Considering BLT Resale Purchase

[VGCgroupie]

It's nice you can both tour it together in July! It's a completely different experience than BLT. If you're going for a "deal" BLT can't be beat on the monorail for price and access to MK. If you're going for a theme/style and amenities that's where VGF wins for me. Walkability to Poly also helps.

And you can walk to MK too!

 

[PolyRob]

And you can walk to MK too!

YES, that's the cherry on top!

 

[Bearval]

Ok, this board has been so helpful to me with my initial DVC purchase of 300 direct Riviera points (https://www.disboards.com/threads/considering-a-poly-riviera-200-150-direct-purchase.3966386/). Of course, I've already got add-on-itis, and I haven't even officially closed on that Riviera purchase . Would love to get some thoughts from fellow DVC members to either tell me to slow down or, maybe, consider going for it.

I am very happy with my 300 points at Riviera. We love Riviera and, TBH, if that's all I ever purchase, I'll probably be happy. But, I do think it is a matter of time before I purchase a resale contract at one of the monorail Magic Kingdom resorts. I think our ideal week at Disney is going to be 3 nights at one of those resorts and 4 nights at Riviera - would probably love enough points for 2 weeks per year in 1 BR villas, but we're probably ok with some deluxe studio stays too for now. As I detailed in my prior thread, we toured Poly Island Tower and seriously considered purchasing there, but had never actually stayed there - the more research I did, the more I hesitated about Poly. It seemed like everything we liked about Riviera - the relaxed, laid back vibe - was not going to be found at the Poly, at least not in the same way. I think the tower itself is great, but once you step out of there, the Poly is (understandably) just a busier place. I think the points chart and some of the complaints I've seen about the views from even TP view rooms makes me hesitate even more about Poly being the right choice.

Of course, that has got me thinking a lot about the other 2 DVC monorail resorts - VGF and BLT. Aside from passing them on the monorail, I have never visited either of them. So, welcome thoughts from others. VGF seems like it might be slightly less busy resort than Poly, but still pretty busy - seems to me it isn't a stretch to refer to the GF as the flagship DW resort which draws quite a few visitors, especially at the right time of year. I also don't know that I love the Victorian/Mary Poppins theming. We've got 2 little boys - 4 and 6. On some level, as long as there are good pools and waterslides, they probably don't care where we stay. But, I don't see the theming there really doing anything for them either. I've also heard a few things about the Big Pine Key conversion not being the best and some people not really loving that there either. And, VGF seems to have a similar points chart to Poly. So, if I look at just VGF vs. Poly, I'm sort of like, I better stay at both of these places and see which one we like better before buying anything. Both places have enough to make me hesitate about whether they would be the right purchase.

Then, that leads me to BLT. The more I have learned about it, the more it seems like it might be the sweet spot for us. Refurb is coming to completion - seems like a lot of positivity on that. I've heard the 1 BR villas have 2 bathrooms (love that). Points chart is much better that VGF or PIT. I actually think my boys would like the contemporary/modern theming more than VGF (might be a toss-up with the tropical theming of the Poly). I understand the pool at BLT is just for BLT tower guests, but BLT tower guests can also use the Contemporary pool - I think I've got that right. Does that keep the crowding at the BLT pool a little less? I'm guessing it isn't any worse than VGF or Poly. Also seems to me like BLT is not as in demand as PIT or VGF - seems like it might be a bit less stressful trying to book at competitive times or during the 7-11 month window. And, maybe I'm wrong, but seems like the Contemporary Resort as a whole is not quite the draw that GF or Poly are for outside visitors. I'm sure it is still busier than Riviera just by virtue of being a monorail MK resort.

Ideally, I'd like to stay at BLT first. But, then I see those resale contracts available with the same October UY (which, although I think it seems like a great UY, seems like the availability of those are little less than some of the other UYs). And, I keep getting tempted. The sunk costs with buying resale are so much less than direct. I think about having those points for next year, and it starts to get really tempting. But, then that rational side of me says, you really should wait. Get into this a bit more, try out the MK resorts - there will be other October UY contracts available in the future. Take your time.

