Everything you need to consider when deciding on your home resort

[DVCcurious]

If you are considering buying into DVC there is a lot to read and learn. I want to help out by putting a lot of the basic information in one spot.

Why should you care which resort you buy into? Because of the booking windows. You buy into a real estate interest at one of the resorts. This is your "home" resort. Owners can book their home resort beginning at 11 months prior to the arrival date. Owners may book rooms at another resort starting at 7 months prior to the arrival date. This gives resort owners a 4-month head start.

So if you own at Bay Lake Tower and are traveling in on July 1, 2016 you can book Bay Lake Tower beginning on August 1, 2015 or any other resort beginning on December 1, 2015.

Not all resorts fill up equally quickly. Some resorts (BLT, Beach Club) have higher demand and lower supply than others (AKL savannah view, OKW). If you really want to stay at BLT, Beach Club, VWL during December, or GFV you need to own there. If you really want to stay at OKW or AKL savannah view you can own anywhere and you're almost 100% guaranteed to be able to book OKW or AKL at 7 months. So where you choose to buy really depends on where you want to stay.

Things to consider:
Part 1: Cost considerations:
Resale price: Some resorts sell for much more than others. BLT is like $100 per point, OKW is like $70 per point.
Annual Dues: Dues are not equal. SSR is about $5 and BWV is about $6. If you own 200 points that's an extra $200 per year, every year, you'll be paying for BWV.
Contract Expiration: Several resorts expire in 2042. Others expire much later. BLT costs about $100, BCV costs like $90. But BLT expires in 2060 and BCV expires in 2042. So for $10 per point BLT gives you 46 years vs 28 years at BCV. That's 60% more time for only 10% more cost up front.
Points required for a stay: I don't see this mentioned very often but it's the main driver of how much you'll spend on your vacations. Let's use the example of BLT Lake View vs OKW and a 1 BR in July.

BLT Lake view 301 points
OKW 222 points.

You can see that the cost difference to buy and stay at BLT is actually a lot more than $30 per point because you have to buy so many more points.

BLT = 301*100 = 30,100 to buy in + dues of 4.78 * 301 = 1,438 per year
OKW = 222 *70 = 15,550 to buy in + dues of 5.54 * 222 = 1,230 per year

So for the exact same stay (1 week in a 1 BR in July) a buyer of BLT will spend $14,550 more up front and $208 per year than a buyer of OKW.

Lots of people focus on the dues per point, not the actual dues you'd pay for a room type. As you can see, BLT has much lower dues per point than OKW, but if you want to have a 1 BR for a week in July you'll end up spending more money per year in dues at BLT than if you want an OKW 1 BR. The total out of pocket is where you should focus, not the price per point.

Part 2: other considerations (non monetary)
Money isn't everything and there are other things you need to think about before deciding where to buy.

Location Location Location which really means Transportation Transportation Transportation: I HATE buses and LOVE Magic Kingdom. So I own two resorts that are near Magic Kingdom: VWL and BLT. Buses are a necessary evil, but if you love EPCOT or Hollywood Studios I'd strongly recommend Beach Club or Boardwalk, if you love Magic Kingdom I'd recommend VWL, BLT or GFV. The less time I'm on a bus the happier I am.

Theming: I spend at least a few hours each day at the resort, eating at the restaurant, hanging buy the pool, looking at the awesomeness that is the Wilderness Lodge lobby. DVC members tend to spend more time at their resort than non-DVC owners. I've been to WDW several times before, I'll be back several times in the future, so I don't have the desire to wait 110 minutes to ride the headliners in mid day. I can always ride Space Mountain once later tonight and be happy with my one ride, I don't need 7 rides on Space to be happy. My family heads back to our resort pretty much every day from 12-5. That's a lot of resort time and it's nice to have a theme that we enjoy.

Size of the resort/amenities/misc:
Animal Kingdom Lodge is HUGE. If you get put in the last room at the end of a wing you could be facing a 15 minute walk to the buses. VWL is small, if you're at the end of a wing you're looking at 5 minutes to get to the buses.

OKW and SSR are not hotel-style resorts. They are like condominium communities.

Room sizes are not equal. OKW 1 BRs are 950 Sq feet, SSR and VWL 1 BRs are 715 sq feet. That's a big difference.

Some resorts have 2 bathrooms in a 1 bedroom and others only have 1 bathroom.

