Buying DVC at Saratoga, why not?

[dizfan]

One thing I would like to point out is that it's impossible to judge a resort's 7 month booking success rate at resorts that are not sold out. I've read reports that even BCV was easy to get into until the resort was sold out.

When Disney is actively selling a resort (AKV, SSR/THV, BLT, GCV), they declare rooms (meaning DVC members can book them and points for these rooms can be sold by Disney). This means there are more rooms available for booking than there are points owned at the resort.

For example, BLT has only sold 75% of all the points in declared rooms. wdrl has been tracking that Disney has been declaring more rooms at BLT when the sold points reaches approximately 75%. Once they declare more rooms, it falls below 75%. Using the 75% of points, that leaves 25% of the rooms for people who don't own there. Additionally, many people purchase while on vacation and won't be returning for awhile (typically 6-12 months).

The true test for how a reservations will be at 7 months is 1-2 years after it's sold out. By then, resort owners have had enough time to fall into a booking cycle.

Another note, when a brand new resort opens, many people want to try it, so it makes existing properties easier to book. For example, this year people have been booking THV, Kidani, and BLT. Is it a coincidence that people have reported more success this year getting into BCV and BWV during F&W?

Right now is probably the easiest it will be to book at 7 months (3 resorts selling, all 3 resorts opened new this year so people want to try them, and a very slow economy).

OP, good luck with your decision. Many of us have gone through similar decisions. No matter which way you decide, you have years of WDW magic to look forward to.

 

[Jason@dvcstore]

Hello! I am a long time Disney fan and a long time lurker on the Dis Boards! Our last trip a couple weeks ago, I looked at the DVC Kindani Village and was in love Now we are thinking about buying into DVC, and resale really seems the way to go. My problem is, I cannot justify buying at Animal Kingdom when Saratoga can be $20 less a point. I know that you can book at your home resort 11 months out and anywhere else 7 months out, this shouldn't be a problem since we are DINKS and are pretty free to travel whenever we want, usually in off seasons. So my question is, is there any reason to buy at Kindani, which we plan on staying more often, instead of Saratoga? Thanks!

erica

If you plan on making reservations typically less than 7 months in advance in my opinion Saratoga Springs is the way to go. You can purchase for a price of around $67 to $73 per point and pay the 2nd lowest annual dues of $4.34 per point.

If you plan on making reservations more than 7 months in advance then I would suggest Animal Kingdom as sounds like that is where you want to stay. When you make a reservation more than 7 months in advance you can only stay at one place and that is your home resort.

Best of luck with your decision.

Jason

 

[Dean]

You don't want to pay $20 more per point and i would agree with that, but would you pay $5? Looking at the spread between actual sales AKV gets about an average of $84/point resale, and SSR about $70. Since AKV is your first choice I would look for a resale contract with a year's worth of banked points with it. Buy it. Rent the extra points out for $10-12 point and you'll end up paying only $2-5 more per point for the resort you want

MF's will cost you a bit more, because you are paying the vet bills and feeding the animals, but right now the spread is only about 50 cents/pt.

That scenario still doesn't reduce the cost difference because you could look for a loaded contract either way and you're as or more likely to find a loaded contract with SSR than AKV. Even both resale, you're still close to $18-20 a point difference right now. The points accounting between contracts may adjust the relative value but it's not due to home resort.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Another worst case scenario item is any DVC resort can pull out of the system, although unlikely, it is possible none the less. Those who own at that resort that pulled out would be limited to just that resort and no longer eligible for trade to other resorts.

Again, this is a highly unlikely scenario, but think if DVC pulled out SSR because the resale rates were too low and it was dragging down other resale rates, those members would be stuck there, they couldn't trade out.

 

[Dean]

Another worst case scenario item is any DVC resort can pull out of the system, although unlikely, it is possible none the less. Those who own at that resort that pulled out would be limited to just that resort and no longer eligible for trade to other resorts.

