Purchasing Resale at HHI with intentions to use at DW?

DisneyNewbieSC

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jan 22, 2016
Hi all!I have been bitten by the DVC bug and am pouring over as much information as I can as we contemplate buying resale into DVC.

My question being, am I right to assume that I can buy cheaper points at HHI and still use them at DW just being able to book at the 7 month mark? We live in SC so actually would put use with points at HHI but our main use would be for those classic resorts at Disney World. I think we are of the mind set that we don’t mind any particular resort so would be fairly flexible where we end up. Does that help make this an option? We would utilize studios mostly and that is what does concern me a bit with those being booked up at 11 months. Also of course the 2042 lease year but that at least would get my kids through the college age.

Thank you all :-)
 
As an owner at HHI let me tell you a few things to be concerned about. One thing is that HHI annual dues are high (as is Vero Beach). They went up a big % the past few years, since the hurricane hit and caused some damage. Along those lines, if the resort does get completely/significantly destroyed by a hurricane Disney Vacation Development can opt to NOT rebuild but we'd still be on hook for dues. That's what I have heard anyway...not sure how true it is.

As far as studios...they ARE tough to get at 7 months out if you are hoping to use at WDW. Not impossible and certain times of the year are harder than others (basically Oct-Marathon weekend in Jan). And SSR and AKV will tend to be available most times (though Oct-marathon is spotty but you could get something if flexible and/or willing to do split stays at 2 or more resorts). I also have had good success with the wait list and stalking availability. I also own OKW and pretty much use those at 7 months out (stayed 12 nights total at OKW since buying in 2006).

And owning HHI makes sense for us because we do like to stay there (live in NC). It is the best resort and town, we just love it there. The staff at the resort are awesome. We are considering buying a vacation home at HHI and we'd still keep the HHI DVC points because then our family would have extra place to stay. I had listed my HHI points for sale in Nov due to all our dues getting hiked up (all our resorts went up a lot and I was mad at that). But just couldn't part with them. Just stayed there over MLK weekend and it reminded me how much I love that place. Going back in May. If we sell any, I think we'll sell our OKW (we also have BWV and CCV).
 
buy cheaper points at HHI and still use them at DW just being able to book at the 7 month mark?
You can do this but HHI although has a low price per point it has some of the highest MF of any DVC property. This is where you might save on your initial buy in but the contract would cost you more over time because of the MF. The low cost pp is attractive, but compared to other resorts you would spend much more over the life of the contract. The other concern is a significant increase in dues related to hurricane damage assessments. It happened a couple years ago when the property was hit and damaged. A little less likely to happen at a WDW property.

We would utilize studios mostly and that is what does concern me a bit with those being booked up at 11 months.
This is a dicy strategy because 7 months most of the year the studios book up probably before anything else. Now if you wanted a 1 or 2 BR you would likely have a better chance. It does vary depending on the time of year because pretty much Sept to marathon weekend in Jan you pretty much have to book your home resort close to 11 months (especially if you want a studio) in order to guarantee a room. Other times of the year are a bit easier, but you would likely be limited to OKW or SSR.

I actually looked at a HHI purchase a few years ago just for use at HHI, but when i really looked at other options of properties in the HHI area i was much better off financially renting another timeshare or home in the area vs buying HHI.
 
Hi all!I have been bitten by the DVC bug and am pouring over as much information as I can as we contemplate buying resale into DVC.

My question being, am I right to assume that I can buy cheaper points at HHI and still use them at DW just being able to book at the 7 month mark? We live in SC so actually would put use with points at HHI but our main use would be for those classic resorts at Disney World. I think we are of the mind set that we don’t mind any particular resort so would be fairly flexible where we end up. Does that help make this an option? We would utilize studios mostly and that is what does concern me a bit with those being booked up at 11 months. Also of course the 2042 lease year but that at least would get my kids through the college age.

