We don't own where we really want to stay....

[mickeymom629]

and haven't since 1999.

We own at HH & VB and have never had a problem booking at WDW 2 bedroom whenever we have wanted to go - mostly popular times when the kids are out of school. We've had luck with everywhere (except BCV).

I'm reading some threads with some pretty calculating ways of reserving nights unnecessarily to get what they want and it's scaring me.

If I find that with the new reservation policy that I can't book at the 7 month window for Christmas week 2009 (any 2 bedroom), I think we would seriously consider having our home resort on WDW property if we find we can't book the way we always have been. I don't even know how to go about doing this. I guess we sell and then re-buy?

My kids are getting older, and DH may have more flexible vacations (smaller accomodations) soon, so maybe I'm worrying for nothing.

 

[hakepb]

It will be interesting to see how the policies and increased units online (Kidani, BLY, GCV, THV..) all work out for your plans. I would guess the increased units will help your cause more than the policies hurt it, at least this year..

 

[Buckeye Fan]

I see your stays are mostly at OKW? If so, I think there will be availability at OKW, SSR and AKV at 7 month window just because of the size of the resorts. Who knows what the future holds, but when I call at the 7 month mark, I've had wonderful luck! VB and HHI are actually more difficult to get at certain times.

On the other hand, if you aren't using your HHI/VB points to stay at those locations, you may consider selling and picking up an OKW contract through resale. It would give you the 8 - 11 month booking window, plus, your MFs would significantly reduce. Some brokers will list your contracts with no cost to you (until you sell), and will allow you to pull the contract at any time with no obligation.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[mickeymom629]

On the other hand, if you aren't using your HHI/VB points to stay at those locations, you may consider selling and picking up an OKW contract through resale. It would give you the 8 - 11 month booking window, plus, your MFs would significantly reduce. Some brokers will list your contracts with no cost to you (until you sell), and will allow you to pull the contract at any time with no obligation.

We only bought at HH because, at the time, dues were cheaper and we thought we might stay there because it's slightly closer to home, but we found out that we'd rather drive 4 more hours and get to WDW! VB was a quick add on and I don't see us (ever?) going there. Are you saying that my dues will be cheaper if I own at OKW?

Do I contact the sponsors of this site (info above)? Will they help us buy/sell? Yes, we usually stay at OKW because of the lower points, larger rooms, and availability.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Granny]

We only bought at HH because, at the time, dues were cheaper and we thought we might stay there because it's slightly closer to home, but we found out that we'd rather drive 4 more hours and get to WDW! VB was a quick add on and I don't see us (ever?) going there. Are you saying that my dues will be cheaper if I own at OKW?

Do I contact the sponsors of this site (info above)? Will they help us buy/sell? Yes, we usually stay at OKW because of the lower points, larger rooms, and availability.

Thanks for any help!

Depending on whether you have the subsidized VB dues or not, OKW dues will either be a little less or a lot less.

For 2008 the dues were:

OKW: $4.56

VB Subsidized: $4.71

VB Unsubsidized: $6.04

And yes, your only option if you want to own on-site would be to sell your current contract(s) and buy points either through resale or direct through Disney. For OKW I'd say you could do well to purchase through resale, and yes The Timeshare Store linked at the top of this page would be a good choice to help sell your current points and buy resale points.

What you are dreading is why so many people on these boards suggest to purchase where you want to stay the most. For the difference in point costs it really doesn't pay to go through 30-50 years of worrying about getting the resort reservation that you really want. Just my two cents.

Good luck!

 

[mickeymom629]

I will look into it. In 1999, when we bought, I don't think I knew about these boards, so I didn't see the advice about "buy where you want to stay". And I have had no reason to complain because I've always gotten the 2 bedroom when we needed it, though not always at my first choice but that's to be expected even if we own at OKW. We got the VB points on a special offer at the time. Both buys, I got the cm discount and we paid in full. We have 150 HH, 50 VB. I won't want to do it if it will cost me any more money in the trade.

I'll have to start a new thread for advice from people who have done this I guess.

 

[logan115]

I will look into it. In 1999, when we bought, I don't think I knew about these boards, so I didn't see the advice about "buy where you want to stay". And I have had no reason to complain because I've always gotten the 2 bedroom when we needed it, though not always at my first choice but that's to be expected even if we own at OKW. We got the VB points on a special offer at the time. Both buys, I got the cm discount and we paid in full. We have 150 HH, 50 VB. I won't want to do it if it will cost me any more money in the trade.

I'll have to start a new thread for advice from people who have done this I guess.

May want to check this thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1960185&page=29 to see the resale data that Donald is #1 maintains (one of my absolute favs as I'm considering joining DVC via resale).

I'm not nearly as knowledgeable as others here, but from what I gather it looks like OKW resales are going for $5-$10 more than HHI currently.

HOWEVER, when you look at the difference in dues OKW looks like it will cost you less in the long run. As a PP pointed out, if you have "unsubsidized" dues at HH you're paying $6.04/pt per year, OKW is $4.56, a difference of $1.48/yr. If you "pay up" and sell HH and buy OKW and pay $10/pt for example, you will break even in about 7 years ($10 higher point value / $1.48 cheaper dues).

