Vero/HH owners - do you go to WDW?

[abolanwoski]

I was looking at resales and I can't help but think that at 60pp vs >100pp, buying at VB or HH would be a relative bargain. But of course, I mainly want to use the DVC to go to WDW. So my question is how hard is it to go to WDW on those points? Obviously beggers can't be choosers,(I understand christmas would be out) but there's no point in saving the money if it's impossible to ever get 7 month advance ressies. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[DisDaydreamer]

One thing I don't see in your equation is the maintenance fees. These fees can be $1 to almost $2 more at these resorts than say SSR. So you are paying that much per point per year more.

Here is a link to a table showing the MF rates

Booking at other resorts at 7 months is not a big problem unless you like to book at peak times.

 

[abolanwoski]

One thing I don't see in your equation is the maintenance fees. These fees can be $1 to almost $2 more at these resorts than say SSR. So you are paying that much per point per year more.

Here is a link to a table showing the MF rates

Booking at other resorts at 7 months is not a big problem unless you like to book at peak times.

the difference in MF between SSR and VB looks to be 50 cents based on that link, so to make up a $40 per point price difference, I would have to a member for 80 years. Obviously, these numbers are in constant flux, but even the biggest difference (.95 based on the link) would take over 40 years to approach a break-even point.

I guess my original question still stands - how hard is it to stay at WDW if your home resort is outside WDW?

 

[lisareniff]

You may be looking at the subsidized VB contracts. There are a small percentage of contracts that were purchased at VB when they had the original larger scale plan with more units to cover the support structure. When they scaled down the VB plans to the current number, those that had purchased under the original assumptions are given a subsidy. ...and no you can't purchase one of those contracts through the resale market. Once they are resold the no longer qualify.

The difference between VB and SSR is $1.83 pp. You will eat up the difference in the original purchase price with the MF over the length of the contract.

 

[mdorgan]

another thing to keep in mind relative to SSR is the length of the contract....

Vero ends in 2042 (as do most of the DVC proporties) and SSR ends in 2054.

to your original question...we bought Vero pts. partly b/c you could get in with a lower cash amount upfront. Over the long term though, it's probably "cheaper" to buy SSR or AKV b/c of the difference in maitenance fees and the contract length. While we're happy with the Vero purchase, we'll be adding on somewhere at WDW.

It seems the consensus on these boards is the best decision is to buy where you want to stay most and it seems to me that's true.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

One thing I don't see in your equation is the maintenance fees. These fees can be $1 to almost $2 more at these resorts than say SSR. So you are paying that much per point per year more.

Here is a link to a table showing the MF rates

Booking at other resorts at 7 months is not a big problem unless you like to book at peak times.

I vote for ROB to be the new VB moderator!! Anything you want to know about VB, he's the man!

 

[DisDaydreamer]

I vote for ROB to be the new VB moderator!! Anything you want to know about VB, he's the man!

Noooo... I just know the fun things for me to do. lisareniff is the logistics and stats wiz. starbox knows about the family things to do.

However.... Tonight I am going to start a "VB Adoration and Information Thread 2008" using much of the Q&A from starbox's original thread. starbox should be coming out with the chair swap 2008 thread soon too.

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

We have owned at VB since 2000, and only used points to stay at Disney twice - AKL and Poly. I know it's a high number of points to do this, but we had them available so we went ahead. We have stayed at the Marriott World Center once and will stay thier again this summer.

 

[ZerasPride]

We own at HH and love it there! We have been owners since 2001 and have had little to no difficulty booking on site. SSR is our favorite on-site resort with OKW a close second. With these two resorts being quite large, we have had no problem booking at 6 and 7 months out. I do secretly wish we had some on-site points but hubby and all my extended family just love HH and anything that would convince my DH to buy in was okay with me.

I know for our vacation style, HH (off-site) ownership works because we do not have children in school, do not travel during peak and/or holiday periods and are not fussy about where we stay on-site, do spend the majority of our time at our home resort and lastly and most important in my book, would not be disappointed if we could only stay at HH the majority of the time. My nieces 6 and 9 actually both prefer our trips to HH over Disney - go figure!

 

[Mom B]

I know some of the experts said not to buy at Vero because of the higher maintenance fees, but we've never regretted buying our first contract at Vero. We have used our points at WDW, though we mostly go in January which typically is not a difficult time to get reservations. We are currently in the process of purchasing some OKW points and will probably add on until the two contracts are approximately equal numbers of points. We will alternate some years, but most of the time will want to spend a little time at Vero (usually BEFORE WDW in order to unwind and get ourselves "in shape" for the parks, lol) as well as WDW. The maintenance fee issue just never really bothered me...a couple hundred bucks more or less a year is not that big a deal. In my opinion, with Vero points, you can have the "best of both worlds."

 

[schwenksvillemouse]

I've been very happy with Vero. We got a really good deal when we bought in. We are not a family who needs to visit WDW every year. We go about every other year for five days. We have done a trip to Vero with a one night stay in WDW just for a taste for the kids.

 

[lisareniff]

I just caution people about buying VB to save money. It will not. We don't know how big of a difference MF will be over time or inflation for that matter to know the price difference at the end of the contract. It might work out the same in the end. But don't look at that $30 price difference and think it's a deal.

Buy VB contract because you like VB! We did!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

We bought VB based on the prices/units it would cost to purchase a beachfront timeshare futher north towards Maryland. It is a great deal when using that comparison. I would not buy it comparing it to WDW resorts. We bought VB points to use just for VB. We have separate points for WDW for home resort advantage. Now some buy the otherway around, WDW pts. to use at Vero Beach. So far, that has worked out. Not so sure about the near future. Already I am seeing waitlists for most of the summer months at VB.

 

[bigdave10000]

I just recently purchased a resale at HH. Here are some of the reasons.

1. Lower point cost. I was paying cash and wanted to get the most points for my money now.

2. I live in SC and have been visiting HH island for 20 years. I love it there. If I ever do want to use points to book at HH I will most likely need the 11 month booking window to get a resy in the summer months. HH is a small property making home ownership there more important.

3. When I do use my points at WDW I am not hung up on staying at a certain resort so booking at 7 months isn't a big deal to me. Plus I would usually be going at slower times of the year.

 

[R Dog Walt]

We have HH and BCV points. But a large portion of our points are at HH, we only have 50 at BCV.

We did get a "deal" on the HH points when we bought, but this isn't the only reason we bought there. We really enjoy HH, and being teachers we can't go any time but "prime time"- summer- so having the 11 month window really helps.

That being said, we've been to WDW MANY times on our points. We aren't too picky about where we want to stay as long as it's DVC, and I've only had one occasion when we couldn't get into SSR with the accommodations I had hoped for (a studio for NYE at 7 months out- I knew I was dreaming!). We ended up staying in a 1 bedroom instead. In the past, we've made SSR reservations for June in a studio as close as 2 months out and have gotten in. So as long as you're flexible- you can still use your points at WDW. Now with more and more DVC members, I don't know if it will get harder- but it seems as though they're always building a newer, bigger DVC resort.

We also have DVC friends who LOVE HH as well. We make their reservations at 11 months out, and they make ours for OKW or BCV where they have points- essentially "trading points" when we need it. It's worked out great.

 

[ffindis]

Hi,
We have Hilton Head points. We used to go to HH and DW both each year. Now we go mostly to DW. We have usually gotten the reservations we wanted, as long as we were flexible about resorts. When we haven't been able to make it work, it has always been on very short notice (like less than a month out). Good luck with whatever you decide.