Buying cheap versus buying where you want to stay

[Cheetara03]

I'm new so forgive me if this was asked before. What is everyone's opinion on buying where you want to stay (for us thats BCV/BWV resale) versus buying direct at RIV (longer expiration date/no restrictions) versus buying cheap (SSP/AKV)? We typically vacation end of April/beginning of May or September. Is it hard to get a 1-bedroom Epcot reservation (BCV/BWV) all year round?

 

[stwaldman]

there's a thread on this, i'm not sure if there is a "newer" version:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...-bd-charts-september-2019-2-bd-added.3689931/

but the common answer on these threads is buy where you want to stay, especially for epcot resorts (your booking windows seem to match either flower and garden or the beginning of fall festivals, depending on disney's schedule).

 

[Bjaiken77]

My approach has been to do a little bit of both. I bought 225 resale SSR points for network points. So far, I’ve had great luck booking at places we want to stay. I think this can be a great option if you are flexible and enjoy split stays.

However, I also own 100 points at Poly because we love the resort and want to make sure we stay there. Also, there is a sense of pride in owning where you love. Future point purchases will likely follow this logic of purchasing where I want to be, but I like having those SSR points for general use (and the resort itself looks nice - not a bad worst case scenario).

 

[stwaldman]

My approach has been to do a little bit of both. I bought 225 resale SSR points for network points. So far, I’ve had great luck booking at places we want to stay. I think this can be a great option if you are flexible and enjoy split stays.

However, I also own 100 points at Poly because we love the resort and want to make sure we stay there. Also, there is a sense of pride in owning where you love. Future point purchases will likely follow this logic of purchasing where I want to be, but I like having those SSR points for general use (and the resort itself looks nice - not a bad worst case scenario).

agree w. this point, we have AKV which we've currently only used to sleep around, but added a 2nd contract elsewhere for 11 month window needs

 

[Sandisw]

First thing to answer is how disappointed will you be if you can not get it?

Will your home resort stay be okay for you? If not, then I say buy at a place that will be okay if that is where you have to stay

I own SSR but I also one RIV and BLT for times where I know I want it and then use SSR to add to my trips or use them for upgrades if need be.

I have had success using them at 7 months, but because I own two resorts I love, it’s okay especially since I do split stays.

 

[Marionnette]

I'm new so forgive me if this was asked before. What is everyone's opinion on buying where you want to stay (for us thats BCV/BWV resale) versus buying direct at RIV (longer expiration date/no restrictions) versus buying cheap (SSP/AKV)? We typically vacation end of April/beginning of May or September. Is it hard to get a 1-bedroom Epcot reservation (BCV/BWV) all year round?

I think that more and more people who buy BWV and BCV are making those purchases in order to use their points at their home resort. The net result is fewer and fewer rooms available at those resorts at 7 months because those owners are less likely to "trade out". The same could be said to a lesser degree for VGF and VGC owners who paid a premium for their points and are reluctant to use their expensive points at a different resort.

RIV direct? Well only you can answer whether its a good choice for yourself. Although if I were considering RIV for myself, I would purchase a guaranteed week.

As for cheap SSR/AKV, well a lot of people go that route but you really have to be happy staying at either of them in the event that you can't get a reservation elsewhere at 7 months. You might want to check the best economical DVC resorts article on dvcresalemarket.com . The top 3 are Poly, SSR and CCV for spring 2021 based on average resale price and annual dues.

https://www.dvcresalemarket.com/blog/best-economical-dvc-resorts-to-purchase-spring-2021/

 

[TTA Rider Matt]

It depends on how disappointed you’ll be if you wind up at SSR or OKW instead of BWV or BCV. What you have going in your favor is that 1BR’s are generally easier to book at the 7 month mark than studios or 2BR’s, but if you are going during F&W or F&G, for example, those can be difficult to book too.

 

[BillPA]

BUY WHERE YOU DON"T MIND STAYING!
If you save money on a location you just can't stand, did you really save anything?

 

[Bjaiken77]

It’s a great feeling to book VGF, BCV, BLT, or Poly (for example) with cheap SSR points bought resale. The price has gone up a bit on SSR, so the savings aren’t as much, but they are still substantial.

It’s also great to book at 2042 resorts with SSR (like BWV) because you get to enjoy a great resort but don’t own at at place that is expiring as soon. Even though I don’t believe I’d buy BCV, we loved staying in a 1B for 3 nights on SSR resale points. That always feels like a win. Just food for thought….

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

BUY WHERE YOU DON"T MIND STAYING!
If you save money on a location you just can't stand, did you really save anything?

Sometimes buying the cheapest alternative turns out to be an expensive mistake!

