Considering DVC Ownership - How do you feel about renting first?

[JimMIA]

Let me tell you the people at the desk at the BCV are useless.

Just a quick clarification -- when you say BCV desk, are you talking about the desk in the BCV villas building itself? Or are you talking about the main registration desk in the hotel lobby, as opposed to the concierge desk?

 

[Hollymom1229]

We rented at at WLV in 2004 from a fellow DisBoard member and realized on that trip we had to own. So we bought in to SSR, and last year added on to AKV. Best investment of our vacation dollars we could have made.

 

[jdvm]

Whether you pay cash, use some else's points or rent them, I think it's really essential to experience DVC before you buy. And, make sure you get at least a one bedroom unit because a studio just doesn't allow you to appreciate everything DVC can be. That's what we did in 1992 and have loved it ever since.

Good luck.

John

 

[jjj623]

We rented before we purchased, and I'd definately recommend it for a couple of reasons. I agree with the "buy where you want to stay" philosophy, but it took us several trips the various DVC resorts to figure out exactly where we felt most at home. (We bought and sold a couple of contracts before we settled on BWV.) I love the level of service at all the resorts, but there is definately a unique feel and features to each resort. Only you will be able to decide what matches your interests best. Reading posts here helps but doesn't replace actual visits. The price for renting points on the rent/trade board is actually quite cheap, so you're not really losing much by delaying your decision and renting first...

Enjoy,

Jeff

 

[AllieV]

If you are going to rent a villa, you should also stay in a regular hotel room there, too. When you buy into a vacation, you are forever giving up staying at the disney's regular hotel rooms. So that's kind of what you should compare. Which would you rather do, you know?

We love the boardwalk so didn't bother checking out anything else. We stayed in a hotel room, a villa studio, and a villa 1-br. It took 3 trips, but it was worth knowing what we really like better.

 

[mickey&minniealways]

Icale I am really sorry you had a bad experience. We are renting at OKW this spring. We have done this before and are considering becoming a member. We love it there. The CM's there couldn't be more accomodating. If we called and said we needed more towels or something was missing from the inventory we never waited more than 25 minutes. They were great in helping us arrange for an ECV for my FIL. Maybe it has to do with the relaxed atmosphere but everyone there always seems so happy. When we checked in last time one of the first things they asked was if we had any reservations anywhere that needed to be checked on. While I took care of seeing to our 2 bedroom DH was talking to concerge about resies.