Considering Joining - SSR vs. VWL

[MikeDeeNY]

Elijahpep - thanks very much for the warm welcome! I'm glad to hear that SSR is everything we hope it will be. We like the idea of being disconnected from the parks, but close enough to get to them easily. The proximity to Downtown is a plus too. Thanks again!

 

[MikeDeeNY]

Crisi - thanks for the good feedback. Good point about walking around Disney in our 70's. Maybe we can give it to a niece/nephew by then. Thanks!

 

[MikeDeeNY]

Twister - thanks for clearing that up. We may want to use VWL for an occasional 3-4 off season trip for the two of us, so 75 points might work. Thanks!

 

[gammieatwdw]

I bought SSR. The 12 extra years were too much to pass up. You also have the flexibility with DVC to book the other resorts at 7 months. Don't forget about the concierge collection and world paasport options.

 

[Slakk]

I own at SSR and it is my first love. We love being by DTD and how relaxing it is and of course THE SPA. This year we decided to add on at VWL and BCV (50 pts each) since DH has his heart set on December at VWL and I would love a few days at BCV to hit SAB in the summer.

This way we can alternate years on a second trip (we always come down in January). We are in our late 30s as well and sure plan to use up those extra 12 years!!!

 

[MikeDeeNY]

Slakk - thanks for the feeback Slakk. Glad to hear you enjoy SSR! Thanks!

 

[MikeDeeNY]

gammieatwdw - thanks very much for the input. I agree - the extra 12 years are a big selling point!

 

[iankh]

I faced exactly the same decision just about 1 year ago.

I was really torn. The 12 extra years were attractive, but realistically, I'll probably be dead by that time, so not much of a benefit.

We always LOVED WL and stayed there over and over again. I received a lot of advice at the time on these boards to "buy where you want to stay." Good advice was also to consider that VWL is the smallest resort, at 137 units.

Not that I thought I would always be able to plan 11 months out, I at least wanted the option to be able to, and get my preferred resort. I decided to buy a VWL resale, and then did a couple of add-ons directly via DVC (my guide at the time really pushed SSR, I did not know that if I had pressed it, I could have bought VWL direct. I did however, save a bit of money at the time).

So, what has the impact been? Well, we who never thought that we would plan 11 months out, already have 8 nights booked in a 1 bdrm for December the week before Christmas. I know it would have been tough to get, had we been booking 7 months out. We're also planning our 2007 bigger family vacation, and again, we know that we will be able to book 11 months out.

I love waking up and sitting on the balcony, sipping my coffee and looking at the trees, or going down and sitting on the front porch in the early morning quiet. We never get tired of renting bikes and biking through the woods, or renting a boat and going out on the water or over to seven seas lagoon. Everytime we visit, a must do one night is to go down to the water and watch the electrical parade. I never tire of walking into the lobby of the main building and seeing the ceiling suddenly soar up, and hearing that music!

I have never had any regrets about buying VWL. We stayed there and we loved it even more that staying in the main building. The choice has always felt right for us.

 

[wingkng]

Wingkng - forgive me for all the questions...so you have two home resorts SSR and VWL? And you can book 11 months in advance at either? And you can use all of your 225 points at one shot? That might be the way to go for us!

Yes, I own both SSR and VWL. As others have already mentioned, I can book SSR with my 150 points at the 11 month mark, and I can book VWL with my 75 points at the 11 month mark. However, at the 11th month mark, I cannot mix the two pool of points.

However, at the 7th month mark, the two pools of points can be combined for reservation at any DVC resort.

I can also pool the 225 points for the purpose of non-DVC stays, or for Disney Cruise Line, the Adventurer Collection, etc.

I believe that having more points at SSR will allow me to take advantage of the Grand Villas someday. Meanwhile, my primary goal for VWL is to stay there for Christmas season every few years or so, so only having 75 points is OK, since I can bank and borrow to allow me to use 3 times the amount of points for the stay.

Hope that this helps. I know this doesn't work for everyone, and there are countless comments on the less-than-optimal use of points for non-DVC vacations. You alone decide on what is right for you.

 

[Forever a Princess]

I'd say that it all depends on what you want--VWL and SSR are both beautiful but very different resorts.

VWL is a boat trip away to the Magic Kingdom.
Although close SSR is a hop skip and small jump away from the parks.

VWL is attached to the WL. Lots more action and noise going on. A smaller dvc resort as compared to SSR.

My rec is go and stay at VWL/SSR or take a half a day to tour each of the resorts.

If you want to see a room at the VWL, go up to the front desk. Politely ask to see an empty room. If one is available one of the "runners" will show you the room.

SSR of course has the official DVC tour.

We bought originally at the VWL and we love it. The VWL is perfect at Christmas time. If you plan on using your points to stay at VWL in December I'd say buy at VWL. Rooms at VWL are hard to get in the December season, 11 month window is a big advantage.

Last fall we wanted to add on. We checked out SSR, BCV and BWV. I was convinced that we would add on at SSR. Lo and behold after touring/checking things out we decided on BWV.

There is so much to a resort that can not be placed on paper/read on a thread. Go and tour/get a feel for the resorts you're thinking about purchasing at (You already have had most of the tour of the WL).

Good luck on your journey towards your DVC purchase!

 

[iankh]

Last fall we wanted to add on. We checked out SSR, BCV and BWV. I was convinced that we would add on at SSR. Lo and behold after touring/checking things out we decided on BWV.

We too also own at BWV. It seems that there are quite a few VWL owners who also have BWV as a home. We do, because we love it and wanted something in the "Epcot Neighborhood."

