What was your purchase philosophy when choosing your home resort(s)?

[JWG]

Bought our first contract (250 - resale) at BCV, because that is where we wanted to stay.
Bought our second contract (160 - resale) at AKV, because that is where we wanted to stay.
Third contract ??? Really would like to add VWL at some point............

I think I'd wait to see how they handle the DVC expansion at VWL (which may tip Disney's hand on how they'll handle BLT when the evenually add the 2nd tower - I mean if DVC keeps selling they're going to have to do that right?).
VWL carries the same 2042 expiration as the early resorts. They can't add more DVC with a 2042 expiration date. Soooooooo..... do they extend ALL of VWL for free (lucky early buyers win), try another OKW type option for people to extend their ownership at a "nominal" fee, just carry two different expiration dates (as they now do for OKW)?

It will be interesting watch that unfold. I'm sure they'll just have two different expiration dates for VWL, but curious to see what they do.

 

[FoodieFriend]

i only considered buying a timeshare when Disney came to Hawaii. at first i was all in with Aulani, then Disney had to "restructure" their maintenance fees which altered my decision process when choosing my home resort. living in Hawaii, i have the advantage of using my points whenever & it's just a car ride away so i chose BLT as my home resort (without ever staying there before purchasing) since i knew i would plan any WDW vacation over 11 months in advance AND the maintenance fee was half of Aulani's & AKL. i did pay more upfront for the points, but i'm the type that's willing to pay less in the long run. 38 days until my FIRST stay at my "home" resort & because of the wonderful DisThread from @WDWKOOK i'm SUPER STOKED for BLT!!!! just the location alone really makes me feel that i made a great choice. and i've turned into everyone's best friend when it comes time to use any points that are expiring when i go to Aulani. it's not too hard in the 7 month window to find a room for a weekend with the exception of christmas time. anytime i've asked "would you like to stay with us for a weekend at Aulani?" i've NEVER heard a "no thanks!" most of my friends/family have bent over backwards to come along on any date i can get.

and to add, as far as seeing the Aulani at christmas, we just drive over, park in the free beach access nearby & walk over to take pics. we don't get to swim but the resort is decorated BEAUTIFULLY and the pics are wonderful. can you believe christmas is about 4 months away? whew!

 

[mort1331]

We bought first SSR 220 resale due to location and price, after about a year we were still very happy with the results and bought another 200 SSR resale. While we still stay at SSR, we have been able to try a lot of the other resorts traveling in off times with out any issue. IF prices were to come down again, we would buy more SSR, but cant see that happening soon.

 

[Dr Gevil]

I think I'd wait to see how they handle the DVC expansion at VWL (which may tip Disney's hand on how they'll handle BLT when the evenually add the 2nd tower - I mean if DVC keeps selling they're going to have to do that right?).
VWL carries the same 2042 expiration as the early resorts. They can't add more DVC with a 2042 expiration date. Soooooooo..... do they extend ALL of VWL for free (lucky early buyers win), try another OKW type option for people to extend their ownership at a "nominal" fee, just carry two different expiration dates (as they now do for OKW)?

It will be interesting watch that unfold. I'm sure they'll just have two different expiration dates for VWL, but curious to see what they do.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. Really would like to add on to VWL, as we really had a fantastic stay there and I love the theme/layout of the resort. But I want to see what happens with the expansion and how the expiration dates and pricing all shakes out. Hence the trailing dots.

 

[bwvBound]

None of the above. Instead, I vote: I bought balancing "good deal" with "workable strategy."

Our main criteria for staying DVC is simple: Must be w/in easy walk to Dolphin and Swan conference centers. That is paramount, #1, the only real consideration. As such, we tried buying BWV via resale channels. After a few failed attempts (failing after we had signed contracts in hand!) ... we gave up and handed a credit card to the DVC Sales Team to waitlist: 200 points, BWV, Dec UY. After months of negotiations, we 'accepted' a contract at SSR knowing that we'd be booking inside the 7-month window. We make it work and have never been shut out of our desired dates/location. (Note: our conf dates are late January -- so no competition for F&W, F&G or key holiday decorations.)

