SSR (value-newer) vs. BWV (love, but older and costly)? Help please.

[work2play]

The best strategy is to figure out how to stay at BLT with SSR points! If I was confident that over the longer run you could always get the BLT you wanted at the 7 month window, I would have purchased SSR!

 

[Misty89]

The best strategy is to figure out how to stay at BLT with SSR points! If I was confident that over the longer run you could always get the BLT you wanted at the 7 month window, I would have purchased SSR!

I will have to look into that

 

[mickeymom923]

I just booked BWV and spoke to someone that stayed there last year. They said the rooms were run down, disgusting, and needed to be renovated. Has anyone else had this problem? What is the condition of BWV now?

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

had to comment.
I have a list of my top resorts ( we are buying next year, knock on wood)
and my number 1 ( if you could not tell by the siggy ) is BLT
I adore the CR, and as a family, we visit the MK the most. I have SSR on my list for the very reason alot of people do.......low resale. well, and the fact it's close to DTD ( our other major hangout) I have never been in any resort besides CR and BW so i do have BWV as my number 3, again for it's location to Epcot. ( And because i know we liked the resort)
I am trying to base my final decsion on where to buy on "where" we want to be, instead of low MF's. imho, those are going to be constantly going up, it's a fact of life.
If we bought at SSR it would only be for the reason above, it is cheaper. not sure if thats a reason to buy there.
We have two DD's 17 and 10, and DH and I are in our late 30's (DH 38 and I am 36- yes, we had children young)
so DH and I, ( or my sister and i when DH does not want to go) will be using the majority of the Years, as adult trips. ( if we had a contract w/ 30 years on it)
so if you asked me 'If i could only stay at one resort for the next 35 years, which would it be?" Hands down i would have to Answer BLT.
IMHO i think question is the best way to figure out where you buy eveyone has a dream resort at WDW


Tina

I'm not being snarky. What were you asking about my previous comment? I don't understand. We love Boardwalk, and have considered BLT too. There was no BLT when we bought. We have stayed at the Contemporary twice and loved it. Right now the buy-in price is just too steep for our blood. I know people say buy where you want to stay, but there is a limit on that moneywise.

I just booked BWV and spoke to someone that stayed there last year. They said the rooms were run down, disgusting, and needed to be renovated. Has anyone else had this problem? What is the condition of BWV now?

Our rooms were a little run down in April 07 when we had a 2 bdrm with my sisters. (Murphy's Law). We had 2 different studios in January 08 and they were both pristine and newly renovated.

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

We faced the same decision. BW or SSR -- 39 year contact or 50 year contract, $92 a point for BW or $83 for SSR.

The BW won hands down!!!!!!

It is great for kids !! Its Great for parents too!!! But the best of all is that it is within walking distance to 2 parks. Think of having only a 5 minute boat ride (with pretty much no wait) after you watch illuminations. Or would you rather trek through Epcots future world, wait and wait for a bus and then stand and fall all over people on the bus and then walk to your room from there? Same with DHS. If you so choose you can walk to and from or take the relaxing boat home. Since the BW is the last stop on the boat from DHS we ususally get off at the Swan/dolphin stop and walk from there (10 minutes max- from getting on the boat at DHS til we are in our room) However, there is so much happening on the BW that its like going to another park. There is entertainers on the BW, hairwrapping stations, ice cream shoppes, surrey bike rentals, etc that you don't want to go to your room as its so much fun on the BW. Also, you can watch illuminations from the Boardwalk. Another nice thing about the BW is that they have 2 rooms prices-- standard or preferred/boardwalk view rooms. If you need to conserve points you can stay in a standard view room or if you want to splurge you can stay in a boardwalk view room guaranteed. So in retrospect, if you stay in standard view rooms all the time you need less points.

I just love the BW. I feel SSR is too far from the magic. I have never actually stayed at SSR, but I did stay at that location many times when it was the Disney Institute and the Fairway villas back in the 80's. SSR looks very nice but the location is what sells me. I hate the hassle of waiting for the buses and then getting on a very crowded bus, when you are so exhausted from touring the parks everyday. (I still have to do that with the AK-- and only one more trip with the MK (as we bought BLT for the prime location too).

 

[Cmbar]

I'm not being snarky. What were you asking about my previous comment? I don't understand.

I think she was just answering your question in the post.... "If you could stay at one resort for the next 35 years..." Not specifically to you, just commenting on answering that question, which is a very good question when trying to decide where to buy!

