Home Resort? Which one and why?

[jvattes]

Hi all!

Looking for you to tell me about your home resort. What do you love about it? What do you wish were different? Is your home resort the one where we should purchase points? Why or why not?

Thank you!

 

[aokeefe]

I just bought a contract at Boardwalk. I can't answer all your questions bc I actually have never stayed there! I've stayed at Beach Club/Yacht Club several times; we like the Epcot area. While doing my research, I went along with the advice of "buy where you don't mind staying". Boardwalk contracts were less expensive than Beach Club so that's why we went with Boardwalk.
I also wanted to add that we wanted a studio that slept 5.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

We know nothing about your family size, trip timing (do you travel fall? spring? holidays?), prefer a kitchen, favorite park, etc.

These all play a role, as does budget.

 

[jvattes]

We know nothing about your family size, trip timing (do you travel fall? spring? holidays?), prefer a kitchen, favorite park, etc.

These all play a role, as does budget.

DH 47, Me 43, DD 13, DS 9. Typically travel between April and September. Kitchen not super important. Favorite park AK. Looking to buy about 200-250 points.

All that being said, my question is more about why you love YOUR home resort.

 

[DVCBillyJoeBob]

Our home resort is AKV. Love the theme, seclusion, restaurants, animals and extra bathrooms at Kidani. Also, the buying price is good on resale (annual dues are a little more expensive than most).

One thing the resort lacks is direct access to a park or Disney Springs. Love to be able to get to the parks without getting on a bus.

Which is best for your family depends on your preferences. Good Luck.

 

[huskerfanatic7]

Mine is BLT. Love that it is a tower not spread out as other resorts. Love the 5 min walk to the Magic Kingdom. Love that it's on the monorail for access to Epcot and the other resorts. And the views are great

 

[Capang]

We just bought at Copper Creek. We love wilderness lodge and never want to stay anywhere else if we can help it. It totally suits us. We love the theme and proximity to MK while still being a bit removed because of no monorail. We love the boat access to FW and Comtemporary. We could have bought Poly for the same price and have access to the monorail but we must be the minority that just don't find Poly to be our favorite. We also don't feel the monorail is a must for us. If we want to resort hope we boat to contemporary and monorail it from there to some other resorts.

 

[Marionnette]

Home resorts:

AKV - lower per-point buy-in cost (but the dues are higher than a lot of others), peaceful setting, 2 bathrooms in 1-BR @AKV-K, value villas and CL possibility
BWV - walking distance to 2 parks, convenient to a variety of dining options, low per-night point requirements
VGF - monorail resort, nice splash & play area, convenient to MK, good TS dining and can walk to Poly for additional dining options, long contract life​

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Another similar thread started this weekend that you might want to read to see what people have to say about the resorts:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/what-is-your-favorite-dvc-resort-and-why.3611965/

 

[Marriedbythemouse]

We bought at BWV (200 points) because we wanted to stay there during Food and Wine. We have been successful booking all the other resorts at other times of the year.
We just bought 200 points at Hilton Head. We have family up there and wanted to be able to book 11 months out for summers.
Basically you just need to figure out where you want to stay the most. If it matters to you than buy there. If it doesn't matter then just look for a contract that is a great deal and go for it!

 

[jvattes]

Another similar thread started this weekend that you might want to read to see what people have to say about the resorts:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/what-is-your-favorite-dvc-resort-and-why.3611965/

Thanks I'll check that one out!

 

[disneynutz]

While asking other their opinions on resorts, I caution you that you may get a different feel when you stay there. People love BLT, we bought, don't really care for the place. People love AKV, we bought, same thing we don't really stay there anymore.

Each resort is different and until you stay there, you won't really know which ones feel like home.

Bill

 

[Deb & Bill]

We bought OKW nearly 20 years ago and have stayed there many, many times. It has bigger villas than the rest, two queen beds in the studio instead of a queen bed and sleeper sofa, really big porches in the one bedroom and larger and you can park your car right outside your villa. It's a good way to get away from all the Disney at WDW.

 

[JETSDAD]

We had rented points and stayed at 4 or 5 locations prior to buying in. Our 2 favourites were VWL and AKV. I think overall we prefer VWL slightly but the length of contract and the fact that DD loves animals pushed us to purchase AKV.

