Edited + POLL: best use year and resort for our needs?... UPDATED: Offer accepted!

[kboo]

Well, the good news is we have pretty much decided to buy DVC and will not need to finance to do it. But ... everything else is still up in the air!

We have 2 kids, 5.5 years and 15 months. Our birthdays fall as follows - DH - July 3, me - end of august, DD#1 - Labor Day weekend, DD#2 - Thanksgiving. DD1 also started a pretty rigorous school so we are now stuck with school vacation times - she doesn't get out until late June and usually starts the week after Labor Day, with long vacations over President's week and in April, (and T-giving and Xmas, of course) and shorter breaks for the Jewish holidays in Sept/Oct.

So - questions as follows:
Use year: Right now we are most likely to go for a week in the summer and/or in February and April. Someday we'd like to go for T-giving or Xmas but I doubt that will be a regular thing, ditto with a long weekend in the fall. We'd probably go for at least a week each year, at least while the kids are small.

Resort: BLT seems to be the best combination of "buy where you wouldn't mind staying if you can't find anything else," cost, and convenience - we love being able to walk to MK and the transportation hub there, makes it easy to get everywhere else. BUT I could also see as the kids get older wanting to stay on the Boardwalk, especially after the HS expansion, and possibly wanting a 2BR instead of a studio or 1BR now.

Help? Mostly on use year, since I think we'd be happy at BLT, BCV or BWV, I may just look at all 3 since I think use year is going to be more important for us.

Thanks in advance!

 

[bwvBound]

Of your three resorts, I'd focus on BLT for the longer contract! (Keep in mind that both BWV and BCV belong to the 1st wave of expirations, 2042.) A FEB UY would cover your earliest travel period through Oct travel. Yes, the FEB UY's last banking day is SEPT 30 -- but you would have needed to cancel your OCT travel plans 31 days before travel to avoid holding -- so SEPT banking should be 'mostly' OK.

Sadly, any Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years trips would be at-risk of short-term HOLDING points should you cancel those reservations. Congratulations on having a year-round plan for travel ... but, indeed, that makes choosing a UY pretty difficult.

I suppose you could look at a fall UY (SEPT UY banks at end of April) -- but that is too risky, in my option, as it puts your summer vacation travel at risk. You might be a candidate to "underbuy" for the initial purchase ... leaving a little room for an additional contract, down the road, in a different UY to cover your goals. Perhaps an Epcot resort with a Fall UY to cover the Oct, Nov, Dec events?

 

[disneynutz]

There is a thread "understanding UY" here somewhere. UY becomes important if you cancel a reservation because you can only bank your points during the first 8 months of your UY. Select a UY at the start of the 8 months that covers the months that you will vacation.

I suggest that you spend some time at the different resorts and maybe take your favorites out for a test drive before buying.

Bill

 

[kboo]

I suggest that you spend some time at the different resorts and maybe take your favorites out for a test drive before buying.

Bill

Oh, we are doing that! So far in the name of research we have stayed at BLT and BWV, and will be staying at VGF and BCV this summer. And we've stayed at AKL and GF and CR in hotel rooms as well. I think based on cost and length of contract BLT is going to be the best $ value, but I've been reading a lot about availability in the fall at the Epcot resorts.

Also - for the first (ha) contract, I think we were thinking about $150 points? That seems like it would be enough for a week in a studio for most of the times we'd be looking - and if we needed additional points we could borrow or trade or rent, right?

 

[lovin'fl]

We vacay with DVC from Aug to NYE mostly (soon adding first week of March to the repertoire) and we have June and Aug UYs and they have worked well.

 

[kboo]

So --- maybe a Feb UY at BLT and June or August UY at an Epcot resort for fall/holidays?

(See how I did that -- went from 1 DVC purchase to 2... now to sell that idea to DH...!)

