Resort Q: Thinking of Resale Buy

[Minnie Priest]

So we're thinking of buying a resale and had a few questions. Apologies if these are answered elsewhere!

1. How hard is it to switch resorts once you've bought? I know about the 7 month switching rule, and I'm sure it's hard at Christmas, etc., but what about March or the summer? Would it be hard to transfer into a different resort? If not, what incentive do I have not not just by at OKW (or whatever is cheapest to buy at the time) and then use my points to go elsewhere?

2. Any insights on the mystery of what will happen when the date for the end of the timeshare comes? This is kind of a mystery right now, yes?

3. I know people have differing opinions on resorts, but what criteria do you use to judge resorts besides location that you think we should know about?

4. Any other random pieces of wisdom we should know?

 

[lovin'fl]

We own OKW and have used them for every east coast DVC resort except for 2 that we haven't tried to use them for yet (PBV and VGF). Busy times (for DVC it's late Sept through New Year's and other holidays and summer can be) are harder and certain resorts (VGF and BCV) and certain room types (AKV club level, OKW 3BR GV...etc) are hard but with flexibility and booking first thing at the 7 month window can help. You'll get to know what's difficult to get and when. If you MUST be at a certain resort EVERY trip, then you should buy there. But if you like the idea of trying out different resorts or doing split stays, then you should go for OKW or SSR for lower buy in. Remember that SSR has a longer contract life left. Another thing to keep in mind is annual maintenance fees, they are different for each resort. SSR is lower than OKW. Nobody knows what will happen when these contracts expire. DVC already tried to sell extensions at OKW and it wasn't well received so they have not tried again. But there has been talk that they might. And there's talk of them adding more DVC to, say, VWL or BCV or BWV and then we all wonder if they will offer extensions with those. I also own BWV and I'd buy an extension if offered, though we did decline it for OKW. Good luck in your research!

 

[coastalhh]

1. How hard is it to switch resorts once you've bought? I know about the 7 month switching rule, and I'm sure it's hard at Christmas, etc., but what about March or the summer? Would it be hard to transfer into a different resort? If not, what incentive do I have not not just by at OKW (or whatever is cheapest to buy at the time) and then use my points to go elsewhere?
Depends. Some times are harder than others. Cheap Points times(like at point charts), major holidays, school holidays and Run Disney Events are hard. Keep in mind Aulani, Vero Beach and Hilton Head more often than not want to trade into Disney world so you are not always guaranteed to be able to find another resort. Usually you can but its getting harder. Buy somewhere you dont mind staying if you cant switch out.

2. Any insights on the mystery of what will happen when the date for the end of the timeshare comes? This is kind of a mystery right now, yes?
Its not a mystery, they will either resell, shut down or demo and rebuild another timeshare/hotel etc.. you only own until the end date and no further. The only mystery is the extended OKW and messed up the language where its possible all owners might have gotten extended on accident. No other resort will have that issue and every other resort will end its ownership on that date. Don't expect to own any longer and if you want to sell someday do it with enough years left so its still worth something. They might offer other extensions but you would have to pay for it

3. I know people have differing opinions on resorts, but what criteria do you use to judge resorts besides location that you think we should know about?
I enjoy animal kingdom because we love looking at the animals and the theme of the resort. We like BLT to be able to walk to Magic Kingdom and BC/BWV to walk to epcot. To us the most important things are Theme, Point Chart and Location. In that order.

4. Any other random pieces of wisdom we should know?
Know what you are getting into- Do you know you will not get housekeeping daily with DVC? DO you know you cant cancel reservations as easily as cash resorts? Can you book 11 and 7 months out every year? Also- Look at the annual fees- nothing is free after you buy in. You are still paying around 100 per night for a studio just in annual fees not even counting your large buy in price. Is that worth it to you when you can get offsite rooms or values for that same price anyway?

 

[lovin'fl]

Just to add something else, we bought in for the separate master bedroom (door between us and kids, yay) of a 1BR or 2BR villa. We almost always book a 1BR or 2BR (family of 5, started with a 1BR when kids were younger and now get a 2BR since they are all teens). We have also grown to love having the washer and dryer. We don't really use the kitchen (except the fridge and coffee maker) but I do like the jetted tub. For us, it has been worth it. And it's unlike other timeshares that lose value, DVC retains it pretty well (in fact we just sold our AKV contract for $14 more pp than we paid for it).

