I hate decisions!

[torian]

I've read all the threads about choosing home resorts, about UY, about buying direct vs. via disney. I've read about whether DVC ownership even makes sense for our family.

The one decision we've made is that we want to buy into DVC. From my understanding, since we usually visit in Dec-April, a fall UY would be good (Oct or Dec), correct? Just making sure here

Now the harder part - number of points/home resort/resale vs direct.

We are going into this assuming that all DVC is offering is a chance to book at the home resort. Not factoring in any of the current perks, as they may change. That said, I think buying resale is the way to go.

Part of me wants to maximize the best bang for the buck, and also expedite us becomming owners. This would prob lead me to purchase either @ SSR/OKW/BLT. You get more points @ SSR/OKW for your dollar and for BLT, well, the length of contract and low MF are appealing.

That said, my heart is not at any of these resorts. I feel like I'd be reliquishing my 11 month booking advantage if I purchased at either SSR or OKW as they are very big resorts (except for THV). And BLT does nothing for me in terms of theming.

My heart is at BCV, sadly. I know 100 points would cost $10,000 (resale plus closing, etc) and would only afford me to go prob every other year.

Anyone else ever been in this position? How did you resolve things?? and if you had $10,000 to purchase DVC, would you go "best bang for buck" or "buy where you love?"

thanks,
tori

 

[poggs]

Solid and often repeated advice is buy where you want to stay. See no reason not to apply that here.

Get less points but get them at the bcv. Go resale, you will get a better deal than 100 points for 10k!

 

[DisDad07]

As poggs said, buy where you want to stay. Take advantage of the perks and stay at other resorts when you can. You can stay at your home resort if that perk should be taken away, but check out the other resorts while you can.

 

[arthur06]

October is very popular at BCV because of Food and Wine festival. So, if you plan on traveling in October, you almost need to own there to stay there, and book 11 months out!

December is very popular ANYWHERE on property. Early part of the month, lights are up and points are low, also it is the time of the owners meeting, so again, very popular.

As others have said, you need to buy where you want to stay. If SSR at $60 and BCV at $85 are what you are considering, then its only $2500 more to get what you want. Spread that out over the life of the BCV contract, roughly 30 more years and its under $100 a year for what you want. (Not counting MF variances)

We have thought about adding on at AKL, we enjoy it there and like the lenght of the contract. But, we just made an offer on BWV points, we love it there!

The old saying "it's not the number of breaths in your life it the moments in life that take your breath away" (DVC translates) "its not the number of years that you vacation, its the vacations that take your breath away!"

 

[mjc2003]

We just closed on a BCV resale contract, we paid $84 per point for 200 points. We had the same dilemma, where to buy, should we get more points elsewhere, etc...
We simply like BCV better than the rest. Not a knock, just our preference. We couldn't see ourselves elsewhere every trip hoping a BCV waitlist would come through.

We just closed and I called for BCV JUST inside 7 months. Nothing was available for when we want to go. We are staying at AKV and VWL for 9 days combined, and are happy about it, but we have sort of a hollow feeling b/c we just went through this whole process and really wanted to be rewarded with a stay at BCV. We are waitlisting, but my point is, if you love BCV you might not even get it at 7 months. I WAS able to find a week after Thanksgiving at BCV, outside 7 months, but alas we cannot travel then.
So if you own BCV, you will get to stay there. If you don't own BCV, it will be very hard to stay there. Keep it simple, and let this reality sink in. If you are ok with that, buy elsewhere. If not, buy BCV. If you buy 100 points you can always add on. You can also look into resale; yes there are restrictions, but not at WDW and that's the best place to use the points anyway. I just saw a BCV contract pass ROFR for $66 I think....which is sort of crazy since they were all $80+ before 3/20. So, at $70 per point you could almost get 150 points (142 actually)....

 

[dbs1228]

A resale contract just got sold and PASSED ROFR at 66.00 pp for BCV with a Dec UY and was fully loaded with 2010,2011 points! If you are not in a major hurry I would check resale sites and make an offer (listing prices does not mean sale price). Good luck!

 

[Sandisw]

I think you should buy the resort that you want--BCV. To me, spending $10,000 on something that you won't love just doesn't make a lot of sense.

We bought BLT in 2009, direct from Disney, even though we could have bought SSR for about $5000 cheaper. Why? Because I knew that if I had to wait until 7 months to book BLT and hope that it was available, I would not be happy.

So, in the end, I spent a lot more for the home resort that I knew going in was the place I wanted to be, unless I made the choice to go somewhere else.

In the long run, it wasn't that much extra. And, as mentioned, BCV is going in the low 80's right now, on average, and it sounds like DVC may be relaxing ROFR on that was well, so find a motivated seller, and you may end up in the 70's!

Good luck!

 

[CarolMN]

Another thought for you to consider -

Resale contracts for SSR & OKW are less expensive than one for BCV. IMO, this will be true for many years to come. Cheaper buy now will probably mean less when you sell, too. Even though many buy in thinking they will keep the contracts until the end (or pass them on to their children), many of those will end up selling within 7 - 10 years.

FWIW, it would not be worth the savings to me if I had to stay at a resort that I really didn't care for. The thrill of saving would soon disappear and be replaced with regret.

Some don't care where they stay - they're at Disney.

What kind of person are you? That's important to your decision.

Good luck!

 

[disneynutz]

Buying where you love to stay is more important that most newbies understand. As a new DVC Member you are all hyped up and visiting the parks commando style.

After a few years you have been there, done that and you will find that the parks are nice but now you pick and choose where and when to go there based on crowd projections and other factors. You start to slow down and smell the roses, spend more time at your resort relaxing and enjoying the people, sights, and sounds.

