Fiance thinks we need to buy through Disney.. I say resale.. WDYT?

[JimMIA]

Just out of curiosity, how much are member fees on those Wyndam points? If you've got the equivalent of 600 DVC points, that would be ballpark $3300/year if it were DVC.

About $2,400 per year, including everything, for my contract (501,000 points at Wyndham Great Smoky Mountains).

Like any other timeshare system with multiple resorts (including DVC), the annual costs can vary quite a bit from resort to resort. Great Smoky Mountains is a pretty low-MF resort, which was a major factor in my decision to buy there.

 

[Dean]

Just out of curiosity, how much are member fees on those Wyndam points? If you've got the equivalent of 600 DVC points, that would be ballpark $3300/year if it were DVC.

Assuming 2 weeks in a 2 BR at a top place, it'd be at or under $2K for Bluegreen with full RCI access included. That's for 36K points. As one goes larger, BG tends to look better and better due to the fee setup having a base plus so much per point.

 

[JimMIA]

Personally I think buying to trade routinely for any option is a poor choice and major mistake. Too few guarantees and too many variables.

I just have to re-quote this, because it's easy to lose sight of the main points when we start focusing on details like "How much are your MFs?"

The best reason to buy any timeshare is to use it within its own system -- whether it's a very large system like Wyndham or a small system like DVC.

If the purchase doesn't make sense for what you can do without using any other options, it just doesn't make sense...period.

Nobody should buy Wyndham, or Bluegreen, or Hilton, or Marriott, or DVC, or any other fine system, unless that system makes sense by itself without going outside.

 

[MountainMouse]

Assuming 2 weeks in a 2 BR at a top place, it'd be at or under $2K for Bluegreen with full RCI access included. That's for 36K points. As one goes larger, BG tends to look better and better due to the fee setup having a base plus so much per point.

Thanks for the information, that seems comparable to DVC if it's off season a little better if it's prime. I'm actually glad you provided the BG comparison because I had read a post (I think it was on TUG) that indicated BG maintenance fees were very high.

 

[MountainMouse]

About $2,400 per year, including everything, for my contract (501,000 points at Wyndham Great Smoky Mountains). Like any other timeshare system with multiple resorts (including DVC), the annual costs can vary quite a bit from resort to resort. Great Smoky Mountains is a pretty low-MF resort, which was a major factor in my decision to buy there.

Thanks.

 

[Dean]

Thanks for the information, that seems comparable to DVC if it's off season a little better if it's prime. I'm actually glad you provided the BG comparison because I had read a post (I think it was on TUG) that indicated BG maintenance fees were very high.

As mini systems go, BG is a very good one overall with it's very good points and it's less than good ones, just like DVC, etc as Jim mentioned. I chose the 36K points because I felt it comparable to the 600 DVC points, for an off season comparison, I would have chosen less. So $2K vs $3K roughly compared to DVC and a major up front difference. Each system has it's quirks. When it comes to MF, DVC does it by resort with a couple having subsidized and non subsidized packages, Wyndham is normally by resort as Jim points out, BG is by trust spread out over a number of resorts for most of their packages. This makes BG look better and better as the total points owned gets larger assuming they are in the usual trust fund E. That's why when we've looked at comparing one week in a 2 BR DVC dues look decent when compared to Marriott, BG, Wyndham, etc and if you throw in the other fees.

 

[djohn06]

Sounds like you need 2 timeshares. I too purchased DVC resale and two el cheapo timeshares on eBay for closing costs only. That will satisfy both of your needs at a minimal costs.

You do not want to ever trade out of DVC into another resort. It's a very bad use of finances. Plus, You never get equal value when doing so. Lastly, You can rent your DVC points for 2 to 3 times your annual maint fees. There are not many resorts in which you can do this in the timeshare world.

In terms of which DVC resorts to buy resale. You sound like a young couple. The only one I would recommend resale would be Bay Lake Tower. The Epcot resorts will not give you the sufficient amount of years (same with wilderness lodge). SSR is cheap but again I believe BLT gives you more 5 or 6 more years. Plus when u have kids you will enjoy that walk to MK from BLT.

I wasn't sure if you said AKV was out of the picture resale or if it was out of the picture direct. Either way, my choice out the gate would be buy where you want to stay and the place that you enjoy the most that will maximize your dollars. To me resale wise, it's BLT. Now if you don't like the theming of BLT maybe SSR (which is 30 percent less) is your next choice.

VGF and the Poly are about 50 to 60 percent higher than BLT. To me they won't be worth the direct purchase from a financial standpoint.

 

[bakerworld]

Another point to consider when deciding on the amount of points to purchase - whether resale or direct - is how TS ownership will effect your vacation habits. Since purchasing DVC we find it satisfies our vacation needs to the point we're actually forcing ourselves to do a vacation elsewhere about every other year. This past year we restricted ourselves to 2 week long vacations in WDW and found we really missed that 3rd week even tho we went to VA. I keep waiting for WDW to become 'old' but it hasn't happened yet.

As much as posters complain about Disney backing off various aspects - room upgrades, decorations, ride offerings - we still can't wait to return.