Sight unseen - WWYD?

[blueant315]

Will you be able to live with a possible poor choice? Can you afford to sell and buy the correct resort if necessary? I am a firm believer in staying prior to buying because we learned from our mistakes. Each resort is different and each have their lovers and haters. We bought BLT prior to it's completion, don't really care for the place and don't really stay there. We visited BCV and AKV and bought those and don't really stay there. We also bought BRV, VGF, and BWV and we love to stay there.

Bill

Bill,

Yes, we financially could sell and buy at a different resort but I highly doubt we would once the purchase has been made. We would be much more likely to live with the wrong resort and just attempt to wait list for the better fit at the 7 month window and deal with the fallout if we weren't able to move - we like our $$$s in our bank accounts too much to take a loss if we make a poor choice. The downfall then would be the extra time I would spend booking the vacation as I stalked availability until my desired spot came available instead of just booking what we want at the 11 month mark. Once we were on vacation it's not like any of the resorts are bad - we would still have just as enjoyable of a time. Plus we plan on just making a Disney trip every other year, so it would probably take a while for us to try out many other locations and even know if there's one we like better. My main concern is are we going to hate the size of the BLT studio and then be forced to spend more points sooner than expected on a 1 BR? Will BWV be too noisy and we hate staying there? That probably depends a lot on which room you get and less on the resort. I obviously over-analyze my decisions and have a hard time pulling the trigger on what is a pretty substantial purchase IMO.

If BLT wasn't in the location it is, I would have no desire to stay there at all. But not having to wait on transportation holds a lot of appeal for me - I HATED the buses when we were there last summer. It felt like we wasted so much vacation time waiting on buses, riding buses, etc. Having to unpack sleeping kids from a stroller to get on the bus also was a pretty unenjoyable experience. We loved the pool and atmosphere of WL when we were there last summer, so I do wonder if we would prefer WL at some point in the future - just not sure if that would be 5 years or 20 years down the road. Or ever. But I don't care for the size of the CCV studios (seem just as cramped as BLT's) and I don't love the shorter life span of the BRV contract. And honestly, a 1 day stay at these resorts most likely won't give me any insight as to these dilemmas and I will walk away just as torn as I am now.

It sounds like you and I would have similar strategies - I'd love to add 25 point contracts on to 3 or 4 more resorts because I see the benefit to all of them and want to be able to book them all at 11 months out and split stay all over the place. My husband will not be on board with that plan though, unfortunately.

Thanks for your insight!

 

[blueant315]

We bought VWL resale sight unseen in 2014 and have never regretted it. We have since stayed there, BCV, AKL and Poly DVC and still love our Boulder Ridge. We did a lot of research and watched a lot of YouTube. It has been great. No regrets.

My husband and I have watched lots of Youtube videos and researching is my specialty. So DH feels like a trip to Disney would be a complete waste of money as we'd just reach the same decision we already have. Hopefully "no regrets" will be our conclusion as well! Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[blueant315]

We bought BW in 2002 without ever having been to the BW resort area. Your reasons for wanting those two resorts are sound - you are looking at location. We did it off pictures. Of course, back then there were fewer choices - yet somehow even with all these newer resorts going up, I haven't spent any sleepless nights wishing I owned one of them instead of what I do own.

I'd buy the points for the one bedroom. With young kids, the washer dryer will be priceless. Because its in the unit, you throw today's clothes in it when you get ready for bed, move them to the dryer in the morning, and fold them when you return from the park - no afternoon pool day to do laundry. And when they get to the "she's kicking me" stage (which is just around the corner), you can bring an air mattress and put it on the floor for one of the kids (I don't think either unit has the pull out chair, I know BWV doesn't). The kitchen will make eggs and cereal and toast in the morning easier than standing in line at the Main Street Bakery. IMO, the biggest benefit of DVC is having the space to decompress - which includes being able to separate overstimulated tired children if necessary.

