Did most of you visit the resort first? Before buying?

[oreilly76]

I was just wondering if most of you had been to the resort you bought at? And did you go to more than one to compare before you bought?
How did you 'know' what one was right for you?

I am not buying anytime soon (although I sure wish I could!). But I was just curious. Purchasing has been in my mind for about 2 years and I do plan on buying in the next few years when we can afford it. But I think I would like a trip to FL just to look at all the (DVC) resorts there. They all sound so great!

Thanks
Sandy

 

[crisi]

We didn't. We bought resale. The only resort we'd been to is WL (and not the Villas). We'd driven by OKW, and driven by the BCV while it was being built, but driving by isn't much.

We ended up with BWV sight unseen, in part because there was a decent contract available when we bought. Had never been through the international gateway to look. BCVs were still under construction (and were tempting, because of SAB, though now I've been to SAB and - its a wonderful pool but not a good pool for over anxious moms), VWL had just finished selling and were difficult to find resales on. So it was OKW or BWV - unless we were going offsite.

We made an offer at OKW, fell through, and were quite happy to end up at BWV. At the time no pool slide was in sight at OKW, and we discovered that being close to Epcot is really wonderful for us - we tend to have dinner in Epcot about half our nights.

We bought having seen floorplans and photos of rooms, but having never been in a room until our first stay.

 

[Muushka]

I don't think I could spend that much money without seeing it first!!

We had been pondering DVC when BWV had been open for about a year or so.
We went and visited there and had drawn up a contract, but decided to wait for VWL. Now we were completly familiar with WL (having stayed there a few times), but we STILL stayed 1 night at VWL when it first opened up just to be sure that we wanted that resort. The rest, as they say, is history.....

 

[jcm_dis]

We'd been to Disney a grand total of one time before we bought. Stayed at POR, never even noticed the DVC stuff, except for SSR going up. Got home, missed the world, and started looking at ways to get back. Ended up buying at OKW based on the pictures on the net (resale.) Never looked back, but I do find myself looking ahead constantly (must have more points.)

 

[bongo59]

initial buy yes............but not since......we have added on 8 times and not once did we tour. We just did a big SSR add on in Nov 04 and we just visited SSR during Xmas week. What is the point, now that we know what quality we are getting. We know the DVC standard and quality, and we know we want to be there. For us it was easy, others may need the reassurance of the visual inspection

 

[tjkraz]

We stayed at Old Key West before buying sight-unseen at Saratoga Springs. Those stays at OKW convinced us that DVC was in our future. Seeing the pre-sale pricing for SSR (for 50 years), along with knowing the location and amenities finally pushed us over the edge.

We went into it with the mindset that all Disney resorts are first class and we would be happy at any DVC property. Honestly, I think the only resort that would have been a turn-off to us would be the Wilderness Lodge. I respect the fact that it is a wonderfully-themed resort that has a lot of fans, but that whole backwoods feel just isn't our first choice.

If you know that a purchase is still off in the distance, try to make plans to visit each resort next time you are at WDW.

Just remember that the contracts keep getting shorter and prices keep getting higher. We paid $79 per point for our SSR points and will get 50 years of ownership. Those buying now will pay $85 per point and get 49 years of ownership. The sooner you buy, the more value you will get in the long run.

 

[Melrosgirl]

Nope. I bought without seeing any resort but Port Orleans. We stayed there in 2001. Looked into Disney in 2002 and bought at the end of 2002 (via the phone).

I was just wondering if most of you had been to the resort you bought at? And did you go to more than one to compare before you bought?
How did you 'know' what one was right for you?

I am not buying anytime soon (although I sure wish I could!). But I was just curious. Purchasing has been in my mind for about 2 years and I do plan on buying in the next few years when we can afford it. But I think I would like a trip to FL just to look at all the (DVC) resorts there. They all sound so great!

Thanks
Sandy

 

[Melrosgirl]

I should mention that it was THIS BOARD that got me interested in DVC. I had never even known what it was (ignored the kiosks during my 2001 trip). Found out about this board, read posts, requested DVC info and bought into it a month later lol.

