Which to choose?

[Havana]

Would you buy BLT or Saratoga? What is your favorite and least favorite part of each resort?

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Talk about polar opposites. BLT is modern, contemporary, high rise/hotel like and the newest of the resorts. While SSR is more "older style", victorian-esque, condo-like, spread out and one of the older resorts.

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

Need to know your family situation........

We bought BLT because it was on the monorail. My DW has a bad back and can't do the commando park touring. So we tour while we can and if we need a rest, we're right there on the monorail and back to our hotel. That and the fact that DD3 is going to be more of a Magic Kingdom kinda guest for the near term future.

Which parks do you hang out more at when you are down there?

Do you usually rent a car, do you like the buses, do you prefer the monorail?

Have you stayed at SSR before? Have you stayed at the Contemporary before?

Choosing a home resort is a very personal decision and there really isn't a right answer for everyone. There is a right answer for you, but you kinda need to do your homework and see.

The good rule of thumb is to buy where you like to stay. It can be hard to book at the 7 month window at some of the other resorts. I know that BLT is pretty well booked for the month of December already and so is AKV.

 

[DebbieB]

Will you book between 7 and 11 months? If so, I would choose BLT if you want to stay there. SSR can usually be booked with no problem at 7 months.

BLT will retain better resale value because it is smaller and due to the location.

 

[dbs1228]

I own at both BLT for the location and guarentee a room if I book at 11 months and SSR was a deal I could not pass up, want to try THV and will use those points for ressies at 7 months when not booking THV. I call SSR points are extra stay fun points, call under 7 months see whats available and lets go!

 

[Sandisw]

Really depends on what your goal is. We bought BLT because we love its location and proximity to MK.

For the most part, before we were members, we stayed at the CR for the same reason and only bought our DVC membership because they built BLT.

For us, where we stay is a huge part of the trip and would not be happy anywhere else. It cost us about $5000 more than had we bought SSR resale.

But, I did not want to have to wait until the 7 month mark and hope I got BLT. I wanted to know from the beginning and have to say, love that I do.

I have not stayed at SSR since we only want to be within walking distance to parks. However, I can say that when we visited last summer, my DS 21 loved it and that is where he plans to buy his points in a few years when he finished grad school and has a full time job.

Good luck!

 

[disneynutz]

Would you buy BLT or Saratoga? What is your favorite and least favorite part of each resort?

I would buy where you love to stay and not be swayed because of Disney's current marketing push.

Bill

 

[Havana]

Thank you everyone for your input. We have been thinking of this for about two weeks and are getting ready to buy this weekend.
We can buy SSR 125 points or Bay Lake 100 points.

We are leaning towards more points for more hotel stays. But the allure and "cool factor" of owning Bay Lake of course is there.
I would like to try to stay at every resort, including Bay Lake eventually.

From all of my research, I have noticed there doesn't seem to be much "love" for Saratoga Springs? Is it the location? The room decor?

 

[bobbiwoz]

Thank you everyone for your input. We have been thinking of this for about two weeks and are getting ready to buy this weekend.
We can buy SSR 125 points or Bay Lake 100 points.

We are leaning towards more points for more hotel stays. But the allure and "cool factor" of owning Bay Lake of course is there.
I would like to try to stay at every resort, including Bay Lake eventually.

From all of my research, I have noticed there doesn't seem to be much "love" for Saratoga Springs? Is it the location? The room decor?

There is a "Love SSR" thread here, but there are very few people who only want to stay at SSR, and when you plan to use the home resort advantage, that's where you're booking if you own there. You probably will be able to use SSR points at each of the other resorts eventually, sometimes with waitlists but some reservations may be impossible for you to get, for instance if you want to spend NYE sometimes in BLT. (I'm just guessing, but I know I always want to spend NYE at BWV, so I keep those points available for those reservations and I book at 11 months!)

We own at 6 resorts and SSR is one of them. We've booked a treehouse villa but many of the SSR points that I've used have been spent at other resorts, not at SSR. I've no real objection to staying there. I've also stayed at BLT without owning there, but that's not something I would count on doing again. We may try to stay there again, but if we liked it enough to WANT to stay there, we would buy some points there. DH and I stay in studios most often when it's just the two of us, and I don't like BLT's studios enough to want to stay in one. So, our BLT stays will be in 1 bedrooms or higher and so far, none of our family has said that they HAVE to go back there.