Editing to address Mike's questions:

• If you have since added on points at another home resort, did you choose a different purchase philosophy in choosing the resort to add on? If so, why?
  A: Not applicable. Our Add-ons have been at the same resort, same UY.

• Do you feel that your original or subsequent decision(s) to select your home resort(s) was the right one for you? Or would you now take a different approach should you add on again at another resort?
  A: Given 11 years of experience, I have no regrets or need to change/modify my purchase. Yes, it was the right choice for us. If I could roll back the clock: I'd still do the exact same thing.
  
  The interesting twist to this question is that we now know of resorts announced and built since our original purchase. Had the Grand Cal be selling in early 2004 -- I would have chosen the Grand Cal. But given the available choices of early 2004 ... I'd have to choose SSR. Waiting for the Grand Cal would have been a poor choice.

 

[MxRacer965]

We purchased SSR last year around this time because it was one of the less expensive options with a healthy number of contracts available, and has one of the lowest MF's. We figured even with a 7 month window we could probably still stay just about anywhere. We stayed at BLT and AKV this year on our trip in June, booked at 7 months. We are looking to book March 2016 at AKV Jambo House and it looks like availability is still healthy at this point. Worst case we'll just stay at SSR. Point being SOMEWHERE will have studio availability 7 months out and we've only stayed at BLT and AKV so if we had to go somewhere else that's fine with us, we'll try something new. We did not care for BLT though. Room was too small (studio) and the monorail was down EVERY DAY we were at BLT. We got theme park view and watching fireworks was actually a bit of a let down with the perspective being off. Only thing we really enjoyed was being able to walk to/from MK, especially at night when leaving after Wishes. AKV is our favorite so far though. The lobby is amazing, and what little kid (8 months & 4 years) doesn't love waking up to animals strolling around your hotel?

 

[The_McMillans]

Gives me lots to think about

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

We bought where we wanted to stay.

Before we had children, we stayed where we could find the best deal, usually a hotel at Disney Village.

Once we had children, we wanted to stay at a monorail resort. That was usually CR.

When we heard DVC was adding BLT, we knew we wanted in.

Very happy with our decision!

 

[Nanajo1]

Only OKW and BWV were around back in 1998. So just knew we wanted Disney and the rooms at OKW were bigger. Added on at OKW twice and then bought BWV. The DGKs liked the BWV so we added on there a few times.

 

[LCoulter]

We bought where we wanted to stay. Previously we heard about DVC but it wasn’t until they built at a monorail resort that sparked our interest. BLT really appealed to us because we could use the monorail or walk to MK and we took the DVC tour at the beginning of a trip in 2009, thought about it a few days, did some internet research and bought in by the end of the trip.

The original purchase must have been right for us because we added on two smaller contracts at BLT knowing that this is where we primarily wanted to stay. Our add-ons were even a little less than the original purchase and were purchase before the prices really started to take off.

We thought about waiting to see if they would build at GF but I’m so glad we didn’t wait. Although the rooms at GFV are gorgeous and we were fortunate enough to snag a stay there to try them out, we still prefer BLT for the location and having two full baths in the one bedroom. Poly just doesn’t appeal to us at all.

 

[BeachClub2014]

Bought where we wanted to stay because it was a great contract and made sense to do so. A real win win for us.

 

[drusba]

Orginal purchase was BWV in 1997 and philosophy was simple. Had looked at OKW before then and thought concept was fine, particularly being able to get rooms larger than a studio with a kitchen and w/d's rather than having to stay in connecting hotel rooms on site, but OKW's location was not desirable and it lacked any of the usual hotel amenities. BWV was the second WDW DVC resort when we purchased, was in the preferred Epcot resort area and had multiple restaurants and typical hotel services available. Purchased AKV when it went on sale in 2007. Had stayed at AKL twice before and it was our second favorite resort next to BWV.

