Looking for advice...

[RPMJ]

Hello! Wondering if you are thrilled or disappointed with your DVC Home Resort? Why? Also, have you ever stayed somewhere other than your home resort and been pleasantly surprised and wished you bought there? Have you ever bought and then sold in order to buy a different resort?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

 

[MouseMomx2]

We own points at Old Key West and Hilton Head and love both. We have stayed at all of the DVC resorts except Aulani and enjoy them, but have never wished we owned there over our home resorts.

 

[seelyt2]

We bought 160 points at Kidani in 2009 and we're really happy with our choice. We've only stayed at SSR and Disney's Hilton Head Resort, so we don't have a lot of other resorts to compare, but we really fell in love with Kidani and have no plans to sell/purchase elsewhere at this point. My dream is to add on one day..."when my ship comes in". It may sound corny, but purchasing DVC has really enriched our lives.

 

[com_op_2000]

When we bought, OKW was DVC. I have never regretted owning there and would not change my home resort. We love AKV, BCV, BWV, and VWL as change of pace resorts. We enjoy all the others including the off-site of WDW resorts. We will gladly go to any DVC resort at any time and feel like we are home.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I might sell my three contracts, but I surely won't ever buy any more. DVC points are just too expensive. And I probably won't need them too many more years.

 

[adminjedi]

Bought our first contract SSR, having not stayed. After our first trip, decided it wasn't for us. Sold it and bought AKV. Bought more AKV. Bought BCV. Bought more BCV. Stayed at OKW to check it out, liked it for the GV option, bought it!

We do mostly split stays between AKV and BCV. Now, we will alternate a few days at OKW GV and then one of the other resorts.

We bought Aulani and know we will love it. Looking forward to our Dec trip just the two of us and family in 2013.

 

[adminjedi]

It may sound corny, but purchasing DVC has really enriched our lives.

Ours too!

 

[disneynutz]

Hello! Wondering if you are thrilled or disappointed with your DVC Home Resort? Why? Also, have you ever stayed somewhere other than your home resort and been pleasantly surprised and wished you bought there? Have you ever bought and then sold in order to buy a different resort?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

We own at 5 resorts and the only one that we regret is BLT. BLT is a great resort for many, most of the views are nice and it is close to the MK, it's just not for us. We don't care for the theming, maintenance and design issues and I am wondering if the dues there received the Aulani treatment?

Bill

 

[ToddyLu]

I was the one who wanted points...anywhere...just to be on property. When I went to DH to see if this was something we could do....he said, "as long as you buy them at Animal Kingdom I am with you". Neither one of us had ever stepped onto AKV property. Seems we were both secretly watched the AKL buses pull away each trip, wishing we were one of those lucky enough to stay there. So we purchased points there. I was a little nervous at first but once we rounded the corner to head up to the resort--I new it was perfect. He made the best decision.

We live on the Gulf Coast so OKW and BCV are too much like home. DH served as a forestry firefighter for a number of years and VWL reminds him too much of national parks--crazy, I know. BLT is too modern. SSR is really quiet-almost too quiet and so big and spread out. It is awesome but we like the hotel feel of AKV, not the condo style of SSR. BWV just doesn't do it for us-even with that awesome location. So for WDW location it was AKV for us.

We appreciate all the things that others tend to have a problem with--remote loaction (we like the felling of being away from the parks), drab outside colors (we think it suits the setting and blends in to the environment perfectly), small and quiet lobby (homey feel for us), no restaurants except Sanaa (we tend to not eat at the resorts anyway), etc.

For us it was all about the vibe--not so much the cost, I mean it was going to be expensive regardless so we might as well get exactly what we want.

I would love to try the other resorts but alas, I married a DVC purist who ONLY wants to stay at his home resort. He doesn't have to twist my arm at all.

 

[DizDays]

We bought AKV points in early 2009 and loved it. Immediately got "addonitis" and bought VGC because we stayed at the Grand Cal resort several times and so we could be "bi-coastal." But I always wanted to own at BCV as well. We finally just added on this month. We love all of it, don't regret a bit of it, and tell everyone DVC is the best thing we've ever done. To echo a previous poster, it has enhanced our lives tremendously.

 

[Silver Queen]

Our home resort is SSR and we are very happy with it. We were a little wary at first because we live 20 miles from the real Saratoga and we were afraid that the resort wouldn't be "special" enough. Well, we've stayed there several times and love the tranquility, decor, and the friendliness of the CMs.
At this point the only resorts we haven't stayed in are BCV, BLT, and Aulani. We have fallen in love with Kidani and rate it a close second after our SSR. We weren't that impressed with BWV (other than the location) and have no real desire to stay at BLT...too much concrete and glass for us. We also have enjoyed VFW and OKW. Our goal is to stay at each of the resorts at least once. Aulani may take some time. to sum up. We love our DVC membership. It changed our lives.

