Help me decide ”how” to buy

[princesscinderella]

Poly is great the only downside is that it’s a studio or a bungalow which requires way too many points. No in-between options for 1 bedrooms and 2 bedrooms. So to me buying poly means only studio stays.

 

[ArtOfAnimationGotMe]

I think the studios will work fine for us for several years, because we are a family of three. My daughter will love the bed that folds out from the wall. Then I will add-on at riviera or boardwalk for my favorite ride at WDW: the Skyliner.

If I mostly travel in oct-nov or possibly march-april in the future for longer easter break: Will it be best with oct use year or march?

 

[princesscinderella]

I have a feb use year and my banking window is the end of September. That means any trips I have booked after September 30 if I cancel them I have to use those points somewhere else by January 31st. So March would be October 31st banking window, which should work for you. If you schedule Nov and Dec trips they make it harder to cancel because you would not be able to bank the points if you couldn’t make it. I didn’t pay attention to use year when I bought I just found a great deal on a BWV contract with feb use year and went for it. We are in south Florida so we can always go for a quick get away to use our points or send a friend up so we have never had a problem with our use year. I like that is February and goes as close as it gets to the calendar year it makes it easy to remember what points year I’m in and if I have to use my points at the last minute before they are going to expire the last half of January is not typically busy for DVC and I have always been able to book a stay somewhere.

 

[CarolMN]

If I mostly travel in oct-nov or possibly march-april in the future for longer easter break: Will it be best with oct use year or march?

Either would work well for you. But given the choice, I'd pick March or September because you may have to walk a studio reservation for the October time frame. You cannot successfully walk across use years.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

Alright, so I think it will be Poly. Expensive resort, but it speaks to me. Well not more/much more expensive to buy than CCV, but more per night. Or, MAYBE 50/50 Poly CCV, but seems like ”a lot of work”, combining and such.

I showed videos of the resort for my family, and they preferred poly to CCV.

I know, I’m buying it ”unseen”, but i have researched for 15 months. renting before I buy, is not an option when traveling from sweden. I’d rather put that chunk of money into buying straight away. If I Don’t like it I can use the points as SAP I guess, or sell.

now I just need to find my unicorn contract.

You will love the Poly. Having 3 people in those studios sounds pretty dreamy. It does cost more points though, as you know, so I would strongly recommend getting all 100 points there. I do enjoy doing split stays when we plan it that way, but I don’t like being forced into split-stays bc of lack of points.

I’m from the states, but also bought our first 2 resorts (BLT & Poly) “sight unseen” and couldn’t be happier! I couldn’t justify paying out-of-pocket costs, when that money could be going towards a contract!! Like you, I did a lot of research and watched a lot of videos. We certainly have learned what we do/do not like after owning several years, and that has affected future add-ons, but Bay Lake is still my hubby’s fav & the Poly is still my girls’ fav

I think the studios will work fine for us for several years, because we are a family of three. My daughter will love the bed that folds out from the wall. Then I will add-on at riviera or boardwalk for my favorite ride at WDW: the Skyliner.

If I mostly travel in oct-nov or possibly march-april in the future for longer easter break: Will it be best with oct use year or march?

We loooove the Skyliner! My boys’ favorite resort is a toss-up btw Beach Club (the pool & Skyliner access) and Riviera (the rooms & Skyliner attached)... are you seeing a theme? Just my opinion, but I wouldn’t choose the Boardwalk for actually using Skyliner bc you walk away from HS- to Epcot- just to fly back to HS. Even at BC, I couldn’t bear getting to HS via Skyliner (it takes longer than just walking, for sure!)... but I did let them Skyline back to BC for our afternoon breaks at Stormalong Bay & again in the evenings. It was wonderful!!

If you choose to add-on direct at the RIV, just remember that the minimum add-on is 50 points there, but you can add-on as little as 25 at the Boardwalk... and those 2 point charts are wildly different! It seems that the BW would work well for your goal to economize, and as long as you’re happy to just ride the Skyliner & not utilizing it to cut down on travel time, I’m sure you’d love it there

As to UY: I would choose Sept/Oct. No contest. Even with Sept., you wouldn’t need to bank until April 30, making March cancellations no worry (so long as it’s done more than 30 days out to avoid the dreaded holding- in normal- not covid- times ).

