Why do you care about a home resort?

[robbs49]

I am looking at buying a resale, but I can't figure out why it matters what my home resort is other than the 7 month and 11 month window. It seems you can buy points a Vero Beach and OKW much cheaper than BCV or AKL. My family would probably want to stay at VWL, BCV, or AKL, at the end of every May for a week in a one bedroom. Does it make sense to buy the cheaper points with a home resort you have no real intention of staying at to save the money or is there a catch that I am not getting. Is waiting for the 7 month window to book at a more popular resort going to "get me." I probaby did not ask that question the best, but is there any thoughts?

 

[Doctor P]

Buy at the resort at which you want to stay all or most of the time. Increasingly, accomodations are harder and harder to get at non-home resorts at the 7 month window and, by definition, it will keep getting harder as resorts are added to the system.

 

[thepops]

The 7 month vs. 11 month window is the biggest reason. It may not apply every time, but if you are going in high demand DVC time (which does NOT always align with high demand park times) then it certainly plays in. Also if you are looking for "speciality" rooms - GV's or conceriage for example, you want the 11 month window. You also want to check what the maint. fees are for the resorts, since you pay those yearly, and over time will account for more that your original purchase price. I beleive that VB is one of the higher ones.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you don't mind mid-Jan to early Feb, early May, late Aug to late Sept, you should be fine. If you want anything else, you'll need to make that reservation as soon as you can.

Or, if you ever want a GV at WDW, or the BW view at the BWV, you'll want to own at a WDW resort with that booking possibility.

 

[CR88]

I am looking at buying a resale, but I can't figure out why it matters what my home resort is other than the 7 month and 11 month window. It seems you can buy points a Vero Beach and OKW much cheaper than BCV or AKL. My family would probably want to stay at VWL, BCV, or AKL, at the end of every May for a week in a one bedroom. Does it make sense to buy the cheaper points with a home resort you have no real intention of staying at to save the money or is there a catch that I am not getting. Is waiting for the 7 month window to book at a more popular resort going to "get me." I probaby did not ask that question the best, but is there any thoughts?

I am sure you will get responses for much more knowledgeable and experienced people than us but from our limited experience it is pretty difficult to get reservations at the 7 month window. We tried to get a BC studio right at 7 months for a May trip as well as an early December one, and there wasn't anything available. Rooms here and there, but nothing with multiple days together. Granted, we have only been members for about 2 years now, but we have tried to make numerous reservations at resorts other than our home (SSR), and have been limited. We did get a studio with a boardwalk view for a couple days of a 6-day vacation in May and had to split stay with the remaining days being at OKW, but we have not had any luck booking an entire vacation at 7 months. As it stands now, the next time we add on more points we are probably going to buy at either BC or BWV just to get the 11 month window for those times when we want to be close to the parks. That is unless a DVC opens at the Contemporary.

 

[Cmbar]

I am sure you will get responses for much more knowledgeable and experienced people than us but from our limited experience it is pretty difficult to get reservations at the 7 month window. We tried to get a BC studio right at 7 months for a May trip as well as an early December one, and there wasn't anything available. Rooms here and there, but nothing with multiple days together. Granted, we have only been members for about 2 years now, but we have tried to make numerous reservations at resorts other than our home (SSR), and have been limited. We did get a studio with a boardwalk view for a couple days of a 6-day vacation in May and had to split stay with the remaining days being at OKW, but we have not had any luck booking an entire vacation at 7 months. As it stands now, the next time we add on more points we are probably going to buy at either BC or BWV just to get the 11 month window for those times when we want to be close to the parks. That is unless a DVC opens at the Contemporary.

Do you regret buying now that you can't really get reservations at other resorts? I am sure you like SSR, but does it limit the value of the DVC to only be able to book there? I don't think this is sounding like a good option the more I read that you basically have to own where you want to stay and book well before the 7 month window at your own resort. We want to be able to stay at all of the DVC resorts.

I guess the BLT will be sold pretty quickly and that resort make take the demand for BCV or BWV off for a while, but as they build they add new members so it seems as if you are basically buying points at your home resort. Sorta like another time share where you buy a week. If Early Jan-Feb and Aug-Sept are the only low DVC times, we might as well stick to booking through CRO since that is the time the offer the best discounts. Feeling very confused about DVC right now. Probably our biggest problem is not any one of these resorts do we say.... Yes gotta stay there each time. We like the benefits of each of them for different reasons.

 

[Granny]

Here's a link with a good discussion about choosing a home resort.

Choosing a Home Resort advice

 

[backyardponder]

Simple rule of thumb: Pick the resort you want to stay at the most often as your home resort. You can then lock in your reservation at the 11 month window and not worry about getting a 7 month reservation.

Then decide if you want the expiration date to be 2042, 2054, or 2057, if this is important to you. For us, the expiration wasn't important due to our age.

 

[melanie18]

I'm going against most other posters and saying that home resort didn't matter to us. We've owned at VWL since 2001. We've gone to Disney 2 to 3times a year since then and we finally stayed at VWL for the 1st time in Nov 2007.

We rarely have a problem staying where we want to stay and if it is booked, we waitlist or simply choose another resort. Let's face it, you can't go wrong at any DVC resort. They all have different benefits. One resort may make it easier to get to the MK, while another is closer to DTD or Epcot. Who cares? They're all great!

 

[corky441]

Just a quick point of reference for you - the End of May falls into the "Dream" season for points - right in the middle - not super busy not super slow. Middle of the road so to speak.

Download & use Caskbill's tracker & planner programs. Make you planned reservation at your home resort at the 11 month window. Check the planner report and find the exact date for your 7 month window. If you decide you want to switch to one of the other resorts, try it then.

