Deciding on a DVC home...

[disneydreamingdebby]

My husband and I have decided to buy DVC. Now, we are trying to determine the best fit for our family; we have twin girls (7).

We are planning a weekend trip to Disney (maybe Jan.) to look further into DVC and do the tour. We are strongly leaning towards resale due to the 160 min. point purchase through Disney, but we thought it would be great to be armed with as much information as possible. We also plan on resort hopping on our own to get a feel for each. (We have been to Disney twice and have stayed at the Poly and CSR.)

I would love to have everyone "sell" me his/ her home resort. What do you LOVE about your home? What do you LOVE about other properties?

Also, what advice do you have for us regarding choosing a DVC home? I've read over and over to choose where you want to stay as your home resort. What other advice can you offer?

Thanks!

 

[disneynutz]

You say that you could buy in January... Doesn't give you much time to learn all about a program that you may spend thousands of $$$$ on and have for 50 years.

The DVC is a way for people who vacation at WDW at least every 2 years to pre pay for their accommodations for the next 40 to 50 years.

Here are my recommendations:
Learn all that you can about the DVC.
Choose a UY that benefits your regular vacation patterns.
Buy where you love to stay.
Have fun.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Home Resort is a truly personal decision.

However, we love our home, BWV because of:

Great Boardwalk View
Saving points with the standard views
((IMHO)) There's nothing STANDARD about the standard view.
Great entertainment
Great access to parks and restaurants
Great pool with water slide that is easier for catching kiddos

Although, there is also...

poor counter service
long hallways
spooky clown in the pool slide

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I think the thing I would recommend is to buy where you wouldn't mind staying all the time. There's a few things that can go into the decison for the resale purchase like cost of the points and annual dues. And this is only if you are going to be able to make your ressies in the home resort period. If you'll be doing it under 7 months then home resort doens't matter much.

Then, I think you need to decide if you like condo style resorts or hotel. That will help separate OKW/SSR from the others. Most people have a preference one way or another and that's up to the individual.

Next, I'd think if there's a park I prefer to spend more time at. MK? Epcot? AK? Or do you want easy access to DTD? That can narrow it down more.

I haven't met a DVC resort yet that I didn't like but each has their plusses and minuses. But my favorite resort is WL/VWL b/c of the proximity to MK, Bay Lake, FW etc. We love the peaceful atomosphere and the decor and theme. It has counter service, table service, a marina, bike rentals, boats to MK and CR/BLT. And it's beautiful during the holidays.

Have fun deciding what you want to do!

 

[DVC Mike]

what advice do you have for us regarding choosing a DVC home? I've read over and over to choose where you want to stay as your home resort. What other advice can you offer?

You should read the Choosing Your Home Resort - What to Consider? thread.

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

Thank you everyone who has responded so far!

You say that you could buy in January... Doesn't give you much time to learn all about a program that you may spend thousands of $$$$ on and have for 50 years.

Thank you. We are thinking of a visit to Disney in Jan. not necessary a purchase, but we would be ready. (We've been thinking/ researching this since Aug 2008...)

poor counter service
long hallways
spooky clown in the pool slide

Good to know about the counter service - that was something I am factoring into a decision... my husband noticed the spooky clown. I don't know if my girls fear them, but I will certainly find out. I too think the atmosphere would be great!

Then, I think you need to decide if you like condo style resorts or hotel. That will help separate OKW/SSR from the others. Most people have a preference one way or another and that's up to the individual.

This will certainly help... thank you for this insight. Good angle.

You should read the Choosing Your Home Resort - What to Consider? thread.

Thanks Mike - I missed that thread, and it will be handy!

Everyone else, please post. How did you decide?

 

[AirGoofy]

From the nerd, financial side of it, you probably can never have enough points. But, we picked a SSR resale because of the low point value cost, # of points listed, and dues rate. We are able to take two 5-day vacations per year. From the experience side, we enjoy the open resort plan (condo) vs hotel. SSR has 5 different areas that offer perks (all but Carousel area) such as view, walking distance, private pool, etc. One last thing to consider about a home resort, would you want to stay there 15 years from now?

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Thank you everyone who has responded so far!

Good to know about the counter service - that was something I am factoring into a decision... my husband noticed the spooky clown. I don't know if my girls fear them, but I will certainly find out. I too think the atmosphere would be great!

The Boardwalk Bakery gets really busy during breakfast time. You also have the Spoodles pizza window (That may change with Kat Cora.) There is also a window for corn dogs, funnel cakes, etc. I know at least some of these places do not take the dining plan.

The ESPN club is table service, but along the lines of an Applebees in atmosphere.

The BIG problem is...BWV doesn't match with the standard dining plan very well.

There needs to be a place like Mara or Roaring Forks!!

 

[El&Asmom]

We chose SSR for a couple of reasons.
1. Lowest dues and buy in cost was low as well.
2. We are young and wanted a longer contract period.


It's not our favorite resort, but we enjoy staying there. We have been members for 2 years and have been lucky enough to be able to stay or book at every resort except BLT which we haven't tried to book yet. Many were on short notice of only a few weeks out, but they weren't high demand times.

 

[GoofItUp]

We are in the process of buying a BCV contract (resale). DH and DS#2 stayed there in March and LOVED it. The location to EPCOT and DHS is great. The pool is consistently rated one of the best which will be important at least for the next several years to our DS's. We like the decor and close proximity to BW. We like Cape May and the fact that they have a character breakfast right in the hotel.

We looked for quite a long time at BLT. We like it and would enjoy staying there at some point, but we didn't LOVE it like BCV. We like the lower up-front cost of going with a 100 point resale contract. Plus, we felt like if we did need/want to sell at some point scared1 then the lower point contract would be easier to off load.

