How did you make your decision...financially or emotionally?

[Stacyabc]

So DH and I are still deciding where to buy. I realized with our last discussion that we are approaching this decision from different perspectives.

He is approaching this from a financial viewpoint. His decision is based on getting the most points we can within our budget.

My decision is based on . I want to buy at the location that I think we will love even if it means fewer points.

Either way we will have enough points for the vacations we adore and that is what matters.

However, I am curious how did you decide...financially or emotionally?!

 

[tammymacb]

I definately pick emotionally.

I knew I'd be disappointed if I didn't get to stay at BWV in December, so I bought points there for the 11 month window.

 

[Arthur27]

I must say financially. We are in the process of buying and have decided on AKV for the incentive 100 developer points. WE love Wilderness lodge but feel the current deal is too good to pass up.

 

[Tiggerlover48]

We are still thinking about buying DVC. My heart says to buy - and it would be AKV hands down. But finanically my head is saying can we really afford this?

 

[VrBchJ]

I guess I come down on the emotional side. I wanted BWV for Food and Wine and for the standard view rooms. I stay other places but my heart will always be at BWV and in the end that's where I want to be for F&W, for Dec. and for Flower and Garden.

 

[PhantomBlot]

to put it as succintly as possible, emotionally within some financial boundaries

 

[sajetto]

Our first purchase with SSR was financial. Also it was the only thing DVC was selling and had a longer contract than any of what was on the resale market at the tiem

2nd purchase was contributed to a combination of our enjoyment of AKV, the longer contract, and purchase incentive

Our 3rd purchase (OKW) was purely emotional. OKW was the resort we always wanted, but didn't buy because we didn't have the option of having more years on the contract until now.

 

[abner1776]

I guess it was more emotional...the cost savings seemed to make sense or at least it was easier to justify the purchase with the cost savings built into the equation. I bought VWL within a few months after staying at WL but we never took a tour or talked with any DVC people.

My DW is more frugal than I even though she thinks I am a tight wad at times. We both like the whole WDW experience and even though we have been to WDW many times and we bought DVC nearly two years ago, we are looking forward to our first DVC vacation later this year. Somehow, I recall our DD's begging to use our points until there are never any left for us...Sept 08 is finally our time.

 

[Boston5602]

I paid more for less time ,so emotionally.

I will be happier every bit of the fewer years I have ,with staying at Boardwalk !!!

 

[tedisney]

Well, we bought our initial AKV purchase back in September.

Our first DVC stay was earlier this month, at BCV. We loved it!

We decided last week to add on some points, and we really struggled with the same issues you mention. Do we get points at AKV for 15 more years (plus Dev points/discount/etc), or get points at BCV?

We still hadn't really decided which one to do when I called our guide. The money thing (discount/dev points) we kind of figured wouldn't matter in the long run if we could stay where we want to stay. The 15 year difference was somewhat of an issue. However, the bigger issue was that there were only 6 points available in the August UY at BCV!

As soon as I heard that, we went for more AKV points, which we're happy with for a few reasons:

1. Simplicity - all points have one home resort and UY
2. We don't really travel at peak times, and we like AKV, so we'll probably be able to stay at BCV when we want to anyway.

Okay, enough rambling, I hope that there is something useful in there, LOL.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

We are still thinking about buying DVC. My heart says to buy - and it would be AKV hands down. But finanically my head is saying can we really afford this?

Get passed the emotions, and look at the numbers. If it will be a financial stress.....don't do it!! You will have another time in your life to re-explore the purchase. The worry of obligation will overide your enjoyment...just trying to be realistic here. Always put your financial health first!! (Sorry to sound like Suze Orman)

 

[Donald is #1]

