Does Home Resort Matter?

[ScottJ]

Hi All, I'm new to posting here but not new to the site. I've been reading over my DW's shoulder for years but decided to start posting on my own.

My DW & I just got back from WDW this morning, 12:30am to be exact. We took our second tour of DVC, our first tour was in 1998. We visited the AKV mock rooms on our trip, second to last day. I was wondering if anyone could help me with a few questions.

Does your home resort really matter? I was going to buy DVC for my DW when she graduated from college & was hoping the new DVC at the CR would be ready to sell in a year. Our guide told us it really didn't matter which resort was our home except we may be paying higher maintenance dues and people within the home resort have more time to book in advance.

Is it difficult to book at other resorts away from your home resort? I've heard that at times when you book you don't always receive the accomodation's you've requested.

If anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Home resort IS important if you have a specific resort you always want to stay at. For example, if you buy into OKW for the longer contract and lower points and lower dues but hope to book BCV or VWL during the holidays, you will likely be disappointed. On the other hand, if you plan to book whatever DVC is available and can't really book 11 months out anyway, then it's not so important. The key is being able to book those hard to get reservations in your home resort priority booking window. Specifically, things like BWV Boardwalk view or standard view rooms, AKV concierge or value rooms, Grand villas at ANY resort, VWL during December, BCV during Food and Wine festival, or ANYTHING specific early December in less than the 11 month window are all going to be difficult. Of course holiday times as well might be necessary for that 11 month window.

 

[Ducky4Disney]

The PP said it all Home resort importance is a matter of opinion. Think about when you want to travel, how early you you will be making your reservation, compare maintenance fees, and would you be OK if in the end you could only stay at your home resort.

We bought SSR while it was being built and we liked the general theme and room decor. We LOVE it there and if I had to stay there every trip I wouldn't bat an eye. I've tried BCV and it's ok; has some pro's and con's but not our favorite. This time we're staying a couple days at VWL before heading to SSR and I think I will really like VWL based on pics, reviews, and theme (uh-oh, may need a resale there).

Do I ever excpect to stay at VWL over Christmas booking at 7 months? No. It's possible but my heart isn't set on it.

Also, decide whether you need to buy from DVC or if a resale is a better option. Buying from DVC you will get certain incevntives but have a limited (if any) choice of home resort. Buying resale doesn't have as many incentives but a lower $ per point and once your a member - reslae or DVC - you're a member, no difference.

Do you need DVC financing? Do you have to have your points right now? Are you looking to start with a small contract (under 160 pt DVC minimum)?

HTH

D4D

 

[TomD]

Here is my 2 cents

Buy Where You want to Stay

Here is my reasoning
Disney is opening more and more Villas. That means more people competing at the 7 month mark. Those extra 4 months are important. I tried getting into my home resort (BCV 1 bedroom) last October and was shut out the week we were going. I did get my second choice AKV.

 

[dzorn]

Buy where you want to stay the most. If you have no preference were you want to stay it does not matter but expect to stay at your home resort a majority of the time.

IF you are looking resale don't forget different resorts have different end dates if the number of years matter to you.

Denise in MI

 

[crisi]

Or "buy where you won't be disappointed to end up." If you buy SSR but dislike the resort, then you are looking at needing to make other reservations at the seven month window - and sometimes it may be hard to get what you want. If you buy SSR and don't mind it - but would like to stay other places occationally, then you won't be disappointed if nothing else is available.

Of course, if you can't plan more than seven months out, it really won't matter anyway.

 

[Kathi OD]

Or "buy where you won't be disappointed to end up." If you buy SSR but dislike the resort, then you are looking at needing to make other reservations at the seven month window - and sometimes it may be hard to get what you want. If you buy SSR and don't mind it - but would like to stay other places occationally, then you won't be disappointed if nothing else is available.

Of course, if you can't plan more than seven months out, it really won't matter anyway.

I think this is a good buying strategy.

 

[camack7827]

I actually think the best advice is "Don't buy where you don't want to stay".

If you read the boards, you'll fine passionate likes and dislikes about each resort. Some are very well founded opinions, due to location, size, theme, etc. In all honesty, I think a most of the opinions are "mine is the best because I own it and yours is not because I don't own it". Just like in life, you hear most from the extreme ends of the spectrum. I think you'll find 80% of DVC owners are pretty comfortable in most resorts, with a "top 3 favorites".

I was hell bent on BLT due to location, and still have a desire to add-on there at some point (unless the Poly gets a DVC wing!). I am not particular to the theme at all, in fact if I had to pick a theme that best fits me it's probably VWL. That said, I just put an offer in at SSR. I'm not particularly drawn to SSR, other than the price to own/maintain there. My family tends to travel off-peak, so I'm hoping I can get into each of the other resorts at one time or another at the 7 month window, if not, I'm sure we'll be just fine at SSR.

The truth is, unless you've been a member for a while and stayed at each resort, I think it's really hard to determine where YOU want to stay. On top of that, 40-50 years is a long time and what is important to you now probably won't be important to you then. Right now I'm interested in access to MK (BLT?) and pools for my young kids (BCV). 15 years from now, maybe I'll be partial to the bigger rooms at OKW or proximity to Downtown Disney (SSR) or access to shopping or nightlife at SSR or BWV. Heck, 5-6 years from now I might be at AKL a ton due to my kids loving animals...

