Help me to make up my mind for an add on

[Lorrie7249]

Hello Everyone

I am a relatively new owner, having just done 1st Welcome Home visit in early December. My family (me, hubs and 3 sons 19, 16, 12) did a 3 way split stay at BW 2BR, VGF 1BR and RIV 2BR. The visit was designed to help us understand what we could manage with and what we really need. It solidified my thinking that we need at least 2 BRs on a regular basis, and so need more points.

Also we really enjoyed BW and RIV both. But we REALLY liked being able to walk to both EPCOT and HS from BW. Most of us liked the skyliner from RIV, one of us not so much, especially when it stops and just hangs there, frequently. One weekday, the line to get the skyliner to EPCOT was CRAZY! we stood on the line way longer than the ride to get there (like 45 mins at least). It was right at opening though so maybe just a fluke.

I really need some sanity check and to hear different points of view for helping me decide. My current thinking is, to add on points at an EPCOT resort (we currently have 200 direct at CCV) and I have a dilemma about what to do. Options I have thought about thus far are:

200 direct RIV with incentive
PROs: gives us 400 direct points in total, with 200 at each resort when we'd like to do split stays, or ability to combine at 7 mos for any resort; Longer contract in order to pass on to kids with direct member benefits; Ease of purchase and ability to use Disney Visa to get rewards as well as have points in membership ASAP, and ensuring we have current years points.
CONs: can't walk to any resorts, skyliner is not a favorite for one member of our family (little bit of anxiety but managed well enough), resale restriction (although we don't plan on selling) and higher dues.

200 resale BW-
PROs: less expensive; allows us points in a prime location where we want to be-walk to 2 parks; EXCELLENT point chart, lower dues than RIV; ability to book a grand villa for some days when we want to travel with extended family. This last item, I realize is difficult to get with only 200 pts in terms of reserving at 11 months-we’d only get a couple of days or would need to bank and/or borrow for more days, but is it possible to swap out points at 7 mos or is that a pipe dream? Booking a grand villa for 5-6 days is definitely one of our DVC goals to be able to occasionally do.

CONs: less flexible-would not be able to use these points at RIV or any future resort, and I am a big fan of flexibility; not viable to be able to hand off to our kids and if all 3 would want one, we do need one more contract for the last kid-which may potentially leave us in a position to want to purchase another direct contract to be fair; not seeing what I think are reasonable prices for contracts unless they are stripped (only seeing $130+pp) and don’t want to feel like I’m overpaying for yrs left on the contract.

PRO/CON: 2042 expiration. I list this point as both pro and con, due to my and my hubs age. We’ll be mid to late 70s, so maybe it is better to have a 2042 resort.

I’ve been going back and forth with the understanding that the incentives go away and direct prices increase Feb 5, so feel a bit like I should strike now. Also, I realize there is Beach Club, which I think we’d love just as much as BW but doesn’t have grand villas and so would leave us at mercy of 7 mos availability for those elsewhere and is more expensive than BW per point.

Any thoughts to help me make up my mind?

 

[princesscinderella]

I got a BWV grand villa in 19 (at 11 mos) and it was amazing, I liked it better than the VGF one we toured a couple weeks ago. I have three kids I I also understand your dilemma on wanting to have even point contracts to split between them later on. That why when we bought VGF direct we split it up into 3 - 50pt contracts.

We also toured all the riviera rooms and they are nice but I find that the sky liner is more of a ride than park transport and can be very unreliable and hot in the summer if you happen to get stopped on the line with no airflow. If you want the larger rooms boardwalk had a much better point chart so you won’t need to buy as many points. My votes is a BWV resale as you still have access to all the other resorts with the exception of RIV which you can stay at using your other CCV points so you aren’t totally locked out.

 

[kanerf]

You could just buy 100 BWV resale and 100 RIV direct and lock in the ability to reserve at RIV with 300 pts.

 

[JETSDAD]

Another possible con to BWV is the lack of dedicated 2 BR's. The kids may or may not be fine with pull outs so it may not be a con. It also means you're competing with studios for rooms. I also never view 2042 as a pro.....even if you do not want to own beyond that at least with a newer resort you could always sell at that point.

 

[RoseGold]

BW is a no brainer. Buy a loaded contract in the next few months, and sell it for what you paid if you change your mind in a few years. Use all the extra points you got at the buy -- and that awesome chart and 11 month advantage, they are fantastic. If these boards are any indication, Disney is not making fans right now with recent decisions.

If you want to Blue Card all your kids, they don't have to be FL property owners. You can put your existing CCV contract in something like a trust or a company, not that Blue Card means much right now. You really should run your Florida property holdings by your estate attorney anyway, and they can help you choose how to structure this. I'd do that before I bought another contract for sure.

Buy BW, get your GV! Have fun!

 

[Marionnette]

Hello Everyone

I am a relatively new owner, having just done 1st Welcome Home visit in early December. My family (me, hubs and 3 sons 19, 16, 12) did a 3 way split stay at BW 2BR, VGF 1BR and RIV 2BR. The visit was designed to help us understand what we could manage with and what we really need. It solidified my thinking that we need at least 2 BRs on a regular basis, and so need more points.

