Where to buy in?

[Disgirl2011]

I have been looking into buying DVC for some years now, but more recently been strongly considering doing it sooner rather than later.

I just got off the phone with one of their reps and he was mentioning that currently he has Grand Floridian, Animal Kingdom (which will be selling out by fall) and some Bay Lake Tower and possibly Saratoga currently. He mentioned that all the others would be a waitlist which might be fine but I'm wondering what I should buy into.

Ideally the cheaper the better, but will that be a downfall in the long run? Some have cheaper dues and some are cheaper overall but I'm wondering if its worth it to pay more to buy Grand Floridian or Bay Lake Tower. I love their locations and I know that in prime times they will be harder to get reservations for at 7 months out.

Thanks for any insight!!

Katie

 

[timandjanl]

Most folks on here will tell you to buy where you don't mind staying. It's not a guarantee that you will be able to stay somewhere other than your home resort. If you have small kids you might want BLT or VGF because they are close to MK. Or if you like the Food and Wine Festival you might want BWV or BCV. Have you looked into resale? It is much cheaper and you can possibly get one of the resorts that would be a long wait list through Disney. We are waiting to close on a resale SSR listing. For us the decision came down primarily to being able to buy more points for less money than we would have spent at a place like VGF. We also considered the maintenance fees (SSR is second lowest). We had stayed at SSR before and liked it so we know we will be fine there if we can't get into another resort at the 7 month window.

 

[Disgirl2011]

I've heard mixed reviews about Saratoga. Did you find it enjoyable? It looks a little less magical than some of the other resorts.

I was looking at resale too, but I really like the financing offers that direct offers. Also the incentives they have for AKV like the park tickets or developers credit.

 

[disneynutz]

Would you buy a house or car sight unseen? Do you take the car out for a test drive to see if you like it? Do you buy the cheapest house or car even if you don't really care for it?

IMO buying a DVC interest isn't much different. If everyone thought that buying the cheapest resort was doable, then most of the resorts wouldn't have any owners.

You will be spending hundred(s) of thousand(s) of dollars at Disney taking luxury vacations and you are considering buying the cheapest resort?

I believe that you should buy where you love to stay and if you want to save some money, buy resale. You will be happier in the long run.

Bill

 

[timandjanl]

I've heard mixed reviews about Saratoga. Did you find it enjoyable? It looks a little less magical than some of the other resorts.

I was looking at resale too, but I really like the financing offers that direct offers. Also the incentives they have for AKV like the park tickets or developers credit.

My husband and I went there several years ago and enjoyed ourselves. We like its proximity to DTD and we like its restaurants and its small grocery store. We wanted a resort where we were fine eating on site. We had never been to any of the other resorts so we were uncomfortable buying at them without a visit. Some people think SSR is a bit plain, but it suits us just fine. We know we will add on in the future so we figured we would buy SSR now and then visit others that interest us to see where we want to add on. If you wanted to visit one before buying you could look into renting points. Also, we almost financed our resale purchase so there are financing options outside of buying direct.

 

[bwvBound]

I've heard mixed reviews about Saratoga. Did you find it enjoyable? It looks a little less magical than some of the other resorts.

We've owned Saratoga since May 2004 but have only stayed there twice, one of those stays in a TreeHouse unit. I'd say the Treehouse was VERY magical. ;-)

We use our DVC points from Saratoga for stays mostly at BWV and Grand Cal.

 

[bwvBound]

Would you buy a house or car sight unseen? Do you take the car out for a test drive to see if you like it? Do you buy the cheapest house or car even if you don't really care for it?

IMO buying a DVC interest isn't much different. If everyone thought that buying the cheapest resort was doable, then most of the resorts wouldn't have any owners.

You will be spending hundred(s) of thousand(s) of dollars at Disney taking luxury vacations and you are considering buying the cheapest resort?

I believe that you should buy where you love to stay and if you want to save some money, buy resale. You will be happier in the long run.

I guess it doesn't surprise me that I've "failed" several of the quoted tests. i've purchased a house unseen, a car I didn't like after the test drive ... and SSR before it was open, remotely w/out seeing models. I've twice purchased the "cheapest house" just to get my foot in the door of a certain location and a total of four timeshares w/out seeing them ... and each worked out just fine.

