Sight unseen - WWYD?

[blueant315]

My advice isn't going to fit your thoughts all that well. Once you get up to around every 36 months, IMO, DVC no longer makes sense. So the question is how likely would it be to go over 36 months and how soon would you get there. Personally I disagree with the idea of buying smaller contracts to have resale options, rarely it makes sense for home priority options. It has has cost, roughly $2500 on 150 points for 3 contracts and since I don't feel buying to sell is reasonable, it's cost that's unnecessary. I also am not convinced they'll be worth more long term, they may be but they may not, I give it 50/50.

I doubt you'll be priced out, I don't see the escalation of the last couple of years carrying forward but who knows. Personally I'd go with one or, at max, 2 contracts given the size you're looking at. I would not plan for split stays routinely. I would plan to avoid banked/borrowed points as much as possible. I'm not a big fan of buying to rent but I would prefer that to the 50/50/50 plan plus I suspect you'll need significantly more than you think anyway.

It seems like ultimate value is your goal, IMO DVC rarely, if ever, saves one money. It's OK to do some trips on points and others some other way, possibly transferring points in or a private rental. Given your posted info I'd likely look at around 150 at BLT and forego the Poly. I suspect you can get in there at 7 months out most of the time but you might have to waitlist at times. As a minimum I wouldn't buy everything all up front as you've posted. Another consideration is you might want to wait on Riviera to compare to BWV and have qualified points at the same time. Obviously lots of variables but I get the sense you're all emotionally tied to this right now and if so, IMO, that alone is reason enough to wait.

We definitely plan to split stay at an EPCOT resort and a MK resort - we enjoy travelling that way. We typically travel in this manner whether at Disney or not and like the convenience - I know this is definitely not the norm for most. Not sure if adding a 3rd resort to the mix will work out well for us or not, so definitely open to keeping it limited to 2. Since we will be traveling during peak times for the most part and starting our in studios, home resort seems like a pretty important feature.

Riviera holds no appeal to me at this point. I desperately want to be able to walk to parks and not have to wait on transportation, so the gondola solution isn't ideal to me. Otherwise I would be much more excited about buying into a new resort with 50 years of use ahead instead of 23.

I don't think we'd ever go more than 36 months between visits, just that family vacations will be harder to plan once our kids advance in age and have extracurricular activities to plan around. Even if we have a hard time planning regular family vacations once our kids are teens, my husband and I will be within a couple hours from Disney every summer for work and might swing by for a few nights.

I really hope your projections on price are correct. It's really skyrocketed lately and I would love to see a downturn. Thanks for your input!

 

[kboo]

We've only been parents for 3.5 years and of course don't have to follow a school calendar yet.

When our eldest ended up being old enough to be on a school schedule (in a rigorous school that generally frowns on vacation absences during school time), we realized DVC made sense for us because a-we needed to plan earlier; b- we had the ability to plan earlier, with the school schedule coming out a year in advance; c- we were not going to get any good discounts during the typical school breaks, except maybe end of summer. You mentioned conferences in Orlando/FL - Also, even though DH and I had conferences in the area probably 2 out of every 3 years, they were never when school was out, so those were no longer a "cheap" way to have a nice family vacation, except perhaps a long weekend here or there. Traveling during those conferences are great when your kids are small, and as @Dean suggests, you may not need to buy DVC now. I also agree with Dean that you should consider renting points one or more times for a vacation and see how you like it. There is no hurry to buy now, and it's not like prices are at an all-time low. So there is nothing to lose, really, by waiting another year or two.

As for UY, Dec and Feb are good for DVC trips during most school breaks. Dec covers all the major ones except Thanksgiving; Feb is decent as well. August and September are good if you want to cover school breaks through spring break/Easter and don't care to go over early summer/4th of July.

So we currently plan to buy 50 points each at BLT, BWV, and Poly. That should get us a 1 week split stay in a studio at Poly and BWV approx every other year for now and then we can hopefully combine the points for a 1 BR split stay between BLT and BWV when we've out grown the studios.

