Ownership at multiple resorts or add on to home resort?

[DisDad-]

Hello everyone.
After many years of research we finally moved ahead and purchased 225 direct points at Poly.
With so many great resorts to choose from, it was hard to nail down a location. Each one has its own advantage to ownership but in the end the Polynesian is a family favorite so that’s where we purchased.

Since the Poly does not have 1 or 2 bedroom options we’re already thinking about either purchasing additional points at the Poly to allow us a 1 bedroom stay during our visits or whether second contract at a another resort makes more sense to have access to the 11 month window. We tend to visit twice a year (end of Aug and begin of Dec) and would like some feedback from fellow owners out in the community on some ideas.

Who else own contracts at multiple resorts, which resorts do you own, and what made you decide to purchase there?

Hearing some feedback would be great.
Thanks

 

[GMG_3]

Same boat (300 at poly).

I have been thinking about getting a few hundred resale at SSR, BWV or waiting for Rivera.

 

[jillt2ph]

My initial purchase was VGC, because I figured I would pretty much always be able to find something at WDW at 7 months but would need the 11 month advantage for California. Next contract was BLT when I decided I wanted the proximity to MK, then more VGC points, then Poly for the 5 person studio... I now have 5 contracts and 3 use years. Some people don't like that, but it works for me.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Buying Poly points to use at other resorts is one of the more expensive ways to use DVC. If you also want to have stays in 1BR's I'd pick out the resort you would most like that at and buy resale there or if you want to stay at various resorts buy the least expensive which tends to be SSR when looking at purchase price and dues.

We own at resorts we like to stay at which tended to come from experience staying at those resorts. I do suspect we would have been just fine purchasing at SSR though and using the points to stay elsewhere as we are flexible when we can go so can pick based on availability vs picking by dates only. And we often do 1BR's which are the easiest to book at 7 months.

 

[DisDad-]

The other resort we were considering was BCV due to its location but don’t like the years remaining. I believe once we get past 20 years left you’ll start to see prices come down unless Disney offers an extension.
Riviera could be a consideration except the daily rental point cost will be high in addition to the expected high purchase prices.
There is a rumor though that Disney is looking into the Yacht Club as a possible location. The story is that they prefer to build a new structure but room conversion is not out of the question. This did come from two sales people we spoke to over the last year while we were researching so who knows if this is true. But if that does happen, then we’re in.
Just not sure if we’ll wait that long.

They also mentioned the possibility of a second Bay Lake Tower to replace the south wing at the contemporary.
But again, this is all just rumors.

 

[CarolMN]

Just a few thoughts -

If you have any intention of combining the Poly points with the resale points, make sure you seriously consider getting the same use year and make sure the resale contract gets added to your existing membership. It will make booking at 7 months MUCH easier.

IMO, it is very unlikely that there will be a DVC attached to the Yacht Club. The YC is a convention resort and the convention business is big for Disney. They are spending a lot of money to enhance YC convention offerings.

The Poly and the BLT are very similar with respect to location. You'd need 11 month booking priority to reserve any of the standard views.

Plan on the Poly for your December trips unless your additional purchase is enough to reserve your entire trip at 11 months. August is relatively easy to book at 7 months, particularly if you want a 1 bedroom.

Were I buying today, I would work the numbers planning on a 10 year ownership. Lots of things can change over a 10 year period, many of them unanticipated. If the numbers are reasonable and I really wanted an EPCOT resort, I'd buy one in spite of the 2042 end date. The value won't go to zero until the very end - the value of a DVC contract lies in the difference between the cost of a DVC villa compared to the cost of a Disney Hotel room. I see that difference continuing to favor DVC for the foreseeable future. BCV & BWV are going to remain very popular as long as EPCOT & DHS draw crowds. Disney knows what they have there!

IMO, walking to two parks beast monorail and/or sky liner access. No waiting & no breakdowns to worry about. The Riviera will be a costly purchase and IMO, the point chart will not be as favorable as BCV or BWV.

Don't buy thinking you will get your initial "investment" back when it's time to sell. Consider any return of "principal" at the time to be gravy.

Good luck!