Between the BWV and AKV purchases we did have add-ons to BWV, most from the resale market, long before any resale restrictions were created. Have never had a desire to flip to any other resort or wished that I had purchased another. Have not added on since Jim Lewis put in the resale restriction for the Disney Collections. I believed well before then that he was the most anti-member DVD president that ever existed, including because he tried to minimize his adverse actions with opening phrases in an announcement like "in response to overwhelming member feedback and to enhance the member experience" which was then followed by his announcing the elimination of something everyone wanted or the additon of something no one wanted but would cost the members. Whenever I heard him speak that phrase I reached down to my back pocket to make sure my wallet was still there. His reign as president almost caused me to sell DVC particularly after the adoption of the Disney Collections restriction for resale purchases -- not because I thought the restriction really deprived me of anything I was actually using but because it was just one more obvious example of Jim Lewis going out of his way to screw the members and thus more of the same was likely to occur in the future. Fortunately, he committed corporate suicide shortly after that with the Aulani affair.

 

[DVCanadian]

Bought 270 SSR resale in 2011 based on price and we figured all the resorts were good.
Added 250 OKW resale in 2014 for same reason, good price and it limited our long term commitment. The earlier end date is a plus for us in this case. Plus we wanted to go to Aluani in a two bedroom, so we needed more (cheap) points!

I understand buy where you want to stay but we think of our approach as "points in the system". With so many resorts we like the options.

 

[staceymay00]

We bought OKW points on the resale market six years ago. I chose "bought a good deal where we don't mind staying", but OKW is also a resort where we often want to stay so we are somewhere between those two options. SSR may have been a better deal because of the extra years, but OKW is the one we liked best of the two. I like OKW for longer trips and do not try to switch at 7 months for those trips - so convenient having a car parked right outside our door, I like a more peaceful resort to balance 5-6 days in the parks and I like all the space in a 2BR villa that is the same or not many more points than a 1BR at some resorts.

We like all the resorts we've tried so far, and there is not one resort where we have to stay or we'll be disappointed. No regrets in purchasing OKW, but if we were doing it all over I might pick BWV instead. Walking to two parks is a really nice perk and we liked the resort when we stayed there. Then again, we might stick with OKW because I think one day we will appreciate 11 month access to the grand villas that are a great deal compared to grand villas at other resorts.

 

[lovin'fl]

We bought OKW in 2006 to get the most points for our money. They were the cheapest WDW resales in 2006 and SSR was selling new for about $95pp. We paid $76pp.

 

[ffcheff]

When I bought my first contract it was based on where I wanted to stay. I bought my next contract resale and I bought the cheapest contract with the longest contract end date. That contract also had the same use year as my first contract.

 

[granmanh603]

Bought the only place being offered

 

[jillmc40]

I never gave DVC a thought until VGF opened. I love GF and always wanted to stay there...This just made it affordable to do so! I started with 100 pts to see how it works and if we would like it or not. We actually LOVE DVC and the flexibility, and are now buying 160 VGF resale. I looked into Bwv because we really love it there as well, but with the shorter timeframe, they end up being more expensive than VGF, so we stuck with VGF and will at least be able to do a split stay with VGF and BWV (now we will have enough points to book preferred view no problem).

 

[disneybass]

Before DVC we always stayed at CBR because of the tropical theme. When we decided to go with DVC we stayed with the tropical theme and bought OKW. Still love the place after 9 years and almost 30 visits

 

[BlazerFan]

Bought where we wanted to stay. I took the DVC tour when they were building VGC. My guide was offering to sell 160 points at BLT or AKV to give me first rights to buy 160 VGC when he could start selling there. I left without buying anything to think about it. I contacted him later and said I would take my chances. If I had to buy 320 points I would rather they all be at VGC since we live on the west coast and travel to DL often and WDW would be rarely. I've never regretted my decision.

We added on several times to VGC, I know I will get slammed for this but all direct. We later added on at Aulani as well.

Just going through my first resale purchase because I wanted some points in a different use year for travel at a specific time that doesn't work with my current use year. I got on the wait list right before it closed but with the new prices I finally decided to go wth resale route. I do admit I appreciated the instant access to points. I made an offer on 7/8 and I'm still waiting for the resale points. We closed last week and I probably have another week plus before I actually have the points.