Too late to buy DVC for Nov 2015 trip?

[ncurley]

We are planning a trip to Disneyworld in mid-November 2015. We were considering renting points through David's or the **************, but for the cost of the rentals I am thinking we may be better off buying instead (prefer resale but might consider direct).

We will have 6 total (4 adults 2 young boys) and prefer to stay at a monorail resort but would "settle" for Epcot area (no OKW, Saratoga, or AKV). Ideally we want enough beds for everyone to have their own which seems an impossible request even with the grand villas, except GFV but I think the prices there are too ridiculously high to justify buying since we would need to buy direct.

I know we could rent at 11 months out and we would need to make arrangements to do so very soon. Are we too late to buy direct and still get a reservation at 1 year out? Is it ridiculous to think we could buy at Poly and snag a Nov 2015 reservation for 2 studios or a bungalow? Any recommendations/suggestions appreciated!

 

[DenLo]

Have you been researching buying DVC? Remember, you still have annual dues to pay for the life of the contract so the purchase price is just the first step in the cost of buying.

If you buy direct and pay cash (no loan) you would easily close and have your DVC member account set up in time for you book using the home resort advantage, the 11 month mark, well before the 7 month mark when other DVC members can book at the other DVC resorts. I am not sure how much time a loan would add on to the processing time. If you buy resale you are talking about at least 60 days to process the purchase if the seller accepts your offer and if the contract passes Disney Right of First Refusal, ROFR.

 

[cbnsoul]

If you would choose to buy direct, you wouldn't be able to book til December 2014 for November 2015 so would have plenty of time. The Poly isn't yet for sale but should be fairly soon (some are guessing more details will be announced at the DVC annual meeting in December). If DVC handles reservations as they did with VGF, new owners will get a window to book (if they want a reservation less than 7 months out). For your reservation, it would be in the 11-7 month window anyway so that wouldn't be an issue as only Poly owners can book then anyway.

The prevailing thought you will hear over and over is "buy where you want to stay." All resorts are available from DVC, even the "sold out" ones, though it may take awhile to get points in stock, depending on which resort and which use year you might want. Prices vary from $130-$165 per point direct currently but can be substantially less via resale. Just realize there are some restrictions on resale points.

 

[rlovew]

If you can find a resale contract and make an offer in the next couple of days you should be able to access your points before the 7 month window for Nov 2015. If you buy direct you have your points within 24 hours and you would have them at the 11 month window anyway, unless you hold out for the Poly but then you will have a resort priority when booking opens anyway.

There are no places with 6 real beds so everyone has there own bed although you have many choices for 6 sleeping spaces if you are okay with the children being on a pullout bed. Not knowing the make-up of the party I can't suggest on that but if 1 was bringing 4 adults and 2 children it would be my husband and i another couple of there children which would give us a king bed in the master bedroom. I would out the other couple in the 2nd bedroom of a 2 bedroom and probably ask that their children sleep in the 2nd bed in that room although we could have them sleep on the couches/pull down bed/sleeper chair in the living room depending on the resort.

 

[ncurley]

Thanks everyone for the replies.
I am definitely aware of mgmt fees. I have researched and read the Disboards for several months but only seriously considered purchasing as I realize the cost of renting a 2 BR for the week.

Our party is myself and my husband, our 2 boys (will be 4 and 6), and their grandparents (married but prefer separate beds and none of the adults really love the idea of sleeping on a sleep sofa). I do not mind sharing a bed with one of my boys but my husband and his father both suffer from Restless Legs Syndrome, which is why separate beds is really ideal.

My husband feels strongly about wanting a monorail resort while I love the idea of the beach club.

 

[ncurley]

Also I think for all the resorts we are considering we would want to book at 11 months out so that is why I am thinking resale won't work if it takes 60 days minimum.

So if we hold out for Poly is getting a reservation for Nov 2015 going to be possible?

I am thinking a February use year is ideal since we have kids who are now school aged so we may go during school vacations after this trip. (ugh, the crowds!) Not having the Poly DVC point chart is tough but I am guessing we will want about 150-200 points (I am thinking this might get us about a week in a studio once a year or a 2 BR every 2-3 years).

Maybe I should reconsider VGF too. I just am thinking putting my grandparents on the sofa or little bunk foldout bed is less than ideal, though they will not be on every trip with us so I need to think past that.

Are the sofa beds really okay at the villas? Specifically would appreciate thoughts on comfort in the BLT and VGF. Thanks!