Again, this is a highly unlikely scenario, but think if DVC pulled out SSR because the resale rates were too low and it was dragging down other resale rates, those members would be stuck there, they couldn't trade out.

Technically true but a very small risk IMO though a little higher at VB and HH than on property.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Technically true but a very small risk IMO though a little higher at VB and HH than on property.

Possibly, but lets be honest there have been rumors as of late of another company taking up all or some of the DVC properties. Again, unlikely this will happen, but I don't think its something that should be completely discounted considering it seems Disney doesn't have as many issues letting other developers build on their land.

 

[littlestar]

Possibly, but lets be honest there have been rumors as of late of another company taking up all or some of the DVC properties. Again, unlikely this will happen, but I don't think its something that should be completely discounted considering it seems Disney doesn't have as many issues letting other developers build on their land.

One of many reasons why I'd be way more afraid of buying Vero or Hilton Head than SSR. I happen to really like SSR so that helped me make my decision on buying some resale points there.

Of course, if we're talking Christmas or Easter reservations and I had my heart set on a particular resort, I'd want my points deeded at my favorite resort.

 

[disneyvacalover]

Recently I stayed at SSR. It was my last choice of resorts but I was renting points at the last minutes and that all I could get. After being there for about 5 minutes my husband and I fell in love with it. We've stayed at OKW and AKV before so we had some comparison. We loved it so much we actually are trying to purchase a resale there. Just waiting on ROFR. Prices are low and years are many and mfs are second lowest. Its a GREAT value!

 

[rentayenta]

If you can take advantage of the 11 month window then buy where your heart is.

 

[El&Asmom]

I did not buy where I wanted to stay when I bought my SSR points, as I dislike the total lack of themeing at SSR. I bought SSR with the intention of staying everywhere else, and paying low dues and 12 more years at SSR. We have young school age kids and they get pulled out of school for our trips in the off season, so the travel situation is similar to yours in flexibility.
You are on the Disboards so it's likely you are pretty savvy and wont expect to get BLT two months out. If you call at 9am on the 7 month window you will likely be happy with the result, we were only unable to get 2 days out of the 25+ in three yrs we tried for. The booked nights were b/c of the marathon and a DVC cruise arrival which can load DVCs. AKV is quite huge so unless you demand concierge it will be unnecessary.
I have had no regrets NOT buying where I wanted to stay because the extra few grand I saved plus the lower dues allow me to buy more points and afford more disney trips.
If you are a planner like we are you will do just fine, just don't jump at the Vero points even though they are cheap because the dues make that contract much more pricey.
BOB

We have pretty much the same story. I like SSR well enough that I don't mind staying there. Dh dislikes it, but he doesn't complain much and would stay there if we "had" to. That being said, in 8 DVC trips, we have only stayed at SSR once, and that was by choice. We could have stayed at BWV the entire trip but we wanted to try out SSR. We have made ressies at each DVC except BLT, and even that was available for our upcoming April trip which we chose BWV instead. (Even got a BWV after booking a prefered view with the waitlist coming through in just a week).
I also think that b/c your "first" choice is Kidani, you will probably be successful almost all of the time at 7m. If you wanted BCV during F&W, or VWL during December it would be a different story.
Good luck. We love our DVC and I'm sure you will too.

 

[cayman01]

That scenario still doesn't reduce the cost difference because you could look for a loaded contract either way and you're as or more likely to find a loaded contract with SSR than AKV. Even both resale, you're still close to $18-20 a point difference right now. The points accounting between contracts may adjust the relative value but it's not due to home resort.

Very true, but the point was they want to stay at AKV so that's why I was trying to make the price difference more palatable. A SSR contract with banked points is a greater deal, but not if you want to stay somewhere else at 11 months.......

 

[Dean]

Possibly, but lets be honest there have been rumors as of late of another company taking up all or some of the DVC properties. Again, unlikely this will happen, but I don't think its something that should be completely discounted considering it seems Disney doesn't have as many issues letting other developers build on their land.

