Newbie trying to figure it all out - VGC??

[AZMermaid]

Have you fallen into the time suck of YouTube DVC resort/room tours? There’s lots of good info there!

Community Hall has free activities like board games, arts and crafts, video games, ping pong, uh….. Other stuff I’m forgetting! And there’s some paid activities like pottery painting and T-shirt stamping. My kids made Mickey Head magnets at the BWV one for like $3 each. Nothing fancy, but affordable and fun!

 

[Canchaser143]

Have you fallen into the time suck of YouTube DVC resort/room tours? There’s lots of good info there!

Community Hall has free activities like board games, arts and crafts, video games, ping pong, uh….. Other stuff I’m forgetting! And there’s some paid activities like pottery painting and T-shirt stamping. My kids made Mickey Head magnets at the BWV one for like $3 each. Nothing fancy, but affordable and fun!

I second this, youtube videos were so helpful. DVC Fan has some good ones, but I enjoyed The Magic in the Music ones as well!

 

[CarolynFH]

I saw "community hall" on the map and wondered what that was.

I'll have to look up pictures of these long hallways because I've heard people mention them before and I'm curious now.

Well, if you look back at the map you'll see there are multiple bends in the hallways, so not many opportunities for a "straight shot" photo looking down one (although I think I may have seen a photo here on DISboards that gives the idea). But when you come back with tired feet from the parks, and your room is near the end of one of those hallways, or around a corner on one of the wings, they certainly feel very, very long! However, the Kidani hallways are longer!

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Well, if you look back at the map you'll see there are multiple bends in the hallways, so not many opportunities for a "straight shot" photo looking down one (although I think I may have seen a photo here on DISboards that gives the idea). But when you come back with tired feet from the parks, and your room is near the end of one of those hallways, or around a corner on one of the wings, they certainly feel very, very long! However, the Kidani hallways are longer!

Especially when the floors are carpet, and you’re pushing a double stroller. Yuck!

 

[kboo]

We do WDW in August. It's like vacationing in hell, but we always get BCV at 7 months!

Same! Late August is great as far as low crowds. And yes it's hot, but a few misting fans and cooling towels, plus an afternoon pool or nap break, is wonderful.

I worry about being close to that club or whatever it is...if it's got loud music. I have misophonia and certain sounds drive me absolutely crazy. Thumping music is one of them. We have been at hotels where a loud bar or club is nearby and I can't handle when I can hear the bass from music.

We've stayed ay BWV (and BCV) a few times now, and the rooms are generally very quiet unless you book Boardwalk view, which will be pretty much impossible unless you own points there. All of the DVC rooms I have stayed have been quite far from any thumping music. (We did stay at a Contemporary garden view room that overlooked the big pool where they had games and events, but the DVC rooms and pool were quite far away)

Especially when the floors are carpet, and you’re pushing a double stroller. Yuck!

SO glad we are done with strollers! At BWV and BCV I think I have always requested "near elevator," which I usually don't do because I prefer a quieter room, too. now that we are done with strollers, if we are at BWV again we may ask for the standard rooms at the end where you can just take the stairs out and be halfway on the walking path to HS by then.

 

[CarolynFH]

if we are at BWV again we may ask for the standard rooms at the end where you can just take the stairs out and be halfway on the walking path to HS by then.

A couple of years ago for a family trip I had two 2 BR booked, P/G view, and requested view of quiet pool for exactly that reason. We had the last two 2BR villas on the ground floor at that end of the hallway. It was wonderful when our family members got RotR BG 4 one day and 10 the next and we could just run out that door!

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Same! Late August is great as far as low crowds. And yes it's hot, but a few misting fans and cooling towels, plus an afternoon pool or nap break, is wonderful.


We've stayed ay BWV (and BCV) a few times now, and the rooms are generally very quiet unless you book Boardwalk view, which will be pretty much impossible unless you own points there. All of the DVC rooms I have stayed have been quite far from any thumping music. (We did stay at a Contemporary garden view room that overlooked the big pool where they had games and events, but the DVC rooms and pool were quite far away)

SO glad we are done with strollers! At BWV and BCV I think I have always requested "near elevator," which I usually don't do because I prefer a quieter room, too. now that we are done with strollers, if we are at BWV again we may ask for the standard rooms at the end where you can just take the stairs out and be halfway on the walking path to HS by then.

MFEO! Ain’t nothing like jumping into Stormalong bay after a near heat exhaustion at Epcot!

WRT strollers, yeah. I’m now down to one. I remember one year, the elevator broke down at BCV, and I had to carry the double stroller down the stairs from the 4th floor in August. after that, it’s only ground floors for me! I can care less about the views. It’s all about the convenience.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Have you fallen into the time suck of YouTube DVC resort/room tours? There’s lots of good info there!

Community Hall has free activities like board games, arts and crafts, video games, ping pong, uh….. Other stuff I’m forgetting! And there’s some paid activities like pottery painting and T-shirt stamping. My kids made Mickey Head magnets at the BWV one for like $3 each. Nothing fancy, but affordable and fun!

I've watched a lot of the room tours (mainly just studios) but haven't watched many resort tours or anything like that yet.

 

[disney-inspired]

I'm following along because I'm also researching and getting into DCV. I just put in an offer for Beach Club DVC so we'll see how that goes but I'm considering adding on a small contract for GCH because I'm a local and would only want to do single night stays once or twice a year.

