Balancing Home Resort Advantage with Cost Effective Points

[Chuck96]

I continue to be very appreciative of the tremendous knowledge on these boards, and especially on this forum. I’m trying to absorb as much wisdom as I can from reading threads and perusing existing questions. Not a DVC owner at this time, but been thinking about it for some time. Started to get more serious after our last visit in January, then COVID hit, so went a little more observational than proactive.

I’ve also been able to ask some initial questions in the past few months, which have sharpened my calculus. Besides the decision to do it, I’m struggling most over the home resort options.

I do have a core philosophical question I’d like to get some insight on. Let me set the stage real quick.

If money were no object on a single contract, I’d prefer VGF. My wife’s favorite two Disney films are Mary Poppins and Alice in Wonderland, and her favorite park is MK. I’d like to be on the Monorail loop preferentially and I initially thought about Poly and BLT, having stayed once at both (and their WDW history). Wife and I are planners, and anticipating a Disney vacation is half the fun.

Now VGF is both expensive to buy points and expensive to use points. We don’t intend on going every year, probably every 18-24 months for about a week. DS is already 17 years old, so a studio will be fine with us for the next decade or so (maybe longer). VGF studios aren’t really available at 7 months (though Poly studios are likely to be, which is a great backup plan), but the pricey 1BRs probably are.

Now for the question: Should I look to purchase VGF at a hundred points (waiting until the best time to buy) or pay the same $ and get 150 points at AKL?

Crunching the numbers within a three year block, 150AKL let’s me try for a 1BR with two years of points at VGF, and get an AKL Sv view in the other year (AK is my and DS’s fave park). 100VGF lets me compete for the studios at 11 months at most preferred location, but less points, less trips, less value when staying elsewhere. Though annual fees would also be lower.

Thoughts? Missing nuances? Experienced wisdom? Thank you so much!

Chuck

 

[CraigInPA]

I guarantee you that whatever you buy will be just a "starter contract". You will stay in the 1 bedroom and never want to go back to a studio, so you'll add on more points. It's called "addonitis" and it is a real thing!

 

[JETSDAD]

Buy where, at the very least, you would be alright with staying if you couldn't switch at 7 months. If your heart is going to bet set on GFV and you'll be upset not staying there then you'll want to own there. If you are ok with taking the chance of having to stay elsewhere then go with more points (or the same points elsewhere and save money). If you do step up to 1BR's then your chances of being able to swap at 7 months is much greater.

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

We own @ BCV. DW loves it there. I like it a lot as well but also like VGF. I'm staying @ AKL in Oct and suspect I'll like it there as well (we have visited the resort to check it out). We stay in 1BRs so if I was in your situation, I would buy AKL and get a 1BR @ VGF some years and stay @ AKL when I couldn't. Do you always travel in Jan.? I think you'll be disappointed if you own @ VGF and are possibly shut out of getting a studio there if you want to travel during Fall Frenzy.

 

[RhodyKP]

I wonder how many people have an opportunity to stay at different DVC resorts before they buy either direct or resale. I'm the kind of person who would prefer to examine every item in a store before I buy something, to be sure I got the "best" thing for me, so maybe I'll have to book a trip where I change DVC resorts every night like a crazy person...

 

[JETSDAD]

I wonder how many people have an opportunity to stay at different DVC resorts before they buy either direct or resale. I'm the kind of person who would prefer to examine every item in a store before I buy something, to be sure I got the "best" thing for me, so maybe I'll have to book a trip where I change DVC resorts every night like a crazy person...

We rented points for a couple of split stays to try out the resorts that we were most interested in when deciding where to buy. You can also go visit all the resorts that interest you and look at videos online of room tours to get a good idea.

 

[RoseGold]

Google the "best economical" DVC. VGF is at or near the top most of the time because of the long contract. It's against eye-popping, stunning cash prices even higher than Poly, and it's a very small resort compared to the others (2.5M points vs 7 at BLT/AKL). And it's gotten slammed harder than any resort recently. I think there's a good argument VGF are the best out there right now period.

But this doesn't make sense for studios. VGF has very few studios, it's just not trying to do that. It has about 50 compared to about 400 at Poly. if you want studios, I would go Poly.

 

[chalee94]

...and look at videos online of room tours to get a good idea.

I completely agree that youtube is a great resource for careful shoppers.

AKV is a great resort but especially in the next few years, don't count on being able to swap resorts at 7 months...so if you buy at AKV, book early and accept that you might not be able to switch...

