DVC booking patterns affect on purchase

[Pluto777]

I know I'll probably hear the "buy where you want to stay" anthem when I post this, but...

Right NOW there is a pattern on the R.A.T. showing busy seasons and slower seasons. YES I know the busy vs slow month patterns may change over time, but how long will that take and what will the new patterns be? (GUESSTIMATES are WELCOME). For the buyer with small kids who KNOWS he will likely be traveling in the slower times (perhaps August?) doesn't it make more sense to buy the cheaper points and switch at 7 months vs paying up for the more expensive points? WI have a tight budget and can't afford to overstretch my budget. Opinions WELCOME : )

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I think that's reasonable. Most especially if you are looking at larger villas - 1 or 2 BR's eventually. I'd probably add one caveat though - to buy a resort that you are ok staying at simply because you don't know how things might shift. But by that time you might have had your run on Disney or if budget allowed you might sell the SSR and buy where you really want to stay if something has developed. As long as you know that at some point in time it might mean you're at SSR and you're good with that I think it's an idea that works. I've said before that I think it all would have worked out ok for us if we had taken that route and that's even not going during the summer but during busy times. But we're often doing the larger villas.

 

[CraigInPA]

It is becoming more difficult to switch over time. There are numerous theories for this, including points rentals (using points that would have normally not been used), Poly Bungalows (a significant number of points were allotted for bungalows, but most of the points were sold in increments that would not allow one to stay in a bungalow more than a few days), CCV Cabins (same issue as Poly Bungalows), and people buying where they want to stay in order to have a high percentage chance of getting a studio at a particular resort (BCV during Food and Wine, monorail resorts all the time, etc...)

Today, there are slow times where it is possible to get some accommodations at 5 or 6 months, especially if you want a one bedroom. However, there are also accommodations that more or less require you to be online at 11 months to get them (AKL CL level, certain value studios, race weekend studios everywhere, etc...)

I'm in the "buy where you want to stay" camp if you're looking at studios because I don't want to be frustrated that I couldn't switch at 7 months, and location is important to me.

 

[pineapplepalms]

We definitely took that into consideration and bought SSR resale points for slower season stays or stays where we're fine "gambling" where we end up - this is our "buy where you don't mind staying" home resort. Since we bought mostly for 1BR and 2BR villas I think that'll work out well for the foreseeable future. Although we did also follow the "buy where you want to stay" advice for our other two home resorts since we're more likely to use those during the harder to book times.

 

[Pluto777]

It is becoming more difficult to switch over time. There are numerous theories for this, including points rentals (using points that would have normally not been used), Poly Bungalows (a significant number of points were allotted for bungalows, but most of the points were sold in increments that would not allow one to stay in a bungalow more than a few days), CCV Cabins (same issue as Poly Bungalows), and people buying where they want to stay in order to have a high percentage chance of getting a studio at a particular resort (BCV during Food and Wine, monorail resorts all the time, etc...)

Today, there are slow times where it is possible to get some accommodations at 5 or 6 months, especially if you want a one bedroom. However, there are also accommodations that more or less require you to be online at 11 months to get them (AKL CL level, certain value studios, race weekend studios everywhere, etc...)

I'm in the "buy where you want to stay" camp if you're looking at studios because I don't want to be frustrated that I couldn't switch at 7 months, and location is important to me.

Thx for that insight!

 

[gillep]

We were seriously considering purchasing resale SSR instead of our BCV contract, and getting enough SSR points to stay in 1 bedrooms as they are less in-demand than studios, thinking that could be a way to stay at BCV without the downsides (higher costs shorter contract length) of purchasing BCV. In the end we went with BCV mostly because not only do we travel in high-demand DVC seasons, but we also go for race weekends and we just weren't willing to chance it. If looking to stay in a studio I still recommend buying where you want to stay regardless of season, but that's because location is very important to us, if going for a 1 bedroom you have more flexibility, and if you aren't as set in a particular location for a trip you have more flexibility still.

 

[Pluto777]

It is becoming more difficult to switch over time. There are numerous theories for this, including points rentals (using points that would have normally not been used), Poly Bungalows (a significant number of points were allotted for bungalows, but most of the points were sold in increments that would not allow one to stay in a bungalow more than a few days), CCV Cabins (same issue as Poly Bungalows), and people buying where they want to stay in order to have a high percentage chance of getting a studio at a particular resort (BCV during Food and Wine, monorail resorts all the time, etc...)

Today, there are slow times where it is possible to get some accommodations at 5 or 6 months, especially if you want a one bedroom. However, there are also accommodations that more or less require you to be online at 11 months to get them (AKL CL level, certain value studios, race weekend studios everywhere, etc...)

I'm in the "buy where you want to stay" camp if you're looking at studios because I don't want to be frustrated that I couldn't switch at 7 months, and location is important to me.

The point costs for POLY Bungalows are unREAL! Has ANYONE here ever stayed in them? I shudder to think what the cash price per night for them must be...Also the Cabins at CCV. In any event if you can afford POLY Bungalows, you probably don't worry about silly things like a 'budget' the way I do ; )

 

[DougEMG]

I'm in the "buy where you want to stay" camp if you're looking at studios because I don't want to be frustrated that I couldn't switch at 7 months, and location is important to me.

Totally agree with this and would just add then assumes you can book before the 7 month window opens and the early to 11 months the better. If you are wanting studios, I would strongly suggest that you buy where you want to stay, otherwise you are going to be disappointed a lot of the time.

