Questions about DVC contract strategies

[Takeitforgranite]

We have been renting points through a broker for the last several years. It has really worked out well for our family of 5. We love the Poly, and I always come back from WDW trying to make sense of the DVC and trying to find a way to make it work for us. I've been crunching numbers and comparing all the different options. I've come to some conclusions, at least.

• Will need around 200 total points per year.
• Can probably only stay at resorts that can sleep 5 in a villa.
• We don't want to buy into anything that has contract that ends in 2042.
• Buying direct is just too far out of reach.

That said, I have some questions.

Would you ever buy into a resort that you prefer not to stay at regularly?

For those that have multiple contracts at multiple resorts, do you typically just use those point at the home resorts, or do you try to combine points for a longer stay inside the 7 month?

How difficult is it to book the Poly inside 7 months, if you are looking at the first 4 travel periods (lowest point groups on the chart)?

Would it be worth to have a small contract at the Poly just to have some security when it comes to booking/transferring and then rely on transfers to cover the rest of points?

 

[kilik64]

Would you ever buy into a resort that you prefer not to stay at regularly?

Yup, own SSR and have stayed there once so far. Would have zero issues staying there again, really liked it, but enjoying trying out different resorts still. That being said, if you are a big poly fan, id buy there vs somewhere else.

How difficult is it to book the Poly inside 7 months, if you are looking at the first 4 travel periods (lowest point groups on the chart)?

This is a difficult question. As of today and in the past, its not super hard to get a longhouse studio. Will that be the case in the future?
Depends on how the tower shakes out. Studios there are only 4 and the 1br is a lot of points, so quite possible that there could be a shift to Poly owners booking the longhouse studios more then they are now. Longhouse is pretty decent sized plus has 1.5 bathrooms which is nice for fitting 5.

Would it be worth to have a small contract at the Poly just to have some security when it comes to booking/transferring and then rely on transfers to cover the rest of points?

Would not be a bad idea if poly is where you are wanting to stay majority of the time.

 

[Tatebeck]

We have been renting points through a broker for the last several years. It has really worked out well for our family of 5. We love the Poly, and I always come back from WDW trying to make sense of the DVC and trying to find a way to make it work for us. I've been crunching numbers and comparing all the different options. I've come to some conclusions, at least.

• Will need around 200 total points per year.
• Can probably only stay at resorts that can sleep 5 in a villa.
• We don't want to buy into anything that has contract that ends in 2042.
• Buying direct is just too far out of reach.

That said, I have some questions.

Would you ever buy into a resort that you prefer not to stay at regularly?

For those that have multiple contracts at multiple resorts, do you typically just use those point at the home resorts, or do you try to combine points for a longer stay inside the 7 month?

How difficult is it to book the Poly inside 7 months, if you are looking at the first 4 travel periods (lowest point groups on the chart)?

Would it be worth to have a small contract at the Poly just to have some security when it comes to booking/transferring and then rely on transfers to cover the rest of points?

If you would be disappointed staying somewhere, I would not buy at that resort. If you want savings, and would not mind at least occasionally being stuck at a slightly cheaper good value resort (likely SSR, CCV, BLT etc. for most people) then it can be worth it. If you do not bring/rent a car I would personally avoid buying SSR and OKW with their larger internal bus loops.

If you want to stay at Poly almost every time I would say buy at Poly. Poly does have a lot of the older studios that sleep 5 though, so it is not the hardest resort to get into a studio at 7 months. Though that may get harder and harder to do as more people buy points at resorts they don't like and try to use them at Poly and the other resorts at 7 months. It is a popular thing to do for the savings, though studios at most resorts are getting harder to book now (especially in popular booking periods) because of this. If you are looking for 1 or 2 bedrooms this has not been as much of an issue so far since those are more expensive rooms and the cheapest rooms typically will book up first.

If you can afford it and want to future-proof your stays I personally would buy at one of the resorts you at least like, and would recommend buying at your favorite (unless there is a good reason not to)

 

[eticketplease]

We have been renting points through a broker for the last several years. It has really worked out well for our family of 5. We love the Poly, and I always come back from WDW trying to make sense of the DVC and trying to find a way to make it work for us. I've been crunching numbers and comparing all the different options. I've come to some conclusions, at least.

