buy where you want to stay? Why?

[IleneF]

One last question before I call and sign on the line. ...
Why is it so important to buy where you want to stay. We
most likely will not be making ressies 11 mos out. We
like to go spur of the moment. I think all the options
are great so I'm not particular where I'd have to stay.
I love beach club but I'm finding it hard to pay the 80 vs 70 points
at BWV. Although dues are less at BC. Someone willing to
talk me into BCV? Hubby thinks we should go with BCV, I'm just
not convinced it would pay off for us.

 

[MrsG]

We also were not sure of the benefit of buying where you want to stay, as our guide was pushing Vero but we knew we wouldn't ever be staying there. We chose BCV because we love Epcot, usually wind up having dinner there, and you can walk it to Epcot. At your home resort you can reserve at 11 mos. That means, if you choose another resort, anyone who owns in that resort has a 4 month jump on you.

Ex. You own at BWV and you want to stay at BCV. You can only book at the BCV at the 7 month window. However, people who own at BCV can book at the 11 month window. When you go to book BCV at 7 mos., the room or date you want may not be available. You may also run into this at your home resort if you book close to the date you will depart. DVC is really structured for people who plan. However, by reading these boards, many people also get lucky at the last minute.

When you want to visit also dictates when you may want to book. If you want a high-volume time such as Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, or other holidays and school breaks, by booking at the 11 month window you are almost assured of what you want.

Buy in the resort where you will be staying the most. You may be grateful down the road for that 11 month window.

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

Originally posted by IleneF
We like to go spur of the moment.

What do you mean by spur of the moment?
If you don't book far enough in advance, you may not be able to make a reservation for the dates and accomodations that you want.

 

[Regina]

If you're going to plan "spur of the minute", don't be surprised if you don't get your first preference of resorts.

You have to decide what's more important, staying at the resort that you want to be at, and having to plan ahead to get it, or taking what's available at the last minute.

Planning ahead isn't always practical, but it does make a difference.

 

[Disney On The Bayou]

Here are my thoughts.

If you feel you will not plan 11 months out, then location doesn't matter. However, keep in mind that on some occasions, you may find no availablility or be given a different resort than you request. (Its so horrible to be forced to stay at OKW, VWL, BWV or BCV. Yea it real tuff!) I plan trips both ways, some are with short notice and others because family members are coming along I feel better getting it booked earlier. Either way if you can live with a little uncertainty you will be OK.

 

[Mary Ellen]

Depending your defination of "spur of the moment' and when you normally plan on going to WDW, DVC may not be for you.

As an example, our favorite time is the first 2 weeks of December. I've always booked at the 11 mo. window (starting right after New Years) for BWV. For our Dec 2001 trip, I'd read on these boards that BWV was waitlist only for that time by mid Feb 2001.

There was a recent (July/August?) thread here by someone who tried to book ANY WDW DVC resort for that time and couldn't get anything for the first 2 weeks of December.

You will probably be able to get a 'Disney' resort on 'spur of the moment' (as long as it isn't in the last 30[?] days of your use year), but it isn't the most $ efficent use of your points to do all the time.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[IleneF]

Spur of the moment could be 6 mos out or 2 mos out. It's just that I look for good airfares. Still there is some consistency...we tend to go after Christmas time like the 28th - Jan 3rd and July/ August. But truly the July/ August thing has been because of really great airfares and room rates at WDW. I do have a daughter in school still but it is a private school and sometimes has different vacations. She isn't "allowed" to miss school due to vacation but I hate to travel during typical school vacations, the parks are just tooo busy for me.
It's really nice the third week in August except it's so hot. I wonder if it's hotter in July though than in August. We were there this past July and it sure seemed hotter than last August! I also love to go during November. The reason I don't book that far out is I wait for the school calendar to come out so I know when I can wiggle around some days. We usually only go for 4 or 5 days at a time.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Well theoretically if you never, ever, never will book further than 7 months out, it would not make a difference where you own (exept for the difference cost of dues).

