Home Resort Importance For A Disney Obsessed Fan?

[HairyChest]

I'm looking into purchasing DVC. Budget is very important to me so I'm very much looking at Saratoga to purchase points at. However I'm really wanting to stay at the Polynesian. I've had great success on renting points from DVC owners by checking availability with them DAILY and have been able to string together trips at the Polynesian the first week of December as people cancel their reservations. This is actually a big reason I'm getting DVC, so I can check for availability daily myself(as a Disney fan I love planning my trips and looking at different aspects daily, I know I'm crazy). So as someone who checks daily, up until the day before vacation begins how successful can I be as a DVC owner on booking where I want if it's not my home resort?

 

[Great3]

Take a look at this thread to get an idea...

https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...-studios-1-bedrooms-june-2018-update.3689931/
Really for first two weeks in Dec., you will never get studios at Poly at the 7 months mark, all the owners book within 10-11 months already.

So your chances depend on people plans changing, and nobody can predict that, other than it will happen, just don't know when. I certainly wouldn't count on getting Poly consistently in Dec, unless you purchase there.

And BTW, you don't have to check daily, you can just waitlist, up to 2 waitlist at a time.

Great3

 

[AnnaS]

Very, very, very important to buy where you want/like/love/don't mind staying the majority of your time.

 

[zavandor]

It depends on how much flexibility you have in choosing your travel dates. From the end of September to marathon week end in January it's busy time for DVC, most people book their home resort at 11 months and then maybe hope to switch at 7 months, but that is not always possible. If you're willing to play the stalking game you might be able to piece together a reservation but it might not be possible. Especially during the first two weeks of December, which are the busiest time for DVC, some categories are even difficult to get at 11 months.
Outside fall frenzy, your chances of getting the Poly are quite good.

But, after spending thousands on an SSR contract, would you be happy to stay there instead of the Poly? If the aswer is no, then it's not a good idea so save a bit on purchase price and then be frustrated every time you cannot switch. Buying SAP (Sleep Around Points) works only if you're happy with your home resort.

 

[crisi]

Assume that the majority of your stays you will end up at your home resort (that may not be true, but its a good assumption when buying). Are you happy? Then buy that resort. Are you disappointed? Then choose a different resort, and try the same thought exercise. Whether you are able to switch depends on unit size, time of year, how fast you are at seven months, and luck - as well as if you are willing to stalk for cancellations and how you measure success (some people will move multiple times during a trip and call it a success - others only consider it a success when they got the exact resort they wanted for the whole vacation) - and over my own ownership, its gotten much much tougher to switch.

 

[CarolMN]

I've posted this several times - the "good feelings" associated with your budget-driven purchase will soon be forgotten if you are stuck staying at XX, when you really want to be at YY.

FWIW, it's nice to hear you've been successful renting at 7 months. But know that the competition at 7 months is increasing every year for the near-park resorts (Poly, VGF, BLT, CCV/BRV BWV & BCV). Those resorts are not getting any bigger and people are buying resale contracts for those resorts to book during the home resort priority period. (They're tired of getting shut out and stressing over waitlists that don't seem to come through very often). The 7 month competition will only get worse as more DVC resorts come online. This is ESPECIALLY TRUE for the first two weeks of December, which are the two most-in-demand weeks of the year.

Don't buy SSR if you won't be happy staying there. Buy where you want to be and book during the home resort priority booking period.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I've posted this several times - the "good feelings" associated with your budget-driven purchase will soon be forgotten if you are stuck staying at XX, when you really want to be at YY.

FWIW, it's nice to hear you've been successful renting at 7 months. But know that the competition at 7 months is increasing every year for the near-park resorts (Poly, VGF, BLT, CCV/BRV BWV & BCV). Those resorts are not getting any bigger and people are buying resale contracts for those resorts to book during the home resort priority period. (They're tired of getting shut out and stressing over waitlists that don't seem to come through very often). The 7 month competition will only get worse as more DVC resorts come online. This is ESPECIALLY TRUE for the first two weeks of December, which are the two most-in-demand weeks of the year.

Don't buy SSR if you won't be happy staying there. Buy where you want to be and book during the home resort priority booking period.

Plus with the addition of Riviera and Reflections, it will make more guests competing for all resorts at seven months out and many guests not able to use their points at Riviera or Reflections because of their resale purchase. That will put a crunch on the original 14.

 

[moericus]

Personal choice but on the forums...

• rarely does someone regret spending the extra cash for a good home resort
• often does someone regret buying points at the wrong resort

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Another reality: if you really want to travel in fall and sleep around, DVC may nto be a good buy vs. renting for you.

 

[mjlash22]

Take some more time and save, then buy where you want to stay. Being that Poly only has the studios or the bungalows, that resort is much harder to get 7 month bookings. What I've read and seen many Saratoga owners do, is buy enough points that would equate to what they need for a 1 or 2 bedroom at a resort that would prefer to stay at, since they have better availability at 7 months. But this won't work in your situation with Poly.

