We took the plunge (was why does OKW tend to be cheaper...)

[BWVDee]

Why does OKW tend to be cheaper than BWV or BCV

Think about it, it is not that difficult of a concept.
Why is the cash price of an OKW room cheaper than the cash price of a room at BWV or BCV? What makes these rooms worth a higher price? Same idea with why is a room at POR cheaper than a room at the Poly? Same reason a hotel room in a major city is more expensive if you are in the heart of the city and can walk to attractions, restaurants etc than a hotel room that is located a couple of miles outside of the heart of that city.
Disney is very good at pricing their resorts according to the location, guest amenitites and services offered and this includes their DVC resorts.
Obviously the size of the rooms are not a big factor in pricing rooms at Disney because you can get a garden room at the Contemporary much cheaper than a room at the YC, and the room in the garden wing of the Contemporary is much, much larger than a standard room at YC. Yet the price is higher at the YC because it is in a superior location and offers their guests more convenience and services.
The construction costs of resorts have very little to do with the cost of the rooms today! If Disney operated that way then rooms at the Poly should be some of the cheapest on property since this resort was one of the first constructed and the costs were much lower than when the YC was built and yet the rooms are priced the same!
The Hotel/Motel/Resort industry has always priced rooms etc this way, I can not understand for the life of me, why some people find this a difficult concept to understand when it comes to DVC resorts.
BWV and BCV are higher priced resort because they are in superior locations and offer their guests more amenitites and services. Bottom line: they are higher end resorts, and these are Disney's words--not mine. Although I do fully agree with those words, I can not take credit for them.

 

[spiceycat]

I doubt any other old hotels - like the Polyn - has had the upgrade not to mention the number of rehabits - Disney takes care of their property.

so just because when the Polyn was new it was $39 a night - it is not location along - when sometimes needs to be done at the Polyn it is done. This take money - lots of money. they tried everything to do away with the mold smell - so now they are completely gutting the building and starting over. Not many resorts would do that - they would complete level the resorts first - but the people that stay at the Polyn love the look of the place and this will kept the look but upgrade the inside.....

this is a very expensive way to do this - but the Polyn is know for its service.

OKW was located to be in the middle of the magic - and it is - it is surposely located in the middle of the property. Not close to any theme parks - but close to golf (most timeshares are sold to golfers- Hilton, Marriott - the ones who buy here are generally golfers - it is who they cater too). Disney thought that they were originially going to be like the other timeshares - it didn't take them long to realize that people were buying DVC because they liked Disney not golf.....So the management got a different mind set - start branching out into other things - conceirge collection, adventure collection, - that golfers would generally not be into....

Also OKW was designed for olders guest - one that wanted to relax and enjoy life - not go to the parks and be surrounded by the parks the entire time they were at their homeaway from home.

Again DVC got a shock they have by far the youngest membership of any timeshare by FAR.....this is changing most young people are learning the joys of timesharing - but still as far as young members DVC was the first (that I know of) and it still has a very young membership for a timeshare.

I am very happy with the location of OKW - when I am at WDW - I want to relax as well as go to the theme parks.

I also love my membership at BWV and VWL - but for different - very different reason - I love the look and feel of WL/vWL - I like being able to watch the EWP from the beach. I also like BWV - it is great for quick trips to Epcot or Studios - but I hate the parking.....I also would never stay at BWV unless I intend to go to the parks - with OKW that is not issue - your trip is great even if you don't step a foot into a WDW theme park. Now probably with SALB this is true of BCV too - however I would have a problem not going to the parks if I stayed here.....

I don't have alot of will power - seeing the parks everyday but not going inside - no - I am much better off - on my no parks trips to stay at OKW.

when BWV first opened - the DVC member (OKW was DVC) say how horrible - when VWL was first opened (again how horrible), BCV and SSR same thing.

Disney knows that different people like different things - so that is the basic behind their resorts and DVC - just because you don't like something does not mean another person doesn't love it....

 

[BillPA]

WELCOME HOME!!!

You have been provided with the basic why the points are less at OKW and the 'usual mine is better comments'. The BWV also has lower points if you can plan ahead and book into the standard view units.

I suggest since you are an owner, go look at ALL the other resorts, you might even want to stay a night or 2 in the ones that 'feel' right to you to help determine your next "Home away from Home". Then look for a resale at which ever location fits your needs. You can stay at any DVC resort with points owned at any other DVC, you just are not able to try to reserve the trip until 7 months out. If you do not or can not plan more than 7 months ahead then it doesn't matter where you own, I would then use the lowest cost option.

We have found great thing about each of the DVC resorts. We own at 3 locations, and we added a 2 night stay at SSR to our 2 week trip this summer, so it might be 4 soon.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[BWVDee]

Originally posted by BillPA
You have been provided with the basic why the points are less at OKW and the 'usual mine is better comments'.

Just where in this thread do you see any "mine is better comments"? All the replies I have read on this thread, that actually answered the question, merely stated the facts.