I would still buy where you like best, as your planning patterns may change years down the road.

Good Luck...

 

[DeeP]

Maistre Gracy summed it up perfectly.
Also you can always book 11 mos in advance and if you can't get airfare just cancel the reservations. The only thing is you have to be very careful with paying attention to the dates for the deadlines to cancel and roll over pts etc.

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by IleneF
Spur of the moment could be 6 mos out or 2 mos out. It's just that I look for good airfares. Still there is some consistency...we tend to go after Christmas time like the 28th - Jan 3rd and July/ August. But truly the July/ August thing has been because of really great airfares and room rates at WDW. I do have a daughter in school still but it is a private school and sometimes has different vacations. She isn't "allowed" to miss school due to vacation but I hate to travel during typical school vacations, the parks are just tooo busy for me.
It's really nice the third week in August except it's so hot. I wonder if it's hotter in July though than in August. We were there this past July and it sure seemed hotter than last August! I also love to go during November. The reason I don't book that far out is I wait for the school calendar to come out so I know when I can wiggle around some days. We usually only go for 4 or 5 days at a time.

The week between Christmas and New Year's Day is very popular. If you wait until 2 - 6 months ahead of arrival to book that time, you will most often be disappointed. July and August is easier to book with the lead time you mention, but you will probably have to use the waitlist to get all of your days.

In your situation, I would recommend either:

* that you NOT buy DVC, as the difficulty in booking what you want 2 - 6 months ahead of time will eventually leave you unsatisfied with the purchase. You may end up spending lots of time on waitlists or forfeiting points because there isn't availability at the time you want to visit.

OR

* that you change the way you plan for vacations. We usually reserve 11 months out and THEN start looking for good airfares. I've always been lucky enough to find them - and MSP is NOT the best place in the US to find discount fares. Sometimes I book many months ahead of time and sometimes I wait until closer to the date in hopes of catching a sale. If you check airfares from your area often enough, you will soon know what is "reasonable" to pay. Then when that price shows up (and for us, it always does), you grab it!


In summary, I would also recommend that you buy the resort where you think you would like to stay the most. The 11 month booking advantage really is important! Good luck with your decision.

 

[IleneF]

Thanks everyone for your help. I've decided to go ahead and buy at BCV.
I can't wait. And if it doens't work out I'm sure I'll have no problem selling as it is such a desirable property. Thanks again.

 

[Mooobooks]

I've never had any trouble booking a room at WDW on short notice through DVC as long as I was a wee bit flexible on dates, location, and accomodation.
I'm sure some other veterans will correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that one of the reasons to buy where you want to stay is because Disney can revoke our privileges at any time to use our points at any resort OTHER than the one we own at.
True? If so, then that's a REALLY good reason to buy where you want to stay, or you could end up at Vero Beach for the next 40 years . (No offense to the Vero Beach folks--I think most of us just want to stay at a hotel near the parks.)

 

[DeeP]

Good point Mooobooks and a point that we do not often think about. I sincerely doubt this will ever happen but it is still something to think about.

 

[Dean]

I would have to question the reasonableness of buying DVC if one is looking at fairly high demand times when school is out and not able to plan in excess of 6 months out. I think most people that have bought with this plan in mind have started planning a little better once they get into it. While it's true one point is the same as another at 6 months out, it's also very true you might be shut out. There are strategies for making reservations then looking for air fares that allow you to take better advantage of the booking windows. Still if your desire is to stay at a WDW resort, buy there even if it's not your first choice. Your options are so much more than if you own off site at VB and HH. Good luck.

 

[jimmytammy]

That "spur of the moment" idea seems a little risky to me. We tried booking 10 mos. out for our home resort at VWL and couldnt get the 1st week in Dec. that we wanted so we had to alter our plans while on the phone for the 2nd week instead.

For us, we have to know that we have the ressies without the uncertainty. I usually am very upbeat about DVC, but in your case you may want to seriously consider the strong possibility of NOT getting those ressies at such short notice.

