Which resort to buy at?

[Disney Mom Dani]

I'm trying to decide which resort would be best to buy into, and I'm hoping to get some feedback. Some things I'd like to take into account:

1) Which resorts fill up the fastest in slower seasons (meaning, would certain ones be better to have that 11 month window?)

2) Expiration Dates (the later the better.)

3) Maintenance Costs (and their history of going up.)

4) Resale price per point.


We've only looked at AKL....but we want to make sure that's a good decision.

Outside of that, I'd also like to know some fun features of various resorts? Right now, it's just myself, my husband, & my 7 year old daughter...and we may add one more eventually. We love the idea of the Savannah view at AKL...but what else is good? Best swimming pools? Other activities?

 

[hakepb]

1) Park slow seasons do not equal DVC slow seasons. For instance, the entire month of December is a high demand DVC season (not just Christmas week)...a lot of WDW regulars prefer the cooler weather and love the Christmas decor, and love the low points..just because points are low does not mean there is low demand. I do still think that Christmas/NYE is #1, Easter is #2 and Thanksgiving may be #3

2) do you want 40+ years of mediocrity or 25 years of love?

3) the past few years it seems BLT and Kidani have gone up a bit more than others..hard to tell if that will always be the trend or if it was due to the former management.

4) its nice Disney has artificially propped up resale prices via ROFR, but there is no guarantee it will continue...



For what resort? It depends on what makes your vacation more enjoyable. For some it is a favorite park proximity, might be dining, might be room size /ammenities, ease of parking, pool, decor... Its all different to everyone.

I do really love watching the animals and can study their behavior over and over, but others just check a spotting an animal on a checklist and are done. (But FYI it is in the contract that they may not always have animals)

AKV is a large resort, so most of the year it is possible to get a savanna view studio -2BR. The value and club categories are very competitive, though.

 

[dmunsil]

I agree that it's very personal, and it's hard to choose if you haven't stayed in or at least toured all the properties. However, I can tell you how we made our decision to buy BWV:

- Our favorite parks are Epcot and DHS.
- We like being centrally located.
- We wanted a property that has Grand Villas, so we can have a big multi-family trip from time to time.
- We like the energy of the Boardwalk, where stuff is happening into the evening.

On the flip side, our favorite resort from an overall theme POV is Wilderness Lodge, and I love the design and décor of the villas there. But it's a much quieter, more "woodsy" feeling. And it's not super convenient to anywhere but the Magic Kingdom. I do like the Magic Kingdom, but I prefer the original Disneyland to it, so it's not our primary goal to be near it.

So I'd ask:

- What do you plan to do most while you're there?
- What kind of energy are you interested in? Quiet and relaxing? Energetic? Family-oriented?
- Do you have a favorite park or parks?

I kind of feel like the maintenance fees for WDW are always going to be relatively similar. I mean there is a difference between fees for different resorts, but they're all in the same ballpark. Construction and maintenance costs are going to be similar all over WDW, so the only real difference comes from things like how complex the grounds are, or how much exposed surface needs to be repainted. Costs like replacing furniture and carpet will be about the same everywhere. So there's no reason to assume that one resort will overall outpace the others in fee growth.

So it comes back to buy where you would like to stay. If you looove African animals, the AKL is a no-brainer. If you want to walk around the Boardwalk and visit Epcot a lot, then BWV or BCV is an obvious choice. If you want to be near the MK, VWL is the "bargain" choice and BLT is another good choice, albeit more expensive, both per-point and points per room. I wouldn't buy VGF at this point, but I've never been super excited about staying at the Grand Floridian.

And if you want to save a ton of money and still stay in plush and comfortable rooms, OKW and SSR are both great. Not wildly exciting, but very nice and a super deal in comparison to the other resorts.

 

[Disney Mom Dani]

Gosh...such a hard decision! I wish it would be easy to go out & tour all of the resorts... but being from Utah (& just getting back from our Disney Cruise) doesn't make it super convenient right now.

I actually wanted to buy into DVC so we can eventually stay at ALL of the resorts (in FL or HI mainly)...but I was thinking that our home resort should probably be one that is difficult to book in less than 7 months.

I also wanted to own as long as possible so we could have fun for that long!

I think the biggest thing for us would be the pools and family activities. Our last trip to WDW we stayed at Port Orleans...and we didn't mind the shuttle system and really had no idea what parks we were closer too...we just loved them all!

Does that help?