Some resorts sleep 5 in a 1 BR or a studio, others only sleep 4.

Restaurants quality and style vary. Boardwalk doesn't have anything in the hotel, all the food options are on the boardwalk itself. AKV doesn't have a quick service at Kidani so you'll have to walk over to Jambo to get quick service.




My recommendation is to focus on the "everything else" first and narrow down your choices to 2 or 3. Then look at cost.

 

[dsnydaddy]

You've made some great points. A few of them I had not considered previously. Thanks for the analysis

 

[mort1331]

Very nice overview, something for the starter. I hope this doesn't turn into a thread about how to compare numbers, that is not the intention on how I read it. It is more about the "extras" to consider. Things that don't always have dollar signs infront of them.
Thanks

 

[DMKEDM]

An additional thought on the home resort booking advantage: you have to be able/willing to book 11-7 months ahead of a trip for the advantage to be worth anything...

The way my life is configured, I rarely can commit to time away that far in advance--so for me, the home resort booking advantage is not much of an advantage...

DVC ownership vastly increased the frequency of our trips...we go 3-4 times a year since we bought in in 2006...there has been a time or two when my attempt at a "last minute" booking resulted in failure--but far more often than not I can get something I want for a time I want...and I usually book some time between 6 months and 2 months prior to going...

It doesn't matter where I own (SSR and BCV) in these circumstances...my BCV home resort advantage is meaningless when I'm booking a trip that will take place in 6 months or less from the time of booking...

So...home resort advantage is a big deal IF and only if you can commit to your vacation time at 11 months (or before 7 months) ahead of your trip...

 

[JimMIA]

Not all resorts fill up equally quickly. Some resorts (BLT, Beach Club) have higher demand and lower supply than others (AKL savannah view, OKW). If you really want to stay at BLT, Beach Club, VWL during December, or GFV you need to own there. If you really want to stay at OKW or AKL savannah view you can own anywhere and you're almost 100% guaranteed to be able to book OKW or AKL at 7 months. So where you choose to buy really depends on where you want to stay.

I generally like your analysis, but I have to quibble a bit with this.

First of all, if you want to stay at ANY DVC resort in December, you have to own there...and you need to book exactly when your 11 month window opens. You will not get any DVC resort in December at seven months unless you get VERY lucky.

In addition, there are other times which can be quite difficult for some resorts. The classic is the annual Food and Wine Festival (late Sept-early Nov?) at either of the Epcot resorts (BCV & BWV).

There are also certain types of accommodations that you won't get without owning that resort:

• GV's anywhere
• BWV Boardwalk view or Standard view
• AKV Concierge level
• Treehouses at SSR

Also, Dani's caution above is well worth repeating:

An additional thought on the home resort booking advantage: you have to be able/willing to book 11-7 months ahead of a trip for the advantage to be worth anything...

Many, many people simply cannot plan and book 11 months in advance. If you can't, then cost of ownership should be your primary concern.

The final comment I would make is this: You will hear a lot of talk about "Buy where you want to stay." I think a much better guideline is "Buy where you would not mind staying." In other words, do NOT buy a home resort where you would not want to stay -- because sometimes you will have no alternative.

 

[mort1331]

First of all, if you want to stay at ANY DVC resort in December, you have to own there...and you need to book exactly when your 11 month window opens. You will not get any DVC resort in December at seven months unless you get VERY lucky.


There are also certain types of accommodations that you won't get without owning that resort:

• GV's anywhere
• BWV Boardwalk view or Standard view
• AKV Concierge level
• Treehouses at SSR

I was hoping this didn't turn into this type of thread, but here I am. These above generalizations are what scares people off.

I just did a quick check of mid Dec, with the new great availability app. There are multiple resorts with multi days, room cat, views available. Including full weeks for GVs and Treehouses at SSR.

This for the "busy" time and less then 2 months out. Flexability is always key.

 

[crisi]

The final comment I would make is this: You will hear a lot of talk about "Buy where you want to stay." I think a much better guideline is "Buy where you would not mind staying." In other words, do NOT buy a home resort where you would not want to stay -- because sometimes you will have no alternative.