Strangely, the only timeshare we actually "toured" before purchase isn't a "favorite" in my list but it does exactly what I bought it to do 12 years ago: trade through RCI. This year that particular timeshare secured my trade into BWV for Jan 2014. It was simply "doing its job."

Sometimes things can "work out on paper" then let head lead heart.

 

[DVCcurious]

Here's my advice:

Buy resale. Why pay a ton more for the exact same thing? If you will be using your points to stay at WDW then there is no downside to buying resale. Buying resale will get you many more points for the same amount of money, or you can spend less money for the same amount of points.

We rented points for a split-stay AKL/OKW before buying into VWL (we had never been to the Wilderness Lodge resort before buying in there). Personally I hated OKW and I would hate SSR if I ever went there. I love being part of a Deluxe resort, and OKW/SSR do NOT "feel" like Deluxe resorts. They "feel" like condominium retirement communities. Even though we rented points first, I honestly think you can get enough information via YouTube videos to make an informed decision. We loved VWL's videos and we bought there and then stayed there in July and now we have two more vacations next year that we'll be at VWL. We just can't see going someplace else. The one downside of VWL is that there aren't "cheap" points (like BWV standard, AKL Standard, AKL Value, etc). But we're OK with that.

So watch youtube videos of the various resorts and then choose the one you like the most, or if you like a few of them choose the cheapest of those.

If you want the "cheapest" route you could look at the points needed to book and then choose the resorts that have low point requirements (OKW) or low-point options (BWV std, AKL std) and buy in there and then book those rooms at the 11 month window. BLT and VGF (which you mentioned) have very high point requirements and high per-point costs (even via resale).

Let's do a quick comparison BLT vs BWV for a one week July studio at the lowest point category:

BWV standard is 108 points. Current resale prices are about $85 per point. You would buy 125 pts (because you can't buy weird amts) so your buy in would cost you $10,625

BLT standard is 139 points. Current resale prices are about $105 per point. You'd buy 150 points so your buy in would cost you $15,750

So you're looking at a 50% higher cost to buy into BLT than BWV. If you really will only be happy on the monorail then by all means you should buy BLT or VGF. But if you'd be happy being anywhere then you would save a lot of money by buying somewhere NOT on the monorail line.

 

[kydisneyfans]

Here's my advice:

Buy resale. Why pay a ton more for the exact same thing? If you will be using your points to stay at WDW then there is no downside to buying resale. Buying resale will get you many more points for the same amount of money, or you can spend less money for the same amount of points.

We rented points for a split-stay AKL/OKW before buying into VWL (we had never been to the Wilderness Lodge resort before buying in there). Personally I hated OKW and I would hate SSR if I ever went there. I love being part of a Deluxe resort, and OKW/SSR do NOT "feel" like Deluxe resorts. They "feel" like condominium retirement communities. Even though we rented points first, I honestly think you can get enough information via YouTube videos to make an informed decision. We loved VWL's videos and we bought there and then stayed there in July and now we have two more vacations next year that we'll be at VWL. We just can't see going someplace else. The one downside of VWL is that there aren't "cheap" points (like BWV standard, AKL Standard, AKL Value, etc). But we're OK with that.

So watch youtube videos of the various resorts and then choose the one you like the most, or if you like a few of them choose the cheapest of those.

If you want the "cheapest" route you could look at the points needed to book and then choose the resorts that have low point requirements (OKW) or low-point options (BWV std, AKL std) and buy in there and then book those rooms at the 11 month window. BLT and VGF (which you mentioned) have very high point requirements and high per-point costs (even via resale).

Let's do a quick comparison BLT vs BWV for a one week July studio at the lowest point category:

BWV standard is 108 points. Current resale prices are about $85 per point. You would buy 125 pts (because you can't buy weird amts) so your buy in would cost you $10,625

BLT standard is 139 points. Current resale prices are about $105 per point. You'd buy 150 points so your buy in would cost you $15,750

So you're looking at a 50% higher cost to buy into BLT than BWV. If you really will only be happy on the monorail then by all means you should buy BLT or VGF. But if you'd be happy being anywhere then you would save a lot of money by buying somewhere NOT on the monorail line.

Also factor in that BWV expires 18 years earlier and the yearly fees per point are much less at BLT.

