Which resort?

[AmyAnne]

I think I have convinced DH to look seriously at a small resale contract. I researched DVC pretty extensively a few years ago but for various reasons we never purchased. If I recall, two important considerations in looking for a DVC contract are the specific resort and use year. We are pretty flexible in terms of where we will stay (just won't stay at AKL without a savanna view) although with our kids mostly out in the real world, we are limited mostly to travel at peak times, like holidays. So my thought is that we want to own DVC points a resort, and with a use year, that will give us access to the most options at peak times. So if I am correct, resorts like Hilton Head wouldn't work well for us, because we would not have access to WDW resorts at 12 months. I'm starting my research with AKL and Poly because those would be our preferred resorts, but which others should I consider? If I recall, the EPCOT resorts are also very much in demand and hard to book if not booked at 12 months.

Any and all advice welcome. I'm excited to get back into thinking about this but also banging my head against my desk because I had pretty much mastered the DVC world a few years ago and now there are only traces of that info left in my brain . . .

 

[1momof3boys3]

I'm pretty new to this, so I can't give much advice, but I will say that I was looking at getting a small contract at Saratoga Springs because it seems like it's pretty easy to get into even if you're not booking at the 11 month window. I don't like the idea of getting a home resort that I still have to stress out about getting in or not. I would recommend you look at Saratoga Springs. It is also one of the most cost effective ones, if you're looking at financial decisions, too. Other have done the math and I think it's one of the cheapest over time.

 

[momto3pirates]

You really just have to decide what resort you want to own. Everyone has their favorites. It is getting harder and harder to book at 7 months. The more points they sell, the more competition there will be at 7 months. Booking at 11 months is getting more important. Another thing to consider is the maintenance fees. Hilton Head and VB have high yearly fees.

The bottom line is buy where you want to stay. Maybe try renting points to check out different resorts before you buy.

 

[mustinjourney]

check out this thread to see what the availability has been like for the studios during the times of year you're interested in.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...tudios-some-1-bedrooms-prepared-2015.3419112/

DVC is a little counter intuitive in that the peak demand times are less busy for DVC (since they require more points). Pretty much all of October thru race week of January are very busy -- so if you're going to travel then, make sure you buy where you want to stay. If you are going in the summer -- then it's not quite as important, as there is more availability at 7 months out during the summer. Easter and spring break times can also be difficult to book -- as well as many of the other race weekends.

 

[Dean]

I think I have convinced DH to look seriously at a small resale contract. I researched DVC pretty extensively a few years ago but for various reasons we never purchased. If I recall, two important considerations in looking for a DVC contract are the specific resort and use year. We are pretty flexible in terms of where we will stay (just won't stay at AKL without a savanna view) although with our kids mostly out in the real world, we are limited mostly to travel at peak times, like holidays. So my thought is that we want to own DVC points a resort, and with a use year, that will give us access to the most options at peak times. So if I am correct, resorts like Hilton Head wouldn't work well for us, because we would not have access to WDW resorts at 12 months. I'm starting my research with AKL and Poly because those would be our preferred resorts, but which others should I consider? If I recall, the EPCOT resorts are also very much in demand and hard to book if not booked at 12 months.

Any and all advice welcome. I'm excited to get back into thinking about this but also banging my head against my desk because I had pretty much mastered the DVC world a few years ago and now there are only traces of that info left in my brain . . .

For UY it depends on which holidays. If it's a lot of summer, June might be good unless you'd do the May holiday weekend routinely. Dec For Xmas and Spring Break. It really just depends on the % and whether any of those times would have a higher risk of changes/cancelations. For resort SSR is cheapest followed by BLT then AKV, HH and VB would be more long term and you should have the 11 month window at WDW if that's the goal. You'll likely want a resale and 25 pt retail add on to have the other perks.

 

[viper17d]

To echo what others have said: buy where you want to stay. It's good that you're flexible, but the home resort benefit - especially around the holidays - is important. For instance, if you loved Wilderness Lodge and you wanted to go around Christmas time, you shouldn't buy anywhere else.

If you don't know which DVC resort you love, I would do one of two things: i) rent points and stay at a few different ones (maybe do a six night trip staying at 3 of your potential favorites) or ii) buy at Saratoga Springs.

Saratoga is an acquired taste - some people love it, some people don't mind it, and some people simply would never choose to stay there. Generally, the only reason not to buy there (if it's a small contract) is if you're in the last category. They are the cheapest resale points with the longest term left and relatively low maintenance fees. If you're flexible on other resorts, you can typically get a room elsewhere at 7 months, but you need to be okay at Saratoga if you can't.

As to use year, the only thing you don't want is for your use year month to be in the first four months after when you intend to travel. To give you an example, our use year is December. We travel every year in May but we also have the flexibility to go in December (which we are doing this year). We have no intention of going around Thanksgiving, so we aren't losing anything.

Hopefully this helps and good luck!

