Where would you buy if …

[AC168]

Where would you buy if the goal is to stay in some bucket list rooms in WDW?

I have VGC resale which is mostly for 11 months there and usually have a little left over. I need more as I’d like to try a Poly Bungalow, Copper Creek Cabin, etc.

Because these are high point places, I am somewhat trying to economize. I would mostly be going for Ski Week which is in mid-Feb or Spring Break (but it is one week off from FL Spring Break). In other words, I’d be going during the 2nd most expensive point category and not the first.

From what I’ve researched so far VGF, CCV, and AUL seem possible along with SSR, but I’d be curious to hear from DVCers to gain further insight.

Ideally I do a trip every other year but am considering doing one every three years.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[AC168]

I should add I plan to buy resale and would like to stay 4-8 nights each trip.

Thanks!

 

[DVC Doctor]

I think the Poly Bungalow and Copper Creek Cabin are sorta overrated in terms of points per room and think VGF GV is the best bucket list room in WDW

 

[Brian Noble]

If it is truly a bucket list thing…as in once and then check it off…why not rent from an owner or Disney?

 

[RoseGold]

These rooms are tough to predict because there just aren't very many of them. You only need a few people to make them book through.

That said, right now both the cabins and the bungalow are wide open for all of March, except FL spring break, and that's only four months out. But they're booked mostly for Feb, probably the much cheaper point cost.

For booking every other year, or every three years, I guess this is two-three trips? This is a WHOLE lot of cash to tie up and a lot of points to put on the line for a one-off vacation now and then. And it's hard to book at all every three years with the borrowing and banking. I'm not sure I would buy at all. Heck, you could rent points and piece it together right now a night at a time, and that's four months out. But each night in the bungalow is 162 points, which is a lot for any one particular owner to be renting out.

If you are buying, you have to decide how long you are going to hold and how much you want to tie up in this. There is a BIG buy-in difference between SSR points and more long term SAP choices, like the current suspects, BLT/Poly/CCV. 6 nights in the bungalow is currently over 800 points, 400 every other year. Even buying SSR is an $40,000 discussion. Do you want to tie up that much cash in this?

Edit to add: The three year plan in particular is risky because these amounts are never going to exactly match your points and you won't be able to use them at VGC. It would be easy to have like 62 stray points.

 

[Sandisw]

Due to the high point cost of these rooms, the 7 month availability is pretty good. In that respect, where you own your points to try them doesn't really matter.

If you buy CCV, then you will have home resort advantage for the cabins, but it sounds like this isn't something that you want to do all the time, so I do wonder if getting less expensive points might be the way to go.

We are booked for a few nights in February in a cabin. I did book only four months out and was able to get those nights with SSR points, but we did have to adjust dates to make it work and it ended up being that we snagged the last one for the dates we choose.

However, I think had we tried at 7 months, it would not have been a problem.

What I might do is make sure that whatever resort your choose, it is one that you would enjoy staying at if you go to WDW, especially if you plan is to keep VGC points for stays there and won't be using them at 7 months to book these types of rooms.

 

[Lorana]

I'd make sure to buy them in the same UY as your VGC contract, so at least you could use the points at 7 months at VGC if there's availability.

As for which resort -- well, we happen to love CCV, and you can get some good pricing via resale, so while you don't NEED the 11 month advantage (as cabins are often - but not always! - available at 11 months), having it means you could snag cabins during that busy time without worrying it won't be available at 7 months.

Otherwise, I'd look at a combination of cost (lower cost is always better) and what else I might want to use my points for during that timeframe. Might I want to try for AKV Concierge? Then I'd buy AKV as SAP points so that I have that 11 month advantage (you pretty much need to be an owner to get Concierge or Value rooms). Would I want the cheap OKW Grand Villas? Then I'd buy OKW for my SAP points (or at least some of them at OKW.). I could even split points between those two, since at 7 months for Cabins/Bungalows, it doesn't matter which resort the points come from and I can combine them all at 7 months.

That is, in fact, part of our strategy: we want to do cabins and Grand Villas on certain trips, but we also want home advantage for other trips when we want Value/Concierge at AKV, studios at BRV/CCV during the holidays, etc. So we own at several different home resorts to give us the 11 month advantage for the trips we want, but enough points so that at 7 months we CAN do the experiential "splurge" trips when we decide to take them.