 

[Chuck96]

Thank you for all the insight so far. We have tended to travel in September (DW birthday, weather) and January (anniversary, DSs bday on Christmas) and I expect that to continue. I prefer to go when it is less crowded (which is becoming more meaningless over the past few years admittedly) and less not. I had researched that VGF scored well economically in the long run, which is a positive. My driving interest in a potential home resort is how the entire resort and transportation experience will make my wife feel.

We rented points (for the first time) at Poly studio in January, and I quite liked it. The convenience was wonderful, and i appreciated the classic nature of the resort. She enjoyed the Poly (especially the Dole Whips), but it didn’t quite grab her. I took a walk over to VGF (alone) main building and grounds, and I was very impressed. I think she would love it. We both quite like the AKL, having visited and eaten there (at Jiko) twice. We have not stayed there yet. But, although I love AK (the park) and the lodge is wonderful and unique, the transportation options are the primary negative. But we’d just rent a car or Uber for time critical park visits.

I think the suggestion to rent points at both is a great one. As are the YouTube tours. Staying for a night or two at each to “test drive” is preferable, although that opportunity may be months away. If we decide to pull the trigger, I’d like to do it late this year or next year, hopeful that it will be a buyers market. I understand that the overall points situation will be very stressed for the next 18-24 months, as the fallout from the current shutdown (and a possible second or prolonged shutdown reminds possible) create more demand than supply. I’m not really worried about the next 2-3 years wrt starting the vacation cycle. Thinking more long term.

I appreciate the knowledge regarding total points per resort, and I am aware that 50 VGF studios vs 400 Poly. In terms of addonitis, I’ve seen dozens of threads on it. I acknowledge that as a genuine possibility down the line, but I’d like to plan on getting my first purchase right assuming it is my only purchase.

Thank you again for your insights and opinions. Very helpful.

 

[skippytx]

Spend the money on VGF if that's where you want to stay.

Room costs are only a portion of the overall expense of a Disney Trip. Between park tickets, airfare, feeding the family for a week on vacation, and other expenses it's not as much as you might think it would be.

I have never once regretting paying more to buy BLT points instead of somewhere less expensive. Not once. Also the initial purchase of DVC is a small portion of the overall costs. Dues are the big one, then comes the expenses of a WDW trip.

 

[Cyberc1978]

The deals at VGF are out there. I just purchased a 125 points loaded contract with sellers paying closing at $145 pp.

I know AKV is around $100 for the same but you need to decide if paying some more is worth it or not. Paying more come with home resort privileges at vgf paying less do not. Selling at a later time you will most likely recoup all the extra you paid imo you will end up making some money instead.

 

[Sandisw]

I have gotten VGF studios a few times at 7 months, but mostly June through August,

It is my favorite resort and I did own there but sold in 2017 to buy 500 SSR points to use during my retirement starting this year,

But, I also own RIV and soon BLT..selling BWV... RIV is for Food and Wine...and family trips, and BLT for December and family trips,

So, owning at SSR isn’t a big deal because I use those at times of the year less busy and I can choose from lots of options

I was looking at VGF too, but the BLT contract showed up first with the right UY, the right size, and with 3 years worth of points,

Having said all that, if VGF is your dream, buy there. It is very possible that in the next year or two things will be tricky at 7 months because people have extra points from canceled stays due to closure, That could mean 1 bedrooms will go faster than normal, and definitely may see more people booking 11 months out,

DVC is too expensive IMO not to buy what you want. Over the life of ownership, the extra now doesn't really amount to much.

 

[bcuinohio]

We went with BLT. We like being on the monorail. I love the Poly but the lack of 1BR and 2BR villas ruled it out. The price per point and the points needed made BLT a much more economical choice than VGF. We bought 125 points. Our plan is to be able to get a 2BR for a week every third year. As an added bonus, BLT villas have an extra bathroom.

 

[MNDisneyMommy]

I just have to say - I debated this as well. We really liked BLT, liked AKL, thought we'd want to try different places for a while...we ended up buying BLT because we knew we liked it and we would always be happy staying there.

When I went to book my very first trip with my points, it wasn't at 11 months (we were between 11 and 7 months) and while BLT was booked up, AKL was still open. But I couldn't use my BLT points at AKL until 7 months. It really hit home that your points ONLY have any value at your home resort between 11 and 7. The system doesn't care that your VGF points are way more "valuable" than some SSR points... you can't trade "down". (Quotes because for some people, they prefer SSR and that's all good with me).