I will have FOMO regardless of which resorts we choose

Hmm, we are already at the "she's touching" me phase and had the realization that there will probably be one adult and one kid in each bed at BLT when we saw the Youtube videos of the BLT studio that we've already booked for Dec. We might try to put DD in a pack and play, but not sure if it will fit or if that's feasible for a 2 year old.

I think the one needing the most decompression from overstimulated children will be me, so I will fully appreciate the separate quarters. I usually enjoy my nightly wine from the hotel balcony, so my own room will be a very welcome retreat . Honestly, the full size refrigerator will probably be the biggest upgrade for us. DS and I are picky eaters so it's frequently easier for us to just bring our own food and that was tricky with the dorm sized refrigerator of the studios.

Thanks for your advice!

 

[disneynutz]

As we get older we like to know where we will be staying, if I had to stay at BLT we would probably stay home. For a few years MK was an every year must do, then we started feeling that it's the same thing every time and we grew tired of waiting in a 30 to 50 minute line for a 4 minute ride. The crowds keep growing and growing, and we found ourselves enjoying (sick) watching the people rushing through the park as we sat on a bench in the shade having a dole whip. The point is we don't do the parks like before, the resort is the destination just like any other non Disney vacation and the parks are there when we feel like going in. As far as noise at BWV, never been an issue for us and we stay there every year.

Bill

 

[blueant315]

When you're in the area maybe just go tour the resorts without staying onsite (or grab a cheaper room onsite). Then watch videos of walk throughs online for the resorts and rooms. Look at room layouts and such. I would prefer to stay at them before buying but this should give you a good idea of what to expect.

So the dilemma - I consider our current trip for my work event to be drivable from our home, but the extra 2.5-3 hours it would take to get to Orlando would push me into requiring flights. Which takes the price tag up significantly for 4 people. So I pitched the flight with 3 or 4 nights in a value room to my husband as well and he thinks it's a waste of money because it would still be ~$1,500. We drove last year and the trip home from Disney was very miserable and I just can't do it again.

I am on the fence on if I think he's right or not. I do agree that spending $1,500-$2,500 on what isn't really a vacation for us to be a poor use of money. But it does feel wrong to me to sink so much money into a DVC agreement without ever really experiencing them first. I do tend to agree with him that this trip has a very small chance of changing our minds on where to buy. I have already done a lot of research and have logical reasons for picking each one. So I'm torn. We obviously have the option of waiting until 2019 to buy, when we will have experienced BLT but not BWV. But we assume prices will just go up and then we will still be out $2,500 (or more).

 

[blueant315]

I have a feeling that a good percentage of people bought (especially those buying resale) without having step foot on the property. Is it ideal? No. Does it make sense to spend a lot of money to stay at each resort before you buy? No -- because essentially that money could be put towards your contract. Could I afford to stay at a Poly studio - no, but because i have my AKV contract and we are not traveling at a very busy time, I was able to get our first 3 nights at the Poly.

In my scenario we did stay at SSR prior to buying. We were on a tight budget and could only really afford the cheaper resorts and I wanted a longer contract. This left us choosing between SSR, OKW extended and AKV. Having stayed at SSR I realized i didn't like the fact that there was not a palm tree in sight and that it just seemed more of a run of the mill hotel and nothing special. We ended up choosing AKV because it is a unique resort and will certainly feel like a vacation getting away from the norm. We are actually staying there for the first time next week. We have a split stay with Poly at the beginning of our trip, but I am almost afraid that i am going to love poly and will want to add on there.

Maybe in your situation you can buy one contract, which ever would be your larger contract and then get used to the system before buying another. If you are not traveling at really busy times then you will likely be able to plan for split stays so you can try out other resorts before buying the second contract.

Even without being able to visit each and every resort there are numerous youtube videos that can give you a fair idea of what the resort is like and how the rooms are set up. Tim tracker has done some good resort tours and davids dvc has room videos. There are other room videos which provide some commentary. Viewing will help give you better info than just looking at pictures. This may not be the perfect situation but at least you are doing some research. Ask questions here as you might get some pro/con feed back on the resorts you are considering.

