Can someone explain why it would matter which

[maxsmom]

location you buy into since you can stay where ever you want? We've been looking into DVC off and on for a while now, but are really trying to decide if we want to keep it on the burner or take it off and say we aren't going to do it. Thanks!

 

[twinboysmom]

You will get a lot more thorough responses than mine but you can't just stay anywhere you want. It's not quite that easy. You may book at your home resort at 11 month window and at other resorts at a 7 month window. No guarantees to get anything but you can usually get what you want at 11 months. I have had very little luck staying at other resorts. Some are very difficult to get into without that 11 month window. Buy where you are happy staying. There are always a lot of discussions on these boards that should be able to help you learn a lot more info.

 

[ToddyLu]

well you just can't stay where ever you want. You have the option of wait listing at places that you would like, it is not a given that you will get it. So at the 11 month mark DH and I make reservations at our home resort (AKV), that does definietly give us a place to stay when visiting WDW. At seven months I might could waitlist a THV...but it is very likely that will not come through becasue SSR is not our home resort and all those THV's get booked by the SSR owners at 11 months out becasue they are so limited. If location does not matter to you then purchase SSR points (resale) due to the lower cost, end of contract in 2054 and inexpensive MFs compared to other resorts. Then use those points to waitlist at 7 months and see what you get by wait listing. Some folks get lucky and get what they want, others don't. At seven months all DVC points are the same for booking, so if you can only make reservations at seven months or less then SSR would be the way to go since owning is less expensive. Then every vacation you would have luck of the draw.

Not a pleasant or reassuring option in my opinion. DVC works best for the planner that can make reservations 11 months to get the best chance at what they want at their home resort.

 

[ToddyLu]

As more people become DVC members, more people compete for rooms. So AKV concierge, VWL at Christmas, BCV during F&W are hard to get because the owners there get first dibs. If there are certain times of year or special places you want to stay you need to factor that in to your "home" resort choice.

 

[robinb]

If you will always go at quieter times then you really can own anywhere you want and you'll be able to get 95% of everything you really want at the 7-month window. AKV Concierge, BLT MK View and BWV Standard View are the exceptions.

If you currently go at busier times (school vacations, holidays, food and wine festival and the first couple weeks of December (!)) and have your heart set on staying in a particular resort that is not your home, then you may be out of luck. The key with owning DVC is to always be happy with any of the WDW resorts (especially the big ones like AKV, OKW and SSR) because your first non-home resort choice may not be available when you can finally book.

 

[maxsmom]

So they are really that hard to book? You always seem to get simple answers that make perfect since when you talk to disney. I think they leave this out as to how hard it is to book. We are both teachers (DH and I) so we can only go June, July, Aug, and Dec. We may occasionally get a long enough break at Thanksgiving, but that's it. Would we have to book at our home resort at exactly 11 mths out to get a room to go during these times? Thanks!

 

[Sandisw]

For December people book at 11months. If you want to go then you want to do the same. Summer can be easier to stay lots of places but it really depends when you go exactly and how close to 7month mark you call. We own BLT and booked late July/early august at 11 months. At 7 we traded a few nights to BCV. However when I called back at 6 1/2 months BCV was no longer avalable for those dates and neither was SV at BLT. If you are okay staying anywhere and don't care what resort is available, then buy for cost. However if you will be disappointed if,say, you can't get one of the Epcot resorts for a special trip then buy a place that would make you happy if that is all you could get. We bought because we want to be at BLT unless we choose to go elsewhere. We paid more for that peace of mind and are glad we did. It really comes down to how flexible you are in where you stay. We were not so we went for our first choice!!!

Good luck!!

 

[etpinge]

We are both teachers (DH and I) so we can only go June, July, Aug, and Dec. We may occasionally get a long enough break at Thanksgiving, but that's it. Would we have to book at our home resort at exactly 11 mths out to get a room to go during these times? Thanks!

My wife is a teacher as well, and we only have the same availability as you are stating.

With that being said, we have our home resort at AKV. We booked a Spring Break trip to OKW 1 bedroom 5 months out, no issue. We were wait-listed on a 4 night summer trip at BLT studio lake view and grabbed reservations at OKW, BLT lake, and BLT standard (just in case) 3 months out and the wait-list came through at 2 months out.

The 11 month windows is a nice fall back for the more challenging properties such as THV or a Grand Villa, but there are so many rooms at WDW and member services does a great job of being there to help you get what you want, that you should not be scared into a certain resort. Remember, you are buying into something for a long haul. You might not get what you want this trip, but there will always be another, and another, and yet another. Each resort is unique and each stay is unique. Enjoy the long term investment.

 

[Crystal_27]

It's all about home resort booking advantage. You can book at your home resort 11 months prior to the start of your vacation whereas you can only book at your non-home resort 7 months prior to the start of your vacation. Doesn't sound so bad but keep in mind that at the 7 month mark you will be competing with everyone else who wants to stay at a particular non-home resort during your dates.

 

[wdrl]

As the prior posters have written, owning at a specific resort can help increase your chances of getting the exact reservation you want at the exact time that you want it. If you want to stay at a resort other than your home resort, you run the risk of not getting exactly what you want. The degree of risk varies depending on different variables including the type of accommodation, the time of year, and the length of stay. The more flexible you can be about these variables, the more likely you you get what you want.