 

[kboo]

Also think about whether you can plan 7-11 months ahead. If not, and you're planning closer to 7mo or <7mo in advance, then SSR will still be your best bet, even if you don't really want to stay there, because the points are the cheapest overall. In that case, then, you should also buy enough points to cover a 1BR even if you think you will always stay in studios, because then you'll have more flexibility when looking across resorts.

 

[zavandor]

Holidays are not peak times for DVC, except Christmas. The summer in particular is quite in low demand.
It also depends on which room type you want to book. There can be fierce competition for studios, but 1 bedroom are much easier to get, with 2 bedrooms somewhere in between.

If you want to do most of your trips at AKV or Poly, I would buy AKV, it's cheaper and offers more room types.
If you're really flexible in where to stay and when to go or you want to try all resorts at least once, then buy SSR, which is the cheapest resort.

 

[crisi]

It also depends on which room type you want to book. There can be fierce competition for studios, but 1 bedroom are much easier to get, with 2 bedrooms somewhere in between.

And at resorts where there are different point values (like BLT Standard view vs. BLT Lake view) for the same sized room, the bargains usually go first. Booking a Value studio at VAKL is difficult even for owners - there are very few of them and they go fast. Booking a Savannah view studio isn't difficult within the home resort window.

 

[zavandor]

Very true. I would never buy a resort counting on booking the "usual suspects" rooms at 7 months any time fo the year: VGF studios, AKV Value and Concierge, BLT standard, BWV standard. With a bit of patience and a lot of luck nothing is really impossible: I got BWV standard and AKV value at 7 months or with a waitlist in very low demand periods like January and September. So there may be reports of people getting those, but one should never plan on booking those categories without home resort priority.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I'll echo the echo-buy where you want to stay. Please don't make the mistake we did. We initially bought where we thought we'd want to stay, but had never stayed there. Our first visit was a split between there and another DVC resort we weren't familiar with. After that first stay, DH decided we needed to do the sell-buy so that we'd own where we stayed second. Turns out that where we thought we'd like, we didn't at all. And where we didn't initially have any interest in we loved. And as DH pointed out, you're going to pay dues every year, so much better to pay it to a resort you love. So, if it's feasible, stay at some DVC resorts first.

 

[Dean]

I'm not a big believer in the "buy where you want to stay" model but rather buy where you don't mind staying. For someone who can/will plan a full 11 months out and who has very specific needs/goals, they become the same thing. Very few new buyers know where they'll want to stay routinely though many will think they know. When there's any doubt, I'd underbuy rather than buying the most expensive options.

 

[MountainMouse]

I can only offer what we've done and been pretty happy with...bought BLT, added on BLT, adding on SSR.

We bought BLT because that's where we wanted to stay, I was nervous about availability, and the price was lower then. We bought enough points for a standard 1BR in the summer and then added on because we like staying in a Lakeview for longer than a week in the summer and more than once per year. The choice to add SSR was primarily due to three factors...cost, availability, and the desire to try new resorts. BLT may be appropriately priced but it is $30-$40 more per point than SSR right now and I couldn't justify that additional expense for points that I want to use either at low DVC demand times or at non home resorts. I fully expect our tastes to change over the years and will continue to adapt our ownership to suit our needs. We did buy a little blindly having never stayed there before but being familiar with the Contemporary and WDW it worked out for us.

 

[Marriedbythemouse]

We bought BWV because we wanted a studio for food and wine every year. Then we bought HH because we want to book there at 11 months. But I have booked almost every other WDW resort at 7 months out, WL is the only one we haven't tried yet.
So if there is a place you really want then buy there. If you don't mind where you stay then get the best deal you can! Good Luck!!

 

[Wakey]

Time of year and type of room are the biggest drivers in resort availibility at 7 months. 1 beds go much slower than studios. Go Jan to Sept in a 1 bed, you can book anywhere on 7 months so buy SSR in that scenario as it is the best value. I've seen situations where a VGF owner could not get a studio at 11 months at Grand FloridIan as they book up on 11 months, so cannot get in even with their v expensive VGF points, and an SSR owner could book at 7 months and get a VGF 1 bed. Yes they'll pay more dues every year, but they are staying in VGF for less than the owner paid for the points, the owner cannot get in, and the SSR owner has twice the space and has his VGF room.

 

[zavandor]

We don't know one important bit of information: when are you planning to visit WDW and are you flexible with your dates?
If you visit during Autumn Frenxy (from late September to early January), then looking at resort priority advantage is important, otherwise it's less important. I own SSR points and I've been able to use them at other resorts consistently, but I travel during low demand times for DVC. Since you're considering SSR as a home resort, I'd say you wouldn't mind to stay there, so it looks like it would be a good option for you.
Also, as Dean said, look at the point charts: a 2bedroom is not much more points than two studios, it's easier to book, it gives you a full kitchen and washer and drier, more space.