Help me sort this out - PLEASE

[perpetualplanner]

OK - we're a family of 4 and have been to WDW at leasts 1 x per year for the past 3-4 years (once 2 x's) and a few times before that with a few years in between. We have always stayed in a deluxe and probably always will (we're now spoiled) and have come to love BWI concierge (really spoiled).

We are now considering DVC. I keep reading and every time I'm nearly convinced I find something to change my mind. SO - my DH would want to stay at BWV for convenience but I think the extra 12 yrs at SS would be better - any opinions on that? Is it financiallly a better decision to just rent points? DH is interesting in knowing WHY people who sold are selling (unhappy or just other reasons)? We haven't done a tour yet (he was always adamantly against buying in) so can someone compare a BWI room to the BWV studio?

We have the savings so we wouldn't have to finance If that helps with your comments.

Thanks for all your help!!!

 

[Dean]

Whether it's a good deal in general depends on how you'd use it, not just where you'd stay. People sell for many reasons, mostly personal situations or life choices. Most of those who were dissatisfied likely are not on this board. Maybe you should stay in a DVC unit one or twice before making a decision.

 

[paults]

if you do deluxe and conceirge every year then IMO I think DVC would be good for you.

we own at BWV and love it there.

 

[lisaviolet]

Hi,

Great questions!!!!

Since you have the money, come regularly and stay in deluxe accomodations I would say that DVC would probably be a good fit for you.

As far as renting. Two ways of looking at it. I guess some could argue that in the beginning it is more reasonable to rent Ie. your lump sum that would have gone to your purchase can make money elsewhere. I'm sure that there are DVCers that could chime in on that. Renting will always rise but so will maintenance costs. Lots of ways to look at that. But secondly, my personality likes the "control" I have in owning the points. I would guess it is important to know what is most important for you.

Buying ...many issues to look at. If you are not a planner, whoops I think your name has planning in it, and/or you can't book before seven months out then it really doesn't matter where you buy and the 12 years at SSR might be the best choice. A contract at BCV or a contract at SSR after seven months it is irrelevant ...both have a equal chance at any resort and SSR has the lowest maintenance right now.

However, you never ever know when things will change for you. I bought two SSR contracts....like SSR....but am not a planner. But I stayed at BWV loved it so much I am selling one to buy BWV points. See not all contracts being sold = unhappy DVCers. Planner or not I would now like a few points there to have the home 11 month window. Financially not the smartest move for me. If you love one of the sold out resorts so much and can plan ahead I would say that would be a good route to buy one of them. Lots to think about... take your time.

Do you realize that it doesn't have to be either/or ...resale or Disney. You could buy some SSR points and some sold out resorts. Disney will sell you sold out resorts if you tell them that is only what you want or are willing to do. There is a waiting list for some of them them. Some come instantly or much faster if you don't care about your UY (use year).

Also, you like deluxe accomodations. DVC does not give daily maid service. I actually prefer this.....but just FYI. And as a Value girl pre-DVC I have no idea about concierge ....do you think you would miss the goodies?

If I were buying right now I would make sure that if I wanted a certain # of points from Disney I would attempt to buy smaller mulitiple contracts. Ie. want 250 points...break it up into smaller contracts in general and maybe multiple resorts if you can't decide on one.

Best of luck...keep asking questions,

Lisa

 

[lisaviolet]

Comparing a BWI to a BWV studio?

I haven't stayed in the first one but I would think that the major difference would be the kitchenette. BWI has a fridge.....BWV studio has the microwave/sink/fridge/toaster...

Not sure if there is any difference in size....anyone???

Also, I thought Dean's advice is good. Why not rent and try it out and see how you feel?

If you thought that you would stay in a one bedroom or larger I would say no contest.....

 

[starbox]

How flexible will you be with vacation time? Are you wanting the week of spring break or Christmas every year? Will dh only stay at BWV?

If you will only travel during peak times and are set on always and only staying at BWV, buy there. We bought at SSR for the following reasons:

1. We like to resort hop. Personally, I find staying at different resorts part of the fun of each vacation and it was a huge draw of DVC (access to all the DVC resorts!). Our plan is to take 2 WDW trips per year and 1 beach trip. We'll reserve at the 11 month window at SSR, but try to test out the other resorts as we can. Who knows what resorts will be there in 5/10 years - maybe the Contemporary or an Animal Kingdom property........ We'll also use the AP discount to stay at the non-DVC resorts we have not tried yet.