 

[bumbershoot]

I get that people want to be perfect, it we bought the UY offered and one of the two resorts offered* and we have been happy with the experience. And we live dangerously, too, with several December trips despite a February UY.

Hubby and son still haven't set foot in our home resort (bay lake) though I've stayed there twice with my cousin.


* we hadn't even been to wdw. My guys hadn't even been to Florida!

 

[Nie0214]

We are in ROFR on an October use year, since we travel fall/winter 90% of the time. I think we won't be able to avoid a summer trip (June, maybe August) here and there over the course of a 45+ year contract, so we'll be living "on the edge" too. Worst case, we travel in September for a few days, rent them, or give to family members. I'm not too concerned for the one-off years where we might travel at a time that sucks for our UY.

 

[bwvBound]

Oh, we are doing that! So far in the name of research we have stayed at BLT and BWV, and will be staying at VGF and BCV this summer. And we've stayed at AKL and GF and CR in hotel rooms as well. I think based on cost and length of contract BLT is going to be the best $ value, but I've been reading a lot about availability in the fall at the Epcot resorts.

Also - for the first (ha) contract, I think we were thinking about $150 points? That seems like it would be enough for a week in a studio for most of the times we'd be looking - and if we needed additional points we could borrow or trade or rent, right?

RENT/TRANSFER - yes! Consider having your 'base' contract at BLT with the option to TRANSFER points from a different resort and UY when needed. When you rent points as a Transfer, the transaction maintains both home resort and UY of the points you've transferred into your account. This opens up options in how, where and when you use points, both yours and others.

 

[Marionnette]

So --- maybe a Feb UY at BLT and June or August UY at an Epcot resort for fall/holidays?

(See how I did that -- went from 1 DVC purchase to 2... now to sell that idea to DH...!)

I would not go with 2 different UYs - at least not at the beginning of DVC ownership. You end up with two memberships and keeping track of the points gets confusing. Even at the 7-month window, you cannot combine points from different UYs to complete a reservation unless you actually transfer the points from one membership into the other. You will also end up paying a higher per-point cost for those smaller contracts and closing costs on each of them.

IMO, one contract is the way to start. You can always purchase additional contracts later when you have a better feel for the way DVC works.

 

[rg35]

You may be OK with studio rooms and 150 points for now, but once your 15 month old hits 3, they will count towards the occupancy in a room. Almost all DVC studios have a max occupancy of 4 (except for the Poly studios, which sleep 5).

Personally, I think even having 4 + an infant in a studio is going to be tight, but that's subjective.

My recommendation would be to see if you can afford enough points to book 1BRs, because you will quickly outgrow a studio (if you haven't already in practical but not legal terms).

 

[Nie0214]

You may be OK with studio rooms and 150 points for now, but once your 15 month old hits 3, they will count towards the occupancy in a room. Almost all DVC studios have a max occupancy of 4 (except for the Poly studios, which sleep 5).

Personally, I think even having 4 + an infant in a studio is going to be tight, but that's subjective.

My recommendation would be to see if you can afford enough points to book 1BRs, because you will quickly outgrow a studio (if you haven't already in practical but not legal terms).

They only have two kids so they won't have to worry about occupancy but I totally agree. We are a family of 3 and the one bedrooms are where it's at. I can't go back!

 

[rg35]

One thing to note about point transfers - many DVC owners are reluctant to transfer points because you can only transfer points once per UY.

Last year I wrote a few point renters asking if they would transfer instead of rent, and all were outright unwilling to or unable because they already used their one transfer. I didn't conduct an exhaustive pursuit, but my impression was that transfers are not easy to come by.

 

[rg35]

They only have two kids so they won't have to worry about occupancy but I totally agree. We are a family of 3 and the one bedrooms are where it's at. I can't go back!

Oops! Thanks. In my mind I counted the 2 as an extra kid.

