Tell me your favorite 2 bedroom resort and why!

[MartyParty]

Welcome to Team Villa…. we are happy to have you.

Yes Team Villa! We’re in that camp as well. Too funny. Now that I think about it, we usually try for available Villa first and resort second. Good one Astro!

 

[MartyParty]

We're about to close on a small BWV contract, b/c I thought we could do 5 nights on the cheap in a studio and then add on for another studio. Which we still might do, but I think I want a kitchen. I see what you're saying about the no LR sleeping, that would work for now, our kids are 11m, 8f, 5m. I'm sure in a few short years our daughter will not want to sleep in the room with her brothers.

We walked through BWV on Sunday and liked the lobby, but there's nothing else inside the resort aside from the coffee shop, correct? We'll have 50 pts to use there by end of January, so we'll have to try it out and see if we like it as well as BCV.

AKV is too isolated for us, I don't want to bus everywhere, and I've never been a fan of the non themed BLT. I'm nearly 100%that our MK resort will be CCV one day.

Post BLT refurb you might feel differently. But we love BLT as is. Part of the lack of theming keeps folks away leaving lots of availability. And we’re not good at planning our stays 11 months out.

 

[Jrobo]

As others have said buy where you want. If my Wife didn't despise the bus situation at OKW then we'd stay there much more often. Great price point and availability. And the space, oh man I will never forget our first stay in a one bedroom there! For a longer stay I love it.
As far as location BWV can't be beat especially for what you are looking at, however the lock off situation ruins it for me for some reason. I am partial to BW over BC due to price point and I just like the set up a bit better.
Good luck with your decision!

 

[jolynne28]

Don’t make any decision based on the contract ending in 18 years… unless being too short is the issue. If you buy a longer contract and want to be done in 18 years you just sell it. lol
People always throw it in the mix that the contract ending sooner is plus for them when in reality that’s never going to be an issue. Just sell it… it’s DVC not Marriot, you just sell it.

I think it depends on where you buy though. SSR and OKW aren't as easy to sell b/c there are so many out there. So if I decide to go all in on SAP, it could be a lot harder to unload those points later if we decide to be done b/c those resorts aren't as desirable.

 

[jolynne28]

I think first week of June is definitely difficult, but two bedrooms at BCV are certainly not impossible to book at 7 months. Heck, I was able to book 5 nights the week after July 4th a couple weeks ago with my OKW points (of course, it’s July and there’s no festivals going on at Epcot, but still if you are willing to be date flexible, there’s rooms to be had).

I had to do a lot of stalking to get the 5 consecutive days I got, and it was 3 different resorts. Granted, I only started planning that trip in early May, so I don't have experience at the 7 month mark yet. I will say that the parks weren't as crowded last week as other times we've been. No Epcot festival was nice, and LL didn't seem to be drastically impacting wait times. The longest line we waited in was MMRR at 40 mins, we walked on a lot of things, including RoR. Others were less than 20 minutes. All that to say, since a lot of schools still aren't out that week, it should be one of the easier summer weeks to get at 7 months.

 

[jolynne28]

As others have said buy where you want. If my Wife didn't despise the bus situation at OKW then we'd stay there much more often. Great price point and availability. And the space, oh man I will never forget our first stay in a one bedroom there! For a longer stay I love it.
As far as location BWV can't be beat especially for what you are looking at, however the lock off situation ruins it for me for some reason. I am partial to BW over BC due to price point and I just like the set up a bit better.
Good luck with your decision!

Your wife and I would probably be friends, the buses at OKW and SSR are a huge buzz kill for me. I have thought about waiting until the OKW direct deal is done at the end of the month, then trying to sneak in a really low priced contract past ROFR to have some cheap extra SAP.
OK tell me more about the lock off situation at BWV. I think I don't understand why it's an issue. Or maybe I don't know how many resorts have dedicated 2 bedrooms vs lock offs.

 

[jolynne28]

I like Boardwalk for it's location on Cresent lake, it's point chart and relatively low buy in per point.

For you, as you already own Beach Club, I would suggest a few more points there to give you flexibility for longer or shorter stays.

We don't own Beach Club, just SSR SAP and closing on a 50 pt BWV contract this month.

 

[jolynne28]

Buy as many cheap points as you can in same use year as your current SSR contract.

We’ve had no problem getting 2 bedrooms wherever we want with our SSR amd OKW points. All two bedrooms are nice but you need points! They are expensive.

Really gonna depend on when you travel and if you are flexible.

Stayed in 2 bedrooms at HHI, VB, Aulani (2x), GCV. GFV, BCV, AKL (2x), OKW (2x)
We choose based on each trip’s goals vs locking in at a single resort for 20+ years.

It isn’t a fun vacation for us if we are all crammed together, each kid getting their own bed is part of our vacation. The kids love it so much!

Good luck!

Are you booking right at 7 months, and how long are your stays in the 2 bedrooms? I agree with what you're saying, and I'm thinking hard about doing this, which is why I bought SAP as my first contract. But I do not enjoy the stalking as much as I thought I would, I find it to be a little stressful.

 

[jolynne28]

I will also add that I worry about the future of SAP points and a trust product impacting resort availability. Right now owning a lot of SSR & OKW might give me a lot of opportunity to book other resorts, but in 10 years that might not be the case, then we're more likely to be stuck at those two places, which don't have park conveniences.

 

[CastAStone]

I will also add that I worry about the future of SAP points and a trust product impacting resort availability. Right now owning a lot of SSR & OKW might give me a lot of opportunity to book other resorts, but in 10 years that might not be the case, then we're more likely to be stuck at those two places, which don't have park conveniences.