Others have said this, but I really would caution against this. Split stays are really hard if you have a baby or toddler who needs a nap or downtime every afternoon. They're also hard when you have kids still in strollers or who have a lot of gear and diapers. Disney is great to take older kids + babies to, but when I was nursing/pumping, it was REALLY nice not to be switching resorts, or having to move breast milk around. Even if it's just bottles and formula, or sippy cups and cow's milk, having perishables and needing to move them can be a pain. Not saying it can't be done, but it puts a serious dent in a whole day of the vacation. I also caution against planning to combine small amounts of points for studios at 7 months. Studios are not easy to get at BLT or BWV at 7 mos, Poly isn't a given either. Again, not saying it's impossible to get them off the waitlist, etc. but that's a lot of time on the phone with MS and then a good amount of risk of losing points here and there as you move. Also we haven't even talked about the multiple closing costs and the hassles of managing multiple home resorts. We have 2, but we don't plan on combining points. 50-point contracts tend to cost more per point, as well.

Personally I'm not a big fan of multiple small contracts at multiple resorts, esp going into the system. It has a significant cost involved and creates other aggravations and risks. As a minimum I'd buy the one that you think is your best option and see how it goes before proceeding. In this situation I also think one needs a cushion of at least 20% above the projected usage and possibly more. Possibly enough to get a 1 BR at least part of the trips. I don't like the bank/borrow plan as it adds significant risk if one has to change/cancel or can't get the desired reservation.

Totally agree with @Dean here. Not as a newbie. Especially considering you are new to DVC, I would also suggest BLT at 100 points or so, and use that contract for a while - or at least 1-2 trips - before you decide what else and how many points you need. I bought BLT only last year but have learned a lot about the ins and outs of the system. By the time we closed, still 9+ months out from the dates we wanted to travel, all the standard studios were already gone, and we had to waitlist a night in the middle of our week even to get a LV studio. I think TPV studios were gone as well. Then at 7 months we were able to get a BWV p/g view, using more points than our studio reservation cost. There was no availability in a 1br std at BLT, which is what we really wanted. Over the course of 2 months of near-daily, sometimes multiple times a day checking, I managed to get a 1br std at BLT, day by day, while keeping my BWV res in case we didn't get a whole week at BLT. So I had to borrow points to hold 2 1-br reservations at the same time, and by the time I got it all finalized and let go of the BWV reservation, I had a significant # of borrowed points that just HAD to be used in the same UY. (Easy peasy, we booked Thanksgiving in a 2br std). All of this to say, it is sometimes not so easy to "just switch at 7 mo" and sometimes what you're looking for just isn't there at 7 mo.

We also did a split stay as part of that February trip, and while my whole family really liked the Dolphin and the transfer was much easier because we had a late checkout at the Dolphin (DVC does not do that), it was really, REALLY nice to stay in a 1br and walk to MK.

Also - not all studios are created equal - BLT is small and doesn't have the murphy bed. The murphy bed which is really nice if you only have 1 kid (or 1 kid who needs a bed). We bought thinking we'd stay in studios while the kids were small, and although we tried studios last August and did fine, we probably aren't going to choose studios (because of the difficulty of getting them, and bec of the space), except at VGF. We will likely do another split stay in 2019 with the Swan (I have a lot of SPG points) and probably stay in a studio at VGF.

As Dean and others suggest, start with 1 home resort and then move on from there if you wish. If you have the funds to buy 100-150 points now, then maybe get your toes wet with a 100 point contract at BLT or Poly. We love BWV too, but the short end date makes it one of the worst "values" of DVC. You may not be in love with everything about BLT (we happen to think it's pretty nifty), but it offers a lot of flexibility and walking distance to MK.

 

[blueant315]

I think we have found a compromise and are going to drop by Disney for 3 days in June. We are going to drive instead of fly, which I'm a bit reluctant to do - we had a disastrous trip home last year that included an ER visit, lots of vomit (my car will never be the same), and ant bites. But we both would enjoy a few days on property and it should cost less than a $1k more than if we just drove straight home, as long as we can find some reasonably priced rooms with this short of notice. So far there are absolutely no studios available to rent during our stay, so we are either looking at getting a villa studio direct through Disney or a Disney standard room. At least we can spend out time wandering around BLT, PVB, BWV and BCV to see if we stumble across any deal breakers.