 

[Docmom]

Our DDs 9 & 11 haven't had a problem with the sleeper sofas. They both loved the pull down bed at VGF. We were in a 1 bedroom but if I'm not mistaken a 2 Bedroom lock off would have 2 of those - one in the living room and one in the "studio" / 2nd bedroom. BLT has the benefit of an extra bathroom if that's an issue for getting ready in the am. There are a lot of unknown's about the Poly but if that's the resort you love the best I would wait. Worst case scenario, sales start at the Poly in a couple of months and you find it won't work for you, then you still have time before the 7 month window to purchase elsewhere (definitely direct and probably even resale). Unless you want something that's in higher demand such as standard or theme park view at BLT, you should be ok waiting a month or two if the Poly is a top choice.

 

[skier_pete]

First off, it seems to me if you got a 2-bedroom dedicated (NOT a lock-off) you could make it work, at least at BLT the 2-BR dedicated has:

First bedroom has king bed.
Second bedroom has two queen beds
Living Room has Sleeper sofa and sleeper couch.

Grandma and Grandpa get the two queens (no sleeper for them) and get their own bathroom.
Mom and kid #1 get king bed.
Dad gets sleeper sofa.
Kid #2 gets sleeper couch.
(Or put dad in the king and mom on the sofa bed)

As far as the purchase:
My first instinct is that you should just rent the points for the November 2015 trip. You don't seem like you are 100% sure on exactly what you want, you MIGHT want the Poly, MIGHT want the VGF or BLT instead, but you MIGHT want an Epcot resort. Buying DVC is a big-time spend and the money you "save" by buying versus renting could be burned up with the wrong purchase. ($6 PP for maintenance fees versus $14 PP to rent - at 315 points for 2-bedroom, save $2,500 in the short run, but if you buy in the wrong place it costs you $10,000 or more -see below). VGF and undoubtedly Poly costs both a lot more to buy into AND will require a lot more points for the same room type, if that's not really what you want.

If you buy direct, you are looking at paying significantly more upfront than resale, but it would be the only way to get the 11-month window on Nov 2015. However, if you want to buy at VGF or at the Poly, then there is no real benefit to buying resale. The poly is a HUGE unknown and I would question whether you should really wait for that at this stage.


NOW - if you buy resale at say BLT, it takes about 2.5 months to process, so even if you put a bid in today, you wouldn't be able to book something until the end of January. November doesn't sell out as quickly as early December or October does, so you probably would be OK get into a 2-bedroom at BLT (lake view), but of course there is no guarantee of that, the only way to guarantee that is direct or renting points.

However, the difference in cost to you for BLT versus VGF would be this
200 points at VGF bought direct would cost $165 per point - $33,000.
200 points at BLT bought resale for $105 per point - $21,000

That's a $12,000 savings to buy at BLT resale versus VGF direct. (And the 200 points will give you LESS room space because the rooms are more points.) It would be even bigger if you decided on say BWV - which you can get for < $90 a point if you decide you prefer Epcot.

So, my advice to you would be to rent the room at BLT and be 100% sure what you want.( Or do a split stay rental and stay for 3 nights at an Epcot resort.) If you don't like the stay at BLT, well THEN you can spend the extra $12,000 to get the VGF or the Poly. While you are there, do the DVC tour. They have sample rooms for the VGF and also the Poly by then (the sample Poly rooms are actually under construction right now - though that's not "official") If you love BLT, the resale market will still be there. If you love VGF/Poly, they will be giving you incentives to buy as opposed to just jumping on it now.

You clearly have a considerable amount of disposable income if you are doing this, but even so I can't imagine just want to throw away money unnecessarily.

 

[DVCanadian]

Dumb post I want to delete but can only edit

 

[ncurley]

Thanks skier_pete and others for your thoughts! I was thinking renting would be like throwing away money. I suppose it is an investment in a way though. The more I think about it, the more trouble I have justifying paying direct prices for BLT when I know resale is going for $60 a point less. That would be an automatic 30-40% loss.

I think Grand Floridian looks lovely but the point values are just so high! We really do love the Poly, it makes me sad that it is not for sale yet. It is frustrating that they have not released any information on it.

We are wondering if we do wait to buy Poly points in hopes that it is on sale soon and can be booked for our Nov 2015 trip, how likely would we actually be able to get a reservation for our travel dates? If it does not go on sale until May 2015 and we bought points then, would we be competing with everyone at the 7 month mark (SSR, AKV, OKW owners etc). Or do direct sales get booking priority in the first year of sale? I know there are also other people who are already in line to purchase Poly, so how likely are we to really get a reservation? Is there anyone out there who bought direct when a resort opened and could NOT book the dates they wanted?