I would say I was on the more emotional side from the financial side. I was really debating between SSR and AKV. I had always wanted to stay at AKL and I figured that I would love it but SSR is cheaper. So on the trip that I bought into DVC on, I split my stay between SSR and AKV. I started at SSR and even went to AKV that first night for dinner. Well I had read how many people thought that the AKV decor is very dark and when I walked in the first time, my thought was "gee it is dark". So I spent about 6 nights at SSR and really enjoyed staying there. I took the DVC tour and saw both the SSR and the AKV rooms. Throughout those first days, I was really debating, SSR which is cheaper versus AKV which has animals!
Well, on the day that I moved over to AKV, I got there about 3:00. This time I walked into the lobby and thought "Gee, it really isn't that dark". Well I check in and have to wait about 30-60 minutes for my savanna view room to be available. During that time, I walked around the resort and looked at the savannas. Well, when my room was ready, I go to my room, open the door, walk in, and run for the balconny. I go on the balconny and I want to shout "There are animals (pronouced of course "an-ne-mals" ) here!!! "

Well my decision was made, AKV it was!

I still laugh at my mental response when I first went into the room because I had booked a savanna view room so of course there would be animals.

By the way, since that inital purchase last year, I have already added on 2 times at AKV.

 

[DeeCee735]

For us.....both. We bought what we could afford at the place we loved

 

[wildernessDad]

We bought where we wanted to stay, so I'd say emotionally. However, over the course of many years, the dues outweighs any initial purchase.

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

I guess I would have to say financially. Once we figured we would get enough use to be worthwhile we chose SSR because:

1) Lower initial cost
2) Lower dues and being a large resort I expect them to stay that way
3) I know people say buy where you want to stay but I want to stay in them all at some time and since my DD is 16 we will soon be able to have a greater flexibility with our vacations so I figure I can get into some of the other resorts because of this.
4) The reason we didn't buy another resort on resale was because I figured the longer contract from SSR or AKV would be a plus if we chose to sell.

We also bought 225 points and split the contract into 175/50 so if we ever have more points than we can use I can sell off the 50 point contract. (Plus the 50 is considered and add on and there are no closing fees. I don't know, however, if my closing cost would have been more for one 225 pt purchase)

 

[BroganMc]

Emotionally within financial constraints. We started out as Marriott owners so we knew we could already come down to Orlando twice a year for less. (Marriott cost less to own, less to manage, bigger accommodations, more travel opportunities.) BUT I really wanted to check out this DVC thing.

I had looked into it when BCV was for sale. It was far too expensive for us in comparison to Marriott at the time. But we had stayed on property once 10 years ago. In a value, in the coldest time of year, and only for a few days and yet I remembered the magic of it.

So when the time was right and we had the money, we did a tour and decided to buy what Disney was selling. SSR turned out to be an easy sale for us. It was more an issue of whether the extra cost of DVC ownership was worth onsite stays for us.

As for where people pick their home resort, I think that's more a strategic decision. ALL the resorts are nice and can make good homes. And you can get rooms at all other resorts eventually. The best advice I'd give any first time buyer is to NOT buy at a place they hate to stay. I discounted VB and HHI ownership because I knew I'd pretty much never be happy there. BCV loses me because of the pool.

 

[robinb]

Both. We really wanted to buy, but we had to convince ourselves that it wasn't a terrible decision. It wasn't. We recently sold that first contract for $23 more per point than we bought it because we wanted to buy at AKV and KT (CRV).

ETA: The 11-month window is only useful if you plan on vacationing in very busy times: NYE, Spring Break, mid-Summer, Food and Wine, Thanksgiving/Early Dec or Christmas. Otherwise, you can stay at your preferred resort in the 7-month window at a cheaper rate.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We bought OKW shortly after they started selling BWV. We didn't care at all for BWV, so OKW was both an emotional AND financial choice. We loved that we got more point value there, and the size of the rooms plus point value made it a good financial choice as well.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We bought the main contract at BWV and that was a financial decision. We immediately added on at VWL and that was emotional.

Bobbi

 

[DVC Mike]

We bought the main contract at BWV and that was a financial decision. We immediately added on at VWL and that was emotional.

Kind of the same with me. I gave a lot of thought to the finances for my initial buy-in to DVC, but I think all my add-ons were made mostly from emotion. My initial financial comparison involved studios, but after our first stay in a 1-BR we only book Studios on the weekends from time to time to save points.