HELP! Should I buy SSR or BCV?

[traveladdiction]

What do you think? DVC is offering a points incentive - 320 bonus points for buying at SSR... BUT the theming at BCV appeals to us much more... the cheapskate in me may win out though... what do you think?

Is it worth buying DVC and passing by that huge points incentive? How hard is it to get BCV when you own SSR?

Thanks so much for your help!!!

 

[Crissup]

What do you think?

Obviously, you're looking at buying through resale if you're wanting BCV, since DVC is no longer offering BCV points. So, I don't know what kind of price you're looking at for BCV. However, outside of price, if I had my choice, I would choose BCV for several reasons. SSR is a beatiful resort and offers an additional 12 years of ownership. However, BCV has one of the best locations on property (along with BWV, in my opinion). It also has the best resort pool on property and is a much smaller resort, meaning that it will be harder to book at times than SSR. It also offers two theme parks within walking distance, along with Fantasia Gardens mini golf. It's also a more sought after resort for the above reasons, so I believe it will hold it's value better in the resale market (this is only a concern if selling it is something you ever see yourself having to do).

 

[DisDaydreamer]

What do you think? DVC is offering a points incentive - 320 bonus points for buying at SSR... BUT the theming at BCV appeals to us much more... the cheapskate in me may win out though... what do you think?

Is it worth buying DVC and passing by that huge points incentive? How hard is it to get BCV when you own SSR?

Thanks so much for your help!!!

You're going to be going on trips for decades to come.... Choose the one you're most likely to want to go to.

 

[bobbiwoz]

This is how we've acted. We have resisted every single SSR incentive because SSR doesn't appeal to us as "home." We did add on AKV and part of that was for the extra years. In 10 - 15 years, if we need to sell, I think that will have more value left than BWV, VB, VWL. Those were our original homes.

Then last month, we went for our yearly visit to BCV. I always said that if I couldn't get in there at 7 months, THEN we would buy, because it costs a premium. Last month, we both decided that we never wanted to risk being locked out of there during a time of year that we wanted to visit, so we did what we never thought we would do...added on at $101 a point.

If more BCV owners buy to stay there it will be harder to book. You may get in, and people will say they have, we have had a mini trip there for 4 years, but in a couple years, we will want to take the DGC and larger family, so we need to know that we'll get the accomodations we want, and we'll be booking 11 months out day by day.

Bobbi

 

[DISNEY FIX]

This is how we've acted. We have resisted every single SSR incentive because SSR doesn't appeal to us as "home." We did add on AKV and part of that was for the extra years. In 10 - 15 years, if we need to sell, I think that will have more value left than BWV, VB, VWL. Those were our original homes.

Then last month, we went for our yearly visit to BCV. I always said that if I couldn't get in there at 7 months, THEN we would buy, because it costs a premium. Last month, we both decided that we never wanted to risk being locked out of there during a time of year that we wanted to visit, so we did what we never thought we would do...added on at $101 a point.

If more BCV owners buy to stay there it will be harder to book. You may get in, and people will say they have, we have had a mini trip there for 4 years, but in a couple years, we will want to take the DGC and larger family, so we need to know that we'll get the accomodations we want, and we'll be booking 11 months out day by day.

Bobbi

Amen, that is why we bought at BCV and VWL couldn't live with the idea of not being able to stay where I wanted.
Chris

 

[mprewitt]

Amen, that is why we bought at BCV and VWL couldn't live with the idea of not being able to stay where I wanted.
Chris

Another person who agrees with the buy where you want to stay philosophy. That's why I bought into BCV, BWV, and VWL.

If you would much rather stay at BCV than SSR, then spend the extra bucks and buy BCV!

 

[ebenmax]

Or you can do something like we did. We love SSR first of all and bought our original 200 pt. contract there. Then we decided we also were interested in BCV for spring breaks and F&W festival so we did an add-on there for an every other year visit.

We are very happy with our decisions. With DVC you can often "have your cake and eat it too" if you plan for it well enough.

 

[flyerron]

My goodness do we over think these things!!! I don't think you can go wrong with any DVC purchase. Pick one & do it. I haven't read any posts of anyone who dislikes their choice of home resort. All have their advantage & disadvantages. If you are so confused then you are not ready--sleep on it some more!!

 

[BCV23]

The familiar mantra on the DIS in years past was buy where you want to stay. I'm glad I lurked and learned.

Thanks to all the vets on this board, we waited and bought where we like to stay.

 

[littlestar]

Why not buy part at SSR and part at BCV? That way you get the best of both worlds. With banking and borrowing, it might work out quite nicely. You'd have the extra 12 years on one contract and the 11 month booking window on the BCV.

