Anyone own at a resort they never stay at?

[MickeyWaffles]

We own at SSR. For the first 10 or so trips as DVC members when we went to WDW we only stayed at SSR. We love it! We also did trips to Villas at Grand Californian and Aulani in that time.

Then we had kids. We love love love SSR, but haven’t stayed there with the kids yet. We’ve done AKL-Kidani, BLT, VGF, BWV, Poly and Villas at Grand Californian with them. With little kids we learned that we love being in close proximity to a park.

We will return to SSR again when the kids are a little bit older, but for now ... being close to a park when possible is preferred. And if we couldn’t switch at 7 months we would be more than happy with SSR. Still happy we bought there.

 

[gisele2]

Okay, I understand now. Thanks for explaining!
I put BLT in the running now too. It’s my husband’s favorite resort, we have stayed in the studios a few different times by renting points. We both love the location. With COVID and the lack of flexibility when renting points, I really want to just own ourselves and have control. I can see us going every year still for the next 10 years, and then at that point, we’d have to re-evaluate. I love Disney forever, my husband not so much. lol He always takes one for the team, so I know he’d be a little happier with BLT. He is getting a corvette, so I told him I’m getting DVC.

Good for you!

 

[crisi]

Buy where you won't mind getting stuck.

Because as was said, it works for some people, and it works less well for others. Some resorts are really difficult to get at seven months, others are fairly easy. One bedrooms are easiest, studios are hardest. The last three months of the year are harder than the first nine. Some people don't mind rolling the dice and will take any of three or four resorts, others are heartbroken when the BCVs aren't available. Some can move their vacation to get what they want, others are stuck with the vacation schedule controlled by work. Some people can spend time stalking reservations, others want one visit to the website and success. Some people consider a split stay to be a good way to experience all the resorts, others think moving resorts mid stay is a huge hassle.

Do not buy with the intention of getting value or standard view rooms at the seven month window. Or specialty rooms like VAKL concierge. It happens, but its rare that those are available.

 

[GAN]

I've owned SSR since 2009 and have never stayed there. I know the motto is "buy where you want to stay" but I get so much more value out of SSR points and have never regretted buying there.

And it's a pretty fine Resort as well. I've stayed at every WDW DVC, excluding Riviera, and the service provided at SSR is as good as any. The quiet pools are very relaxing, close proximity to DS doesn't hurt, golf course, and it's well kept. Sure, there are drawbacks like the bus transportation but there are drawbacks with every resort.

 

[KPeterso]

I have owned SSR since 2007, but have never stayed there. I am not opposed to it (I went to college in the real Saratoga Springs so I know the area and theme well), but I have always been able to get other resorts. That said, I also own VGC which I only use there and AKV which I sometimes use there and sometimes use elsewhere. I tend to travel in a quieter time of year which is why I think I have had luck using my SSR points at other locations.

 

[tgarre06]

Okay, I think we have decided on SSR. The new renovated rooms look great, and I think my kids will like to be able to walk to DS when they are teenagers (5 and 8 now). And the two theme pools with water slides and spa are an added bonus. We always do split stays when we rent points, so we don’t mind doing split stays to allow us to use our points elsewhere. I also like that the deed expires in 2054, so we will be able to sell in 10 years if we are over it, and we will be able to get something back. Hopefully that’s not the case though! We do travel over school breaks, and Poly’s points required per night for our stay dates was pretty high. I would have probably chosen it if not. I’ve been looking at ROFR. Anyone have any advice on where I should aim per point for 130 to 140 points at SSR?

 

[jjwelch24]

We have owned at SSR for 10 years and never stayed there. We have stayed at almost every other DVC resort at WDW. The only ones where we haven't stayed are SSR and BLT. We have used the pool and spa at SSR before though.

 

[CaliAdventurer]

Okay, I think we have decided on SSR. The new renovated rooms look great, and I think my kids will like to be able to walk to DS when they are teenagers (5 and 8 now). And the two theme pools with water slides and spa are an added bonus. We always do split stays when we rent points, so we don’t mind doing split stays to allow us to use our points elsewhere. I also like that the deed expires in 2054, so we will be able to sell in 10 years if we are over it, and we will be able to get something back. Hopefully that’s not the case though! We do travel over school breaks, and Poly’s points required per night for our stay dates was pretty high. I would have probably chosen it if not. I’ve been looking at ROFR. Anyone have any advice on where I should aim per point for 130 to 140 points at SSR?

There are no bad choices now that they have all been refurbed to some extent recently. I own at VGF, Aul, & VGC and am using points at SSR Preferred by choice on part of our next trip because the walk to DS is awesome and the grounds are beautiful.

 

[GAN]

Okay, I think we have decided on SSR. The new renovated rooms look great, and I think my kids will like to be able to walk to DS when they are teenagers (5 and 8 now). And the two theme pools with water slides and spa are an added bonus. We always do split stays when we rent points, so we don’t mind doing split stays to allow us to use our points elsewhere. I also like that the deed expires in 2054, so we will be able to sell in 10 years if we are over it, and we will be able to get something back. Hopefully that’s not the case though! We do travel over school breaks, and Poly’s points required per night for our stay dates was pretty high. I would have probably chosen it if not. I’ve been looking at ROFR. Anyone have any advice on where I should aim per point for 130 to 140 points at SSR?

That's a sound decision -you'll have no regrets. We went with 160 points which worked out fine for us, and am shopping for another contract this year. It's strange because we thought the pools with the slides would be a hit but there were so many young children in those pools my kids(at the time 8 and 12) preferred the quiet pools because we had the pool virtually to ourselves. Enjoy...

