Home Resort Selection Help

[Lumee23]

Hi everyone! I am hoping for some advice on home resort selection (WDW properties).

A little bit about us to help guide the advice - We are a family of 5 with kids aged 2, 6 and 9. Our vacations will mostly be flying but sometimes we will be driving from PA so we will have a car on some visits. We will be targeting one bedroom villas for the majority of our stays. Typically we will use the 11 month window and will travel during cheaper point periods every other year (to start). We are planning on buying the minimum direct initially and then (hopefully) addon resale in the future as our needs change and we experience more resorts. We know about the monetary downsides of direct but we want the blue card for a variety of reasons. As of right now we are seriously considering splitting the contracts into two small contracts to do split stays. We have only stayed at Kidani once so we are buying a little blind. I would love to take future grandchildren to the parks and have no intentions of selling once my kids grow up so deed length is a factor.

We have ruled out BWV, BCV, BR for deed length and CCV due to lack of five person studios or 1 bedrooms, VGF for point charts, and Poly for lack of one and two beds. So that leaves OKW ($165/pp), SSR ($165/pp), AKL ($186/pp), Riv ($201/pp no inc), and BLT ($245/pp).

My overall thinking:
BLT checks off the majority of the checkboxes; however the direct price is significantly higher than the rest and the overall theming is not to my taste. The ability to walk to MK is a huge selling feature for us (especially right now), the dues are great, point chart is reasonable and the 1 beds have the extra bathroom.

For OKW and SSR the price and point charts are of course fantastic. I also really like the SSR redo because of the murphy beds that replace the sofa beds. The reliance on buses or a car are a big downside to me though as is the shorter deed length. AKL is fairly similar distance/price/points wise but I really love the restaurants, theming and 2 bath one bedrooms.

I know Riviera stirs a lot of debate but I love the rooms (again I love the murphy beds), the artwork, the kids splash area, etc. The resale restrictions bother me but it isn’t a deal killer. It is more the point charts, higher dues and resale restrictions combined together. The deed length and lower direct price since it is the current resort for sale is a draw though. This would be the resort I would want to book for adult trips but availability looks sketchy at the 7mo mark for non owners?

So options we are looking at are:
125 points at SSR or OKW (leaning SSR for lower dues)
125 AKL
125 BLT
Splitting of points between BLT and either SSR, OKW, AKL, Riv

Is it crazy to split two contracts and plan on split stays? Other thoughts?

Also a question about blue cards. If we split two contracts for a total of 125 points and lets say in the future the new minimum is 200 points. If we purchased a new 50 point contract direct and then sold one of our original 50 point contracts (so still at 125 points direct) would we still be grandfathered into the 125 point minimum? Or would we have to retain both original contracts to keep the previous minimum requirement?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[Lorana]

Is it crazy to split two contracts and plan on split stays? Other thoughts?

Personally, I love the idea of split stays, but that's also because I like to switch things up, and plan my stay around the parks closest to the resorts I'm staying at. Also, buying two contracts also means you could just alternate every other year, utilizing banking and borrowing, if you didn't want to do split stay.

Personally, if this were me, based on your listed preferred resorts, I'd buy 125 BLT and 125 RIV. The reason being, that as your kids get older, their favorite parks and rides may very well change, you and may find yourself wanting to spend time at HS and Epcot as much as MK. (Okay, if this were me, I'd buy AKV, but this isn't me... ;-) ). This way, you can split between MK and a resort with easy access to HS/Epcot. You could also buy the 125 RIV direct and the 125 BLT resale (though note if you did this, you could never combine your 125 BLT to stay at RIV and future resorts at the 7 month mark). If you bought both direct and later on decided to sell one, you'd still have direct benefits.

Also a question about blue cards. If we split two contracts for a total of 125 points and lets say in the future the new minimum is 200 points. If we purchased a new 50 point contract direct and then sold one of our original 50 point contracts (so still at 125 points direct) would we still be grandfathered into the 125 point minimum? Or would we have to retain both original contracts to keep the previous minimum requirement?

