Purchased our 1st DVC yesterday and already worried...should I be?

[alldiz]

Another Caveat to remember is lets say you buy 50 points into POLY and 100 points into AKL and decide to book a stay at POLY and the stay will cost you 55 points, you can borrow across contracts, but here is the clincher since the points will be coming from a different "HOME" resort you will have to wait for the 7th month booking window to get those other 5 points. Hope that makes sense.

Yes. I initially bought resale at WLV 150 pts April use year, before usage changes. I added on 2 direct 50pts each....keeping WLV and same use year.
This makes things extremely easy it's like having 1 bag of points.
Kerri

 

[ziravan]

I am hoping that you purchased directly from DVC and not a re-seller. If purchased points through a re-seller you are excluded from all the DVC perks and can only stay at the Disney properties. (Can't book cruises, stay at some of the Disney Collection resorts with points.) We have Saratoga Springs and Polynesian as our home resorts and have not been disappointed. The Polynesian is beautiful and the Deluxe Studio Villas sleeps 5 and is actually on the larger studio size than some of the other resorts. The added bonus to the Polynesian is being on the Monorail line which takes you directly to Magic Kingdom (MK) and its right next to the Ticket and Transportation Center, (TTC) where you can get on the Monorail and go directly to Epcot. Animal Kingdom is a beautiful resort and we stay at Jambo House and Kidani Village quite frequently, it is the best per point value accommodation, the only draw back is it is the farthest resort from the parks and Disney Springs. So...when it comes to popular bookings, the hotels on the monorail line, Polynesian, Grand Floridian, and BayLake fill up quickly that is why people buy into those home resorts as they can book 11 months out vs 7 months. Next, would be the hotels around Epcot like Boardwalk and Beach Club. Those resorts book up quickly especially around the time of the Flower and Garden Festival and Food and Wine Festival as you can walk over to the park. These are very hard to book if not your home resort. Saratoga Springs is nice as you can walkover the bridge to Disney Springs. With all that being said, I went through the, did I make a mistake, should I cancel phase as well. This is very overwhelming at first. You need to sit and make a list of the importance of the items I listed above and see if the Poly is the right choice for you. And... I have stayed at the Poly and have never had an issue with the a/c or the sewer. As for the size of the unit, it has plenty of room and we love the split bathroom, there is one with a toilet, vanity and tub/shower and the other with a vanity and a rainfall shower. (Two people can get ready at one time) If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to help! Welcome Home!

It only makes sense to buy direct if you want to routinely stay at Poly. There isn't enough of a resale deal on Poly yet to buy resale.

1. Poly is too expensive to buy direct and routinely use elsewhere. Only buy Poly direct if you intend to use your points at Poly the overwhelming majority of the time.

2. The 2011 resale restrictions - access to using points for cruises, concierge collection and Adventures by Disney - were all horrible uses of points. You'd make out far better renting your points and paying cash. Disney was charging you a premium (buying direct) to rip off the value of your points. It is a double gouge. Frankly, the 2011 restrictions were doing resale owners a favor.

3. The 2016 restrictions hurt. They removed membership (DVC considers resale owners after 4/2016 to be purchasers not members), discounts, access to member events, and access to the AP discount.

This is still not a reason to buy the bulk of yours points direect. If you wanted 150 BWV points, direct is $24,000. But. If you bought 125 points resale and then added 25 points direct, you'd have all the 2016 benefits. - and save over $8 thousand dollars: $15,750 assuming a very reasonable $90/pt resale contract.

I think the 2016 perks are worth it. Buying all your points direct to get them - isn't.

4. Everybody is different and will like different resorts for different reasons. The rule of thumb on this board is: Buy where you want to stay.

 

[ziravan]

Another Caveat to remember is lets say you buy 50 points into POLY and 100 points into AKL and decide to book a stay at POLY and the stay will cost you 55 points, you can borrow across contracts, but here is the clincher since the points will be coming from a different "HOME" resort you will have to wait for the 7th month booking window to get those other 5 points. Hope that makes sense.

But. Using the example above, if you bought 50 points at Poly and 100 at AKV, you can bank and borrow to maximize each contract.

Example

2014: 150 point trip - use 100 2014 AKV points for trip. Borrow 50 AKV points from 2015. Bank 2014 Poly 50 points.

