points at 2 resorts

[Leahc117]

Hello!
I am doing my research to figure out what the best way to use DVC is...and I know this is probably different for everyone. I am considering buying 100 pts from disney to get member benefits (maybe I don't really need these but booking at Riv and future resorts would be nice to leave on the table and I would love to attend moonlight magic). I am also considering a resale purchase. Right now thinking 100 at AKL or OKW. Then resale maybe Boulder Ridge 100-150 pts. We are a family of 5 so looking for a studio or 1 bed that sleeps 5. Just to clarify - if i have 2 contracts at 2 different resorts I can only use home resort at 11 mo - so my 100 points would only be good at AKL or OKW, bould ridge points only good at boulder ridge. OR I wait until 7 mo and can use all my points 200-250? Does anyone have opinions about having 2 different home resorts and how best to strategize?
Thank You!!

 

[crisi]

Personally, I think that two resorts is a lot of bother and that the benefits of resale aren't worth the direct cost (I've been to a Moonlight Magic and would never go again - it was a bust - certainly I wouldn't buy for it, and I don't think they will last forever). Yes, you can only use the eleven month home resort points at their home resort - people bank and borrow to get enough points to go every other year at one resort, and then the next year go to the other resort. Or they sometimes split their stay, booking each resort at eleven months and then trying to move at seven. It should be fairly easy most times of the year to get into OKW or VAKL at seven months - those are large resorts without excessive demand, and wouldn't be my first choice for a second contract since if you want to stay there, they are available.

 

[SG131]

I alternate which contract I use each year. One year I'll use my full BWV contract and borrow the extra points I need for the stay I want at 11 months. Then the next year I use my BLT contract and borrowing to make my 11 month reservation. But I primarily want to stay at the resorts I own at. If you plan on trying to switch your reservation at 7 months you could book a split stay with both sets of your points at 11 months and then try to modify at 7 months. If you want Boulder Ridge during the Christmas season, it certainly will be helpful to use the 11 month advantage there and borrow from a future year.

 

[BillPA]

The real benefit to buying direct is the Gold AP, with only 100-200 points will you go often enough to get any benefit from an AP?

 

[E2ME2]

The real benefit to buying direct is the Gold AP, with only 100-200 points will you go often enough to get any benefit from an AP?

I think 200 points are enough to make use of this discount.
We bought in at 210, and started a trip pattern of late Jan. in year 1, early Jan in year 2, 'whenever" in year 3
We buy GOLD AP that we use for Year 1 & Year 2 trips, and we do a non-park visit in Year 3.
It's been working for us!
ET

 

[Leahc117]

I am not sure about the annual pass - one thing that I would enjoy with DVC is the feeling of not needing to pack in many days at the parks with each trip - but to slow down and do a couple park days and a couple resort days. I am not sure how many park days it takes to make the pass worth it. We recently rented points at VAKL and got 6 nights for 97 pts. We did a 6 day ticket because there wasn't a huge difference in price between a 5 day or a 6 day ticket.

 

[MonkeyKnifeFight]

The real benefit to buying direct is the Gold AP, with only 100-200 points will you go often enough to get any benefit from an AP?

That's why we didn't bother. The difference direct vs resale for 210 points of BLT was staggering. Close to 20k. We could use the annual pass discount if we did two trips in a year and skipped the next calendar year. But that would only happen once in the next 5-6 years. If we buy an additional contract in the future that's when we would most likely take advantage of the gold pass discount. We might consider reflections or whatever comes after it.

 

[Sandisw]

Two home resorts gives you the ability to book at each 11 months in advance if you have two you really love and want to either split stay or alternate most of the time,

So, if you can see yourself wanting to have that, two resorts are good. Some people will buy for specific trips as well. We own BWV and bought specifically so we had advantage for F and W. Of course, we know own RIV for that so getting rid of those to rebuy at BLT for holiday time near MK.

So, think about how you might want to stay and decide if owning two make sense. You want to have a home resort that you would be okay with if you can’t trade out. Sometimes choosing just one is hard!

 

[TraderSamWDW]

Hello!
I am doing my research to figure out what the best way to use DVC is...and I know this is probably different for everyone. I am considering buying 100 pts from disney to get member benefits (maybe I don't really need these but booking at Riv and future resorts would be nice to leave on the table and I would love to attend moonlight magic). I am also considering a resale purchase. Right now thinking 100 at AKL or OKW. Then resale maybe Boulder Ridge 100-150 pts. We are a family of 5 so looking for a studio or 1 bed that sleeps 5. Just to clarify - if i have 2 contracts at 2 different resorts I can only use home resort at 11 mo - so my 100 points would only be good at AKL or OKW, bould ridge points only good at boulder ridge. OR I wait until 7 mo and can use all my points 200-250? Does anyone have opinions about having 2 different home resorts and how best to strategize?
Thank You!!

2 Different home resorts here. 2 different Use Years, so 2 different memberships.
If you want to combine points at 7 months, it would be in your best interest to make sure they have the same membership number. (same UY, titled the same way)

I love moonlight magic, but I would not buy for that alone, its not that much different from Disney After Hours, which you can just pay for. If you will benefit from APs (and with 250 points, that is a distinct possibility) then you have some math to do around there.

If you buy resale and direct, I would buy the resale contract first. Disney can match UYs since they can change a points UY. Resale contracts are forever in the UY in which they were created. Assuming you want to match UY.

2 trips in the same calendar year requiring a 4 day park hopper ticket (or more) is enough to make an AP worth it.

 

[SG131]

I am not sure about the annual pass - one thing that I would enjoy with DVC is the feeling of not needing to pack in many days at the parks with each trip - but to slow down and do a couple park days and a couple resort days. I am not sure how many park days it takes to make the pass worth it. We recently rented points at VAKL and got 6 nights for 97 pts. We did a 6 day ticket because there wasn't a huge difference in price between a 5 day or a 6 day ticket.

Honestly, just being a dvc owner gives me that feeling. Knowing that I’ll be back again next year has totally changed how I approached my trips. I went from commando park touring to very casual with mid day breaks or a couple early evenings. If there’s anything I miss I know I can do it next time. I am a solely resale member and for me I added up the costs and I couldn’t justify the direct costs. It would’ve taken a lot of years of AP to make up the cost esp with my BLT contract. I had 2 trips planned for 2020 and neither of my trips overlapped with moonlight magic, so I don’t feel bad about missing that. OKW direct prices aren’t bad and give you the extended contract life so the math may work out better there.

 

[Marionnette]

I am not sure about the annual pass - one thing that I would enjoy with DVC is the feeling of not needing to pack in many days at the parks with each trip - but to slow down and do a couple park days and a couple resort days. I am not sure how many park days it takes to make the pass worth it. We recently rented points at VAKL and got 6 nights for 97 pts. We did a 6 day ticket because there wasn't a huge difference in price between a 5 day or a 6 day ticket.

I agree with @SG131 . Just owning DVC gives me the reassurance that whatever I miss this time, I’ll do next time. So I’ve learned to dial back my aggressive park touring plans. And having an AP allows me to take a quick trip to visit a park to eat, shop or take in a show without thinking that I just burned a day of park time from a pass. I can come and go as I please over the course of an entire year. With that in mind, I plan my trips so that I get at least two 2-week or 3 5-day visits thru the year that my AP is active.