In a couple more years you might only venture into the parks for selected attractions, 2 or 3 a day, then you leave due to the crowds. You will find yourself spending more time at Epcot just walking around, then back to your resort.

I would guess that during a lengthly ownership, you will spend more time at your resort and less time in the parks. Do you really want to spend time at a resort that you really don't like? In addition, your cost difference that you may have paid for the less expensive resort is peanuts compared to how much money you will be paying for 30 or so years of Disney vacations.

Bill

 

[torian]

Buying where you love to stay is more important that most newbies understand. As a new DVC Member you are all hyped up and visiting the parks commando style.

After a few years you have been there, done that and you will find that the parks are nice but now you pick and choose where and when to go there based on crowd projections and other factors. You start to slow down and smell the roses, spend more time at your resort relaxing and enjoying the people, sights, and sounds.

See, this thought had crossed my mind!

We have been twice now, staying at deluxe (because we fear my H would be jailed after spending a week in a crowded Value resort

My kids have just reached their tween years. I suspect that future visits will have less rope drop and more sleeping in. And more pool time. Both the kids and my H are avid swimmers, so SAB has a huge pull. I like the idea of strolling over to Epcot (which the kids seem to love more than MK now) and wander over for a bite in WS. And there is close access to DHS, plus MK is just a walk and monorail ride away.

And I honestly think if we just cut to the chase and only think of this as the right to book at our home resort (given availability) we avoid any disappointment if/when perks go away or are replaced by not so good perks.

I still think 30 years of use out of a contract is still amazing - I will be over 70 by then

Thanks for all your responses. I just wanted to make sure that my logic was sound!

tori

 

[disneynutz]

See, this thought had crossed my mind!

We have been twice now, staying at deluxe (because we fear my H would be jailed after spending a week in a crowded Value resort

My kids have just reached their tween years. I suspect that future visits will have less rope drop and more sleeping in. And more pool time. Both the kids and my H are avid swimmers, so SAB has a huge pull. I like the idea of strolling over to Epcot (which the kids seem to love more than MK now) and wander over for a bite in WS. And there is close access to DHS, plus MK is just a walk and monorail ride away.

And I honestly think if we just cut to the chase and only think of this as the right to book at our home resort (given availability) we avoid any disappointment if/when perks go away or are replaced by not so good perks.

I still think 30 years of use out of a contract is still amazing - I will be over 70 by then

Thanks for all your responses. I just wanted to make sure that my logic was sound!

tori

After a few more years your kids will be telling you that they like Disney but they are tired of going there every year and they will have their own lives and favorite things to do. You and your DH will still be going to WDW enjoying each others company in a magical place, so pick your resort based on long term ownership, not on what the kids like today.

Bill

 

[JimMIA]

Resale contracts for SSR & OKW are less expensive than one for BCV. IMO, this will be true for many years to come. Cheaper buy now will probably mean less when you sell, too.

Yeah, but there are two reasons for BCV selling higher.

One is that DVC has occasionally been ROFRing BCV; they have not been ROFRing anything at SSR/OKW. With this recent, fully-loaded BCV contract passing ROFR at $66 (the previous low ROFR clearance had been $77), I suspect they have pretty much abandoned ROFR altogether. If that proves to be the case, BCV's resale prices will certainly decline.

The other reason BCV sells higher is its intrinsic value. It's very small (meaning fewer contracts on the resale market) and its location and amenities give it desireability that SSR and OKW do not have. That intrinsic value difference will not change.

Bottom line, if DVC stops ROFRing BCV, I'd expect its resale prices to drop to a little above BWV...or right around VWL's resale prices. That's quite a drop from where it is now.

I still agree with the other posters that if BCV is what you love, buy BCV.

But I'd ignore any consideration of possible resale prices. You never know what those prices will be several years down the road.

 

[Tigger1]

I just tried to get a ressie at OKW at just over 6 months I a studio, none, had to wait list. Only thing available in a studio was Saratoga. Never thought that would happen at OKW.

So buy where you want to stay unless you cant make a ressie at before 7 months anyway.

 

[arthur06]

After a few more years your kids will be telling you that they like Disney but they are tired of going there every year and they will have their own lives and favorite things to do. You and your DH will still be going to WDW enjoying each others company in a magical place, so pick your resort based on long term ownership, not on what the kids like today.

Bill

I couldn't agree more.

We bought a Dec UY, knowing that when the kids were older, we would like to travel during Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar.

Right now we seem to travel in April and Oct the most.

But, when we were looking we knew that long term we wanted to travel mostly in the winter months.

 

[palaemon]

I just tried to get a ressie at OKW at just over 6 months I a studio, none, had to wait list. Only thing available in a studio was Saratoga. Never thought that would happen at OKW.

So buy where you want to stay unless you cant make a ressie at before 7 months anyway.

During F&W? I guess it's not that surprising. Everything else books up during that time.

If it's that popular, I wonder why they don't start it sooner (mid Sept.)

 

[dbs1228]

After a few more years your kids will be telling you that they like Disney but they are tired of going there every year and they will have their own lives and favorite things to do. You and your DH will still be going to WDW enjoying each others company in a magical place, so pick your resort based on long term ownership, not on what the kids like today.

Bill

Cannot agree since my kids have been going to WDW every year since they were born (oldest 20, middle 18 youngest 16) and NEVER heard they are tired of WDW. I hear "can we use your points to go with friends!" They love it as much if not more then DH and I.

I do agree you are the OWNER buy were YOU want to go in the future!