Resale and Direct/Baylake and Boardwalk

[Toothmomma]

Thank you DISboards! Love your content and all your dvc shows! I am thinking about joining DVC and feel much better informed thanks to you.

We are thinking about buying DVC and would like about 200 points. I was thinking of buying 100 direct from Disney and the rest resale. We like Bay Lake Tower (have stayed there) but love Epcot and so are considering Boardwalk (never stayed there). Does it make sense to buy 100 at one resort and 100 at the other with the same use year or buy them all at one resort? I think the least expensive option would be to buy the Boardwalk points direct and the BLT points resale but I don't completely comprehend the booking system and what that might look like if I needed to use points from both contracts. Help! Very confused

 

[Sandisw]

If you buy 100 at one and 100 at the other, you will be able to book each home resort at 11 months using just those points. So, 100 points to use at BLT and 100 points to use at BWV..or use banking/borrowing to get more.

At 7 months, you can combine the points to book any resort. Owning both resorts gives you home resort advantage at both, but less points to use at 11 months without borrowing.banking.

If you own 200 points at the same resort...then you have only one resort you can book at 11 months, but will have 200 points to use without needing to bank or borrow,

Some people own two resorts so they can use them for specific trips or split stays. It is just a matter of preference.

If you want to do a mix of direct and resale, then BWV is cheaper than BLT. The one drawback is that once you buy direct and have a UY, you will need to find a resale contract with the same UY or it will be a completely different membership...then you cant combine points at 7 months without a transfer,,

Be aware that the points are going up starting next week through Disney. And, they may not even have the points at either one of those resorts to sell you direct right now at current prices.

 

[Marionnette]

Thank you DISboards! Love your content and all your dvc shows! I am thinking about joining DVC and feel much better informed thanks to you.

We are thinking about buying DVC and would like about 200 points. I was thinking of buying 100 direct from Disney and the rest resale. We like Bay Lake Tower (have stayed there) but love Epcot and so are considering Boardwalk (never stayed there). Does it make sense to buy 100 at one resort and 100 at the other with the same use year or buy them all at one resort? I think the least expensive option would be to buy the Boardwalk points direct and the BLT points resale but I don't completely comprehend the booking system and what that might look like if I needed to use points from both contracts. Help! Very confused

If I were buying direct points at one and resale at the other, I would choose to pay a little more for direct BLT points. It has a longer contract life than BWV. This would give you direct benefits longer and you would still have points that can be used at future resorts when the BWV contract expires in 2042.

 

[Toothmomma]

I didn’t know the points were going up next week. I’m taking a tour and meeting with a guide on 11/5. Good point about getting the direct contract at BLT due to later expiration date... I don’t want to feel rushed into this decision but it’s very frustrating 1. I don’t want to buy at Riviera due to resale restrictions 2. Number of direct points to gain benefits increased to 100 just a few months ago and 3. Price of direct points going up next week.

 

[kboo]

Agree with the others here on the strategy. We love BLT and BWV and when we first bought in, were looking at either one. I was just going to buy the first BLT or BWV contract that made sense at my internal price point, which at the time (not that long ago) was <$107pp for BLT or <$95pp for BWV. Our first successful contract turned out to be BLT, and BWV prices creeped up before we were ready to pull the trigger (and then I realized that every BWV 2br was a lock-off).

If you buy 100 points at each, you can either use them at 11 months to book split stays (we are a big fan of those), or you can bank/borrow to use them in alternate years. If you always plan to use in alternate years, then having both contracts the same UY isn't such a big deal (we have 2 UY across 3 home resorts now).

For example:
Year 1: 100 banked + 100 current UY BWV = 200 BWV points; bank any BLT points
Year 2: 100 banked + 100 current BLT; bank current year's BWV points

and so on.

We have found that we end up doing more split stays rather than 1 long stay - this December it'll be 7 nights VGF and 3 nights RIV; Next year it will be 5+5, VGF and RIV. (and we will be banking any BLT points we have left, which isn't many ...)

 

[Toothmomma]

Wow! Super helpful. I knew there were multiple ways to use DVC points but never having been a member couldn’t wrap my head around how it could work. I’m meeting with a DVC guide on 11/5 when I’m there for a week with my youngest. We usually rent points but I had to book direct which is what prompted my interest in DVC.