 

[E2ME2]

I'm following along because I'm also researching and getting into DCV. I just put in an offer for Beach Club DVC so we'll see how that goes but I'm considering adding on a small contract for GCH because I'm a local and would only want to do single night stays once or twice a year.

I would have guessed you were local to the West Coast, only because of the time-stamp on your post.
It shows as 1:30am on my end, so I just assumed it was a 10:30pm west coast post !

 

[ClaraOswald]

Why does Saratoga Springs seem so much cheaper/readily available than other resorts? Is it just because it's big and there are a lot of rooms?

Just for fun, I've been watching small (50pt) contracts at various resorts. (No...not buying anytime soon. For real this time. Ha!) And I noticed it's cheaper and I realize it's partly due to the 2042 expiration. But even so...seems cheap.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Why does Saratoga Springs seem so much cheaper/readily available than other resorts? Is it just because it's big and there are a lot of rooms?

Just for fun, I've been watching small (50pt) contracts at various resorts. (No...not buying anytime soon. For real this time. Ha!) And I noticed it's cheaper and I realize it's partly due to the 2042 expiration. But even so...seems cheap.

It’s close to Disney Springs, but not to any park. It doesn’t have the same size rooms as OKW. Great golf course though!

Have you seen a walk through of the OKW rooms? They are huge! and the point chart…. Such a nice point chart….

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Why does Saratoga Springs seem so much cheaper/readily available than other resorts? Is it just because it's big and there are a lot of rooms?

Just for fun, I've been watching small (50pt) contracts at various resorts. (No...not buying anytime soon. For real this time. Ha!) And I noticed it's cheaper and I realize it's partly due to the 2042 expiration. But even so...seems cheap.

SSR expires in 2054. The resort has almost 14 million points. VGC has 1 million. That’s why it’s so much cheaper.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Ohh...I must be thinking of the OKW expiration of 2042 then.

And wow...that's a lot of points!

I've watched some videos of both resorts and I think they both seem really nice and quiet. But the fact that they are super spread out with internal buses seems slightly 'meh' to me. I mean, I don't mind riding buses. That's what we've done for WDW trips in the past. So I think it would only really bother me if it takes forever to get places. Which...it seems like maybe it would? I also can't stand on the bus for a couple different reasons (RA and nausea.)

I feel like when the time comes...we'll have to decide between quiet and convenience.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Aw, man....someone just posted some pictures of the Grand Californian in the super thread and it's killing me! Its gonna be a loooooong year and and 3 months.....

 

[AZMermaid]

I was worried about the bus situation at OKW but we had no issues at all. Now, we did get lucky with a near HH (lobby) booking and requested and got the area right by the first bus stop. This meant we stopped 3-4 times when leaving…. But we were the first off! That seemed better. We were excited on the way there and didn’t notice it as much. The app tells you when the next bus is coming- it wasn’t perfect, but it was generally close

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Ohh...I must be thinking of the OKW expiration of 2042 then.

And wow...that's a lot of points!

I've watched some videos of both resorts and I think they both seem really nice and quiet. But the fact that they are super spread out with internal buses seems slightly 'meh' to me. I mean, I don't mind riding buses. That's what we've done for WDW trips in the past. So I think it would only really bother me if it takes forever to get places. Which...it seems like maybe it would? I also can't stand on the bus for a couple different reasons (RA and nausea.)

I feel like when the time comes...we'll have to decide between quiet and convenience.

Sprawling DVC resorts like OKW and SSR are favorites to long time DVC veterans because of the tranquility, spacious rooms, low points charts, and nostalgia. SSR is also very popular for families with older kids for the pools and walking distance to Disney Spring. They are also perfect for those that drive to WDW, as you can usually park right in front of their rooms. I would love it too if I drove to WDW.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I can definitely see the appeal of both OKW and SSR. But honestly...I can see the appeal of almost all of the resorts. Ha!

I just saw a video of the refurbished studios at BRV and it makes me so sad they are too hard to get at 7 months because that one is very much our vibe!

 

[HIRyeDVC]

I can definitely see the appeal of both OKW and SSR. But honestly...I can see the appeal of almost all of the resorts. Ha!

I just saw a video of the refurbished studios at BRV and it makes me so sad they are too hard to get at 7 months because that one is very much our vibe!

BRV points are cheap! Go buy some! Trust me. You don’t want to be using your VGC points at BRV. We may not be able to be friends

 

[Chili327]

Why does Saratoga Springs seem so much cheaper/readily available than other resorts? Is it just because it's big and there are a lot of rooms?

Just for fun, I've been watching small (50pt) contracts at various resorts. (No...not buying anytime soon. For real this time. Ha!) And I noticed it's cheaper and I realize it's partly due to the 2042 expiration. But even so...seems cheap.

No park next-door.

I can definitely see the appeal of both OKW and SSR. But honestly...I can see the appeal of almost all of the resorts. Ha!

I just saw a video of the refurbished studios at BRV and it makes me so sad they are too hard to get at 7 months because that one is very much our vibe!

I think you can get a studio at 7 months, but just not in the fall/xmas time. I bet you can in the winter )Jan/Feb)

BRV points are cheap! Go buy some! Trust me. You don’t want to be using your VGC points at BRV. We may not be able to be friends

It's crazy, i was looking into SAP @ SSR & OKW are more than what i paid for BRV. lol