 

[dmunsil]

Interestingly enough, I just happened across a post on another DVC discussion board (that apparently we're not allowed to link to), that I think sums up a ton of good advice in one go. Since I can't link to it, I'll summarize:

- If you need to get something tough to get at 7 months, or will always or mostly be going during Christmas, or you absolutely adore one resort, you should certainly buy the resort that works best for you so you can always book it at 11 months.

- If you plan to go at a bunch of different times, and are not super picky about which resort you want to stay at, or you will not really be able to plan ahead 11 months out, buy the cheapest points you can (cheapest maintenance fees, primarily).

I think if you want to just go wherever, buying cheap points at SSR is probably the best deal because of the combo of low resale price and low fees. And SSR is really nice. If you liked Port Orleans you will LOVE SSR. I mean, no guarantees, but all DVC properties are pretty plush.

And outside of the super high occupancy times, you'll be able to find stuff at other resorts. You may not be able to get the specific thing you want on that particular trip, but you'll find something. If you just want to try them all, it'll take you a few years until you're running out of resorts to try. For the first 4 or 5 trips, you should be able to find somewhere you haven't stayed yet, especially if you're not trying to book over Christmas, New Years, or a few peak times in spring/summer. And even then, there will be availability at 7 months, it just might be spotty.

Eventually you'll probably find that it's hard to book a solid week at BLT or VGF at 7 months, and then maybe you'll have to do some kind of point rental thing if you really want to try it. Or you'll book the few days you can get and do a short trip. Or by then you'll be ready to add on some VGF resale or sell your SSR and buy BLT. Who knows?

I felt like if we couldn't have gotten BWV my next choice was SSR. Hilton Head and Vero Beach have cheap points, but sky-high maintenance fees. BLT has the lowest fees, but high resale prices. But I figured it was worth paying a little extra to be sure we could get Boardwalk for Food & Wine or for Flower & Garden, since I love food and wine, and my wife loves flowers and gardens.

I posted in another thread a list of things that are hard (but not necessarily impossible) to get at 7 months. If it's not incredibly important to you to always be able to get one of these rooms, then buying at a specific resort is probably not the most important factor:

BWV: Standard view rooms and Grand Villas
BCV: Any room, esp studios (it's a very small resort)
VWL: Any room, esp studios (see above)
OKW: Grand Villas (the lowest point cost of any Grand Villa)
AKL: Value rooms and club level
SSR: Grand Villas and Treehouses
BLT: Any room, esp studios (it's the only monorail DVC resort until VGF opens)
VGF: Any room

Man, I think I just convinced myself I should have bought SSR!

 

[Disney Mom Dani]

LMAO! To funny! Just what I needed! Thanks!

 

[Missyrose]

BWV: Standard view rooms and Grand Villas
BCV: Any room, esp studios (it's a very small resort)
VWL: Any room, esp studios (see above)
OKW: Grand Villas (the lowest point cost of any Grand Villa)
AKL: Value rooms and club level
SSR: Grand Villas and Treehouses
BLT: Any room, esp studios (it's the only monorail DVC resort until VGF opens)
VGF: Any room

Man, I think I just convinced myself I should have bought SSR!

I'd tweak the chart just a bit:

BWV: Standard view rooms, Boardwalk view rooms and Grand Villas; Any room during the Food and Wine Festival (Sept-Nov)
BCV: Any room, esp studios (it's a very small resort); Especially hard during F&W
VWL: Any room, esp studios (see above); Especially hard during holiday season (Nov-Jan)
OKW: Grand Villas (the lowest point cost of any Grand Villa)
AKL: Value rooms and club level
SSR: Grand Villas and Treehouses
BLT: Any room, esp studios (it's the only monorail DVC resort until VGF opens); Standard view and Theme park view rooms, anything during party season at MK (Sept-Jan)
VGF: Any room

The thing to remember is that slow times in the parks are often some of the busiest for DVC. So if you like to travel from Oct-Jan, you will likely need home resort advantage where you want to stay.

 

[Countryrunner262]

I'm trying to decide which resort would be best to buy into, and I'm hoping to get some feedback. Some things I'd like to take into account:

1) Which resorts fill up the fastest in slower seasons (meaning, would certain ones be better to have that 11 month window?)

2) Expiration Dates (the later the better.)

3) Maintenance Costs (and their history of going up.)

4) Resale price per point.

We've only looked at AKL....but we want to make sure that's a good decision.