 

[AdamsMum]

I purchased a fully loaded BCV contract for $82 per point in 2007, how could I not buy that when I saw it (small contract 50 pts). I've only stayed there once and aside from the location, I wasn't that impressed. I didn't hate it and the Beach Club Marketplace was good. I've used the points at AKV, OKW and Poly. Boardwalk Villas is still my favourite.

 

[jjwelch24]

Okay, I think we have decided on SSR. The new renovated rooms look great, and I think my kids will like to be able to walk to DS when they are teenagers (5 and 8 now). And the two theme pools with water slides and spa are an added bonus. We always do split stays when we rent points, so we don’t mind doing split stays to allow us to use our points elsewhere. I also like that the deed expires in 2054, so we will be able to sell in 10 years if we are over it, and we will be able to get something back. Hopefully that’s not the case though! We do travel over school breaks, and Poly’s points required per night for our stay dates was pretty high. I would have probably chosen it if not. I’ve been looking at ROFR. Anyone have any advice on where I should aim per point for 130 to 140 points at SSR?

I think you are making a smart choice. We bought direct when our kids were young. Our son is now graduating from high school and we just decided to sell last week. Within a week we have accepted offers on our 2 contracts that we purchased direct from DVC and we are actually selling them both for more than we paid. We got ten years of wonderful memories for the maintenance fees alone. It's a little sad selling, but it was so wonderful for those 10 years. I wouldn't trade those memories for anything. Your kids are the same ages as our when we bought and it was the perfect time. Also, we never had trouble booking where we wanted to go for Spring Break, early summer, and fall. Plus SSR is really beautiful. Good luck.

 

[tgarre06]

I think you are making a smart choice. We bought direct when our kids were young. Our son is now graduating from high school and we just decided to sell last week. Within a week we have accepted offers on our 2 contracts that we purchased direct from DVC and we are actually selling them both for more than we paid. We got ten years of wonderful memories for the maintenance fees alone. It's a little sad selling, but it was so wonderful for those 10 years. I wouldn't trade those memories for anything. Your kids are the same ages as our when we bought and it was the perfect time. Also, we never had trouble booking where we wanted to go for Spring Break, early summer, and fall. Plus SSR is really beautiful. Good luck.

Thank you so much for your feedback! I feel like this may be us in 10 years, unless my daughter holds her promise to keep going with me forever. lol Good luck to you and your family on your next phase in life!

 

[Louis morrell]

We purchased SSR in 2017. We have never stayed there. We have about 7 trips in the bag and have only visited the resort for a few min. Just to have a look see. To be clear, we would not mind at all if we had to stay there but we always try to switch out a 7 months and have thus far been successful.

 

[Lorana]

We bought at SSR and have only stayed at the Treehouse Villas and not in SSR proper. We bought for SAP points, primarily to allow us to upsize to 1BR or 2BRs, or to Cabins & GVs for those splurge trips. Those require a lot of points! So we figured we might as well pay less dues on it, and less buy in cost.

I am of course now wondering if we should have gone a different route, only because I’ll only be 77 when SSR expire and our AKV will have 3 years, CCV will have 14 years, and RIV 16 years left on it. I’m hoping we’ll still be going into our 80s! And then we pass along to the kids or they sell. We may still want to upgrade, or we may want points we can rent to offset dues at that age. I think we’ll wait a few years to see how we feel, but we may sell SSR to buy contracts with longer expirations (considering Poly, BLT, or more CCV). We may also just wait to see what happens with future resorts; we do want to own at Reflections if it ever is built.

 

[Stargazer65]

We are going on a trip next month but using some of our BRV points to stay at SSR, some of our SSR points to stay at HHI, and somebody else's points to stay at VB (which may or may not be VB points...IDK). How convoluted is that haha?

Technically I've owned at BRV now for two months and have never stayed at WL in my life. I think I will someday soon in the future, just haven't yet.

 

[Brian Noble]

I am being lured in by the price per point of SSR.

This really depends on what you are hoping to accomplish. Are you dead set on studios? Do you have specific times of year you really want to visit? Do you have specific resorts in mind for each of those times of year?

If the answer to all of those questions is yes, this is likely a recipe for disappointment.

For each of those questions you can answer "no" to, things get easier. If you can answer no to all of them, I suspect you would be happy buying what are commonly referred to as sleep-around points.

That said, the common advice is "buy where you want to stay." I think a better way of putting it is "don't buy where you wouldn't be happy staying." If you know you would be unhappy at SSR, I think buying there is probably a mistake.

As an aside: If you think you would be unhappy at SSR, but you haven't stayed there yet, I think you might be surprised if you try it. When it first opened, I was not a fan. Two of my last three trips were there, and I find it has grown on me. The landscaping has matured nicely and it no longer has the "McMansions on a moonscape" look that it had in its earlier years; there's now more of a quiet sophistication to it. The enhanced pool complex and newer QS location in Paddock was a nice addition, and the current refurbishment will make a good resort even better.

So far, I've stayed at BCV, BLT, BRV, BWV, OKW, and SSR and I've found reasons to love each of them. If pressed, I would probably tell you that I have a slight favorite or two, but the vacations I've had at each one have been wonderful.

 

[RebelScum]

Every few years we are tempted by DVC. I am being lured in by the price per point of SSR. Anyone buy at a DVC resort they do not stay at?

I own a 3 resorts and have historically used at least half of those points at resorts I do not own.