Couple of DVC questions..

[HunnyJar]

I'm hoping a few DVC savvy people might be able to answer a few questions that I have.. My husband and I took a DVC tour in September 2011, but left the meeting having a few more questions than what we went in with. It also seems after being told conflicting information from our guide that asking actual DVC members might be the way to go.

First off.. Use year. When my husband asked our guide about use year he stated that it doesn't really mean much. It's just when our points will be available. Seems like from reading other things on the DIS Boards there is a lot more to it than that. If we typically travel between September, October, December and January which would be a preferable Use Year?

Second.. Looking over point charts it seems like 270-300 would be a good fit for my family. We have two toddlers and a teenager and of course my husband and myself. Our youngest will be two in September, so I'm thinking that this will be our last year to really focus on the points for a 1 bedroom villa. Does 270-300 seem like the best bet or is it better to purchase a little more and bank the remaining points?

Third question.. I see that several other resales websites have older DVCs listed where when we spoke with our guide he was only talking about SSR, AKV and BLT. When we mentioned we were interested in VWL he said it was not possible. I have see other posts where people have mentioned purchasing direct and buying into BCV.. Am I wrong or isn't BCV one of the sold out resorts?

I have more questions, but I don't want to overwhelm anyone. We have tried to get in touch with our guide for the last two weeks to ask him questions when we finally heard back from him this morning. Unfortunately, it was 6:30 a.m. and my husband wasn't in the mood to talk DVC. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[RobDoc]

I'm hoping a few DVC savvy people might be able to answer a few questions that I have.. My husband and I took a DVC tour in September 2011, but left the meeting having a few more questions than what we went in with. It also seems after being told conflicting information from our guide that asking actual DVC members might be the way to go.

First off.. Use year. When my husband asked our guide about use year he stated that it doesn't really mean much. It's just when our points will be available. Seems like from reading other things on the DIS Boards there is a lot more to it than that. If we typically travel between September, October, December and January which would be a preferable Use Year?

Unless you will need to cancel reservations, Use Year won't affect you too much. But, in the event you will cancel, it is best to have a Use Year just prior to when you will travel so that points returned to your account from a cancellation will have time to be used again or banked. For travel between September - January, a September Use Year would be best.

Second.. Looking over point charts it seems like 270-300 would be a good fit for my family. We have two toddlers and a teenager and of course my husband and myself. Our youngest will be two in September, so I'm thinking that this will be our last year to really focus on the points for a 1 bedroom villa. Does 270-300 seem like the best bet or is it better to purchase a little more and bank the remaining points?

If your annual trips will run 270-300 that should work and give you opportunity to bank some for additional leeway. DVC has reallocated points in the past which adjusted the point needs upwards for some members and down for others. Having a few extra points than you feel you'll need is a good idea.

Third question.. I see that several other resales websites have older DVCs listed where when we spoke with our guide he was only talking about SSR, AKV and BLT. When we mentioned we were interested in VWL he said it was not possible. I have see other posts where people have mentioned purchasing direct and buying into BCV.. Am I wrong or isn't BCV one of the sold out resorts?

All resorts are available directly thru Disney. Some may not have availability in all Use Years and might require a short wait, but you can purchase all from DVC directly. You should definitely consider resale since you can save a lot of $$$$ with your purchase and only lose the ability to use DVC points for non-DVC options that can be obtained for less by renting your points and paying cash, but if using points for non-DVC options is something you'd want to do once in awhile even a direct purchase can be worthwhile - but resale will always be cheaper for 270-300 point purchases especially for a "sold-out" resort.

I have more questions, but I don't want to overwhelm anyone. We have tried to get in touch with our guide for the last two weeks to ask him questions when we finally heard back from him this morning. Unfortunately, it was 6:30 a.m. and my husband wasn't in the mood to talk DVC. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Ask away! Welcome to the DVC forums!

