Purchasing first DVC. Need HELP!!! PLEASE

[havoc315]

President's Day is Feb 20 2023. VGF/BLT and Poly all have wide open studios, even the Poly lake view. VGF 2BR, BLT 1 and 2 BR. You can even get a BW studio and BC is showing 1 and 2BR.

I don't consider that very limited at all. That's a huge amount of choice.

Not true. Maybe you're just looking for 1-night reservations. Looking for the whole week, most of that is not available.
I searched a week, 2/18-2/25. BLT -- not wide open studios, only lake view available. VGF, NO deluxe studios available (only resort studios), NO 1-BRs available. BWI --NO studios available. Beach Club -- NOTHING available. You said you saw BC showing 1 and 2 BR -- They have a 2 BR available on 2/18, none on 2/19, 2/20, 2/21, 2/22, etc.

As I said -- very very limited.

 

[RoseGold]

Not true. Maybe you're just looking for 1-night reservations. Looking for the whole week, most of that is not available.

I was doing the holiday weekend. I go to Dinsey all the time and have never gone for a whole week. But sure, if you have to stay in the same room for a whole week, then you are more limited. Still plenty of choices.

If I were going for a week, I'd want to move anyway.

 

[havoc315]

I was doing the holiday weekend. I go to Dinsey all the time and have never gone for a whole week. But sure, if you have to stay in the same room for a whole week, then you are more limited. Still plenty of choices.

If I were going for a week, I'd want to move anyway.

Each person travels differently. I've never done a trip shorter than 5 nights (typically 6-8 nights), and never had any desire to change resorts in the middle of a trip.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

I go to Dinsey all the time and have never gone for a whole week.

Do you live close enough to drive? We have to fly so we tend to go for 8-9 nights to justify the pain of traveling, though I do dream about shorter trips from time to time just to live in the Disney bubble for a while.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

I would load up on GF direct, honestly. The promotions they're running now are really good. It'll be stunning for this December at the holidays for the kids to see the decorations in the lobby, and the DVC original wing is down a walkway, away from the madness. SO pretty.

I don't see the resale points being that off from direct, and while APs aren't for sale currently, I do think they'll come back. With 3-4 kids, at a savings of $300 per person, that is a great perk when it comes back. Also, GF is GORGEOUS and convenient, and the rooms are all large. Their splash pad for littles is adorable.

BLT may be closer, but I, personally, really didn't like how it's laid out and found the kitchen setup very weird and small with the island. GF has a nice wet bar/drop zone for diaper bags, gear to run out the door in the morning. The kitchen is laid out great in an L with plentiful cabinetry, and I like the booth-style dining for kids. You can easily slide a high chair along the table to the side and feed the other kids in the booth. If I recall correctly, the foyer area is large enough to park a double stroller, too. I know Riviera has a huge foyer that we easily parked my husbands ECV last trip (got knee replacement two weeks after we got home from WDW.). Definitely could have fit our old double-wide stroller over there, and I am pretty sure GF is even larger than Riviera for that stuff. Storage is plentiful.

Studios would be a nightmare, IMO, for you guys to pack all the baby gear and strollers and dealing with different nap schedules at these young ages.

With a one-bedroom (and larger,) you have a private (large) bedroom with a king bed for your husband and you, and you'll have plenty of room for a pack n' play for naps in the middle bathroom area or in the room with you for a newborn/younger baby. There's no way you can feed everyone and keep them quiet while others need a nap or flame out early in a studio.

And, Florida gets rain -- often. There may be days you are rained in and stuck in the room, or someone gets an earache or gross cold on vacation and is hacking all night. You're going to want to kill yourself if you're all on top of each other with no space to amuse the kids coloring or having snacks and dealing with a sick kid. S*&# happens, even in the happiest place on Earth, LOL, why not be prepared, just in case?