We're actually going back to Disney in July - renting points for more of a budget stay. Looked for BLT availability, but couldn't find anything that would work (doing a split stay at AKL and Riviera). Will probably do our first official booking on our 300 Riviera points in February 2026. Of course, my first thought was, let's do a split stay with BLT and Riviera! But, then I see the pool will be closed for refurbishment for the first half of 2026. So, then I'm sort of like, maybe try to use that welcome home booking to give PIT or VGF a try with a split stay. But, I really want to try BLT. And, I see a couple of those resale contracts, and I'm like, maybe I should buy one and then we can use it for next summer when the pool refurb is done! Surely, we'll love it, right?

Would love the hear thoughts on the good/bad/ugly of BLT, particularly as compared to Poly or GF. And, welcome any thoughts telling me to go for it or to slow down (or whatever else you might like to say ).

Will also note I've given a passing thought to Wilderness Lodge - I know it gets you easy boat access to MK. But, haven't really looked into that option much. Just been focused on those monorail resorts. I imagine there are some folks who say to look there as another MK option too.

We bought resale (160 points) at BLT ~ 2 to 3 years ago to use as sleep around points due to the price we paid at the time $122 and the expiration date. We have stayed here once so far and loved it due to being able to walk to MK and take the monorail to Epcot. We have always booked here at the 11 month window then try to get a room at BCV at 7 months.

 

[MsChristy12]

I think part of the problem is, everytime I see the Pacific Northwest theming, it just seems sort of out of place for me - I grew up in Montana and love the mountains, but that's not really what I picture when I go to Florida. Still, might not know exactly how I would feel about it until I see it, and just because I feel that way doesn't meet the wife and kids will (and ultimately, this is, to a large degree, for them). All more reasons to slow myself down and see these resorts myself.

You know what's funny, we are from the PNW! But that's not the reason why we chose BRV and we aren't even the outdoorsy type people! It was never our intention to choose a resort that reminds us of home, but it does feel like "home" in a different way. I know this is VERY cliché, but the way DVC advertise itself, that famous "welcome home", is pretty much what we felt the last couple times we visited WL before buying a contract there. We hung out by Geyser Point for a bit and realized, we like it there a lot. We could have bought AKV and I would be very happy too. However, the husband didn't put the savannah that high on his list, so it was either BRV or CCV. Not gonna lie, if the refurb at BRV didn't happen, we would have bought CCV instead!

At BLT, I don't get that same homey feeling that I get at WL, it's just different. BLT's vibes to me is more like magical because you're a stone's throw from MK. I did my first stay last year in a lakeview (now preferred view) studio, but still had the view of MK to the left of the balcony. My friends and I were able to watch the fireworks from the balcony and at that moment, I finally understood why some people cherished BLT even though the theming isn't as amazing, the lobby isn't as grand, or the pool isn't as cool, because BLT offers something else entirely different. That's kinda a bonus for me, because like I mentioned we bought BLT solely based on location. I didn't realize it's magical place for me until I've stayed there. I'm not trying to sell you BLT, but still, I'll just leave this here...

 

[airjay75]

You know what's funny, we are from the PNW! But that's not the reason why we chose BRV and we aren't even the outdoorsy type people! It was never our intention to choose a resort that reminds us of home, but it does feel like "home" in a different way. I know this is VERY cliché, but the way DVC advertise itself, that famous "welcome home", is pretty much what we felt the last couple times we visited WL before buying a contract there. We hung out by Geyser Point for a bit and realized, we like it there a lot. We could have bought AKV and I would be very happy too. However, the husband didn't put the savannah that high on his list, so it was either BRV or CCV. Not gonna lie, if the refurb at BRV didn't happen, we would have bought CCV instead!