 

[Missyrose]

I'm hoping a few DVC savvy people might be able to answer a few questions that I have.. My husband and I took a DVC tour in September 2011, but left the meeting having a few more questions than what we went in with. It also seems after being told conflicting information from our guide that asking actual DVC members might be the way to go.

First off.. Use year. When my husband asked our guide about use year he stated that it doesn't really mean much. It's just when our points will be available. Seems like from reading other things on the DIS Boards there is a lot more to it than that. If we typically travel between September, October, December and January which would be a preferable Use Year?

Use Year is most important when it comes to canceling reservations. You typically want to travel early in your UY, so if you had to cancel a trip, you'd still be within your banking window to bank the points so you wouldn't lose them (assuming you couldn't reschedule the trip for later in the year).

So for your travel dates, a September UY would be best.

Second.. Looking over point charts it seems like 270-300 would be a good fit for my family. We have two toddlers and a teenager and of course my husband and myself. Our youngest will be two in September, so I'm thinking that this will be our last year to really focus on the points for a 1 bedroom villa. Does 270-300 seem like the best bet or is it better to purchase a little more and bank the remaining points?

It's good to plan for the two-bedroom point charts. Use a DVC calculator and price out how many points you would need to stay in a two-bedroom during your normal travel times and you should get a good idea for your contract size. A couple of things to note, when looking at the point charts, know that there are several catagories that you likely will need home-resort priority to get (these include AKV value or concierge, BWV standard view or Boardwalk view, BLT standard view or MK view) Like you said, once your toddlers age, you'll need something bigger than a 1-bedroom. And frankly, with a teenager and two toddlers, you may decide earlier than that that you need more room!

Third question.. I see that several other resales websites have older DVCs listed where when we spoke with our guide he was only talking about SSR, AKV and BLT. When we mentioned we were interested in VWL he said it was not possible. I have see other posts where people have mentioned purchasing direct and buying into BCV.. Am I wrong or isn't BCV one of the sold out resorts?

I have more questions, but I don't want to overwhelm anyone. We have tried to get in touch with our guide for the last two weeks to ask him questions when we finally heard back from him this morning. Unfortunately, it was 6:30 a.m. and my husband wasn't in the mood to talk DVC. Any help is greatly appreciated.

You can buy ANY of the resorts directly from Disney. The salespeople push BLT, AKV and Aulani because those are the ones they get a much better commission for. If you pushed and told the salesperson you wanted VWL, he would have magically found you a contract or put you on a wait list for a contract (the wait list could take a few weeks or a couple of months to come in).

BUT, you really should look at the resale market for VWL, a contract the size you are looking for could probably be had for half of what Disney is charging.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[BestDadEver]

I am not a fan of resale . You never know what limitations they could limit you on later down the road , and I intend to use it outside of DVC . If you only plan on DVC resorts resale does make a lot of sence .

I agree that UY is quite important . I would think aug/sep would work for you .

As for the points I would stick with you number there and get around 300 if you are looking to get 2br cause that is about the going rate . You could probably use 200 points if you only wanted 1br . A 1br should be enough for 4 of you though you may want to consider less points being they are so expensive .

Did you have a tour that included seeing the room layouts cause the 1br is quite big .

 

[Deb & Bill]

I am not a fan of resale . You never know what limitations they could limit you on later down the road , and I intend to use it outside of DVC . If you only plan on DVC resorts resale does make a lot of sence . .....

You do know that, ultimately, all you get to stay at is DVC resorts, right? Even if you buy direct? When we joined DVC they traded with RCI. Then they traded with II. Now they trade with RCI once again.

And when you try to sell your contract, for whatever reason, you'll be selling a "damaged" contract"?

Most everything outside of DVC isn't really an economical use of points.

When we bought our resale many years ago, we couldn't get the extra points we wanted direct and the price was nearly the same. It's only been the last few years where resale prices have not kept pace with Disney direct prices and Disney thought they had to do something about the competition.

