We just bought and now may want more

[mlholster]

Hi all we are brand new owners at BLT. Now we are thinking we may want to purchase more. My question is, I know for the our contract BLT is our home resort but I have noticed that many of you have different contracts, what is the advantage of that besides the booking window? Is it hard to book at the other resorts within the 7 month window? I am waiting on our call back from our guide.
Thanks in advance

 

[chalee94]

Is it hard to book at the other resorts within the 7 month window?

it's very very difficult to book certain resorts (or rooms at certain resorts) at certain times at the 7 month window, yes.

VWL is the smallest DVC resort, and particularly at christmas (i.e. in december generally), you'd generally need to own there and book early.

BCV is also very small and is especially difficult during food and wine at epcot.

there are only a handful of concierge rooms (and a few more value rooms) at the AKV, so owning there is important if you want to book those categories. BWV-standard view rooms are also tough to book at 7 months.

 

[mlholster]

Thank you Charles. As I said we are new, we just purchased Friday. So it appears that availabilty is the biggest reason not have all your eggs in one basket.

 

[Golden Rose]

Yes, that 11 month booking window is definitely the reason to own at multiple resorts. We own at two at this point, and have certainly contemplated adding on at others. We've held off so far because money is tight this year, and because with the developer points we got on one of our contracts (bought from Disney) and the banked points that came with our other (bought resale) we have plenty of points for this year and will already be banking about a third of them, even taking three 5 day + trips this year.

We bought at AKV because we know we only want to stay there if we can get SV rooms, or Concierge. We know that getting Concierge level is a bit of a gamble even with owning points there, and that we'd have basically no chance at it if we tried to book at 7 months. We're not going to add on any more AKV points; we have enough to book at least one substantial vacation a year there, and that is enough for us.

We also have a BWV contract, bought because we love the F & W festival, and we love staying at either the BC or the BW when we attend. We knew we wanted either BCV or BWV, and were delighted to find a loaded resale contract with our use year for roughly the number of points we knew we wanted.

We will almost certainly add on again, at least once. Assuming Hawaii happens, we'll add enough points there to get a two bedroom ocean view villa once every three years. We considered a VGC add-on, but decided we just don't go to California enough to make it worth our while. We may eventually add on at BLT (or another monorail resort, if one is built by the time we're ready to buy again) so that we can get MK view. We're waiting to see just how hard it really is to get into BLT at the 7 month mark, and what our financial situation looks like in the next few years.

You'll find many people here on the boards who own at multiple resorts. I know I prefer to have all my contracts with the same use year, so that my points can be combined easily at the 7 month mark, but not everyone even does that.

 

[5forDiz]

Small add-ons at different resorts will help you get a few nights at a particular resort & get you advantage of 11 month booking window; for a longer stay you could bank year's worth of points to travel every other year or travel every 3rd year with both banking&borrowing. Points from different HRs cannot be combined for a reservation until 7 months out ( so BLT points cannot be used with VWL points to reserve a trip at VWL at Christmas until 7 months or less before check-in date ).

 

[mlholster]

Thank you all for your replies! So now we have to start thinking about what our needs may be.

 

[disneynutz]

Hi all we are brand new owners at BLT. Now we are thinking we may want to purchase more. My question is, I know for the our contract BLT is our home resort but I have noticed that many of you have different contracts, what is the advantage of that besides the booking window? Is it hard to book at the other resorts within the 7 month window? I am waiting on our call back from our guide.
Thanks in advance

As the DVC memberships continues to grow it is getting more difficult to book your favorite resorts and categories at 7 months. Owning at my favorite resorts keeps me happy.

 

[tecodis]

Hi all we are brand new owners at BLT. Now we are thinking we may want to purchase more. My question is, I know for the our contract BLT is our home resort but I have noticed that many of you have different contracts, what is the advantage of that besides the booking window? Is it hard to book at the other resorts within the 7 month window? I am waiting on our call back from our guide.
Thanks in advance

Sounds like you caught a case of "addonitis" - it's a tough bug to kick shortly after buying!

 

[Dizny Dad]

Sounds like you caught a case of "addonitis" - it's a tough bug to kick shortly after buying!

Beware!

Once a DVCr, you can never really "kick" Addonitus. It is as dangerous as any "mood altering" substance; you either get the next fix, or you stop using (but it never leaves you alone).

 

[SamSam]

Beware!

Once a DVCr, you can never really "kick" Addonitus. It is as dangerous as any "mood altering" substance; you either get the next fix, or you stop using (but it never leaves you alone).