So it's somewhat similar to refinancing your mortgage - if you're going to be in DVC for at least another 7 years AND can pay the $1500 or so to switch you'll be better off in the long terms swapping into OKW. Better from the standpoint of both cheaper dues and having the ability to book OKW at the 11 month window.

SSR resales are looking pretty good as well, but a little bit pricier than OKW, but these contracts are also good for another 12 years (2054 expiration at SSR vs 2042 for OKW contracts that don't have the extension), and the dues are pretty similar.

Good luck,

Chris

 

[Simba's Mom]

As far as the sell/buy thing, I can tell you our experiences with that. We bought where we thought we'd want to stay, but after one stay there and then elsewhere, we realized where we'd bought wasn't for us. I called our guide, but DVC doesn't do anything if you want to change home resorts. We bought a new contract before we sold, only because I told DH that I refused to be without a DVC home for even one day! Then we sold through the same resaler (Jaki at the time). We've never regretted doing it, because now we have the satisfaction of being owners where we love.

 

[mickeymom629]

Thanks for the rough estimates. It sounds promising. I was just looking at the Timeshare store and there are a couple of decent listings for SSR and BWV for $/pp and the amount of points I would want. I'd be happy with any WDW property.

Funny thing is that I have always had a June UY, and I don't know if I could change my way of thinking if I got a different one

 

[HookdonWDW]

Another thing to look at is the Rent/Trade board. Using our Home Resort Priority, we've exchanged reservations at BCV and VWL (our home resorts) for summer reservations at HH.

You might want to look at this if booking gets tough.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

Thanks for the rough estimates. It sounds promising. I was just looking at the Timeshare store and there are a couple of decent listings for SSR and BWV for $/pp and the amount of points I would want. I'd be happy with any WDW property.

Funny thing is that I have always had a June UY, and I don't know if I could change my way of thinking if I got a different one

If June works for you, don't change it.

Also, do a google on Disney Vacation Club Resales. I can't speak for the sponsor, but have heard wonderful things about them. Also, Jaki Apetz is great. There is no obligation through her, and you can pull your listings at any time. Everyone seems to take a similar cut...about 8 - 10% of the sale price.

 

[mickeymom629]

Another thing to look at is the Rent/Trade board. Using our Home Resort Priority, we've exchanged reservations at BCV and VWL (our home resorts) for summer reservations at HH.

That's a good idea!

I hate to sell if I don't have to. It's a hard dilema: I got cm discount years ago, so my cost per point was less (we paid in full). Now I will have to pay more (the difference) to buy the same amount of points (or more) at a better location for us (WDW!).

But to book at 11 months out would be so cool! Only did that a couple of times with HH, and cancelled all but once, to switch to WDW.

I'd like to sell before I buy, so it won't seem like such a financial burden, but I don't want to be DVCless either!

 

[jbrowna]

To OP - since you bought at CM discount your options for selling may be limited. Our DD is a CM, and so we have purchased with a discount. However, part of the paperwork she signed is that we cannot sell our DVC except back to Disney. The idea, I suppose, is to prevent people from buying at a discount and then turning around and selling for less of a discount, making a profit but underselling Disney at the same time.

Perhaps they didn't make you sign something like that back in '99, but you do need to check into it!

 

[mickeymom629]

To OP - since you bought at CM discount your options for selling may be limited. Our DD is a CM, and so we have purchased with a discount. However, part of the paperwork she signed is that we cannot sell our DVC except back to Disney. The idea, I suppose, is to prevent people from buying at a discount and then turning around and selling for less of a discount, making a profit but underselling Disney at the same time.

Perhaps they didn't make you sign something like that back in '99, but you do need to check into it!

Wow, thanks for mentioning that! I will check. It makes sense.

 

[disneynutz]

As DVD sells more units and adds members, all those new members will be trying to stay at your favorite resort.

I don't care what it costs. If I can't stay where I want, when I want, why belong to the DVC?

Buy where you love to stay!

 

[phyllisnnj]

If I find that with the new reservation policy that I can't book at the 7 month window for Christmas week 2009 (any 2 bedroom), I think we would seriously consider having our home resort on WDW property if we find we can't book the way we always have been. I don't even know how to go about doing this. I guess we sell and then re-buy?

Just something to think about....

Over the last ten years you've only visited WDW in December twice.
Is it worth sell ing and re-buying if you really haven't had a problem booking a WDW stay when you normally visit WDW?

Perhaps when you want to make those rare visits to WDW in December, you can rent your HH and Vero Points and use the cash to rent XMAS week from another DVC member.

 

[mickeymom629]

Perhaps when you want to make those rare visits to WDW in December, you can rent your HH and Vero Points and use the cash to rent XMAS week from another DVC member

Good point. I haven't done that before, but am actually in the process of renting (for the first time) for a May 2009 stay at SSR.

I meant that I am hoping to book (using my points) our next trip in 2009 for that time, and I just hope it's not all booked up - which it has never been before. I have never had a problem getting a 2 bedroom reservation for any time that I've wanted, though not necessarily at my first choice resort.

I also realize that, even if we owned at a WDW property, I may not necessarily want to always stay at that resort all the time and I'd still be in the same dilema. But at least I'd be on WDW property somewhere if I had 11 months out to book.