Thinking (Seriously!) about Buying a DVC Resale...

[cometdad2010]

Hi all,

We're planning an October 2021 WDW vacation. On our last trip down in July/August of 2015, we rented points from a friend and stayed in a 1BR at Boardwalk -- we loved it! We knew then that we wanted to join DVC ourselves when the timing was right.

The October 2021 vacation is set in stone -- my mother-in-law is a huge Disney fan, and it will be her 50th birthday and the 50th anniversary of Disney World, so it's a must-do. We looked at renting points again, and would be spending close to $6,000. I thought rather than renting points and throwing away that money, maybe we should look into buying DVC now... after checking some of the resales, it seems more possible than I thought.

I'm looking at buying around 200 points at Saratoga Springs, with a budget of around $20k. I would be financing this, but with my bonus structure at work I should be able to pay it off rather quickly, so the financing cost isn't much of a concern.

What regrets did you have about buying DVC? What (if anything) should I watch out for? I'm reading every article I find, and scrolling through the forums, so I can make as informed a decision as possible. What advice would you give me?

Thanks!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

For an October visit, you will in all likelihood be staying where you buy. Do you like Saratoga?

 

[jerseyduke]

Are you content to stay at SSR?

Do not expect to always be able to swap out. Particularly during the fall frenzy to an Epcot resort during food and wine.
1 BR may help you.

I myself believed I made 3 missteps.

1. Not buying a fixed week (wasn't aware they existed), but also this only really applies to buying direct. Having not bought a fixed week, I wish I had better understood the value of breaking up the contract to smaller contract. (Again, only direct).

2. While it worked out well, and perhaps even perfectly, I should have understood use year better than I did.

3. Didn't buy enough points

 

[cometdad2010]

For an October visit, you will in all likelihood be staying where you buy. Do you like Saratoga?

We've looked at all the resorts, and there really aren't any we dislike. I like the low(er) maintenance costs of Saratoga, and the relatively low per-point costs. My wife wants to stay in Kidani, though, so we're hoping to book a savannah view at the seven-month window for October 2021. Is that wishful thinking?

 

[cometdad2010]

Are you content to stay at SSR?

Do not expect to always be able to swap out. Particularly during the fall frenzy to an Epcot resort during food and wine.
1 BR may help you.

I myself believed I made 3 missteps.

1. Not buying a fixed week (wasn't aware they existed), but also this only really applies to buying direct. Having not bought a fixed week, I wish I had better understood the value of breaking up the contract to smaller contract. (Again, only direct).

2. While it worked out well, and perhaps even perfectly, I should have understood use year better than I did.

3. Didn't buy enough points

SSR is fine with us -- there really isn't a resort we would dislike. I'd like to eventually stay at each of the resorts (excluding Riveria, since the Jan 2019 change), but wouldn't be too picky about time of year or room type in those instances. I'd like to get around 200 points so I could bank one year and borrow from the next to spend a grand total of 600 every three years, if we chose to do it that way. SSR seems like the most cost-effective, as long as we don't mind it.

 

[jerseyduke]

As long as you are aware.

Also, once every three years does put your risk of point breakage at it's maximum. If that trip gets canceled (and life DOES happen), you could lose 3 years worth of points. Just something to be aware of. I am not a fan of less than every other year, but that's a personal thing because of the risk.

Also, what do you mean you have looked at all the resorts, have you actually visited them? Gotten their vibe. A feel for the amenities. Or have you just looked on paper.

 

[Frederic Civish]

Hi CometDad,

I have purchased 8 contracts, total 1080 points. 5 of them were direct from Disney. The only regret I have with those is that I really spent more money than I needed to, since I bought 325 points Direct. If I had to do it again, I would buy MOST of them resale. The other thing is that those were at Poly, which I decided is not my favorite, after staying there. If i had to do it again i would choose a different resort and buy more of them at Resale.

I also bought BLT and AKL, RESALE, 3 contracts, with about 765 points total over the 3 contracts. My only regret with these is that it took me so many years before I got around to buying them. I could have bought them back when Bay Lake Tower was first being built, and paid less. But that is okay. Better late than never.

