Newbie Research (after reading FAQ)

[Raven01]

I have a toddler, and am looking at a yearly beach vacation at a minimum.

I’ve been researching DVC with the idea to do a beach vacation at HHI one year, WDW the next, and maybe use points to visit Disneyland or Aulani. It would likely be at a minimum 3 adults and a child. Yearly trips with points are the goal at this stage.

We don’t mind staying at values, but I prefer moderates or deluxes, and I like the idea of having a prepaid, preplanned vacation with the toddler now in the picture. I think HHI would be the regular use of points.

Thought? Is this a good use of DVC, and if so, would I want my home resort to be WDW or HHI?

Research is in the early stages - I get the basics, but boy does this system seem overly complicated!

 

[Marionnette]

I have a toddler, and am looking at a yearly beach vacation at a minimum.

I’ve been researching DVC with the idea to do a beach vacation at HHI one year, WDW the next, and maybe use points to visit Disneyland or Aulani. It would likely be at a minimum 3 adults and a child. Yearly trips with points are the goal at this stage.

We don’t mind staying at values, but I prefer moderates or deluxes, and I like the idea of having a prepaid, preplanned vacation with the toddler now in the picture. I think HHI would be the regular use of points.

Thought? Is this a good use of DVC, and if so, would I want my home resort to be WDW or HHI?

Research is in the early stages - I get the basics, but boy does this system seem overly complicated!

I assume that you would want to stay in studios? They're getting more and more difficult to reserve as DVD adds more DVC resorts to the Club. VGC is one of the hardest DVC reservations to book if you do not own there (small resort, gets booked up by owners quickly). HHI has a lower buy-in price but the high annual dues will eventually end up costing you more money. You would also be at a disadvantage trying to book a WDW studio at 7 months if you do not own at one of the WDW resorts.

The conventional wisdom is "own where you don't mind staying and book your home resort at 11 months". For the way that you want to use DVC, I don't see you being happy in the long run. Renting from members who own at the resorts you wish to stay at would work out better. VGC ownership works best for people who frequent DL. HHI ownership works best for people who mostly want beach vacations or don't mind taking whatever they can get when they do opt for WDW (and possibly having to do split stays). WDW ownership works best for those who want to vacation there yearly or every other year.

 

[disneynutz]

How much do you love HH, which DVC resort at WDW is your favorite?

Bill

 

[Raven01]

I have stayed a HHI once at the DVC - it has the relaxing, biggest decision is pool or beach feel I want from a vacation. I work in a high stress environment so
I want a vacation that’s about sand, water and ice cream. But I would be going in summer or shoulder season (like September).

At WDW, I have never stayed at a DVC resort. I’ve looked a SSR because of the lower buy in, but the recent reviews on age give me pause. AKL and monorail hotels would be the preference, but may be cost prohibitive.

And this might matter - this purchase would be a while down the line. I would probably do resale (perks mean less since I’m thinking one trip a year).

 

[disneynutz]

IMO owning DVC makes sense if you are at WDW or DL. Staying on site with park access, restaurants, activities, and DS is what DVC is all about and gives you your biggest bang for your buck. If beach stays are what you really want, compare DVC cost to other costs for beach stays. How does HH DVC compare to other resorts in the area. There are plenty of beaches in the USA, is HH where you want to vacation?

Bill

 

[Marionnette]

I have stayed a HHI once at the DVC - it has the relaxing, biggest decision is pool or beach feel I want from a vacation. I work in a high stress environment so
I want a vacation that’s about sand, water and ice cream. But I would be going in summer or shoulder season (like September).

At WDW, I have never stayed at a DVC resort. I’ve looked a SSR because of the lower buy in, but the recent reviews on age give me pause. AKL and monorail hotels would be the preference, but may be cost prohibitive.

And this might matter - this purchase would be a while down the line. I would probably do resale (perks mean less since I’m thinking one trip a year).

My advice would be to rent at one of the WDW DVC resorts that you are interested in purchasing. Don't be put off by SSR's "age". Every resort gets refurbished on a regular basis, although not as frequently as the hotels. You can expect SSR to begin refurbishing next year. AKV is almost as old as SSR and both of those contracts will expire within a couple of years of each other (SSR in 2054 and AKV in 2057). AKV also has higher annual dues because of the animals.

As far as the monorail hotels, BLT is considered to be the best buy. VGF is the most expensive. PVB only has studios or the bungalows, so if you want something more than a studio and cannot afford the points needed for a bungalow it's not a good option.

IMO, if you want a beach vacation most of the time then DVC is not for you. HHI is nice but you can get very nice vacation homes on the beach and with private pools, outdoor kitchens and over the top entertainment rooms at Hilton Head for a lot less than you will spend on HHI.

 

[Raven01]

This is helpful - the more I answer questions the more I realize the beach is the priority. Other options may be better.

Thanks!

 

[Deb & Bill]

If a beach property is a priority, buy a non-DVC timeshare. You can find much better beachv resorts with Hilton or Marriott.