Rumors certainly. I don't think it makes that much difference if someone else buys the entire management contract. And in that scenario HH and VB are also at more risk for that to happen or to be separated than are on property resorts. I've always been one to assume the worst and hope for the best, esp where timeshares are concerned. That cynicism has been downplayed her on DIS over the years and it's somewhat funny to me to see those that said things couldn't happen now overreacting to minor changes. And lets face it EVERY single issue over the past 2-3 years have been minor unto themselves, I'll leave it up to others to decide for themselves if those minor issues in aggregate are a sign of larger problems. But I'll say again, there have been NO truly major issues with DVC in the last 2-3 years, at least after the OKW extension fiasco and even that is only major as to how it was done (in violation of authorities included in the POS) rather than the item itself.

Very true, but the point was they want to stay at AKV so that's why I was trying to make the price difference more palatable. A SSR contract with banked points is a greater deal, but not if you want to stay somewhere else at 11 months.......

Certainly though it's still an almost $20 pp difference all resale and closer to $30 pp resale SSR to retail AKV which seemed to be the choice in question. However, the idea that one can still save a few $ buying resale even for AKV is a good one.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Rumors certainly. I don't think it makes that much difference if someone else buys the entire management contract. And in that scenario HH and VB are also at more risk for that to happen or to be separated than are on property resorts.

But what if they but just a part of the contract, like stand alone resorts? It would be easier to operate and manage then the ones at shared resorts like AKV, BCV, etc.

As for big changes, I think the reallocation counts as a big change, legal yes, but so is disolving DVC, so is eliminating most of the window advantage, etc, but it still is a major change. Do I think in some ways the reallocation was needed, absolutely, but it still is a major change none the less.

 

[Dean]

But what if they but just a part of the contract, like stand alone resorts? It would be easier to operate and manage then the ones at shared resorts like AKV, BCV, etc.

As for big changes, I think the reallocation counts as a big change, legal yes, but so is disolving DVC, so is eliminating most of the window advantage, etc, but it still is a major change. Do I think in some ways the reallocation was needed, absolutely, but it still is a major change none the less.

I don't see a separation of the on property resorts even if something were to happen because DVC would need to consider their costs and efforts as well but there are no guarantees. To equate a re-allocation with a sale of the DVC management contract is a big stretch. The reallocation was a minor change overall, one that should have been expected and one that will likely occur again in a few years. That's not to say it didn't have larger affects on a subset of members, I'm sure it did. However, the affect on a given member is not overly important to the system nor should it be as long as the appropriate rules and laws are followed otherwise.

 

[silmarg]

Recently I stayed at SSR. It was my last choice of resorts but I was renting points at the last minutes and that all I could get. After being there for about 5 minutes my husband and I fell in love with it. We've stayed at OKW and AKV before so we had some comparison. We loved it so much we actually are trying to purchase a resale there. Just waiting on ROFR. Prices are low and years are many and mfs are second lowest. Its a GREAT value!

My sentiments exactly. We got the free upgrade from POP to SSR.

Now we are waiting for ROFR for a SSR resale.

I look forward to staying at all the DVC resorts over time, but I wont mind one bit if I am back at SSR - its pristine and has an excellent pool... top 3 or 4 in all of WDW.

 

[MinnieVanMom]

My sentiments exactly. We got the dree upgrade from POP to SSR.

Now we are waiting for ROFR for a SSR resale.

I look forward to staying at all the DVC resorts over time, but I wont mind one bit if I am back at SSR - its pristine and has an excellent pool... top 3 or 4 in all of WDW.

I am sure Disney does profile and does the free upgrade based upon the profile information. We were upgraded from Pop to a 1 br villa at OKW. Guess where we bought? OKW. I was told to buy where I wanted to stay and it was all we knew but we love the relaxed and laid back feeling of OKW.