Outside of that, I'd also like to know some fun features of various resorts? Right now, it's just myself, my husband, & my 7 year old daughter...and we may add one more eventually. We love the idea of the Savannah view at AKL...but what else is good? Best swimming pools? Other activities?

We are in the process of purchasing SSR. We really liked it for its closeness to DTD. We have also stayed at POR previously, so the bus ride doesn't really bother us. I also like the idea of it being a quiet resort. Many times after a full day at the park, we like the idea of coming "home" and it being quiet and peaceful. A vacation within a vacation.

The lower maintenance fee and price was also a plus for us. We went resale so it was half the cost of direct. The later expiration date is also a plus for us.

Good luck!

 

[tjkraz]

I'm trying to decide which resort would be best to buy into, and I'm hoping to get some feedback. Some things I'd like to take into account:

1) Which resorts fill up the fastest in slower seasons (meaning, would certain ones be better to have that 11 month window?)

2) Expiration Dates (the later the better.)

3) Maintenance Costs (and their history of going up.)

4) Resale price per point.


We've only looked at AKL....but we want to make sure that's a good decision.

Outside of that, I'd also like to know some fun features of various resorts? Right now, it's just myself, my husband, & my 7 year old daughter...and we may add one more eventually. We love the idea of the Savannah view at AKL...but what else is good? Best swimming pools? Other activities?

There's no magic formula. No one resort has the most valuable 11 month window, lowest cost, longest contract and best amenities. (Generally speaking, demand and price are the two factors most at odds. "Most popular" and "cheapest" are generally not adjectives you'll find in the same sentence.)

Research, research, research. If you truly want to make the best informed decisions for YOURSELF, you should spend hours investigating into EVERY option.

 

[LSchrow]

another consideration:
are you homeschooling? if not, you will be tied to the school schedule for years. once they hit middle school, you will probably need to go during school vacations, i.e., very busy and more expensive times. getting a villa for 6-7 consecutive nights (or more) at one of the smaller resorts, will be difficult if you don't own there (SSR and OKW are larger, and tend to have more availability).
certain weeks of summer vacation are a bit easier.

also, do you want to have the option of walking to a park?
both BWV and BCV are within walking distance of EPCOT & DHS (or you could take a ferry) - both have shorter contract, but are less expensive (resale)
BLT is within walking distance of MK (still expensive, but longer contract)

all the resorts are unique - research, look at decor, room sizes/layouts, advantages/disadvantages of each (on DIS, allears.net, youtube, etc), and remember: you can always add on later

 

[bighoo93]

Interestingly enough, I just happened across a post on another DVC discussion board (that apparently we're not allowed to link to), that I think sums up a ton of good advice in one go. Since I can't link to it, I'll summarize:

- If you need to get something tough to get at 7 months, or will always or mostly be going during Christmas, or you absolutely adore one resort, you should certainly buy the resort that works best for you so you can always book it at 11 months.

- If you plan to go at a bunch of different times, and are not super picky about which resort you want to stay at, or you will not really be able to plan ahead 11 months out, buy the cheapest points you can (cheapest maintenance fees, primarily).

I think if you want to just go wherever, buying cheap points at SSR is probably the best deal because of the combo of low resale price and low fees. And SSR is really nice. If you liked Port Orleans you will LOVE SSR. I mean, no guarantees, but all DVC properties are pretty plush.

And outside of the super high occupancy times, you'll be able to find stuff at other resorts. You may not be able to get the specific thing you want on that particular trip, but you'll find something. If you just want to try them all, it'll take you a few years until you're running out of resorts to try. For the first 4 or 5 trips, you should be able to find somewhere you haven't stayed yet, especially if you're not trying to book over Christmas, New Years, or a few peak times in spring/summer. And even then, there will be availability at 7 months, it just might be spotty.

Eventually you'll probably find that it's hard to book a solid week at BLT or VGF at 7 months, and then maybe you'll have to do some kind of point rental thing if you really want to try it. Or you'll book the few days you can get and do a short trip. Or by then you'll be ready to add on some VGF resale or sell your SSR and buy BLT. Who knows?

I felt like if we couldn't have gotten BWV my next choice was SSR. Hilton Head and Vero Beach have cheap points, but sky-high maintenance fees. BLT has the lowest fees, but high resale prices. But I figured it was worth paying a little extra to be sure we could get Boardwalk for Food & Wine or for Flower & Garden, since I love food and wine, and my wife loves flowers and gardens.

