I seem to fall in the camp of "I enjoy wherever I happen to be." So far I've stayed at BCV, BLT, BWV, OKW, SSR, and VWL. All have their advantages and disadvantages, but all have been wonderful vacations. None of them have been the place I have to stay, and none of them are the place I'd be sad to be "stuck" at.
Do I have some I like a little more than the others? Sure! But, it's probably not the order most people would assume, and that's partly because I really value a resort as a peaceful retreat from the theme parks. I go to a park pretty much every day, but I spend a fair chunk of time at the resort and away from the parks most days as well.
I agree with this assessment.
Back in 2000, I had a group of Disney friends and the prevailing opinion was 'OKW is the Best'. I bought BWV and HH, then Vero and BCV.
Haven't been sorry once, although I would like it better if Vero was less dues and more beach.
The prevailing wisdom has been, 'Buy where you want to stay'.
This was in part the idea of the 11 month window and getting your preferred choice of villas. Long before you could walk to DHS or VGF or ride the skies to Epcot and DHS (if it's working), it was almost always advised to buy where you want to stay.
Now, I would add, 'if you can afford it', because retail prices are nuts and resale prices aren't far behind and
points charts are high. And my $1 from 2000 is only worth $1.61 as of today but Disney is pricing around 4 times higher.
So, I've stayed AKV Jambo from value to concierge and Kidani and also in the regular hotel rooms, suites and concierge.
Stayed at BCV, BWV, VWL, BLT, VGF, SSR, HH and VBR.
Stayed at Poly Concierge many trips long before buying
DVC, then stayed in Poly's DVC, several times.
I've stayed value at All Stars and Pop Century.
I've stayed moderate at Coronado Springs.
I've stayed in a cabin at Fort Wilderness and in a tent and got eaten alive at Fort Wilderness. I think the noseeums went through the tent screening.
There are none that I wouldn't go back to but some that I would prefer.
I've toured the Riviera rooms. I would stay there and have been able to book there but canceled and didn't go to WDW at all. But, I wouldn't buy there - because it's not a choice for me. You see, I keep my resorts and have no interest in selling and hope to live as long as my membership is active. I've got a shot. I'll be 88 when my 2042 memberships all expire. If I don't make it, DD's name is already on the contracts and she's been asking about dues recently after more than 21 years of ownership!
Been able to book 'something' whenever I've wanted to go. Got shut out of BWV in November the last 4 years at 11 months, but got the reservations one day at a time, after the walkers dropped the nights.
Have booked rooms the day before when all you could do was call and ask MS to look for you. Some of them didn't even want to bother looking. Some went above and beyond and found a room by putting me on hold and 'talking' to someone. One guy told me at 11 months or slightly less that the whole of WDW had no rooms available. HUCA! Lol....must have been sore at something before I called!
Anyway as long as this post is, it's not as long as the 3 years it took me to pull the trigger! I was happy staying at Poly and was risk averse. But I did it and haven't looked back, other than to an occasional Poly villa.
Coming in now, buying resale sounds best. It wasn't a huge or well known easy option when I bought. I'd probably load up on the cheapest SSR points and dues and go from there. Or even a small RIV resale to stay there, if I so desired. (Remember I don't buy to sell - that was not a concept when I bought.)
AKV wouldn't scare me either. I'd probably buy 100 or a bit more to avoid the high premiums on small contracts.
I might buy a new resort if one was for sale, because there would be incentives and nothing resale yet.
So if you've followed this ramble, the point is still, 'buy where YOU want to stay.' Don't get hung up on whatever everyone else says, including me.
It's still a freaking timeshare after all. Luxury purchase and that said, up til Disney started to ruin it with resale restrictions, one of the few that was worth squat if you decided to get rid of it.