 

[JJSWDW]

We took the advice of buying where we'd most like to stay. So while we have stayed at other resorts using the seven month window, we never really dred about having to stay at our home resort if we can't get exactly what we want at another resort. We like most of them but our home is VWL. In fact, we look forward to when it comes back into the rotation. Other DVC resorts I've stayed at are BWV, BCV, BLT,SSR, VB, OKW, AKL-J. VWL's theme, location, and amenities work best for us.

 

[Knit1Purl2]

Our home resort is Saratoga Springs. We've also stayed at Animal Kingdom and HH. Will be at OKW this weekend.

We really enjoy Saratoga and the kids love the pool and club house activities. Hilton Head is one of my favorite places to stay.....not overly Disney, very peaceful and relaxing and the crafts are fun!

I really don't think it matter where your home resort it, because is usually quite easy to stay elsewhere. (I think the exception is BLT....we've tried several times and can't seem to get a reservation!)

 

[wdwfan1]

We bought at VWL because we love it there. Then we tried BWV. Loved that one so much it became our second home. We also like OKW, but we do not own there. Due to the size of the resort we can usually get accommodations there.

 

[mikeweider1]

I feel foolish confessing this (but I don't think I am alone here)

I have been to Disney 4 times in 3 years and haven't stayed in our home resort (SSR) even once. I have never even stepped foot on SSR. I don't have anything against it; I just simply have always preferred to be near MK and have gotten VWL and BLT. We have also stayed at Boardwalk and AKV.

I hear people say they really like SSR but for us we prefer to be closer to the action (we have very young children) and haven't given it a go yet...

 

[Kidanifan08]

We purchased our DVC at AKV. We have no regrets. We have done two small add-ons since our purchase in 2008. We love the theming and the quiet, small lobby. The savanna view rooms are awesome. The transportation to the parks is great. We can't wait to be there in 1 month!!

We have stayed at SSR, which was nice, but seemed really spread out. I don't know if we would ever stay there again. We had a 4 day trip at OKW, which was nice. We didn't have enough time to really get to know the resort, but I would stay there again. We have our first stay at BLT in 1 month and we are staying at BWV in the Spring. I'm looking forward to the BWV stay, as I am currently thinking that we need some BWV points for F&W. Hopefully we will love it so I can proceed to spend some more $$ on Disney!!

That is the beauty of DVC -- you can eventually try them all! For the busier DVC times of year, home resort priority is important. But, over the length of ownership, you should be able to see them all.

 

[kikiq]

We took an anniversary trip to WDW and toured all the DVC resorts at the time. (AKV and BLT were not built yet) We bought SSR and never looked back. Stayed at BWV once when my DD was pregnant. Even it is closest to his favorite park, Epcot, my DH has no desire to stay there again. We consider SSR our second home. When they built VGC, we added on there...another second home.

 

[ssawka]

We have not regreted our purchase @ BLT. When we were first looking into purchasing DVC, I began by looking at the resales. I knew we needed somewhere with excellent transportation since we never have a car. I first looked at BCV, but those were selling in the mid $80's and then I realized that BLT would not cost much more. We purchased 275 points following the first DVC webcast at $92 a point. We have only gone "home" once, but we do not regret our purchase because:

1. The maintenance fees are lower.
2. We could sell our contracts now and actually make a profit (I know this won't remain true!)
3. I was able to rent out points at a higher price.
4. I for one love the decor. Some people say that it is too "hotel like", for me that's exactly what I want on vacation. If I wanted "homey", I'd stay home. IMHO, BLT feels like a "deluxe" resort. We've also stayed at BCV, OKW, and VB. Although the decor of these other resorts is nice, to me they just seem boring. Can't wait to try AKV. Next year, this year I wanted to be at BLT for MNSSHP!
5. Transportation is awesome!
6. You just can't beat having Mickey as a neighbor. I feel like Duffy in the Disney Bear book.

We plan on trying all the other resorts. I'm not real excited about staying at SSR, but only because I'm not fawn of the location in terms of transportation. I think we may go one year and stay at SSR so we can rent a car and visit the non-Disney parks in the area.

 

[dmoore22]

We purchased OKW about ten years ago then an add-on within the year. No regrets. We're still very happy with our decision. Excuse me while I head back over to the OKW Lovers thread.

 

[GoofItUp]

I love both the places we bought -- but I've not stayed at either so far! We've traveled with family and had to combine points on our 2 contracts -- BCV & SSR -- so could only take advantage of the 7 month window. We stayed at BWV the first time and AKV-Kidani the 2nd time. We are going back to BWV for our trip in March and are looking at BLT or VWL for our trip in June. I'll get to my home resorts, eventually, but love the variety in the mean time!