What home resort(s) do you own and why?

[ScubaCat]

BCV because it's the best resort on property.

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

We own VGF, because VGF!

 

[senadler]

We bought resale at BCV about 5 years ago at a great price. We knew we would always be happy staying there with SAB and the proximity to Epcot. We have stayed there about half the time, with other stays at both BLT and the Poly. The Poly is absolutely our favorite resort, but for trips with the full family we need a 2 BR, which is the main reason we purchased DVC, so that would not work for a home resort.

I think you absolutely have to be happy staying at your home resort. I currently have our longest trip ever planned for next spring with just my two youngest, for a total of eight nights. We have all nights booked at BCV, but will try to change to a split stay with the Poly for the the first four nights. If we are not able to book at seven months, we would still happy with staying at BCV.

 

[com_op_2000]

OKW - it was the only resort that was the Vacation Club when I first joined.
Have not bought another resort cause of pricing at the time we were adding on and year left on the contract do not match our current life expectancy.
Which I would of bought some BCV or BWV points years ago.

 

[JimC]

AKV - favorite resort for an immersive theme and the animals
BCV - location for flower/garden, food/wine, Christmas
OKW - great resort, low cost option for 7 month reservations elsewhere
VGC - well executed theme, great location

 

[Dr Gevil]

When DW and I were on our honeymoon in 1998, we stayed at Coronado Springs, but fell in love with the Beach Club. Theme of the resort, SAB, location between Epcot and DHS, Boardwalk - esp. Jelly Rolls at the time , etc. Years later, once we had the money, got a great BCV contract resale and have been on many happy trips since.

Addonitis hit not too later after the BCV purchase, and we added a second resale contract at AKV. The whole family loves the animals/grounds and the restaurants - Bread Service at Sanaa has become a must do each trip! And now that we are DVC, we actually love AKV being away from the parks, as we are taking more and more advantage of resort activities vs going commando at the parks like we used to do.

 

[DougEMG]

We've bought between 2010-2014. We bought BWV because of the location and the price was right. We bought SSR and OKW because the price was right. So the common theme is that we bought because I thought the price was right. I wish we had of bought at BLT, but I though it was too expensive, now it is even more

 

[lovin'fl]

This may be a long post. We started with 200 OKW points. Bought cheapest WDW resale at the time...May 2006. We wanted the most points our money could get. We initially planned to go 1-2 times a year and get a 1BR and picking different resorts at the 7 month window to try everything out. Kids were in year round school so we planned to go during off season intersessions like in September. We have stayed at OKW twice and like it just fine but it's at the bottom of our preference list. We have been able to use our OKW at every east coast DVC except VGF and Poly but we haven't tried to stay at those and might not due to high point cost.

Our three kiddos became teens and we needed to upgrade to 2BR villas. So we added more points and went with HHI because they too were cheaper contracts via resale. Plus we figured we could save money every other year by doing beach trips...no park tickets needed or airfare as HHI was easier drive for us. We had one HHI trip under our belts and loved it there and it was one of the tougher to get resies at 7 months out (using our OKW points). Nice to own HHI for summer trips there. Added 50 and 25 HHI points for cheap...$50pp.

Then we went to add some more HHI points and were in ROFR when the sellers cancelled on us. We were also planning a big family Xmas trip to WDW and SIL, owner of AKV points, wanted to book AKV. It was always my dream resort since our very first Disney trip in 2003. So on impulse buy we jumped on a loaded 100 AKV contract for pretty cheap...$66pp. We booked rooms for 3 families at Xmas with that loaded contract. But within two years we realized that we could use our OKW to book at AKV, no problem. And when resale prices skyrocketed we listed it and sold that very day, for $80pp. We did end up adding 50 more HHI points too.

Between buying and then reselling the AKV contract we also added on at BWV. We had started going to F&W every year and wanted an Epcot resort for those trips. You really have to own at one of those if you want to book for F&W time. We calculated what we'd need to book a few weeknights in a standard view studio and figured 55 would be enough. We went on WL for both our UY...we have two UY. We could have got BWV or BCV at the same price and they offered a $7pp off deal for any add ons over 50 points. We chose BWV to be able to save points with the standard view category. Our June UY came through and then two months later we got a call that they forgot to take us off Aug UY WL and those were available if we wanted. We took 25 of those, couldn't resist. As it turns out, that was a good decision because it is hard to get standard view studios for F&W even as an owner who books exactly on the 11 month window. So we end up with P/G view or 1BR villas, which we prefer 1BRs anyway. Also glad we went with BWV over BCV now that BCV has removed the jetted tubs and ceiling fans from the 1/2BR villas.

So, now we have 3 resorts, 2 UY, 405 points in 6 contracts. We use HHI and BWV almost exclusively at those resorts. We use OKW all over. We like AKV, VWL, BWV and BCV as well as HHI. We have enough points total, but wish we had more at BWV...like 30-45 more. And wish we had VWL. If only we could trade our OKW for more BWV and some VWL....

 

[MakiraMarlena]

BCV (for proximity to Epcot) and SSR (at the time, that was for proximity to Pleasure Island. So much for that. At least the Springs is finally becoming more of a destination.) I've stayed everywhere except Grand Floridian and Polynesian villas though.

At this time you need to book between 11-7 months if you want BC for Food & Wine.