• Will need around 200 total points per year.
• Can probably only stay at resorts that can sleep 5 in a villa.
• We don't want to buy into anything that has contract that ends in 2042.
• Buying direct is just too far out of reach.

That said, I have some questions.

Would you ever buy into a resort that you prefer not to stay at regularly?

For those that have multiple contracts at multiple resorts, do you typically just use those point at the home resorts, or do you try to combine points for a longer stay inside the 7 month?

How difficult is it to book the Poly inside 7 months, if you are looking at the first 4 travel periods (lowest point groups on the chart)?

Would it be worth to have a small contract at the Poly just to have some security when it comes to booking/transferring and then rely on transfers to cover the rest of points?

What are you basing the 200 points on?

All resorts can currently sleep 5 but it might require more points to book a 1 or in the case of CCV a 2 bedroom.

 

[VGCgroupie]

As of today yes you can typically stay almost anywhere (not restricted resorts) not just home resort if you are flexible. Will that stay the same as years pass? Nobody knows so I would buy where you would at least be okay staying.

 

[byurick]

Life's too short to spend all that money and be disappointed, just buy at the Poly and be happy.

 

[Takeitforgranite]

What are you basing the 200 points on?

All resorts can currently sleep 5 but it might require more points to book a 1 or in the case of CCV a 2 bedroom.

We typically stay there 9 nights every June or July by renting, and that comes in under 200 points.

We first stayed there because I have 3 daughters, and the two bathroom plan in the studios looked very attractive. It has turned out to be a huge factor. Everyone fell in love with the resort, and nobody wants to stay anywhere else.

We actually tried a split stay this summer by doing 3 night at BCV before moving over to the Poly. The location and pool was nice, but the smaller room and bathroom made us feel cramped.

 

[Takeitforgranite]

Life's too short to spend all that money and be disappointed, just buy at the Poly and be happy.

Makes sense. I just want to cover all the bases and make sure I'm not missing something. It's all pretty complicated, and there are a lot of variables.

 

[Tatebeck]

We typically stay there 9 nights every June or July by renting, and that comes in under 200 points.

We first stayed there because I have 3 daughters, and the two bathroom plan in the studios looked very attractive. It has turned out to be a huge factor. Everyone fell in love with the resort, and nobody wants to stay anywhere else.

We actually tried a split stay this summer by doing 3 night at BCV before moving over to the Poly. The location and pool was nice, but the smaller room and bathroom made us feel cramped.

Oh so you want to stay at the larger-studio-having resorts that hold 5 in the studio like Poly. That will severely limit how many resorts you will be able/will want to stay at. These are the SQ FT of the various studios and how many they hold. Though this list may be old enough (2021 I think) that some have had extra fold beds added and may hold 5 now

Rank	Resort	SQ FT	Capacity	Beds
1	Hilton Head	455	4	1 Queen, 1 Double Sofa
2	Polynesian	447	5	1 Queen, 1 Queen Sofa, 1 Single Pull Down
3	Riviera	423	5	1 Queen, 1 Queen Pull Down, 1 Single Pull Down
4	Old Key West	390	4	2 Queens
5	Grand Californian	379	4	1 Queen, 1 Queen Sofa
6	Grand Floridian	374	5	1 Queen, 1 Queen Sofa, 1 Single Pull Down
7	Animal Kingdom, Kidani	366	4	1 Queen, 1 Double Sofa
8	Animal Kingdom, Jambo	365	4	1 Queen, 1 Double Sofa
9	Vero Beach	360	4	1 Queen, 1 Double Sofa
10	Boardwalk Villas	359	5	1 Queen, 1 Full Sofa, 1 Single Pull Down
11	Beach Club	356	5	1 Queen, 1 Double Sofa, 1 Single Pull Down
12	Boulder Ridge	356	5	1 Queen, 1 Double Sofa, 1 Single Pull Down
13	Aulani	356	4	1 Queen, 1 Queen Sofa
14	Saratoga Springs	355	4	1 Queen, 1 Double Sofa
15	Bay Lake Tower	339	4	1 Queen, 1 Double Sofa
16	Copper Creek	338	4	1 Queen, 1 Queen Sofa
17	Animal Kingdom Value	316	4	1 Queen, 1 Double Sofa
18	Riviera Tower	255	2	1 Queen Pull Down

I would 100% recommend buying at a resort like that then. Most likely Poly. Poly is one of only a few resorts with larger studios that also hold 5. Some are limited to 4 (CCV,SSR) or will probably be too small for your liking (BLT, BWV, BCV, and others).

