Direct purchase Poly or VDH dilemma

[VGCgroupie]

Here is what we finally decided after reading your input, lots of conversation, research, and spreadsheets… we bought a direct Polynesian contract with favorite week 49 (early December!). Ultimately, I had to decide which of my goals was the most important to me right now and understand that one contract wouldn’t solve everything.

I love WDW in December but have been very frustrated with the booking frenzy and tricks that must be used to get a studio at my home resort during the holidays. With the favorite week, it’s an insurance policy that allows me to always have the option to be there in early December. I imagine I’ll be using the favorite week 49 about 50% of the years. We did keep the December use year as that works really well with week 49. Favorite weeks are limited availability, so if we didn’t buy the Poly favorite week we wanted now, then it may not be available in the future. There are people that have recently been told it wasn’t available, so I knew if I walked away from it, I’d be out of luck if I tried to buy it in a year or whatever.

I’ve realized this will need to be a two-part purchase to meet ALL my goals. I will revisit making a VDH or resale VGC purchase in the future to achieve the Disneyland access I would also like. In the meanwhile, I’m hoping our new direct points will allow us to book VDH occasionally, if we aren’t able to snag VGC with our other points. My current plan is going to Disneyland every 12-18 months for just 3 days. With flexibility, I think that looks achievable if I book right at 7 months. There were very strong reasons to buy VDH such as DisneylandForward, and I’m hoping we can make that purchase soon.

We are waiting to make another payment until after the next incentives are released in case there are better deals or we decide to change things up.

Thank you all for your thoughts on this as it really helped me sift through what was the most important to me in this moment.

Congrats!! Kudos on the FW in December!

 

[juliebee]

Have to add my new signatures

 

[VGCgroupie]

Have to add my new signatures

Yeeesss!!

 

[intamin]

Here is what we finally decided after reading your input, lots of conversation, research, and spreadsheets… we bought a direct Polynesian contract with favorite week 49 (early December!). Ultimately, I had to decide which of my goals was the most important to me right now and understand that one contract wouldn’t solve everything.

I love WDW in December but have been very frustrated with the booking frenzy and tricks that must be used to get a studio at my home resort during the holidays. With the favorite week, it’s an insurance policy that allows me to always have the option to be there in early December. I imagine I’ll be using the favorite week 49 about 50% of the years. We did keep the December use year as that works really well with week 49. Favorite weeks are limited availability, so if we didn’t buy the Poly favorite week we wanted now, then it may not be available in the future. There are people that have recently been told it wasn’t available, so I knew if I walked away from it, I’d be out of luck if I tried to buy it in a year or whatever.

I’ve realized this will need to be a two-part purchase to meet ALL my goals. I will revisit making a VDH or resale VGC purchase in the future to achieve the Disneyland access I would also like. In the meanwhile, I’m hoping our new direct points will allow us to book VDH occasionally, if we aren’t able to snag VGC with our other points. My current plan is going to Disneyland every 12-18 months for just 3 days. With flexibility, I think that looks achievable if I book right at 7 months. There were very strong reasons to buy VDH such as DisneylandForward, and I’m hoping we can make that purchase soon.

We are waiting to make another payment until after the next incentives are released in case there are better deals or we decide to change things up.

Thank you all for your thoughts on this as it really helped me sift through what was the most important to me in this moment.

I'm going to go yell at my guide now for not getting me a week 49 at PIT

 

[intamin]

Sooo update @juliebee you are now stuck with me in week 49 for the next 40 years

 

[Dodgerburt8]

I still think it applies when comparing whether to purchase a DVC home resort in FL or CA for a PacNW based member.

Moderation standards sometimes seem unclear here. For example, the “when will DVC go negative” thread has been off topic for two days now with it completely shifted to “how long do people spend in Epcot.” And Sandi has been happily chiming in on that diversion. Just saying. What are the rules? Is it just whatever Sandi says? I actually think keeping things mostly on topic is the right approach but it should be done consistently.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Moderation standards sometimes seem unclear here. For example, the “when will DVC go negative” thread has been off topic for two days now with it completely shifted to “how long do people spend in Epcot.” And Sandi has been happily chiming in on that diversion. Just saying. What are the rules? Is it just whatever Sandi says? I actually think keeping things mostly on topic is the right approach but it should be done consistently.

It’s a privately owned site with moderators who are volunteering…. I just roll with it.

 

[juliebee]

Sooo update @juliebee you are now stuck with me in week 49 for the next 40 years

Congratulations on getting your week 49 too!!! I'm so excited for you!

 

[DVCkidz]

I’m considering a direct DVC purchase (150–160 points) and would love input on VDH vs Poly and use year.

We’re a couple, stay in studios, and already own Boulder Ridge resale. We live on the West Coast and want to do one 3–4 night Disneyland trip every 12-18 months and 7–8 nights annually at WDW with a sprinkle of Aulani every couple years instead.

Our resale points limit us to VGC, so availability at Disneyland is tough. Buying direct would open VDH, but we don’t really need that many points at Disneyland. I love the Polynesian (stayed in the longhouses pre-tower) and if we go Poly, we’d get a fixed week contract to use occasionally. However the actual problem we’re trying to solve is access to VDH. I’d hate to get a Poly contract and not be able to get into VDH and end up frustrated. How is VDH studio access at 7 months if we go for the Poly contract?

The overall purchase cost difference is about $2100- Poly is higher. Dues higher at VDH by over $2/pt.

Which would you advise I buy—VDH or Poly—and why?
Also, I hate our current December use year. It's hard to walk a reservation into December or stay late Nov/early Dec. How painful would it be to make the direct contract a September use year since my resale contract is December?

Here is my take.

I'm kind of in the same boat. I've mulled around getting some Poly points because demand is so high. We bought 50 VDH when it first opened. Recently stayed and loved it. There are way more rooms in DW than there are in DL. If you really want to go, you can almost always get a room at SSR. You can't say the same for CA resorts. Even though I really want the Poly points, I think we'll be adding another 50 when we go to DL in March. We also have the Dec use year. It gives me a headache.