New to DVC - Debating Home Resort

[sethschroeder]

I just want to add something else to this.

Have you ever stayed at AKL vs BWV vs VGF vs POLY? There is a big difference in the resort, their access to the parks, and which parks they are close to.

Personally love BWV out of all of these because you can walk to two parks, you can easily get in to Epcot for festivals, and tons of food options for the evening.

Maybe you do or maybe you don't get rooms elsewhere at 7 months. Its just another thing to think about. I would say most of the year you likely can get studios at AKV, OKW, SSR but I would not say that is the case at the other resorts (except maybe POLY).

 

[SRUAlmn]

I just want to add something else to this.

Have you ever stayed at AKL vs BWV vs VGF vs POLY? There is a big difference in the resort, their access to the parks, and which parks they are close to.

Personally love BWV out of all of these because you can walk to two parks, you can easily get in to Epcot for festivals, and tons of food options for the evening.

Maybe you do or maybe you don't get rooms elsewhere at 7 months. Its just another thing to think about. I would say most of the year you likely can get studios at AKV, OKW, SSR but I would not say that is the case at the other resorts (except maybe POLY).

Yes! We’ve stayed at almost every deluxe resort on the hotel side so transportation is something we’re definitely thinking about as well. Right now, my son is obsessed with Lion King and AKV (for many reasons) would be a great choice. He’s also obsessed with the buses, so again! Haha However, down the road (or even now for us adults,) would the lack of walk/monorail/boat options be frustrating? Definitely, so that’s one thing that’s steering us away from AKV (as beautiful as it is!)

 

[sethschroeder]

However, down the road (or even now for us adults,) would the lack of walk/monorail/boat options be frustrating? Definitely, so that’s one thing that’s steering us away from AKV (as beautiful as it is!)

100% why we decided against AKV even though I had looked at in the past. Its a great resort but only for a few days every number of years where you go to AK each day and relax watching the animals.

 

[Sandisw]

Yes! We’ve stayed at almost every deluxe resort on the hotel side so transportation is something we’re definitely thinking about as well. Right now, my son is obsessed with Lion King and AKV (for many reasons) would be a great choice. He’s also obsessed with the buses, so again! Haha However, down the road (or even now for us adults,) would the lack of walk/monorail/boat options be frustrating? Definitely, so that’s one thing that’s steering us away from AKV (as beautiful as it is!)

I will add that AKV, due to its size, does tend to have more rooms still available than some of the other resorts

With the exception of value and CL rooms, staying there now with your young son should still be doable.

Some of the other places are harder to get if not your home resort.

 

[DVCanadian]

Buy as many points as cheap as you can, with the lowest ongoing cost and then stay everywhere.

I’m trying to stay at every resort, I don’t want to stay at the same resort every trip for 30 years, so buying the most and cheapest points we could afford was our approach.

We don’t stay in studios and don’t travel at super peak like Christmas and Easter. Over ten plus years of ownership and have not had trouble getting something great at 7 months.

We bought in to upgrade our accommodations for a reasonable price.

Good luck!

 

[SRUAlmn]

I will add that AKV, due to its size, does tend to have more rooms still available than some of the other resorts

With the exception of value and CL rooms, staying there now with your young son should still be doable.

Some of the other places are harder to get if not your home resort.

Great point!! Thank you!

Buy as many points as cheap as you can, with the lowest ongoing cost and then stay everywhere.

I’m trying to stay at every resort, I don’t want to stay at the same resort every trip for 30 years, so buying the most and cheapest points we could afford was our approach.

We don’t stay in studios and don’t travel at super peak like Christmas and Easter. Over ten plus years of ownership and have not had trouble getting something great at 7 months.

We bought in to upgrade our accommodations for a reasonable price.

Good luck!

Kind of where our heads are at as well. We don’t have one resort we’re tied to loving and would love to try as many as we can over the years !

 

[mamaofsix]

I'll just throw out there the idea of direct vs. resale. We researched for years and thought we'd do resale. In the end, the price point at GFV direct was so good that resale made no sense. If you're at all thinking GFV - go direct. Also wanted to echo @sethschroeder ... it's really important to consider maintenance fees and cost over time - not just "cheapest upfront for most amount of points." We went with GFV because the maintenance fees are lower than most and the long expiry.

Direct will allow us to stay at any future resorts, including Riviera. There is also the potential for perks like dining discounts, moonlight magic, annual pass discounts (I know, you can't count on the perks, but they often add up to significant cost savings). Direct was also considerably less of a headache to purchase than resale.

The proximity to parks and transportation options at GFV made the sale for us. If we're "stuck" with our 11 month resort - that's where I'd want to be.

