Purchasing Saratoga to use in CA

[APacheco]

Do you think it would be a decent strategy to purchase at Saratoga Springs to use on a regular basis at the new Disney TS in CA say during the month of May? Do you think I would be happy with this purchase or is it better to pay more through Disney for the CA property? I hope this makes sense. I would really appreciate your experience and knowledge.

Thank you,
Anthony

 

[disneynutz]

If you want to have a better chance at staying where and when you want, buy where you love to stay.

 

[Sandisw]

If you are referring to the new VGC being sold by Disney, then I would suggest that you may have some difficulty at 7 months getting what you want.

That resort is small and many have suggested that 11 month booking advantage is going to be important most of the time.

If your plan is to vacation in CA, and not at WDW in FL, then I would suggest you buy there.

What happens to your SSR points if you can't get a reservation there? If you would be happy just going to WDW instead, then maybe. But, if you don't want the points to visit WDW very often, then I don't think it makes much sense to buy SSR.

 

[pyrxtc]

I too suggest buying where you want to stay. No guarantee at 7 months that you will be able to get that GCV room you wanted. You'll be fighting a whole lot of people for it.

 

[DebbieB]

With only 48 rooms, I think it is going to be difficult to get into the Grand Californian at 7 months. If that's where you want to use the points, buy there.

 

[Jerry@dvcstore]

I always recommend to my customers at TSS, buy were you want to stay. This way you give yourself the best chance to get the reservation you want (If you use the 11 month booking window). If you know you want to stay at GCV you should buy GCV due to the size of the resort and limited number of rooms available. If you are interested in staying at the different DVC resorts and exchanging for outside options, then SSR would be a great option.

 

[CarolAnnC]

I purchased my BWV points mainly because I was unable to reserve there for December at the 7 month window and a few years of waiting lists were fruitless for me.

My only exception to the buy where you want to stay would be my Vero Beach points. I don't get to Vero often, maybe every 3 years or so. I do use those points as my DCL cruise booking points, though. Some will say not the best use of DVC points, but it is the best use for my personal circumstances.

For the Grand Californian Villas, I would definitely buy there if that is where you want to stay. Would have done it myself if I were financially able to.

 

[stefanospops]

I purchased my BWV points mainly because I was unable to reserve there for December at the 7 month window and a few years of waiting lists were fruitless for me.

My only exception to the buy where you want to stay would be my Vero Beach points. I don't get to Vero often, maybe every 3 years or so. I do use those points as my DCL cruise booking points, though. Some will say not the best use of DVC points, but it is the best use for my personal circumstances.

For the Grand Californian Villas, I would definitely buy there if that is where you want to stay. Would have done it myself if I were financially able to.

I was just thinking about buying at the least cost per point resort solely for the purpose of using for DCL but haven't done the math yet. I guess the biggest challenge in that approach is that you don't get the benefit of locking today's room rates in for the future since the points for the cruise will change annually unlike the total DVC resort points being locked once announced.

 

[disneynutz]

I was just thinking about buying at the least cost per point resort solely for the purpose of using for DCL but haven't done the math yet. I guess the biggest challenge in that approach is that you don't get the benefit of locking today's room rates in for the future since the points for the cruise will change annually unlike the total DVC resort points being locked once announced.

Using DVC points for DCL is not a good value. Disney loves when you do it just like they love everyone on the DDP.

 

[CarolAnnC]

I was just thinking about buying at the least cost per point resort solely for the purpose of using for DCL but haven't done the math yet. I guess the biggest challenge in that approach is that you don't get the benefit of locking today's room rates in for the future since the points for the cruise will change annually unlike the total DVC resort points being locked once announced.

If you were purchasing more points to enhance a membership where you at least spent some vacations at DVC resorts, then it may work. But to solely buy for DCL, well you would honestly do better price wise using cash.

 

[APacheco]

Thanks for your advice. I will focus on CA.

 

[thelionqueen]

We are buying @ VGC as well. Disney has some pretty decent incentives right now so something to think about. I personally think CA will be one of the hardest DVC resorts to get at any time, even for owners! We go to CA at least every 2 years so owning there is a no-brainer for us!