 

[Sandisw]

You do know that, ultimately, all you get to stay at is DVC resorts, right? Even if you buy direct? When we joined DVC they traded with RCI. Then they traded with II. Now they trade with RCI once again.

And when you try to sell your contract, for whatever reason, you'll be selling a "damaged" contract"?

Most everything outside of DVC isn't really an economical use of points.

When we bought our resale many years ago, we couldn't get the extra points we wanted direct and the price was nearly the same. It's only been the last few years where resale prices have not kept pace with Disney direct prices and Disney thought they had to do something about the competition.

Was just going to say the same thing. I think that it is really important that everyone understand what they are getting with DVC and while I get that Disney has made some differences at this point and I am sure they "sell" that to new buyers, at the end of the day, even direct buyers are at the mercy of the POS and if they find a reason to change things up that are to their benefit, and they legally can, they will!

 

[HunnyJar]

Thank you so much for all the help, I really do appreciate it!

When I have checked out the DVC points chart for a two bedroom for the times we are most interested in it came out to about 270-280 for the VWL, so I figured between 270-300 would be safe. Especially, if we wanted to try a different resort. Even if we stayed at BLT in a standard room we would be looking at 275-285 for a 2013 stay.

I also saw that the points needed for a stay at the BLT went up. A stay in 2012 during the Choice time period is 280 but a stay during that same time in 2013 is 285 - standard view of course. Is it normal to see a points increase like that? Should we look at more than 300 points?

When we toured with our guide I thought he mentioned something about the points being locked in. Ugh. I'm frustrated..

Also, we are interested in visiting Aulani, but I can't see going ahead and purchasing about 350-360 points for a sometime in the future visit. Seems smarter to just bank extra points or borrow some if needed. Maybe I'm wrong?

As for the points I would stick with you number there and get around 300 if you are looking to get 2br cause that is about the going rate . You could probably use 200 points if you only wanted 1br . A 1br should be enough for 4 of you though you may want to consider less points being they are so expensive .

Did you have a tour that included seeing the room layouts cause the 1br is quite big .

Yes, we did the tour and you are right the one bedroom is large, but we were told that since we are a family of five we would need a two bedroom since the one bedroom villas are for a family of four adults (or kids 10+) and one child under three. Our youngest will be two here in a few months.

I'll be honest, my husband is not totally sold on resale either but when he sees the different prices between the resale and direct it is hard not to want to save that extra money. Our guide says BLT is 160 per point right now and AKV is 150 per point. It seems like with resale the prices would be about $95-100 for BLT and $65-70 for the AKV. That's a really big savings.

I am also frustrated to learn that we were told that the VWL and BCV were not options available to us. Flat out we were told that since they were sold out villas there would be a zero chance.

When we asked our guide about the Grand Floridian he stated that he cannot tell us anything or even confirm that the GF will even be adding a DVC, but I've seen it in USA Today.. Just judging from past DVC openings (like the recent BLT) would it be fair to say that the GF once it opens should be quite a bit higher than the 160 per point the BLT is going for now?

Thanks again everyone for the help! So much to learn and to go over.

 

[BestDadEver]

Thank you so much for all the help, I really do appreciate it!

When I have checked out the DVC points chart for a two bedroom for the times we are most interested in it came out to about 270-280 for the VWL, so I figured between 270-300 would be safe. Especially, if we wanted to try a different resort. Even if we stayed at BLT in a standard room we would be looking at 275-285 for a 2013 stay.

I also saw that the points needed for a stay at the BLT went up. A stay in 2012 during the Choice time period is 280 but a stay during that same time in 2013 is 285 - standard view of course. Is it normal to see a points increase like that? Should we look at more than 300 points?

When we toured with our guide I thought he mentioned something about the points being locked in. Ugh. I'm frustrated..

Also, we are interested in visiting Aulani, but I can't see going ahead and purchasing about 350-360 points for a sometime in the future visit. Seems smarter to just bank extra points or borrow some if needed. Maybe I'm wrong?