 

[blueant315]

When our eldest ended up being old enough to be on a school schedule (in a rigorous school that generally frowns on vacation absences during school time), we realized DVC made sense for us because a-we needed to plan earlier; b- we had the ability to plan earlier, with the school schedule coming out a year in advance; c- we were not going to get any good discounts during the typical school breaks, except maybe end of summer. You mentioned conferences in Orlando/FL - Also, even though DH and I had conferences in the area probably 2 out of every 3 years, they were never when school was out, so those were no longer a "cheap" way to have a nice family vacation, except perhaps a long weekend here or there. Traveling during those conferences are great when your kids are small, and as @Dean suggests, you may not need to buy DVC now. I also agree with Dean that you should consider renting points one or more times for a vacation and see how you like it. There is no hurry to buy now, and it's not like prices are at an all-time low. So there is nothing to lose, really, by waiting another year or two.

As for UY, Dec and Feb are good for DVC trips during most school breaks. Dec covers all the major ones except Thanksgiving; Feb is decent as well. August and September are good if you want to cover school breaks through spring break/Easter and don't care to go over early summer/4th of July.



Others have said this, but I really would caution against this. Split stays are really hard if you have a baby or toddler who needs a nap or downtime every afternoon. They're also hard when you have kids still in strollers or who have a lot of gear and diapers. Disney is great to take older kids + babies to, but when I was nursing/pumping, it was REALLY nice not to be switching resorts, or having to move breast milk around. Even if it's just bottles and formula, or sippy cups and cow's milk, having perishables and needing to move them can be a pain. Not saying it can't be done, but it puts a serious dent in a whole day of the vacation. I also caution against planning to combine small amounts of points for studios at 7 months. Studios are not easy to get at BLT or BWV at 7 mos, Poly isn't a given either. Again, not saying it's impossible to get them off the waitlist, etc. but that's a lot of time on the phone with MS and then a good amount of risk of losing points here and there as you move. Also we haven't even talked about the multiple closing costs and the hassles of managing multiple home resorts. We have 2, but we don't plan on combining points. 50-point contracts tend to cost more per point, as well.



Totally agree with @Dean here. Not as a newbie. Especially considering you are new to DVC, I would also suggest BLT at 100 points or so, and use that contract for a while - or at least 1-2 trips - before you decide what else and how many points you need. I bought BLT only last year but have learned a lot about the ins and outs of the system. By the time we closed, still 9+ months out from the dates we wanted to travel, all the standard studios were already gone, and we had to waitlist a night in the middle of our week even to get a LV studio. I think TPV studios were gone as well. Then at 7 months we were able to get a BWV p/g view, using more points than our studio reservation cost. There was no availability in a 1br std at BLT, which is what we really wanted. Over the course of 2 months of near-daily, sometimes multiple times a day checking, I managed to get a 1br std at BLT, day by day, while keeping my BWV res in case we didn't get a whole week at BLT. So I had to borrow points to hold 2 1-br reservations at the same time, and by the time I got it all finalized and let go of the BWV reservation, I had a significant # of borrowed points that just HAD to be used in the same UY. (Easy peasy, we booked Thanksgiving in a 2br std). All of this to say, it is sometimes not so easy to "just switch at 7 mo" and sometimes what you're looking for just isn't there at 7 mo.

We also did a split stay as part of that February trip, and while my whole family really liked the Dolphin and the transfer was much easier because we had a late checkout at the Dolphin (DVC does not do that), it was really, REALLY nice to stay in a 1br and walk to MK.

Also - not all studios are created equal - BLT is small and doesn't have the murphy bed. The murphy bed which is really nice if you only have 1 kid (or 1 kid who needs a bed). We bought thinking we'd stay in studios while the kids were small, and although we tried studios last August and did fine, we probably aren't going to choose studios (because of the difficulty of getting them, and bec of the space), except at VGF. We will likely do another split stay in 2019 with the Swan (I have a lot of SPG points) and probably stay in a studio at VGF.

As Dean and others suggest, start with 1 home resort and then move on from there if you wish. If you have the funds to buy 100-150 points now, then maybe get your toes wet with a 100 point contract at BLT or Poly. We love BWV too, but the short end date makes it one of the worst "values" of DVC. You may not be in love with everything about BLT (we happen to think it's pretty nifty), but it offers a lot of flexibility and walking distance to MK.