Also we really enjoyed BW and RIV both. But we REALLY liked being able to walk to both EPCOT and HS from BW. Most of us liked the skyliner from RIV, one of us not so much, especially when it stops and just hangs there, frequently. One weekday, the line to get the skyliner to EPCOT was CRAZY! we stood on the line way longer than the ride to get there (like 45 mins at least). It was right at opening though so maybe just a fluke.

I really need some sanity check and to hear different points of view for helping me decide. My current thinking is, to add on points at an EPCOT resort (we currently have 200 direct at CCV) and I have a dilemma about what to do. Options I have thought about thus far are:

200 direct RIV with incentive
PROs: gives us 400 direct points in total, with 200 at each resort when we'd like to do split stays, or ability to combine at 7 mos for any resort; Longer contract in order to pass on to kids with direct member benefits; Ease of purchase and ability to use Disney Visa to get rewards as well as have points in membership ASAP, and ensuring we have current years points.
CONs: can't walk to any resorts, skyliner is not a favorite for one member of our family (little bit of anxiety but managed well enough), resale restriction (although we don't plan on selling) and higher dues.

200 resale BW-
PROs: less expensive; allows us points in a prime location where we want to be-walk to 2 parks; EXCELLENT point chart, lower dues than RIV; ability to book a grand villa for some days when we want to travel with extended family. This last item, I realize is difficult to get with only 200 pts in terms of reserving at 11 months-we’d only get a couple of days or would need to bank and/or borrow for more days, but is it possible to swap out points at 7 mos or is that a pipe dream? Booking a grand villa for 5-6 days is definitely one of our DVC goals to be able to occasionally do.

CONs: less flexible-would not be able to use these points at RIV or any future resort, and I am a big fan of flexibility; not viable to be able to hand off to our kids and if all 3 would want one, we do need one more contract for the last kid-which may potentially leave us in a position to want to purchase another direct contract to be fair; not seeing what I think are reasonable prices for contracts unless they are stripped (only seeing $130+pp) and don’t want to feel like I’m overpaying for yrs left on the contract.

PRO/CON: 2042 expiration. I list this point as both pro and con, due to my and my hubs age. We’ll be mid to late 70s, so maybe it is better to have a 2042 resort.

I’ve been going back and forth with the understanding that the incentives go away and direct prices increase Feb 5, so feel a bit like I should strike now. Also, I realize there is Beach Club, which I think we’d love just as much as BW but doesn’t have grand villas and so would leave us at mercy of 7 mos availability for those elsewhere and is more expensive than BW per point.

Any thoughts to help me make up my mind?

I'm going to answer this question first before offering an opinion:
"but is it possible to swap out points at 7 mos or is that a pipe dream?"
You cannot "swap out" points at 7 months. What you can do is reallocate points from another resort to that reservation IF there happen to still be available nights for the same room type during your stay. AND the points from the "non BWV" resort would need to be expiring sooner than home resort points used on the reservation. Otherwise, it's a matter of canceling and rebooking the reservation. In which case, you will most likely to lose some of your nights to the wait list. WRT BWV GVs, you're not likely to have too many open nights during high-demand periods, like F&W.

Now, on to the rest. Very few people purchase timeshares with the expectation that they will want/need to sell it. However, it happens. Death. Divorce. Disney fatigue. Health issues. Job losses. College tuition. It's how life gets you when you least expect it. Go into the decision about where to buy based on the possibility that you may need to sell.

Buy where you don't mind staying. If you could never book a different resort at 7 months, will you be happy with BWV? If not, is there some place you could see yourself staying most of the time?

Deed expiration dates matter. They matter if you have no intentions of passing ownership to your kids when you die or want to be free of increasing annual dues when you're on a fixed income.They matter if you want to get the most years out of your purchase or if you know your kids will want to take over your ownership when you no longer want the responsibility of the contract.

Resale restrictions have an impact. Buying a resale BWV contract would mean that those points could never be used at RIV. Would you be okay with that? If not, then don't buy any resort at resale and go direct only. Conversely, buying resale at RIV to add onto your ownership would mean those points are only good at RIV. Again, if you're fine with that restriction, then go resale for your add on points at RIV and save yourself some money.

Finally, one last observation about BWV. It's getting harder and harder to book at 7 months. People are purchasing small resale contracts there just for the purpose of staying at BWV. Which means that if you want to make BWV a regular vacation spot, you're going to need to own there. Very few BWV owners are choosing to change their reservations to another resort at 7 months.If you want to be able to stay there "once in a while", consider renting from another DVC member who does own there.

 

[Wedgeout]

Not unless you really want Riviera direct points to add with your CCV points there, I wouldn’t buy direct points again. You have a solid blue card membership already. Just keep same UY for any add on, to keep everything in the single membership. Then don’t worry about breaking up anything for children in the future. Just pass on the whole blue card membership portfolio to them. Save the buy in cash and add on resale at BWV or even BCV for location and not needing that Skyliner. Plenty of other resorts for a Grand Villa pick within 7 months, when that trip is planned.

 

[MICKIMINI]

I'd get BWV resale and run out the clock. You'll enjoy 20+ years of being at a resort you love. Priceless!

 

[Lorrie7249]

Thanks for all the thoughts...definitely some points of view i had not necessarily considered. my brain is churning