 

[ABE4DISNEY]

Thanks for all the warm wishes, cheerleading, and pixie dust! I'm beginning to get very excited!
We first were only interested in the value aspect--although I think SSR is beautiful and new-what really attracted us were the number of resale points you could get there for the price. But what eventually made us change to BWV was the location. We went down about 30 points from what we could purchase at SSR, but I think we will be fine with the lesser amount. BLT looks awesome with the MK view and fireworks, but I thought how wonderful to be able to view the Illuminations at Epcot as well on a lesser budget. That was our line of thinking. And again, I do agree that there is probably not a bad choice in the group--I'm actually looking forward to trying them all out!!
Abe

 

[dznymom1]

ABE, I think you used sound reasoning and made a great choice! More pixie dust that everything goes through for you

I actually first bought at OKW when DS17 was an infant, so he has grown up at all of the resorts. (How time flies... ) He is off to college in September, so my trips will be grown up trips until the grandbabies start coming FWIW, my favorite 2 resorts are BWV & SSV, but my kids favorite was always BWV. As kids they loved the pool area and the Halloween parties along with all the Boardwalk entertainment. As teens they had more freedom at BWV because of the resort layout and proximity to EPCOT & The Studios. And for the grownups (ME), you can't beat the BWV for proximity to my favorite Food & Wine Festival and the availability of dining at Y&BC and the Swolphin. I often plan short notice trips, and those are usually at SSV, so you will surely have many opportunities to stay there in the future.

 

[hakepb]

The best strategy is to figure out how to stay at BLT with SSR points! If I was confident that over the longer run you could always get the BLT you wanted at the 7 month window, I would have purchased SSR!

I wonder how that math would work out in the long run? BLT has cheaper yearly dues because BLT rooms take more points (basically the same fees per room per night as SSR on SSR points)

I'm of the opposite thought, if you could use BLT points to stay anywhere but BLT, you might be cheaper in the long run (although the really low resale prices now are rather convincing)

 

[r3ngels]

WE love BWV... That feels like home to me.

I love others but I love hanging out at the boardwalk watching the entertainment.

I agree... food is a slight issue but not enough for me not to choose it.

Very kid friendly IMHO the kids love the pool, we love being able to walk to DHS and Epcot (especially at night when everyone is waiting for the buses).
The boardwalk is great for kids... we have been there for Halloween and Christmas and they love the activties... Radio Disney was even there once when we were there and they had a great party for the kids.

I was going back and forth with my head and heart my heart won and I don't regret it at all....

Good Luck!

 

[mikron]

We own SSR & OKW, buy into DVC cheaper then BWV and stay at BWV. Only fly you get 7 months to book BWV over 11 months if you own BWV.

 

[crisi]

I just booked BWV and spoke to someone that stayed there last year. They said the rooms were run down, disgusting, and needed to be renovated. Has anyone else had this problem? What is the condition of BWV now?

We had two two bedrooms in October 2008, and both were in great shape. Possibly the worst room we've had was in 2004 or thereabouts, and that was acceptable, just a little worn.

BUT, DVC is a timeshare and operates on timeshare budgets and timeshare renovation schedules - which means that at each resort over the life of the resort there will be rooms newly refurbished and room that are next on the refurbishment cycle - and that refurbishment cycle tends to be a little frugal - good for member dues, but the rooms look a little worn before they get refurbs. It was BCVs turn a few years ago to get a lot of "the rooms are disgusting" posts - its now BWV, and ten years from now BLT will have rooms in need of refurb. You are buying for the long term.

 

[chainkid]

I've stayed at Saratoga many times because on short notice I cannot usually get a room at BWV where I own. The resort is very nice and I enjoyed it for a quiet weekend get away. I would not want to own there as the BWV have much more excitement value to me. I love the boardwalk view especially at night, I love the romantic walk back from Epcot after the fireworks. sitting on the beach by the beachclub. I love the vast array of restaurants open at the Epcot hotels and Epcot itself. We have a huge family and all the generations can come and go without having to feel trapped in a location. I don't do busses if i can help it. I like walking. downtown disney does nothing for me so to walk there has zero appeal. I use valet parking and bell services if I have to lift anything heavier than my laptop . Our family has never had a truly bad room in the 11 years I have owned except for a hot water problem during one stay. Some units are newer than others and saratoga definitely has more upscale furnishings and is newer but it isn't enough of a wow factor to make up the difference in location. BLT will be my next favorite because of the location and view. I like Beach club but because the views are not good, I rather have BWV for same location. I'm not impressed by Pools.

 

[MissMet]

I was in almost (no kids here) the exact situation you are in & decided to buy SSR, mainly for the financing DVC offers. I now regret the decision of not going with BWV, my fav resort, daily!

Go with the resort you want to stay in...SSR almost always has availability at the 7 month window, BWV on the other hand can be harder to get into, especially in the fall.

 

[littlestar]

I used to own BWV and sold them. I thought it was getting kind of tired looking and I wanted the extra years. It's also pretty busy over in that area and the older I get, the more I want calm.

SSR grew on me. We bought some SSR points after a stay in the new Grandstand section and that's when we decided to sell our BWV points. I love the Victorian feel and the peacefulness at SSR. And the extra years was a big factor, too. We just recently added on another 100 at SSR resale.

Resale, I think it's the best value in DVC right now.