I have board meetings at a beach location in the Southeastern US every June. So some years we'll be an hour from Orlando and some years 3 hours away, but always a pretty quick commute and always during summer break. So we can definitely work in a trip around my board meetings if we want to. But I personally don't love Orlando in June - it was really hot and crowded when we did it last year, so my preference would be to go when there's a milder climate and lower crowds if at all possible. We are highly likely to do 3 or so nights in June when our kids are older and want to hang out at the pool or a water park, but just hanging out at theme parks when it's 100 degrees is not my favorite thing.

Fortunately our pumping and nursing days are over, so that's not a concern. We do have to deal with 1 nap disruption when moving, which is kind of a big deal to us but that is the only negative in our eyes. We truly do like split stays - I know it's really unusual. But we have traveled that way many times and prefer to move hotels and have shorter commutes. So we would never need to combine our points assuming we travel as we project and would always be taking advantage of 11 month bookings. However we would have to bank or borrow in the years we go during peak seasons. The downside to how we plan to travel is we want to use studios at this point in time and that seems to require the 11 month booking window. I don't think I'm going to like the BLT studio right now and would prefer the Poly for 3 days and BWV for 4. We can definitely travel in slower seasons for the next year or two, depending on when we decide to enroll our oldest in Kindergarten, so we would only need 48 Poly points and 46 BWV points for our next trip. I think we would probably have 2 more trips after that where we would stay in studios, but would possible need to go during higher point seasons - then we would need more like 77 Poly points and up to 78 points at BWV. So 50 point contracts at each would cover those trips and we'd just rent out the BLT points if we did 50/50/50.

I agree that BLT points are the best value, but they are unfortunately the ones we are least likely to use in the immediate future if we can't stay in their studio. And one of the main reasons I want to purchase DVC is to have the 11 month booking advantage since I do think it is also a cost saving way to enjoy regular Disney trips. I just don't think 1BRs are worth the additional points/cost at this time for us - it absolutely will be in 5+ more years, but not now based on how we like to travel and spend our money. At this point if we decide 3 50 point contracts is a bad idea, we would probably get 100 BLT and 50 BWV and just make do with a BLT studio for a few years if we couldn't switch to a Poly at 7 months. But the lack of availability at 7 months is 100% why we are considering the 50 points split 3 ways - we realize the studios and standard views we prefer are the first to go and we want to have first dibs on them. We have zero interest in dealing with lack of availability at 7 months out. And while we would like to try some other resorts, the ones we really want to experience cost more points than those we are looking to buy. So we will probably have a hard time convincing ourselves it's worth it.

There's nothing I dislike about BLT (outside of the tiny studios) but there's also nothing about it that would sway me to stay there if it didn't have the location factor. But to me the location factor is HUGE - I like that we can walk to MK, see the electric water parade, and watch MK fireworks without being in the park. The Poly's atmosphere on the other hand draws me to stay there regardless of its location - I just like the tropical touches and beach and it gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling. It's just a plus that it has 2 out of 3 of the BLT location perks I previously noted, plus a studio that would work much better for our current needs. And in the long run it will cost us less money if we are happily staying in a studio for an extra few visits instead of immediately getting a 1 BR. Money talks - if our dollar will go farther at Poly than BLT, we will go there; if BLT makes more sense financially we will go there.

So it sounds like 50 BWV points may be our best start, then we can spend those on 4 nights at BWV and maybe we rent points for poly at 11 months out to get a studio? We want 50 EPCOT points regardless and assume those will be at BWV instead of BCV due to pricing. But we are somewhat fluid on how our MK points play out - 50/50 at BLT and Poly or 100 at BLT.

 

[kboo]

It does sound like you've thought it through and it's not like you are planning to immediately buy 150 points this way. so here's a few more questions -

Have you considered VGF for the MK side? I did not realize until recently that studios at Poly and VGF cost the same # of points. Much of the Poly square footage is in the bathrooms. The VGF studio bathrooms are also split (and some say less conveniently than Poly's), but the room itself is quite large as a result. And, if you had VGF points you have the possibility of 1BR. VGF points may cost a little less than Poly, but probably not enough to make a meaningful difference on a 50 point contract.