If you've never stayed in a DVC resort, you might try renting points for your upcoming vacation and trying out the resort you're most interested in to see how it fits your family.

It's a big decision -- we have been looking at DVC for about 2 years -- but I am more excited about this purchase than anything I've ever bought before!

 

[Maistre Gracey]

VWL & AKV
Why?? --> Theme, and quality of theming. In my opinion everything else is secondary.

MG

 

[rentayenta]

Like the others have said, it's very personal and I liken it to purchasing a home. We got VERY lucky because not only did SSR appeal most to us out of SSR, AKV, and BLT, it happened to cost the least amount to buy in and the dues are low.

Love:

• THV
• condo style
• pools
• grounds
• golf
• proximity to DTD and ease to get to other resorts
• mellow with a great feel

 

[FCCA]

We love staying at the CR, so choosing BLT was easy. We like the fact that it's a 10 minute walk to MK, and a short monorail trip back to the hotel for an afternoon rest. To get to Epcot, it's a short trip to the TS, then a transfer.

Also, depending on which view you opt for, you get a pretty good view of the fireworks at MK. If you opt of a standard or lake view, there always the viewing deck.

Because a trip to WDW for us is a 5 hour plane ride, we tend to try and maximize the time we have there. That's probably why we like being on the monorail line. If you like a more leisurely style, then another resort may be more to your liking.

 

[Muhlenberg]

Make sure you look at the points charts. You may not want to spend a lot of points for a stay at one resort compared to another. Example: BLT vs. SSR or OKW.

The resort you like now might not be your #1 resort 20 years from now when your children are grown.

 

[Crystal_27]

For us, it was an absolute no brainer. We had been looking at DVC for many years, but always hesitated to buy because we loved staying on the monorail. So, when BLT was announced, we knew that BLT was the perfect DVC for us (and, seeing the pictures that have been everywhere in the past week has solidified that decision).

However, I will tell you that we heavily debated buying resale points at SSR or OKW (because we could basically get the same number of points for half the cost), but in the end we realized that it was worth the extra cost for us to not have to be stressed about trying to get into BLT at the 7 month mark (which is where we knew we would want to stay the majority of the time).

Your home resort should be the place where you will *be happy* staying every single time you travel.

Good luck with your decision!!

 

[ssawka]

We chose BLT for several reasons:

1. Close to MK (Our favorite park)
2. Longest contract (We are fairly young and have a special needs child. We wanted to guarantee that she would be able to go if anything happened to us)
3. Awesome transportation options. (We always fly to WDW and do not rent a car. For us the extra points are well worth it to save the time spent on busses.)
4. We believe BLT will retain its value better than some of the other resorts, and should be fairly easy to rent the points.

 

[AuntTink]

BLT: (Here is where I have bought and added on at)
1) Love having a view of the fireworks every night from my balcony.
2) Love having Cinderella's castle for my nightlight.
3) Love being on the monorail.
4) Love having close access to so many restaurants with monorail.
5) Cons: Lots of points required for most stays in comparison

BCV: ( would like to own points there too.)
1) Love storm along bay pool
2) Beaches and Cream
3) Easy walk to Epcot
4) Restaurants in Epcot
5) Food and Wine festival (can't get into BCV or BWV at 7 month mark for this usually)

AKV:
1) animals
2) low number of points required

SSR & THV:
1) Relaxing environment,
2) close to DTD
3) if you love spa or golfing
4) low number of points required

WLV:
1) outdoor activities (horses, camp fires)
2) close to MK

 

[Lost in Neverland]

We spent at least 2 years going back and forth between resorts as well as DVC direct vs resale. In the end we picked resale and went with OKW. We did this based on a couple of reasons. The first and foremst we love the room at OKW. After about three days in a standard room we are about to kill each other. Secondly since my kids are getting older they enjoy the community hall at OKW. The other selling point is that the points per night is overall less than any of the other resorts which will enable us to get at least three trips a year for at least 4 -6 days each if we want.OKW is very relaxing which is great after a hectic day in the park. We stay at other resorts but it never really feels like home until we are back at OKW.

 

[TifffanyD]

I love hearing everyone talk about their home resorts!!

When we bought resale about 1.5 years ago, we went with BWV. Our reasons were:

- Walking distance to 2 parks (at the time we didn't plan to have cars and liked that we could rely less on disney transportation)
- Themeing/large availability of restaurants on the boardwalk
- Ability to use standard view to save on points
- Samantha Brown went to it on her show and it looked awesome

I am so glad we picked here! The only drawback I have found is that all the food is OUTSIDE. This bit us in the butt a bit as we were down in January during the cold snap and it was freezing cold (of course we only had warm weather clothse with us) and would have preferred to grab something indoors. But I wouldn't trade it - I love the huge porch and chairs, love the Boardwalk arch when you drive up, and love the (free!) valet parking!

 

[katieandemismom]

We own at two resorts: AKV and BWV. Our girls are 6.

We bought AKV b/c I LOVE it. We've yet to stay at the DVC part, but it was the first resort we ever visited. The theming is amazing, and the girls are at the age where the animals can keep them busy forever. The pools are great, and I like the feeling that we are away from everything when we're there. Our first visit I spent an hour each morning sitting in a rocking chair watching the sun come up - so very peaceful and soothing.

We bought BWV b/c we wanted an Epcot area resort. The rooms are being refurbished (which is huge to me), and I'm thinking ahead to when the girls are old enough to want to go on their own (lots to see and do in the area). I like the fact that the standard view doesn't take as many points and that there is a boardwalk view available if you book soon enough.

Both our resorts have multiple room catagories for each type of room. We're trying a value 1 bedroom at akv next June, and it won't break the bank.