Yes, we've done lots of Youtube of BCV, BWV, BRV, CCV, and BLT to reach our conclusion. For right now BWV and BLT are definitely the winners. But honestly we will probably have different preferences at some point in the future - just not sure if that will be 2 years or 20 years down the road. Hopefully 20!

Poly is my dream resort, though I've never stayed there. We had dinner one night on my 1995 trip and I remember absolutely loving the atmosphere. But I just can't make peace with how much more expensive it is than BLT and WL without being in a more convenient location (IMO). I am adamant that I will stay there at some point - either using points from a different home resort or just paying cash, but it will probably just be for a short portion of our stay. And hopefully I'll hate it so I won't be tempted to go back again

 

[disneynutz]

Why can't visiting the resorts be a vacation? Do you have to hit the parks each trip? If so, buy the least expensive resort close to the parks. We feel like we are staying in any high rise hotel when staying at BLT, we feel like VGF has some beautiful grounds and a feel of an older indulgence. BWV boardwalk view is the best view on property IMO but like I said each resort has something to offer. BWV has a model room on the boardwalk over by Big River Grill.

Bill

 

[blueant315]

I agree with Jetsdad. Get a meal at the resort and try out the location, and supplement that with HD videos on YouTube and you are 98% of the way there.

If it's not a financial stretch, I don't think you'll regret staying at an Epcot resort or BLT even if you don't "need" to (from a stroller standpoint)...

For some reason I didn't really enjoy our EPCOT day last year, but planned 2 days of our trip there on our upcoming December trip - the holiday additions are very intriguing to me. So I might hold off on purchasing BWV until we see how much we enjoy our time at HS and EPCOT this year. I am just assuming that the addition of Toy Story and Star Wars to HS will mean we would spend a decent amount of time there in the future.

 

[blueant315]

We bought in 2016 sight unseen at VGF and AKV, love VGF and figured out that just buying VGF would have been better for our situation. We don't mind AKV, but just love VGF and with the points needed for a 2 bedroom it would have been better to have all our points at one resort.

We have 3 young children (1.5, 4, & 6) so we are looking at 2 bedroom units, but I would suggest planning for a 1 bedroom unit because it make naps a lot easier with the extra room.

I ruined things for myself by watching Youtube videos of the 1 BR unit at BLT. OMG it's SO much more room! My husband is pretty devastated by the point differential and my excitement over the 1 BR space - he knows it's much sooner in our future than originally planned.

 

[blueant315]

We own at both BLT and BWV. We're a kid-less couple and use BLT for our family trips where take the nieces/nephews. The location can't be beat for little kids. We use the BWV contract for our adult F&W alone trips. We really like both resorts and love the locations.

If I was you I'd probably buy one contract to start...and based on the ages of your kids, I'd buy BLT first. I think you'll appreciate the ease of walking to MK far more at this point versus the proximity to HS & EC that Boardwalk provides. Also, buying only one contract acts a sort of a hedge for you in case you don't really like DVC. Most people never look back once buying and are happy with their decision. But just in case you are that small percentage that DVC doesn't work for you and your family, you won't be at the point where you are trying to unload two contracts versus one.

One last tip I would give is when deciding on how many points you need, don't base your calculations on the Standard view point cost. I would use the Lake View point costs for BLT and Pool/Garden for BWV. While I've had good success getting Standard view rooms in the10 years I've owned, it isn't guaranteed even with 11 month advantage. The last thing you want is not having enough points to take the vacation you want.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Great tips - thank you!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

My main concern is are we going to hate the size of the BLT studio and then be forced to spend more points sooner than expected on a 1 BR?

You are, and yes.