 

[TammyAlphabet]

Buy where you want to stay is the mantra on these boards. If and only if, you will book during the home resort window. If not, buy the cheapest points you can buy. SSR will be the easiest resort to book until they build another mega resort. So, the home resort advantage there is much less advantageous than at a small resort like the VWL. If it were me, I would get the 150 at the VWL and 75 at SSR if you want that number of points.

 

[crisi]

Buy where you want to stay is the mantra on these boards. If and only if, you will book during the home resort window. If not, buy the cheapest points you can buy. SSR will be the easiest resort to book until they build another mega resort. So, the home resort advantage there is much less advantageous than at a small resort like the VWL. If it were me, I would get the 150 at the VWL and 75 at SSR if you want that number of points.

I tend to agree. You can book any resort at seven months SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY. From 11-8 months as a VWL owner you are competing with other VWL owners - and there aren't many of those. VWL is a small resort - less than 200 rooms - and has a similarly small number of owners proportionally. At 7 months, you are competing with anyone who wants to stay there out of 100,000 DVC owners - and growing. VWL will never get any larger, but the potential number of DVC owners will. SSR will also not get any larger, but as a larger resort, will generally have availability late. The only way this is likely to change is if DVD builds even bigger resorts.

If you are happy staying at SSR and the extra 12 years really appeal to you, you should do that. But I wouldn't buy a resort you are not going to be content at so you can let nieces and nephews stay there when you are too old or dead. I'd buy what YOU want. And that could be SSR.

Advantages to SSR as a home resort:
- Relatively low dues
- Extra twelve years
- When the DVC I resorts have little or no resale value, SSR will continue to have resale value for more years

Advantages to VWL as a home resort:
- Small resorts book quicker, the home resort advantage works here

To me, the one advantage at VWL outweighs the advantages of SSR, but only you can make that decision. I'd rather stay where I want to stay for the next 30 years without a hassle, and pay a few more dollars a year in dues, than hassle with waitlists to stay where I really want to be and have some value left 30 years from now. If I wanted value 30 years from now, we'd put the money in mutual funds rather than go to WDW.

 

[gppnj]

I have never had any regrets about buying VWL. We stayed there and we loved it even more that staying in the main building.

You know, in terms of the way the rooms look from the outside, I think the villas are nicer than the regular rooms. (I've not yet stayed at the villas, so I can't really comment on the inside.)

 

[MikeDeeNY]

Wow - thanks to all for the wonderful advice! Our heads are still spinning around this decision, but I think we're quickly coming to the conclusion to make our main purchase at SSR and additional points at VWL - the best of both worlds!

 

[MikeDeeNY]

One more question...are there "water mice" rentals (the little speedboats) at SSR? Thanks!

 

[crisi]

Wow - thanks to all for the wonderful advice! Our heads are still spinning around this decision, but I think we're quickly coming to the conclusion to make our main purchase at SSR and additional points at VWL - the best of both worlds!

You will not be able to use your SSR points to secure the home resort advantage at VWL. So lets say you buy 200 points - 150 points at SSR and 50 at VWL. You can use them in the following ways:

You can book one 150 point trip at VWL every three years at 11 months

You can book small trips to VWL every year at 11 months - using VWL points.

You can use your VWL points to book part of your vacation at VWL at eleven months, and book the rest of your vacation at SSR at 11 months. At seven months, you try and switch your SSR reservation to VWL.

(You can do all this in reverse, using 450 SSR points every three years, using your VWL points at VWL at eleven months and switching at seven to SSR (or somewhere else), etc.)

Just so you know. A lot of people assume that if they own two resorts, they'll get the home resort advantage for all their points across both resorts. Managing two contracts at two different resorts has its pluses and its minus. We decided that we'd prefer only to own a single resort we'd be happy staying at rather than managing multiple contract, but there are plenty of owners with at least a few points at several resorts.

 

[wingkng]

Wow - thanks to all for the wonderful advice! Our heads are still spinning around this decision, but I think we're quickly coming to the conclusion to make our main purchase at SSR and additional points at VWL - the best of both worlds!

I know the feeling. I spent so many hours reading these posts, and I have to say that there are alot of good advice to be had. You just have to filter out the "noise" and come to your own conclusion.

I didn't mention before another advantage of owning at multiple resorts. Instead of buying one big contract, you would have two contracts. Each of those can be sold individually if the time ever comes that you would want to do that (if ever). I have heard that it is easier to sell a smaller number of points (less of an initial investment). Buying direct from Disney will allow you to get the 2005 points for use this year. In addition, you can finance the purchase if you want to.

One thing about owning at multiple resorts that I find helpful is to buy the same USE YEAR. That way, there is less confusion when you are keeping records of your points.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[LisaS]

Buying direct from Disney will allow you to get the 2005 points for use this year.

Just to clarify, when you purchase directly from Disney, you get current Use Year points with your purchase. So you only get 2005 points if you purchase a June, August, September, October or December Use Year. If you purchase a February, March or April Use Year, you are now in your 2006 Use Year so you would get 2006 points, not 2005 points.

Dues are paid on a calendar year basis regardless of your Use Year. Your dues for this year will be pro-rated from the date you pay your deposit. So if you paid your deposit on May 1st, after closing on your contract you would be billed for 7/12 of your 2006 dues.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[rparmfamily]

Personally, I like VWL better, but Disney was offering a better deal if we went with SSR, so we did that. Both resorts are beautiful and both have pluses and minuses. I think as my children get older, and are more interested in DTD vs MK, so SSR will work out better for us. I think in the long run we are going to end up buying extra points at VWL or Vero, just for that 7 mo window.

We are staying in a 2 br for a week in July. We are so happy! We honeymooned at WL, so I am excited to get back!