We have 150 VWL, 55 BWV, and 55 SSR. It actually works out quite nicely for us.

 

[Crissup]

You're going to be going on trips for decades to come.... Choose the one you're most likely to want to go to.

This is a very valid point and a major one that I overlooked mentioning in my post. I was assuming that the OP has no preference (at least none that they listed) when they asked. However, I'm a major believer in buying where you want to stay.

 

[J and R's mom]

We bought at SSR back in 2003--before it was even built. At the time I had never even heard of the DIS. I sure wish I would have!

We bought SSR but it was not where we REALLY wanted to own. My guide led me to believe that it was the only one with available points. She was really good at pushing how much cheaper it was ($75/pt after incentive discount) than BWV (which had a few hundred points left to sell at $98/pt) and that we'd get the extra 12 years.

We decided to go with SSR to save money (and an extra year's worth of points that we could bank on top of the price reduction) and for the extra years. I assumed that we could always waitlist and stay at the other resorts (she made it sound so possible and easy to do so).

I've been on four trips since we bought at SSR and all of my waitlists have come through and I have not stayed at SSR yet. However, this year we may have to stay there since there's not much movement on the waitlist for our time of year (2nd week of December).

Although I am sure that I will enjoy SSR, I still feel a little let down if our waitlist doesn't come through.

My recommendation...buy where you want to stay.

 

[Snookies]

My goodness do we over think these things!!! I don't think you can go wrong with any DVC purchase. Pick one & do it. I haven't read any posts of anyone who dislikes their choice of home resort. All have their advantage & disadvantages. If you are so confused then you are not ready--sleep on it some more!!

These are my sentiments. To OP, I second all of the advice given about buying where you want to stay, assuming you can plan 7-11 months in advance and can take advantage of the home resort priority window. If you can't, you may want to rethink whether DVC is a good purchase at all. With respect to how the question was originally framed, the cheapskate in me invariably wins out. Now that I think about it, that last sentence seems inconsistent with being a DVC owner.

 

[rahrah]

Buy at the place you like the best. Once you buy it you will probably be even more attached to it.

We bought at SSR. We once stayed a night at BCV, and we prefer SSR. Of course we don't make a lot of use of the pools, and have no issues with taking buses where we want to go (my wife likes to talk to people on the bus).

 

[bradpga]

We own at SSR and BWV. Although we have only been members for 3 years, we are planning our 3rd BCV trip in October. We have had no problem booking at 7 months.

 

[mikeandkarla]

I can't see how you can pass up on the current incentive. 320 developer points either equals $3200 if renting or using the points for a monster vacation, banking your current points and then have another monster vacation the next year or a regular vacation and always stay ahead by banking points every year until you need them. If you put the extra $3200 toward your initial investment of $16,640, then your net cost per point is only $84, about what you might pay for resale. Ultimately you know your situatiuon best, so you should make the decision that makes you fell most at ease. Good luck with your choice.

 

[alldiz]

Buy where you want to stay....

Unless you are very flexible about when you can travel....

Meaning....you will get into the BCV if you say....
I would like a 1BR for 5 nights....anytime....
I'm sure that something will be available....

If you travel at popular times....I definately suggest buying into
a place that you really like....
Kerri

 

[flechette]

Obviously, you're looking at buying through resale if you're wanting BCV, since DVC is no longer offering BCV points.

I haven't heard Disney has stopped selling BCV - last I heard there was a waitlist, but Disney still sells all resorts not just AKV and SSR. Did that change? My guide is perfectly willing to sell me OKW as my first purchase.

 

[flyerron]

We own at SSR because after tourng AKV My DW thought the decor was very dark & she likes bright living conditions. Everyone has their own feelings about lodging. The fact is when we travel we often stay in a variety of hotel rooms. These often have very different decors & we always adjust. The bottom line is that if anyone is torn between locations at DVC the final decision of where to buy probably won't make a difference in the long run. Just being there is usually enough. There is always the option of adding on at another resort.
When we are given multiple choices we often get confused. If we had just one choice the decision is easy!!!

 

[Crissup]

I haven't heard Disney has stopped selling BCV - last I heard there was a waitlist, but Disney still sells all resorts not just AKV and SSR. Did that change? My guide is perfectly willing to sell me OKW as my first purchase.

Maybe I should clarify. You are correct in that there is a waitlist, but those can tend to be long and people have waited a year or longer for points to come through on those (when I waitlisted to add on BWV a few years ago, mine only took 8 months). Also, I was under the belief that those were only for add-ons, as opposed to new contracts (I could be wrong about that point). But, you won't get any incentives for sold out, waitlisted resorts.