At BLT, I don't get that same homey feeling that I get at WL, it's just different. BLT's vibes to me is more like magical because you're a stone's throw from MK. I did my first stay last year in a lakeview (now preferred view) studio, but still had the view of MK to the left of the balcony. My friends and I were able to watch the fireworks from the balcony and at that moment, I finally understood why some people cherished BLT even though the theming isn't as amazing, the lobby isn't as grand, or the pool isn't as cool, because BLT offers something else entirely different. That's kinda a bonus for me, because like I mentioned we bought BLT solely based on location. I didn't realize it's magical place for me until I've stay there. I'm not trying to sell you BLT, but still, I'll just leave this here...

View attachment 969263

. I can totally relate to everything you are saying about WL - had those exact same feelings about Riviera. So, now you're making me think I will really love BLT as a supplement to our home-away-from-home contracts at Riviera! Ok, need to keep saying to myself, slow down, no hurry, no rush, try before you buy - we'll see if I can hold out. Haha.

 

[CraigInPA]

I totally get it. It's very hard to resist good deals. I can say if I had caved and bought a very good deal BLT before our trip it wouldn't have been the worst thing. It wouldn't have been an SSR/OKW purchase

I have a knack for jumping on good deals, and am willing to wait for one. Last February, I jumped on a $112 per point BLT 125 point contract fully loaded. While I see the asking prices are up since then, consumer confidence is low right now. Low consumer confidence leads to people hoarding cash, and dropping "unnecessary" expenses like time shares. So, I wouldn't feel too bad making "low ball" offers on contracts that are the right use year and points. So what if you get rejected? There's always another contract out there.

 

[MsChristy12]

. I can totally relate to everything you are saying about WL - had those exact same feelings about Riviera. So, now you're making me think I will really love BLT as a supplement to our home-away-from-home contracts at Riviera! Ok, need to keep saying to myself, slow down, no hurry, no rush, try before you buy - we'll see if I can hold out. Haha.

And that's exactly what Disney wants! They have something for everyone so that we all keep wanting to go back and stay at those specific resorts. It makes us feel a certain way that other places can't replicate. It's strange because normally, I don't buy all these marketing stuff, but clearly DVC knows what they are doing! After we became members, I feel like we are drinking that DVC koolaid and start telling friends/family how great it is!
But I still agree that you should do a stay at BLT first, to see how you feel. BLT seems to have decent amount of contracts available all the time, unless you are looking for a specific UY and amount of points, and not flexible.

 

[airjay75]

Well, just wanted to give a quick update. Decided to throw in an offer last night on one of the listings that I was interested in. I went in low - I don't think it was insultingly or unrealistically low, but definitely low. Got an outright "decline" from the seller. Probably a good thing for me, but I will say, I feel like I've "unlocked" a new level in the DVC game - hunting for resale contracts and trying to find that incredible deal!

I will say the fact that I haven't stayed at BLT might be a small edge in this. I don't have any sort of emotional attachment to the resort the way I might if I stay there and decide I really do want a contract there. I feel like it is going to make it easier for me to be very focused on the economics of any potential purchase, whereas I could see if I was absolutely certain I wanted a particular contract at BLT, it comes along, I may well be willing to come up with another $1k or $2k to make a deal happen. So, buy a contract, decide you hate BLT and want to sell it? Lose a few thousand. Go stay there, absolutely love it, find that contract you have to have? Might pay a few extra thousand. Hmmm. There I go talking myself into doing this.

Thanks again to everyone who has offered thoughts. You all have been so incredibly helpful. I'll probably cool things off for now, but I'll try to update this thread should either I get myself to BLT to experience a stay or end up striking some sort of deal on a resale contract.

 

[VGCgroupie]

So funny when I saw this alert in my alerts I was like I bet the next time they post to will be "I put in an offer on BLT" I was right!

Not everyone is this way but for me buying resale is the thrill of the hunt. I love scoring deals.

 

[Girlstar30]

Well, just wanted to give a quick update. Decided to throw in an offer last night on one of the listings that I was interested in. I went in low - I don't think it was insultingly or unrealistically low, but definitely low. Got an outright "decline" from the seller. Probably a good thing for me, but I will say, I feel like I've "unlocked" a new level in the DVC game - hunting for resale contracts and trying to find that incredible deal!