Yes, we did the tour and you are right the one bedroom is large, but we were told that since we are a family of five we would need a two bedroom since the one bedroom villas are for a family of four adults (or kids 10+) and one child under three. Our youngest will be two here in a few months.

I'll be honest, my husband is not totally sold on resale either but when he sees the different prices between the resale and direct it is hard not to want to save that extra money. Our guide says BLT is 160 per point right now and AKV is 150 per point. It seems like with resale the prices would be about $95-100 for BLT and $65-70 for the AKV. That's a really big savings.

I am also frustrated to learn that we were told that the VWL and BCV were not options available to us. Flat out we were told that since they were sold out villas there would be a zero chance.

When we asked our guide about the Grand Floridian he stated that he cannot tell us anything or even confirm that the GF will even be adding a DVC, but I've seen it in USA Today.. Just judging from past DVC openings (like the recent BLT) would it be fair to say that the GF once it opens should be quite a bit higher than the 160 per point the BLT is going for now?

Thanks again everyone for the help! So much to learn and to go over.

Your guide seems like an *** I just bought and akv was $130 pp herd it went up to $135 but $150 hes ripping you off . Also I told em I wanted ssr and that assent an issue either.

Another reason resale is not an option for me is cause of the rofr and the wait to get the contract finalized . I want what I buy now . Direct you get it instantly .

 

[Deb & Bill]

...I also saw that the points needed for a stay at the BLT went up. A stay in 2012 during the Choice time period is 280 but a stay during that same time in 2013 is 285 - standard view of course. Is it normal to see a points increase like that? Should we look at more than 300 points?

When we toured with our guide I thought he mentioned something about the points being locked in. Ugh. I'm frustrated..

...Yes, we did the tour and you are right the one bedroom is large, but we were told that since we are a family of five we would need a two bedroom since the one bedroom villas are for a family of four adults (or kids 10+) and one child under three. Our youngest will be two here in a few months.

I'll be honest, my husband is not totally sold on resale either but when he sees the different prices between the resale and direct it is hard not to want to save that extra money. Our guide says BLT is 160 per point right now and AKV is 150 per point. It seems like with resale the prices would be about $95-100 for BLT and $65-70 for the AKV. That's a really big savings.

I am also frustrated to learn that we were told that the VWL and BCV were not options available to us. Flat out we were told that since they were sold out villas there would be a zero chance.

When we asked our guide about the Grand Floridian he stated that he cannot tell us anything or even confirm that the GF will even be adding a DVC, but I've seen it in USA Today.. Just judging from past DVC openings (like the recent BLT) would it be fair to say that the GF once it opens should be quite a bit higher than the 160 per point the BLT is going for now?

Thanks again everyone for the help! So much to learn and to go over.

Remember, a guide is just a salesperson. They make a commission on what they sell. And they make a greater commission on AKV and Aulani than they do on VWL.

Currently (and for the past several years) DVC does allow five in a one bedroom room, even those that officially only sleep four (SSR, BCV, BWV, VWL). They just will not provide the things you need for the fifth person - no rollaway, no towels, no sheets, etc. You'll have to bring your own stuff or pay for extra towels (a extra towel pack runs $6 for four nights). They could change this and stick with room occupancy in the future. By that time, you might not want to have all three kids in the living room.

The reason BLT points went up was because they recategorized some of the Theme Park View villas to standard view because they had a bad view of the theme park. So to lower those points, points somewhere else had to go up. So it looks like points went up and nothing went down. But in reality, more standard villas became available.

They can't just raise the number of points in the resort because the total number of points is the total number available to be sold when the resort opens for sales (unless they add more buildings like they did at OKW in about 1999 or so).

The sold out resorts are always options. Why are BCV resales higher than the rest? Because DVC wants to buy back those points to resell at a higher price and they try to get as many as possible without spending too much buying them back. If you tell your guide that you want to buy direct, but you will only buy VWL, I'm gonna bet he will suddenly be able to come up with some points. There won't be any special deal on them (like 20 free points or $5 off on the price of a point), but he'll sell them to you.

