Where you own vs. where you'd like to own

[readytogotodisney]

Thanks everyone. It's given me a lot to think about.

On my parents points, we have stayed at every resort except SSR (ironic since that's the one we're thinking about buying into). BWV and BLT are our favorites and have stayed at each at least 3x.
Maybe we've been lucky? But we've never had to mess with a wait list and always got our first pick at 7 months.... and I'm always on the phone at exactly MS opening on our 7 months to switch.

Personally I like to switch things up and rotate through the different DVC locations, and DH will happily go along with where ever, but if he were booking it'd be BWV everytime.

In the end I think it'll come down to numbers. DH doesn't like to take every single vacation at Disney *gasp*, so I get him to mix it up with DCL! But for that very same reason, renting out our points might be something we do from time to time, so in that regard, maybe BWV is the better bet.

Good thing we've got time to get this figured out!

 

[bakerworld]

At first we regretted our initial purchase as the whole thought was based on switching at 7mos but we handled our regret with purchasing a small contract to handle the fall. The rest of the year our initial thought works well. Basically, if vacationing in the Fall you should always buy where you want to stay - and if you've a burning desire to stay at SSR then you're golden

 

[tasha99]

We own at BWV, but just bought this year and used our first set of points on VGC. I think we'll love having points at an Epcot resort, but I plan on adding points at VGC as we're on the west coast and I have family in Orange County.

 

[DeeCee735]

Exactly what Bill said.
We bought BWV and AKV because those are the 2 resorts where we like to stay. (We stayed at both before buying)

We are able to plan at 11 months out and have no desire to play the game of trying to switch at 7 months. We average 10-12 day trips and I don't want to piece anything together or move because we have to.

I am firmly in the camp of 'Buy where you want to stay'.

Us too
We believe in buying where you want to stay, and we own at BWV and AKV, both of which are still our favorite resorts

I'd buy again at either, husband is waiting to see what Poly has to offer

 

[cedricandsophie]

We own at seven resorts some direct and some resale. Vero beach because we love it and my husband likes to go in March for spring baseball. Aulani because we love it and have gone three years in a row. Old key west because we like to go in March. Boardwalk is the first place we bought. Probably my least favorite. Bay lake because of the location and the one bedroom has two bathrooms. And ability to watch fireworks from roof Wilderness resort because it's my husbands fav. And animal kingdom because I love staying at club level and you need to book 11 months out. Hate the kidani villas...only own to get the club.

 

[lovin'fl]

Bought 200 OKW in 2006...cheapest resale at a WDW resort at the time (so we got the most points for our $$$).
Have since added 125 HHI, 100 AKV and, most recently, 80 BWV (and will add more at BWV).

Have used the OKW points, at 7 months out or less, to book all the east coast DVC resorts but VGF. Some trips have been difficult to get the resort we hoped for (took us a while to get BCV). And some trips we've had to tweak the dates or take a room size we don't need. That's why we added the BWV points...to be sure to get a studio for F&W and to get standard view villas at times (or BW view like we got for next Aug).

We are thinking about selling the OKW, in the next couple years, to buy at BLT. We like to walk to the parks and we'd like later expiration. We'd also like to be able to get the cheaper view at BLT (or MK view if we want a special trip). The expiration at OKW has recently started to bother us. We will only be 69 then and our 3 teens will have their own families and I see lots of big family trips to WDW past the OKW expiration (our parents still go with us).

SSR is a great deal...later expiration and cheaper buy in. But you can ALWAYS book SSR (unless all of WDW DVC is booked up...right now for Thanksgiving week, I think). We have been able, as I mentioned above, to book the other resorts with our OKW but it's not always easy and we can't always get our top choices...and we may have to tweak our dates to get what we want (had to do that when we tried HHI for the 1st time...then we added on the HHI points). If you don't mind having to take what you can get sometimes, tweaking dates sometimes and going online to book first thing at the 7 month window then SSR wouldn't be a bad choice for you.

 

[Airb330]

Bought AKL 100% sight unseen in 2012 after reading hundreds of posts here. I knew I'd love the resort (I had been to Africa). Not long after signing the paperwork we went to Boma (it was a Sea World trip) and we, luckily, did fall in love with the hotel. We did tons of research but still realize it could have backfired. Heck of a deal at $68 a point too! We finally had our first stay in May 2014 and loved it. We have 100 points.

Bought VGF sight unseen at the member's introductory pricing last summer. Our first stay is this weekend. Let's hope we were correct again. We had been to the Grand Floridian before though at least. We have 50 points.

I am a big fan of "buy where you want to stay" and we have done that, but haven't exactly followed the sage advice of "stay first before buying" though I do think that is a very sound strategy.

Now the next decision is 50 more AKL (mostly to bank for Aulani), or 50 BCV. We haven't stayed at BCV yet, and yes this time we are staying before we buy anything. We didn't love BWV as much as we thought we would so we're following the "stay before buying" logic this time around.

 

[judydvc]

I own at VGC (mostly go to Disneyland now) and VWL (still want to stay in early December--maybe after I retire?). Recently sold BWV which I had bought in 1999 and have many great memories. Only change might be more points at VGC but not now.

 

[Nicoleinwi]

Bought at BLT and SS.

Bought BLT because we love the Magic Kingdom at night but we don't like the crowds. We like to stay until the end or at least until the fireworks but we barely do so because we don't like getting onto a crowded bus. BLT is convenient.

Bought at SS because we really like downtown Disney as well and the close proximity to DTD is nice. Plus I wanted more of a "resort" which I consider SS and a "hotel" which I consider BLT.