So... the home resort thing is real. Keep in mind your vacations won't always exactly match your points, and you'll maybe be thinking gee if I went to SSR I could get a bigger room (or something...) and you can ONLY do that if you have points there between 11 and 7. The waiting and watching your target resort get booked by others while you wait for that 7 month window to open can be quite a downer.

So I bought where I wanted to stay, and was happy. And I was really glad we didn't buy generic points, we just don't have enough to make that work. We go for one big fantastic trip, and I want it to be just the way I want.

 

[Lorana]

When I went to book my very first trip with my points, it wasn't at 11 months (we were between 11 and 7 months) and while BLT was booked up, AKL was still open. But I couldn't use my BLT points at AKL until 7 months.

I had a similar experience, but this time at wanting to book Poly for the arrival night of our December trip (because I want to experience the studios as we are considering buying there... but generally we prefer 1BRs) and to switch our BRV 2-BR to a CCV Cabin. We were able in the end to get what we wanted, but it was a "hit home" reminder of what you see between 11-7 months is not what you'll see at 8am at the 7month mark. ;-)

That said, we love BRV and AKL, and if we're "stuck" there, we will be quite happy. But we DO like to experience other resorts, and I wouldn't mind a small contract BWV or BCV because I like being able to walk right into Epcot.

We want to stay at BLT, too, to see how much we like it. From videos and pictures, the theming does not seem to be at all our style (see above that we own at BRV/AKL for what our favorite style is), but boy do I like its location and ability to walk into MK. My job had me traveling out to Irvine, CA a lot the past two years, and so I would often go to Disneyland for a night or two here or there, and the Grand Californian and Disneyland have really, really spoiled me about how wonderful it is to walk right into a park.

Anyway, this is my long way of saying - buy where you want to stay! You don't ever want your Disney trip to start with the feelings of "I got stuck at a resort I really don't like that much because nothing was available at the 7 month mark." If you're going to spend the money to be a DVC owner, it's much better to have that feeling of, "Oh, well, we wanted to try X resort, but it wasn't available, but at least I get to stay in my favorite resort!"

 

[Deb & Bill]

Early Jan at a non-home resort will be hard because of the holidays and the marathon. Plan to book your home resort for early Jan. If that has to be VGF, you need to own there. I've booked VGF in early May in a one bedroom at seven months out twice with my old, cheap OKW points.

 

[My3kids1989]

I wonder how many people have an opportunity to stay at different DVC resorts before they buy either direct or resale. I'm the kind of person who would prefer to examine every item in a store before I buy something, to be sure I got the "best" thing for me, so maybe I'll have to book a trip where I change DVC resorts every night like a crazy person...

I have unintentionally done this over the course of 12 years. I used to walk by the DVC sales people and just look at the books and think I would never be able to afford such luxury. All the while spending thousands to stay 4-5 days at an Epcot area resort, 750$ for one night at AKL as a surprise from my SO and many other resort hopping adventures. I spent one year going every other month and I’m 20 hours away or a 2.5 hour flight. I’ve stayed everywhere except SSR, HHI and VBR. I really don’t think it takes a night at every resort to determine this. I think you could spend a few days going to the different resorts, hanging out by the pool, having a snack, a drink whatever and get a decent vibe of them. If one has already been to DW, know your must do park or thing to do, taken all the forms of transportation, generally knows what kind of vacationer they are, IMO there will be a resort or an area that you just know you love. Mine is Epcot area, followed by AKL, Disney Springs and MK is the last place I want to be (other than the sushi place at Poly haha). I feel now that I wasted a lot of money not even understanding DVC and I wish I would have done it years ago.

 

[DVCsloth]

We usually book at VGF during September after Labor day and have never had an issue getting a studio at 11 months. We also like to visit the first or second weed of December. I need to book exactly at 8:00 a.m. 11 months out to get a Standard View studio. Sometimes we stay in a 1 bedroom and they are usually available for a few months into the owners window. Most of the time you can still get a 1 bedroom at 7 months.
We love everything about this resort and have never had a second thought about buying there.

 

[CaliAdventurer]

We have stayed at all the WDW resorts save RIV. I had he same thought about AKV but it turned out to be our least favorite due to it’s remote location and dark rooms. It’s just so far from a spa, golf, other resorts for dining. I would def buy VGF if that’s where your heart is. To stretch points you can always book cheaper resorts at 7 mos but at least it will be because you choose to.