 

[disneynutz]

Thanks skier_pete and others for your thoughts! I was thinking renting would be like throwing away money. I suppose it is an investment in a way though. The more I think about it, the more trouble I have justifying paying direct prices for BLT when I know resale is going for $60 a point less. That would be an automatic 30-40% loss.

I think Grand Floridian looks lovely but the point values are just so high! We really do love the Poly, it makes me sad that it is not for sale yet. It is frustrating that they have not released any information on it.

We are wondering if we do wait to buy Poly points in hopes that it is on sale soon and can be booked for our Nov 2015 trip, how likely would we actually be able to get a reservation for our travel dates? If it does not go on sale until May 2015 and we bought points then, would we be competing with everyone at the 7 month mark (SSR, AKV, OKW owners etc). Or do direct sales get booking priority in the first year of sale? I know there are also other people who are already in line to purchase Poly, so how likely are we to really get a reservation? Is there anyone out there who bought direct when a resort opened and could NOT book the dates they wanted?

As of right now, the Poly is reported to be connected studios and 2-bedroom over the water bungalows.

The studios will probably be around the point cost of a VGF studio and the bungalows close to the cost of a GV.

Bill

 

[skier_pete]

We are wondering if we do wait to buy Poly points in hopes that it is on sale soon and can be booked for our Nov 2015 trip, how likely would we actually be able to get a reservation for our travel dates? If it does not go on sale until May 2015 and we bought points then, would we be competing with everyone at the 7 month mark (SSR, AKV, OKW owners etc). Or do direct sales get booking priority in the first year of sale? I know there are also other people who are already in line to purchase Poly, so how likely are we to really get a reservation? Is there anyone out there who bought direct when a resort opened and could NOT book the dates they wanted?

I think there would be a high likelihood that they would have a window open for the original buyers to book prior to opening to everyone. I really can't tell you what the likelihood your specific week would be booked up in your room category. That would depend on all the other buyers and when they want to stay there, and how fast you book. I personally don't think you should risk it.

Again, Poly will be massively expensive. Buy-in cost and points per room on par with the Grand Floridian if not even higher. As Bill mentioned - the 2-bedroom bungalows may go for Grand Villa level points.

Why risk your 2015 plans to this? The poly will still be there to buy in the future if you decide you MUST have it.

 

[Just Peachy]

Ncurley – your dilemma and thoughts for a 2015 Disney vacation are very similar to what I went through earlier this year. But I was interested in a Disneyland vacation over the 60th Anniversary week in July. After I worked through the possible closing times plus the time lag in getting points assigned to a newly re-sold contract and balancing that against the cost of buying direct (instant points), I opted to rent points for my family’s vacation in July at the VGC while I found a good contract in the re-sale market.

It is more expensive for the rental as I paid $14/pt but was able to get a 2 BR for that week at 11 months out. I now have a contract for VGC in ROFR (1 week and counting) while looking for another contract at the BWV for the same use year. Our current plans are to alternate between Disneyland and Disney World every other year.

 

[ncurley]

Thanks again for the responses.

We really are very interested in the Poly. We love the regular Poly resort, and based on the rumors the studios will probably be bigger than the regular Poly (not DVC) room. I just wish DVC would put more beds in them (fingers crossed they will sleep 5!) Thinking this through some more, another downside to buying Poly points would be if we wanted to stay somewhere else (eg Beach Club) then it would be a poor use of very expensive Poly points.

It just bugs me to pay thousands of dollars to rent a DVC room when that money would cover a few years of management fees if we could buy now. I have not ruled it out yet but it seems like such a sunk cost to rent, unless we stay somewhere we would not be able to book without owning there in the future (eg BLT or GFV).

Originally I considered buying a resale contract to save money, and trying to book 7 months out to try different resorts, but I think as my kids get older we will be traveling only when schools are on vacation so I imagine it would be tough to get what we want at 7 months out. I am perfectly content to stay at OKW, SSR, AKV, etc. but my husband thinks we may as well be staying offsite if we are not at a resort that is convenient to the monorail or at Epcot. He even dislikes Boardwalk which is frustrating since I'd love to have a "home" there for the standard points and grand villas.

I am still curious if anyone out there bought BLT or GFV direct when it first came out, and whether you had trouble getting a reservation within the 7 month window. Did Disney guides assure anyone that they could help get a reservation for the first stay?