 

[deedeetoo]

We normally travel during the summer and twice we have had to book within the seventh month window because we didn't know our exact dates earlier. Both times we were able to get something, but not our first choice. Just this summer I wanted to book 6 days in a 2BR at VWL (our home resort) but only 6 months out and couldn't get it. But we ended up at AKL in a standard view which actually used less points so we were able to stay for seven days instead. Before booking AKL we also tried to get BCV or BWV but neither were available for the whole week we wanted.

 

[disneynutz]

IMO new buyers should be prepared to make changes to their home resorts after owning for a few years. No matter what you read or what others say, you will have your own favorite resorts/rooms just like you have your own favorite parks and other Disney elements. Until you stay at all of the resorts picking where to buy is a best guess subject to change. Until you experience the ins and outs of DVC ownership, making reservations, dealing with MS issues, availability, you won't know if DVC is for you.

Bill

 

[pmaurer74]

We own OKW and have used them for every east coast DVC resort except for 2 that we haven't tried to use them for yet (PBV and VGF). Busy times (for DVC it's late Sept through New Year's and other holidays and summer can be) are harder and certain resorts (VGF and BCV) and certain room types (AKV club level, OKW 3BR GV...etc) are hard but with flexibility and booking first thing at the 7 month window can help. You'll get to know what's difficult to get and when. If you MUST be at a certain resort EVERY trip, then you should buy there. But if you like the idea of trying out different resorts or doing split stays, then you should go for OKW or SSR for lower buy in. Remember that SSR has a longer contract life left. Another thing to keep in mind is annual maintenance fees, they are different for each resort. SSR is lower than OKW. Nobody knows what will happen when these contracts expire. DVC already tried to sell extensions at OKW and it wasn't well received so they have not tried again. But there has been talk that they might. And there's talk of them adding more DVC to, say, VWL or BCV or BWV and then we all wonder if they will offer extensions with those. I also own BWV and I'd buy an extension if offered, though we did decline it for OKW. Good luck in your research!

What was the extension offer for OKW? I ask because of the likelihood one may be coming for WLV and that is where we are buying. For the right price I would gladly extend our contract 25 more years.

 

[pmaurer74]

I have heard over and over again to buy where you want to stay, it seems the price per point is getting closer on many of the resorts like SSR is not as low as it was a few years ago. We chose WLV because it is "home" to us and we plan to stay a Christmas every other year and you need to own there to stay there at Christmas. Hopefully a resort will feel like home to you. I also am not sure about how easy it will continue to be to get at certain resorts... I am second guessing not buying BCV or BWV because of the changes at HS. WLV will likely be the guinea pig resort in what will happen to existing owners with the new changes to the resort. I am hoping for an option of extending the contract at a reasonable price and not being forced to extend.

 

[CarolMN]

If you haven't already, take a look at the wealth of information in:

http://i235.*************************************InfoCtr/DICHeader.png

It's a STICKY THREAD located at the top of the four main DIS DVC Forums. Click on the Graphic for a direct link to the information.

You be especially interested in the sections pertaining to the Resorts and Using Your Membership. Be sure to read the Historical Availability thread (link under Using Your Membership Section) and pay special attention to the posts in that thread by drusba and crisi.

Good luck with your research.

 

[lovin'fl]

What was the extension offer for OKW? I ask because of the likelihood one may be coming for WLV and that is where we are buying. For the right price I would gladly extend our contract 25 more years.

I want to say it was $15pp if we accepted by certain date. Then, I think, it went up to $25pp. We had to sign/notorize some paperwork (quit claim???) to say we didn't want the extension. Supposedly we now cannot get the extension since we did the quit claim. Don't really want to for OKW anyway but would like it for BWV or maybe even our HHI (if it was closer to the $15pp).

 

[lovin'fl]

IMO new buyers should be prepared to make changes to their home resorts after owning for a few years. No matter what you read or what others say, you will have your own favorite resorts/rooms just like you have your own favorite parks and other Disney elements. Until you stay at all of the resorts picking where to buy is a best guess subject to change. Until you experience the ins and outs of DVC ownership, making reservations, dealing with MS issues, availability, you won't know if DVC is for you.