There is another factor you should consider when choosing a home resort. Maintenance fees vary at each resort. For example, if you own 100 points at BLT, the currently yearly MF is $3.78/point, or $378 a year. At BWV, the MF is $5.36/point, or $536 a year. That difference of $158 a year adds up over the years: In 30 years, a BWV owner of 100 points will pay $4,740 more in MFs than a BLT owner. Of course, the MFs change every year, and perhaps one day the BLT MFs will be as high as BWV; or they might even have a larger difference than today.

 

[CMOORE185]

I can only give you my personal experience and here it is. I have owned for 10 years, the first 5 or 6 at HH only, and I travel mainly spring break, early summer, and sometimes fall. I have had zero problems booking the resort I want and the room type I want at 7 months. Just to note we do call exactly at the 7 month mark. The only thing I really need the 11 month booking for is HH in the summer. I have since added on twice at SSR. My reason for SSR is I believe this to be the best deal out there, and because of my success at 7 months I can utilize all the new resorts without purchasing them at such a high price. By the way I have no problem staying at SSR.

 

[robinb]

So they are really that hard to book? You always seem to get simple answers that make perfect since when you talk to disney. I think they leave this out as to how hard it is to book. We are both teachers (DH and I) so we can only go June, July, Aug, and Dec. We may occasionally get a long enough break at Thanksgiving, but that's it. Would we have to book at our home resort at exactly 11 mths out to get a room to go during these times? Thanks!

In that case home resort may be important to you. If you owned one of the non-WDW resorts you will still be able to book somewhere right at the 7-month window but your choices are limited. The hot "views" I listed before will probably not be available to you in addition to any of the 3-bedroom Grand Villas or the Tree House Villas. Those are usually scooped up by owners at the 11-month window. FWIW, I had success at the 7-month window this year (but not last). I called at exactly 7 months before the start of my vacation and was able to book a Lake View studio at Bay Lake Tower for Christmas .

I guess if you don't care where you stay you can buy anywhere. But if you prefer the Boardwalk area I would buy at BWV or BCV. If you like AKL, I would buy a AKV. If you like the MK area I would but at BLT or VWL. If you like a more apartment/condo feel then I would buy at OKW or SSR.

Also, wdrl has a good point. I have seen some really cheap VB resales out there but if you look at your costs projected over the next 10-15 years you will see that the additional dues paid on a VB resale may make it more expensive than a SSR resale. Here is chart of DVC Dues History so you can see how much they have increased:
http://personalpages.tds.net/~rb/DIS/DVC/DVCDuesHistory.htm

 

[rock_doctor]

I'll reinforce the importance of the 11 mo window. We bought in earlier this year and made our reservation for 2010 Christmas. We made the reservations at the 10.5 mo window. That is two weeks after the other owners and were not able to get all of the time we wanted. So we have a split stay between BLT and Pop (which is fine since splitting the stay saved us enough points to stay a couple extra days at BLT in Jan). So, you do need to pick a resort you like and buy there but even then it is a competition to get the time you want if you travel during busy times.

 

[n2mm]

Like most will tell you, it's not that easy. First off, you have to be flexible. Don't go during early December or holidays, and October can be tough too. Don't expect standard rooms or MK view rooms. If that stuff is not important, then you'll be OK. I own THREE homes. My SSR was because it was the only one with incentives when I purchased and my DH was a CM and I got a great CM discount on top of the incentives. My next was BWV: I want to be there during F&W and it is particularly hard to get into BWV and BCV during October. Yes sometimes you can get BWV preferred view, but I'm a point miser and love my standard views. By being an owner I am pretty sure (though I get nervous at the 11 month windown during F&W). Plus we go for 2 weeks and that's not easy to get a room like a standard view for that stretch of time. I also own at BLT. We wanted the option of the 5 per 1 bedroom and 9 per 2-bedroom. The points there are high, so having that 11 month window makes getting a standard view doeable and makes the rental there a reasonable option.

 

[Jason@dvcstore]

I can only give you my personal experience and here it is. I have owned for 10 years, the first 5 or 6 at HH only, and I travel mainly spring break, early summer, and sometimes fall. I have had zero problems booking the resort I want and the room type I want at 7 months. Just to note we do call exactly at the 7 month mark. The only thing I really need the 11 month booking for is HH in the summer. I have since added on twice at SSR. My reason for SSR is I believe this to be the best deal out there, and because of my success at 7 months I can utilize all the new resorts without purchasing them at such a high price. By the way I have no problem staying at SSR.

Thanks for sharing. I think this is what a lot of non members like to hear.

In my opinion if you make reservations more than 7 months in advance then you need to own at the resort you like best as can only stay there during that time. If you make reservations typically less than 7 months in advance than Saratoga Springs via resale is typically the way to go.

Jason

 

[Mtnman44]

Case in point -

For most of the year, booking at seven months is plenty of time to get something. However, your choices are limited.

For example, I just completed booking some reservations at the seven month window for a trip in late January. We were trying to get the most for our points so we wanted standard views either at BLT or BWV.....nothing available. Likewise, there were no Values available at AKV.

If your wants / needs include specific room types and views, then the home booking window is very important.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

There is also a risk (albeit small) that a resort could leave the DVC system. This is probably more of a risk for the properties not at one of the parks areas (ie. VB, HH and the new on in HI). If the property ever leaves the system, your trading rights to other DVC resorts ceases to exist.

There is a lot involved for a DVC resort to leave the system, but it's definately something that shouldn't be completely ignored.

 

[maxsmom]

Hmm... this is all very interesting and informative. Thank you for sharing your experiences. My dh is ready to buy I think, or he thinks we should sometime. I'm still on the fence on if it's worth it or not. I LOVE staying at the Poly and that would pretty much be out. Thanks for all of the info!