Each *contract* has the minimum point requirement attached to it. So long as you retained 125 worth of points that all had the 125 minimum requirement, you'd be grandfathered in. So, if you bought two 125 point contracts, and sold one, you'd be fine. If you bought 125 direct in two contracts - say, 65 and 60 points - and then the minimum increased to 200, and you sold the 60 point but bought a new 65 point, you would not have the blue card. That's because the NEW contract has the 200 point requirement. Does that make sense?

 

[PearlyJoy]

I thought the minimum 125 points was to get the blue card if one didn't have it already. Once you have it, it stays valid until the farthest direct deed expiration date if that deed is still owned

 

[tgarre06]

I thought the minimum 125 points was to get the blue card if one didn't have it already. Once you have it, it stays valid until the farthest direct deed expiration date if that deed is still owned

Anyone on this? I’m curious too. Thanks!

 

[princesscinderella]

The blue card is only tied to the contract with the direct points. So if you sell the direct contract and retain a resale contract bought after 2019 you will no longer have blue card access in your membership. The restrictions stay with the points contracts not the membership as a whole. You can’t buy 125 AKL direct and 125 resale and book at RIV with all 250 points. You will only be able to use the direct 125 points.

 

[PurdueTodd]

Keep in mind, if you do two contracts at two different resorts, you can only use the points at the 11 month window from which the points are attached. So a 65 point contract only allows you to use that set of points. You cannot combine two different resort contracts You can transfer points and use combined at the 7 month window.

 

[MD850]

I too like splitting the contract but more for every other year stays

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

You're already talking about getting direct + resale. I would not split the direct contract down less than 125. I enjoy split stays, but you don't want to be locked in to that, especially with a family of 5 - that's a lot of stuff to move! Even with all your points at one resort, you can still book split stays at the 7 month mark, pending availability.

If you get Riviera direct + another resort resale, you will not be able to use those resale points at Riviera, but you could combine them at any of the original 14 DVC resorts.
If you get Riviera resale + another resort direct, you could combine those points at the 7 month mark at Riviera, but no other resort.
That said, given your post, I'd consider doing Riviera direct and BLT resale in your case. It'd give you the blue card on the longer contract, and BLT points at the cheaper resale price.

One concern is that the only resort on your short list that sleeps 5 in a studio is Riviera, and the points charts are higher on that one than the others. Your points will stretch farthest at OKW, SSR, and AKL from your list, but they also expire earlier. However, the likelihood of being able to use points at those three resorts, especially for a one-bedroom, is pretty high at the 7-month mark most of the year (assuming the points are not Riviera resale - those are only good at Riviera).

You have to maintain the number of points that was required for the blue card at the time you locked it in. So if you have 50+75 and sell 50, you'd lose your blue card status. If you sell those 50 and then they raise the number to get the blue card to 200, you'd have to buy 125 more to supplement your 75 to lock in the blue card again. That's another reason I'd buy the 125 points as a single contract.

I'm not sure this helps you make a decision or not, but you asked for thoughts.

 

[havoc315]

Hi everyone! I am hoping for some advice on home resort selection (WDW properties).

A little bit about us to help guide the advice - We are a family of 5 with kids aged 2, 6 and 9. Our vacations will mostly be flying but sometimes we will be driving from PA so we will have a car on some visits. We will be targeting one bedroom villas for the majority of our stays. Typically we will use the 11 month window and will travel during cheaper point periods every other year (to start). We are planning on buying the minimum direct initially and then (hopefully) addon resale in the future as our needs change and we experience more resorts. We know about the monetary downsides of direct but we want the blue card for a variety of reasons. As of right now we are seriously considering splitting the contracts into two small contracts to do split stays. We have only stayed at Kidani once so we are buying a little blind. I would love to take future grandchildren to the parks and have no intentions of selling once my kids grow up so deed length is a factor.