Keep looking at resales. It will take a little longer to complete the purchase, but you can save a lot of money. All you get with DVC is the right to reserve DVC resorts anyway. You aren't even guaranteed the parks. And that is PARKS, not PERKS.

GFV will be atrocious for pricing. DVC is not going to give that one away.

Take a deep breath. Think before you buy. Get all the information you need because DVC will still be there tomorrow and the day after and the day after...

 

[CarolMN]

Thank you so much for all the help, I really do appreciate it!

When I have checked out the DVC points chart for a two bedroom for the times we are most interested in it came out to about 270-280 for the VWL, so I figured between 270-300 would be safe. Especially, if we wanted to try a different resort. Even if we stayed at BLT in a standard room we would be looking at 275-285 for a 2013 stay.

I also saw that the points needed for a stay at the BLT went up. A stay in 2012 during the Choice time period is 280 but a stay during that same time in 2013 is 285 - standard view of course. Is it normal to see a points increase like that? Should we look at more than 300 points?

When we toured with our guide I thought he mentioned something about the points being locked in. Ugh. I'm frustrated..

The number of points it takes to reserve every room in the resort for a full year cannot change. Disney can (and has) reallocated the points within those parameters due to changes in member demand. It has not happened often. I've simplified the reallocation rule, but it gives you the general idea.

For 2013, Disney changed the classification of some low floor Magic Kingdom view rooms at the BLT to standard view. This was probably due to member complaints about paying the higher points for the rooms on the lower floors - basically those rooms had mostly a view of the parking lot or monorail track. Anyway, that's why you see some rooms and seasons cost a bit more in 2013 than they did in 2012. (The difference in points between MK and SV had to be spread to other rooms). The good news is that there are now more standard view rooms available. Those are popular with members and often disappear before the 7 month window opens.

Also, we are interested in visiting Aulani, but I can't see going ahead and purchasing about 350-360 points for a sometime in the future visit. Seems smarter to just bank extra points or borrow some if needed. Maybe I'm wrong?

No, I think you are smart to buy what you will usually need. If you need more for a particular trip, you can also arrange for a transfer from another member or buy up to 24 one time use p=points from Disney for $15 each. Those one-time points can only be used at the 7 month window, though and they cannot be banked.

Yes, we did the tour and you are right the one bedroom is large, but we were told that since we are a family of five we would need a two bedroom since the one bedroom villas are for a family of four adults (or kids 10+) and one child under three. Our youngest will be two here in a few months.

The 1 bedrooms at BLT, OKW and AKV sleep 5 plus an infant. They have a sleep chair in the living room in addition to the queen sleep sofa. BLT and AKV also have 2 bathrooms in the 1 bedroom villas. (The other resort 1 bedrooms are meant for 4 plus the infant). But I think you will appreciate the extra space the 2 bedrooms provide. It's really nice NOT to have someone sleeping in the living room & Kitchen area - then those spaces are available for anyone who wants to get up early or sty up late.

 

[crisi]

Buy that many points in two contracts. That way, if your travel plans change, you can sell one contract and hang onto the other. We have 150 and go every other year with our two kids - but if we'd had enough points to go every year we'd be looking to sell - our kids like Disney, but they like a lot of different things right now - the Beach, museums, seeing big cities, going to Europe (and DVC is not a good trading timeshare - we use cash for our other trips, which is very flexible and enables some great bargains). It also provides some flexibility if your life changes (college bills mean you want some of the vacation money for tuition, you spend some time ill, whatever life throws at you). If you do need to sell the whole thing, smaller contracts tend to move faster for more money than one larger contract.

 

[Missyrose]

I'll be honest, my husband is not totally sold on resale either but when he sees the different prices between the resale and direct it is hard not to want to save that extra money. Our guide says BLT is 160 per point right now and AKV is 150 per point. It seems like with resale the prices would be about $95-100 for BLT and $65-70 for the AKV. That's a really big savings.