 

[The Jackal]

The point costs for POLY Bungalows are unREAL! Has ANYONE here ever stayed in them? I shudder to think what the cash price per night for them must be...Also the Cabins at CCV. In any event if you can afford POLY Bungalows, you probably don't worry about silly things like a 'budget' the way I do ; )

Late April Poly bungalow nightly rate is $2,727.

CCV cabin rate next week is $2,514.

CCV cabins are a deal on points.

 

[Madame]

Late April Poly bungalow nightly rate is $2,727.

CCV cabin rate next week is $2,514.

CCV cabins are a deal on points.

 

[Jelly563]

The whole idea of "buying points to sleep around on" is so overplayed. You will ALWAYS be competing with THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of people who are trying to upgrade to the reservations they couldn't afford to purchase.

 

[Bambi19]

We were seriously considering purchasing resale SSR instead of our BCV contract, and getting enough SSR points to stay in 1 bedrooms as they are less in-demand than studios, thinking that could be a way to stay at BCV without the downsides (higher costs shorter contract length) of purchasing BCV. In the end we went with BCV mostly because not only do we travel in high-demand DVC seasons, but we also go for race weekends and we just weren't willing to chance it. If looking to stay in a studio I still recommend buying where you want to stay regardless of season, but that's because location is very important to us, if going for a 1 bedroom you have more flexibility, and if you aren't as set in a particular location for a trip you have more flexibility still.

This is why I went with BCV- I didn't want to chance it... I wanted to have my home resort here since I could rent them out for more if needed, and this is the location I want pretty much every time. Plus the other resorts aren't as hard to get, so I would have a better chance of booking AKL at 7 months in the future if I wanted. Plus, I wanted to be close to the boardwalk for walks and those amenities, AND the pool... we can pool hop to some other pools from Stormalong Bay, but you can't pool hop to Stormalong bay... so all those were factors.

 

[Pluto777]

Late April Poly bungalow nightly rate is $2,727.

CCV cabin rate next week is $2,514.

CCV cabins are a deal on points.

$2727.00 PER night??? That better include free ice!

 

[Matty B13]

$2727.00 PER night??? That better include free ice!

Dole whips!

 

[Bambi19]

Late April Poly bungalow nightly rate is $2,727.

CCV cabin rate next week is $2,514.

CCV cabins are a deal on points.

Whaaaa?

 

[skippytx]

Like others have said, if you're OK not getting to switch at 7 months and staying at your home resort, go for it. SSR is a good deal from a dues and point cost perspective.

Personally we love BLT and would be heartbroken if we didn't get to stay there, so I paid the premium for BLT points. The dues aren't too bad at BLT so we felt the extra initial point cost was worth it to stay where you really want to stay.

My personal opinion though is people focus way too much on the initial purchase of DVC points and forget in the long term, the points and dues (somewhat) are a small portion of all the money you are going to be spending on your WDW vacations. It's still significant, don't get me wrong, but think of all money you're going to spend on airfare/travel, food, tickets, etc, and that's the real cost. Like Bill and many others say, DVC members tend to start spending more on vacations then less.

I'm really big in the buy where you want to stay camp, especially if you won't be happy not staying there. I know my vacation tastes will change as I get older. With young kids BLT is tops for me due to location, and I like the modern feel of it all. I can definitely see wanting to stay at SSR or OKW as we get older and our vacation strategy changes. My wife and I will probably always vacation at WDW, but how we vacation will change.

Also as others have mentioned, DVC doesn't really have a slow season anymore. More folks are renting points out, DVC itself keeps growing and adding new members, all who might want to try different resorts. The 11 month window is only going to get more important. With TS land and SW land opening, then the 50th in a few years, DVC and WDW are going to be really busy for the next 4-5 years assuming the economy stays decent.

 

[Bambi19]

Another issue I read about is this: with resorts that aren't at WDW, such as Aulani, people will buy direct Aulani with the idea of sometimes using points at WDW resorts at the 7 month window. Which means that new DVC members are being added that will be competing with anyone who is buying in focused on the economic point value rather than the buy where you want to stay people. So buying resale SSR with the hope of staying elsewhere is getting to be a worse and worse idea... it is only going to get harder and harder with this new competition.

 

[Pluto777]

Another issue I read about is this: with resorts that aren't at WDW, such as Aulani, people will buy direct Aulani with the idea of sometimes using points at WDW resorts at the 7 month window. Which means that new DVC members are being added that will be competing with anyone who is buying in focused on the economic point value rather than the buy where you want to stay people. So buying resale SSR with the hope of staying elsewhere is getting to be a worse and worse idea... it is only going to get harder and harder with this new competition.

Yeah, but they are NOT opening more resorts OUTSIDE WDW are they? the next ones I BELIEVE (and I do not know for certain, though Riviera is under construction near CBR) will be INSIDE WDW, therefore this thesis may not be correct...

 

[Bambi19]

Yeah, but they are NOT opening more resorts OUTSIDE WDW are they? the next ones I BELIEVE (and I do not know for certain, though Riviera is under construction near CBR) will be INSIDE WDW, therefore this thesis may not be correct...

True, and I actually hope they won't build any more anytime soon! But they are still selling new Aulani direct, bringing in new DVC members with their home resort outside of WDW, and I think the Aulani resort is the main reason why it's been harder to book at 7 months. But just a theory

 

[Pluto777]

True, and I actually hope they won't build any more anytime soon! But they are still selling new Aulani direct, bringing in new DVC members with their home resort outside of WDW, and I think the Aulani resort is the main reason why it's been harder to book at 7 months. But just a theory

Yes but my point is that IF they build more DVC INSIDE WDW, does that NOT make the 'generic' 7 month points that much more valuuable for those who wish to 'sleep around' the WDW resorts as people try to 'sample' various DVC places?