Near future DVC member...which one?!

[CampbellScot]

Okay so DH and I have decided that the investment is worth it...now...which one is best? We are very new to this and are just in the beginning stages. Just wanting people's opinions on THEIR home away from home and what they like best about it!

thanks in advance!!

 

[Disney MAINEiac]

a lot of personal info should factor into your decision. What part of disney do you like most? is being within walking distance to epcot or mgm important? or do you like being off the beaten path for some relaxing quiet? are you and your family young and the extra 12-years are important to you?

Most importantly buy where you like to stay, non-home resorts can sometimes be tricky during busy times of the year, so the 11 month window is important if you travel during peak season.

 

[starbox]

Each DVC has something special to offer. Unless you are very attached to the idea of staying in a specific resort every vacation and plan to travel during peak travel times (Christmas week, Thanksgiving, Easter, Food & Wine (mostly for the Epcot area resorts), then I'd suggest you purchase where you can get the best deal.

IMHO, here are some of the pros and cons of each Disney-area resort:

OKW: Pros - larger rooms, cheaper point use per. stay, quiet & laid-back atmosphere.
Cons - no indoor seating for CS, more remote location

BCV: Pros - access to SAB pool, walking access to EPCOT
Cons - expensive per. stay points-wise, no community hall, shares bus w/other resorts

BWV: Pros - whimsical theme, walking access to EPCOT, standard view rooms are a bargain points-wise, boardwalk view rooms available
Cons - shares bus with other resorts

WLV: Pros - fabulously carried-out theme, ferry to MK, very good dining on-site
Cons - woodsy "dark" decor and views are not everyone's cup of tea, pool slide is on the smallish side according to DS10, no grand villas

SSR: Pros - 12 extra contract years, walking access to (and available views of) DTD, zero-depth entry pool with toddler friendly water play area & slide
Cons - the least whimsical/clever in theme of all the DVC resorts

Specualtion on The Future VAKL
Pros - rumored to have larger rooms that accomodate more guests, very good dining at AKL, rumored savanna views, longer contract
Cons - will likely be more expensive per point, remote location, may have more expensive annual dues to cover savannah costs.

 

[Sammie]

First off, there truly is no "Best" resort. None are perfect and all are very good in many different aspects.

If you can't book at 11-8 months and know that you will always book at 7 months or later, home resort would have no preference so go with the best buy and lowest dues.

If you will be booking at 11-8 months and have a preference to stay at the smaller resorts such BCV or VWL, best to buy there. If you prefer the BW and want a studio there during peak times such as Food and Wine or Dec, then buy there.

We like them all for various different reasons. SSR and the new AKV will give you more years of usage and that in itself can be a huge factor.

I am sure others will come along and let you about why their home is best, but truly unless your likes and dislikes are identical to theirs, your wants will be different.

 

[jdvm]

It's Old Key West for us......but I'd suggest you do the same thing we've done. Stay at each of the DVC resorts and find out which one is best for YOU. There's no right or wrong answers on this test!
John

 

[Hibernians]

What are your options as far as price per point for each ? Are they priced the same ?
Also consider the extra 12 years you would be getting at SSR (this was a key consideration for me buying into SSR).

We joined last year at SSR at while its my home resort, I do not consider is much of a "home". In 2007 we will be staying at BCV. We stayed at SSR this past October and while its a very nice resort and the kids liked it a lot, we intend to try out all the resorts ( 1 per year).
It may be another 4 or 5 yrs before we return to our home (boy that sounds awful doesn't it)

Like others have said, I think each resort is unto its own and you can find pros & cons.

Other questions to consider - how often will you be using your DVC ?
Once a year like me or maybe more or less ? The 11 month vs 7 month booking could come into play depending on how often and what time of year you intend to travel. After you have figured all this stuff out, you then need to decide how many points to buy.....which is really worth a whole new thread - there's plenty of them out there on these boards.

One thing I have found in my brief DVC experience - there can be a whole lot of planning and scheming going into organizing these family vacations....its become quite the hobby

Good Luck

Joe

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Actually, our home is BWV, but we have found VB to be our favorite because of the beach. I think Starbox has done an excellent job of giving you some objective differences to consider. VB is not hard to get into even though we do not own there, but other places are not easy to get into at the 7 month mark. Like others say consider what it is YOU want. Do you like the walkover to WDW, do you like larger rooms, do you like the beach. Try to take in what each resort offers, and they are all different. Ultimately, if you can't say one resort or the other attracts you more, then I would go for the extra 12 years. Good luck..

 

[dianeschlicht]

As others have stated, each DVC home has pros and cons, and which is best for you will be very personal. Actually, you may not figure out which is best until you stay at all of them.

We personally love OKW for the lower points, size of units, quietness and vacation home feel of the place as opposed to a hotel feel. Since the units are so large, they make me feel like I have my own vacation home rather than just a timeshare.