 

[NewbieMom]

Where are you located? Are you within driving distance to HHI or WDW? I think DVC could still be a worthwhile purchase for you if you'll be staying at a DVC resort every year (regardless if it's HHI, WDW, Aulani).

We have a toddler as well, and just bought into DVC with some of the same thoughts you listed in your original post. We wanted Disney vacations alternating with beach vacations. But we're on the west coast and driving distance to DL, and we would vacation to Hawaii probably every 2-3 years. So even though I don't see us traveling to WDW more than once every 3 years (that may change as the kids get older), we intend to also use our points for Aulani and VGC. The price point of VGC did deter us from buying there and as others have mentioned, it's difficult to book VGC at 7 months. But since we are within driving distance, we can just piece together a few nights and go on very short notice when we find availability.

I think that if you see yourself using your points every year at a DVC property and want to have the option of staying onsite in the years you go to WDW (it may be SSR or OKW depending on the home resort you buy into), then it's still worthwhile for you to consider purchasing.

 

[chalee94]

I agree that the 2BR Marriott timeshares on HHI are worth a look. Several are on the beach with comparable quality to DVC. Trading into Marriotts near WDW is easy but adds some cost and you wouldn't get the onsite benefits.

If you intend to book an HHI studio during the summer, you would need to own there and book at 11 months out IMO. (Currently you would have little trouble booking WDW for the summer at 7 months but Nov/Dec trips would be very iffy.)

Booking DLR trips at 7 months is not a high percentage play, as already discussed.

 

[CraigInPA]

Let me also suggest that, in your situation, having two small contracts (one for HHI and one for a WDW resort) would be the preferable option. For example, if you needed 150 points for your every-other-year HHI stay, you'd buy 75 at HHI. Likewise, if you needed 150 for your every-other-year WDW vacation, you'd buy 75 at the preferred WDW resort. This approach would blunt the pain of the high maintenance fees at HHI, even while giving you the priority 11 month booking privilege there. Having the second contract at a WDW resort would give you the 11 month booking privilege there.

You should be aware that studios are in high demand. The most common advise given here is to "buy where you don't mind staying" or "buy where you want to stay".

For the WDW resort, I think you should probably do some research as to which resorts make sense for your family. When my wife and I were deciding, we narrowed it down to 3. After staying in 2 of them on points rented from owners, and eliminating the third after a tour, our decision was clear.

 

[kniquy]

Thought? Is this a good use of DVC, and if so, would I want my home resort to be WDW or HHI?

In your situation - HHI is not a good buy to ultimately save money. A year or so ago HHI prices were much lower $50-60pp - now I have seen them selling in the $70's and contracts being listed in the $90s. With that I was looking at a HHI contract myself a year ago, but when pricing out options for just renting a home or condo the HHI DVC was not going to save us any money. And I am thankful I did not go through with purchasing as the yearly MF jumped with the hurricane damage assessment.

If you want HHI in the summer you have to own there, If you really want it and it makes financial sense then to fulfill your needs to have some time at HHI and some at WDW you would need to buy a smaller contract at each place. Which many people do. It is almost becoming essential to own where you want to stay because as they keep building more and more DVC resorts it does increase the 7 month competition. The best bang for your buck still remains SSR with a lower resale buy in and lower MF and a fairly long contract life.

maybe use points to visit Disneyland or Aulani.

Disneyland is also very difficult to get at 7 months and it is also very expensive on the resale market and direct, so if you would do an occasional trip to VGC then you could just pay the hotel rate or look into a transfer of points or rent points. Aulani also has its busier seasons but i think has a little more 7 month availability at it's slower times of the year. I haven't researched that one much but recall June as being a very busy time. I have looked and have found decent availability in later August, which might be the slower season.

 

[Raven01]

How does having two contracts work? If I bought 75 points at WDW and 75 at HHI, could I use the HHI points to stay at WDW?

This seems like the best fit for me if I did move forward. Part of me does wonder is it just better to rent a beach house every year and avoid the maintenance fees.

 

[CraigInPA]

When you have 2 contracts, you have points at 2 resorts. For example, 75 at SSR and 75 at HHI. Each year you'll pay maintenance fees at each.

You can use the points interchangeably at the 7 month mark. For example, if you wanted to book a trip to WDW and stay at BLT, you could use either (or both) contracts points at 7 months. Or, you could book SSR at 11 months (because you have SSR points), and then add on at 7 months using your HHI points.

If you like to alternate (one year to HHI and then one year to WDW), you'd use them alternately, banking/borrowing points. For example:
Year 1: You'll have 75 points in each resort. You want to stay at HHI this year. Bank your SSR points. Use your 75 current HHI points and borrow next year's 75 points and book a vacation using 150 points at HHI.
Year 2: You'll have 75 new points at SSR and 75 banked points from last year. Book a 150 point vacation to WDW this year. You won't have any HHI points this year, because you borrowed them last year.
Year 3: repeat year 1
Year 4: repeat year 2
etc...

 

[Deb & Bill]

It is getting harder to book at seven months out, especially during Fall Frenzy.