DVC Purchase...Right or Wrong for Us

[KAT4DISNEY]

Disney has made some indication that they may raise the price of studios and lower the price of one bedrooms -.

The 2020 points charts had increases to both studios AND 1BR's. It was 2BR's that were lowered in some cases. I do not foresee DVC making 1BR's more enticing to book.

 

[Matty B13]

The 2020 points charts had increases to both studios AND 1BR's. It was 2BR's that were lowered in some cases. I do not foresee DVC making 1BR's more enticing to book.

More of a push, to make people booking studios go to 1 bedrooms, and 1 bedrooms to 2 bedrooms, thus causing people to use more points and have either buy more points or have shorter stays.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

150-160 points at BLT (resale) would put me out of budget. However that same amount of points at SSR would still be within my budget and would put me in the 1 bedroom point contention for every other year use (7 month window).

The downside I see doing it this way is SSR deed expires sooner than BLT, and at 150-160 points, higher maintenance dues no matter what resort (compared to my original plan of 75 direct from Disney).

Since you're looking at every other year and children are still a little bit in the future I'd still think resale in the range of 100-125 points would be a good option. You can stay in studios and mix it up with 1BR's every other trip or whatever works out with the points. And then if you find you need more you can eventually do a small add on.

The difference in expiration between SSR and BLT? That's still 35 years down the road for SSR or a probable 18 trips vs 20 trips if you stick to every other year.

 

[CraigInPA]

A couple of thoughts:

September trips. When your child(ren) are of the age that they are going to school, you'll be moving your vacations around to match their school schedule. If you have boys playing football (and other sports), practice starts a month before school starts. Choose a use year at the start, versus the end, of the summer.

75 direct points being used every other year. You might consider looking for a resale 100 point contract instead. By going every other year, you negate the largest current advantage of a direct purchase, which is the discount on season passes.

SSR because the points are cheaper. This used to be a very common strategy. However, in the last few years, the rental market for DVC has really taken off, making all those "lost points" now being used to book rooms. As a result, the flexibility to change resorts at 7 months for studios and some other booking categories has really taken a hit. Late September through mid January is a "book at 11 months and don't expect to change" situation for studios. I suspect this will continue, and migrate to other booking categories as well. If SSR is not within your "top 5" places to say, I'd suggest you bite the bullet and buy where you don't mind staying, or where you want to stay.

 

[mjlash22]

Some people have done this and right now its working. But it could change. You are buying for the long term. Disney has made some indication that they may raise the price of studios and lower the price of one bedrooms - that could significantly change how availability at seven months work. Also, as more people decide they need enough points for one bedrooms to be able to stay at BCV/BWV/BRV/BLT etc., demand will change. Right now, there is a lot of people who have points for studios, but not one bedrooms - due to a lot of factors. Over the next few years, some of those people will add on points to increase their booking flexibility.

In other words, that works today, but it isn't necessarily going to be as true five years from now as it is right now.

Why not consider buying resale now - where you want to stay in a studio or 1 BR and then consider buying a 75 point contract (or whatever it is in the future) at a new resort in a different area years from now when the "kids" are a bit older? You can then match up the UY rather than the other way around and you'll have a better idea of how you will use those points, how many extra you need and where you want to be.. If you feel BLT is out of reach have you considered BRV? It is a gorgeous resort and just a quick boat ride to MK and is priced aggressively right now with little chance of ROFR. It is 2042 (which sounded like FOREVER in the future when we bought OKW in 1996 and Wilderness (BRV) in 2000) and you can just "ride it out" or sell when you do your add on so you'll be set into retirement

We are doing more research into the resale market. May be able to get the points (120-160) we want at AKV (within our price range) and try out the 7 month booking for other resorts. Worse case scenario, I don't think we would be disappointed with staying at AKV.

 

[mjlash22]

A couple of thoughts:

September trips. When your child(ren) are of the age that they are going to school, you'll be moving your vacations around to match their school schedule. If you have boys playing football (and other sports), practice starts a month before school starts. Choose a use year at the start, versus the end, of the summer.

75 direct points being used every other year. You might consider looking for a resale 100 point contract instead. By going every other year, you negate the largest current advantage of a direct purchase, which is the discount on season passes.

SSR because the points are cheaper. This used to be a very common strategy. However, in the last few years, the rental market for DVC has really taken off, making all those "lost points" now being used to book rooms. As a result, the flexibility to change resorts at 7 months for studios and some other booking categories has really taken a hit. Late September through mid January is a "book at 11 months and don't expect to change" situation for studios. I suspect this will continue, and migrate to other booking categories as well. If SSR is not within your "top 5" places to say, I'd suggest you bite the bullet and buy where you don't mind staying, or where you want to stay.

If we go resale, I would want something in the 120-160 range to open up 1 bedroom availability. SSR or AKV seems to be within our price range for that amount of points. AKV being the one we actually wouldn't mind staying at vs. SSR.

 

[MICKIMINI]

AKV is truly a gorgeous resort and one that you can enjoy all day without going anywhere! I know others have reminded you about buying where you want to stay and they are right. It is getting more difficult every year to get something at 7 months. My only other thought would be to make reservations at 11 months at your home resort and then switch it out if you want to (and it is available) at 7 months. That way you have a villa regardless. My only issue with AKV (we've stayed in a 1 BR and studio on the Savannah) is the distance to the rest of WDW which makes for a long drive/bus ride to anywhere besides AK. We owned SSR and sold it as we are not fond of the resort...on the other hand it is closer to everything and you can take a boat to DS.

 

[crisi]

The 2020 points charts had increases to both studios AND 1BR's. It was 2BR's that were lowered in some cases. I do not foresee DVC making 1BR's more enticing to book.

My crystal ball is notoriously bad....yours may be better.

 

[mjlash22]

Well...just an update for everyone who has been providing me with a great deal of feedback and information. My wife and I took a little bit of a 180...We are officially DVC members, but not where we thought we would be. After doing a little more research and mostly my wife falling in love with this resort, we now can officially call Riviera our home! Payment cleared today, contract and welcome package is in the mail!

I cannot lie and say I wasn't skeptical at first. For 1, the higher dues, and the 2nd being paying the higher cost per point for buying direct from Disney, but at the end of the day, running the numbers and seeing the every other year cost associated with our points contract, it was still under where I wanted to be!

We will be making our first reservation in October for next September stay. We are beyond excited and couldn't thank everyone on this forum enough for all the feedback and information we have obtained.