Thank you all :-)
Buy HHI if that is where you want to stay most of the time. Buy a resort at WDW if that is where you want to stay most of the time. Studios book up first because they require fewer points and there are a lot of newer owners with 100 or fewer points. Mid-Sept through mid-January is known as Fall Frenzy because you need to book your home resort at 11 months out and see what is left at seven months out. The first week of Dec is the most popular week of the year for DVC owners, too. You might be better off buying SSR or BLT and paying a bit more for the initial points and paying less in annual fees over the long run. But buy a resort that you wouldn't mind staying at if you couldn't change your reservation to a different resort at seven months out.
 


Buy HHI if that is where you want to stay most of the time. Buy a resort at WDW if that is where you want to stay most of the time. Studios book up first because they require fewer points and there are a lot of newer owners with 100 or fewer points. Mid-Sept through mid-January is known as Fall Frenzy because you need to book your home resort at 11 months out and see what is left at seven months out. The first week of Dec is the most popular week of the year for DVC owners, too. You might be better off buying SSR or BLT and paying a bit more for the initial points and paying less in annual fees over the long run. But buy a resort that you wouldn't mind staying at if you couldn't change your reservation to a different resort at seven months out.

Thank you so much! In reading the other responses I guess I didn’t take into consideration the larger MFs for HHI
. Maybe we will buy at SSR for the lower price cost but seriously considering AKV. I think the theming would really please my kids. Still trying to wrap my head about UY and why Mid-Sept through Mid-January is known as Fall Frenzy. We would likely stay during the summer (higher point cost) with the kids school schedule. We have been pulling my 9 year old son out for our Disney vacations and I know we are approaching the age where it will be harder to do. Maybe the summer DVC schedule will work in our favor. Thank you again!!
 
Thank you so much! In reading the other responses I guess I didn’t take into consideration the larger MFs for HHI
. Maybe we will buy at SSR for the lower price cost but seriously considering AKV. I think the theming would really please my kids. Still trying to wrap my head about UY and why Mid-Sept through Mid-January is known as Fall Frenzy. We would likely stay during the summer (higher point cost) with the kids school schedule. We have been pulling my 9 year old son out for our Disney vacations and I know we are approaching the age where it will be harder to do. Maybe the summer DVC schedule will work in our favor. Thank you again!!
They call it Fall Frenzy for many reasons. Point requirements tend to be lower. Food & Wine Festival runs from late Aug through mid-Nov. Jersey Week falls in early Nov. Not to mention Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Early Jan brings the annual Disney Marathon that is getting longer (used to be two days, now it more like five days long). Also Wine & Dine Half Marathon in Nov towards the end of F&W. Also Columbus holiday weekend, Labor Day weekend, Veterans Day weekends. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party starts in Aug and runs through early Nov, followed almost immediately by Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. October used to be very quiet. Now it is hoppin'. Lots of members like the book the week after Thanksgiving (first week of Dec) for the holiday decorations. Annual member meeting usually falls first or second week of Dec (no date announced yet for 2019). But most of all, the weather tends to be so much nicer once you get past the busiest part of Hurricane Season (Aug and Sept).
 
And if you need a studio that sleeps 5, booking at 7 months is pretty terrible most of the year.

The first two weeks of December are basically the worst possible for booking WDW outside of home resort. There are already limited spots in studios those weeks, and we are months out from the 7 month window.
 


As an owner at HHI let me tell you a few things to be concerned about. One thing is that HHI annual dues are high (as is Vero Beach). They went up a big % the past few years, since the hurricane hit and caused some damage. Along those lines, if the resort does get completely/significantly destroyed by a hurricane Disney Vacation Development can opt to NOT rebuild but we'd still be on hook for dues. That's what I have heard anyway...not sure how true it is.

The condominium declaration, in paragraph 10.6.3, deals what happens when one Unit suffers destructive damage and it is not possible to rebuild it. Insurance payment would be split between members, based on the percentage they own of that Unit, and the Unit and its owners would be removed from the resort and owners. That means you would loose your points and keep some cash from the insurance payment. Since you wouldn't own points anymore, you wouldn't have to pay any dues.
This could happen for a single unit or for the whole resort.
 
