Small Add On, Different Home Resorts - What's the benefit?

[Cruisin Spartan]

I've been a DVC owner for just shy of a year now. Not that it matters, but I own at Poly. Like any responsible buyer, I did a lot of research and understood the majority of the ins and outs of DVC ahead of time. The one thing that I'm still not sure on is buying a small add on. I see people mentioning it here fairly frequently, and I want to know where the benefit is, outside of just having more points available at the 7 month window. For example, we currently own 150 PVB points. We are thinking of purchasing either more Poly Points, or some points at another resort. My question is, other than the obvious price difference, what would be the advantage to buying say another 25 or 50 points at another resort versus buying more at Poly? 25 or even 50 points isn't enough to really get you more than 2-4 nights in most DVC resorts for most times that we can travel. Since we have to fly in, We prefer something more like 5-7 nights as a minimum stay whenever possible as multiple trips require paying for flights multiple times. So, even home resort booking is minimized on an every year basis if we want to go to our second resort for more than a few days. Ultimately, at least for my scenario, it seems like it is more advantageous just to add more Poly points (more Poly nights) for now. All points are equal at 7 months out, so if I am looking at longer stays at other resorts, it really doesn't matter which resort the points originated at, correct? Am I missing something in my assessment?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Most people buying small add-ons are doing it because they are post 4/16 resale purchasers, and the small add-on gets them a blue member card.

That said, a small add-on at another resort can be banked/borrowed to get home resort at that other resort for split stays or long weekends in alternating years. Not everyone flies to Disney. A lot of people live 6 hours away and can do the long weekend thing, and enjoy getting an AP Gold too.

 

[Cruisin Spartan]

Most people buying small add-ons are doing it because they are post 4/16 resale purchasers, and the small add-on gets them a blue member card.

That said, a small add-on at another resort can be banked/borrowed to get home resort at that other resort for split stays or long weekends in alternating years. Not everyone flies to Disney. A lot of people live 6 hours away and can do the long weekend thing, and enjoy getting an AP Gold too.

That's pretty much exactly what I thought the case was. I knew it made sense as a way to get the blue card. Banking and borrowing for trips in alternating years was also the only way that I could figure made much sense for a small contract at a different resort. I definitely get that long weekend type trips work well for the many owners that can drive in. I was mainly trying to figure out how it would work for my family since we do have to either fly or take a long 18+hr drive.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We probably should have bought 50, but we do only have 40 at VGF. This gets us 2-4 nights in a studio in December every 2-3 years. We have done that twice so far, we have other points and our post Thanksgiving stays are usually 10 days, the rest of days usually at an Epcot resort. We tend to stick close to GF during those stays, we really enjoy their decorations and entertainment. In the non GF years, we mostly stay at VWL, also especially beautiful that time of the year!

 

[CarolMN]

Given your vacation pattern, unless you are a fan of split stays, buying more at Poly makes the most sense to me. For example, maybe you would like a few nights at BCV at the beginning or end of your annual trip. Or perhaps you would be happy with an every other year stay of about 100 points there. Then you'd use the Poly points every other year for longer stays (either at the Poly or for a 7 month booking) and stay at the BCV/add-on resort on the off years for a shorter number of nights.

Otherwise, buying more at the Poly seems like the better way to go. FWIW, the Poly points are expensive and using them elsewhere may not give you the best value - but you'd have to weigh that against a desire for variety, larger accommodation and/or a potentially longer stay (other resorts may cost fewer points per night).

Good luck with your decision.

 

[DVCBillyJoeBob]

We own at AKV and are considering a small direct add on at BWV or BC to use for 11 month priority for F&W. Would love to be able to stay at one of the Epcot DVC resorts for the festival. Very hard to get at 7 months.