 

[disneynutz]

We started with studios and soon moved up to one bedrooms, the reason, less time spent in the parks and the kids grew so we needed more room. If picking an MK resort today, I would not pick PVB. After spending time at all of the resorts your favorite may change, you will know it when the resort feels right, like being home. Owning where you love to stay is more important than ever and remember studios are the first to book at all resorts so getting what you want will be a challenge at 7 months.

Bill

 

[kboo]

Buying Poly points to use at other resorts is one of the more expensive ways to use DVC. If you also want to have stays in 1BR's I'd pick out the resort you would most like that at and buy resale there or if you want to stay at various resorts buy the least expensive which tends to be SSR when looking at purchase price and dues.

We own at resorts we like to stay at which tended to come from experience staying at those resorts. I do suspect we would have been just fine purchasing at SSR though and using the points to stay elsewhere as we are flexible when we can go so can pick based on availability vs picking by dates only. And we often do 1BR's which are the easiest to book at 7 months.

Since you are specifically talking about a new contract to stay in 1BR, I also would counsel against buying more Poly. You have plenty of points to get your studios at Poly at 11 mos, so I would also suggest buying at another home resort where you would have a good 11mo availability.

Just a few thoughts -

If you have any intention of combining the Poly points with the resale points, make sure you seriously consider getting the same use year and make sure the resale contract gets added to your existing membership. It will make booking at 7 months MUCH easier.

IMO, it is very unlikely that there will be a DVC attached to the Yacht Club. The YC is a convention resort and the convention business is big for Disney. They are spending a lot of money to enhance YC convention offerings.

The Poly and the BLT are very similar with respect to location. You'd need 11 month booking priority to reserve any of the standard views.

Plan on the Poly for your December trips unless your additional purchase is enough to reserve your entire trip at 11 months. August is relatively easy to book at 7 months, particularly if you want a 1 bedroom.

Were I buying today, I would work the numbers planning on a 10 year ownership. Lots of things can change over a 10 year period, many of them unanticipated). If the numbers are reasonable and I really wanted an EPCOT resort, I'd buy one in spite of the 2042 end date. The value won't go to zero until the very end - the value of a DVC contract lies in the difference in the cost of a DVC villa compared to the cost of a Disney Hotel room. I see that continuing to favor DVC for the foreseeable future. BCV & BWV are going to remain very popular as long as EPCOT & DHS draw crowds. Disney knows what they have there, LOL).

IMO, walking to two parks beast monorail and/or sky liner access. No waiting & no breakdowns to worry about. The Riviera will be a costly purchase and IMO, the point chart will not be as favorable as BCV or BWV).

Don't buy thinking you will get your initial "investment" back when it's time to sell. Consider any return of "principal" at the time to be gravy.

Good luck!

I pretty much agree with ALL of this, above! We travel pretty frequently in late August, and have had no problem finding what we wanted. And although it's HOT, the parks are relatively empty.

If you plan to use 2 contracts (and 2 home resorts) separately, I wouldn't worry too much about having the same UY. We are currently in the closing process for a VGF contract, and already own at BLT. 2 different UY - we plan to use each contract separately, in alternate years. We also highly value walking access, and were originally aiming for a BCV or BWV contract, but the prices went too high for a 2042 end date for our considerations. I actually made several offers on BWV and BCV contracts back in the fall, and none of them made it past an initial negotiation for a variety of reasons. But mostly it was because the sellers were pretty adamant they weren't going below X, which I just felt was not how I valued the contract. I won't rehash all the discussion here, but here's the link of my discussion, if it helps.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/c...or-a-2nd-dvc-contract-update-post-35.3648856/

Upshot was:

• For the prices they were firm on, ($120 and up), the 2042 end date just didn't seem worth it. Our girls are already big Disney fans and they'd be 31 and 27 when that contract is up. I know, a LOT can happen in that time, but for various reasons specific to us and our family and how we vacation, it made more sense for us to find something with a longer end date.
• I was initially moved by the new changes to HS coming in 2018, and really wanted a home resort where we could walk there. And we really loved both BCV and BWV. But then I realized that since we are likely to go in late summer and are not limited to studios, we could always choose to stay in the BW area when it's easier to get a room, and save home resort priority for harder times like the holidays.
• We already have a decent-priced contract at BLT, and so we can use our BLT points as our "sleep around" points without feeling like we are giving up too much.
• I also realized that I have a bajillion SPG points, which won't get me a 1-2BR, but can pretty much get me into a "studio" (hotel room) with walking access to both parks. so... it's sort of like we have a little contract at the BW area anyway. That took a lot of pressure off of feeling like we needed to have a way to stay in the area once all the new stuff opens at HS, or for a short stay for F&W.
• Ultimately, we all love the Grand Floridian for so many reasons, and we found a terrific contract at a great price. So VGF it is.

