Home Resort Advantage?

[Cap]

Are there any Home Resort advantages other than these three:

- 4 month reservation advantage (11 months vs 7 months)
- possible dues / point advantage
- longer ownership period at SS and later resorts vs OKS, BWV, HH, VB,etc.

As Disney seems to expand to A) more DVC resorts; B) more cruise ships / itineraries; and C) more non-DVC places to stay (i.e. Disney Adventures, Concierge Collection, II) it appears to me that buying resale points at a lower cost location (e.g. OKW, VB) makes financial sense if one does not intend to use those points to stay at that specific resort.

 

[1000th happy haunt]

Don't buy into Vero Beach unless you intend to use your points to stay there. Vero Beach has the highest annual maintenance fees.

 

[crisi]

If one wants to stay at non-DVC places, one should very carefully do a cost benefit analysis of the options. Points to cruise, use the Conceirge Collection or Adventurers by Disney change year to year - as do the options - none of these are guarenteed by our contract. It is often cheaper to pay cash for these options than to use points. If you want to trade through II there are better and cheaper traders out there.

DVC is a very nice timeshare - for staying at DVC resorts.

 

[Granny]

Are there any Home Resort advantages other than these three:

- 4 month reservation advantage (11 months vs 7 months)
- possible dues / point advantage
- longer ownership period at SS and later resorts vs OKS, BWV, HH, VB,etc.

As Disney seems to expand to A) more DVC resorts; B) more cruise ships / itineraries; and C) more non-DVC places to stay (i.e. Disney Adventures, Concierge Collection, II) it appears to me that buying resale points at a lower cost location (e.g. OKW, VB) makes financial sense if one does not intend to use those points to stay at that specific resort.

I would argue just the opposite. As DVC expands, you will have more and more owners trying to get some of the tough-to-book reservations at existing resorts at particular times of the year.

• BCV & BWV during F&W Festival
• BWV Standard View or Boardwalk View at many times of the year.
• VWL at Christmas.
• Grand Villas at almost any resort.
• Concierge at AKV.

All of these will probably get more difficult, not less difficult to book within the 7 month window.

I'd say buying at a resort that you don't care to stay at is only a valid strategy if you don't intend to book earlier than the 7 month window and don't care if you can't get into particular resorts or villas at particular times of the year.

Here's a good thread about choosing home resorts: Favorite Advice about Choosing a Home Resort thread As you can see, 20% of those voting indicated that they agree with you and think it makes sense to take the best overall deal.

 

[dianeschlicht]

And OKW can now have a 50 year contract just like AKV.

 

[Jimdvc]

I would argue just the opposite. As DVC expands, you will have more and more owners trying to get some of the tough-to-book reservations at existing resorts at particular times of the year.

• BCV & BWV during F&W Festival
• BWV Standard View or Boardwalk View at many times of the year.
• VWL at Christmas.
• Grand Villas at almost any resort.
• Concierge at AKV.

All of these will probably get more difficult, not less difficult to book within the 7 month window.

I agree with that. In fact I feel it will also be harder to book at 10 1/2 mths then in prior years, as people who own at those resorts learn that the owners of those resorts are planning in advance more then ever to avoid being shut out of their home resort and having to stay at a DVC that is their 3rd or 4th choice.

 

[DVC Mike]

• BCV & BWV during F&W Festival
• BWV Standard View or Boardwalk View at many times of the year.
• VWL at Christmas.
• Concierge at AKV.

All of these will probably get more difficult, not less difficult to book within the 7 month window.

Wow, Granny just gave the reasons I own at my four resorts!

 

[JimMIA]

Are there any Home Resort advantages other than these three:

- 4 month reservation advantage (11 months vs 7 months)

...provided, of course, that you can reliably plan vacations far in advance and book more than 7 months out. If you can't, this advantage goes away.

- possible dues / point advantage

Possible dues, yes. Points, no -- unless you're talking about booking some special cheap points stay right at 11 months. If you're booking OKW at 7 months, it doesn't matter where you own -- you're still getting the same points savings.

The other possible benefit I would add is the ability to book special accommodations very early in the 11-month window. By that, I mean GVs anywhere, and things like BWV standard view.

If you want to go to a particular resort at a particular time of year, and that happens to be a busy period, 11-month window is very important. We don't usually go during those periods, and home resort has never really mattered to us except for dues.

 

[Dean]

Are there any Home Resort advantages other than these three:

- 4 month reservation advantage (11 months vs 7 months)
- possible dues / point advantage
- longer ownership period at SS and later resorts vs OKS, BWV, HH, VB,etc.

As Disney seems to expand to A) more DVC resorts; B) more cruise ships / itineraries; and C) more non-DVC places to stay (i.e. Disney Adventures, Concierge Collection, II) it appears to me that buying resale points at a lower cost location (e.g. OKW, VB) makes financial sense if one does not intend to use those points to stay at that specific resort.