Maybe we will buy at SSR for the lower price cost but seriously considering AKV. I think the theming would really please my kids. Still trying to wrap my head about UY and why Mid-Sept through Mid-January is known as Fall Frenzy. We would likely stay during the summer (higher point cost) with the kids school schedule. We have been pulling my 9 year old son out for our Disney vacations and I know we are approaching the age where it will be harder to do. Maybe the summer DVC schedule will work in our favor.

UY is tough to figure out. I ended up with a Feb UY because my kids have a Feb school break and this UY would work for April school vacation and if we want to go during the summer. With a Feb UY my banking deadline is Sept 30th. The only issue with UY is if I needed to cancel a trip which is booked after 9/30 then the points would have to be used by 1/31 of the following year. If I had a trip in Sept which I had to cancel (as long as it is 31 days out) I could cancel then bank my points as long as they were not borrowed points.

Pulling kids from school definitely becomes more difficult when they get older. With twins who are 13 and in 7th grade we have limited it to maybe 2 days.

As far as fall frenzy if you look and compare points charts you will see that the points need to book dramatically drop in the fall time, so to maximize points/days people will book around this time, plus the weather is starting to get better. Food and wine is a big draw as well as the holidays - Halloween, thanksgiving and the Christmas decorations/parties.

I think your thought processs of buying on property is the right move. Even if you buy SSR or AK then you can at least book when the window opens and then once 7 months opens you can see where you can switch to, but at least you would have a room on property.
 
If you want to stay at AK, buy at AK. The small cost increase is well worth staying where you want to most of the time. If you get lucky, and can fit in a value unit, you will be more cost effective than SSR.
 
As an HHI owner since 2001, buy on property unless you can purchase enough points to stay in 1 or 2 bedroom villas AND be willing to stay at the non-prime resorts.
 
I know I'm in the minority of people who post here, but we've had very good luck owning at Vero Beach and booking at WDW. We typically use those points for a spring trip, book a studio wherever we can at 7 months, and waitlist for something else. In April, we have been able to get our waitlist for Poly 3 out of 4 times. We have owned for 10 years and never been to Vero Beach. (We also own at AKV, diff UY, which we use for our annual marathon weekend trips in January.)

I've done the math recently as we are looking to add on, and extrapolating out the savings per point at purchase versus VB's high MFs, even with the cheapest purchase price WDW resort (AKV or OKW), it still takes 12-14 years for VB to be more expensive overall. For the newer/expensive resorts, it takes 24 years to cost more in MF than buying Poly or similar. And given that VB expires in 22 years, you will never cross the cost curves.

That said, for our add on, we are currently weighing the importance of another home resort at WDW, saving money up front on Vero, our nerves about hurricane damage, likelihood our vacation timings will change, potential resale in the future if we needed to sell...

Buying at VB or HHI to stay elsewhere isn't a slam dunk obviously, but it's worth considering all of the factors that are important to your family.
 
I wouldn't do it. I think the availability will start to diminish once Galaxy's Edge opens.

I think you are right about availability and Galaxy’s Edge. We actually put in and are under contract for AKV, 120 points which allows us one week a year in a studio until finances allow an add. Thank you
 
If you want to stay at AK, buy at AK. The small cost increase is well worth staying where you want to most of the time. If you get lucky, and can fit in a value unit, you will be more cost effective than SSR.

Thank you! We actually dove in and are now under contract at AKV and await Disney’s decisions. It will be a long wait.
 
As an HHI owner since 2001, buy on property unless you can purchase enough points to stay in 1 or 2 bedroom villas AND be willing to stay at the non-prime resorts.

Thank you! We are under contract on a AKV resale and are now in the long wait for Disney’s decision. Hopefully they pass and we become owners :-)
 

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