Bottom line, my advice is don't stress on where to purchase if you are going resale. Eliminate the resorts you DON'T want to own at due to maintenance fees, or lack of ammenities, or location, etc. You'll be left with a handful of good options, find the contract that fits your needs and go for it!

To answer the second question, I don't think it's that difficult to book at the 7 month window *if you are flexible*. Of course, time of year and room is important too. For Example, if you REALLY want to stay at BWV in October (F&W Festival), you might end up with the ability to book a more expensive room (1BR Pref. View?) but not a Studio. As somone else pointed out, I think as Disney adds resorts and members, the 7 month window will become more and more important. That said, see the ramble above about not buying where you don't want to stay.

Good luck!
Chris

 

[BillPA]

If you are one that can't, for many reasons, book 7-11 ahead, just buy the best deal. At 7 months a point is a point. Remember in the long run, it's the yearly dues that will cost the most $$$.

 

[ScottJ]

OK I understand yearly dues but our guide told DW & I that they were basically the same from one resort to another. He said the main difference would be the booking times. Are yearly dues that drastic from one to the other?

Originally, our trip to meet with a guide was suppose to be our first step towards DVC. My DW will be graduating from college & DVC was to be a gift. This was to occur about a year from now & the new DVC at CR should be open by then. I was hoping to buy there but didn't know if it really mattered or not. Our guide made it sound as if there be no problem getting into that DVC.

We were shown the mock ups of AKV & loved the look. However AKV is a long way from everything. If we wait for the new DVC, the location is awesome however either AKV will be given a ton of incentives to buy or DVC at CR will be at such a premium that as a first time buyer I may think twice as where to buy. As it is with the current incentives, I think buying direct from DVC would be for us.

Small Contract? I didn't know this was possible. Could we buy at AKV then add points from the new DVC & both resorts treated as our home? Would we be able to combine the points from both resort if we had multiple homes?

 

[ScottJ]

Sorry I didn't add this. We really don't know the DVC properties very well other than location. DW & I are far more familiar with the non-DVC resorts. We definitely would like to try the different resorts. So being able to book elsewhere is important to us.

Included in my reasoning for waiting for the new CR DVC was that if all failed we have a spot at the doorstep to MK.

 

[RobDoc]

OK I understand yearly dues but our guide told DW & I that they were basically the same from one resort to another. He said the main difference would be the booking times. Are yearly dues that drastic from one to the other?

Here is the history of DVC annual fees at all of the resorts. You'll need to decide for yourself if they are basically the same from one resort to another :

Year OKW BWV VB VB(sub) HH VWL BCV SSR AKV

2008 4.56 5.04 6.04 4.71 5.16 4.87 4.80 4.21 4.71
2007 4.40 4.85 5.63 4.39 4.98 4.73 4.63 4.12 4.62
2006 4.24 4.69 5.27 4.12 4.34 4.61 4.48 3.98
2005 3.86 4.41 4.87 3.84 3.86 4.35 4.27 3.83
2004 3.68 4.25 4.67 3.67 3.70 4.22 4.18 3.80
2003 3.49 4.11 4.37 4.37 3.69 4.05 3.97
2002 3.22 3.92 4.17 3.33 3.49 3.80 3.77
2001 3.13 3.83 3.98 2.70 3.32 3.63
2000 3.16 3.94 4.07 2.87 3.25 3.62
1999 3.16 4.02 3.99 2.82 3.18
1998 3.17 3.94 ---- 2.76 3.20
1997 3.14 3.84 ---- 2.90 3.16
1996 2.99 3.70 ---- 2.82 3.16
1995 2.84
1994 2.70
1993 2.63
1992 2.56
1991 2.51

There is no problem staying at different resorts as long as you are flexible with your dates, resort or villa type.

 

[DebbieB]

I love the Boardwalk boardwalk view. I always get it when I reserve 10 or 11 months out. It would be iffy at 7 months.

 

[Caskbill]

.......

Small Contract? I didn't know this was possible. Could we buy at AKV then add points from the new DVC & both resorts treated as our home? Would we be able to combine the points from both resort if we had multiple homes?

You can only combine points at 7-months. Prior to that you may only use home resort points to book at a home resort.

If you bought 160 AKV points today, and later for example bought 50 BLT points, then at 8 to11 months you could only book up to 160 points at AKV, and you could only book a room at BLT up to 50 points. Basically you can only use each home resort's points at your two different home resorts.

At 7-months, you would have all 210 points pooled and you could book at any resort using some or all of those points.

 

[Caskbill]

OK I understand yearly dues but our guide told DW & I that they were basically the same from one resort to another. He said the main difference would be the booking times. Are yearly dues that drastic from one to the other?

As you can see by Doc's List, dues range from $4.21 (SSR ) to $6.04 (VB). On a 160 point contract that's a difference of almost $300/year.

Even staying at WDW, the range of resorts is $4.21 to $5.04. A difference of $133/year for a 160 point contract.