Home Resort Choice - any regrets?

[auntsue]

No regrets here. We love our Boardwalk and added on there twice. Earlier this year we bought BLT and fell in love with it when we stayed there last week. Absolutely no regrets!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

My only regret is that I purchased Vero Beach ( which I've since sold.) I love the resort, but the point reallocation messed up my plans for a beach cottage. The MF's are simply just too high to add on more points. No regrets with BWV or BLT.

 

[jfinke]

Not really, we purchased SSR points early on. I think it was the only one they were selling with incentives at the time. It has lower maintenance costs.

Now, that doesn't mean that we only stay there. We have stayed at SSR, OKW, BCV, & AKV. I want to try BLT next, but with how we have used points, that is probably 2 years away.

 

[dcfromva]

No regrets here...however, we have 5 home resorts (BCV, BWV, SSR, BLT and VGC), so we have about 1/2 of them covered.

 

[Cinderella1122]

Nope! Our home resort is Animal Kingdom Villas. Animal Kingdom Lodge has been our favorite resort since it opened in 2001, and the reason why we bought DVC is because they added on AKV. If AKV didn't exist, then we would not be DVC members.

I would have to say this is true for me as well. If AKV wasn't built, I would still be paying CRO rates to stay there.

 

[Starr W.]

Nope, SSR and VB work well for me. I'm in love with GV's at the moment and SSR has plenty of them.

I haven't been to BLT yet, but of the other WDW resorts we've stayed at (BWV,BCV and VWL) my first choice would be BWV. Though BLT might win out, once I stay there.

 

[wulfekamp]

We love our home resort BCV. It will always be our favorite. We do enjoy trying the other DVC resorts from time to time. We have never had a bad stay at any DVC resort. (Knock on wood).

 

[Donna M]

When we bought, we didn't know about buying resale so we bought SSR. We like it just fine and have no regrets. We have gotten into other resorts when needed.

 

[bonybroad]

When we bought, SSR and AKV were our only choices. SSR seemed nice so we went ahead.
I do not care for it. We got back yesterday from a 7day stay, and I really wish I could sell this contract and buy somewhere else.
So, I guess I am your lone "regret."

 

[CapeCodFam]

Sadly, Yes. But, we're working around it.

We bought at BWV 5 years ago and love it. We added on at AKV pre-construction thinking it was going to be a great summer swim spot like BCV. We had been to AKL a few times for Boma and liked the theming. We stayed at Kidani this past summer and didn't enjoy it as much as we had anticipated. We are now using the 7 month window to swap out to other resorts. (We just got BLT for July '10.)

The resort itself is nice and the rooms are big. The 2nd bath was great. The savannah view was OK. The majority of the animals were out at night - not the morning. While the pool area does look like the concept art, it is alot smaller than we imagined. Again, we were thinking similar to storm-along bay at pre-construction price. The food options for kids aren't to our liking. We kept walking over to Mara (which is great). While the resort has many pluses, it didn't feel like home to us as BWV or BCV does.

We would stay there again. But, will always try to swap at 7 months. Ultimately, we may sell these points and buy more BWV. Just a preference.

 

[dvc4life]

We have no regrets with SSR. We absolutely love it! And we have bought into BLT and can't wait for our first stay there in September. I am glad that DVC offers many different resorts. And we love being DVC members!

 

[dallasdisneymommy]

Not really regrets, because I probably wouldn't do things any differently....but we bought in after THE PERFECT TRIP, still high on pixie dust, and didn't do any research at all. We bought what they had available at the time, which was only SSR. We got a great deal, lots of incentives, and everytime we have added on (a recent AKV add-on was a nice change of pace) we've gotten developers points and good incentives.....so it all worked out just great.

While we don't absolutely LOVE SSR, we have always been able to stay everywhere we have wanted to try, so we are not unhappy. And we like that we have a longer contract and a newer resort...I envision my young kids taking their young kids one of these days and that makes me feel like I made the right decision.

 

[DizGirl20]

A big THANK YOU to everyone for your responses. This is why I LOVE THE DISBOARDS!

We have until Thursday to make a decision on the Webcast Incentives... think we are finally going to pull the trigger!

 

[Golden Rose]

We own at AKV and BWV, and I have to say, I think I would regret it if we only owned AKV. Before buying into DVC, we always stayed in either the Epcot or MK deluxes, so we were used to having easy access to at least one park. However, DS turned out to be such an animal nut, and we loved the feel of AKV so much, that we bought there first while we looked for the perfect BWV or BCV resale. For a couple of months, it looked like we might not add on at an Epcot resort after all, and I did feel quite a bit of regret that we'd purchased our second choice before our first...

Then we went ahead and bought BWV, and I've had no regrets at all. I thought I might prefer the BCV, but I've decided I was wrong and I love BWV. And really, for us, having two home resorts is the way we don't feel regret about where we own. We'd be happy to stay at only these two resorts for the rest of our vacations there if we had to, in part because they're different enough that we take very different style vacations at each of them.

We will probably add-on again, but unless they build a DVC at the GF or Poly, we won't be buying into another favorite. (We'd buy either of those in a heartbeat, but we own at my two favorites of the existing DVCs.) So it looks like our next purchase will be the best bargain we can get, rather than another resort that feels like home.

 

[ktmmt]

NO. Stay at home resort once. If you book out at 11 months thats the only reason. I never have a problem find a good room.

 

[Chim Chiminy]

No.

We own at BCV and SSR, bought each one during their pre-sales. Bought BCV sight unseen, with SSR we did tour the models when they were set up at the BWV.

Love BCV, it is our favorite of the resorts.
We have stayed at VWL, OKW, SSR, BWV, HHI and VB.

Our SSR, we had considered selling that contract in order to buy small contracts at both AKV and BLT.
In the end, we decided to hold onto it.
We do enjoy our stays there, they have a wonderful community hall and we really like the main pool area.
After asking around on these boards and hearing others experiences, we decided to keep the points since the dues are lower and people don't seem to have trouble booking into AKV at the seven month window.
In fact, I just did it myself for a trip in July.
I am not sure if that ease will hold in the coming years or if it will become difficult to book at BLT either, but we are willing to stay wherever generally anyways.
Also, SSR has a lot of grand villas plus the treehouses. I can see us making use of them as our kids grow up and start having kids of their own.

 

[Pakey]

Yes and No. I love BCV but I regret that I have two contracts there, too many points for my husband and I. I also wish I didn't have an SSR contract. I like the resort and don't mind staying there occasionally but I just have too many points. Yes, it is possible to have too much Disney.

 

[pinnocchiosdad]

OK, so we watched the DVC Webcast this morning. Seriously considering buying into AKV. I think the incentives are pretty good (not great, but still very good all things considered). While it is probably our #2 choice, it is not #1 (which would be BLT). I think we would be very happy at AKV.

What I am wanting to know is: have you ever regretted your "home resort" choice?

Thanks so much for the input. I can't wait to finally post I am a member!!!

Split your points and buy some at each. If you notice on these boards, many owners have two homes (or more). I own at AKV and have only stayed there once. Ressies at the 7 month window are by no means impossible.

 

[cj9200]

Nope! We bought at BWV the day they officially opened. Stayed at OKW, VWL, BCV and Vero. There is always a bit of sadness though when we pass Boardwalk while staying at another resort. Love it there but have enjoyed the other places.

 

[Disney Spaz]

We bought AKV and BLT. and don't regret either. The AKV is for my son when he finishes college. He loves AK and AKV is his favorite DVC- ofcourse if the creathed a Poly DVC those feelings may change. And BLT is for DD and I who love MK and the views. My only regret was not buying a few more BLT points.