We have ruled out BWV, BCV, BR for deed length and CCV due to lack of five person studios or 1 bedrooms, VGF for point charts, and Poly for lack of one and two beds. So that leaves OKW ($165/pp), SSR ($165/pp), AKL ($186/pp), Riv ($201/pp no inc), and BLT ($245/pp).

My overall thinking:
BLT checks off the majority of the checkboxes; however the direct price is significantly higher than the rest and the overall theming is not to my taste. The ability to walk to MK is a huge selling feature for us (especially right now), the dues are great, point chart is reasonable and the 1 beds have the extra bathroom.

For OKW and SSR the price and point charts are of course fantastic. I also really like the SSR redo because of the murphy beds that replace the sofa beds. The reliance on buses or a car are a big downside to me though as is the shorter deed length. AKL is fairly similar distance/price/points wise but I really love the restaurants, theming and 2 bath one bedrooms.

I know Riviera stirs a lot of debate but I love the rooms (again I love the murphy beds), the artwork, the kids splash area, etc. The resale restrictions bother me but it isn’t a deal killer. It is more the point charts, higher dues and resale restrictions combined together. The deed length and lower direct price since it is the current resort for sale is a draw though. This would be the resort I would want to book for adult trips but availability looks sketchy at the 7mo mark for non owners?

So options we are looking at are:
125 points at SSR or OKW (leaning SSR for lower dues)
125 AKL
125 BLT
Splitting of points between BLT and either SSR, OKW, AKL, Riv

Is it crazy to split two contracts and plan on split stays? Other thoughts?

Also a question about blue cards. If we split two contracts for a total of 125 points and lets say in the future the new minimum is 200 points. If we purchased a new 50 point contract direct and then sold one of our original 50 point contracts (so still at 125 points direct) would we still be grandfathered into the 125 point minimum? Or would we have to retain both original contracts to keep the previous minimum requirement?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Just a few random thoughts:
Riviera: I wouldn't be bothered by the appearance of high dues. Newer resorts tend to start with higher dues, but lower increases the first few years. Already saw that in this year's announcement. Eventually, Riviera dues will likely be right around the middle of the pack.

Riviera with the current incentives is still a good deal for the "premium" level resort.

Nothing wrong with SSR or OKW, but they are very different than the other resorts in terms of both location and quality. Though a great advantage of those resorts, especially SSR, is to load up on points that you can then use at other resorts.

Speaking of using non-home resorts, 1 bedrooms tend to be relatively easy to book at the 7 month window, especially during less popular times of year. So to the extent you plan on 1 bedrooms during less popular travel periods, you have more flexibility in picking your home resort. Conversely, home resort thinking becomes, "if I want a studio for Thanksgiving/Easter/Christmas/etc... would I be happy in my home resort?"

Of the 3 more premium DVC resorts you are considering, BLT, AKL and RIV:

Riviera has the nicest and largest grooms...

AKL is the easiest to book at the 7 month mark, making it less imperative to have home resort advantage. BUT, AKL also is the only resort that offers concierge rooms. Plus, they have their "value" rooms. If you are interested in their concierge or value rooms, you need home resort advantage. To me, the long-term ownership ding against AKL is the location.

Objectively, most people would agree BLT has the best location, of those on your list. (Some DHS and EPCOT lovers may prefer location of Riviera). Point chart is a mixed bag: the theme park view rooms are similar to preferred view rooms at GFV and RIV, but they do have some cheaper categories. This is purely anecdotal -- but it seems to me that people's estimation of BLT has been slipping in recent years, due to the smallish rooms, mediocre quality and theming, and addition of better Magic Kingdom DVC options.