I think the trust was more likely than not done for legal reasons related specifically to CFW’s temporary buildings, and isn’t indicative of some master plan to steal rooms from other resorts.

I also don’t see availability getting worse for SAP. I think the pandemic closure made availability at 7 months really bad for a while and people misinterpreted that as a shift. But availability has been getting better for the past 9 months to a year according to the updates to the charts on Dvchelp.com and dvcfieldguide.com.

 

[Chili327]

I think it depends on where you buy though. SSR and OKW aren't as easy to sell b/c there are so many out there. So if I decide to go all in on SAP, it could be a lot harder to unload those points later if we decide to be done b/c those resorts aren't as desirable.

Yes, for sure, but you aren't stuck with them, you can always sell them, whether you make money, break even or lose is a different story, I'm just saying you're not stuck... but if that is a concern, then definitely buy where you want to stay, don't buy SAP points (or any less desirable for resale resort)

 

[pinkxray]

We are also a family of 5 who has decided to stick with 2 bedrooms. We own at VGF and SSR. Our oldest DD is in college so we have been booking as a group of 4 lately in 1 bedrooms. Our SAP SSR points work great for a one bedroom. I always book VGF or SSR at 11 months and then swap out at 7 months and we travel different times all year. By the time 7 months comes studios are hard to find and right behind that is 2 bedrooms. I usually see SSR, OKW, and AKV.

If you want to stay at BCV buy BCV. I am someone who enjoys stalking so I would probably buy the CCV points now since you want them anyway, but if you don’t enjoy the stress of having to stalk and waitlist just buy BCV. That’s 18 years of trips where you want to stay.

 

[jolynne28]

I think the trust was more likely than not done for legal reasons related specifically to CFW’s temporary buildings, and isn’t indicative of some master plan to steal rooms from other resorts.

I also don’t see availability getting worse for SAP. I think the pandemic closure made availability at 7 months really bad for a while and people misinterpreted that as a shift. But availability has been getting better for the past 9 months to a year according to the updates to the charts on Dvchelp.com and dvcfieldguide.com.

I appreciate this perspective! I tend to look on the more pessimistic side where Disney is concerned, so thinking they might make things harder for resale in the long run is in the back of my mind.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Are you booking right at 7 months, and how long are your stays in the 2 bedrooms? I agree with what you're saying, and I'm thinking hard about doing this, which is why I bought SAP as my first contract. But I do not enjoy the stalking as much as I thought I would, I find it to be a little stressful.

This is so important. People who want to pay the lowest up front price blow by some key points when building a portfolio, but these fundamentals remain true for that vast majority of people: (yes there are exceptions , but these are for the VAST majority)

1) You should buy where you want to stay unless you will never book further than 7m out.
2) Buy enough points to stay in the room category you want, at the times of year you want to go, + 10% cushion. When in doubt, start small and work your way up.
3) Be careful when people tell you what strategies they have used for 20 years…. DVC is a completely different animal now with millions of more points in the system and commercial renters competing for the same rooms.
4) Buy your points in the same Use Year.
5) Stay away from giant contracts that could be incredibly difficult to sell in the future.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

If you love BC, I would buy there enough for a 2B+10% and enjoy the heck out of it for the next 18 years. We only have two kids, but once they become teenagers, the 1B won’t be cutting it when we’re all on different sleep schedules and I want the living room for quiet coffee/wine/reading in peace.

We really like BW, but no dedicated 2B is a bummer. Cooking in the room is handy for the wallet and waistband, for sure. We have a standing grocery order that we tweak; milk, creamers, sandwich fixings, salad kits, rotisserie chicken, popsicles, eggs, cheese and crackers, popcorn, and we always throw a couple boxes of Mac and cheese in for kid . Since you’re driving, you could always bring a lasagna or casserole, even just a large salad to peck on between meals. I would suggest soups/stews, but not in FL in June! LOL.

 

[jolynne28]

If you love BC, I would buy there enough for a 2B+10% and enjoy the heck out of it for the next 18 years. We only have two kids, but once they become teenagers, the 1B won’t be cutting it when we’re all on different sleep schedules and I want the living room for quiet coffee/wine/reading in peace.

We really like BW, but no dedicated 2B is a bummer. Cooking in the room is handy for the wallet and waistband, for sure. We have a standing grocery order that we tweak; milk, creamers, sandwich fixings, salad kits, rotisserie chicken, popsicles, eggs, cheese and crackers, popcorn, and we always throw a couple boxes of Mac and cheese in for kid . Since you’re driving, you could always bring a lasagna or casserole, even just a large salad to peck on between meals. I would suggest soups/stews, but not in FL in June! LOL.

Oh I will def be arriving with some Costco meals, their Alfredo, quesadillas. Lasagna, are all delicious and so easy! We’ll just stop by Aldi and pack a large cooler and haul it inside, no pickup needed.

I have to admit that Disney does go above and beyond on their allergy friendly options. It just got old fast, and overall the food is pretty average at best. I was missing some of our weekly staples by around day 3.

 

[Chili327]

• milk/creamers
• sandwich fixings
• salad kits
• rotisserie chicken
• popsicles
• eggs
• cheese
• crackers
• popcorn
• Mac and cheese

I think we could use a new thread somewhere so we could all make our perfect list.

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

I think we could use a new thread somewhere so we could all make our perfect list.

I love this idea - some good inspiration - count me in!

 

[jolynne28]

I love this idea - some good inspiration - count me in!

Yes, such a good idea!

 

[jolynne28]

Off topic, but I have always been a chronic overpacker, always thought I needed “options”, and came home with plenty of extra clothes to put away. I finally decided to try my husband’s technique of laying out every outfit for each day and rolling it up together with underwear and socks. I’m officially converted, it was amazing.