I will say the fact that I haven't stayed at BLT might be a small edge in this. I don't have any sort of emotional attachment to the resort the way I might if I stay there and decide I really do want a contract there. I feel like it is going to make it easier for me to be very focused on the economics of any potential purchase, whereas I could see if I was absolutely certain I wanted a particular contract at BLT, it comes along, I may well be willing to come up with another $1k or $2k to make a deal happen. So, buy a contract, decide you hate BLT and want to sell it? Lose a few thousand. Go stay there, absolutely love it, find that contract you have to have? Might pay a few extra thousand. Hmmm. There I go talking myself into doing this.

Thanks again to everyone who has offered thoughts. You all have been so incredibly helpful. I'll probably cool things off for now, but I'll try to update this thread should either I get myself to BLT to experience a stay or end up striking some sort of deal on a resale contract.

Is there any way possible you can stay there first? It truly does make a difference. After staying at four different resorts, completely sure i would go for the one i thought i would like the most, we both didnt feel that way and bought elsewhere.

There have been times where I wanted nothing more than to call my guide and purchase, but im really holding strong to stay at the resorts we are considering for the big purchase.

I dont know how many contracts you intend to buy, but if this is the only one I think its really important to purchase confidently that this is the one. I've heard many people on here say they've purchased one thing, only to go to Riviera and wish they bought there instead.

 

[airjay75]

Is there any way possible you can stay there first? It truly does make a difference. After staying at four different resorts, completely sure i would go for the one i thought i would like the most, we both didnt feel that way and bought elsewhere.

There have been times where I wanted nothing more than to call my guide and purchase, but im really holding strong to stay at the resorts we are considering for the big purchase.

I dont know how many contracts you intend to buy, but if this is the only one I think its really important to purchase confidently that this is the one. I've heard many people on here say they've purchased one thing, only to go to Riviera and wish they bought there instead.

Your post is prompting me to share some more thoughts that have been going through my head. Maybe it will help me to type them out.

So, yes, it is absolutely possible to stay there first. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have tried to book at least one night for our coming 1-week July trip. But, I've already rented points for our trip and can't cancel those reservations without losing 50% of the points credit at this point. (And our July trip is intended to be a bit more of a budget stay - doing all nights in deluxe studios for a total cost of under $3k, which is about what we had been planning to spend on a local vacation rental prior to going down the DVC path.) I have toyed with the idea of adding an extra day to one end of the trip - looks like I could manage to get a 1 night stay on the back end of our trip in a 1 BR resort view renting points for about $800. But, then I also have to change our airfare, extend our rental car reservation, etc., and that is going to have a cost to it - probably at least another $1,000 to do that give or take. I'm not keen on spending $1,500-$2,000 just to stay one night - sort of feel like that is $$ I can put towards an actual contract.

Our next Disney trip we've been thinking about is to use our 300 direct Riviera points to book in February 2026, and do our "welcome home" stay. I would stay at BLT for part of our stay but for one big thing - the BLT pool is going to be under refurbishment from Jan to early May of 2026. Ugh. If that weren't the case, that is absolutely what I'd be thinking about. I suppose I could do a 1-night stay during that trip and give it a whirl even though the pool won't be up and running, but don't love that idea. Sort of feels like wasted points and we wouldn't get the full BLT experience.

We're also planning to buy annual passes to activate during our July stay that we'd be able to also use for our February stay. My mind then starts going to, well, if I actually got a BLT contract, we could use it to go back to Disney before our annual passes expire (probably late June after the pool refurb is finished) and get even more bang for our buck out of the APs.