 

[NoleFan]

Assuming you are buying where you want to stay, where will your family be happiest & make the most magical memories?? Sure, we can consider dues & contract expirations but if I keep my DVC until contract expiry, I am more than happy with 30 years of wonderful memories @ resorts my family loves!

 

[disneynutz]

Also factor in that BWV expires 18 years earlier and the yearly fees per point are much less at BLT.

Many feel that BLT dues were set artificially low by ex-executives at DVD. Since their termination BLT dues have increased 6% per year. We don't know where they will end up.

Bill

 

[Minniesgal]

We bought AKV because we love AKV and enjoy it more with each trip. We added on at VGC as we want to also do west coast trips and it is so hard to get in there. Then we added on at VGF because we have always loved GF. Now we are done but we are really happy we have three home resorts we love. I would buy somewhere you really want to stay not what is cheapest.

A big surprise to us is we have found we also love SSR, the location is fab, the Treehouses are great and the facilities are lovely. We don't much fancy BCV or BWV, OKW was ok we love BLT but having VGF points probably won't stay there again.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

SSR was quite magical for our trip! It's big, immaculately lanscaped with 2 operating feature pools and one under construction.... tons of activities and beautiful walks, easy walk to Downtown Disney and lots of fun. Would stay there again, will stay there again

 

[Disgirl2011]

Thanks for all the excellent input guys! I was going back and forth on resale vs direct, and I think for what I intend on using the points for (mainly WDW trips) it makes more sense financially to look into resale.

I am about to go take some youtube tours through the resorts too

I always here great things about VWL however I'm from Minnesota so it kinda feels like home which when I'm on vacation isn't always how I want to feel haha.

Thanks again guys! I love all the ideas!

 

[francie57]

We are in the process of buying 2 contracts at BWVs through the Timeshare Store (currently at Disney for ROFR) and couldn't be happier. We did the DVC meeting while at Disney in Aug. and they wanted $130/pt for BW and through resale we are paying $45/pt less!!! The few perks that you miss out on buying resale (cruises, Disney collection) aren't something we would use our points for anyway. As far as financing, the TSS offers three companies that would finance the purchase for you and they are basically the same as what Disney told us about their financing. For us resale was the way to go - now just waiting for Disney clearance!

 

[shpdem]

how hard is it to get resorts other than home resort at 7 months out for non peak season?

 

[chalee94]

how hard is it to get resorts other than home resort at 7 months out for non peak season?

how do you define "non peak season"? the period from food and wine festival in the fall to new year's eve is peak season for DVC bookings and getting something other than SSR, OKW or AKV-savanna view at 7 months is a challenge. if you are booking early february, then you should have more options.

but again, BLT-lake view is much easier to get than BLT-standard villas, and BWV-preferred villas are easier than BWV-standard or boardwalk views...and 1BRs can be easier to get than studios or 2BRs...so there are a number of variables to consider.

if you really want a certain room type at a certain resort (and are going to complain about being "stuck" at SSR because BCV wasn't available like you expected at 7 months), you ought to buy where you want to stay and book at 10-11 months out.

more info is here:

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=49286033&postcount=24

 

[jennib5426]

how hard is it to get resorts other than home resort at 7 months out for non peak season?

I have owned at SSR for almost 6 years and I have stayed there once.
We have had great luck getting what we want over the years.
We have stayed in every DVC resort except BWV, and we have stayed in all size rooms and all different times of year.
The only reason we haven't stayed at BWV is because we have always been able to get BWV when we wanted it.

We liked every DVC resort, as long as it has a pool the kids are happy.

So my thoughts on purchasing is get the most points you can for the amount of money you can afford to spend.

Be flexable and open minded when booking DVC and you will never be dissapointed.

Our family has grown and the 160 SSR points I bought 6 years ago is not enough anymore. I am hoping to add on another 50 points soon.

 

[disneynutz]

how hard is it to get resorts other than home resort at 7 months out for non peak season?

You need to realize that past availability is not indicative of what will be available tomorrow. If you really don't care where you stay buy anywhere.

You will see some posts of frustrated people checking every day for availability, hoping that their waitlist comes through, doing split stays because they couldn't get what they want.

You need to decide what's more important, spending some extra money now to get what you want or taking your chances on booking at 7 months.

Bill

 

[bighoo93]

You need to realize that past availability is not indicative of what will be available tomorrow.

There are no guarantees, but I think past availability is probably a pretty darn good indicator.