Waht to Do About VB?

[CorbsVWL]

We just got back from 3 days at VB and 3 days at VWL.
VWL is our home and we had never been to VB until last week.

My dilema is this...
We absolutely loved VB (wished we could have stayed the whole week)!
We got in off the wait list for 3 days only 4 days before our trip.
We had been on it for the whole week since 9am on the first day of the 7 month window.

Since we travel from Boston, usually during school vacation and need a 2BR, we constantly struggle with making plane reservations and making sure we have accommodations.

Although we love VWL and Disney, I really found our time at VB much more relaxing and enjoyable (especially due to the age of my children and we often vacation with my children's grandparents). I think we will probably be spending more time vacation at VB in the next several years.

We tried to get in off the wait list for the whole week this past trip (versus day-by-day because I was concerned about getting stuck with nights with no accomodations). Obviously this didn't work out and I'm concerned about future reservations.

We were thinking about selling our VWL points and buying at VB to make sure we can book at the 11 month window.
Anyone have any thoughts/similar experiences?

How many 2BR are at VB?

Thanks!

 

[Firefighter Mickey]

You'll probably take a real financial "bath" by selling the VWL points just to purchase Vero.

What was it about Vero that you loved? If it was just being by the ocean and you aren't really worried about whether it's a Disney resort or not, have you thought about looking into other timeshare options? You might be able to purchase a resale at a decent resort for significantly less than what you spent on DVC. of course for a lot of us, the attraction is Disney, so this might not be an option for you.

Would it be possible to do what you want by doing an add-on contract at Vero? We own 70 points there specifically for the 11 month window, and using banking and borrowing can usually come up with some decent vacations.

Or, maybe you could find someone willing to trade contracts?

Sorry, I'm not sure how many 2BR units there are - but Vero is one of the smallest resorts, so that can make it even more difficult during really popular seasons.

 

[mrsdon]

Heres what I would do..
I liove the VWL and dont have points there.
I DO have points at VB.
Find someone you can trade ressies with.

 

[dvcdudes]

I really don't have any knowlege of this but aren't VWL points selling for more than VB points?
Maybe selling VWL and buying VB resale would be the way to go.
I also like "mrsdon's" idea. This way you would be able to have 11 months at WDW and trade for 11 months at VB.

 

[BuzzLightYear3]

Don't know if we'll always be able to do this, but we booked our home resort (BWV) at the 11 month window, and then at the 7 month window called for VB reservations. We wanted to do 4 nights at BWV and then 5 nights at VB (but I originally booked the whole trip at BWV so that we had something set and could get our plane tickets.) I waited until 7 months before the end of the VB leg (i.e. didn't call day by day), and I got the first 2 nights on points, and made cash reservations for the last 3 nights. They put me on an automatic wait list for points for the 3rd and 4th nights (meaning they just automatically converted me from cash to points when those nights became available) which happend at 6 months out. I kept the last night on cash because it's a weekend, so I figured I'd save the points. All of these reservations were for a 2BR; not sure if those are generally easier or more difficult to get at VB.

I know the cash inventory will be reduced as the resort sells out, so this may not always be a feasible approach but it worked this year. By the way, we're traveling with non-DVC member friends, and they booked a VB 2BR Villa 6 months out on cash with no problems.

We haven't even been to VB yet, but I'm already wondering if we too should buy some points there. They do seem to be readily available as Resales. The one thing that stops me from buying is that although I think we'll also find the VB part of the trip preferable since we have young kids, the kids won't always be young, and I wonder if they'll be bored there when they're teenagers. That thought makes me keep coming back to just adding more points at BWV and squeezing in VB when we can make it work.

 

[dougmatt]

I have my big contract at BWV, an add on at VB and an add on at HH.. Best of all worlds! I can make home resort off or on whenever I need to.. I bought the VB add-on through dvc, but the hh add on at resale. If you really like VB either A)look for a cheap add on resale or dvc (about the same unless owner pays closing on the resale), or B) do as someone suggested and trade out for an 11 month booking when you want to go. My favorite on-site is VWL (currently on wait list for addon), so I know I would be willing to trade as we only do VB every other year or so......
Up to you

Also Sometimes I find this great sense of urgency to DO SOMETHING about my points situation, but in reality I should take a "wait and see cause it will change attitude". The resort isn't going anywhere. AND I find every year my vacation needs change. One year HH is PERFECT, the next I really need a Disney trip, and the next an exchange, and so on....

 

[walter]

Similar to FirefighterMickey, we purchased 50 points at VB to allow a short stay after visiting the parks and staying at OKW.