Also, having the full kitchen and laundry in the room are game changers. Even if you plan to mobile order most meals, you're still in the bottles/baby gruel/cereal ages for another few years. You'll want a real refrigerator to make bottles, store milk and simple breakfast staples and snacks, and it's awesome to throw a load of clothes in at night when everyone's showered in their jammies and you aren't throwing spit-up clothes and sweaty gear in a trash bag to schlep home. We only travel with carry-ons and now only need 3-4 outfits per person/kid since I do laundry each night. It's way easier.

 

[Sandisw]

Wait and see.. But 1 VGFs may become impossible to book at 7 months because of the expansion. With the sale of 200 additional studios, almost 2 million more points.. but without the addition of any 1/2 BR units.... The "new" VGF could potentially be out-of-proportion, with the larger rooms going very quickly.

This might not happen. But pre-expansion, there was more than enough supply of 1 BRs to meet the 11 month demand, leaving remaining units at 7 month.
The expansion increases the 11 month demand (by increasing the number of owners), but it does not add to the supply. So quite possibly, there will no longer be enough supply to meet the demand.
It will take 1-2 years from now to really know how it plays out.

I agree. While owners may not have a problem getting them during home resort time, I think we could see 7 month issues. It is why we bought VGF because we want the 1 bedrooms and didn't want to wait until 7 months to use SSR points, even though we had been quite successful in getting them in the winter the past few years.

 

[Sandisw]

I was doing the holiday weekend. I go to Dinsey all the time and have never gone for a whole week. But sure, if you have to stay in the same room for a whole week, then you are more limited. Still plenty of choices.

If I were going for a week, I'd want to move anyway.

I think this is why it is so important to understand how different people will travel before someone decides on SAP. We do short trips as well and don't mind split stays. But, I know plenty who do not and if someone will be going to go for at least 5 nights during times when it can be more popular...like President's week...they have to be prepared not to get what they want at the MK or Epcot areas without having do split stay or take something they don't want.

Personally, I would never assume that 7 months is a given at any one place and if I have choices, then best to choose one of those to capitalize on home resort booking.

 

[wmm1126]

I just called disney to see what their current promotions are on GFV. For 200pts its 9 off pp (total 198/pp). Plus an additional 500 off for a referral bonus and 500 off for having a reservation already for this Dec at another resort. They also said they have something called the "welcome home booking" which is where they save a small amount of rooms for new members so they can book because "they dont know about the 7 & 11 month rules yet." That literally sounds to good to be true and I think they might be blowing smoke up my butt. But they are checking dates for me, so I will let you know what they update me with.

 

[Sandisw]

I just called disney to see what their current promotions are on GFV. For 200pts its 9 off pp (total 198/pp). Plus an additional 500 off for a referral bonus and 500 off for having a reservation already for this Dec at another resort. They also said they have something called the "welcome home booking" which is where they save a small amount of rooms for new members so they can book because "they dont know about the 7 & 11 month rules yet." That literally sounds to good to be true and I think they might be blowing smoke up my butt. But they are checking dates for me, so I will let you know what they update me with.

There is such thing as a welcome home booking when buying direct. It doesn't mean it will be exactly what you want but they have their own points which have been used to reserve rooms for this purpose. Most often, they can get you rooms that are in active sales, like RIV and VGF resort studios...although, they just declared all of those so not sure how many they would still have access to.

But, they will definitely try to get you a DVC room with your points somewhere with a little bit of magic! Keep us posted!!!

 

[varyth]

They also said they have something called the "welcome home booking" which is where they save a small amount of rooms for new members so they can book because "they dont know about the 7 & 11 month rules yet." That literally sounds to good to be true and I think they might be blowing smoke up my butt. But they are checking dates for me, so I will let you know what they update me with.

We bought in April and they were able to help us book a Welcome Home stay for September. We couldn't get the standard view rooms we wanted, but they had inventory for the next "view" up, which was showing only partial availability if we tried to book it ourselves. With some extra pixie dust, we were also granted an exception to borrow a couple points over the 50% limit for the stay. Good luck!