 

[kboo]

Yes - we are quite happy with our two, and both girls who love each other a lot. We stayed in a BWV 1BR back in 2015 before our younger daughter was born, and it even though we all slept in the same room, it was nice to have a separate room to hang out in at night after she'd gone to sleep. And we've since traveled and stayed several places where all 4 of us were sleeping in the same room, which is also *fine*, but I do get the attraction of that extra room, not to mention the full kitchen and the w/d.

 

[kboo]

I would not go with 2 different UYs - at least not at the beginning of DVC ownership. You end up with two memberships and keeping track of the points gets confusing. Even at the 7-month window, you cannot combine points from different UYs to complete a reservation unless you actually transfer the points from one membership into the other. You will also end up paying a higher per-point cost for those smaller contracts and closing costs on each of them.

IMO, one contract is the way to start. You can always purchase additional contracts later when you have a better feel for the way DVC works.

LOL, I was semi-joking. But only semi. DD2 is still little but I could see her wanting to go to WDW for a birthday trip someday too - and it works out nicely since her birthday's around Thanksgiving (she was literally born on Thanksgiving 2015). I've always wanted to see the holiday decorations and so it makes sense that we'd go in November at least once. Same with F&W - we've been to F&G 3 times now, and really love it. Of course we could "live on the edge" and use Feb UY points. In any event, we would certainly buy a "smaller" contract and see how things go and how often we go. As it is right now we seem to be going at least once a year, so chances are we'd end up buying more points anyway.

 

[kboo]

So... talk me out of VGF? I know, I'm not supposed to be adding to the list of possible resorts. When I started this thread I really thought we were decided on BLT.

It looks like it would be really difficult to get a studio at VGF at 11 months, but being practical, I see us budgeting to buy points for a 1BR now anyway. And after talking to DH last night, who reminded me that DD1's fave is GF, and that we all really liked staying at the hotel last year... I'm wondering if it is going to be that hard to book a 1BR at the 7mo window in February, April or late August?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

So... talk me out of VGF? I know, I'm not supposed to be adding to the list of possible resorts. When I started this thread I really thought we were decided on BLT.

It looks like it would be really difficult to get a studio at VGF at 11 months, but being practical, I see us budgeting to buy points for a 1BR now anyway. And after talking to DH last night, who reminded me that DD1's fave is GF, and that we all really liked staying at the hotel last year... I'm wondering if it is going to be that hard to book a 1BR at the 7mo window in February, April or late August?

You'd get into a 1BR at VGF during those months most, if not all the time at 7 months. Studios at VGF are also really only difficult during the first week or two of December at 11 months and a bit tough during the rest of the fall time like Oct or Jersey week at 11 months. Other times of the year one can sometimes get them at 7 months but IMO it's still best to own for studios for anytime if VGF is where you want to stay.

So, is it studios or 1BR's? lol

I give a bit of a plus to BLT for the 1BR's because you have 2 full bathrooms vs VGF which is a split bathroom with only 1 shower and 1 toilet.

 

[kboo]

So, is it studios or 1BR's? lol

LOL you caught me. For a post that is supposed to help me figure out what I want, it is just opening up more things to think about. I guess the answer is, I want it all....?

I sorta think that we are eventually going to end up in 1BR and maybe even occasionally 2BR as the girls get older and we just want more space, more bathrooms, and if they were to invite a friend or 2 along (or we invited my sister and her kids). But, that is a long way off. So I calmed myself down and talked myself back down to 150 points, which seems like it'd be enough for a studio one year and a 1Br the next, alternating years. (Yes, I know, once we stay in a 1BR we will probably never want to stay in a studio again. And I did do a video walkthrough of a BLT studio and ... wow those are small.)

Off to browse resale listings again, instead of doing work...

 

[Deb & Bill]

I did book a one bedroom standard view at GFV at seven months out for the end of May for six nights. I could have booked seven nights, but I didn't want to use that many points. Plus we have a week at the beach right after that stay.

April (if it's Easter time) could be harder. February and late August might not be so hard to get.