(It's been my theory that if you find the right contract, VGF is one of the best values right now - very few get taken in ROFR and resale prices have not gone up much (if any) in the last year. Partly this is due to it being such a new resort that the people selling right now are most likely distressed direct buyers; my contract was a foreclosure on someone who pretty much didn't pay either their maintenance fees or mortgage right out of the gate. Not sure how/why someone would do that, but it made for a motivated, unemotional seller and a quick ROFR.)

 

[_auroraborealis_]

There is a rumor though that Disney is looking into the Yacht Club as a possible location. The story is that they prefer to build a new structure but room conversion is not out of the question. This did come from two sales people we spoke to over the last year while we were researching so who knows if this is true.

Sales people are the bus drivers of DVC. They have been spreading this rumor for 10 years now. They would also be among the last to know about any planned build, due to rules about material information that influences value.

The YC rumors are not credible. The recent re-do of the conference center is a pretty solid indicator of that. Significantly reducing the number of near-center rooms that can be used by Conferences & Meetings would damage that business, which is extremely lucrative (although more subject to economic downtown than DVC).

A more credible rumor is that the Contemporary conference center is going to be taken to end of life, rather than refurbished, after the renovation at Coronado Springs. This will give Disney the deluxe/big conference site at YC/BC, the moderate conference site at Coronado, and the two "small" meeting sites (VGF and Boardwalk; the Boardwalk facility is often used as an extension of YC/BC for the really big events). Then, you'll get another MK-area tower, a la BLT.

ETA: Swolphin also have conference space. For the big stuff, that space and the Disney space are often used together, even though they have different ownership. It makes some sense to focus the large events to that area.

 

[MJB62676]

I'm contemplating the future as well as a new Poly Owner. I think unless I want to make a play to have enough points to regularly book a Bungalow (pretty far fetched, imo), I will go with a different home with the next contract. I don't see the value in the bungalow Idea, so I'm looking hard at the possibilities of OKW with a 2057 expiration. We both really liked the resort and the proximity to DS. It would be even more ideal if we routinely were able to DRIVE rather than fly to WDW for trips.

 

[keaster]

We are direct buyers at AKL, and just recently purchased Aulani resale points. The UY is different (Feb for AKL, March for Aulani), but this was a subsidized dues Aulani contract and we wanted to grab it. However, the plan is to pretty much use Aulani points for Aulani and AKL points for Disney at 11/7 month mark.

 

[pineapplepalms]

Our plan that we're currently working on is to buy 3+ home resorts (all with the same UY and titled the same just in case we ever want to combine at 7 months, although we're buying enough at each to be used separately):

1) CCV direct primarily for booking December trips at 11 months (we stayed in a 1BR this past December and absolutely loved it), which also gives us access to all the direct perks (we already took advantage of the AP discount)

2) BWV resale since we love the Crescent Lake area and being able to walk to Epcot/DHS, especially with the upcoming new lands (prefer BWV over BCV for the Boardwalk view and the option for standard view in case we want to save points, and this is still a better value than booking cash rooms + better peace of mind for us than trying to switch at 7 months or rent points)

3) SSR resale since they are a great value and we will use those points to try out different resorts over time (but happy to stay there too since we typically rent a car and love the ability to walk/boat to Disney Springs)

We're buying enough points to go twice a year in studios or 1BR for now (mostly 1BR) and 2BR in the future (we currently have a toddler) with the possibility of a cabin/GV splurge once in a while, so we wanted home resorts that have all of those room options. We prefer walking or taking a boat to other modes of transportation at WDW, and that's definitely reflected in our choice of home resorts. We're really happy with these three and would probably only add another one if a new DVC property is developed that we love (interested in seeing if they add one at DLR). It took 6-7 months of research to decide on this approach and we think it's going to work out really well for us!