 

[DVCjj]

Own 2 resales at BCV because always loved stays at BC/YC and the walk to Epcot.

Own 2 small Direct Polys for nostalgia (been staying there since it opened!) and love the size of the DVC studios as I always book studios.

Because of wonderful stays, would love to buy also at VWL, BLT & BWV but probably won't as I don't want more MF's.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Saratoga, because it was part of the settlement of a extremely insane lawsuit.

 

[bwvBound]

Saratoga, because it was part of the settlement of a extremely insane lawsuit.

??? ???

 

[_auroraborealis_]

??? ???

Asset in lieu of cash, basically.

My dad tried to sue my mother's estate for part of the proceeds (lolno), so I had the estate sue HIM for back child support never paid, with interest.

 

[bwvBound]

Asset in lieu of cash, basically.

Oh, sorry -- didn't mean to pry into family business. I had thought you were referencing a lawsuit centered around SSR.

 

[djohn06]

BLT - got a good deal and you can walk to MK. Enough said.
HHI - got another good deal.
AKV - It's where I always wanted to stay. Now it is the family's favorite. No other hotel is like it in the US. It is truly unique with the animals and the second largest collection of African Art in America.
BWV - I bought here last, but it is my favorite. You can walk to two parks and you have many restaurants to choose from. Plus, value rooms make it a very inexpensive stay.

 

[Mmw37]

OP here, some of these are so interesting! I won't be pulling the trigger for a while yet, but the current plan is to buy either SSR or OKW and use them to try most of the other resorts (we can rarely travel during the busy DVC quarter due to young kids). Seems like many of you made the same choice. I think I'll also want to pick up some BLT and BWV points down the road that I'll dedicate to using at those two resorts during busier times, but will hold off until we've actually stayed at a few places and see where we like.

I really think my family and I will enjoy it! I'm a high energy type A person, even on vacation, and I think we (I!) could use a trip every year where I don't have to spend 79 hours researching and planning each minute of our stay. Just booking ADRs and FPs will seem like such a break, lol.

 

[drusba]

Bought BWV because it is by far the best DVC resort of them all (just kidding... a little).

Actually, we own at BWV (since 1997) and AKV (since before it opened in 2007). Looked at OKW (then known as Disney Vacation Club) in the early 1990's. Thought it was a good idea, particularly that you could stay on site and get 1BRs or 2BRs (room space has always been important to us). However, we did not care much for its location, away from the parks, or that it was so spread out that you would often have long distances to a restaurant and the main pool. Reminded us of the Fort Wilderness trailers (latter to be converted to cabins) where we had stayed before and did not care much for because of the lack of hotel amenities and need to take a bus internally to get to anything (note that position has mellowed over the years and now we are fine with OKW, including because I have a daughter that owns there and thinks it is nirvana; for a while I kept wondering where we went wrong in raising her).

By the time BWV opened, our preferred hotel location had become the Epcot resorts (YC and BC) though we had also stayed at the MK resorts. Thus, BWV was an easy purchase including because it was the only near park resort that existed at the time, allowed walking to Epcot and thus to all its restaurants, and was built as part of a combined hotel/DVC resort where the main pool was on the DVC side and you had easy access to everything in the resort and the boardwalk.

Bought AKV before it even opened. We had stayed there and particularly liked the savannas with animal viewing and theming, but actually most important in the decision was Boma (which we consider one of the best buffet restaurants), Jiko (an excellent table service with a never ending wine list) and Mara (a counter service convenience we did not have at BWV). Despite that we now stay mainly at Kidani, which has only Sanaa (also one of our favorites) but we choose it because of the better and larger 1BRs and 2BRs and more convenient parking, and Jiko has more or less become a thing of the past because its prices have become prohibitively high for us.

Despite owning at BWV and liking it, I have ceased giving high recommendations to others to purchase there. It is mainly an issue of time. It has a 2042 end date and that seems to me to be too soon for any new purchaser under 50.

 

[Snurk71]

Location, location, location

Then I realized I like different locations. And I like to be in control of/guarantee my location. So I ended up buying at 4 resorts (VGC, BLT, BCV, VGF).

Amenities/design are secondary to me.

 

[Dean]

Location, location, location

Then I realized I like different locations. And I like to be in control of/guarantee my location. So I ended up buying at 4 resorts (VGC, BLT, BCV, VGF).

Amenities/design are secondary to me.

This is the reason buying high end is usually a poor choice for all but the most experienced buyers, they simply don't know what they'll end up preferring. Information isn't enough in this area it actually requires a fair amount of experience with some combination of Disney, DVC and possibly timeshare experience in general.

 

[Snurk71]

This is the reason buying high end is usually a poor choice for all but the most experienced buyers, they simply don't know what they'll end up preferring. Information isn't enough in this area it actually requires a fair amount of experience with some combination of Disney, DVC and possibly timeshare experience in general.

I'm not sure why you quoted my post with your comment. I think it's pretty common advice to buy where you want to stay. I liked to stay close to a park (had 10+ visits to WDW/DL) - which is also why I didn't enter the DVC world until BLT and VGC came along (I long ago understood the value/savings, but didn't want to stay where DVC was).

I bought at 4 resorts because I like the location of them and I like controlling where I stay. I'm perfectly happy with my decision process, thanks.