On this board the good, the bad and the ugly can be said and is often said about every WDW resort and every DVC resort except OKW, it is ridicuous! And what is even more ridiculous is that this has continued for years on this board. Consequently often times people get an inaccurate impression of OKW from reading this board. Because of the outrage some express, if heaven forbid someone says something is not 100% perfect at OKW, many people do not even bother to waste their time posting and trying to give accurate information. The quote below from another poster on this thread is a perfect example of this!

As far as the question in your thread comparing OKW to WLV. I really think your best bet is to visit OKW. (It sounds like you have already been to WL so you can already compare that). My husband and I had almost decieded to do an add-on at OKW instead of our home resort after reading so much about it here, but we decided to go there first and we were glad we did. Don't get me wrong, OKW is nice and the rooms are bigger, but for us that was not enough. We didn't like how far some of the rooms were from the restaurant or store. We also didn't like that you have to go outside to get to the store or restaurant, I think this may have been that we had a lot of rain at the time and we don't rent a car so if you wanted to go eat, you had to get wet. We also like the interior corridors at a resort as opposed to entering your room from the outside. I am glad we went, we had a great time, but I just don't think I would want to stay there all the time, so I wouldn't want it as one of my home resorts. For this reason, I think it would be best if you went to OKW or any other resort that you think you might want to buy into and check it out for yourself.

 

[PamOKW]

Originally posted by spiceycat
OKW was located to be in the middle of the magic - Not close to any theme parks - but close to golf (most timeshares are sold to golfers- Hilton, Marriott - the ones who buy here are generally golfers - it is who they cater too). /B]

I think you are right that the golfer was Disney's intended first target with DVC. They made it a point to stress the golf at both HHI and Vero as well. At one member meeeting a tall Texan gave a big "harumph" to Vero when he heard it wasn't actually on a golf course. In his words, "if there's no golf he's not interested." Disney keeps trying to capitalize on their tremendous courses -- a few years ago they announced a deal with Tiger Woods at about the same time they announced the Eagle Pines project. After 9/11, that may have been put on hold but maybe we'll see it come to life again as part of the "golfer's paradise" at WDW.

Non-golfers (or those who vacation on golf courses elsewhere) may not realize how wonderful staying on the course is to many folks. It's something unique at WDW that no other resort at WDW offers.

As to pricing -- When I talk about cost, I'm talking about how Disney translates the cost of real estate ownership into the point schedule. DVC owners are paying the construction costs upfront. If it costs Disney $10 million to build BWV then they need to get that money back through the sale of real estate interest/points. They could create a point schedule that was the same as OKW but they would have to raise the price per point to come to $10 million. By charging more points per room, they can also charge fewer dollars per point. They also work in a profit premium that I'm sure is influenced by the location of the resort.

When Disney pays $10 million to build AKL, they have the entire life of the resort to recoup those costs and can continue to raise the price of the rooms. In the long run, they probably get much more money from the resorts but they get the money a lot quicker from selling DVC resorts and still having the extra income of renting out some of the rooms themselves.

 

[BWVDee]

Originally posted by PamOKW
Non-golfers (or those who vacation on golf courses elsewhere) may not realize how wonderful staying on the course is to many folks. It's something unique at WDW that no other resort at WDW offers.

Are you forgetting the old Disney Inn that is now SOG??

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Okay, let me see if I get this straight:

The Hatfields vote in favor of OKW
The McCoys vote in favor of VWL

Is that correct?

 

[PamOKW]

Haven't forgotten SOG -- It also abuts a golf course but isn't laid out around a golf course a la OKW. It's also unavailable to the vast majority of people who visit WDW. The fact that people who used to stay there when it was the Disney Inn still speak of it fondly is an indication of how many people do like that golf course feel at WDW. SSR is also somewhat on the course but still not "in it" like OKW is and as Eagle Pines was described.

 

[PamOKW]

I just had a thought that some of the people who are just investigating DVC may not realize. DVC points were always priced the same no matter which resort you bought. When OKW, BWV, HHI and Vero were all for sale at the same time the quoted price for a point was the same no matter which resort you purchased. There were sometimes bigger incentives to buy at one resort over another in terms of how much Disney would pay to "buy back" a year's worth of points but the sticker price was always the same. Currently, DVC has no other resort for sale except SSR and doing resales of points they bought back from the other resorts. This has made a two-tier system because of the extra years at SSR.

 

[BWVDee]

Originally posted by PamOKW
Haven't forgotten SOG -- It also abuts a golf course but isn't laid out around a golf course a la OKW. It's also unavailable to the vast majority of people who visit WDW. The fact that people who used to stay there when it was the Disney Inn still speak of it fondly is an indication of how many people do like that golf course feel at WDW. SSR is also somewhat on the course but still not "in it" like OKW is and as Eagle Pines was described.

