Buy DVC at any resort??? help

[Skyw]

I am thinking about buying DVC and needed some expert help!! We normally don't plan trips more then 6 months out. And we tend to vacation in FL during the off months. Does it matter what resort we buy at? Isn't the cost of points and the maintenance fee's the most important?

 

[mprewitt]

If you can't take advantage of the 11-mo home resort booking advantage, then I would buy resale at the least expensive resort (taking into consideration not just the initial upfront cost of the points but the long-term cost of the maintenance fees).

 

[Figment2]

What do you consider an "off" month? If your signature line means you vacation in Oct., Nov or Dec. that is a VERY busy time for DVC.

If you only plan 6 mos out, it doesn't matter where you stay but be advised there may be limited availability.

Cyn

 

[disneynutz]

I am thinking about buying DVC and needed some expert help!! We normally don't plan trips more then 6 months out. And we tend to vacation in FL during the off months. Does it matter what resort we buy at? Isn't the cost of points and the maintenance fee's the most important?

At WDW there is no off month. Do you really think that your patterns and plans won't change for the next 30-50 years? Buy where you want to stay. Don't know where you want to stay? You need to rent at the resorts that you may be interested in. By renting you can save some money and enjoy the DVC experience while you decide.

 

[CrzyforPiglet]

We love our SSR DVC and would certainly encourage anyone to buy into DVC but if you don't normally plan your vacations until 6 months out I would just keep in mind that you'd be making plans behind the 11 month window at your home resort and the 7 month window when any DVCr can make ressies at your resort. We've been pretty lucky to have gotten into 3 other resorts other than our home one but are still considering an add on at another resort to get home booking advantages. I would just hate to see you spend all the money to buy into DVC and then find when you are ready to make a ressie that you get waitlisted. Just something to think about.

Laurie

 

[Skyw]

Thanks for the input. So let me get this straight. If I book only 6-7 months out, I may not get what I want. Is it possible, nothing at all? Maybe our lifestyle wont work for this. In all honesty, I have only planned one vacation in my life a year out and the was our cruise. Mainly because of the cost.

My son is young so WL is a great option. But I would love to go to SSR once he gets older and can walk further etc etc.

 

[AKV707]

It is possible that inside the 7 month window, you may not be able to get anything if your dates are not flexible. You may be right, DVC may not be for you. But if you go to WDW every year or 2 it is a great program. You might be able to just adjust to more advance planning. DW and I have done that and just booked our trip for next July at AKV and had no trouble. Now we have 11 happy months to look forward to a great DVC vacation!

 

[mikesmom]

Thanks for the input. So let me get this straight. If I book only 6-7 months out, I may not get what I want. Is it possible, nothing at all? Maybe our lifestyle wont work for this. In all honesty, I have only planned one vacation in my life a year out and the was our cruise. Mainly because of the cost.

My son is young so WL is a great option. But I would love to go to SSR once he gets older and can walk further etc etc.

Yes, if you book at six months you may not get what you want. If you travel during October, November or December, you may not get anything without a waitlist. DVC may not work for your current lifestyle. I would hazard a guess, though, that once your son is older you will have to plan farther out - school schedules will require it.

 

[ScottakaMickey]

We are in similar shoes where we rarely do any long term planning. We generally know that we will be at Disney many times throughout the year, but its always different. We held off buying DVC for many years thinking we couldn't take advantage of it and the costs would be too high. We finally took the plunge and bought a minimum contract to give it a try. Since buying I've made 5 reservations at 5 different DVC resorts over the next 7 months. I didn't always get the resort I wanted, but I did get a reservation. Now, my dates are outside of the most popular times in this case, so if you are going to hope for Xmas, or T-Giving, Easter, etc. with little notice it will be harder. Not impossible, but harder.

As others have said, you really need to think about how often you do come to Disney and if the times of the year are more of an off time, you'll have great success with DVC.

Good Luck with your decision.

 

[mel&me]

If you do decide to buy, I would think buy at where you want to stay Life style may change. I never book more than 2 or 3 months out, But am flexable on my travel dates. I have always been able to get a room.
Last year I got a 1 bedroom at BWV only 7 weeks out. Don't know if I have just been lucky but I go every year in Sept or Oct. Only once ever booked at the 10 month mark outside of that always short notice and always got a room.

 

[mel&me]

I should add, although I have my favorite resorts, I will stay at any and be happy.
Also one time I did have to resort hop stayed at SSR for first 3 nights and OKW for last 5 nights.
I did not mind and actually liked the fact that I did 2 resorts on 1 trip.
Would not want to it every time but it was different.

 

[Skyw]

We like to go to Disney when it isn't crowded. So that would mean the cheaper seasons I would imagine. But once my DS gets older, he will be in school.

How does this sound. Minimum amount at first and then buy more later, when he gets in school.

This is a hard decision to make.

 

[benjaminb13]

What strategy would you suggest for a person that plans to vacation every other year to Disney- to go to AKV or WL- How many points would be sufficient for a 5 days to a week- and would a direct buy at the resort or preference be best?

 

[AKV707]

The minimum buy in from DVC is 160 points. If you go every other year, with banking points, you would have 320 points for that vacation. AT AKV, you could get a two bedroom standard view for one week and still have ponts to spare during magic season.

 

[Mtnman44]

If all you care about is staying at any DVC WDW resort, I'd guess you'd have no trouble 95% of the time.

If you want specific resorts / rooms or travel during very high demand times (aka Christmas thru New Years, Easter, other holidays, epcot resorts during F&W, etc), you may have some trouble finding any availability the further into the 7 month window you wait.

 

[Mtnman44]

Keep in mind that low crowd times at the parks are often the high demand times at DVC, likely due to the draw of both the low park crowds and the low point requirements.

We like to go to Disney when it isn't crowded. So that would mean the cheaper seasons I would imagine. But once my DS gets older, he will be in school.

How does this sound. Minimum amount at first and then buy more later, when he gets in school.

This is a hard decision to make.