 

[BcIcemen]

I own at SSR and have never had a problem moving at 7 months. We have stayed at Polynesion(Studio in May),Beach Club(2 Bedroom in June),Boardwalk(2 Bedroom in April) GF(2 Bedroom Standard in August),Riviera(2 Bedroom Standard in August), AK(2 Bedroom Savanna in November)Beach Club(2 Bedroom in Feb) Bay Lake(1 Bedroom Standard in August)Beach Club Studio in Nov) and GF(1 Bedroom Lake View in Nov). I would buy at SSR best value

 

[DeeBee3]

Of those 6, I would shy away from Poly since they are building the new tower and everything with that is an unknown. Since your son is still so young, I would look at contract length.

We are at Copper Creek, but the studios are small. We love the place though. It's one of those places where "owning where you love counts" big time. Fingers crossed with the world, we are due to stay there this December, and we are ecstatic. You basically have to own there to get a studio during the holidays.

From your list, Grand Flo and BLT stand out to me. You have the nice bathroom setups with each of those resorts (always a fan of more bathroom area), and you have a great location.

I also love AK. We have stayed on the Kidani side. Loved it. Didn't mind the bus at all. The point charts are more reasonable, too.

It's a hard question, but only you know your preferences. I would look at room layouts to see where you get more space etc.

Good luck!

 

[Her Dotness]

See this is something I would lay out up front.

As an example instead of spending $30k now, just do $20k now and get like 150 points at BWV but you outline the extra $10k is being saved to use along with another $10k in another couple years to get another 150 points if everything works for you.

I will say if you go in to a 1br though you are not going to want to go back to a studio with kids in the room likely. The 1br makes it more of a vacation as you have some time away from the kid(s) while spending a good amount of time with them still.

I strongly agree the above can be a very workable strategy. And more strongly agree BEWARE THE 1 BEDROOM for those reasons. That in-room washer-dryer and fully equipped kitchen with a full-size fridge with freezer--dangerous. Ice cream mere feet away is a sheer delight--more reason to avoid those 1brs.

We actually bought the VGF minimum, then 100 pts, about 5 years ago at direct offsale price because we only wanted VGF and didn't want to mess with the ROFR wait. Which people generally and rightly say IS DUMB financially. Thing is, it got us what we wanted faster and simpler than the bid/get ROFRd/start over wrangle lasting several months or more. And that's after you've found an affordable and appealing resale to start with, which can take a few years unless any resort will do.

A couple years later, DVD rearranged VGF points, leaving us unable to get a studio annually as we preferred without endless banking and borrowing. Added 25 more VGF direct.

As sethschroeder indicates, a little to start, then saving for more in a few years could work very well with resale, much less expensively than our love affair with VGF-offsale did pricewise.

Once you're members, you could add a small direct contract to get the perks if you care about those. Not that the perks give that much but some feel-goods and a few bucks in discounts, but they are kinda nice. (As in 15% off my every trip Basin White extravagance!)

Pick an onsale resort, add on the direct minimum and use those to add a night somewhere else at 7 months, even though you may never stay at that home resort but only use the contract for "sleeping around" points. We like to add arrival night, no park ticket, and get to know another resort--or last night at WDW, again no parkgoing, to relax, do laundry and get ready to leave.

 

[Yankee626]

7 month booking is bad because of Saratoga Springs and the outside of Disney World resorts. most people buy those resorts for cheap points to sleep around. Very few of these owners want to stay at their home resort ever. Saratoga is the resort of last resorts and its the biggest one.

 

[Jelly563]

This is EASY...... If your looking for advice, given what you have said. Bay Lake Tower is the choice for you. Get resale $20-25k worth of points. You will be extremely satisfied and your family will love it.

 

[sndral]

I will add that AKV, due to its size, does tend to have more rooms still available than some of the other resorts

With the exception of value and CL rooms, staying there now with your young son should still be doable.

Some of the other places are harder to get if not your home resort.

AKV is interesting in that people tend to lump Kidani which is larger & thus a fairly easy 7 month get in w/ Jambo which is not & to me the 2 buildings feel very different. Kidani tends to be available longer, Jambo not so much. I suspect we’ll see a similar pattern w/ VGF going forward w/ the original building being much harder to book than BPK.
The other factor w/ availability is how long you go for - getting 7-10 days in a row at 7 months is harder than getting 3-5 days. If you’re ok w/ split stays (we aren’t fans) you’re more likely to be able to cobble something together at 7 months.
I’m surprised that folks are recommending BLT to someone planning on studios - I haven’t stayed there, but from what I’ve read the studios are small?

 

[SRUAlmn]

You all are so amazing!! I am so amazed at how helpful and open everyone has been and I just wanted to say how much I appreciate it!

We have looked at direct (even though the perks don’t seem to outweigh the savings for us at this time,) like mentioned, not having to go through ROFR which seems to be rampant right now would be a plus. It would probably mean purchasing less points for us, then, which might mean less (or shorter) trips, but like mentioned, we’d know we could stay somewhere we liked! My husband and I were married at the Wedding Pavilion, so being at GFV or Poly would just be so sweet and nostalgic for us!