 

[zavandor]

I bought SSR site unseen because it was the cheapest buy in with maintenance fees on the low end. It was (and still is) the cheapest long term solution to try different resorts every time.
It helps that:
1) I am flexible with my travel dates and I like to travel in January and September when crowds and points are low. Those are slow times for DVC so I've been very successful to switch at 7 months to different resorts
2) I value the position near Disney Springs as much as a near theme park resort. I go there at least twice per vacation (like most of the parks) and with the new excellent dining options it might increase over time
3) I've recently stayed there and I think it's a lovely resort with beautiful grounds. I wouldn't mind at all to stay there is I cannot switch at 7 months (as it's getting more and more difficult)
4) I didn't know which resort was my favorite, so I really didn't have a reason to pay a premium for a specific one

 

[bwvBound]

DH 47, Me 43, DD 13, DS 9. Typically travel between April and September. Kitchen not super important. Favorite park AK. Looking to buy about 200-250 points.

All that being said, my question is more about why you love YOUR home resort.

I don't "love" my Disney home resort but rather "appreciate" it. We purchased SSR in early 2004 (pre-opening), sight unseen having already determined to purchased BWV. Thirteen years later, it was a good decision. I could even say it was the "best" decision within the DVC system for us. Here is what I appreciate:

• Practical "network" points. Since I'm not 'bonded' with my home resort, I have no 'heartstring' issues waiting until the 7-month window to book my DVC reservations anywhere in the system. Most of my points were used at BWV for an annual tech conference and now that the conference is ended, I'm using them for Aulani, Grand Cal, bouncing around other WDW locations and DCL.
• Low dues. Not the absolute lowest dues in most years, but SSR's dues have remained near the bottom of the pack over time.
• Treehouses! In my view, these were a gift and are one of the most charming elements of the location.

The single biggest thing is how well our SSR points work, for me, at the 7-month window for mostly anywhere. Our favorite 'vacation' on the points: The Manhattan Club over Thanksgiving to enjoy Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few years back via the Concierge Collection. In our coming UY, we will enjoy a Pacific Coastal weekend on the DCL Wonder and later return to WDW to enjoy the new Copper Creek Cabins. Lovely!

 

[bwvBound]

Our home resort is AKV. Love the theme, seclusion, restaurants, animals and extra bathrooms at Kidani. Also, the buying price is good on resale (annual dues are a little more expensive than most).

One thing the resort lacks is direct access to a park or Disney Springs. Love to be able to get to the parks without getting on a bus.

Another way to look at AKV: It has its own animal reserve! Awesome.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Another way to look at AKV: It has its own animal reserve! Awesome.

Which costs members extra in annual fees to maintain the animal reserve. But I sure appreciate those members paying for those animals when we stay there.

 

[IndianaRRT]

We just bought at Copper Creek. We love wilderness lodge and never want to stay anywhere else if we can help it. It totally suits us. We love the theme and proximity to MK while still being a bit removed because of no monorail. We love the boat access to FW and Comtemporary. We could have bought Poly for the same price and have access to the monorail but we must be the minority that just don't find Poly to be our favorite. We also don't feel the monorail is a must for us. If we want to resort hope we boat to contemporary and monorail it from there to some other resorts.

It's like you read my mind. We just bought at Copper Creek for all these reasons as well. We love the Poly, but the WL/FW area is really "Disney" to us. We are very happy with our choice.

 

[Dean]

Hi all!

Looking for you to tell me about your home resort. What do you love about it? What do you wish were different? Is your home resort the one where we should purchase points? Why or why not?

Thank you!

I don't think you're asking the correct question because there are so many variables that are different from each person. IMO the best question in your situation is what resort best fits you and how do you figure that out. IMO it's with sufficient on property, DVC and timeshare experience to make an informed decision looking at your group and preferences. Even though a studio works, will you be happy with it? How far out can you plan and book? Where do you prefer to stay? What is your budget (I don't feel it's a good choice unless paying cash)? Assuming WDW is the goal as it appears here, SSR is the best value and BLT is second. AKV is about 20% more than SSR unless one uses a large % of value category rooms. I don't think the home resort or even the resort one stays at makes much difference for AK but it does more for the other 3 parks. Ideally once your sufficiently educated, you should be able to easily and clearly answer the questions yourself with a fair degree of certainty though there will often be some indecisiveness.