 

[wmm1126]

It’s just the price that is holding me back. I have a potential contract resale for GFV/ 175 points at 162/pp. And it has almost double points for 2022

 

[RoseGold]

Price is a big consideration, especially when buying direct. And those double points matter.

To me, buying resale isn't nearly as big of a commitment. If you change your mind in a couple years, you sell it. You put at lot less money into the whole thing -- and got a free trip out of it.

Direct is a bigger commitment IMO. I agree VGF incentives are good, and it's a good product to buy direct. But I would really have to be in it for the long haul to buy direct points. I like knowing I can sell my resale anytime I want. I will make a little money or break even, and that's something I like.

Especially with so many recent Disney decisions cutting against DVC owners, I view ownership as much more risky than I did when I bought in. That's why I didn't buy direct even with the really excellent owner's incentives when VGF opened. I just don't trust the direction DVC management and the parks are going, the most obvious example being the APs.

Maybe worth considering that your timeline might line up with buying Poly2 with existing owner incentives in a few years. If you bought resale now, it would be easy enough to sell the resale and buy Poly2, if that makes sense in the future. Poly2 will be better anyway, a brand new build instead of a quick flip of a building that really needed it.

 

[Sandisw]

It’s just the price that is holding me back. I have a potential contract resale for GFV/ 175 points at 162/pp. And it has almost double points for 2022

That sounds like a great deal. If you are comfortable with the difference in starting with resale, then go with that!

 

[havoc315]

It’s just the price that is holding me back. I have a potential contract resale for GFV/ 175 points at 162/pp. And it has almost double points for 2022

That is a very fair price. It fits the standard discount you would expect off direct. Pre-expansion-sales, that type of price would get ROFRed. But they aren't going to ROFR VGF right now, while there are direct sales. And $162 will likely be close to the median price for a while for re-sale.
Just realize it will still take a couple months to clear, and there is no welcome home trip for re-sale. So make sure you'll actually be able to use those points, or check to what extent they are still bankable. You don't want a whole lot of expiring 2022 points that you're getting too late to use.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

It’s just the price that is holding me back. I have a potential contract resale for GFV/ 175 points at 162/pp. And it has almost double points for 2022

It's hard to choose, so many options and price ranges. DH and I have done both direct and resale purchases. If I were buying VGF today, I would probably buy direct because I would want the points to have the ability to book at future resorts. But we are in it for the long haul. If you are not sure about that, then as mentioned above, resale gives you less commitment.

The process with direct is really very simple and I would consider the following:

1. I actually see availability for several consecutive nights at various resorts in the first half of December right now at AK, SSR, and OKW, and at other resorts fewer consecutive nights but you could do split stays. If you were to call a guide tomorrow and they draft a contract, before you even sign anything (as you have 30 days) you'd already have the ability to use your points to book any of these and still take your December trip.
2. DVC usually helps you out with your first booking to welcome you "home." They can often pull rooms from the cash side to make something happen for you. They did so for us when we bought RVA in 2020, for instance. You could talk to a guide to see what they are able to do for you for December if what you want isn't available.
3. You can use credit cards for the entire direct purchase. At the very least you can use credit cards to help spread out the payments (Disney Visa or cards that have 0% APR for a given term). But also, you can use cards to shave some money off the difference between direct and resale. Now, the feasibility of this varies from person to person, of course. But if, for instance, you and your spouse each apply for a credit card that has an elevated sign up bonus right now, you could think of the bonus as money off the purchase (because indeed, you can put Chase and Amex reward points towards cash back for various categories of purchases). If, say, you each received 150K Amex MR points, that's at least $3K worth of cash back, or could be valued more depending on how you use the points.

If I were to buy resale from the options listed, I would do BLT. There are several contracts on various resale sites with double points. The point chart is great and having access to the 1BR standard view is awesome because of the value and the amount of space/# of bathrooms. 2BR standard views are also a great value for when you need more space later. the points just go much further at BLT.