I wouldn't do a split contract as multiple resorts. Though it's advantageous to split a contract within 1 resort, to make it easier to pass on to your children. Let's say you did 75 points per resort at 2 different resorts: It really hurts your flexibility to do 1 longer stay in 1 place. You will ALWAYS be stuck splitting your reservation. As I said, most times of the year, it's pretty easy to book a 1 bedroom at the 7 month mark. Especially at AKL. Buy your points at 1 resort to start. At the 7 month mark, you can then look at your split options. Most of the year, at most resorts, you'll be able to split into a good option at the 7 month mark. And by having the home resort locked up, you'd have flexibility in designing the split (first 3 days of a 7 day trip... last 3 days.... last 4 days... you can go with what's available).

 

[Disneylovingmomof2]

I was considering Riv DVC so we visited and had a meal there. It’s definitely beautiful but I would not buy there. We got in the skyliner line after eating and after waiting quite a bit they let everyone know it was experiencing difficulties. We were about to find another way to the park but had lingered in that area and it started running again. We were the second or third family in line since everyone else had dispersed and still waited probably 25 mins to get on. All of the incoming cars were full! For me, a huge perk with deluxe resorts is being able to walk or use the monorail.

 

[Lumee23]

Thank you everyone for your feedback so far. My husband has been listening to me hemming and hawing over this for the last few weeks and has put his money on us ending up with a Riviera contract though he doesn't fully understand the resale implications of that resort. We do plan on initially doing every other year visits to start mostly because my husband is not fully on the Disney train. I should clarify that *I* have intentions of buying resale; however my husband would be happy if we didn't buy DVC at all so there is a chance we may never add-on (though I hope not!!!)

I am not surprised regarding the response on the blue card but that definitely changes things for us. That means whatever we buy direct we need to be 100% happy with since we will not be able to get rid of it without losing our blue card (unless we want to spend even more money direct... which we don't ) I am making the assumption that minimums will continue to go up but I think that is fair considering historical changes.

So even though my wallet screams OKW and SSR I think we will have to drop those from the list. I like the AKL theming but we aren't super interested in value/concierge so I don't think that would be a must. I guess one of my others concerns with Riviera is how hard will it be to book once more resale contracts get sold and they can only stay there? 125 points at BLT is a bit of a budget buster for us though, which brings me back to why we were thinking of splitting. We have never done a split stay though and while we aren't unpackers moving a family of five is never an easy feat.

We had a DVC exploration trip booked for just me and my hubby last year so we could try out a split stay, do the Skyliner, etc but that got canceled due to pandemic. I am hesitant to wait even more though because it seems like the minimums and direct points just keeps going up up up.

I think at this point we have narrowed it down to Riviera and BLT. Decisions, decisions!

 

[Miffy]

I'm still liking AKV for you (disclaimer: this from someone who's never bitten the DVC bullet). One of the main reasons I'm against RIV is that I think it's going to be very hard to sell if you should ever want to do it. Of course, you're not buying with selling it in mind, but it's a real consideration.

 

[princesscinderella]

We are a family of five and you can’t beat the two bathrooms in a one bedroom at BLT or AKV - kidani. When they we little it wasn’t a big deal but now that they are teenagers it’s a must.

 

[Bobby2443]

Out of that list I would go BLT hands down. I have two little kids and if you’re going to MK the location of BLT can’t be beat. AKL is a nice place but it’s far, especially compared to a 5 minute walk from BLT. Long term I think the resale value of the MK resorts will be good investments, which is probably why Disney has bought back so many BLT contracts in the last two months

 

[DVCsloth]

We are a family of five and you can’t beat the two bathrooms in a one bedroom at BLT or AKV - kidani. When they we little it wasn’t a big deal but now that they are teenagers it’s a must.

I agree, pretty reasonable point charts as well. I think you need the 11 month booking for a standard view 1 BR at BLT though.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

BLT walking and two baths in a one bedroom.

 

[Rileygirl]

My two cents (which are not worth a nickel)

I’m not a patient person, and I want to leap back in to the DVC ownership myself, but I wonder if it is important to do an exploratory stay. Many years ago, when kids were young, I researched this board like mad, spent weeks with charts and notes, and decided BVC was the place that would be perfect for our family. We bought resale there. A couple years into the contract we were ‘forced’ to stay at kidani, because it was a last minute trip.... and I fell in love. Love, love, love. There are reasons why I love it, but it does not really matter why, just I was caught by surprise. I never added on, it was easy enough to book at the seventh month mark (never wanted concierge or value) so it was ok.

