please help me decide on DVC purchase

[MLS82]

Unfortunately, most resorts have mulitple stops--either internally, or because they are shared with nearby resorts. For example, Kidani and Jambo both share buses. The GF and Poly are often combined. BLT and WL are often combined.

Thank you! I didn't consider the size of the pull-down or the option of a 2BR. Yes, then point charts matter more than a bus ride!
I don't mind resorts sharing buses as much as the large resorts that have 4-5 internal stops. I had a bad experience at POR.

 

[melissa70]

It probably means you shouldn’t be buying and should be renting until you know what you want.

I’m good now.

 

[MLS82]

You mentioned you secured Yacht Club with an AP discount. Are you purchasing Incredi-Passes? If you purchased 150 PVB direct you would be eligible for Sorcerer Passes for your family. Based on travel times you would avoid the blackout dates (Thanksgiving and Christmas to NYE). For a family of four, the savings on passes alone in year one could cover the difference between resale and direct. On top of that, you may be able to use a "Welcome Home" trip to secure PVB for your spring travel dates.

Yes, I have the Incredi-pass. The sorcerer pass is the main reason I want to buy Poly direct after my first resale contract.

 

[PolyRob]

I have not kept up! That’s a bummer. What replaced it?

The chair/bed in BLT was replaced with a traditional murphy bed under the TV in the living room. The TV isn't centered above it though

 

[VGCgroupie]

The chair/bed in BLT was replaced with a traditional murphy bed under the TV in the living room. The TV isn't centered above it though

View attachment 1019828

Who okayed this? Not centered... crazy town

 

[PolyRob]

Yes, I have the Incredi-pass. The sorcerer pass is the main reason I want to buy Poly direct after my first resale contract.

Are you going resale first for the current member PVB pricing?

I believe the difference is only $600 on the current incentive cycle at 150 points. Not sure how long you would wait to purchase. If you lose an entire UY and pay OOP for another year of Incredi-Passes it could be beneficial to do PVB direct first.

 

[PolyRob]

Who okayed this? Not centered... crazy town

Did you see the toilet and artwork placement in the studio bathroom? It drives me crazy. The previous shelf was less jarring

 

[Girlstar30]

Did you see the toilet and artwork placement in the studio bathroom? It drives me crazy. The previous shelf was less jarring

View attachment 1019829

This is not okay

 

[VGCgroupie]

Did you see the toilet and artwork placement in the studio bathroom? It drives me crazy. The previous shelf was less jarring

View attachment 1019829

I must've been too tired after my Red Eye flight because this is something I would have for sure noticed and cringed at.

 

[Girlstar30]

I must've been too tired after my Red Eye flight because this is something I would have for sure noticed and cringed at.

I can't unsee this

 

[DoubleBaconBLT]

Thats not bad if they are paying 2026 dues and its an August UY? You really just need to decide whats most important. Since you were contemplating RIV add on I assume that means finances aren't 100% an issue. So think of it like this in 2042 you have no timeshare with BRV or with CCV you have it for 26 more years for only about $4800 more now... that is HUGE. You could also sell it at that point as well.

Yeah that's the sticking point for me. Even if you only wanted it through 2042, you could probably sell a CCV in 2042 with 26 years left on it for more than you pay for it in 2025. But the BRV will be worth $0.

I personally keep waffling between:

1. Sticking with what I have for now, and waiting for our "DVC wish list" to develop a bit. We have 150 Direct at Poly and 200 Resale at BLT. We have five (!) trips planned over the next year, by which time our available points will be quite paltry. I'm hoping a well-timed add on after that can bridge us to the next year of plenty. We've only ever stayed onsite at AoA and Poly (7 nights total, so not much experience). So we're also hoping those five trips (BWV, AoA/GF, Riv/BLT, Poly, and TBD) will give us a stronger sense of where we want to stay more long term. We also really want to do a stay at Aulani in 3-5 years, and that's going to require quite a points haul. So I'm trying to decide when and where, not if, for adding on. I probably want ~200 points, and I don't want a 2042.

