Buying sight unseen?

[jpeka65844]

Hey all! DH and I are close to making a decision about DVC. We've never taken a tour or stayed at any of the DVC properties. Should we be worried about buying into a property "unseen"? Can you ever change your home resort???


Denice T.
Olathe, KS

 

[bobbiwoz]

We bought without ever having taken a tour, or stayed in one. However, we knew the areas, we liked WL, and BW, so those are the 2 we bought into.

If you can book 11 - 8 months out, and think you may want to stay at your home more than others, I would definitely look, or see on line, read these forums to decide which resort is best for me.

Once you buy the points at a resort that is your home, and you cannot change it without selling those points. You can stay at any DVC if you can book in the 7 month before the ressie period. At 7 months, points are points, and any resort points can be used for your stay. These are the current rules, and I think they have been the rules ever since DVC's expanded from the original, OKW.

Bobbi

 

[paults]

other then seeing the outside on BWV one day in 2001 (,never went in) then discovering these DISBOARDS and learned about DVC when we got home we investigated DVC and bought BWV (inside sight unseen) in 2002 resale and added-on in 2003 Disney. loved the area and closeness to 2 parks

you can have more than 1 home resort but if you don't like one you can't just switch home resort. you can sell the one you don't like and buy the one you do or just buy into another resort and have 2 homes like a lot of people do.

we stayed at all but HHI and VB and loved them all but our home is at BWV it

 

[Disneyfrek]

We bought sight unseen back in 1994 before there were any other choices of resorts. I'd still do it again. You will never go wrong with DVC.

 

[Granny]

Hey all! DH and I are close to making a decision about DVC. We've never taken a tour or stayed at any of the DVC properties. Should we be worried about buying into a property "unseen"? Can you ever change your home resort???

As others have stated, you cannot change your home resort other than by selling your ownership and then buying new points at the resort you want.

If you think this is a potential issue, I'd strongly urge you to make a visit not only to SSR but all the on-site DVC resorts to see if one of them really grabs you. If the theming and amenities of all of them seem pretty much equal to you, then go ahead and buy SSR through Disney if you want the extra 12 years.

You might also want to rent points to actually stay in a DVC villa to give you a feel for it.

It's a big purchase. We did buy sight unseen at VWL since we knew we loved the WL resort already. But I'm not sure it's the best approach for everyone.

Good luck!

 

[lisaviolet]

Yes, bought sight unseen. SSR (and waiting on BW....after sight seen and loved!!). No regrets ...have had great stays.

 

[sean-1966]

When we bought SSR was a pile of mud. Have faith in Disney. All they promised us was that it would be up to Disney's standards.

 

[jetstream]

took the tour at SSR in January. bought bw. had not stayed or toured bw, but did stay at the swan in october. the bw area seemed less like a hotel and more like a vacation destination. more to do when you get home from the parks/dinner. first time visiting will be this oct.

 

[jetstream]

Took the tour at SSR in January. Bought BW. Had not stayed or toured BW, but did stay at the Swan last October. The bw area seemed less like a hotel and more like a vacation destination. More to do when you get home from the parks/dinner. First time visiting BW will be this Oct.

 

[crisi]

We purchased sight unseen as well. We'd been to WDW and stayed at the WL. I'd have probably taken the tour, but a very brief discussion at the DVC booth and flipping through some photos I discovered they weren't selling the WL (which I love), they were selling BCVs. We drove by the new pile of mud from the road.

We got home, did a little research, called DVC to say "we are interested in your current pile of mud" but they were so busy that in the meantime, research led me here and to the resale market. VWL (our interest) was still too high priced since they'd just finished selling it. Our first offer was at OKW - which appealled to me (sight unseen) because of the low points and large rooms. That fell through, but a BWV contract was available that met our needs. Having never done more than drive by the "pile of mud" - having never been to the BW area - and with only photos from allearsnet to guide us, we bought.

Been happy enough. It hasn't exceeded expectations, but its met them, more or less (we do love the Epcot resort area - that has exceeded expectations - I didn't expect how wonderful staying close to Epcot would be for us.)

 

[abk96]

We bought sight unseen too. We saw the outside of the building when passing by on the bus; but that's it.

After we purchased we went and visited SSR and saw the showrooms. They exceeded our expectations. The rooms are beautiful and so are the resort grounds.

 

[rigsby25]

We toured SSR, and bought right then and there, but came home and cancelled the sale due to some employment problems. By the time we were finally ready to buy, we had learned about resales. We bought OKW sight unseen because of the lower maintenance fees (at the time) and because you needed less points to reserve. We found out about the huge 1 BR villas on our first stay. We love OKW, so its a good thing. Before we do any adding on or purchasing any other contracts, we intend to stay in each resort. We have been to OKW, and to SSR. We will be going to VWL in October, and BCV in January. We will probably need to stay at SSR again. That resort just keeps improving all the time.

 

[ceejay13]

We bought sight unseen in 2000 and have added on 4 times. Our only regret was we didn't do it sooner. We've loved every minute.

 

[LisaS]

We bought sight unseen, too, though we had seen BWV from the outside when we stayed at YC. We were only interested in purchasing an Epcot resort so that made things easier. We spent a lot of time looking at the room tours on www.disneyvacationclub.com, www.tagrel.com and the photos on www.allearsnet.com and those got us very excited about purchasing and, over time, staying at all of the DVC resorts.

If you decide to purchase, choose your home resort carefully. Changing home resorts means selling one resort to buy another and unless you do it yourself you will be paying a 10% commission to a broker when you sell.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Laurajean1014]

Which resort did you buy sight unseen?

We did this in 95 with OKW. We were so scared while planning our first trip (I was 6 mos. pregnant). When we got there, we both went "ahhhhh," and knew we made the right decision.

I don't think you will be disappointed.

 

[flexsmom]

Bought sight-unseen at BCV via resale in 2003. First visit was in Dec 2004 and we are thrilled. Since then we've also stayed at OKW and pool-hopped to BWV to check it out. We'd be happy being "stuck" staying at any of the resorts so not having seen the inside of any of the properties turned out to be OK for us.

 

[Ooba]

We just purchased - not only sight unseen - but we have never been to WDW!! (we have been to DL numerous times). I know, I know, we are insane. Our first trip is next month!! We can't wait!

 

[BeccaG]

I too purchased sight unseen. Meaning I have not seen SSR, only saw what use to be the Disney Institute on the site. I must admit, I did however take a tour of the BWV (I think) on my honeymoon three years ago and when I purchased at DL this July, I did see a trailer they had set up to look like the rooms. Of course, that does not give you the "feel" of the resort. As several folks have mentioned before there are a ton of pics and info about the various resorts on this and other websites but you have to do what's comfortable for you. My husband and I were OK with this you may not be!! Good luck and let us know what you decide!

 

[lisareniff]

We just purchased - not only sight unseen - but we have never been to WDW!! (we have been to DL numerous times). I know, I know, we are insane. Our first trip is next month!! We can't wait!

I'll join you in the asylum! Look at my sig.. We bought sight unseen as will but hadn't even gone to WDW as adults(and that's more then 20 years ago!!). Bought BCV over the phone before our first trip and after reading the DISboards for a few weeks. So far we have been happy with our purchase. In the process of adding on at VB.

 

[LisaAP]

We bought sight unseen just this month at SSR. We have been to lots of other WDW resorts and had done lots of online research and talked to others who own. The way we looked at, we have not ever been disappointed by Disney, so SSR must be wonderful! We had previously made plans for a vacation with my family in early September, so although we will not be staying at SSR on points, we are going to go check it out and get the tour.