Bobbi

 

[bookwormde]

Remember that you can buy 160 SSR points resale for what you cna buy 100 BLT so it quantity of points is important, that is a consideration.

bookwormde

 

[Sandisw]

Remember that you can buy 160 SSR points resale for what you cna buy 100 BLT so it quantity of points is important, that is a consideration.

bookwormde

I was just going to say the same thing!! Buying SSR through Disney, unless financing is needed, is a lot more expensive.

Yes, it takes longer, but you can get more yearly points, and save money up front.

 

[UGAFan0829]

My DH and I own at SSR. When we bought in BLT wasn't available, but that doesn't mean that I still wouldn't have went with SSR. I think getting more points with the SSR membership would be the selling point for me. Yes, BLT is a beautiful resort, and it's location is everything. But, we also love SSR as well. Like you, my DH and I enjoy staying at the different resorts, and we've not had a problem getting into other resorts, though we do tend to travel during non-peak season.

As far as some not liking SSR, I think the size of the resort and the location (in relation to not being close to one of the parks) is what turn some people off from it. We however, LOVE it. It's such a beautifully themed resort, and we love the fact that it's so close to DTD. We actually just made our first stay there back in March and we didn't for one minute regret buying in there.

Whatever resort you chose, I don't think you can go wrong--it is Disney after all!!

 

[backyardponder]

Note that it takes a lot more points to stay at BLT than SSR or other resorts.

Have you visited each of the resorts? Personally, I'd make a trip down there, rent a car, and go to each resort for a couple hours and walk around. Get the feel of the differences. Everybody has different likes and dis-likes.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Would you buy BLT or Saratoga? What is your favorite and least favorite part of each resort?

Since you asked, I'd buy neither of those. I love my OKW and AKV points, and I'd likely add more on at either of those two long before I'd want either BLT or SSR.

 

[Orsino]

We are waiting for ROFR for SSR. We debated BLT versus SSR and to me, the choice was really close. SSR is cheaper (even factoring in the lower MF for BLT). Also, I'm not sure if we would be able to take advantage of the 11 month booking advantage, so buying the cheapest points made sense for us.

We look at it this way. If we stay at SSR, that's fine since that is what we paid for. If we can wiggle into a different resort every now and then (we travel during non-peak seasons), then it is a bonus to us.
On the reverse, if we bought more expensive points, then I would be disappointed if we had to settle for a resort with cheaper points.

Finally, BLT is too urban for us. We live in a city so it's not really much of an escape for us.

 

[dizfan]

Note that it takes a lot more points to stay at BLT than SSR or other resorts.

While BLT is more point expensive that SSR and OKW.

Something many people don't realize BLT standard view can be less point expensive than BWV Pool/Garden, BCV, VWL, and some of AKV rooms.

Some of these standard views have as good or better views of MK than some of the MK view rooms.

 

[Havana]

Is it this hard to choose for everyone?! We run the numbers go, over what we like about both resorts and can't come to a conclusion. It's driving me nuts!
I think we would in the long run end up regretting not buying at BLT, being that it is so new and we would like to stay there during Christmas which would give us the advantage.
But I like a value price for the SSR points.

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

No. Wasn't that hard for me.

I took the numbers out of the equation. I bought where I wanted to stay - BLT.

If you want Christmas that much, you really need to buy where you want to stay for Christmas. If you look at the points charts, the first couple weeks of December are some of the lowest points times of year and are VERY popular for DVCers. Our 5 night stay at Kidani (Standard View) only costs 63 points.

Member Services is swamped at the 7 month date with people trying to book in at those weeks.

Like I said we bought BLT, and on a spur of the moment we decided to go for December this year and we were just at the 7 month window. BLT was already completely booked. As were most of the other DVC resorts. It looked like we were going to be at SSR, but during the resie call, MS informed me that the Kidani room just opened up and I grabbed it.

 

[Orsino]

Is it this hard to choose for everyone?!

Yes!
I played with spreadsheets for an entire week!

Like I said we bought BLT, and on a spur of the moment we decided to go for December this year and we were just at the 7 month window. BLT was already completely booked.

Interesting. This scenario is partially why we settled on SSR. If I bought BLT and couldn't get it and would wind up at SSR occasionally anyway, I figured we might as well buy at SSR and embrace it.

 

[jarrdisney]

Three words for you. Location, Location, Location. Especially if you don't have a car.