I wish you the best of luck as you stalk resale sites for your perfect match!

 

[ArtOfAnimationGotMe]

Hi, it’s me again

so, I want to hear your thoughts.
Mostly I Will, like I said, travel in november-dec or march-may. Once in a blue moon, Maybe in september... or during the summer...should I still try to get an October use year? Or August (september seems to be rarer than a unicorn).

I think October, but I have more choice of contracts with August. At least for now.

 

[CarolMN]

Hi, it’s me again

so, I want to hear your thoughts.
Mostly I Will, like I said, travel in november-dec or march-may. Once in a blue moon, Maybe in september... or during the summer...should I still try to get an October use year? Or August (september seems to be rarer than a unicorn).

I think October, but I have more choice of contracts with August. At least for now.

The banking deadline for August use years is the following March 31. With an August use year, your May vacations could be an issue if you have to cancel it after the preceding March 31. (April vacations are OK because if you cancel it after the preceding March 31, the points would go into holding and couldn't be banked anyway). Same logic applies to September use years.

The banking deadline for October use years is the following May 31, so all of your usual vacations have some degree of "use year insurance". You can bank points from cancelled vacations as long a you cancel at least 31 days in advance..

The question that only you can answer is: What is worth more to me - having additional time to cancel May vacations to still be able to bank or getting a use year that is more available? There are pros and cons to each.

Good luck with your decison.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

Hi, it’s me again

so, I want to hear your thoughts.
Mostly I Will, like I said, travel in november-dec or march-may. Once in a blue moon, Maybe in september... or during the summer...should I still try to get an October use year? Or August (september seems to be rarer than a unicorn).

I think October, but I have more choice of contracts with August. At least for now.

Ideally, your UY would be just before when you typically travel. So since you would normally be going in Nov-Dec or March-May, an October UY would be ideal. The four non-bankable months for an October contract is June-Sept and none of those months fall into your travel months. By having an October UY you could most likely cancel any of your reservations and still be OK to bank those points if you needed to (depending on when you cancel, of course). Remember, UY primarily matters if you think you will be cancelling reservations. We were looking for October when we bought, but we ended up getting a June UY because the deal was too good to pass up. April break is a time of year when we can make WDW trips work, but April falls into our 4 month window of not being able to bank. We don't plan on cancelling any reservations, so we just went with the really good June UY deal we found. But I would hold out and keep looking for an October UY if you can...it would offer better peace of mind.

 

[sethschroeder]

Mostly I Will, like I said, travel in november-dec or march-may. Once in a blue moon, Maybe in september... or during the summer...should I still try to get an October use year? Or August (september seems to be rarer than a unicorn).

We travel mostly Sept/Dec/Jan with an off shot to travel in the summer (although with changing point charts might do it more now).

Our Use Year is April and I honestly like it. In your shoes I would go with March to give maximum flexibility.

What to know if March:

• Bank by October 31st (know that you are going in Nov-Dec by that date)
• Points go in to holding 30 days prior anyways so it would only impact Dec where you would need to know 31-60 days out if you are going
• If points go in to holding you need to travel by Feb 28th
  • You could reschedule to a low demand January fairly easy
  • Rent out your reservation you can use (December is high demand so likely easy to rent last min if you price correctly)
  • Rent out points in January/February which are lower demand so more likely to find a room for a renter (again priced correctly)
• You would be able to go during spring, summer, fall all without issue and have full flexibility to cancel, reschedule, bank
• You also get the benefit that you could "walk" reservations starting in March for Nov/Dec if you are trying to get a hard to get room at your home resort (AK Values or CCV Studios are both "walking" candidates)

 

[ArtOfAnimationGotMe]

Wow. Thank you for very good answers! The knowledge of this forum is amazing.

After reading I think March is probably the best, October second best. Problem is, I cant find Any unicorn contracts with march use year. And I really want to buy before/if the exchange rates change.
I’ll see how long I can ”resist” buying an October use year. It really is a ”luxury problem”.

 

[sethschroeder]

March is probably the best

There is one at Fidelity right now for 100 points at AKV. Didn't check anywhere else.

https://www.fidelityrealestate.com/.../disneys-animal-kingdom-lodge-villas/6004579/