Don't give up on DVC just for that reason, This is a great value and I highly recommend making the purchase.
Also, don't forget to factor in the annual dues cost per point - whereas Vero Beach has a lower asking price per point the annual dues are one of the highest.
You might also want to consider buying a few smaller contracts at several resorts if you have concerns with your booking windows. With banking & borrowing, you can have an 11 month window if needed every couple of years and on the other years use your home resort... Just a thought
It's a lot to take in when you first start thinking about DVC, but you're in the right place. The Disboard forums are the best place to get really accurate information.

 

[robbs49]

"You might also want to consider buying a few smaller contracts at several resorts if you have concerns with your booking windows. With banking & borrowing, you can have an 11 month window if needed every couple of years and on the other years use your home resort... Just a thought
It's a lot to take in when you first start thinking about DVC, but you're in the right place. The Disboard forums are the best place to get really accurate information.[/QUOTE]"

This brings up just a question even though it is trivial in the long run. If you bought a small contract at AKL(lets say 100 pts) and a small VWL contract(lets say 100 pts) can you use the 11 month window at one or the other, but use all 200 pts combined? I don't think it is practical, but I am wondering.

Thank you for all the reply's. You can't find this information any other way!

 

[chalee94]

This brings up just a question even though it is trivial in the long run. If you bought a small contract at AKL(lets say 100 pts) and a small VWL contract(lets say 100 pts) can you use the 11 month window at one or the other, but use all 200 pts combined? I don't think it is practical, but I am wondering.

this gets asked a lot- and no, you can't use AKV pts to book VWL at 11 months or vice-versa.

BUT you can bank/borrow to use 2 years worth of AKV pts to book AKV at 11 months in one year and then bank/borrow to use 2 years worth of VWL at VWL the next year.

 

[lovinthemouse]

We go the week of New Years each year and it is by the one of the busiest times to go. We have gotten what we want at the 11 month window. We have tried to trade out at the 7month window and it has not worked. So it comes down to buy where you will be happy staying. As stated by other posters it is getting harder to book the bigger DVC gets.

 

[thepowellslovedisney]

You cannot combine to use all 200 at the 11 month booking window because only 100 are at your home resort. The 11 month booking window is a benefit for the home resort points only. So at 11 months you can use your home resort points to book at your home resort. You could combine them at 7 months though.

 

[Cmbar]

this gets asked a lot- and no, you can't use AKV pts to book VWL at 11 months or vice-versa.

BUT you can bank/borrow to use 2 years worth of AKV pts to book AKV at 11 months in one year and then bank/borrow to use 2 years worth of VWL at VWL the next year.

Question. If you have these two different use resorts you can combine both sets of points for one vacation if you are at the 7 month period for either (or another resort) right. Could you book lets say all your points at AKV for three days 11 months out and then at seven months out try to book at AKV for another three days with VWL points? If you don't get in to AKV and you have to go to another resort and split your stay, you can still use the points from both contracts for one vacation right? Am I making sense?

 

[thepowellslovedisney]

Yes you can if it is booked at the 11 month and the seven month windows accordingly.

 

[crisi]

There is another reason to care about your home resort. Most DIS DVCers feel a sense of pride and ownership in what they "own" that they don't get from the other resorts in the system. My favorite resort is VWL, but "home" is BWVs and that creates some feelings in me. If you choose a resort you have no emotional ties you may find yourself less emotionally invested in the system (which may not be a bad thing - but around here I think the warm fuzzies win out). Or you may find that owning creates an emotional investment in that resort - in which case its probably worth getting emotionally invested in one you like.

One of our regular DISers owned a small resort - and discovered it wasn't the right choice for her family. She really liked one of the larger resorts. From what I recall, although they didn't travel in peak times and weren't worried about not being able to book in the seven month window, they sold their small resort and bought the larger one. They didn't want "home" to be somewhere they didn't like - its emotional, not logical or financial. But to some people that's the way it works.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Question. If you have these two different use resorts you can combine both sets of points for one vacation if you are at the 7 month period for either (or another resort) right. Could you book lets say all your points at AKV for three days 11 months out and then at seven months out try to book at AKV for another three days with VWL points? If you don't get in to AKV and you have to go to another resort and split your stay, you can still use the points from both contracts for one vacation right? Am I making sense?

It depends. If they are add-ons to the original contract, it's easy to combine points. But if they are separate master contracts, then you can reserve individual nights with those points. If you have a few points from one contract, but not enough to make a full night, you have to transfer from one to another to combine those points for a single night.

And then you use your once a year transfer from each contract to transfer from one to another.

 

[Benducci]

We bought at OKW but I think it was the only one available at the time - we bought later at HH when that opened up. But to be honest we LOVE OKW & I like having the longer window in which to book there.

 

[solgent]

the more I read that you basically have to own where you want to stay and book well before the 7 month window at your own resort. We want to be able to stay at all of the DVC resorts.

Probably our biggest problem is not any one of these resorts do we say.... Yes gotta stay there each time. We like the benefits of each of them for different reasons.

It is not true that nobody can ever switch out and you'll be "stuck" at your home resort.

And it is not true that switching is so easy and you can always make reservation wherever you want.

Much depends on when you want to go & what sort of room you want.

At the time we've been going in recent years we are finding plenty of availability at 7 months. We have stayed at our home resort & another resort so far and we hope to try different resorts over the years. But if switching becomes more difficult, we're very happy with our home resort and wouldn't mind staying there always.

I wouldn't buy at VB if you want to visit WDW, because if you didn't find anything at 7 months, you'd be out of luck. I would look for a WDW DVC that you'd be satisfied with. I think it's reasonable to expect that you will be able to stay at other resorts sometimes.

But DVC does limit your options & it might not be right for you.