Bill

And I will also add that preference of home resort changes over time too. We used to hate SSR but now that our kids are 18, 16 and 16 it is really appealing to us. Just like folks with littles might prefer BLT for walking to MK and taking strollers on monorail but then that might change once those kiddos are older.

 

[lovin'fl]

Back on the booking at 7 months out. Yes it is a little harder now then when I became a member (2006). But it's still do-able. AKV is our current favorite resort and we owned 100 points there but found that we could almost always get standard or savannah views at 7 months out. So we just sold them for a profit. OKW is our least fave so we will use those points for AKV, SSR, VWL, BCV or BLT...and we will use our BWV at BWV for F&W and our HHI at HHI in the warmer months. On Sunday, I noticed that member services webpage was down and I realized that exactly 7 months out was the week leading up to Easter Sunday so I figured MS was busy making resies for that week. Once I could get back on the website I looked at that week's availability and most everything was still available (the usual tough to get were partially available like OKW 3BR GV or AKV club level). So if you are right on top of booking at 7 month window, you should have some choices. Now F&W at BCV or BWV, that is tough tough tough and why we added the BWV points. Though last year I booked VWL at 6 months out and I watched the availability tracker and saw BCV open for my dates and I made the switch...it was like 5 months out. You just have to be proactive. And if we have to be at OKW, we are fine with that too.

Another thing that changes over time is when you will vacation. With kids in school we've had to go at busy times and now that our kids are all reaching college age we will adjust our plans again. Starting in 2017, we decided that we'll go in January when they are on break and the DH and I will go alone in the fall for F&W. And we can hit HHI in late May (all of us) or Sept (DH and I). No more super busy times.

 

[Minnie Priest]

Okay, this is all super helpful! We are thinking of doing SSR or BCV (we've stayed in both). The only other one we were thinking of was OKW, but we haven't stayed there. Any preferences and why are all welcome!

 

[lovin'fl]

Our 2 fave resorts are AKV and BCV. We love the AKV resort for all it offers...theme, animals, dining. It's just an awesome resort. BCV is lovely too and the location is really nice. We are a big Epcot family. I find it quaint there too and quiet. We had a 2BR with the 2 queen beds and that was a great set up for our family. Though having the extra bathroom at AKV-Kidani is nice with 3 teens too.

And SSR...we weren't thrilled with it when it opened and stayed there 2 nights after a 3 night stay at the CR. We didn't like all the internal bus stops and felt there was a lack of theme. So we put it on the bottom of our list until last year when I took my mom and twin DDs(15 at the time). We checked in the same day that the new bridge to DtD opened and we were in Congress Park. My DDs love going over to DtD. We booked another stay there this summer, this time with DS-18 and DH (and my inlaws). It was so nice to be close to DtD. If you need some non-park down time, you can hop over for a meal or shopping or even a movie. Busing, well, it still has all those stops. But BCV busing to MK, AK or DtD is kinda stinky too since they stop at other resorts. We don't mind AKV busing as it has no other stops.

And OKW (we own there)....great villa size and layout (love the space and they have the sleeper chair). If you book 'hospitality house' section you will also have great busing, IMO. The HH bus stop goes right out to the parks and on the way in from the parks you can get off at the first stop (Penninsular) and walk to your HH building which isn't far from that stop. parking right at your villa is nice but the outdoor enterence to your villa makes it feel like an apartment anyplace and not some exotic/lush resort. I find the theme a bit boring and dated. And there isn't much to wow us at OKW. It's currently at the bottom of our list. But we are happy to stay at any of them.

We like VWL as well for theme and boat to MK. BWV (we own there) we loved for location and point saving 'standard view' but the busing is terrible from there and we had a recent stay that wasn't the best. BLT was 'meh' for us but only DH and I had a studio for 3 nights. We need to do a family trip there in a 1BR or 2BR...they have the extra bathroom and you can walk to MK. The monorail is a plus for dining but we're not super fans of the monorail for getting places as it can sometimes be overly crowded, have lines, stop on the tracks or be shut down. We haven't tried VGF or PBV yet. We've stayed at VB and HHI and they are both nice but we don't need to go back to VB and we love HHI (we own there).

My current WDW DVC resort order:
1-AKV
2-BCV
3-VWL
4-SSR, BLT, BWV (all kinda equal)
5-OKW