 

[Doublea]

This was something we considered when deciding to buy. There were better options for the wallet, but ultimately decided that we wanted to be at the Poly more often than not. We are paying $30-40 more a point, which I realize is a lot but worth it to us. If you’ve had success at 7 months, then it’s not a huge deal I suppose. Trends change though, so who knows how it will be down the road.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[ColinBlair]

In case it helps, here is my setup:

I visit Disney 2-3 times a year, and I have 160 points at Saratoga for general Disney trips and Moonlight magic weekend trips (doing one of those this weekend). As long as I care more about what I can get instead of when, I can build very interesting trips at 7 months. For example, in February I will be staying for 3 nights at the Boardwalk, 2 nights at AKV in a savanna view studio, and 2 nights AKV in a value 1 bedroom. My target every year is to bank as close as I can to the full 160 points, so I am always using banked points for my trips. That gives me a very high degree of flexibility for spending if I want to really splurge in a given year.

Last year I decided that I really wanted to start a new tradition of staying at the Polynesian (nearly) every year in the second week of December. That simply isn't possible with my Saratoga points, so I bought a small 50 point resale contract at the Polynesian. That gives me enough Poly points for a 3-4 day stay in December but I am borrowing every year instead of banking which means I will need to take a year off every so often.

 

[HairyChest]

Thank you all for your help and experiences. The fact that DVC holds its value so well, im thinking of getting SSR and trying it out. If it doesn't work out I can sell it and buy the Poly. That will also enable me to save during that time in case Ill need to sell and buy at the Poly. Have the resell prices of DVC increased much after say 2 or 3 years?

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

Have the resell prices of DVC increased much after say 2 or 3 years?

Resale prices have increased at a pretty good pace over the last 10 years. Look at the ROFR (Right of First Refusal) thread here and you can see all the prices that have traded over the last 10 years. It's a small sample size but gives a great snapshot of what values were at a specific time. The biggest jumps in resale prices seem to be after DVC has successfully raised the direct prices at resorts. The spread between direct and resale has stayed pretty consistent over the years.

Obviously, future prices will be dependant on whether or not this 10 year bull market/hot economy continues. If it does I could see Disney cash prices rising which allows DVC to increase direct prices which helps pull up resale prices. If we get a downturn and demand for Disney vacations softens, I could see DVC resale prices soften as well.

 

[crisi]

However, in 2008 people bought at high prices after the market had held for the previous eight or so years, and then in late 2008 the market crashed. DVC was worth half of what people had bought it for. Those who financed were hit particularly hard and there were a few cases of people unable to find people to rent unused points. Disney is really a heavily economy dependent vacation. Be careful with the assumption you can sell.

 

[Sandisw]

Thank you all for your help and experiences. The fact that DVC holds its value so well, im thinking of getting SSR and trying it out. If it doesn't work out I can sell it and buy the Poly. That will also enable me to save during that time in case Ill need to sell and buy at the Poly. Have the resell prices of DVC increased much after say 2 or 3 years?

This may seem like a great plan but going in thinking you are going to be able to sell and not lose money is risky. First, you are assuming it will be easy to unload. So many SSR contract out there and it might take time to sell. Will depend on what points you have left and will need to pay commission, etc.

But, back to buying at a resort you don’t want to stay at. Do you really want to spend thousands of thousands of dollars and be disappointed, even for a few years? Is it worth it? You mention having owners who have gotten you Poly, but we’re they Poly owners? Or was this all within the 7 month or less window.

When I first bought, I considered this as well, but ultimately ended up buying BLT because that is what I wanted and didn’t want to be worried about 7 months. And back then, the ability to change at 7 months, even in December wasn’t as difficult as it is now.

Sounds like you also want studios which are even more difficult to get during that time. Is it impossible? No, but you want to own at a resort that you are going to be okay at if you can’t switch at 7 months. If you are okay with SSR and go in not expecting Poly, then it might be worth considering.

DVC is too expensive and a long term purchase. If Poly is what you want, then I’d consider buying a smaller contract there to use every other year, and then add on later on.

Good luck!

 

[HairyChest]

Good point. The people I rented from didnt own at the poly. It was like 30 days before each of my reservation days that the poly kept opening up. Yes Ill be utilizing studios to make the points spread and the size of the poly studios feel very big and comfortable to me. The thing is Im not going to stop going to disney every year even if i dont get resale . So Ill still be spending the money to go. The other issue is when I rent from someone, i dont have the ability to keep checking if something i really want opens up or a waitlist goes through. However, saving for the poly to be the home resort would make the finance portion difficult especially for the fact that Ill be spending money going to the world while trying to save money to buy at the poly. Im hooked on the pixie dust.