Hi all - I've found this forum to be extremely helpful over the years. Hope to hear your advice as we plan our next DVC purchase.
A little background: we bought 160 points at VGF last year and have used it to stay at VGF and AKL on two separate trips since then. What we found in those trips is that we absolutely value convenience and location, especially with a toddler - being walking distance to MK is HUGE. We usually rent a car and don't mind driving to the other parks but not having to go through TTC makes visiting MK so much more enjoyable (especially since we take midday naps). We always intended to add on as our family grows. Now I'm expecting #2 (due September!) we'd like to add additional points so we can comfortably stay in a 1br for a week long stay. A 6 night stay at VGF in March costs about 285 points, so we're looking to add on another 100-200 points. I'd like to go resale this time as we already have blue card benefits.
Here's the dilemma. Should we buy at another monorail resort or branch out to other locations? I was looking at the Riviera as we love HS (it's both my and my husband's favorite park) and my little girl is obsessed with Frozen so I think we'll be visiting Epcot more in the future. Having skyliner access to both parks seem like a huge perk. But if we were to do that, we'd need to do a split stay as I don't think we can get away with not visiting MK and I really don't want to drive to TTC/MK. The idea of packing/moving mid-trip with a baby/toddler sounds pretty unappealing but in the long-run those early baby years are short and maybe we'll be glad to have two convenient locations when the kids are older. If we do decide on Riviera - is it good idea to buy resale there since I can only use those points to stay at that resort. Alternatively, I'm thinking we can maybe buy resale at BLT, use those points to stay at either BLT/VGF/Poly for MK access and use our existing VGF points to stay at the Riviera. OR should I just go for the cheapest contract (SSR) since I've heard 1br is easier to book at the 7-months mark compared to studios (in this case I would plan on using the SSR points for monorail resorts and my VGF points for the Riviera).
I guess my main questions are: 1) is it realistic to do split stays with young toddlers/kids - would love to hear other's experiences; 2) what's the best combo of resale/direct contracts if I want to branch out to a HS/Epcot resort (and is Riviera the best one?)
Lastly, how important is it to have the same UY for both contacts? All else equal obviously it's better if they're the same UY but is it more a "nice to have" or something I should prioritize when I look at resale contracts?
Thanks everyone!
A little background: we bought 160 points at VGF last year and have used it to stay at VGF and AKL on two separate trips since then. What we found in those trips is that we absolutely value convenience and location, especially with a toddler - being walking distance to MK is HUGE. We usually rent a car and don't mind driving to the other parks but not having to go through TTC makes visiting MK so much more enjoyable (especially since we take midday naps). We always intended to add on as our family grows. Now I'm expecting #2 (due September!) we'd like to add additional points so we can comfortably stay in a 1br for a week long stay. A 6 night stay at VGF in March costs about 285 points, so we're looking to add on another 100-200 points. I'd like to go resale this time as we already have blue card benefits.
Here's the dilemma. Should we buy at another monorail resort or branch out to other locations? I was looking at the Riviera as we love HS (it's both my and my husband's favorite park) and my little girl is obsessed with Frozen so I think we'll be visiting Epcot more in the future. Having skyliner access to both parks seem like a huge perk. But if we were to do that, we'd need to do a split stay as I don't think we can get away with not visiting MK and I really don't want to drive to TTC/MK. The idea of packing/moving mid-trip with a baby/toddler sounds pretty unappealing but in the long-run those early baby years are short and maybe we'll be glad to have two convenient locations when the kids are older. If we do decide on Riviera - is it good idea to buy resale there since I can only use those points to stay at that resort. Alternatively, I'm thinking we can maybe buy resale at BLT, use those points to stay at either BLT/VGF/Poly for MK access and use our existing VGF points to stay at the Riviera. OR should I just go for the cheapest contract (SSR) since I've heard 1br is easier to book at the 7-months mark compared to studios (in this case I would plan on using the SSR points for monorail resorts and my VGF points for the Riviera).
I guess my main questions are: 1) is it realistic to do split stays with young toddlers/kids - would love to hear other's experiences; 2) what's the best combo of resale/direct contracts if I want to branch out to a HS/Epcot resort (and is Riviera the best one?)
Lastly, how important is it to have the same UY for both contacts? All else equal obviously it's better if they're the same UY but is it more a "nice to have" or something I should prioritize when I look at resale contracts?
Thanks everyone!