I’ve been watching YouTube tours of the rooms to look at size and layout. We were blessed with our son at an “older” age so he will be the only one, but maybe as he grows he’d want to bring a friend or maybe grandma will want to join us so having those great bathroom setups (and the extra bathroom in some like BLT) is such a bonus!

 

[Sandisw]

AKV is interesting in that people tend to lump Kidani which is larger & thus a fairly easy 7 month get in w/ Jambo which is not & to me the 2 buildings feel very different. Kidani tends to be available longer, Jambo not so much. I suspect we’ll see a similar pattern w/ VGF going forward w/ the original building being much harder to book than BPK.
The other factor w/ availability is how long you go for - getting 7-10 days in a row at 7 months is harder than getting 3-5 days. If you’re ok w/ split stays (we aren’t fans) you’re more likely to be able to cobble something together at 7 months.
I’m surprised that folks are recommending BLT to someone planning on studios - I haven’t stayed there, but from what I’ve read the studios are small?

That is a good point and as someone who would never stay there, I didn’t think of it that way but there are differences I am sure.

Id one doesn’t care which building, then at least have a chance.

BPK and original VGF isn’t quite the same since one only has resort studios in it

But I get what you mean!

 

[SRUAlmn]

AKV is interesting in that people tend to lump Kidani which is larger & thus a fairly easy 7 month get in w/ Jambo which is not & to me the 2 buildings feel very different. Kidani tends to be available longer, Jambo not so much. I suspect we’ll see a similar pattern w/ VGF going forward w/ the original building being much harder to book than BPK.
The other factor w/ availability is how long you go for - getting 7-10 days in a row at 7 months is harder than getting 3-5 days. If you’re ok w/ split stays (we aren’t fans) you’re more likely to be able to cobble something together at 7 months.
I’m surprised that folks are recommending BLT to someone planning on studios - I haven’t stayed there, but from what I’ve read the studios are small?

This is a great point that I hadn’t considered! A lot of times people are saying “I’ve never had a problem finding availability 7 months out.” But is that 2 day availability or a week? That makes a huge difference! If you’re a local and running over to do a staycation, the 7 month window probably isn’t a problem, but we live in SC and would want at least 4-5 nights for it to be a “vacation” for us! So that’s something I’ll have to keep an eye on. I’ve been using a site to survey availability (not sure if I’m allowed to post it,) but looking at the end of Jan right now (which is at the 7 month mark and isn’t a super busy time) there isn’t an abundance of availability and what is available is very choppy (one or two days here and there.)

 

[RoseGold]

I agree BLT is a good pick, even if you aren’t going to be staying there. The points are great value, and IMO pure speculation it has room to go up in value. The chart already looks dated. As new properties keep going up and up in points, the BLT chart will look like the BW/BC charts look now.

 

[RichVIII]

Lots of great feedback. We love and purchased (resale) at BLT. That aside, we started regularly going to Disney when our daughter was 3. We felt like our habits would never change, even why we picked our use year. She is almost 13 and our patterns have shifted several times. We certainly have adjusted but I wouldn't bet on staying the same. The other thing that is often mentioned but not so much in this thread is how much your habits will change, especially given your distance. We started going more often and purchased Annual Passes. Kid gets older, and purchased Universal Annual passes. Go more often, need more points. The kid gets older and we fall in love with 1BRs, need more points. Go more often, and start buying discounted gift cards to save a few bucks. Get an airline credit card to start saving on flights. Start traveling with friends since we are those "Disney" people. Start knowing with an only we will eventually bring a friend. Fall in love with Aulani, going back again. Points give you the most flexibility in the system if you ask me. We just purchased another small contract at a new resort and man it is so hard to be creative. Longer years and more points. Also search the most economical resorts and that will help.

 

[Straulin]

We bought BCV in a toss up decision between it and Boardwalk. The point charts and fall availability for walking to Epcot narrowed it to those two. Our kids are 10 & 12 and we are in our mid forties so the , 2042 expiration didn't push us off.

BLT is my current add-on target for the same reasons. Walkability and points charts. Plus the longer expiration will be nice.

Of the ones you listed either BWV or BLT will get you the best of convenience for booking desirable locations and value for your points.

 

[SRUAlmn]

So we went through when we’d most likely stay, and studio & one bedroom point needs for different resorts and numbers of days and it looks like we’d maybe be ok with 200 points (for now, ha!) Looking at current resale contracts that have 200 points, the price per point varies quite a bit and I’m not always sure I understand what justifies it?

For example - (in the use years we’re focusing on) one of the lowest 200 point Poly contracts is $164/point (has most of the 2022 & 2023 points) and the lowest Bay Lake Tower one is $171/point (has a lot of the points drained.) I know it’s really only a difference of $1400 in the grand scheme of things but that’s almost one year of dues. So is it just the availability of more than studios and the easier walk to the MK that makes the BLT price point higher? Or are there other reasons?