Newbie Questions

[Caolon]

My wife and I have been married 3 years and our Honeymoon was to CB. After 3 years the price increase for staying there has been astounding (somewhere around 30 $ a night). And my wife has recently mentioned that by the time our little rascals (none of which we currently have) enter the expensive teen years, we will be requiring a second room. Oh, who will save this cheapscate from the certain 2000 dollars for hotel rooms alone that shall certainley befall him?

Enter the DVC

My question begins as such: how do you choose a home resort? We were considering purchasing OKW through the always helpful Timeshare Store, due to the fact that it is indeed a wonderful resort and it's generally less expensive to purchase into. Now I would, however, like to stay at the BC (which is much harder and more expensive to buy int, due to it's newness) about 50% of the time and as I understand it, you only have a 7 month window for booking outside your resort. Is this too small of a window or should I be fine with this plan I have placed before you?

I have also been pondering the ease of renting our points for years that we don't use them all or years that we don't go for some very odd reason. Is this generally pretty easy?

Well, that about wraps up my questions. Any thoughts on the subjects would be fabulous.
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[TnRobin]

If you a dead set about staying at BCV, you really need to purchase there. The difference between the 11 and 7 month timeframe can make a difference depending on when you go.

As for my family, we don't care which DVC resort we stay in so we bought the one with the best deal.

As for renting points, I have only done it twice, but I didn't have any problems.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Welcome to the Dis-Boards.

Renting points is still generally easy. But that could change. Don't buy based on today's ability to rent. You never know what will happen to change the renting option.

You will hear it often said here to buy where you want to stay. If you want to stay at the BCV, then buy there. If you don't care where you stay, then buy where you can get the best deal. As more DVC members come aboard, it will become more and more difficult to book the smaller resorts (BCV and VWL) and the very popular BWV after the 7 month window opens.

HBC

 

[FriendsOfEeyore]

I live by the moto of buy where you want to stay. However, you said that you would be looking at 50% OKW & 50% BCV. I would think that as long as you are flexible with your travel schedule (regarding the 7 month window) you should be fine. How many :little rascals" do you intend to have? How many family gatherings might you arrange with yours and your spuse's family? OKW might be agreat way, due to the fact that you would get an 11 month window for a Grand Villa.

Now on to the renting... I would think that as long as you can go at least once everyother year (or about once every thrid year), I would try to bank / borrow my unused points to either upgrade my accomdations on a future stay or present stay.

Edward

 

[tjkraz]

Another consideration: you mentioned that OKW is "cheaper" than the other DVC properties. That may not be the case if you include the extra years you get when buying into Saratoga Springs.

With SSR, ownership in DVC ends in the year 2054. All of the other resorts end in 2042. Granted most of us won't be personally taking trips in those waning years, but if you view DVC as something that can be enjoyed by your children, grandchildren, etc., then you should account for those additional 12 years in your calculations.

SSR is also the only resort you can buy direct from DVC. If you need to finance all or part of your purchase, this is about the only way to go. If you want to buy a resale, you'll either have to have the cash up front, or use a home equity line to finance. Any other alternatives will result in exhorbitantly high finance rates--many lending institutions won't even touch timeshares.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Everyone here has made some excellent points for you to consider. I would also like to say that you might consider two smaller contracts. If you love the size etc of OKW and also like BCV, I would suggest it might be wise to buy two smaller contracts, one for each resort, and stay everyother year in each.

 

[eporter66]

It seems that the time of year that you go has a lot to do with availability. People have been posting on the board having made 7 month window reservations at most of the resorts. If you have to go during the school vacations because of kids etc... then I am sure the 7 month option is difficult.

Our decision was to buy at SSR. We got the extra years, and we love being at disney, so we were not very concerned with the location as we were staying in deluxe accomodations every time we go to Disney. We plan on trying the other resorts too - but, at least in my mind, I can't see ever being that disappointed when I get to have a great vacation with my family in WDW. But - if you really have a stong draw to the BWV, then I would listen to the experienced DVC'ers on this board and buy where you want to stay.

Good Luck

 

[crisi]

How did we choose our home resort....

Well, we decided to buy. And I had a bonus check burning a hole in my pocket. So we did some more research, found these boards, called DVC and who was selling only BCV at the time and....

They didn't call back.

So we went looking for a resale. Decided to buy OKW because it was cheap and the rooms were large. Didn't like the lack of a pool slide (which sounds like it will soon be fixed) or the location (we don't rent a car, making us dependant on Disney transport or cabs). Really like VWL - the theming and location, but resales were hard to come by and expensive, and the check was burning a hole....remember? Made an offer on a OKW resale, and it fell through, but there was a BWV resale available at the same price - and no 150 point OKW resales available - so we decided to do that instead.

So our home picked us.

(about three weeks after making an offer on our resale a DVC guide returned our phone call).

We've had one trip home and enjoyed the BW area. Its a fine resort and we were happy with it. I think we'd have been happy anywhere - there are pro's and con's to each resort. Love the BW pool and the walk to Epcot.

Keep in mind that dues are variable. If you like OKW, you should buy there. But I don't think its a good strategy to buy there only because you will save yourself $50 a year in dues right now - that may not be the case in ten years. Although OKWs dues have always been lowest, their increases have also been more significant in recent years than the other resorts. If your price concern is the cost of the resale, be patient about finding the right one and divide the cost difference over the life of the contract - it isn't that much more if you are going to be happier.

Keep in mind that the smaller resorts are the harder ones to get into on shorter notice - as are other commodities in short supply (BW Views, BW Standard Views, Grand Villas).

 

[Cruelladeville]

If you are looking at a resale contract, OKW and BCV are about the same cost so you can decide based on where you want to stay. The main difference will be dues, and even that won't make a huge difference.

It's important to buy where you want to stay. Remember that your future rugrats will eventually be going to school, which means that your vacations are going to be Christmas, Easter, and summer vacation, when availability is limited, and the 11 month window becomes far more important. Your circumstances change, and you are buying DVC for the next 39 years.

I rent out some of my points every year. I have never had any difficulty, but it can be very time-consuming. You need about a week when you are on vacation, and that will give you enough time to make the dozens of calls to MS and write the emails back to those who want to rent, and those who are just nosey. Renting your points out every year isn't an activity for the faint-hearted.

 

[goofy4dvc]

If you purchase at OKW, you can make your ressies there at the 11-month window. You can then try to get ressies at BCV at the 7-month window. You can get on the waiting list if there isn't availability at 7 months. Your chances are fairly good that you would be able to get BCV on at least some of your trips, but if you want to be assured, then you should purchase BCV.

 

[Uno]

I was going to say exactly what goofey4dvc just said. Lets face it no matter which DVC you stay in you'll be in a magnificent facility. So if you buy at OKW and book at the 11 month window then at the 7 month window book at 1 of the other resorts and have to go on a waiting list, what's the worst that could happen? You don't get to go to one of the other resorts? So what. OKW is still wonderful. I understand what others say about buy where you want to stay, but my feelings are now matter which DVC you stay in it's still magnificent.