The prices listed for the contracts are just that, list prices. The price can be negotiated down. Look at this post as a guide to what people have reported paying for their contracts and what passed ROFR.

VWL has been selling for $50-$60; BLT for $80-$95.

I just wanted to give you a different take on the resale purchase. The thing you have to realize, if you buy direct, your contract drops in value by 50 percent as soon as you sign on the dotted line because if you ever needed or wanted to sell, your contract would now be a resale contract.

You can also look at resale this way, you could buy a resale contract and put the thousands of dollars of savings toward other trips instead of using your points on the poor value Disney Collection or DCL.

 

[JimMIA]

Unless you will need to cancel reservations, Use Year won't affect you too much. But, in the event you will cancel, it is best to have a Use Year just prior to when you will travel so that points returned to your account from a cancellation will have time to be used again or banked. For travel between September - January, a September Use Year would be best.

I just want to amplify a little on this to explain WHY UY can be important in some situations. With DVC, you can bank all or part of your points only in the first eight months of your UY. Unused and unbanked points expire at the end of the UY. Therefore, if you have a reservation which falls within the last four months, and you have to cancel that reservation after the banking deadline, you might lose the points altogether.

For example, if you had a December UY and scheduled a vacation in October and then had to cancel it after July 31, you would only have until Nov 30 to use those points. If you couldn't travel, or couldn't get a reservation during that period, you'd lose the points.

But I agree with Doc, unless you find yourself in that rather narrow situation UY should not matter that much. We have taken many, many trips in the last couple of months of our UY without any problems at all...but our plans are firm when we make the ressie.

 

[JimMIA]

Third question.. I see that several other resales websites have older DVCs listed where when we spoke with our guide he was only talking about SSR, AKV and BLT. When we mentioned we were interested in VWL he said it was not possible. I have see other posts where people have mentioned purchasing direct and buying into BCV.. Am I wrong or isn't BCV one of the sold out resorts?

Important point -- don't ever forget who you are talking to. Those folks are not there to "guide" you, and they're not your "friend." They're timeshare salesmen.

Many DVC timeshare salespersons would have given you a much more honest answer regarding "sold-out" resorts. Unfortunately, this one did not -- he was trying to "guide" you to what made him the larger commission.

Personally, if I were in your shoes and decided to purchase direct (I wouldn't), I would call and request a different, more honest, salesperson. "Lie to me once, shame on you; lie to me twice, shame on me."

 

[princesslayla]

we did the tour in early June and just signed our closing docs to purchase Beach Club direct from Disney! Wilderness Lodge is only $102 pp through Disney direct....I would push the guide on that one since you like it there. We went into the tour telling the guide we wanted Beach Club and he said he would check to see which use year, if any, was available....and he came back with good news. That being said, just last week he told me that I took the last points from the Feb Use Year availability...was this true? who knows....

 

[Missyrose]

That being said, just last week he told me that I took the last points from the Feb Use Year availability...was this true? who knows....

Still lying. Disney gets back plenty of contracts through foreclosure or if they need to, ROFR. The salesperson probably said that to make you feel like he did you a favor.

 

[Deb & Bill]

we did the tour in early June and just signed our closing docs to purchase Beach Club direct from Disney! Wilderness Lodge is only $102 pp through Disney direct....I would push the guide on that one since you like it there. We went into the tour telling the guide we wanted Beach Club and he said he would check to see which use year, if any, was available....and he came back with good news. That being said, just last week he told me that I took the last points from the Feb Use Year availability...was this true? who knows....

Still lying. Disney gets back plenty of contracts through foreclosure or if they need to, ROFR. The salesperson probably said that to make you feel like he did you a favor.

Missyrose is fairly new around here, but she nailed this one. They may have been the last of the Feb UY that they currently have, but they'll have more soon as they foreclose or buy back through ROFR more BCV points.

