To buy or not to buy... A home resort dilemma

[JenniferYoung44]

Here the situation....I really want to buy DVC and I really want a home resort that is a place we want to stay. Don’t want to rely on 7 month roulette. We are a family of 5 who plans to stay mostly at studios and therefore want a home resort with 5 person studios. This limits us to BWV, BCV, Poly, VWL boulder ridge, and GFV. GFV is not really our style, not of fan of VWL as I’d really prefer either the monorail or crescent lake for the proximity of the park. So the dilemma is with the shortness of BWV and BCV contract and the price per point of Poly contracts I just can’t seem to make the math work in favor of buying. (We come 1-2 trips/year 4-7 nights per trip, usually renting DVC points). I really like BWV and BCV so I’m tempted to just say screw it, buy one of those, and hope that in 2042 when I’m 64, I’m not sorry)

So what would you do?

 

[Jack_Sparrow_NJ]

Here the situation....I really want to buy DVC and I really want a home resort that is a place we want to stay. Don’t want to rely on 7 month roulette. We are a family of 5 who plans to stay mostly on studios and therefore want a home resort with 5 person studios. This limits us to BWV, BCV, Poly, VWL boulder ridge, and GFV. GFV is not really our style, not of fan of VWL as I’d really prefer either the monorail or crescent lake for the proximity of the park. So the dilemma is with the shortness of BWV and BCV contract and the price per point of Poly contracts I just can’t seem to make the math work in favor of buying. (We come 1-2 trips/year 4-7 nights per trip, usually renting DVC points). I really like BWV and BCV so I’m tempted to just say screw it, but one of those, and hope that in 2042 when I’m 64, I’m not sorry)

So what would you do?

I would try to find a Poly contract that works.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Are you looking at resale? Resale Poly is a pretty good deal and will certainly save money in the next 10 years versus renting.

And I have to assume resale for BCV or BWV because direct pricing for either is nuts.

 

[JenniferYoung44]

Are you looking at resale? Resale Poly is a pretty good deal and will certainly save money in the next 10 years versus renting.

And I have to assume resale for BCV or BWV because direct pricing for either is nuts.

Yes. Resale for either.

 

[ray3127]

I say "screw it, buy one of those", and try to find a good deal on BCV/BWV if you really like them that much.

When I was looking on here I asked for advice and was warned about the "short" contract issue at BCV. I understand they are comparatively shorter than others, but 20+ years is a really, really long time. Who knows where you'll be then? Maybe ending the financial burden earlier than a Poly contract will be a good thing.

Then they say "well you could always sell, and the longer term contracts will be worth more." Nothing lasts forever, and counting on any sort of cash flows 15-30 years from now (let alone trying to place a financial value on them) is foolish.

Also, who knows what they will do for the expiring properties? Some seem to think they know, but there's no precedent yet. Maybe you'll get to extend at a good price. Or maybe not. But if not, you can worry about buying in again when you're 64.

All of this is to say that if you've rented points and know what you want, I wouldn't worry about the "shorter" contract. Some think it's a big deal. I'm a finance professor, and I just think it's silly. We wanted the ability to walk to two of our favorite places in the world (DHS & EPCOT), and love the Beach Club vibe, so we just bought BCV points this fall. Zero regrets. Buy where you love it.

However, we also bought some BLT, again for location & vibe, but that did spread our expiration out a bit... So maybe, with your travel pattern, you could split one of the Crescent Lake resorts with Poly? Then bank/borrow a bit and alternate? Just a thought.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I see Poly contracts that are very similar in cost to BCV. BWV is lower but also depends on how many points you are looking to purchase.

 

[ParkHoppers]

For what you are looking for I would say the Poly. On the monorail. Walking distance to Epcot monorail. One of the largest studios I believe. Make sure to check the points on 2020 chart as the points for studios goes up in 2020.

 

[zavandor]

Have you looked at the 2020 point charts for Poly?
They've just made a reallocation that makes studios more expensive and many of us think this is just the first step, since there is a limit how much the night cost can increase every year. In the past they did larger reallocations over two years.
If that doesn't worry you, Poly is a great option and very convenient for 2 parks: you can walk to the TTC and take the monorail to Epcot in addition to monorail, boat and ferry to MK. So location wise I would give the edge to Poly over both Crescen lake resorts.
However the point charts at BCV and BWV are a steal by modern standard.
Difficult decision.

 

[JenniferYoung44]

I think I’m starting to warm to the idea of doing two smaller point contracts, one and beach club and one at Poly and use bank borrow to rotate. I know you generally pay a little more per point on smaller contracts. But it would give us the best of both worlds and I would feel like I put all my eggs in a short basket.

 

[Deb & Bill]

How old are your kids now? If they are smallish, studios work fine. But as they get older, you will pull your hair out with pre-teens and teenagers, plus mom and dad in one room. Buy enough points to book at least a one bedroom that sleeps five. BLT, OKW and AKV have one bedroom villas that have the twin sized sleeper chair. It still means that two of those kids will have to share a bed though.

 

[Drewferin]

We also have a family of 5. When we were deciding we wanted a resort that couple fit 5 in a 1 bedroom. The studios that fit 5 are also nice but with my oldest now at 13 years old we will need a 1 bedroom here pretty soon.

The resorts with longer contracts and decent annual fees was also important. At the time a SSR purchase didn't look attractive since that resort doesn't work well for 5 people even though it is the cheapest per point. In the end we decided on AKL since we like the resort and wouldn't mind staying there if we couldnt switch at the 7 month window.