Point is, there is and has been since pre OKW, another resort at WDW that offers a golf course view. OKW is not unique or the only resort that offers this to their guests.
BTW, I liked Disney Inn very much and golf holds no interest for me nor does a view of a golf course. Our home in NJ is practically on top of a very nice country club with a beautiful golf course and it doesn't do a thing for me. The main reason I liked Disney Inn is because, at that time, MK was the only game in town and the location of Disney Inn was wonderful.
I would still stay, at the now SOG, for a few days because it is very convenient to MK, the rooms are among the largest on WDW property and it is a very peaceful, yet convenient resort. And now that DS is active military this is definitely something in the possible future.

 

[RuthnPaul]

Wow!! Thanks to all of you for your valuable insights into OKW --this certainly gives us a lot to think about. My husband and I are going to step back a bit to digest all this information and give some additional thought about the location and amenities that matter the most to us!

Ruth n Paul

 

[RLevy29]

Congratulations on your BWV purchase. It seems like you have the "add-on bug" that a lot of us get. We own at both OKW and BCV. We have so far stayed at OKW twice, HH twice and VB once. We are planning trips to VWL and BCV this year. I also stayed at BWV with a friend. I have yet to find a DVC I didn't like. They are all beautiful resorts with superior accomodations.
My point is that you can buy at any resort and stay at any DVC if there is availability. Of course busy times of the year and adventure season you need the 11 month window to get into the resort of your choice. That is the reason that we bought BCV so we could get a room at Christmas time. Anyway, think about what trips you might want to take before you make your decision.

 

[TDC Nala]

What OKW has that BCV and BWV don’t

Two beds in studio (or in second bedroom)
Larger rooms
Parking outside villa door
Golf nearby
Its own bus system (not shared with other resorts)
Boat transportation to Downtown Disney
One restaurant
Side-by-side washer/dryer
Poolside laundry for studio dwellers

What BCV and BWV have that OKW doesn’t

Pull out sofa in studio or second bedroom
Walking distance to Epcot and MGM (or boat transportation)
Lots of various restaurants within walking distance (including Epcot’s World Showcase)
Pool slide (OKW will be building one)
Room service
Valet parking
Shared checkin with attached resort hotels
BCV doesn’t have a community hall or grand villas
Hallways and room doors are inside
Split bathroom (sink and toilet in separate areas) for studio or second bedroom
Stacking washer/dryer
Some restaurants at BCV and laundry for studio dwellers at both are inside resort – no need to go outside

OKW is most likely cheaper because: 1) it's older (and they didn't want to raise the point totals); 2) it isn't near a theme park; 3) it has outdoor access to rooms ("motel" or "condo" style rather than "hotel" style).

 

[dizneeluvr]

Can't contribute to this discussion, but wanted to say

"Hi! Fellow St. Charlesan".

 

[RuthnPaul]

dizneeluvr,

Glad to know there are other Disney fanatics in the St. Charles, MO, area!! Who knows, maybe our paths will cross some day (either in St. Chuck or at WDW)..

Ruth M

 

[Terry S]

FYI for you list. BCV does have 2 beds in the second bedroom of some (25) of their 2 bedrooms and you can specifically reserve one of these rooms. These rooms will most likely get reserved by members at the 11th month window.

 

[dianeschlicht]

One other thing that I don't think was mentioned is that dues are less at OKW.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

One more piece of advice. If you ever plan to stay at WDW during Christmas, buy the add-on at VWL. Everyone raves about how fabulous the resort is decorated for the holidays and apparently it is difficult to book that week if you don't have the 11-mo advantage. Other than that, they are both great resorts and you really won't go wrong with either one of them.

 

[Desperado]

Originally posted by RuthnPaul
Why does OKW tend to be cheaper than BWV or BCV

There is evidence from posts about availability on this forum from people reporting thier expiences in making reservations that even though OKW requires less points and is cheaper, that there is less demand per number of units for OKW than for BWV or BCV. Given the larger rooms and other OKW pluses, this may be due to the more proximate location and dependance on buses of cars for transportation options. Please note, this opinion is not based on an official DVC statement or report, just one posters observation of posts on this forum.

 

[Desperado]

Originally posted by TDC Nala
What OKW has that BCV and BWV don’t

Two beds in studio (or in second bedroom)
Larger rooms
Parking outside villa door
Golf nearby
Its own bus system (not shared with other resorts)
Boat transportation to Downtown Disney
One restaurant
Side-by-side washer/dryer
Poolside laundry for studio dwellers

What BCV and BWV have that OKW doesn’t

Pull out sofa in studio or second bedroom
Walking distance to Epcot and MGM (or boat transportation)
Lots of various restaurants within walking distance (including Epcot’s World Showcase)
Pool slide (OKW will be building one)
Room service
Valet parking
Shared checkin with attached resort hotels
BCV doesn’t have a community hall or grand villas
Hallways and room doors are inside
Split bathroom (sink and toilet in separate areas) for studio or second bedroom
Stacking washer/dryer
Some restaurants at BCV and laundry for studio dwellers at both are inside resort – no need to go outside

OKW is most likely cheaper because: 1) it's older (and they didn't want to raise the point totals); 2) it isn't near a theme park; 3) it has outdoor access to rooms ("motel" or "condo" style rather than "hotel" style).

Great list, thanks.