 

[blueant315]

We should have bought DVC in 2014 or 2015 when DD1 was little. But, we didn't, we rented points, etc, and ultimately by mid-2016 I thought we should think about buying in 2018. By mid-2016, we had stayed at most of the deluxe resorts, some in DVC but many at the hotels, and I thought my ultimate "plan" would be to get BLT (because VGF and Poly were too pricey, and no 1BR or regular 2BR at Poly) as an MK resort and BWV for an EP resort. We ended up moving our purchasing timetable up a year because we were ready, even though we hadn't stayed everywhere, and in hindsight we were lucky we did because prices went up pretty suddenly after that.

Anyway - we now own BLT and VGF, both as resale. Still wish we could add BCV or BWV but that will have to wait a while. What we liked about BLT, BCV and BWV was the ability to walk to 3 out of the 4 parks - which has been key because we are still deep in stroller days and usually take a midday break. VGF is just our favorite resort altogether, so when prices started going crazy last fall, VGF stayed pretty stable (back then), and so it became more of a relative bargain. We have found that when we are at VGF the trip to MK is still very quick, but we tend to stick around the resort and monorail loop more and spend less time in the parks, having dinner at California Grill or at Poly, and playing at the pools in the afternoon.

We did a lot of walkthroughs on youtube and relied on the DIS for the pros and cons of various resorts. I don't regret not having an EP DVC, though I do wish we'd bought more BLT points (our first purchase). We got 160+25 and I think 200+25 would have been better.

Edited to add: I don't think actually staying in the resorts is necessary to make a decision on DVC. You will get almost the same info and feel for the resort by having a meal or just walking around. And the walk to the parks is something you may really value, even without a stroller.

My husband has the same thought process as you regarding sight unseen. I've done a lot of research and a trip probably will not change my mind. I just am a bit leery of sinking so much money into something I haven't tried. But the cost of this small trial does seem like a lot for what we would get in return. Ugh.

Prices do seem to have sky rocketed and I wish this had been on our radar sooner. Definitely don't want to delay the purchase into 2019 and experience even more increases. Plus if we buy before our December trip, we can visit TOTW!

 

[disneynutz]

I ruined things for myself by watching Youtube videos of the 1 BR unit at BLT. OMG it's SO much more room! My husband is pretty devastated by the point differential and my excitement over the 1 BR space - he knows it's much sooner in our future than originally planned.

I didn't mention, we don't do studios anymore, 2 adults, a 1 bedroom, 3 adults, a 2 bedroom. All part of our resort vacation experience.

Bill

 

[blueant315]

Not unseen, but we had only ever seen AKV once, for dinner, before we purchased. We looked at the point chart, and spent a lot of time looking at resort maps, and felt that it would work with our needs and purchased. No regrets at all.

Glad to hear! Hopefully I won't regret NOT getting AKL after we visit there in Dec.

 

[blueant315]

I don't think it's necessary to stay at all the resorts but it definitely helps to walk around and visit if you have time during your work trip, even if don't stay on property. The Boardwalk area is our favorite and we love Epcot more than MK (we go to DLR often enough so the other parks are more different). We were deciding between BCV and BWV and after walking around (we had stayed at the non-DVC portions of both properties), we realized that the BCV building is tucked in the back and the rooms don't really have views. We ultimately bought BWV resale instead for the boardwalk view, plus we like the option of the grand villas. As others have mentioned, you can also get a really good feel for the resorts through virtual tours and YT videos, and great information on them here on the boards. I would agree that if possible, buying enough points for a 1BR would be better since having the w/d, kitchen, and separate living space with kids really makes it more convenient and feel more relaxed. As they get older you may even want 2BRs so they can each have their own bed, but you can always add on more points for that later if you decide that DVC was the right decision for you.

Well, we won't be able to swing buy during work trip - it would be a significant change in plans since it would push me from driving from home to requiring flights. And that is a bulk of the price differential. So even staying in a value would still cost us ~$1,500 more than just going on my work trip (which is at a luxury beach resort, so we really can't complain to have a completely free beach vacation for our whole family of 4). My husband absolutely does not think it's worth it to change our plans and add $1,500-$2,500 onto our trip (an not even touch a park). I am on the fence on if it would be money well spent or not.