I would certainly agree with much of the above overall but each situation is different. When one buys in to a timeshare you make certain assumptions, some are true, some are not true and some are true today but may not be tomorrow. DVC is no exception and we've seen posts both here and on other boards/lists more lately than ever before that some people's assumptions were not accurate. One needs to actively look at those assumptions and compare to their situation, life circumstances, vacation styles, travel limitations, etc, etc. Some assumptions one might make with DVC that might or might not be true to varying degrees include:

• One's travel styles will stay the same.
• I'll always travel during X time of year.
• I'll only need a studio or 1 BR.
• I'll only go Sun-Fri for lower points.
• Dues will stay reasonable (though that's an oxymoron for DVC).
• The home resort window won't change.
• Banking/borrowing/transfers/reservation systems will stay the same.
• DVC will always go up in value, actually it's guaranteed to go down at some point, eventually to nothing.
• Even that a given resort will always be in the club.
• I'll always be able to get the reservation I want, even at my home resort.

One could go on and on. Personally I believe in buy where you want to stay for the most part though there are exceptions. It is my belief that HH dues will eventually equal or pass VB and that both will be higher than those on property long term. I also believe the inherent value of an on property contract will cont to be higher thus making those contracts truly worth more to most people, not just if one sells later. But for the right person who finds the right deal, doesn't plan to resell and doesn't care which resort and/or can't/won't plan more than 7 months out, owning a less demand resort simply because it's "cheaper" can be a good option. That can include VB, SSR, HH & OKW currently IMO though considering the fees is a good idea, esp for VB. Each have their plusses and minuses bought and used in this manner. For those who essentially almost always plan to go to WDW, I'd buy on property as a minimum with price and "value" being the end point for this particular line of thinking. For those that plan to be back and forth, esp if they need a 3 BR, owning VB and HH can be good for many. I esp like owning a contract as a points cow combined with a smallish to medium amount of destination resort points. One could write pages on this subject and never exhaust it.

 

[rsinj]

.

 

[Dean]

Agreed. How many people are really booking all their reservations at 11 months?

The correct answer is more now than in the past. Same for any other similar question it appears to me.

 

[Jimdvc]

The correct answer is more now than in the past. Same for any other similar question it appears to me.

I agree. In the past there was seldom a rush between 11-7 mths. Other then the 4-5 super busy weeks of the year. But as DVC has gotten bigger and we are seeing some resorts built that are simply not in as much demand, it has put the owners of the more in demand resorts into panic mode. They do not want to stay at a resort that they do not percieve as being as nice, so they rush to book their home resorts, so they don't get stuck somewhere else that may be their 4th or 5th choice. This has spilled over into ADR's as well. Because people are now booked at resorts 10-11 mths out, they go ahead and make their ADR's, and why not.

Having resorts that are not in equal demand has strained the system for sure.

 

[Granny]

The correct answer is more now than in the past. Same for any other similar question it appears to me.

I also agree with this. And slightly off topic, you can throw in more people than ever booking day by day as well. Many want to blame boards like this for that but twice now I've gotten unsolicited advice from MS to do this. I even let them explain it to me to make sure they are talking about the same thing that we mean when using that phrase.

So for whatever reason, MS seems to be pushing this. Maybe to enhance job security?

 

[Dean]

I also agree with this. And slightly off topic, you can throw in more people than ever booking day by day as well. Many want to blame boards like this for that but twice now I've gotten unsolicited advice from MS to do this. I even let them explain it to me to make sure they are talking about the same thing that we mean when using that phrase.

So for whatever reason, MS seems to be pushing this. Maybe to enhance job security?

As I've noted, it was predictable and inevitable. There are actually a number of factors. The guides and MS have encouraged people to step up their reservation planning over time, the abundance of 7 month points from SSR has push many this direction (including a significant effect back to the 11 month window for other resorts), certainly boards like these push people to do those things earlier than they might have learned on their own otherwise. The reason MS does this is simply to assist the member in question to have their best chance of reserving.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

I esp like owning a contract as a points cow combined with a smallish to medium amount of destination resort points. One could write pages on this subject and never exhaust it.

Can you elaborate on this? (One page would be fine! )

 

[Dean]

Can you elaborate on this? (One page would be fine! )

Sure, say you want to go to DVC for 3 one week trips a year and you want to stay at BCV (pick a resort), most trips. Owning a smaller BCV contract and then any old cheaper contract just for points numbers would allow you to stay at BCV most trips. You simply reserve at 11 months out day by day for the first trip then try to change over at 7 months out to free up the BCV points which you could then use again. You can get fancy if you want realizing that weekends are more points AND much easier to reserve. Any non BCV trips you use the other points exclusively. There are a number of other ways to work this idea but for simplicities sake, I'll stop there.

 

[Jimdvc]

You simply reserve at 11 months out day by day for the first trip then try to change over at 7 months out to free up the BCV points which you could then use again. .

Can you simply call at 7 mths and ask them to use your SSR points for the current reservation you made with BCV points at the 11 mth window? Putting your BCV points back into your account where you can reuse them for another reservation that is more then 7 mths out?

 

[dvc at last !]

subscribing..........

 

[Dean]

Can you simply call at 7 mths and ask them to use your SSR points for the current reservation you made with BCV points at the 11 mth window? Putting your BCV points back into your account where you can reuse them for another reservation that is more then 7 mths out?

You can call and ask and there are two potential answers. Technically they are supposed to sub the points only for days that would be available at the time of the call. Still, at times they go beyond this technicality.