Purchasing our first contract

[aac2407]

My husband and I have been researching DVC for awhile now, but have never pulled the trigger due to not having disposable income to pay for it outright. Well, we refinanced our house this past year and we were planning on putting in a pool (another luxury), but that fell through (waayyyy too expensive and I don’t want the upkeep) so after paying off my student loans with the money we have enough left over for our luxury purchase. So since we love Disney and spend most of our money on travel anyways we figured this might be a good time to buy in. We are thinking about offering on a poly contract. We are cool with studios because we have 2 young sons (4 and 7) and that’s one of our fave resorts except for beach club (contract is too short for us there though). The reason we haven’t bought in the past is We have a hard time paying this much for something that isn’t an investment. So my questions are:

What should I be thinking about for this big purchase that I may not be thinking about?

Is the Polynesian a good choice if that’s our fave resort and for a family of 4?

My goal is to use the contract for our family vacations every year to every other year and maybe some long weekends(races and such). Then if we don’t want it because our kids are too old in say 10-15 years be able to sell it (hence the long contract).

Thanks! Sorry so long, it’s a tough decision.

 

[DVCsloth]

I never stayed at Polynesian, but I think it is a good choice. Great location, room size, length of contract. Just remember annual dues, resale restrictions, possibly even at the new Polynesian Tower. I like the access to MK and even Epcot is pretty good walking to TTC monorail. We usually walk from VGF when going to Epcot. Looks like DVC is offering some sort of incentive for Polynesian direct. Not sure how much, probably not much or if it's add on for current owners only, but you would have no restrictions. May only allow for 7 months booking at the new resort, but at least you wouldn't be shut out if they make it a new association. I think if you watch the resales closely you should be able to find a decent one pretty easily.

 

[CarolynFH]

Poly is a wonderful choice, if you’re certain that as the boys get bigger and older you’ll still be happy in a studio. We bought DVC specifically because our family of 4 had outgrown a single hotel room with a single bathroom. There’s also something to be said for having a door that locks between your sleeping space and your kids as they get older (@crisi calls that the “nookie tax”), so you might want to consider other DVC resorts where you could have the option of booking a 1 BR or larger as things change, even if it means buying for a studio now and adding on to your points later.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

Personally I wouldn’t touch a Poly contract until we know about Poly 2. If it is a separate association I think the price on Poly resale will drop, plus you would be shut out of the new property. If it is the same association then you can either buy resale then or wait and buy direct with incentives.

I would only buy BC resale at this point.

One strategy might be to buy BC now and then Poly 2 direct with owners incentives once they go on sale/resale Poly depending on how it goes.

 

[DVCsloth]

Personally I wouldn’t touch a Poly contract until we know about Poly 2. If it is a separate association I think the price on Poly resale will drop, plus you would be shut out of the new property. If it is the same association then you can either buy resale then or wait and buy direct with incentives.

I would only buy BC resale at this point.

One strategy might be to buy BC now and then Poly 2 direct with owners incentives once they go on sale/resale Poly depending on how it goes.

Won't BCV be in the same boat soon as the resort expiration is getting closer?

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

Won't BCV be in the same boat soon as the resort expiration is getting closer?

My family loves BC so BC points are only ever used there. My thought was that it’s a lot harder to book into BC than into Poly, plus that leaves open the possibility of split stays or every other year somewhere else.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

We will hold BC to maturity and then replace it with whatever comes next over there.

 

[RoseGold]

There’s a lot on the market right now, and you should be able to get a good deal on a poly contract. But we just don’t know what will happen with poly pricing. The Poly tower is going to print a lot more poly points, and splitting the association would make poly1 points worth less than the shiny new ones. Selling poly points up against that is not what I would want to plan. Heck, I’d rather be selling VGF in ten years.

Another option is the BLT 1BR. The BLT chart is much better than poly’s, but the downside is the studio is very small.

If you love BC, I’d seriously think about BC. The chart is better, so you need a smaller contract. The studio sleeps 5. It’s a great property for so many reasons. And in ten years, a 12 year BC contract with a legacy chart will be appealing IMO. That’s a product I dont see losing appeal. I’d really do the math with the chart. The poly/VGF/RIV chart do a lot of the heavy lifting for Disney and the math can be stark against the legacy charts.

Or, just go with sleep around points and don’t sweat this so hard. Poly has hundreds of rooms and the chart is high, so it is pretty easy to book at 7 months unless it’s super peak. Even if you bought BLT or CCV, you should be able to book poly.

Edit to add: When you're making big money moves, DVC is only one piece of a very expensive vacation commitment. As I'm sure you know, tickets are crazy. I'd be sure you really want to commit to buying that many theme park tickets, if money is tight. I could have gone to Europe for the cost of my last Disney trip.