I think another thing that is becoming apparent to me during this process is that, one, we really love 1 BR villas over studios and, two, our 300 points, unless we want to stay in deluxe studios or do a lot of SSR/OKW stays, are not going to get us more than a 1-week stay per year. And I think we're going to want more, or at least the ability to do more if we want to. I suppose I could go pick up some cheap OKW or SSR points - I guess people call these sleep around points or SAP, right? But, I sort of feel like if I could get a good deal on a BLT contract, maybe it serves both purposes - I'm getting more points for more stays, and it's at a MK monorail resort that I think I'm really going to like. Given that, it sort of feels like every dollar I spend at a resort that is not towards a contract sort of feels like wasted money. TBH, if I buy a BLT contract, I highly doubt it will be our last.

So, I think these are all things that make me entertain the idea of jumping on the right contract at the right price point even though we haven't stayed. But, maybe I need to bite the bullet on a stay during July or try to get creative and/or re-evaluate our plans for the next year and a half or so. I'm sure there are other options I can think about or maybe other options that will become more apparent if I don't rush into this.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Unless yo

Your post is prompting me to share some more thoughts that have been going through my head. Maybe it will help me to type them out.

So, yes, it is absolutely possible to stay there first. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have tried to book at least one night for our coming 1-week July trip. But, I've already rented points for our trip and can't cancel those reservations without losing 50% of the points credit at this point. (And our July trip is intended to be a bit more of a budget stay - doing all nights in deluxe studios for a total cost of under $3k, which is about what we had been planning to spend on a local vacation rental prior to going down the DVC path.) I have toyed with the idea of adding an extra day to one end of the trip - looks like I could manage to get a 1 night stay on the back end of our trip in a 1 BR resort view renting points for about $800. But, then I also have to change our airfare, extend our rental car reservation, etc., and that is going to have a cost to it - probably at least another $1,000 to do that give or take. I'm not keen on spending $1,500-$2,000 just to stay one night - sort of feel like that is $$ I can put towards an actual contract.

Our next Disney trip we've been thinking about is to use our 300 direct Riviera points to book in February 2026, and do our "welcome home" stay. I would stay at BLT for part of our stay but for one big thing - the BLT pool is going to be under refurbishment from Jan to early May of 2026. Ugh. If that weren't the case, that is absolutely what I'd be thinking about. I suppose I could do a 1-night stay during that trip and give it a whirl even though the pool won't be up and running, but don't love that idea. Sort of feels like wasted points and we wouldn't get the full BLT experience.

We're also planning to buy annual passes to activate during our July stay that we'd be able to also use for our February stay. My mind then starts going to, well, if I actually got a BLT contract, we could use it to go back to Disney before our annual passes expire (probably late June after the pool refurb is finished) and get even more bang for our buck out of the APs.

I think another thing that is becoming apparent to me during this process is that, one, we really love 1 BR villas over studios and, two, our 300 points, unless we want to stay in deluxe studios or do a lot of SSR/OKW stays, are not going to get us more than a 1-week stay per year. And I think we're going to want more, or at least the ability to do more if we want to. I suppose I could go pick up some cheap OKW or SSR points - I guess people call these sleep around points or SAP, right? But, I sort of feel like if I could get a good deal on a BLT contract, maybe it serves both purposes - I'm getting more points for more stays, and it's at a MK monorail resort that I think I'm really going to like. Given that, it sort of feels like every dollar I spend at a resort that is not towards a contract sort of feels like wasted money. TBH, if I buy a BLT contract, I highly doubt it will be our last.

So, I think these are all things that make me entertain the idea of jumping on the right contract at the right price point even though we haven't stayed. But, maybe I need to bite the bullet on a stay during July or try to get creative and/or re-evaluate our plans for the next year and a half or so. I'm sure there are other options I can think about or maybe other options that will become more apparent if I don't rush into this.

Unless you have stayed at SSR and know you love it 100% BLT is the better buy simply for future resale value. With that said there are other resorts where you can get a much cheaper 1 bed than BLT not just SSR or OKW.

 

[atthebeachclub]

there are other resorts where you can get a much cheaper 1 bed than BLT not just SSR or OKW

True, BUT how many offer 3 separate sleeping surfaces? That’s the sticking point for our family with 1 bedrooms.