I'll add "and consider not buying at all" - if you can only make your reservations a few months out and aren't flexible about where you stay - DVC might not be for you. If you like the resorts, you like having your bed made every day - DVC might not be for you. If the less frequent refurb schedule is going to drive you batty, DVC may not be for you. If you love bargains and live for free dining, DVC might not be for you. If you want studios with two read beds in them in near park resorts, DVC may not be for you. If you need more flexible cancellation policies, if you want to see the world using your timeshare......

DVC is what it is. Its an awesome fit for a lot of people here. But it isn't a good fit for everyone.

And frankly, we should scare far more people off than we do. Its a bad fit for more people than its a good fit for. For all sorts of reasons. And the pixie dust people snort on this board makes them a little impervious to being scared off to start with.

 

[JimMIA]

I was hoping this didn't turn into this type of thread, but here I am. These above generalizations are what scares people off.

I just did a quick check of mid Dec, with the new great availability app. There are multiple resorts with multi days, room cat, views available. Including full weeks for GVs and Treehouses at SSR.

This for the "busy" time and less then 2 months out. Flexability is always key.

My comments were based on my own experience in recent years. I still think one might "get lucky," but to be sure you get what you want you really have to book December 11 months out.

Sure, if you don't care where you stay you might get a day or two here and there. If you're flexible and only looking for a few days, you can often find something. One of my daughters got a 1 BR at SSR two years in a row for New Years Eve -- once a week out, and the other time after Christmas.

But I wouldn't want someone to be misled into expecting that kind of luck. Generally, ANY timeshare works best for those who plan far in advance -- and that is more true of DVC than most larger systems.

I'm amazed that SSR GV's and Treehouses are available, but you never know. They are probably available because they were booked at 11 months and canceled as 30 days approached. Great catch for someone!

 

[Dean]

Obviously there are many variables, some are objective and some are subjective. One has to fit all the info together like a jigsaw puzzle. One of the first questions is whether DVC makes sense at all and if it does resale for SSR or OKW, does it still make sense for retail at VGF. This is important because often the answer is yes for the first and no for the second, I'd say that's true FAR more often than not. That may mean that one doesn't buy in at all if they're only going to be happy with VGF or the Poly. IMO though the difficult times and difficult resorts are actually a lot easier to get than some think. It does require a bit of planning and a gambler's mentality at times and it may not be worth the hassle for many but it can be a very viable option even for early Dec, Easter, etc and can save thousands of dollars short and long term. You've just go to plan ahead, book at 7 months where applicable, be willing got piece together a stay and use the wait list actively.

The other component is one needs to be able to plan and predict the future needs to a degree. IMO far too many people buy in not knowing or understanding the system well enough. We've seen examples in the last few days of new members who didn't seem to understand the system as much as they should have prior to buying in. I believe it takes a certain amount of knowledge AND experience to make good DVC purchase choices. The people in the best situation to purchase are going to have a volume of DVC, non DVC timeshare and other Disney experiences, I think at least 2 of the 3 is a requirement to make an informed purchase.

 

[Tomstogs]

A lot of great info here...thank you all so much!

 

[zavandor]

Great thread! The "MF cost per stay" vs "raw MF" is not a topic we read often on this board but it's very sensible.
However I would add another point fo view: I like to change resort with every stay and I can be flexible enough to be able to travel in periods when I can get even the most difficul booking categories (I got once 2 weeks at AKV values at 7 months). In my case the resort with a low buy in coupled with low MF (SSR) was the best choice.

 

[crisi]

Great thread! The "MF cost per stay" vs "raw MF" is not a topic we read often on this board but it's very sensible.
However I would add another point fo view: I like to change resort with every stay and I can be flexible enough to be able to travel in periods when I can get even the most difficul booking categories (I got once 2 weeks at AKV values at 7 months). In my case the resort with a low buy in coupled with low MF (SSR) was the best choice.

AND you did a ton of research to understand your travel patterns against general travel patterns - you didn't assume early December was a slow season (or if you did, you adjusted your thought patterns when informed otherwise). I think you were better informed than most buyers, and therefore better able to weigh the risks of your choice.

 

[Docmom]

Nice thread putting all the factors together. Another thing I'd add is length of the contract, especially when calculating overall cost. So while OKW at $70 per point is certainly less expensive than BLT at $100 per point, BLT has about 18 years more "life" than the standard OKW contract. Even if you don't intend to keep it forever, in 15 years a BLT contract will still have about 30 years left vs 12 for OKW, in theory making it worth more on the resale market.