Your best options would be Poly, VGF, or Riviera. And Riviera points would be restricted if you bought there resale

 

[cruisehopeful]

Would you ever buy into a resort that you prefer not to stay at regularly?

For me, no, but lots of other people do and it works well for them. Being flexible is key. Do NOT buy at a resort that you don't want to stay at. Generally speaking, you'll book your home resort and then wait list for whatever resort you really want to stay at or stalk the website and try to book it at 7 months or less (sometimes you can snag a room that someone cancels).

For those that have multiple contracts at multiple resorts, do you typically just use those point at the home resorts, or do you try to combine points for a longer stay inside the 7 month?

Generally, I book where I bought, even if it's only a few months out.

Would it be worth to have a small contract at the Poly just to have some security when it comes to booking/transferring and then rely on transfers to cover the rest of points?

The problem with relying on transfers of points is that it's against the DVC rules to accept money for a transfer. While plenty of people advertise that they will transfer their points for money, they are breaking the rules and while they haven't been caught, it doesn't mean that they won't.

Based on what you have posted so far, it seems like it would be in your best interest to buy Polynesian. If you are going to buy 200 points, the difference in price between direct (after all discounts and incentives are applied) might not be super far off of buying resale. It's something you'll need to crunch numbers on.

 

[Takeitforgranite]

I was curious about this. We enjoy the layout and theming of the old longhouses and have no desire to stay in the tower. But, I would think most people would prefer the newness of the tower, at least for a while.

Will that lead to more availability in the longhouses? They never seem near capacity, anyway. We rarely meet anyone in the halls or hear any commotion.

Depends on how the tower shakes out. Studios there are only 4 and the 1br is a lot of points, so quite possible that there could be a shift to Poly owners booking the longhouse studios more then they are now. Longhouse is pretty decent sized plus has 1.5 bathrooms which is nice for fitting 5.

 

[Tatebeck]

I was curious about this. We enjoy the layout and theming of the old longhouses and have no desire to stay in the tower. But, I would think most people would prefer the newness of the tower, at least for a while.

Will that lead to more availability in the longhouses? They never seem near capacity, anyway. We rarely meet anyone in the halls or hear any commotion.

The tower will be popular for a while, yes. And that may increase availability at the longhouses. Which means they will be available for longer into the 11 month booking period and more likely to be available at the 7 month period.

But in general DVC operates at a near 100% capacity so there are rarely ANY empty rooms that went unbooked. There may be some unbooked hotel rooms though. They may just be so large and spread out that it seems like they aren't busy. Also most guests will be at the pool, lobby, restaurants, parks, etc. and not near their rooms.

Based on how few rooms meet your specifications, I would not buy at a cheaper resort and try to get into Poly/VGF at 7 months. I would buy Poly or VGF, and occasionally try to book the other one when I wanted or when it was available. You could also buy Riviera resale, but then you could only stay at Riviera

 

[eticketplease]

Will that lead to more availability in the longhouses? They never seem near capacity, anyway. We rarely meet anyone in the halls or hear any commotion.

I think it will lead to less availability.

Poly was a studio or bungalow resort with the bungalows taking a tremendous amount of space while the studios are large most of the space is taken up by the room with the extra vanity and shower (Yes it is a room but not an extra bathroom!!)