 

[Slakk]

Okay so DH and I have decided that the investment is worth it...now...which one is best? We are very new to this and are just in the beginning stages. Just wanting people's opinions on THEIR home away from home and what they like best about it!

thanks in advance!!

I believe as long as you are not completely inflexible the 7 month window works well for most reservations. However if you EVER think you may want to try a GV then you really should not buy at VWL or BCV since they only have up to a 2 BR.

To get a GV at a peak time can be very very difficult at the 7 month mark since there are not many.

I personally own a 160 point contract at SSR and two small 50 point contracts and BCV and VWL - I plan to purchase an AKL as well. My small contracts allow me to bank and borrow for visits during prime times at specific resorts should I ever need to (so far I have had no issues reserving at prime times but in case I am well situated).

I like owning points at a lot of resorts versus owning a lot of points at one - while I love SSR the most so far I really enjoy all of the resorts and feel I would be silly to just stay at one. They all have their pluses and minuses but none of the minuses would make me miserable!

 

[milmom6]

Our selling factor was the 12 extra years at SSR, annual dues cost per point, lower but not lowest points needed and the fact that we got the friends and family discount actually sealed the deal. We bought 150 points.

 

["Got Disney"]

Our selling factor was the 12 extra years at SSR, annual dues cost per point, lower but not lowest points needed and the fact that we got the friends and family discount actually sealed the deal. We bought 150 points.

Same here...on all of the above....we just became members on Dec 25th with 2 -200 pt contracts = 400 pts.

The Friends and family discount on the pts fom $101.00 per pt - $ 15.00 on each pt = $ 86.00 per pts was great!!!

If you decide to become a member this deal is good till I believe Jan. 15th and you can use another members name for the discount...PM me if you need to use my name and sure anyone else will be willing to do the same.

Good luck on your decision...no regrets here!!! If you join with SSR as your home than we will be neighbors

 

[crisi]

What are you looking for? My recommendation is that you make a list of attributes - they'll be subjective, but here is a starting list:

Location
Point Value
Room Size
Theme
Decor
Pool
Dues
Availability of booking views
Length of contract
purchase price
hotel vs. condo style
Room Size
Availablity of Grand Villas
Perceived availability at 7 month window

Rank each of these attributes and score them - it will be very subjective - theming and decor are huge to me, but length of contract I couldn't care less about. Also, something may be important to you, like location, but you may be a huge fan of being close to the MK, while the "common wisdom" would have the Epcot resorts having the best location - they are YOUR points, for you MK is the best location.

Do keep in mind that things change. We don't feel like we've owned for long, but since we bought, BCV and SSR have opened and AKLV has been announced, SAB has been closed to pool hopping, Food and Wine has been moved back to overlap with our traditional travel time (making our Boardwalk Standard View harder to book), etc.

 

[JimMIA]

Here's a link to an old thread which starts with a discussion of the choice of home resort. The thread is more than a year old, so read the disclaimers up front.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=778634

 

[JimMIA]

We have not stayed in all of the resorts, but we have visited all of them, and we have not found any we didn't like.

One of the things we hear debated a lot is the relative convenience/remoteness of the various resorts, and I think a lot of that discussion is extremely subjective and relevent only when you consider convenient/remote to what and when.

There is no question that BCV and BWV are within walking distance to Epcot, and also offer boat transportation to Epcot and MGM...which is great if that's where you're going. Certainly there is no better place to be during F&W, for example.

But...if you're going to hear consistent complaints about buses, they will probably be about those two resorts. Most of the negative bus comments I've read over the last couple of years have revolved around trying to get to MK from BCV/BWV by bus...so that's not so convenient.

VWL is very convenient to MK because of the short boat ride. But there are no buses to MK, and if it's bitterly cold (below 60 to us Floridians ) or rainy, the boat is not so convenient. VWL is also a long way from the other parks.

SSR is convenient to DTD, but farther to all of the parks than any other resort. OKW is a little closer to the parks than SSR, but a longer boat ride to DTD...but has probably the best bus service in WDW.

Personally, we don't care about the buses because we drive everywhere...so we love the "convenience" of at-your-door parking at OKW and SSR. I'd trade that anytime for convenience to Epcot...unless I wanted to be just a short crawl from F&W.

The convenience factor is going to be subjective, and is going to be different for each member...just like the themes, etc, etc, etc.

 

[PiperMickey]

I like owning points at a lot of resorts versus owning a lot of points at one - while I love SSR the most so far I really enjoy all of the resorts and feel I would be silly to just stay at one. They all have their pluses and minuses but none of the minuses would make me miserable!

Another potential "near future DVC member" here to ask a clsrifying question.

So does the ownership of any block of points allow you the access at 11 months even if you are using points from other contracts?

 

[utahkennedys]

Another potential "near future DVC member" here to ask a clsrifying question.

So does the ownership of any block of points allow you the access at 11 months even if you are using points from other contracts?

You may only use the points at the specific resort to get the 11 month priority, not other points from other resorts. You can combine your points at 7 months and book at any resort.