 

[DduzDis]

So my family and I are trying to purchase our first DVC contract through the resale market. Approx 140-175 point contracts are what we are after. We have been doing HOURS of research and have it narrowed down to 3 resorts. GFV, BLT & PLB. We have 3 kids, oldest is school aged and the youngest is less then 2. We have never been to any of these resorts and have always stayed at Art of Anim. We keep narrowing it down to 1 then finding something that makes us change our mind again. Its so frustrating. So I need real help on which to choose for a young family who still has lots of Disney left in their future.

Here are the run downs of the pro/cons in our eyes on each resort.

GFV:
Pro- new studios, 0-15 min walk to MK, the cheapest yearly dues
Neg- Last stop on monorail (so during busy time it could be full before it gets to us), have heard (have no real experience) that it can be kinda stuffy.

PVB:
Pro- Lava pool, boat ride or monorail to MK, we love 'ohana, studio will sleep 5, longest contract length
Neg- No 1 bedrm/2 bedrm accommodations at this time. We don't know if the new poly tower is going to be the same Assocation or not (and if its not then when we need 1-2 bedroom accommodations we will be SOL and have to stay somewhere else), have heard that its easy to get a reservation here at 7 months out when you book (meaning it might not be as valuable to have this for your home resort advantage), the most expensive yearly dues.

BLK:
Pro- 5-10 min walk to MK, first stop on the monorail after MK, Amazing views, hard to get reservation so having the home resort advantage seems very adventitious.
Neg- the studio only sleeps 4 (so we would only be able to do studio until my youngest turns 3, which isn't long from now), shortest contract length, has a high possibility of being taken by ROFR.

Extra info: we are planning on having 1 more kiddo which means we will be turning to a family of 6 once the new baby turns 3, so we will have to move up to a 2 bedroom.
We come once a year for approx 7-9 days
We will buy more points in approx 3-4 years.

I would prob take PVB out of the running given your future plans. We started off at BLT with the walk to MK and ease of strollers, but that was before the walkway to MK from GFV was completed. The economics have been covered so I won't rehash. I think I'd just go where you vibe best between BLT and GFV.

 

[StoweFoSho]

It’s just the price that is holding me back. I have a potential contract resale for GFV/ 175 points at 162/pp. And it has almost double points for 2022

That's a $12k difference between the 200 point direct contract you described, and earlier you said you were "bootstrapping" for your first contract. My wife and I are both educators and we have three kids so I feel the initial anxiety about picking the right resort. We also never stayed anywhere nicer than Pop Century before we purchased DVC, and most often were off-property to save $. We also knew we were going to add a kiddo to our family and so we needed to think about where 5 people would sleep.

If you like DVC you're going to add-on points, so you can always pick a different resort if you need to.
We bought 100 resale points at Poly to get our feet wet and to not have to finance anything. Then last year I wanted more points and added 150 points at the Riviera because I liked the resort, decide I wanted direct benefits, and I had stimulus money that we hadn't spent. Then this week I decided I wanted more Poly points and bam! I'm under contract with another resale.

My suggestion is you also need to take a look at DVC inventory not just DVC availability although they are closely related. You'll find standard view Poly studios at 7 months because there are 288 of them in the system. BLT has only 30 standard view studios and 30 standard view 1BR and that makes them hard to come by. BLT, VGF, and Poly have very similar resale prices right now, so look at points for the room too.

If you are bootstrapping for a monorail resort with that many people in your family. I think you should steer clear of BLT because you just won't have the points for a 1 or 2 bedroom for 7 days annually. Just look at a points calculator for examples. A week in February at BLT in a 1BR Lake View is 280 points and Lake View is 70% of the 1BRs. That's 1.6 years' worth of points on that 175 points contract. BLT has no murphy beds (yet). Add a 6th person and the 2BR Lake View is 361 points for the week.

You don't want to be in a BLT studio with 5 people even when one is an infant. Okay maybe I don't because I just did it. It was a tight squeeze and we basically only ever do studios. They galley kitchen layout takes up all of the space unless you're going to have someone sleep in there, which I don't recommend.