 

[holula]

We own at OKW extended. In an ideal world I would own at Boardwalk.

 

[JaimeA]

We own at BWV, we absolutely love it there and haven't yet stayed anywhere else since we bought. My DH wants to add on to VGF but those point charts are high so I am not sold yet. I reserve at 11 months and don't look back. I wouldn't want to play the 7 month game on my vacation plans. Maybe one day we will try but haven't yet. So happy we bought where we did, no regrets.

 

[glamdring269]

We own at VWL. It was on our list and pounced as soon as a small (75 point) contract with the UY we wanted popped up. Managed to get BWV at the 7-month mark this trip so still haven't actually stayed at VWL.

Looking back we probably should have bought SSR for the longer term. We really like AKL but seems like availability is usually open there at 7 months so don't see a reason to own there unless you want the value rooms. I may put our contract up since I have a feeling it will not be difficult to move a small point VWL contract and then find a cheap SSR one to serve as a replacement.

 

[jstarcze]

I brought BLT and I love BLT!

 

[bakerworld]

It's interesting to see different perspectives - me, I prefer any place that allows me to walk to a park however the better half distinctly is adverse to almost everywhere except our homes.

 

[CarolMN]

Bought BWV in 1999 and still love staying there - which we do for the vast majority of our trips. Have ventured to AKV-Kidani once (for trip that included 2 small children who love animals) and BLT. Don't love split stays, but it's very nice to be at BLT for the days you visit the MK or the CG. Other than a few trips to VB several years ago, we pretty much stay at the BWV and still prefer to be there the be there over any other DVC resort. Just can't beat the location and IMO, the standard view villas are the best bargain on property!

I almost always book at 11 months. We weren't planning to do our customary "after Thanksgiving" trip this year, so I didn't book at 11 months. By the time I realized I really wanted to go (about 2 weeks before the 7 month window opened), pretty much everything was booked. I was on pins and needles until the waitlists worked. Sometimes, you really DO need to book well in advance for the BWV. Buy there and book at 11 months if you think you will be spending most of your trips there. Have fun deciding.

 

[chainkid]

We own at BWV, we absolutely love it there and haven't yet stayed anywhere else since we bought. My DH wants to add on to VGF but those point charts are high so I am not sold yet. I reserve at 11 months and don't look back. I wouldn't want to play the 7 month game on my vacation plans. Maybe one day we will try but haven't yet. So happy we bought where we did, no regrets.

I bought in 1999 at BWV after staying there with cash reservations over Thanksgiving. I fell in love with everything about the place but didn't know much about DVC then . I happen to meet someone in the dentist office who had just been to Disney and was a member of the DVC at BWV and when she told me about it being a timeshare I was very curious. I did my research and bought a contract for 252 pts which I thought would be more than enough for my family's visits. Well today and 7 contracts later all but one at BWV I guess you can say I'm a very happy owner.

I usually book 11 month window but I often check availability and new resorts to try them out. I go when they are open rather than trying to make it work on my set times. So far I have stayed in every resort except Aulani for a few days to try them out. My heart still belongs with my home and now that I've tried them all except the new Poly, I will probably be happiest at BWV. Planning to try Aulani this summer as part of extended Hawaii trip if i can get anything at 7month window.

I bought a small contract at AKV from the hype when it first opened and have regretted it ever since as I hate the dark decor and the animals get old after a few hours for me. I keep it for my new grandson because i can see where it might be a draw for him and its only enough points for a couple days which I will tack on to my longer stays. As an aside, I would not have bought DVC if BWV had not been my first taste as the others are nice but don;t call my name.

 

[DougEMG]

We bought OKW and SSR for the price, while we bought BWV to be able to book there at popular times. I wouldn't mind a MK location, but the prices in that area are too high for my preference .

 

[crisi]

When I answered this, I didn't answer the question.

We own BWV - which is where we usually stay booking at eleven months. We love the proximity to Epcot.

I love the theming of VWL, but we'd have to give up our stroll into Epcot - we have stayed there once.

I also adored my stay at HHI - but since our most likely use of HHI would be to escape the Minnesota Winter in retirement, I can do fine without owning there. Walking along a cold windy beach is still better than eighteen inches of snow.

When we bought, OKW, BWV, VB, HHI, VWL were open, BCV was being sold. Nothing has opened since that has really tempted me - although I would have bought VWL points instead of BWV points if it hadn't been the new resort and therefore being sold resale at a significant premium (and I'd be happy).

 

[nono]

13? yr owners. OKW, BWV, SSR. Had to sell SSR after my husband was laid off, and we realized with our own little start-up company, we can only vacation during lower points seasons.

We've "been around" at the other resorts, and really, OKW and BWV are our favorites, so we ended up with exactly what we need.

Really nice thing about owning DVC is that when the unexpected life change happened, we could turn that sunk cost into some decent cash flow by selling our SSR contract. That's a benefit that's rare in the timeshare world.

 

[JustTinking]

Bought VWL sight unseen 12 years ago, (we had stayed in hotel side) and DH and I would never part with those 300 pts. Still our home away from home. Have added on 4 times since then; twice at AKL and twice at BWV. Love BWV for the convenience to F&W, 2 parks, and so many great restaurants that don't require a bus ride. AKL I would sell, except DH's family from England love vacationing there, so we keep it for their visits.

I'm a firm advocate of 'buy where you want to stay'. I hate messing with the anxiety of 7 month bookings, will we or won't we get in. But that's us. Not that any of the DVCs are horrible to stay at, but DH would rather not go, than go and stay someplace he is not fond of.