What time of the year are you looking to go to disney world? Since you have kids I'd imagine summer time. Based on my experience if you are on the ball you can get most studios and 1 bedrooms at 7 months in June/July. This year we are doing Aulani and maybe a cheaper studio next year to help catch up on barrowing points (granted this couldn't be AKL due to 5 people).

 

[JenniferYoung44]

My kids are DD1, DD6, and DS20. We’re not sure how often DS20 will want to go in the future, but right now he definitely wants to go. Obviously I was a very young parent with him and didn’t really have the financial stability to indulge in disneyworld. Once we started going a few years ago he wasn’t interested until last year when he discovered Pandora is at AK (Avatar is his favorite movie). So I just took him over Christmas on his very first WDW trip and he was in love. He just kept saying “I can’t believe you never brought me here.” That said I know that may not last but the other issue is my DD6 is VERY hard to sleep with. She’s literally like trying to sleep with a bagged rabid badger in the bed. So I like the idea of the drop down bed to keep the girls separate even when he doesn’t come.

As for the time of the year, we will go probably mostly winter school breaks and late fall or Jan/feb. We went last September when the heat index was 108• and I swore I’d never go back in the heat. my daughter has a lot of teacher work days at random times of the year and I tend to combine those with a weekend and then just let her miss a few days. I’m of the school of thought that lifetime family memories trump a few days of missed elementary school (no flaming pls).

 

[meekey7197]

I would Seriously consider AKV. Your younger kids are the perfect age for that resort in my opinion. When you need a studio that sleeps 5, poly is not that hard to get at 7 months during most seasons. 200 AKV points will get you a week in a one bed there during most of the seasons you mentioned

 

[lovin'fl]

I'd agree with Poly. I think the studio layout is great for 4 or 5 people. BWV studio is small. BCV would be my suggestion of the 2 (BWV or BCV) because it's very hard to get studios there at 7 months and that pool area in really nice. We bought OKW initially and then added HHI but, after doing a couple Food and Wine trips, we wanted an Epcot resort and bought BWV but really wanted BCV (we like it a tad more there).

 

[goofy kc]

We own at Poly and really love the resort! No regrets (until the point reallocation!) and it works for us since we bought specifically for a specific annual trip. The rooms are spacious and the resort is beautiful. But...I am not sure that 3 full size folks and 2 kids would be completely comfortable. Also, kids keep getting bigger . We also own at AKL and BWV and find they offer more flexibility.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

Where have you already stayed? Only you know if your family will be comfortable in a 5 person studio or not.

We just had our first stay at our home resort, BWV, and walking to 2 parks beats anything else in our opinion. Sorry, not sorry. We loved it.

BLT is not our "style" I'd say. But we are now fairly certain if we buy a MK resort, it will be BLT. I don't enjoy the buses and I don't find the monorail any more pleasant. (I think it smells really bad and gives me a headache.) So, we will probably start doing split stays. (Something I said I'd never do). 3-4 nights at BWV and 2 nights at BLT. BLT has reasonable 1 bedrooms (points wise) with 2 bathrooms. We will check out of one resort and spend that day at AK and evening in DS, and return to our new resort late that night, so it won't matter that we are homeless for a day.

Anyway, obviously you could split stay for BCV / Poly, too. Just another option!

 

[Deb & Bill]

My kids are DD1, DD6, and DS20. We’re not sure how often DS20 will want to go in the future, but right now he definitely wants to go. Obviously I was a very young parent with him and didn’t really have the financial stability to indulge in disneyworld. Once we started going a few years ago he wasn’t interested until last year when he discovered Pandora is at AK (Avatar is his favorite movie). So I just took him over Christmas on his very first WDW trip and he was in love. He just kept saying “I can’t believe you never brought me here.” That said I know that may not last but the other issue is my DD6 is VERY hard to sleep with. She’s literally like trying to sleep with a bagged rabid badger in the bed. So I like the idea of the drop down bed to keep the girls separate even when he doesn’t come.

As for the time of the year, we will go probably mostly winter school breaks and late fall or Jan/feb. We went last September when the heat index was 108• and I swore I’d never go back in the heat. my daughter has a lot of teacher work days at random times of the year and I tend to combine those with a weekend and then just let her miss a few days. I’m of the school of thought that lifetime family memories trump a few days of missed elementary school (no flaming pls).

Be aware that Fall Frenzy (mid-Sept through marathon in January) can be very hard to book at seven months out, especially if you are looking for one of those studios that sleep five. You book your home resort at eleven months out and see what is left at seven months out.

 

[lovin'fl]

Be aware that Fall Frenzy (mid-Sept through marathon in January) can be very hard to book at seven months out, especially if you are looking for one of those studios that sleep five. You book your home resort at eleven months out and see what is left at seven months out.

And doubly tough to get standard view studios...even at 11 months at 8am online. We bought the BWV (80 direct) over BCV in order to save points with standard view studios for food and wine...and, no dice half the time. So we added more BWV points (for 255 total).

 

[bakerworld]

My kids are very into the Poly (37, 34, 30y) and with having a 1 & 6y I would think the Poly would work well for the future - the bathrooms alone are a boon with a 20 & 1 / 6 yo.

That said we trade in to stay at the BC alot. We have a small contract at BC and I use it strictly in the fall. I just don't see a 1 and 6 yo being very into Epcot or HS as my 'kids' didn't like either until they were in the double digit ages.

 

[JenniferYoung44]

I just don't see a 1 and 6 yo being very into Epcot or HS as my 'kids' didn't like either until they were in the double digit ages.

Hollywood studios is the 6 year olds favorite park and Rockin Rollercoaster her favorite ride. She loves thrill rides and star wars.