2. Buying CCV to get some cheap SAP that last a long time. We need 2BR for the next 6-10 years, so that requires a lot of points and CCV's chart is much more favorable for this than any of the other options.

3. Adding on at BLT for longer 2BR stays at 11 months. Longer stays are great, but we would only have 11-month priority at 2 resorts if we do this. In another 10 years, we would probably wish we had a third home resort and just committed to banking/borrowing to orchestrate longer stays.

4. Buying a RIV resale to have an option with better Epcot/HS access (I even toyed with BWV, but it just doesn't make financial sense with 2042 expiration). Having visited for Topolino's, I LOVE Riviera. I don't love the high points chart. I don't love the restriction to only RIV, but it's not that bad given I have two other contracts. It has the highest dues of the options, and it wouldn't help with an Aulani stay at all.

 

[DoubleBaconBLT]

You mentioned you secured Yacht Club with an AP discount. Are you purchasing Incredi-Passes? If you purchased 150 PVB direct you would be eligible for Sorcerer Passes for your family. Based on travel times you would avoid the blackout dates (Thanksgiving and Christmas to NYE). For a family of four, the savings on passes alone in year one could cover the difference between resale and direct. On top of that, you may be able to use a "Welcome Home" trip to secure PVB for your spring travel dates.

THIS! I bought BLT first, then added Poly direct. The direct contract was totally worth it because I bought five APs with it, which saved me $2500 just this year. I also got an incredible deal on credit card points with the CSR Business card (~$4000 cash back on a $33K purchase). So my 150 points "cost" me a net of $26K, less than $180 per point, and that value keeps going up by ~$3K every year that I buy APs.

 

[sndral]

Man I’m having trouble keeping up w/ who’s who in this thread, so to get things back on track & hopefully offer some help to OP, here’s my take on the factors @MLS82 is weighing:
Needs 5 sleeping surfaces - ok w/ 1 br.s that sleep 5 for now, likely will move up to 2 br.s. Given this, I’d take a good long look at point charts - so in parentheses I’ve listed the point costs for a 1 & a 2 br. Villa in standard/resort view for a hypothetical fall break week long trip 10/3/26 - 10/10/26.
Visits during high DVC demand times - thus home resort will be really important.
Pragmatic numbers side of brain says:
SSR - multiple internal bus stops, would be disappointed to stay there (218/ 275)
BLT - dislikes the tower/aesthetics (247/331)
Maybe ok:
CCV - but would need 2 br.s for 5 sleeping surfaces (259/329)
AKV - could get by w/ 1 br. for awhile, but ultimately will need 2 br.s (209/268)
If money didn’t matter:
Poly - costs a lot upfront & takes a lot of points to stay there (320/450)
VGF - costs a lot upfront & takes a lot of points to stay there (317/443)
BC - 2042 end date (258/334)
Since your next purchase will likely be at the Poly direct, then I’d lean towards a resort in a different area. If you could live w/ the 2042 end date, the BC would be nice (they do share buses w/ the YC.) I own at AKV & absolutely love my stays there, but it’s not for everyone. We alternate w/ our other home resort - VGF & I love staying there as well. However, when we stay at AKV we opt for 2 br.s, whereas at the VGF we tend to stick w/ the very spacious 1 br.s because those VGF 2 br.s take a lot of points . If you’re ok w/ 2 MK area resorts long term & going for 2 br.s now, CCV is a reasonably priced resale alternative w/ an attractive point chart.

 

[Wedgeout]

I ran your post through my analysis & think your resale resort match is: VGF

If price per point is deterring you, the hidden gem match is not SSR. It’s OKW (‘57)! Don’t let the multiple bus stops push you away. It runs so much smoother than POR. Won’t be disappointed being ‘stuck’ here. Points charts for the rooms you get here is unmatched.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

It seems everyone is down on 2042 contracts especially BRV. I feel like I’m missing a huge piece of a puzzle and I can’t see it.