 

[sndral]

I’m in the buy where you want to stay camp. Some people like the thrill of chasing down great finds at more ‘expensive’ resorts w/ their ‘bargain’ points - I don’t, but if you enjoy the quest and are ok if you are stuck at your home resort then it makes sense to go for the most cost effective strategy. That said, buying Riviera to stay elsewhere doesn’t pencil out in my mind because the carrying costs - maintenance fees - are so high https://dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-p...020-disney-vacation-club-annual-dues-revealed. Of course, if you intend to keep your contract long term, your favorites BC/BWV are both expiring in 21 years and Riviera not for 49 years, thus your buy in cost should factor in that those BC/BWV points only have 43% of Riv‘s longevity. But, if you don’t see yourself still going to WDW in 21 years or 49 years for Riviera, or if you intend to hold say 10 years then sell, I’d think ending date was less of a factor. Although selling BC/BWV w/ only 11 years use left is bound to depress resale prices, Riv resale prices IMO are as hard to predict because the limitation of only staying in one resort is so new.
Another factor to consider is that if you go w/ Riviera direct for blue card & because it’d be ok to stay at if you can’t get an Epcot adjacent resort because @ least you can Skyliner into Epcot, run the numbers on how many points you’d need for your stay if you are unable to switch to BC or BWVs at 7 months & are ‘stuck’ w/ Riviera. A 7 night Sat. - Sun. stay next week in a 1 br. for example: BWV 210/271(preferred); BC 268; Riv 305/387(preferred.)

 

[ldo]

The gap between ssr/akv and other resorts is not as wide as before. I’d also only buy where I didn’t mind staying at least 50% as swapping at 7 months could tighten up if RIV stays elsewhere and resale cannot swap into riv. No one knows how it’ll be in 2-5 years.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Agree with above that it really boils down to how "disappointed" you'll be if you have to stay at your home resort. Some people are more flexible where others would have a real issue staying at OKW instead of Poly.

One of our factors for wanting DVC is it will allow us to stay at resorts with better transportation options than value/offsite resorts. For that reason, we prioritize VGF/BCV/BWV/etc much higher than OKW/SSR and are willing to pay the difference.

 

[Sunnyore]

I think for your travel times and preferred resorts, you will want to buy where you love in order to stay there. I bought SSR to start thinking I don’t have a preference and would like to try all the resorts, but quickly learn I do have favorites and location is important to me. Just bought some BWV resale because there’s really nothing available during food and wine which is when I would like to stay there. I happen to love SSR too though and love split stays so it worked out for me.

 

[RoseGold]

BUY WHERE YOU DON"T MIND STAYING!
If you save money on a location you just can't stand, did you really save anything?

Meh, I have a lot of SSR, and I've never even been there. Depends on what you are booking and how flexible you are. BW/BC is not that.

 

[Brett Wyman]

You’ll get mixed answers as both parties try to defend their decisions, The bougie direct only crowd has to justify spending A LOT LOT more than the retail crowd. And the poor resale only crowd will pretend they book a VGF GV at 60 days whenever they want. The truth is in the middle

I can say for us, we are resale paupers, that with persistence and flexibility(and never trying for a studio) will almost never stay at our home resort. My wife hates AKV actually

 

[emilymad]

We bought SSR because it was the cheapest overall at the time. We don't stay there much but when we do we enjoy it. The deciding factor for us is we rarely book more than 7 months out so at the point everything is the same. We have a trip scheduled for Thanksgiving and it is the first time in 10 years of owning we have ever booked at 11 months.

We have stayed at almost every resort and they have all have positives/negatives. What we enjoy the most the is the variety and staying somewhere different on each trip. We stayed at RIV in February and loved it but it also made us realize how much we enjoy the flexibly versus staying at the same resort for the next 40 years.

So for us is buy were you don't mind staying instead of where we love as we love multiple resorts.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

We bought where we wanted to stay (BWV) and cheaper points (SSR). Both resale. I’m occasionally tempted to buy direct but have been able to resist so far.

 

[Ruttangel]

BWV is cheaper than you may think.
Resale Buy in at $120 and dues would give you $13pp and it's 180pts per week in May for 1BR so that's $2,340
Direct RIV is $180 for 200 points so about $12 for buy in and dues but its 260pts so that's $3,120
Even at $120 RIV resale it comes out about $2.8k

if you only stay where you buy you need to focus more on point charts

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I'm new so forgive me if this was asked before. What is everyone's opinion on buying where you want to stay (for us thats BCV/BWV resale) versus buying direct at RIV (longer expiration date/no restrictions) versus buying cheap (SSP/AKV)? We typically vacation end of April/beginning of May or September. Is it hard to get a 1-bedroom Epcot reservation (BCV/BWV) all year round?

You have a big plus in the buying the cheapest column because you want to book 1BR's and are looking at times that are less difficult to book DVC. As long as you're ok staying at SSR or AKV if you can't change you'll probably be fine. You'll likely find availability for a 1BR pool/garden view at BWV for most of those times and now and then for BCV. But don't buy someplace that you will hate staying if you can't change. The last 3 to 3.5 months of the year it's tough for Epcot no matter what size the room although you can still often catch a 1BR for certain times within those months.