2. Extra Contract years. Even if my kids put off marriage and family as long as my little brother has (I'm still waiting to become an aunt...) - I'll have DVC to use with my grandkids one day.

3. We love Downtown Disney. We love to walk there at night - especially after a day at the waterparks. We like the boat ride to DTD.

4. I don't think I could pick one DVC resort and say "that's it for the next 40-50 years". Kids change. We've been doing Disney every year since the kids were toddlers and their favorite parks/activities are always changing. Thanks to reading Junie B Jones books, my daughter has decided the clown pool at BWV is scary. I personally want to stay at VWL, but my kids are not impressed with it - I may have to wait for a solo trip with dh for that. My son has decided that Disneyquest is the greatest thing EVER. But - who knows what they will like when they hit puberty. Each member of my family has a different favorite resort - and my kids change every year. I'm hoping my daughter will move into the phase where her idea of a good day is going to the SSR spa with Mommy while her brother does his Disneyquest............

5. We have really, really flexible vacation time, and we won't be traveling during peak season anytime in the near future (if ever), so I don't anticipate having to stay in the same resort every trip.

 

[perpetualplanner]

WOW -you guys are fast.

To answer some of the question:

Yes, I am a planner (hence the name).

We have stayed at several different on-site resorts but BWI just works for us (Location, location, location)

DH probably wouldn't insist on BWI every time but who knows what the future holds.

I probably wouldn't miss the concierge goodies but my oldest DS might demand fresh bakery items every morning from me (that's what the boardwalk bakery is for right??)

We're pretty flexible about vacation time but tend to go in either Feb. or Sept. (of course next year we're going in July)

I did consider buying 2 contract 1 at SSR and 1 at BWV but how does that work then if you need to combine points for a trip is it 11 or 7 months out for booking?

I would love to do the tour (would have by now if DH weren't so adamant before) but now he's thinking that maybe he'd want to buy in before next years trip. If we don't we'll definately do the tour next year. Maybe I could talk him into a short trip just to check it out (HEHE)

Thanks again for all your help - DH always wants answers to ?'s I didn't think of or didn't think mattered.

 

[byoung]

If you love staying BWV then I would say buy there, you can add on at SSR later. Get the 11 month booking first. Good luck on your decision, hope to welcome you home soon.

 

[lisaviolet]

Two contracts?

Say you have 80 at BWV and 150 at SSR. And this vacation you want to stay at BWV. Before 7 months you can only use those 80 points to try to snag the BWV reservation. At 7 months you could try to get a BWV stay with all of your points that you have available...both contracts.

But don't forget you could bank and borrow the 80 BWV points. So with just borrowing or just banking you would have 160 at the 11-7 month window. With B and B you would have 240 points available. These examples mean only using your BWV points every other year or every third with the 240.

Also, shoot I forgot your preferred times....hmmm...September availablility at 7 months is good...February is not bad/not as good as September and summer, although popular with people in general, is not popular with DVCers.

But don't forget that your thoughts might change and the Sept/Feb/summer thoughts on availablity are right now. Who knows how things might change.

Food and Wine festival (October into November)...esp. at BWV and BCv... is difficult at 7 months as is early December.

So I would consider a BWV/or combination including BWV points if you are a planner.

Good luck.

 

[Dean]

How long do you stay and how is it structured (weekends vs weekdays)? That seems to be the only issue as to whether DVC would make sense for you. DVC is not a reasonable choice for mostly long weekends or even a full week with 2 weekends. Of course one can always do part of the stay with DVC and part otherwise.

 

[perpetualplanner]

Dean - we usually do a week long but we've already discussed that (DH and I) and we'd either get enough points to cover the Fri-Sat nights or we'd move to another hotel for those nights (All Stars or moderates). DH didn't think the move would be a big deal and it would force us to at least take a morning off and relax.

What helped you all get past the "huge upfront cost"? I know it's a prepaid vacation (and there's nothing I love better than vacation) but it just seems like a huge amount (even when I put it on paper and know it's a pretty good deal for us). I guess I just hate giving up that sum of $$.

 

[NYMomof4]

Other posters have provided some great information and I'll bet that if you search the boards, you will be more than prepared to make a decision. I had some sticker shock for the upfront price, but then I added up the costs of the 3 years of vacations in a row (at a moderate) and realized that our yearly (and now 2x's/year) trips could have paid for the DVC membership!