I love BLT and AKL, with AKL being my favorite. IF I WERE YOU, I would buy AKL, since it costs about the same as SSR (well, not much more) AND it has a couple of years longer to run before it expires, and I love the Animal Kingdom resort, much more than SSR. Nothing wrong with SSR. Plenty of people buy there and IT DOES HAVE ITS ADVANTAGES, but for the money, i think AKL is a better resort and a better deal

That is about all I can say.

 

[cometdad2010]

As long as you are aware.

Also, once every three years does put your risk of point breakage at it's maximum. If that trip gets canceled (and life DOES happen), you could lose 3 years worth of points. Just something to be aware of. I am not a fan of less than every other year, but that's a personal thing because of the risk.

Also, what do you mean you have looked at all the resorts, have you actually visited them? Gotten their vibe. A feel for the amenities. Or have you just looked on paper.

That's an excellent point, Jerseyduke. I'd hate to throw away three years of points. Something to think about... still, I'd like to have enough for a Poly bungalow at some point...

No, we haven't actually visited each of the resorts. I've been to Saratoga (in the late 2000s, so it's been a while) and Boardwalk (in 2015), and my wife has been to AKL when it was first built. Theoretically, we could rent points and see each of them, but I'd rather put that money towards DVC itself.

 

[CarolynFH]

Have you looked at the points charts in detail (https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/vacation-planning/points-charts/), so that you know how many points (minimum) you'd need to stay at Kidani in October 2021 and therefore how many to buy (even if you plan to bank and borrow)?

And if you're wondering whether you'd be able to book Kidani for October 2021, here's the go-to thread, thanks to Skier Pete and Bing Showei: https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...-bd-charts-september-2019-2-bd-added.3689931/. Remember this is historical data from the last several years, so the future might look different - especially for October 2021, when a lot of owners are going to want to be at WDW for the anniversary events and are likely to book their home resorts early and not plan to swap out (or rent!) a lot.

Do you have a UY (or several possible UYs) in mind? Look at this thread if you're not sure you understand UY - sometimes it can make the difference between losing points and not, especially when talking about banking and borrowing: https://www.disboards.com/threads/understanding-use-year-updated-march-10-2019.1942668/

And while you contemplate where to buy, you might want to look at several resale brokers' sites and even get on their email lists, so that you know what's available (and can jump on it if the "perfect" contract appears).

As far as which resort should be your home, I'm in the "buy where you won't mind staying" camp. The more DVC owners there are, the more competition and less availability there will be at 7 months. So plan to book your home at 11 months even if you hope to swap at 7.

Good luck! We've been members for 20+ years, and it has been the best purchase we've ever made for our family!

 

[cometdad2010]

Thanks, Frederic! I appreciate the advice. I'm now leaning towards buying a resale with AKL as my home resort...

Carolyn, thanks for all of the great links! That availability thread is an eye-opener.

Yes, I had looked at the 2021 points chart -- we'd need 315 points for a week, but would probably like 8-9 days. That's why I was looking at buying around 200 points... between banking/borrowing I'm anticipating using close to 400.

The UY doesn't quite matter so much to us. Other than this October vacation, none of our other travel dates are set in stone... I'm thinking January will be when we usually go, just because of the lower points availability. If that's not an option, September will probably be our second choice... with that spread, I can't really go wrong with any use year.

I appreciate your advice on a home resort. Based on what others have said, I'm leaning toward an AKL home resort -- my wife loves it, so I'm sure she wouldn't mind staying there if nothing else were available. I like SSR, but the availability seems much more open -- so booking 5-7 months out we should be able to get there. I definitely get the "buy where you won't mind staying" mindset, and since I'm between two, I guess I should go with the more exclusive.

 

[sethschroeder]

I'm now leaning towards buying a resale with AKL as my home resort...

Major downside to AKV is going to be transportation. I wrote my experience a while back.

The resort is amazing but the bus sucks. It's night and day with BWV. The resort is really nice though.

 

[Frederic Civish]

Major downside to AKV is going to be transportation. I wrote my experience a while back.

The resort is amazing but the bus sucks. It's night and day with BWV. The resort is really nice though.

Boardwalk Villa is great, if you are going to go to EPCOT or Hollywood Studios. Depending on where you are in the building, it is about .25 to .40 of a mile to Epcot, and between 1/2 mile to 1 mile to walk to HS. Of course, they do also have the water taxis/Friendship Boats. which I happen to like, but they aren't that fast, and they are frequently cancelled during rainstorms/thunderstorms. To get to Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom Park you need to take a bus, and this bus often stops at other stops in other hotels in the area.

