 12 months of resort activities?
We factored this into our decision, now i am thinking we may have over budgeted for maint fees in 2010.
Thanks,
Mike

 

[gkrykewy]

"Location, Location, Location!"

I wish people would stop saying that. Haven't we all had enough goofy realtor-speak after the housing bubble blew up in our faces? They aren't making any more land!

[fingernails on chalkboard]

 

[Crystal_27]

Does the date that the resort is planned to open have an impact on the maint fees? i.e. b/c BLT opens so late in the year could the fees be lower this year could they be much higher next year due to 12 months of resort activities?
We factored this into our decision, now i am thinking we may have over budgeted for maint fees in 2010.
Thanks,
Mike

No, the MFs are affected this year only in that they are prorated from August-December to account for the resort opening mid-year (which makes sense because we can't use our points until after BLT opens). I think there is a cap (12%?) on how much MFs can rise in any particular year, so even if they hit the 12% mark, they still won't be much over $4.00 for 2010, still the cheapest MFs of all DVC resorts. However, I can't imagine that they would increase the full 12%, and I am optimistic that BLT's MFs will continue to be on the lower end of the spectrum. We'll see, though...we just don't really know.

 

[5forDiz]

Buy where you'd most love to stay or buy where you WILL NOT MIND having

to stay if nothing else is available when 7 month booking window opens &

you have to stick with reservation you made at your Home Resort during

owner's priority booking window (11 months through 7 months+1day before

the check-in date you want).

Best wishes & have fun deciding - each & every DVC resort is unique & special

 

[Lindabelle]

We had the same DVC choice as you, AKV or BLT. My DH quickly fell in love with the comtemporary style of the rooms at BLT. I loved the closeness of MK. Anytime you can walk to a park, instead of taking transportation, it is a benefit in my eyes. I just hate the idea of being at the mercy of the buses only. We were told by our guide that the yearly dues at BLT were lower than AKV because the grounds are smaller. AKV also had higher dues because of the animals and liability, etc. We really wanted a home resort that had a room occupancy of 5, so that limited our choices to either AKV or BLT, even if we went resale. We are looking forward to our first trip to BLT in 2010, but we are also looking forward to trying every resort someday. We also liked the extra years BLT gave us. Hope this info helps. Good luck with your decision and picking what is right for your family!

 

[puntagordabob]

We faced the same choice... we decided to go with BLT....of course I was for BLT right away as the CR was always my "dream" resort... fortunately my DW preferred the BLT room models so BLT won!

 

[VallCopen]

The primary reason that BLT dues are so low--by a long shot--is the inflated point charts in comparison to other resorts.

The 2009 budget for BLT has total operating expenses, taxes and reserves of $5.6 million. Those dollars are shared by approximately 1.53 million DVC points.

If the BLT point charts were more in line with the likes of BCV and BWV, there would be 15-17% fewer points in circulation. That would reduce the total ownership to 1.27 million points.

Take the same $5.6 million annual budget and divide by only 1.27 million points and the dues would instead be approximately $4.41 per point which is in-line with other destinations.

Again the ONLY reason for this disparity is the larger number of points. A higher point chart allows DVC to sell more points up front and earn a higher return on the building. But the property's actual operating costs should be the same regardless of whether DVC puts 1 million, 10 million or 100 million points in circulation. The difference is the portion of dues shared by each point.

VGC is the same way--higher points per night, lower share of the dues burden paid by each point.

For a BLT owner using points at his/her Home, the values are irrelevant. Higher charts means lower dues, but it also means more points per night for each stay at that resort. But in comparison to other resorts, it's quite a bonus to pay only $3.67 for a BLT point and then use it to stay at a resort like BWV whose owners pay much higher dues.

If you scrutinize the line items of each resort's budget, certainly there are variations. Some are obvious and easily explainable (AKV only resort with savanna expenses; SSR with higher transportation budget than VGC). Some have more to do with the style of resort, durability of furniture and fixtures, quality of construction materials and so on.

BLT dues are currently 25% lower than AKV. Barring something truly unforeseen and unprecedented in the history of DVC, that gap will never close by a significant margin. One year we may see AKV increase by 3% while BLT is 5%. But those small annual variations would have to compound for many, many years in order to overcome the underlying differences in the dues basis for each resort.

Wow!! Thanks for the great info. I do accounting all day at work and, I will be honest, I just don't care when I get home, whatever my DVC cost is fine with me. It is nice to have so many of you DVC'ers doing it for us.

I think when it comes down to it you need to choose the place you love. You will be glad you did in the end. If you really are not partial to a certain resort then I would personally go with BLT (Can I have that on Whole Wheat). As poster tjkraz stated it makes more sense to pay the lower dues, especially at a resort that seems as if it will be harder to book at the 7 month marker, then stay at the other resorts from time to time if you choose.

Good luck and Welcome. We all love DVC for some reason or another so I really don't think you can go that wrong atleast you will be part of the family.