So true! Dh and I are constantly trying to figure out how to add on without breaking the bank.

 

[DisneyWalker44]

Sounds like you caught a case of "addonitis" - it's a tough bug to kick shortly after buying!

It's tough, but I'd strongly recommend resisting the urge. Go on a few trips first. Stay in different resorts on your existing points. See what sort of vacation plan works with your family. Then possibly add on down the road with that knowledge.

My DVC usage is completely different from what I anticipated when I bought in. I'm very glad I waited to add-on.

 

[mlholster]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Is there a 12 step program for this urge?

 

[Scott H]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Is there a 12 step program for this urge?

No vacine, no 12 step program, just enjoyment.... and what's wrong with that, nadda zip zilch... it's a flavor of koolaid I like. More Please....

 

[TOM&LORIE]

I will simply add one other thought ... get into the contract before significantly determining your needs. My bride and I bought an original contract of 150 pts at the BWV in 2006 and once we stayed we saw that it was simply too few for our needs. We added a 75 pt contract on for the same use year (VERY important) and have been very happy with 225. Our family is growing in age and the next few years will bring us to Florida less frequently BUT as my children begin families we will need more. My goal is to provide them with 1-2 weeks at WDW when they have a family PLUS enough for my bride and I to be baby-sitters if they so desire. I believe over the years we will need 600-700 DVC pts. They will be purchased over time in small contracts AND they will be at different resorts as development occurs on WDW property. My personal preference in resorts is the BWV as we can walk to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. I would consider AKV if there was a walking path from it to AK but it makes no sense if I have to ride a bus, I can do that from BWV.

Sorry, part of that was a rant. I will sum it up by saying, get in the mode of using this new "tool" in your hand and then see what you need. You may find that it is exactly what you need but then again you might need to add on. My bride is an artist at the use of the DVC "tool" .. PM if you ever have questions.

 

[dcfromva]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Is there a 12 step program for this urge?

My urge to add on is seasonal.... It is generally at its lowest in the Dec/Jan timeframe....

 

[CMOORE185]

As the DVC memberships continues to grow it is getting more difficult to book your favorite resorts and categories at 7 months. Owning at my favorite resorts keeps me happy.

Personally we have had very little problem getting what we want at 7 months out, and we only travel during busy times because of school. anyone else feel this way.

 

[M5ward]

We initially bought 220 points at SSR. We then added an additional 100 points and are now in the process of adding another 150 points. All of our additional points are at SSR and fall in the same use year. We have never had too much problem booking another resort at 7 months. We are going to the World in October (F&W Festival) and got into BCV at 7 months out. I am trying to keep this as easy as possible for my kids who will inherit.
Even if we couldn't get into another resort at 7 months, we would be prefectly satisfied with our home resort.
The only reason we even added points is that our kids' families are growing, and one of them (there are 5) and their family accompany us most of the time.

 

[DisneyWalker44]

Personally we have had very little problem getting what we want at 7 months out, and we only travel during busy times because of school. anyone else feel this way.

I've never booked at the absolute most popular times - Christmas, NYE, etc. But I have booked at different peak and non-peak times, and never had a problem if I called first thing at exactly 7 months. I've always gotten the category and resort I wanted.

I have found a huge difference between 6 1/2 months and 7 months lately. 6 1/2 months used to be early enough to get what I want. Now it isn't. Could 7 months start to be a problem down the road? Don't know.

 

[dcfromva]

Personally we have had very little problem getting what we want at 7 months out, and we only travel during busy times because of school. anyone else feel this way.

How long have you been members? When do you normally travel?

We generally book at the 11month point at our home resort. But, otherwise we quite often find ourselves on the waiting list--though it isn't generally right at the 7 month point. Our last three stays we were on a W-L before a match came up--In Jan for Marathon Weekend (no surprise there) and we only got one day out the two we were trying for, the first Thurs/Fri in Feb and March20-22.

 

[CMOORE185]

How long have you been members? When do you normally travel?

We generally book at the 11month point at our home resort. But, otherwise we quite often find ourselves on the waiting list--though it isn't generally right at the 7 month point. Our last three stays we were on a W-L before a match came up--In Jan for Marathon Weekend (no surprise there) and we only got one day out the two we were trying for, the first Thurs/Fri in Feb and March20-22.

We have been members since 2000, we travel every spring break(march),this past March we got BWV, boardwalk view, 2 BR. We actually had more of a problem geeting VB we, spent 3 days their in a 1BR before we went to BWV. We go once every summer, July or August to disney world.