Truthfully, the bus service from Animal Kingdom Lodge to any of the parks, EXCEPT Magic Kingdom, is as fast or faster than from anywhere else in Disney World. And travel time to Magic Kingdom is still under 20 minutes. A lot of resorts have multiple stops, internally. This is especially true with SSR and OKW, but applies also to Boardwalk and Beach Club,

Meanwhile, Poly has the monorail to Magic Kingdom, but to get to Epcot you either need to take the Resort Monorail around the loop to the TTC, or you need to walk to the TTC. Then change to the Epcot Monorail. The point is, it takes longer to get to Epcot from Poly, GF and BLT than you might think.

So,the truth is, when you look at travel times to and from Animal Kingdom Lodges, they actually are BETTER than a lot of places, and no more than 5 minutes longer, on an average, than the BEST AND FASTEST places.

Of course, I think the buildings at AKL are immense, so I always ask for Timon Elevator or Rafiki Elevator at Kidani (they are the elevators closest to the lobby) or I request close to the lobby in Jambo House. And between them, Jambo House and Kidani have some fine restaurants.

 

[disneynutz]

Select the best UY for your vacation patterns.
Buy where you love to stay.
Book at 11 months.
Buy resale if you can.
If you buy additional contracts, keep the same UY and names on all deeds.
After buying resale, if you intend to buy a small direct contract for the perks, buy now before DVD changes the policy again.
DVD/DVC marketing can change the perks at any time.
Perks and policies tend to change when management changes and DVD/DVC upper management changed again.
Expect to spend more on Disney vacations after you buy DVC.
Expect to find a favorite resort that may not be the one you bought.
As time goes on, expect to not spend as much time in the parks.

Bill

 

[sethschroeder]

Truthfully, the bus service from Animal Kingdom Lodge to any of the parks, EXCEPT Magic Kingdom, is as fast or faster than from anywhere else in Disney World.

Except you have to get a bus first which is the issue with AKV.

Even my parents had read about it before our stay. We went in thinking "how bad could it be". It was terrible.

Don't forget MK and the Epcot/HS areas are each likely to encompass a half of your trip each. With AK getting a day from one of the two categories.

I think it's important to warn anyone who hasn't stayed their. Basically outside of OKW/SSR the rest of the resorts you will get fairly quick/easy access for half your trip.

 

[cometdad2010]

Major downside to AKV is going to be transportation. I wrote my experience a while back.

The resort is amazing but the bus sucks. It's night and day with BWV. The resort is really nice though.

Transportation really isn’t much of a concern with us. We fly in, but I always rent a car— I get carsick easily, so bus/monorail/even Minne Vans aren’t a great option. It’s a pain to pay for parking, but we just budget that in.

 

[zapple]

Transportation really isn’t much of a concern with us. We fly in, but I always rent a car— I get carsick easily, so bus/monorail/even Minne Vans aren’t a great option. It’s a pain to pay for parking, but we just budget that in.

Well, the good news is that when you stay DVC you don't pay to park at your resort and since you're staying on property you get to park at the parks for free!

 

[tachyonbb]

Although we own at GF and BLT we have stayed at AK at 3 times. We never found the bus to be a problem. Longest wait was 10 minutes and the bus was never crowded. Others may have a different experience but for us transportation was never and issue.

 

[Carol_]

Transportation really isn’t much of a concern with us. We fly in, but I always rent a car— I get carsick easily, so bus/monorail/even Minne Vans aren’t a great option. It’s a pain to pay for parking, but we just budget that in.

You’ll love the DVC free parking, then!
(I don’t remember if this is a Direct-only perk or not.)

 

[_auroraborealis_]

You’ll love the DVC free parking, then!
(I don’t remember if this is a Direct-only perk or not.)

It is not because it is wrapped in dues.

 

[sethschroeder]

Transportation really isn’t much of a concern with us. We fly in, but I always rent a car— I get carsick easily, so bus/monorail/even Minne Vans aren’t a great option. It’s a pain to pay for parking, but we just budget that in.

I would say AKV would be an amazing home resort then.

The resort itself it great.