Because we're Disney fanatics and envision going until we're floating brains in a jar on top of some sort of mechanized scooter -- but yet freak out that if something terrible happens and we have to sell we won't get some portion of our money back. There's a lot of spreadsheets that happen on these boards. We can argue pro/con direct v resale and restrictions affecting resale for YEARS, and we have ever since Riviera was the guinea pig in 2019.

What you're missing is you're in your 50s, and you do plan to add on later, probably direct. You have not expressed a desire to pass the contract on to young children and going for another 50 years. Folks don't always read all the details in their excitement to respond.

Also, BR pre excellent refurbishment was a hot mess for years during Covid, and I think there's a mental break by folks where they don't realize how good the refurb was. 2042 BW/BC get all the love, deservedly so, for their location and pool, etc., and BR gets forgotten a bit. I have to admit, I had kind of written it off when we first toured pre refurbishment for the rooms, but man, that rotunda decorated for Christmas is amazing, and the red leather fireside chairs are soooo cozy by the train room. The stone fireplaces and 24/7 cozy feel is wonderful, and the nature sounds piped in the little walkway to get over there is magical with the Christmas lights.

As we have traveled to WDW more, we have come to appreciate the quieter resorts, but that's not everyone's cup of tea. You sound like you love BR but are very nervous about making a mistake. Don't forget, you are not limited to "just" BR! We own at Riviera because it's our favorite, but we have stayed at AKJ, BC, VGF, Poly, SS, OKW on our Riviera points since 2019. We could "sleep around" more if my DH let me book something besides Riviera! LOL. We tend to do week-long trips at Riviera and long weekends in different resorts to try them out painlessly in case we don't like them.

Really, all of the resorts have something going for them depending on the room category and season. They're really great! We love VGF Resort Studios, PIT and SS Studios for couple's trips. We hated SS 2B. We also don't want to be anywhere near a monorail resort during the holidays. Too mental! We know we're in the minority there. OKW we LOVED and never expected that. But we also did that as a resort-only stay after hitting the parks hard the first half of our stay at Riviera. OKW was so great for hosting on the back patio/deck friends to come over and chill with a drink. Their pool had the greatest kid mix with our kids. So friendly and fun. The Community room was massive and had a TON of arts and crafts and games.

Ironically, we were kind of meh on BC because we did NOT enjoy the chaos at Stormalong Bay. Are you sensing a trend here? We like quiet after the parks.

Enjoy BR! It's really a hidden gem. And I don't think the shorter length is THAT terrible at all. I periodically mull over a BR contract because we love BR/CC/WL for the holidays and you need to own there to get in there. We're in our 50s, too, so a contract ending when we're 67 and 73 isn't necessarily a bad thing when we're in retirement. Who knows what our health will be like. If we're doing good, fantastic, we have Riviera until we're 90+. If we're not, we can rent the points out the last few years and call it a day.

 

[Carouselofplanning]

I ran your post through my analysis & think your resale resort match is: VGF

If price per point is deterring you, the hidden gem match is not SSR. It’s OKW (‘57)! Don’t let the multiple bus stops push you away. It runs so much smoother than POR. Won’t be disappointed being ‘stuck’ here. Points charts for the rooms you get here is unmatched.

If cheapest points/biggest rooms is the goal then yes OKW wins. But it’s laid out poorly and the rooms feel a step below the rest of the group in terms of build quality/finishes. And then there’s a lack of resort amenities.
Saratoga simply put is a nicer resort with more to offer and is close in value to OKW. If you can stomach a car rental, the internal bus loop is a non issue.