2015: 150 point trip - use 50 banked points from 2014 Poly, 50 current 2015 Poly points and borrow 2016 50 Poly points. Bank remaining 50 2015 AKV points.

2016: 150 point trip - use 50 banked 2015 AKV points and 100 current 2016 points. No points in either account to bank.

2017: Same as 2014.

Over a 3 yr period, you could use 100 AKV and 50 Poly for 150 point trips to stay at AKV twice and Poly once - all in the 11 month window.

DVC is flexible.

 

[Gcic420]

1st I didn't have access to computer until last night. LOL

We came down to enjoy our vacation at Bonnet Creek. After the sales presentation, we left very upset with the way they treated us as we were not first buyers into Wyndham, but from a resale purchase. We've been coming to Florida for years, on pretty much a yearly basis. We love Disney everything--from the parks, shopping, to the cruises (3 of them) that we decided to check out the DVC.

They sold us into Poly villas and now after reading a few reviews, I am a little concerned. I asked about Animal Kingdom and the sales rep really stressed Poly advantages over the AK citing longevity in contract (as we would lose 9 years out of the 50) and higher MFs. So with that in mind, should I be worried? I read that Poly has had issues with sewer and a/c in the villas. And the smallness of the units.

Should we cancel our contract since we signed yesterday and try instead to get into AK? Or does it really matter where your contract is as long as you have one?

Thanks in advance. I could be worried for nothing, right?

IMO I'd cancel and buy on the resale market. That's what we did and saved thousands!

 

[gdrj]

Another Caveat to remember is lets say you buy 50 points into POLY and 100 points into AKL and decide to book a stay at POLY and the stay will cost you 55 points, you can borrow across contracts, but here is the clincher since the points will be coming from a different "HOME" resort you will have to wait for the 7th month booking window to get those other 5 points. Hope that makes sense.

Congrats on the ownership. The above quote THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT for anyone thinking of doing smaller contracts, especially as it seems harder and harder to book at certain times. It can also be messy with waitlists. or if you have booked multiple reservations for the upcoming year, are using multiple years points/borrowed/banked. For anyone new/inexperienced, personally I think doing a few small contracts is a bad idea (but that's just me).

 

[gdrj]

It only makes sense to buy direct if you want to routinely stay at Poly. There isn't enough of a resale deal on Poly yet to buy resale.

1. Poly is too expensive to buy direct and routinely use elsewhere. Only buy Poly direct if you intend to use your points at Poly the overwhelming majority of the time.

2. The 2011 resale restrictions - access to using points for cruises, concierge collection and Adventures by Disney - were all horrible uses of points. You'd make out far better renting your points and paying cash. Disney was charging you a premium (buying direct) to rip off the value of your points. It is a double gouge. Frankly, the 2011 restrictions were doing resale owners a favor.

3. The 2016 restrictions hurt. They removed membership (DVC considers resale owners after 4/2016 to be purchasers not members), discounts, access to member events, and access to the AP discount.

This is still not a reason to buy the bulk of yours points direect. If you wanted 150 BWV points, direct is $24,000. But. If you bought 125 points resale and then added 25 points direct, you'd have all the 2016 benefits. - and save over $8 thousand dollars: $15,750 assuming a very reasonable $90/pt resale contract.

I think the 2016 perks are worth it. Buying all your points direct to get them - isn't.

4. Everybody is different and will like different resorts for different reasons. The rule of thumb on this board is: Buy where you want to stay.

Valid points. Another consideration for buying direct is end of use date. With the Poly having a end year much later than Boardwalk for example. I realize some people may not care but it can be a factor. Lots of factors to consider. I know when I was looking on secondary market at resorts we wanted the resale prices had jumped and inventory (BLT) was very tight. IMO there are lots of scenarios where secondary market makes sense but for us the Poly at the time for our second DVC contract made sense to go direct (or at least I tell myself that )

 

[ziravan]

Valid points. Another consideration for buying direct is end of use date. With the Poly having a end year much later than Boardwalk for example. I realize some people may not care but it can be a factor. Lots of factors to consider. I know when I was looking on secondary market at resorts we wanted the resale prices had jumped and inventory (BLT) was very tight. IMO there are lots of scenarios where secondary market makes sense but for us the Poly at the time for our second DVC contract made sense to go direct (or at least I tell myself that )

Agreed but to some extent, length of contract is priced in. I paid $165/pt for a Poly contract with 51 yrs and $84/point for BCV with 27 yrs left when I bought it.