Your family sounds like a DVC family Options for weekend nights could vary depending on what you feel like doing that trip. I just booked 4 nights for 1 studio w/Fri & Sat and a second studio for only 2 weekday nights with a cash reservation w/AP rate. We also like to try other resorts so moving for a couple nights is fun for us.

I bought SSR at 150 points through Disney after the tour and added on 50 at HHI for the extra points ($73/pt). We do not go in prime season so home resort was not that important to me. The extra 12 years was so I can vacation w/grandkids one day and pass it down. The other factor to think about is that there may be other DVCs in the future (though there are no guarantees). That thought influenced my buying decision since I want to buy more points in the future.

My vote goes to a little trip down to Disney to get your own perspective and a chance to tour and check out each DVC Good luck!

 

[flechette]

I just wanted to add - don't forget to check out the resale market - if you don't need Disney's Financing that may make the sticker shock a bit less....


Good Luck- for what it's worth to me is sounds like DVC is a good match for you

 

[lisaviolet]

The other factor to think about is that there may be other DVCs in the future (though there are no guarantees). That thought influenced my buying decision since I want to buy more points in the future.

This is great advice. I've often thought of having room (points and $$$$) to buy any new resort.

 

[Dean]

Dean - we usually do a week long but we've already discussed that (DH and I) and we'd either get enough points to cover the Fri-Sat nights or we'd move to another hotel for those nights (All Stars or moderates). DH didn't think the move would be a big deal and it would force us to at least take a morning off and relax.

What helped you all get past the "huge upfront cost"? I know it's a prepaid vacation (and there's nothing I love better than vacation) but it just seems like a huge amount (even when I put it on paper and know it's a pretty good deal for us). I guess I just hate giving up that sum of $$.

A week is fine, it's two weekends that would be a problem. As for the up front costs, if you're accustomed to yearly BWI concierge stays, you should be able to do it easily just on what you'd have spent otherwise.

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

I got over the sticker shock when I figured out that 6 nights at the contemporary would cost me $3000. Suddenly $13,000 didn't sound too bad for 37 years worth of Disney vacations.

 

[Caskbill]

.... DH is interesting in knowing WHY people who sold are selling (unhappy or just other reasons)?

There are currently about 100,000 members. Many members have multiple contracts since they have purchased resales or add-on's. We have 3 contracts, my brother has 10 contracts!

If you figure the average is 3, then that's approximately 300,000 contracts out there. Now if you look out there you may find 100 contracts for sale. That amounts to 0.03%, or one out of 3000. Pretty small amount. I'll guarantee you that in your home town, more than 0.03% of the houses there are for sale right now.

People sell for any number of reasons including deaths, divorce, financial reasons, they move too far away, or they relocate to Florida (I know of 2 separate people who moved to Florida and sold 'some' of their points, but not all).

I don't have any data but I would expect that the number who sell simply because they don't like it, is extremely small.

 

[J and R's mom]

We stayed in a BWI room (not conceirge, though) for our honeymoon 7 years ago. I just stayed in a BWV studio and 1br earlier this year. The studio seemed bigger since it had a queen bed and a sofa bed instead of two queen beds. With the sofa bed left as a sofa (durning non-sleeping times, naturally) the room seems bigger (and probably is). But what I liked the most about the BWV studio vs the BWI room was the kitchenette. The fridge is larger in it than in the Inn rooms (at least twice as big...but not full sized). The microwave comes in handy as do the utensils etc., and the extra sink. As far as the BWV 1br vs the BWI room....Hands down the 1BR! Having a washer/dryer in the unit is AWESOME. I know some folks don't like doing laundry on vacation, but even if you only use it to dry the swim suits so you don't have to crawl into wet, cold swim suits, it's worth it. And having the full kitchen is also nice.

Keep in mind, you will NOT get daily maid service unless you pay extra per day for it.

As far as getting over the sticker shock...if I would have taken the cost of my rooms for all of my previous visits BEFORE we bought in, I could have MORE than paid for my 150pt contract.

The 12 extra years might be nice, but if you like BWV best, then buy there. If I would have found this board BEFORE I bought into DVC, I would be a BWV owner right now, not an SSR owner.

Good luck and hope to welcome you home soon.