Can someone please help me understand this (about picking which DVC property)

[RapunzelIsMyFav]

Please excuse my ignorance as I bet the answer will be obvious but I don't understands (besides price) how/why it matters or which property when buying dvc points initially. For example, right now there is a promo for AKL or Aulani and I noticed points for Contemporary are more expensive..... so anyhow is it that you buy one and you have to stay there the first time because I thought you could use your dvc points you bought for wherever was available. If that was the case everyone would just sign up with the cheapest one. So can someone please explain. I hope my question makes sense.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Minniesgal]

You have priority at your home resort as you can book it 4 months earlier than you can book anything else. If you want to book a resort at 7 months or later you are competing with all owners and availability of rooms where you want to stay can be a real issue.

 

[dbs1228]

Please excuse my ignorance as I bet the answer will be obvious but I don't understands (besides price) how/why it matters or which property when buying dvc points initially. For example, right now there is a promo for AKL or Aulani and I noticed points for Contemporary are more expensive..... so anyhow is it that you buy one and you have to stay there the first time because I thought you could use your dvc points you bought for wherever was available. If that was the case everyone would just sign up with the cheapest one. So can someone please explain. I hope my question makes sense.

Thanks in advance!!

Depends when you want to travel and how important it is for you to be at a certain resort or area. We bought BLT (contemporary) area because we wanted to stay walking distance from Magic Kingdom so we can book our home resort at 11 months before our intended stay. We traveled in Feb. presidents week which is a busier time along with New Years and if we did not own there we would not get a room there most of the time. We also own at SSR and bought for the Tree Houses - my daughters do not care for the THV even though we love them so I do not think we will stay there very often so we will use our SSR points for other travel times when we can get something else at 7 months or less. We love the SSR property so we would not be disappointed staying there but when staying 8 - 10 nights we like the location of BLT. Currently we are trying to add on at Board Walk because we would like to own at a property near Epcot and DHS so we can book at 11 months out.

 

[BestDadEver]

Ther are different maintenance fees associated with each to take into consideration . Like BLT had the lowest MF and higher price pp .

Yeah but really the only thing is being able to book at 11 months instead of 7 . If you have to be at specific location you would want to buy that resort . Me personally it didn't matter to me where I stay cause IMO all the resorts a quite nice and I am not picky .

 

[crisi]

Advice around here is usually 'buy where you won't be disappointed to end up' - you can book any resort at seven months out SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY, but those words are the stickler. Sometimes there isn't availability where you'd like to stay. Especially certain room types at certain times of year.

 

[cseca]

If you're not picky, then you can buy wherever the price is cheaper (buy in and MF).
But if you are picky at where you want to stay, then buy where you want to stay since you have 11mo booking window vs. 7mo when the resort is not your home resort.
Another thing to remember, if you normally plan within 7mo of travel then Home Resort advantage would be of little use to you.

Just remember that staying at a different resort other than your Home Resort is considered a perk.
So at anytime if Disney chooses they can take that perk away (not that there's any indication that they ever will... but still can) OR limit that perk some other way.

Also, the 11/7 booking window can be modified if they decide to do so.

Good luck picking!

 

[JimMIA]

Home resort matters for several reasons, some of which may not mean anything to your family, so the answer is very personal. The areas where home resort makes a difference are:

• Initial purchase price, both direct or resale
• Maintenance fees (which DVC calls "annual dues" because they want you to think you are joining a "club," not buying a timeshare!)
• Booking window -- 11 months at your home resort, 7 months everywhere else.
• Location and theming of the resort.

A couple of comments on the above:

• If you don't know already, you should know that you can save 20%-60% purchasing resale, rather than buying directly from Disney. There are some restrictions on the use of resale points, but few knowledgeable people think they are worth worrying about.
• IF you keep DVC a long time, your dues will amount to much more than your initial purchase price, so dues are important.
• The booking window matters ONLY if BOTH of the following are true: 1) you typically can and will book vacations more than seven months in advance. (for some reservations, you will need to book as soon as your 11-month window opens.), AND 2) your family REALLY wants to stay at a particular resort (If you don't care, the booking window doesn't matter.)
• On location and theming, obviously not everyone likes the same things. For some, location and theming are EVERYTHING; for my family, we honestly don't care.

I also think Crisi's advice NOT to buy somewhere where you'd be disappointed to stay is very sound.

 

[DVC Mike]

Take a look at this thread from 2009, which still applies to today:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2152512

 

[Nabas]

Regarding MF, it's a little bit more complicated than just looking at the dollar amount.

Consider the following simple example for the month of September for a week in a Standard View Studio, multiplying the number of points needed by the Maintenance Fee for that resort.

BLT: 102 points X $4.4972/point = $458.71

BWV: 76 points X $5.8409/point = $443.91

Recently, BLT's MF have increased significantly faster than BWV so BLT might continue to be more expensive. Because it's difficult to predict which way MF will go at the various resorts, I still think it's a good idea to buy at the property you think you'd most like to stay at.

The extra 4-month booking advantage can be critical to booking the room you want, especially during popular times of year such as holidays or, for BCV and BWV, during Epcot's Food & Wine Festival.

 

[RapunzelIsMyFav]

Thank you SO much for your thorough replies guys. I learned a ton and you totally resolved things 100%. Thanks again!!

 

[RapunzelIsMyFav]

Thanks for the great tip about the resale option. Do you happen to have any recommendations on good credible ones to use by chance?

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

The three most highly regarded are

The Timeshare Store (TSS) sponsors of this board.
DVCbyResale.com

and another one that I can't ever remember the name but you can find it if you type in Grandma Jaki. Somebody help me out with a name.

When I was researching resorts...I spent a lot of time on www.allearsnet.com looking at rooms and grounds and such. There is a sticky resort pictures thread on the DVC Miscellaneous board. There are other websites out there as well. It will help you figure out which resort you absolutely love! It certainly doesn't hurt to stay at a couple of different resorts...or at least to WDW for a reconnaissance trip. There are also pros and cons to each resort. Determine what is important to you? Great views? Great pool? Reasonable points charts? Reasonable point prices? Expiration date?, etc.

There are a couple of different strategies that you can take: buy where you love to stay, buy where you wouldn't mind staying, buy with the cheapest buy-in, buy with the cheapest maintenance fees, buy where you need to get the hard to get reservation -- like an Epcot area resort during Food & Wine.

For us, we love the feel of the boardwalk, the boardwalk views, the standard points, and the access to Epcot. For my sister, its all about the pool. IF they ever buy...it will be at Beach Club.

Have a happy time looking! You won't regret it.

 

[pixie08]

Yes also consider if the amount of years on the contract is important. We love the BW it s one of our favorites but when it came to buying we didn't make tat decision because it was already over 10 years old. So we have AKV and now VGF that doesn't matter then you can get a great deal at the EPCOT resorts and it is so hard to book Beach sometimes.

 

[cseca]

Thanks for the great tip about the resale option. Do you happen to have any recommendations on good credible ones to use by chance?

I personally used Shontell Crawford.
She is awesome. Would totally work with her again if she has a contract that matches our search.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

I personally used Shontell Crawford.
She is awesome. Would totally work with her again if she has a contract that matches our search.

We did too. She is with dvcbyresale.com

No problems.