Glad to hear you like BWV over BCV - that's one of my bigger doubts. Will we regret not spending a little more for BCV so we could access SAB? I don't think so, since it would be cheaper to just stay at BWV and buy tickets for a water park when the kids are older and want a more adventurous water experience. Plus, we have water slides at home - I'm not going to Disney for the pools.

I do feel like we will try our best to buy the MOST points we'd ever use. It will be hard to buy BLT at $130 now and then add on points to the same resort for 40% higher many years down the road. And even more difficult to do so at BWV when it will have a really short life at that point. So we will definitely try to avoid that. We are definitely not 2BR people. My husband grew up NEVER going on a family vacation and I grew up with a very frugal step father, so we had only 2 family vacations during my childhood with all 5 of us in 1 small hotel room. So luxury vacations are fairly recent experiences for both my husband and I and it's somewhat difficult for us to enjoy a splurge. Hence part of our apprehension on perhaps making a "bad" decision. Even though it's hard to say any DVC purchase would be bad. Thanks for your advice!

 

[blueant315]

My wife and I are cautious people. When we decided to look into DVC, we did a lot of research and then narrowed it down to a few resorts. After we stayed at all the resorts (either CRO or rented points) on our list, we made the decision to buy at BLT. We love the ability to walk to the MK, even though we aren't pushing a stroller. Because we did the research, we found out about resale, and ultimately purchased resale.

You sound like my kind of guy Craig. My husband and I love being cautious, researching, and a great deal!

 

[blueant315]

We bought OKW sight unseen in 2006. We actually hadn't seen any DVC resorts when we bought and had only stayed at POR. We looked at all the possible resorts back then, via info on the internet. But we wanted best bang for our buck so we went with OKW as it was the cheapest WDW DVC resort selling in resale at the time. We have since added HHI, AKV (but resold that) and BWV. We have stayed at every east coast DVC resort except VGF and CCV. We prefer BWV and BCV but will stay at any depending on the trip...what we will do, who is with us, how many points we have to use, how far out we are booking, etc. We also like to just change things up and we like split stays. So I see no issue with folks buying sight unseen especially when they are buying a more desired resort (SSR or VB....then maybe there is some risk of not liking the choice and having harder time renting or reselling maybe).

All of the things you consider make me want to own at every resort, so it's very hard for me to narrow it down to 2 and feel confident they are the 2 best choices for our family. I do hope to have several split stays and try out more resorts once we no longer have to trek back to the hotel multiple times for daily naps. Which may be sooner than I'd really like since my 1 year old is the one that's not a great sleeper - she may drop naps before her older brother, which is a terrifying thought. Thanks for your advice!

 

[kniquy]

I just am a bit leery of sinking so much money into something I haven't tried.

Just know that (as of right now) DVC seems to be holding value if not have appreciated in value. I bought in 2015 and already now i could sell for $20-30 more per point than i bought, not that these will continue to increase, but chances are if you decided one or both resorts was not right for you, you could sell and likely have a few trips under your belt and sell for close to what you paid for your contract. So it is a big decision, but i feel like it is a safer bet than if you bought a car and decided in a couple years it wasn't right for you -- you wouldn't be retaining any value in this situation.

Keep in mind that you are not locked into BLT or BW -- if you have some flexibility you will have the opportunity to book other resorts.

 

[blueant315]

Aint that the truth. It's next to impossible to get my young kids to nap in the studios. I'd have to sit there in total darkness and that's just no fun for me.

We sit on the balcony and eat lunch, make fast pass, etc. Or 1 of the kids will wake up sooner than the other and 1 of us will take the awake kid to the pool.

But I am looking forward to the day I finally try out a 1 BR - there will be no going back!

 

[blueant315]

We loved the big closet in the VGF 2 bedroom in the master bedroom, the whole pack-in-play fit in there with plenty of room, it was like a 3rd kid bedroom.

Oh wow - that alone sounds bigger than the BLT studio...