Questions about BLT and booking in January

[amylynne01]

DH and I are 95% sure we're going to buy into DVC. We were planning on doing it early next year and book for a trip in January 2013 at our home resort (hoping for BLT). However, with the price of BLT going up again in March and the possibility of it selling out this year, we are thinking about acting sooner than that. We'd like to get 200 points, so buying before March would save us $2000. If we can't purchase BLT before it sells out and end up with a different home resort, is it hard to book a 2bdrm of any view at BLT for January at the 7 month mark? Should we consider other resorts to save money even though we want to stay at BLT for a couple of trips while our kids are young (they are 3 and 1)?

I think we're both feeling overwhelmed by all the options and the pressure of BLT not being available when we're ready. A resale is definitely an option, but we'd prefer to buy direct for the tax benefits (although the tax benefits may be totally negated by the higher price of buying direct).

 

[LouisianaDisneyFan]

DH and I are 95% sure we're going to buy into DVC. We were planning on doing it early next year and book for a trip in January 2013 at our home resort (hoping for BLT). However, with the price of BLT going up again in March and the possibility of it selling out this year, we are thinking about acting sooner than that. We'd like to get 200 points, so buying before March would save us $2000. If we can't purchase BLT before it sells out and end up with a different home resort, is it hard to book a 2bdrm of any view at BLT for January at the 7 month mark? Should we consider other resorts to save money even though we want to stay at BLT for a couple of trips while our kids are young (they are 3 and 1)?

I think we're both feeling overwhelmed by all the options and the pressure of BLT not being available when we're ready. A resale is definitely an option, but we'd prefer to buy direct for the tax benefits (although the tax benefits may be totally negated by the higher price of buying direct).

I strongly recommend that you purchase your points where you want to stay. This January would not have been a good time to judge about availability at BLT due to the crazy weather and lots of last minute cancellations, but I do know they were booked up for our planned travel time (around MLK weekend) pretty far out. We did book our 2bdrm at the 11 month mark... but unfortunately were one of the last minute cancellations due to weather-related travel woes.

As has been discussed in many other threads, the Disney contract only guarantees your access to the DVC properties... and only a one month booking priority at your home resort. There's no guarantee that sometime down the road, Disney does not implement this minimum booking window... and in that case, owning at the resort where you want to stay would be extremely important. Now if you anticipate that you will only want to stay at BLT for "a couple of trips"... then perhaps it's not as important that you purchase BLT. If you only want a few trips at that particular resort, and plan on staying elsewhere as your children grow, then I'd say purchase where you want to stay for the rest of those trips and take a chance at the 7-month mark for the few times you want to book BLT. Another option is to look for a transfer of BLT points into your account for those years that you want to book at BLT, and then rent out your own home resort points to fund that transfer.

I'd be happy to share tips on how all of this works if you want more info. Just shoot me a PM, as this is probably getting rather lengthy for a post!

Evey =)

 

[amylynne01]

Thank you for your post! There's so much that goes into this decision, and every time we think we know what we're doing, something else gets thrown our way.

The more I think about it, the more I want BLT to be our home resort. We prefer MK and Epcot over DHS and AK. I have preferred those two for many years, so I don't anticipate that changing unless there are major renovations to DHS or AK. Our kids are young and will probably enjoy MK for a while longer. We took the monorail from MK to the Contemporary to go to CM's on our last trip, and we couldn't believe how quick it was. Much nicer than the 20-25 minutes from AKV!

So now the question is do we rush into buying BLT points before the price increase, buy resale before the changes in March, buy BLT before they sell out, or buy resale when we were planning on buying next year? My husband is implusive and wants to buy a resale before March, but I am much slower at thinking things through and making decisions. What to do...

 

[Sandisw]

Thank you for your post! There's so much that goes into this decision, and every time we think we know what we're doing, something else gets thrown our way.

The more I think about it, the more I want BLT to be our home resort. We prefer MK and Epcot over DHS and AK. I have preferred those two for many years, so I don't anticipate that changing unless there are major renovations to DHS or AK. Our kids are young and will probably enjoy MK for a while longer. We took the monorail from MK to the Contemporary to go to CM's on our last trip, and we couldn't believe how quick it was. Much nicer than the 20-25 minutes from AKV!

So now the question is do we rush into buying BLT points before the price increase, buy resale before the changes in March, buy BLT before they sell out, or buy resale when we were planning on buying next year? My husband is implusive and wants to buy a resale before March, but I am much slower at thinking things through and making decisions. What to do...

Once BLT is "sold out" from Disney, you will still be able to buy it but there is a good chance there will no longer be incentives, which will make the price really high.

If you really want to buy from Disney, then I would consider doing it now. BLT is now available on the resale market and if your first trip is not planned until 2013, then you can be more open to contracts that may not have 2011 UY points.

Resale will save you money, but the financing is not quite as easy as Disney. If you need that aspect, then Disney may be better.

My suggestion is to buy when you are comfortable. If you wait, as BLT has entered the final stages, you will probably forced to go resale as the price for direct will be high.

Good luck!

 

[bradisgoofy]

I'm in agreement with "buy where you want to stay". Most of our points are at BWV, where we stay twice a year, But on our last trip we bought BLT, enough to do two weeks every three years with banking and borrowing.

 

[MrsG]

I absolutely agree with the "buy where you want to stay" advice. I am not sure where you are in your life right now. If children are ever involved, you will be stuck with "school vacation times" which are very high booking times. I am a teacher and love the 11 mo window for our Feb. breaks, Christmas & Easter (spring) breaks and summers. Both of our adult children are also teachers so they are also stuck during high volume times. Remember, it is a 50+ committment and life changes and needs change over that time. If you buy where you want to stay, you won't have to worry too much about availability, if you plan wisely.