When families grew they would trade out to the other resorts for larger accommodations freeing up the longhouses. Now with the tower selling a lot of points will be for the first time owner that wants to stay in studios. The tower studios are not all declared yet which means they can’t be booked with points. So these new PVB owners will instead start booking the longhouses as they cost the same as the studios in the tower and will discover the opinion that a lot of share being that the longhouses are the better studio at the Poly.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Poly longhouse studios usually have availability within 7 months for much of the slower seasons. You should most likely be fine buying at, say SS or AKL, and still getting to stay at Poly. Lots of people visit WDW regularly and have never even stayed at their “sleep around points” home resort. That being said, even the less popular/higher value resorts, like SS, OKW, AKL, are lovely and have their good points. But if it would ruin your vacation if worst case scenario happens and you have to stay there, don’t buy there.

 

[Tatebeck]

Poly longhouse studios usually have availability within 7 months for much of the slower seasons. You should most likely be fine buying at, say SS or AKL, and still getting to stay at Poly. Lots of people visit WDW regularly and have never even stayed at their “sleep around points” home resort. That being said, even the less popular/higher value resorts, like SS, OKW, AKL, are lovely and have their good points. But if it would ruin your vacation if worst case scenario happens and you have to stay there, don’t buy there.

Considering SSR, OKW, and AKL only hold 4 in a studio, I think having to leave one of the kids at home may indeed ruin the vacation in the worst case scenario

 

[muppets3d]

I think most people here would recommend buying where you want to stay - that said, there are a lot of people who own at Saratoga and have never stayed there, or rarely stay there - as evidenced by how much last-minute availability that resort often has.

 

[eticketplease]

I am also in the camp that you should just buy Poly so you can guarantee getting the standard/resort view at 11 months out. I would however buy a few more points if possible as you may grow tired of the studio faster than you imagine.

7/3/26 to 7/12/26 is 192 points.
1 bedrooms at OKW is 250 and AKL Kidani (that actually has 2 real bathrooms) is 255 for standard view. Of course you could just go 2 days less and be under 200 then

 

[kilik64]

Considering SSR, OKW, and AKL only hold 4 in a studio, I think having to leave one of the kids at home may indeed ruin the vacation in the worst case scenario

Well 200 points gets you a week in a 1br at SSR so as a fallback, that would work so they wouldnt have to leave a kid at home.

From what you have said, I'd either buy poly resale or direct. The direct is more, and if direct bennies will benefit you, might be the route to go. Resale poly is gonna set you back around $160 per point, not sure what you can get 200 points for direct with incentives right now, but lets say thats $210, so about a $10k difference. $10k gets you access with those points to all resorts and all future resorts, which is the main direct benefit. If you don't care and will mostly always opt for poly, resale can save you money and still lets you in the o14 resorts, just not Riviera, CFW, VDH, and LSL that's coming and whatever is built after that.

Another big plus that is probably in your favor is poly has a longer contract still, 2066 so still a long time for it to run vs other resorts that also sleep 5 well like BRV which ends in 2042.

 

[kilik64]

I think most people here would recommend buying where you want to stay - that said, there are a lot of people who own at Saratoga and have never stayed there, or rarely stay there - as evidenced by how much last-minute availability that resort often has.

Hi, it's me!

I don't care a lot about where we stay as long as its never Boardwalk again. It's all WDW bubble in the end though!

 

[eticketplease]

Well 200 points gets you a week in a 1br at SSR so as a fallback, that would work so they wouldnt have to leave a kid at home.

From what you have said, I'd either buy poly resale or direct. The direct is more, and if direct bennies will benefit you, might be the route to go. Resale poly is gonna set you back around $160 per point, not sure what you can get 200 points for direct with incentives right now, but lets say thats $210, so about a $10k difference. $10k gets you access with those points to all resorts and all future resorts, which is the main direct benefit. If you don't care and will mostly always opt for poly, resale can save you money and still lets you in the o14 resorts, just not Riviera, CFW, VDH, and LSL that's coming and whatever is built after that.

Another big plus that is probably in your favor is poly has a longer contract still, 2066 so still a long time for it to run vs other resorts that also sleep 5 well like BRV which ends in 2042.

If it’s just $10k I would certainly go direct. You’d have those benefits for the life of the contract as you pointed out is a long time so a new resort that you possibly like could come along that you wouldn’t be able to stay there on resale points.