Those are actually fairly evenly valued price over time. I don't care about the 2011 restrictions and I was both grandfathered and a Poly direct owner for the 2016 restrictions so those are moot to my evaluations.

We love both places and feel the premium of owning BOTH a monorail and a near EPCOT resort is unbeatable.

Plus. Owning Poly means I'll still be a DVC member long after my BCV contract expires.

 

[Dean]

Valid points. Another consideration for buying direct is end of use date. With the Poly having a end year much later than Boardwalk for example. I realize some people may not care but it can be a factor. Lots of factors to consider. I know when I was looking on secondary market at resorts we wanted the resale prices had jumped and inventory (BLT) was very tight. IMO there are lots of scenarios where secondary market makes sense but for us the Poly at the time for our second DVC contract made sense to go direct (or at least I tell myself that )

Certainly between 2042 and others can be an issue but the value on the back end years is a lot less than some might think. The difference between 2054 and 2060 from a cost or value standpoint is almost negligible.

 

[Lisa F]

I own at both places and I bought direct for both places (I know the horrors to some) but I can tell you I love them both. I also stay at other resorts if need be as well.
General rule, BUY WHERE YOU WANT TO STAY.
If you don't mind studios, then there is no reason to cancel. If you mind the studios sometimes, then switch it up once in awhile. While the 7 month thing can be a little hard to manage, rooms at AKL, SS or OKW are usually (not always) but usually available.
The resort is lovely. The location is sublime and I had no problems with the boat whistle or any other noise and I am a light sleeper. I know others have complained.
I do not regret buying Poly one minute because it's a resort I love and will love to visit over and over again for the next several decades.

I'm going to add my own little caveat to this. As someone who has owned DVC for 17 years now (bought in January 2000), where you want to stay is going to change. I still LOVE my home resort of BWV and am never disappointed if we are "stuck" there but my last several stays have not been there.. feels like I have been everywhere but. My last stay was a split between AKV, BWV and Poly after a long break from BWV.

Poly is a gorgeous resort and I am in complete and utter lust. If I had the means I would buy a boatload of points there today so I can stay there whenever I please. Most people have a lot of competing factors when they buy into a timeshare and you have to weigh all of them. Cost and length of contract are not issues to be ignored because you fall in love with a place... unless you are in a financial position to be able to do so. There are definitely far better options out there than the Poly, with more flexibility in room types, and availability at the Poly at the 7 month window is pretty good for many times of year if you have flexibility in when you travel.

So yes, definitely buy where you plan to stay in that I would never buy at Vero or HHI for use at WDW and get shut out by the 7 month window for ANYTHING at WDW at the busy times of the year. But many people do like a bunch of resorts (I do, although my current love is the Poly and I hope to stay there again on my next trip, but I would not be DEVASTATED if I could not) so which WDW resort you buy into may not be THE most important thing you consider. If you're going to own for the long haul, chances are you'll get to stay all over property. My last trip in December was my first time at BWV in like 10 years. It was awesome, I had forgotten how much I love it and will spend at least some of my next trip there.

oh and the poly is pretty close to being BOTH an epcot and MK resort. it is literally a 3 minute walk to the TTC from Moorea where we stayed and then express monorail direct to Epcot. the timing was about the same as walking from BWV and you end up right in future world, which is where most people want to be first thing in the morning. Though it is much further away than my favorite Illuminations viewing spot in the evening

 

[gdrj]

Agreed but to some extent, length of contract is priced in. I paid $165/pt for a Poly contract with 51 yrs and $84/point for BCV with 27 yrs left when I bought it.

Those are actually fairly evenly valued price over time. I don't care about the 2011 restrictions and I was both grandfathered and a Poly direct owner for the 2016 restrictions so those are moot to my evaluations.

We love both places and feel the premium of owning BOTH a monorail and a near EPCOT resort is unbeatable.

Plus. Owning Poly means I'll still be a DVC member long after my BCV contract expires.

I agree. We have Boardwalk and Poly. Makes for great split stays, never need to touch a bus except AK and Disney Springs

 

[gdrj]

Certainly between 2042 and others can be an issue but the value on the back end years is a lot less than some might think. The difference between 2054 and 2060 from a cost or value standpoint is almost negligible.

Very True, just thought it was worth mentioning especially for newer people.