VGF studio actually sleeps 5 and is 157-185 if you can avoid the theme park view resort studios. That's about one year's worth of points on the 175 point contract. Going to a 1 BR Standard View is 312 points or 1.78 years worth of points on the same contract and still only sleeps 5 people. Oh and by the way there are only 47 VGF 1BRs which can also be used up to book 2BR lock-offs. Add a 6th person and the VGF 2BR is 421 points for the week. Inventory above studios here is not great.

The Poly standard view is 156 points for a week in February and it sleeps 5. It's also the largest studio on property and has the best layout in my opinion. If you add a 6th person, you either have to book 2 studios or look at a different resort. 2 studios is 312 points which is cheaper than BLT and VGF 2 Bedrooms. You would give up a kitchen, washer/dryer, and "living room" space in your room, but the advantage over a 2 bedroom is that you would have 6 beds and can sleep up to 10 people and 2 infants- 2 queens, 2 queen murphy beds, and 2 murphy singles. My family got connecting studios last Thanksgiving and it was super convenient, had lots of sleeping surfaces and cost much fewer points. However, we don't like to cook on vacation, so giving up the full kitchen is super easy.

Okay, after writing all of that. My question is when you close your eyes where do you see yourself staying. If you don't buy there, then you'll probably just be unhappy. The rest is really just the financial part and there are a million ways to get creative with it, or add-on contract by contract.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

Okay, after writing all of that. My question is when you close your eyes where do you see yourself staying. If you don't buy there, then you'll probably just be unhappy. The rest is really just the financial part and there are a million ways to get creative with it, or add-on contract by contract.

This. All this. Where do you want to be? DVC is wonderful, but expensive. Buy where you want to stay -- unless it's Poly, and then I'd wait for Poly 2.0 to see if it's a new association, LOL. If you plan to keep DVC for at least 20 years, which it seems very much that's the case with your kids, one loaded resale contract isn't going to make or break you long term, you know? IMO, it's worth getting what you want and adding on.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

Would you consider Riviera? We're, obviously, biased, we own there and love it, but it is super plush and large and laid out well for kids/groups. It does have the resale restrictions, but I don't think it's going to be as big a deal as people initially freaked out about, especially if you go to sell in 10-20 years when all the 2042s are gone/repackaged/resold at higher price points.

Depending on what Use Year you pick, you'd get two years' of points, plus stand a good chance of getting a December Welcome Home trip for this year, and direct points for future resorts and AP/perks when/if they return. It's a difference of about $5k off your resale if you did the 175-200 points.

Disney’s Riviera Resort The savings below are valid for purchases now through July 13, 2022.
When You Purchase...	You'll Save...	For a Total Savings of...
150 to 174 Vacation Points	$11 Per Vacation Point	$1,650 to $1,914
175 to 199 Vacation Points	$13 Per Vacation Point	$2,275 to $2,587
200 to 249 Vacation Points	$19 Per Vacation Point	$3,800 to $4,731
250 to 299 Vacation Points	$21 Per Vacation Point	$5,250 to $6,279

 

[wmm1126]

I think buying direct right now is a little too rich for my blood. We are bootstrapping this endeavor. So what if I completely changed the script. Boardwalk? Pro/Cons? We are thinking of buying BW since the price per point is very low, the location is good for HW & Epcot, and the point chart is incredible. We would stay in studios (which sleep 5) for the first few years and then when poly2 opens use the owner discount to buy direct to get all the perks and have access to (hopefully) 1 & 2 bedrooms. We are people that stay at the parks from rope drop to fireworks, so we don't really need the luxuries of a 1 or 2 bedroom yet. I'm sure once our kids are older or we add the 4th then that story will change, but by then we would have bought poly2. So how is BW for kids? Also what does availability look like? For 11 & 7 months out looking for a studio? Does it book super quick? Especially in the summer and around Oct & Dec. Do the studios have a small fridge and microwave? Thoughts? My biggest turn off is the 20 year contract. That scares my hubby.