 

[crcormier]

I did. I had been to BWV with some friends the year before I bought, then the summer I bought I went with my Sis, BIL, Niece and parents and stayed at BCV where my sister rented points. I was already interested so I took the tour with my folks. I bought in, and they were so impressed, they did too! I probably would have bought at BWV if I hadn't stayed at BCV, but I liked it more. My parents bought at BWV.

Keep saving and I'll hope to offer you a "welcome home" soon!

 

[wdw4life]

I did the tour of SSR first but I was already planning on buying. I had been to all the other DVC properties and SSR was the one I wanted to call home. I actually would have bought without the tour since it was still at BWV and the preview of SSR was rather limited at the time. In fact, I just did an add on last month and I haven't been home yet!

 

[spiceycat]

you can rent some points and see which one you like before you buy.

I brought VB unseem - and then VWL - I love WL so VWL was necessary.

OKW was DVC back when I brought it. I loved it immediately!!!

 

[scduckman]

We bought at VWL while we were on DCL in Jan 2002. Perhaps not the smartest move, but we love VWL.

 

[athenna]

Been to Disney World several times, but had never seen my home resort, except for the outside. Bought at SSR sight un seen.

 

[timC]

Yes and No. We toured both OKW and BWV... Bought BWV. For our add-on, we did not tour VWL, but we've stayed at WL before, so we new exactly what we were getting.

 

[mouseclick1]

We did tour BWV before making our purchase, though we were pretty sure we were going to buy when we went down there. We did, however, take a chance and added on at HH before ever seeing the place. Turns out, we added even more points after spending a couple of days there! It's really a toss-up for me to decide which one I like better!

 

[oreilly76]

I figured there were some that bought with out seeing, but I am surprised how many!
I think our home might be HH. We live relatively close there and would probably do that one year and DIsney the next. I just wish we could buy now!
Our children are still quite young! 28 months and not born!! LOL! I am 5 months pg with our second. So we ideally would like to buy around the time our first is 5 or 6.
Who knows! Maybe I will win the lottery or something and be able to buy soon! LOL!! ;-) Can always dream! Of course it might help if I bought lotto tickets! ;-0

Thanks for all your responses! I find them very interesting!!

 

[bbowers]

Nope. Also learned about DVC from these boards, got interested, and followed the "Buy where you want to stay" mantra and found a PERFECT resale. How did I know VWL? We had BADLY wanted to build a log home but just couldn't swing the price when we built our home, so knew that the VWL was perfect for us.

We had never stayed in any of the DVCs, just the All Stars, campground, Contemporary, and one memorable stay at the Institute (that was SUCH a fun trip!). We stayed at a studio our first trip home. Liked the atmosphere at "home", but the studio was just "eh".

Next year decided to try out HH on our way to DCL and stayed in a one bedroom. WHOA! It's true - hard to go back after that! Just LOVED it!

We'll be trying out SSR this year, if there's room. Took a friend and stayed in OKW last June - plan on staying in them all someday.

 

[Sammie]

I was just wondering if most of you had been to the resort you bought at? And did you go to more than one to compare before you bought?
How did you 'know' what one was right for you?

I am not buying anytime soon (although I sure wish I could!). But I was just curious. Purchasing has been in my mind for about 2 years and I do plan on buying in the next few years when we can afford it. But I think I would like a trip to FL just to look at all the (DVC) resorts there. They all sound so great!

Thanks
Sandy

We stayed at all the DVC resorts open at the time including Vero and HH, several times before purchasing.

 

[Chuck S]

We were staying at the Contemporay, DVC was still pretty new....OKW was THE DISNEY VACATION CLUB RESORT. We overheard some people on the monorail talking about the condos, and how great they were. We went to the kiosk at EPCOT (which at that time was located in the exit area of Spaceship Earth) and made arrangements to tour the following morning. We bought then and there, following the tour. Only Phase I of OKW had been completed. So, no, we never stayed there prior to purchase, but did tour the rooms.

 

[LoveToDisney]

Bought BCV sight unseen. I wanted to purchase at Disney since OKW was "Disney Vacation Club" but it took until 2004 to get my DH to come around...he surprised me with a "yes" as our 25th anniversary present.