 

[airjay75]

One additional thought for @MLS82. Other than Poly and VGF, the other resort that would actually meet your needs of 3 sleeping surfaces in studio and 1 BRs is Riviera. A cheap way to enter this game would be to pick up a resale RIV contract that you could use for studio stays there. As you may well already know, resale RIV contracts can only be used at RIV, but they would all be much cheaper than a VGF or Poly resale contract. And if you’re buying a contract for a studio stay, at most resorts, much of the time, you’re going to have to treat it like a contract you are only using at your home resort. It wouldn’t be my personal first choice (I do love RIV but I own direct points), but it’s another option.

 

[MLS82]

Since your next purchase will likely be at the Poly direct, then I’d lean towards a resort in a different area. If you could live w/ the 2042 end date, the BC would be nice (they do share buses w/ the YC.) I own at AKV & absolutely love my stays there, but it’s not for everyone. We alternate w/ our other home resort - VGF & I love staying there as well. However, when we stay at AKV we opt for 2 br.s, whereas at the VGF we tend to stick w/ the very spacious 1 br.s because those VGF 2 br.s take a lot of points . If you’re ok w/ 2 MK area resorts long term & going for 2 br.s now, CCV is a reasonably priced resale alternative w/ an attractive point chart.

Thank you, your entire post was helpful! I love AKL and VGF!! My husband does not love AKL as much as I do- he's not a fan of the bus-only transportation. I can overlook that and the darker rooms because I love the animals, the lobby, and the food. I'd love to do some resort-only stays, and AKL feels like the perfect place for that kind of trip.

 

[eticketplease]

One additional thought for @MLS82. Other than Poly and VGF, the other resort that would actually meet your needs of 3 sleeping surfaces in studio and 1 BRs is Riviera. A cheap way to enter this game would be to pick up a resale RIV contract that you could use for studio stays there. As you may well already know, resale RIV contracts can only be used at RIV, but they would all be much cheaper than a VGF or Poly resale contract. And if you’re buying a contract for a studio stay, at most resorts, much of the time, you’re going to have to treat it like a contract you are only using at your home resort. It wouldn’t be my personal first choice (I do love RIV but I own direct points), but it’s another option.

Excellent points as always @airjay75 !!

This would solve both proximity to Epcot and no shared bus service and sleeps 5 in both the studios and 1 bedrooms.

 

[CraigInPA]

Ignore the purchase price per point. In the long term, it's immaterial (a few dollars per year per point). What is important is how many points you'll need for your stay and the maintenance fee on those points.

Let me give you an example. Our current maintenance fees are $8.02 at BLT. A week in a 1br is 257 points in early December. Thus, the cost of our room is $2061.

Now, let's move to CCV. Current maintenance fees are $8.49, and a 1br is 237 points. Thus, the cost of the room is $2012.

Now, let's move to VGF. Current maintenance fees are $7.93. A 1br is 340 points. Thus, the cost of the room is $2,696.

Now, let's move to Poly. Current maintenance fees are $7.93. A 1br is 387 points. Thus, the cost of the room is $3,069

Animal Kingdom Villas? Current maintenance fees are $9.64, and a 1br savanna view is 235 points. Thus, the cost of the room is $2,265.

Riviera? Current maintenance fees are $9.06 and a 1br preferred view is 328 points. Thus, the cost of the room is $2,971.

Cabins at Fort Wilderness. Current maintenance fees are $11.88, and a cabin is 132 points. Thus, the cost of the room is $1,568.

But, back to those buy-in prices. I paid $110pp on average for my BLT points. I'm amortizing $2.50 per point per year. That adds $642 to my stay every year until the contract expires. Maintenance fees continue to increase each year, but that $2.50 per point does not. The $642 for the buy-in represents only 23% of the total cost of my vacation this year, and will decrease over time as maintenance fees increase. The number of points and the maintenance fee per point is thus the real cost driver here.

That all being said, buy where you want to stay. My wife and I tried out various DVC resorts before we bought. Ultimately, we chose BLT for its ability to access the monorail, other monorail resorts, the EPCOT monorail, and the easy walk to the MK. Your decision may be different, based upon what you value the most in a vacation resort.