Our new favorite is BCV and we got a studio during F&W at the 7 month window. It wasn't even a problem! In hindsight, I wish we had gone for bang for buck and taken our chances at 7 months. We haven't had a problem yet.

 

[silmarg]

I am sure Disney does profile and does the free upgrade based upon the profile information. We were upgraded from Pop to a 1 br villa at OKW. Guess where we bought? OKW. I was told to buy where I wanted to stay and it was all we knew but we love the relaxed and laid back feeling of OKW.

Our new favorite is BCV and we got a studio during F&W at the 7 month window. It wasn't even a problem! In hindsight, I wish we had gone for bang for buck and taken our chances at 7 months. We haven't had a problem yet.

I must confess re: the free SSR upgrade, I was part of a grand gathering (three parties). I had been to WDW many many times (and was considering DVC even before the upgrade), but it was one of the other two parties that got the upgrade email (and they had been to disney maybe one or twice before). It was only after I called the grand gathering phone number that they applied the upgrade to all 3 ressies.

 

[SevenSeasLagoon5]

That said, I was never a fan of SSR until I stayed there on DP's (would have never stayed there otherwise). Once I stayed there, I was HOOKED!! It is AMAZING!! If I had the extra money, I'd buy an SSR resale in a heartbeat!! Even if it were the same or more of a cost than AKV. But that's just me. You need to analyze your situation and see if saving the extra money now will be worth the possible headaches in the future.

I agree with this 100%. We also stayed at SSR using DP's. We didn't think we'd like it as much as we did. We loved it!

Have you visited SSR? You might also like it there. Having stayed at AKV, I know it isn't too difficult to get a room there presently. If you're willing to take the chance that you might not ALWAYS get AKV and would be happy to stay at SSR, go for it!

 

[ppony]

Recently I stayed at SSR. It was my last choice of resorts but I was renting points at the last minutes and that all I could get. After being there for about 5 minutes my husband and I fell in love with it. We've stayed at OKW and AKV before so we had some comparison. We loved it so much we actually are trying to purchase a resale there. Just waiting on ROFR. Prices are low and years are many and mfs are second lowest. Its a GREAT value!

Can I ask why you fell in love w/ it? We're going to see it in a few weeks along w/ the AKV and BLT models. We KNOW we love AKL. No doubt there. I personally am a horse NUT (I paint them for a living) so any horsie stuff on SSR is just going to make me smile, but I know zippo about it other than where it is. I'd REALLY like to hear what people think that had formerly thought "Meh", and then said "YAY!" The only thing I KNOW I like about the other 2 that SSR doesn't have (?) is indoor corridors. I just love them. I guess I feel like I'm at a motel if I open my door and I'm outside immediately. BUT SSR may not do that to me. I don't know.

TIA for any info!

 

[silmarg]

Can I ask why you fell in love w/ it? We're going to see it in a few weeks along w/ the AKV and BLT models. We KNOW we love AKL. No doubt there. I perosnally am a horse NUT (I paint them for a living) so any horsie stuff on SSR is just going to make me smile, but I know zippo about it other than where it is. I'd REALLY like to hear what people think that had formerly thought "Meh", and then said "YAY!" The ony think I KNOW I like about the other 2 that SSR doesn't have (?) is indoor corridors. I just love them. I guess I feel like I'm at a motel if I open my door and I'm outside immediately. BUT SSR may not do that to me. I don't know.

TIA for any info!

Pool at the Springs is excellent. Zero entry and a slide. Grandstand "quiet pool" has a nice water play area for kids - much much better than the average quiet pool.

Has an on site counter service (artist palette). Flatbreads are their specialty - and are quite good.

The condition of the rooms / grounds are really fantastic.

Boat to DTD was fun

While I did not use the spa or golf... both are right there for you.

I have not stayed at OKW or AKV, but I thought SSR was very nice. Nice enough that I will buy as my home resort. Get the extra years and the low MFs.

Try it... u might actually like it!