I just wanted to give you a different take on the resale purchase. The thing you have to realize, if you buy direct, your contract drops in value by 50 percent as soon as you sign on the dotted line because if you ever needed or wanted to sell, your contract would now be a resale contract.

And if you do have to sell, you also have to pay the sales commission of about 10% to the company that helps you sell it. And any closing costs that you agree to.

 

[RobDoc]

....I also saw that the points needed for a stay at the BLT went up. A stay in 2012 during the Choice time period is 280 but a stay during that same time in 2013 is 285 - standard view of course. Is it normal to see a points increase like that? Should we look at more than 300 points?

When we toured with our guide I thought he mentioned something about the points being locked in. Ugh. I'm frustrated..

Total points at each DVC resort cannot be changed, but they may be reallocated where some nights will go up a few points and other nights would go down. This has happened 4 times since 1991, including the 2013 change at BLT.

Yes, we did the tour and you are right the one bedroom is large, but we were told that since we are a family of five we would need a two bedroom since the one bedroom villas are for a family of four adults (or kids 10+) and one child under three. Our youngest will be two here in a few months.

DVC will allow 5 in the 1BRs even though the stated occupancy is 4 at most resorts. They will not provide additional bedding, linens for additional guests, but the reservation would be allowed. At OKW, AKV and BLT 5 are allowed (with bedding) since those resorts have a sleeper chair in the living room in addition to the sleep sofa there and the king bed in the master bedroom.

I am also frustrated to learn that we were told that the VWL and BCV were not options available to us. Flat out we were told that since they were sold out villas there would be a zero chance.

When we asked our guide about the Grand Floridian he stated that he cannot tell us anything or even confirm that the GF will even be adding a DVC, but I've seen it in USA Today..

The guides are not allowed to discuss resorts until they have officially been added as a DVC component. While GFV has been announced at last year's annual meeting, it is not official until sales are announced. When OKW was being sold back in the early 1990's, there were already plans for VB, HH and BWV and those resorts were mentioned in the documents - with the caution that they might never become part of DVC.

There is no question that GFV will be a DVC resort, but it is still not official. (Stay tuned! )

I'd suspect that if you told your guide you were ONLY interested in VWL, BCV, etc. he'd be able to miraculously find a contract for you. I'd still take a good look at resales if interested in any of those resorts (plus, VB, HH, BWV, SSR, etc.)

 

[Missyrose]

Missyrose is fairly new around here, but she nailed this one.

Thanks Deb! You're right, I'm fairly new to the DVC game but I've done a ton of research and have taken everything you wise veterans have said on these boards to heart.

 

[HunnyJar]

Thank you all again for all the help and food for thought. I really appreciate it.

Resale does seem like a much better deal and we will be looking into it more. I've looked into two companies so far. I will say this whole process has been a huge learning experience. I know having the ability to stay elsewhere is not a huge draw for us at this time. In the past ten years we've taken all our vacations (seven of them) at WDW. So in that sense resales makes more sense for the type of vacationers we are.

It has been a lot to take in and I'm learning everyday.. We are normally POLY guests while we have tried AKL and WL (once for both) and POR twice. My mom got me hooked on the POLY in the 90's and it's definitely our favorite. And while I'm sure it will be very different at first it also seems like in the long run it should be a good fit for us. Since we prefer MK resorts the VWL seems like the most logical choice. I know BLT is closer, but for the price and for the decor of the overall resort VWL seems like the better fit. The pictures of VWL during the holidays are amazing.

I never even thought to buy two contracts at once.. Is that a common thing? Is it generally easy to purchase two contracts with the same UY? I'm thinking you would need to have them both on the same UY, right? I'm also assuming that also means twice the closing costs - which is fine, I'm just wanting to make sure I fully understand. Other than the potential to sell one part of your contract are there any other benefits to this? And you would want them at the same resort, right?

Again, thank you so much for the help! Okay, I'm stepping away from the computer to give my brain a chance to rest.