Those cabins are point hungry, but I absolutely love them now that I've stayed in them, and definitely want to be doing more "splurge" trips in the future when we are able to do so.

 

[kilik64]

I agree with @Brian Noble, if these are one off trips you are wanting to do, I'd just rent the points to do them. I dont think the juice is worth the squeeze to mess with getting enough points to do it yourself, just sounds way simpler to rent these trips.

 

[Cfabar1]

VGF

 

[AC168]

Thanks to everyone for all the insights. Copper Creek and Poly seem to cost the same upfront and have similar MF for now. VGF costs a bit more upfront, but has slightly lower dues. SSR or Aulani or AK would be less upfront.

I'm thinking I need to choose the one where I'd be happy with staying the most in case the other options don't work out.

Strangely, VGF may be a good deal because of lowest MF (except for subsidized AUL).

 

[kevtlas]

Personally, I've never had a problem booking at the 7 month window for any resort I've tried to book, though that could have more to do with site stalking and the times we tend to travel.

If I were considering buying more points, I tend to lean toward SSR. To me, SSR seems like a good balance between low initial cost, lower side for maintenance fees, and decent amount of time left on contracts. If I were to ever run into a situation where I absolutely wanted to have my reservation booked at 11 months, I would rent from another owner at that resort, and rent out my own points to pay them for it. There is a chance that I'd pay more per rental point than I'd get renting mine, but even if I paid a thousand or two more for that stay, I'm pretty sure the difference I'd be paying in lower initial and yearly costs for my points would still make that one time expense worth it.

 

[AC168]

Thank you. This makes sense. I’d be paying $2 ish per point to get the 11 month window for what I really want if I buy a second contract and rent out the points.

 

[AC168]

If it is truly a bucket list thing…as in once and then check it off…why not rent from an owner or Disney?

I’d like to try each of them … maybe seven different rooms through the years.

 

[RoseGold]

I'm thinking I need to choose the one where I'd be happy with staying the most in case the other options don't work out.

You're buying hundreds of points. You don't have to choose one at all. You can choose three or four, and maybe should.

 

[AC168]

Good point RoseGold. For many of the stays, I need 600 points for 3-4 nights or 1,200 for 7.

I’m thinking I buy 400 ish by doing 200 each at the two hardest to book locations. (With same use year.)

Does that make sense?

 

[sethschroeder]

I need more as I’d like to try a Poly Bungalow, Copper Creek Cabin, etc

Okay and after 2 stays then what would you do?

Those are massively expensive rooms so what would you do with 600/700/800 points in 2026 or 2030 or 2035? I would simply rent points to stay at those places 1 or 2 times.

What other bucket list places are you talking about because you named them there isn't anything else really "bucket list" level inside of DVC unless you simply mean stay at every resort which essentially means just buy the cheapest points out there between upfront + MFs.

 

[sethschroeder]

I’d like to try each of them … maybe seven different rooms through the years.

What other 5 rooms are you talking about I think we need an actual list. When we look at 7 stays then what after that?

You know you can buy transfer points? That might be the way to go as you get control the points 1 time for that specific resort and can book the room you want.

 

[kevtlas]

You know you can buy transfer points? That might be the way to go as you get control the points 1 time for that specific resort and can book the room you want.

I didn’t even think about transfers when I posted earlier. Definitely the way I’d go.

 

[AC168]

Good point on transfers and buying least expensive and taking chances at 7 months. My youngest is 7 so I figure 4 trips and I’ll sell the WDW timeshare I wind up buying. Right now, OKW and SSR look like leading contenders. Though, AUL subsidized would be interesting also.

 

[sethschroeder]

Good point on transfers and buying least expensive and taking chances at 7 months. My youngest is 7 so I figure 4 trips and I’ll sell the WDW timeshare I wind up buying. Right now, OKW and SSR look like leading contenders. Though, AUL subsidized would be interesting also.

With 4 trips I wouldnt even buy. I would simply rent either here, another forum, or from a rental company.

The reason to buy is because you want 10 years at minimum of trips that overtime pay off for the risk, work, and money put in to DVC. The reason not to rent is because in 15 years rental prices will be higher but in 5 or 6 years it won't likely be that much higher to really change the pricing.