 

[DisneyKeepsUsYoung]

We live far away so don't go frequently either but are considering a small add on for a Dec stay every 2-3 years somewhere. First 2 weeks of Dec needs home booking window due to popularity so I need to own where I want to stay if I want to travel then. We currently own SSR which I love but it isn't what I want for a Christmas season trip.

 

[supersnoop]

A 25 point contract at BWV could give you 5 weekday nights during food & wine every other year.

 

[jerseyduke]

You paid a premium for Poly points. You paid that premium for the "home court advantage" when it comes to booking. Certainly enjoy other resorts when you desire, but I would not buy more poly points for the purpose of using them at 7 months.

Buying a small add on at another resort would make sense if you wanted to do a split stay every year or every other year (depending on how many points you buy).
Buying more points for "7 month points" would mean buy points at SSR.
Buying more points at the poly would make sense if you wanted to use them at the poly (otherwise you are just over paying for points)

 

[CarolMN]

A 25 point contract at BWV could give you 5 weekday nights during food & wine every other year.

Only if you are fortunate enough to get a standard view studio. Those are disappearing very quickly as soon as the 11 month window opens - many are even walking those reservations.

Better to plan on buying enough points to book a preferred view studio or a standard view 1 bedroom. During F&W season, you'd need 75 points to book 5 weeknights in a preferred view studio (a 38 point contract for an every other year stay) or 100 points to book 5 weeknights in a standard view 1 bedroom (a 50 point contact for an every other year stay).

 

[Cruisin Spartan]

You paid a premium for Poly points. You paid that premium for the "home court advantage" when it comes to booking. Certainly enjoy other resorts when you desire, but I would not buy more poly points for the purpose of using them at 7 months.

Buying a small add on at another resort would make sense if you wanted to do a split stay every year or every other year (depending on how many points you buy).
Buying more points for "7 month points" would mean buy points at SSR.
Buying more points at the poly would make sense if you wanted to use them at the poly (otherwise you are just over paying for points)

This is just what I thought.

If we did go the route of buying additional Poly points, it would be with the intention of combining with our current Poly points for longer stays at Poly the majority of the time. We're not really interested in the split stays yet either. Maybe once we've gotten a few DVC stays under our belt.

If we were to buy elsewhere, it wouldn't be for "7 month points" as you put it, but if that WAS the case you can bet that they would be SSR. Adding on anywhere else would likely be at an Epcot area resort like BWV or BCV for F&W 11 month priority (and Star Wars Land access when that comes along). As @CarolMN pointed out, to be safe, we would need to buy enough for a higher point cost room. Since we're talking around 25-50 points, I'm not sure that would work for us. At least not for an every year trip.

 

[Varina]

Most people buying small add-ons are doing it because they are post 4/16 resale purchasers, and the small add-on gets them a blue member card.

That said, a small add-on at another resort can be banked/borrowed to get home resort at that other resort for split stays or long weekends in alternating years. Not everyone flies to Disney. A lot of people live 6 hours away and can do the long weekend thing, and enjoy getting an AP Gold too.

That's exactly what we plan to do! We're buying a resale SRS and then once we close we will buy a small add on package at a different resort. I'm glad to know our sales rep wasn't lying that this is a pretty common occurrence after 4/16.

 

[johnsgrl]

We bought enough points at AKV for either a 1 bedroom value for a week or two weeks in a studio in the fall, but also wanted home resort advantage at an EPCOT resort for food and wine trips. We have decided most years we will go once a year, so will alternate using 320 points (160 banked and 160 current) at AKV to get a 2 bed and bring family, or have a longer stay and 100 (50 banked and 50 current) at BWV for Food and Wine. Some years we will go twice ( at least) a year and use most of the points at both.
We opted for two different resorts for the home resort priority and the ability to go at least once annually while getting home resort advantage at two different places.
We do live close enough to drive, so that isn't a big issue for us. If your goal is a longer stay at your home resort I would buy any add on points there, and if you are looking for home resort advantage to do something similar to what we are doing, then an add on at a different resort makes sense.