How we made our DVC decision(s)

[kboo]

If it is the same room category, then yes, most likely you will have the same room. You can link or merge the reservations. If merged, they become 1 and you def have the same room. If you link because you want to take chances with the waitlist, then it's not guaranteed but still extremely likely. FWIW, I give up on my waitlists around 30 days out,* and chances are you can still merge your reservations at that point and not have a problem. But this is also getting into Advanced Wait List and Room Reservations, which you can work on later.

*giving up on waitlist 30 days out has been purely hypothetical for me; I've gotten what I wanted usually within 3 mo of my trip and had no problem merging. Caveat - I am still a relatively new DVC owner, so others will likely have more advice. But I wouldn't worry too much about the details of this process just now. It's hard to understand in a hypothetical sense before you have had some experience booking and waitlisting and looking at availability.

 

[Bing Showei]

All the possibilities!!

If you book (2) 3-day at BLT (7+) and at 7 months there is no availability for BWV, will you have the same room for both 3-day at BLT? Just curious, not a big deal changing rooms at same resort.

You can contact MS and ask them to link the reservations. Otherwise you could potentially be homeless for five hours (11am-4pm) which would involve packing and unpacking midway through your stay.

 

[Jedi Dad]

Otherwise you could potentially be homeless for five hours

Welcome Home(less)!

 

[Bing Showei]

Welcome Home(less)!

The dad jokes are strong with this one.

[slow claps]

Well played, Jedi-Dad. Well played.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

If going BLT, direct could potentially be worth it since you are paying only about $50 more per point, or under $4000 extra for 75 points. over 42 more years. $10 a year for potential perks is probably worthwhile. BWV would be harder to justify going direct for 75 points because the contract length is so much shorter.

Actually, $4,000 over 42 years = $95.24/year, not $10.

With $100 discount on APs, you will have to buy 40 of them to break even.

 

[Jedi Dad]

Actually, $4,000 over 42 years = $95.24/year, not $10.

With $100 discount on APs, you will have to buy 40 of them to break even.

As non-FL residents, the AP discount for us would be more than $100, since we can only buy platinum pass or better, not the gold pass. (I know this is not comparing apples to apples because Gold AP has blackout dates, whereas Platinum does not)

Direct Discount - Gold Pass Renewal = $500
Retail - Platinum Pass Renewal $750-800? (I only know its $850 for initial purchase)

So for us it would be more like 14 -16 of them to break even.

This is also only IF we are going to be going more than once a year. The Gold Pass vs. 7-Day PH Ticket is basically a wash.

 

[Jedi Dad]

The dad jokes are strong with this one.

[slow claps]

Well played, Jedi-Dad. Well played.

It's really more like Padawan-Dad, but I didn't want to have to change the name once I completed my training...

 

[Ben E N]

Actually, $4,000 over 42 years = $95.24/year, not $10.

With $100 discount on APs, you will have to buy 40 of them to break even.

Good call. I was in the middle of a gym session when I wrote that so I think the blood wasn't flowing to my brain enough. Thanks for catching that.
Something to consider, though, the price of APs is rising quicker than inflation. $100 per year won't mean so much 20 years from now. You have to compare that to investing growth as well, but it could potentially be worth it if you are a whole family. 16 APs could easily be bought in 8 years for a family of 4, using them to book end every other year for a good savings on annual trips.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

As non-FL residents, the AP discount for us would be more than $100, since we can only buy platinum pass or better, not the gold pass. (I know this is not comparing apples to apples because Gold AP has blackout dates, whereas Platinum does not)

Direct Discount - Gold Pass Renewal = $500
Retail - Platinum Pass Renewal $750-800? (I only know its $850 for initial purchase)

So for us it would be more like 14 -16 of them to break even.

This is also only IF we are going to be going more than once a year. The Gold Pass vs. 7-Day PH Ticket is basically a wash.

We are spacing our trips 11 months apart and then skipping a year. So, for us it will be Dec 2018, Nov 2019, no 2020 but maybe early 2021 (depends on how it will work best to space our next 10-11 mo interval).

We are a family of 4 (traveling with a 5th) and own only a small direct BWV contract. Small contracts being scarce and commanding a higher price, a couple sets of APs and a few random dining discounts and we will have recouped what we "overpaid" by buying direct -vs- resale and we are certainly coming out ahead when comparing to if we'd continued staying at mods.

 

[Jedi Dad]

We are spacing our trips 11 months apart and then skipping a year. So, for us it will be Dec 2018, Nov 2019, no 2020 but maybe early 2021 (depends on how it will work best to space our next 10-11 mo interval).

We are a family of 4 (traveling with a 5th) and own only a small direct BWV contract. Small contracts being scarce and commanding a higher price, a couple sets of APs and a few random dining discounts and we will have recouped what we "overpaid" by buying direct -vs- resale and we are certainly coming out ahead when comparing to if we'd continued staying at mods.

Great strategy!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Amazing how even at 11 months some are “spotty”.

When people buy a minimum number of points to only book studios and the number of studios is very limited (ala GFV, GCV, CCV or AKV-JH concierge villas), those can be hard to book during the busy DVC times.

 

[Jedi Dad]

When people buy a minimum number of points to only book studios and the number of studios is very limited (ala GFV, GCV, CCV or AKV-JH concierge villas), those can be hard to book during the busy DVC times.

I just had my first experience with that. We recently rented points, for the first time, for our upcoming Jan/Feb 2019 trip and it was interesting to see how limited the standard studio availability was at almost all resorts, with the exception of SSR. There was a little more availability if you choose a preferred view.

We are purchasing points with the intent to be in a 1br within a few years. Our daughter is only 3 months old, so studio is fine for us right now, but within a few years we are definitely going to be upgrading to 1br.