Many, many questions on a big investment

[tiffsix]

I want to thank all of you now for all of the effort you put into helping everyone- please bear with me as i have a lot of questions. My wife and I are right on the edge of buying a DVC. Our dilemna is that we don't really like SSR but buyind a "used" one is a lot more affordable and gets us more points than buying from Disney-

We would much prefer to be at the AKV or the CRV(when do those become available?)- would you think we should buy 160 points at $104 a point now at AKV and then buy, let's say, 50 points at CRV a few years down the road or just buy SSR at a much cheaper price-

We are expecting our first child within 2 weeks and we always travel to WDW in Sept-Oct to avoid crowds- while this will be our plan for a few years it may change as kids get older-

What are the pros and cons of having ownership at 2 different locations? Any and all help is greatly appreciated, we need all of your opinions to seal this deal- Thanks John

 

[Granny]

We would much prefer to be at the AKV or the CRV(when do those become available?)- would you think we should buy 160 points at $104 a point now at AKV and then buy, let's say, 50 points at CRV a few years down the road or just buy SSR at a much cheaper price-

I think your plan of buying points at AKV and adding on down the road make sense. Your family is young (and small) and you can make those 160 points go pretty far in a studio for a few years. And I'd strongly advise against buying SSR due to this statement:

Our dilemna is that we don't really like SSR

If you really don't care for a resort, it doesn't make sense to own there. That's assuming you can make plans more than 7 months in advance, of course.

What are the pros and cons of having ownership at 2 different locations?

The pros of having ownership at 2 locations is that you can make reservations at a home resort with home resort points 11 months in advance but have to wait until 7 months to book at any non-home resort. You cannot combine points from two resorts to book during the home booking advantage.

It sounds like you are a couple where the extra years of ownership are important, so OKW/BWV, VWL and BCV probably don't have as much appeal to you? If you are young enough to anticipate enjoying 50 years of ownership, I think those years are meaningful. And of course, you can still book those other resorts if you like. If you are going in September you will find other resorts fairly easy to book. If you go in October, I think you will find BWV & BCV a challenge at the 7 month window due to the Food & Wine festival.. Keep in mind that slow times for WDW don't necessarily mean slow times for DVC resorts.

You are right to ask lots of questions. It is a substantial amount of money. Make sure you are comfortable, and if you can afford it, then go ahead and make the plunge. It is very cool to think of many decades of WDW vacations as you look forward to your first born child. Good luck in your decision, and best wishes for a wonderful delivery for mother and child.

 

[tiffsix]

Thank you so much for your very well-thought out reply! You are right, the extra years are very important to us as I am 30 and my wife is 27. We would like to be able to enjoy the DVC membership with our grand-children one day. I think we will call DVC tomorrow and get the ball rolling as we already have a vacation booked for November staying at the AKL and hoping maybe we would be able to use our DVC membership to stay there? We are going Nov. 11th-Nov. 19th. Thanks again!!!

 

[Granny]

Thank you so much for your very well-thought out reply! You are right, the extra years are very important to us as I am 30 and my wife is 27. We would like to be able to enjoy the DVC membership with our grand-children one day. I think we will call DVC tomorrow and get the ball rolling as we already have a vacation booked for November staying at the AKL and hoping maybe we would be able to use our DVC membership to stay there? We are going Nov. 11th-Nov. 19th. Thanks again!!!

Sounds like you have a good handle on the ins and outs of the program. And the thoughts of your little one(s) looking out of your room's balcony at the animals and pointing them out to you....well, that's about as great as it gets!

Let us know how your conversation goes, and if you buy in. We'd all love to welcome you HOME!

 

[Granny]

By the way, John. Are you aware your wife has another thread on this board that she started today indicating that you all are buying an SSR resale?

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1391458

Let's get on the same page here!!!

 

[DutchsMommy]

By the way, John. Are you aware your wife has another thread on this board that she started today indicating that you all are buying an SSR resale?

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1391458

Let's get on the same page here!!!

Too funny LOL

 

[tiffsix]

yes i was aware! ha! That is because yesterday morning that is what we were leaning towards doing so she was trying to get more info on it. Then from reading & researching on the boards, she realized we probably should consider buying directly from Disney for the AKL! Thanks again everyone! I plan on calling DVC today!

 

[dianeschlicht]

I think your plan is a good one. You will probably be able to get that AKV stay for the November trip by calling on May 16th (assuming you close by then).

 

[Budshark]

One thing that might (or might not) help. You said you were looking at buying from Disney for $104/pt and going in November...

Well right now Disney is doing an $8/pt discount if you forego your 2006 points, making it $96/pt for AKV. Also, they have Sept, Oct, and Dec use years available - so that would work in November if you were staying in a Studio (assuming 160 points is enough).

Anyhow - might be worth saving the money and bypassing the points since with a little one coming I doubt you'd be going between now and Nov. anyways.

Chris