Newbie Question

[lynn71092]

My question is, if once you buy points, you can stay at any of the DVC resorts, why not just buy a bunch of OKW points for $72.00/pt. instead of AK for $93.00/pt. if both let you stay anywhere you want??

 

[Coach81]

It is because at your home resort (the one you buy in) you have 4 more months advanced booking. So if you buy at OKW you can reserve your accomidations almost a year in advance, but if you attempt to reserve at any other resorts you will only have 7 months. If you are talking about Grand Villas or 2 bedrooms, the 4 month window can make a huge difference.

That being said, we are very much looking forward to seeing all the different resorts as soon as possible

 

[duckie0517]

If you like to stay at peak times then you would have a 4 month advantage in booking a room at your home resort than if you wanted to stay at a resort that wasn't your home resort.

does that make sense?

If you purchased OKW but wanted to stay at AKV for Christmas, then you can only start booking for AKV 7 months prior. Whereas people who purchased AKV can start booking 11 months in advance.

 

[Lynne M]

A couple of reasons:

1. The maintenance fees vary for the resorts. This affects your long-term cost of ownership. For instance, Vero Beach can be less expensive to buy than the other resorts, but it has the highest maintenance fees, so over time, it will probably be the most expensive to own.

2. You can book at 11 months out for your home resort, and 7 months out for all other DVC resorts. This four-month head start can be very important for certain resorts at certain times of year.

Let's say you want to book BCV in October, during the very popular Food & Wine festival. If you own there, you can reserve your villa 11 months before your trip, and you're only competing with other BCV owners, so you should be able to get what you want.

If you own, say, at OKW, you have to wait till 7 months out to book BCV. By then, BCV owners have snapped up a lot of the villas. And now, you're competing with ALL DVC owners. That reservation is a LOT tougher to get. I own at VWL. Couldn't get a studio at BCV or BWV for my dates in October.

Which is why we often say, "Buy where you want to stay."

 

[hellerjw]

You also have to consider the contract expirations. The original OKW contracts (those that weren't recently extended by their owners) - the ones going for $72/point - expire in 2042 while the new AKV contracts expire in 2057, a 15 year difference. That difference may mean a lot to a young buyer.

 

[Paradise East]

Lets say I buy a September UY for the BWV and we prefer to come to
WDW the first or second week of December. So the year I purchase
my contract (settling in August) I have only a 3 month window to get
ressies. However, for each subsquent year I have the 11 month window.

I assume for the first year of the contract the Sept.UY is the controlling
factor but after that it's the 11 month window (make the ressie in January).

However if I buy above mentioned contract in December then I could make
the 11 month off ressies right away in January.

Whew

Dave

 

[dianeschlicht]

Lets say I buy a September UY for the BWV and we prefer to come to
WDW the first or second week of December. So the year I purchase
my contract (settling in August) I have only a 3 month window to get
ressies. However, for each subsquent year I have the 11 month window.

I assume for the first year of the contract the Sept.UY is the controlling
factor but after that it's the 11 month window (make the ressie in January).

However if I buy above mentioned contract in December then I could make
the 11 month off ressies right away in January.

Whew

Dave

Yep, that's about it! Use year month has nothing to do with when you can make reservations except for the time restraints of that first year.