4 years ago, we sold our bvc contract cause all the kids were at university and well, we were not going down. I sold that contract for 12 dollars a point MORE then I bought it for, and pretty much broke even or even made a few bucks on that resale. Husband said it’s the only time Disney saved us money!
During our time as DVC owners, we stayed at BLT one year. I hated it. I hated the the themeing or lack there of, I hated the MK view which was for us a parking lot view, I hated the pool, just everything.
Now I am looking at retirement, and the kids are all independent, and we want to get a contract again. I came in here with the intentions of finding a nice little AKL contract via resale, have researched again like mad, and now I’m thinking that I want a small contract at riviera with a fix week GW in the fall. I love the looks of that resort, and I love the access to Epcot on sky liner. The more I look into the riviera and fixed week, the more I love the idea. I can always add on some AKL points via resale, scoop up a good deal when I see one.
I’m kinda surprised that fixed week isn’t on all dissers radar for the riviera, the more I look into it, the better it seems. Of course there are some cons, but the advantages are huge in my opinion.
What’s my point? I am a little ramblly this morning. I guess it’s this: just because it looks good on paper, does not mean it’s the right fit for you. Maybe an exploratory visit should happen first, especially if you are planning to buy direct.
Secondly, if you are contemplating buying a contract at riviera, and plan to be staying in studios, I really think you should look at fixed week contracts, there are some good threads on here about it. Studios are going to be hard to book even at the 11 th month window, and if you plan to travel at busy times, GW might be perfect.

just some random thoughts

 

[mamaofsix]

It's seems like you're pretty certain on wanting to stay at either 1 bedrooms or studios that fit 5.

My advice: buy enough for a 2 bedroom every other year.

Your kids are young now, but as they grow it's going to feel VERY tight fitting into a 1 bedroom. Teenagers like their space, and often their own bed. It makes for a much more relaxing vacation!

 

[Lumee23]

I agree with you Rileygirl. Dropping 25k-30k on something I haven't even stepped in makes me a bit nervous and we were just talking about that last night. We had an adult only Universal trip planned in September but I think we are going to switch it to a DVC exploratory trip. My husband was really excited about going to Universal since we haven't been in almost 10 years but I think it makes the most sense considering we would be buying around that time.

If we end up doing Riviera I will have to look into fixed weeks since that is an option when buying direct. That is something I wasn't really aware of until recently.

We watched some resort tours last night. My oldest wants Riviera, my middle child wants AKL and my husband wants whatever I want haha IMO MK is the most pain to get to since even with Lyft/Uber you need to take a monorail/ferry so that <10min walk to MK plus better expected resale value if a life emergency happens calls to me but I love the Riviera rooms and the price is significantly better. I am usually a decisive person but with DVC I have no idea.

I agree with you mamaofsix that eventually two bedrooms will become the norm, especially with two teenage girls. This will be the main justification to my husband for adding on

Does anybody know if the DVC offers onboard a Disney Cruise are the same or better than the on land offers? We went to the presentation on our last cruise but I don't remember if the deal was the same or not.

 

[Lorrie7249]

It's seems like you're pretty certain on wanting to stay at either 1 bedrooms or studios that fit 5.

My advice: buy enough for a 2 bedroom every other year.

Your kids are young now, but as they grow it's going to feel VERY tight fitting into a 1 bedroom. Teenagers like their space, and often their own bed. It makes for a much more relaxing vacation!

totally agree with this! we are family of 5 (sons aged 19, 17 and 12). Recent December trip clarified for us that a 2BR was so much better than 1BR. That said, 1BR with 2 bathrooms would have made it a bit more bearable, but still thinking we need 4 sleep surfaces---so addonitis.