I think DVC is set up for those who make concrete plans and stick by them, so this may not work for you.

 

[kem330]

Have to agree with other posters- it's not a question of which resort you can get into but of getting in at all on short notice. The last two years we have gone end of Dec and have been shut out of certain accomodations on NYE. You can not count on availability in the size unit, consecutive days, etc at 2 months out over the holidays or in summer. Absolutely make reservations if you think you MIGHT go and either cancel them or rent them out if it doesn't work out.

 

[Cruelladeville]

I have to agree with the rest of those who responded. DVC may not be right for you if you insist on making last minute reservations. For example, if you wanted to stay at any DVC resort between now and January, you wouldn't be able to. I decided to rent some of my unused pts this year, and I had 41 emails from people who wanted to stay in ANY DVC resort between now and January, and there was nothing available. Availability at a DVC resort is nothing like it is at a Disney cash resort, there are many times--like this fall--where the cash resorts may be begging for people, and a DVC resort is turning people away. Also, I guarantee that over time your preferences will change--when I joined 4 years ago a studio every other year was plenty, I thought. Now, I am because I can't find an add-on at OKW so I can get the 11 month window to book a grand villa, which can't be reserved on short notice for an extended stay. I own 450 pts at BWV and BCV, and now I've fallen in love with OKW, too!

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by SlyHubby
Considering the way prices are being "managed" higher, I have begun to question whether it makes sense to buy at the popular resorts any longer. If you can get VB or HH for $60/point and use them at any other resort at the 7 month window I think it may be worth it. On a 200 point contract, we're talking about $4000 savings - that is significant. Maybe it is more difficult to get reservations at 7 months, but, invariably, there is always something available at at least one of the resorts at the 7 month window. If you are flexible, it may be worth considering.

Your assumption that you can get VB for $4000 less than a WDW DVC resort is an innacurate one. You can buy a resale at OKW just as cheaply or nearly so and BW and WL not that far behind. Of course you can buy a HH or VB resale a little cheaper than the WDW resorts, but maybe $2-4 per point compared to what you can get the others. Of course the listing prices are significantly more difference but one rarely pays MSRP. The other problem with VB specifically is that it's almost a full $1 per point higher on fees and I don't see that changing much over the years, at least not in a positive way. That means that on 300 points, it only take you maybe 15 years to make up the difference even at $4000 savings up front.

VB and HH are wonderful resorts and there are those out there that want to own them and use them while going to WDW resorts part of the time. For that situation, ownership off WDW DVC MAY make sense. It makes sense if you want a GV/Beach House, it makes sense if you want HH in Summer, and for those that want almost all of their stays at VB or HH. Of course you'd need to reserve these things at or near the 11 month window, contrary to the original topic in this thread. I'm sure there is a price where I'd say it was reasonable to buy off site with the goal of staying on site but I suspect that price is about $20 per point below the best resale you could find, maybe $40 per point out the door. Even for these situations, a mixed ownership (multiple resorts) would frequently be the best and cheapest option option.

I feel that anyone who's goal is to go consistently to WDW should buy there. If they want a spcific resort routinely, they should buy at that resort even if it means paying $20 per point more, in the long run it will pay off. Those that just want to stay at any WDW resort and price is the main issue, OKW is the current obvious choice. Resales are more available, prices are a little cheaper, maint fees are roughly 60¢ per point cheaper than the other WDW resorts, contracts tend to have more point availability, it costs less points to stay there and it has GV units. Strategy for buying OKW for many would be to make reservations at the 11 month window and changing to another resort, if desired, at the 7 month window. Second choice would be BW simply because of the standard view units also requiring less points. Even though BW dues are slightly higher than WLV and BCV at this time, I doubt that trend will continue long term and we will see a slightly faster rise in those resorts compared to BW.

 

[ripleysmom]

Welcome Home!!

 

[ncligs]

SlyHubby,

Very good points you made.

P.S. We did buy at VB for the 11 month window for the Beach Cottages and add a few days after OKW visits.