I posted in another thread a list of things that are hard (but not necessarily impossible) to get at 7 months. If it's not incredibly important to you to always be able to get one of these rooms, then buying at a specific resort is probably not the most important factor:

BWV: Standard view rooms and Grand Villas
BCV: Any room, esp studios (it's a very small resort)
VWL: Any room, esp studios (see above)
OKW: Grand Villas (the lowest point cost of any Grand Villa)
AKL: Value rooms and club level
SSR: Grand Villas and Treehouses
BLT: Any room, esp studios (it's the only monorail DVC resort until VGF opens)
VGF: Any room

Man, I think I just convinced myself I should have bought SSR!

This is an outstanding post (which I guess means that it is 100% in agreement with my own observations and thoughts!).

Think about when you want to go, what resort you'd like to stay in, and what type of room. All are important factors, though I would probably consider them in that order. I think people would be surprised at the vast availability during non-peak months (e.g., mid-June through late September) across every resort, room size and view. During this timeframe, there are very, very few options that were unavailable at the 7 month window. But if you want to go for a week around New Year's Eve, be VERY flexible in your demands, or buy the resort you want to stay at.

 

[shortypots]

All other information has been very good, but the big key is BUY WHERE YOU WANT TO STAY. You get 11 month priority and if you plan that out to the day, you can generally get what you want.

We originally bought AKV as our first DVC purchase, and now we are finding that since we went to Africa on a safari that this no longer holds the appeal it used to. Our favorite resort now is VWL, and we bought that one later in the same year we bought AKV, we then added on the following year for more points at VWL because we just love it! On Monday, we added on again this time at GFV because we know we will love that resort and the awesome location. We were not fond of the decor of BLT which is why we did not buy there, but we love the decor of the GFV villas. Not fond of the high point values to stay there, but I think we are going to love that resort. Having so many restaurants a short monorail ride away will be amazing in itself.

So here are the reasons we bought the places we did-

AKV- Savannah view rooms, awesome grand Villas, and extra bath in the 1,2 and 3 bd units. Love the bar at Jambo house.

VWL- love the lodge at Christmas time which is mainly when we will go. Love the quiet nature of the resort as well. Seems more like a vacation than some other DVC resorts.

GFV- as close to luxury as DVC gets, monorail, lobby activities of pianist and orchestras.

So my suggestion is figure out what key points are most important to you. I am not tied to a calendar since I do not have kids, and we tend to not like to go during high season unless we bring family along. I wanted 11 month priority at VWL for Christmas time, without it, you have to pray for your waitlist to come through. And since GFV is going to be the smallest resort, that is another one I wanted to ensure I could get at 11 months.

I will say if you like a pool, BCV and BWV have really cool pools, they are also really close to DHS and Epcot... I however, am not fond of BW and have never stayed at BCV (which will change in Oct, got 2 nights in a studio). AKV Kidani also has a cool pool and children's water play area.

Guess it depends on what you mark as your most important aspects of your disney vacation.

Here are my pro's and cons of the resorts...

AKV- Savannah view, cool bar for the adults, many savannah viewing areas, Value and Concierge units (value units are the cheapest of all DVC)
BCV - Cool pool, boat or walk to Epcot/DHS
BLT- Walking distance to Magic Kingdom, Monorail, Lake or MK views
BWV- Cool pool, boat or walk to Epcot/DHS
GFV- luxury, lake views, monorail, lots of restaurants, gorgeous at Christmas time, music nightly, nice bar, walking distance to Poly.
OKW - Largest accomodations, lowest pts with the exception of AKV values. fairly centrally located, not close to any, not far from any. Water views in some rooms. Lots of quiet pools
SSR - Largest resort I believe, distance to DTD, DTD views in some locations, treehouse villas. lots of quiet pools.
VWL- Boat to FW and Contemporary, quiet, woodsy feel, awesome decorations at Christmas time. Smaller resort.

Cons-
AKV- Very large resort so transportation is difficult at peak times, if you get a room at the end of the resort, walking to anything is LONG
BCV- Hard to get into, rooms seem plain to me
BLT- High point value, difficult to get into at peak times. Not crazy about the furniture- seemed cheap to me
BWV- rooms seem small, not crazy about theming.
GFV- VERY high points, no theme park views
OKW- larger resort so transportation can be tough, but mostly not too bad
SSR- Very large resort, and transportation is difficult. Treehouse villas are a good deal away from everything else, so need to bus it everywhere.
VWL- Convenient to MK, but bus to everything else.

Those are my takes on it. And boy did I ramble on. I hope it helps you to decide. Let us know what you finally decide on.