 

[jerseyduke]

Agreed, 100 at each!

Just remember BLT points are just that - BLT points. ONLY those points can book at BLT outside of 7 months. You can not combine 100 BW points and 100 BLT points and use all 200 at BLT at 11 months. You have to bank or borrow BLT points to use 200 at 11 months.

Bank/borrow and alternate years as pointed out.

 

[bashuck]

If you are usually booking studios I'd suggest the 100 at each. If you are usually going to be booking 2 bedrooms I'd think you would want all the points at the same resort unless fine with split stays (which we like anyway).

 

[Lumpy1106]

OK - just going to ask a hypothetical - no interest in doing this myself. Could you bank & borrow 200 BLT points, then cancel 100 points worth at 7 months, then immediately book with 100 BWV points (or SSR, or whatever)? I kinda hope the answer is no. That's a little too much like walking reservations IMHO. In perusing the DIS boards it doesn't look like the wait list immediately snags the open reservation though - it's much more common that people are getting the reservations by consistently stalking.

 

[jerseyduke]

OK - just going to ask a hypothetical - no interest in doing this myself. Could you bank & borrow 200 BLT points, then cancel 100 points worth at 7 months, then immediately book with 100 BWV points (or SSR, or whatever)? I kinda hope the answer is no. That's a little too much like walking reservations IMHO. In perusing the DIS boards it doesn't look like the wait list immediately snags the open reservation though - it's much more common that people are getting the reservations by consistently stalking.

The wait list does not snag it immediately, but someone else could!
And at the 7 month opening bell, that's high activity, so it might be kind of likely.

Also remember, banking and borrowing transactions are final.

So lets say you do a split stay use 100 current points for the first 4 days, then 100 borrowed points for the last 4 days of an 8 day trip.
you try to sway out the first 4 days with non home resorts points - it doesnt work, so you try the second 4 days 4 days later. Now you have borrowed points that arent being used, you have to call MS and try to get those switched.

What you are asking is possible, but, depending on resort/room type/time of year, it could be very risky, eventually you would probably get burned.

ETA:
What I have thought of doing that is similar is using all current points for an 8 day stay, then at 7 months trying to book something else(for a split stay) with SAPs. If it fails, no harm. If it is successful then alter my original stay and bank the current points.

 

[Toothmomma]

We come from Ohio and usually stay for 1 week at a time. I like to unpack and move in so I'm not sure a split stay is right for us. It sounds like you folks are recommending 100 direct from Disney at BLT and 100 resale at BWV. I was leaning towards getting all 200 at BLT (half direct/half resale) but now I'm confused again. How much does use year matter? I know I want both contracts the same but does it matter if they're March or August or December?

 

[Sandisw]

Canceled rooms do not always show up on the website before being matched for a wait list.

Yes, there are times people have said they did but we have no way of knowing in every instance if it is because of no wait list is in existence or if it’s a glitch sometimes.
I definitely had luck getting things I had a waitlist for so I know something happens.

But I would never cancel a room banking on this happening to change out points, unless I was okay losing it and booking something else.

Certain times of the year, there won’t even be anything to snag if you lose it.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Jerseyduke - that makes sense. I have to say I'm opposed to anyone monkeying with the reservation system. After all, why give Disney any reason to further impose any sort of restrictions on what we have?

To the OP -
I'd stick with the tried-and-true buy where you want to stay. If you want to alternate BLT and BWV, then split up your purchase and bank-and-borrow. I'd stick with the same use year on both just because it gets confusing keeping track of multiple use years. Buy resale unless you really can't live without the direct perks.

 

[CraigInPA]

The choice of use year is important if you ever have to cancel. You want to have a use year that matches when you go. That affords you the opportunity to have the most flexibility to re-book a trip if you can't go when you normally travel, or bank the points.

Let me give you an extreme example. I have a September use year. I regularly travel in August. So, for my August 2019 trip, I'm using points which can be used between September 1, 2018 and August 31, 2019. If I have to cancel the trip in July (more than 30 days before it's scheduled), I am past the banking deadline. I also only have until August 31, 2019 to use the points. So, it is likely I would lose all the points for this booking.