BWV is definitely a better points-value, both in $ per point and also in being able to book standard studios. So it does seem that BWV may be a good place to start for you. The thing is, 50 point contracts are hard to find for any of the resorts you listed. And the price differential between a 50, 75, 100 point contract may be something that ends up not mattering as much to you. BCV we loved the pool, but the DVC building is sort of tucked away, and we like the BW area better, so it's sort of a toss up. I don't see many 50 point contracts come up for either resort, so you may want to consider both of them. I do love the EP area, and particularly the BW. Buying BW points may also be in our future, especially if the economy tanks. But for right now, if we go in the summer, 1BR seem to be available, and we can still rely on Starwood points for the Swolphin. So we can still get our BW fix that way.

Also there is nothing that you says you can't be a DVC owner and also rent points for hard-to-get resorts.

 

[Dean]

I have board meetings at a beach location in the Southeastern US every June. So some years we'll be an hour from Orlando and some years 3 hours away, but always a pretty quick commute and always during summer break. So we can definitely work in a trip around my board meetings if we want to. But I personally don't love Orlando in June - it was really hot and crowded when we did it last year, so my preference would be to go when there's a milder climate and lower crowds if at all possible. We are highly likely to do 3 or so nights in June when our kids are older and want to hang out at the pool or a water park, but just hanging out at theme parks when it's 100 degrees is not my favorite thing.

Fortunately our pumping and nursing days are over, so that's not a concern. We do have to deal with 1 nap disruption when moving, which is kind of a big deal to us but that is the only negative in our eyes. We truly do like split stays - I know it's really unusual. But we have traveled that way many times and prefer to move hotels and have shorter commutes. So we would never need to combine our points assuming we travel as we project and would always be taking advantage of 11 month bookings. However we would have to bank or borrow in the years we go during peak seasons. The downside to how we plan to travel is we want to use studios at this point in time and that seems to require the 11 month booking window. I don't think I'm going to like the BLT studio right now and would prefer the Poly for 3 days and BWV for 4. We can definitely travel in slower seasons for the next year or two, depending on when we decide to enroll our oldest in Kindergarten, so we would only need 48 Poly points and 46 BWV points for our next trip. I think we would probably have 2 more trips after that where we would stay in studios, but would possible need to go during higher point seasons - then we would need more like 77 Poly points and up to 78 points at BWV. So 50 point contracts at each would cover those trips and we'd just rent out the BLT points if we did 50/50/50.

I agree that BLT points are the best value, but they are unfortunately the ones we are least likely to use in the immediate future if we can't stay in their studio. And one of the main reasons I want to purchase DVC is to have the 11 month booking advantage since I do think it is also a cost saving way to enjoy regular Disney trips. I just don't think 1BRs are worth the additional points/cost at this time for us - it absolutely will be in 5+ more years, but not now based on how we like to travel and spend our money. At this point if we decide 3 50 point contracts is a bad idea, we would probably get 100 BLT and 50 BWV and just make do with a BLT studio for a few years if we couldn't switch to a Poly at 7 months. But the lack of availability at 7 months is 100% why we are considering the 50 points split 3 ways - we realize the studios and standard views we prefer are the first to go and we want to have first dibs on them. We have zero interest in dealing with lack of availability at 7 months out. And while we would like to try some other resorts, the ones we really want to experience cost more points than those we are looking to buy. So we will probably have a hard time convincing ourselves it's worth it.

There's nothing I dislike about BLT (outside of the tiny studios) but there's also nothing about it that would sway me to stay there if it didn't have the location factor. But to me the location factor is HUGE - I like that we can walk to MK, see the electric water parade, and watch MK fireworks without being in the park. The Poly's atmosphere on the other hand draws me to stay there regardless of its location - I just like the tropical touches and beach and it gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling. It's just a plus that it has 2 out of 3 of the BLT location perks I previously noted, plus a studio that would work much better for our current needs. And in the long run it will cost us less money if we are happily staying in a studio for an extra few visits instead of immediately getting a 1 BR. Money talks - if our dollar will go farther at Poly than BLT, we will go there; if BLT makes more sense financially we will go there.

So it sounds like 50 BWV points may be our best start, then we can spend those on 4 nights at BWV and maybe we rent points for poly at 11 months out to get a studio? We want 50 EPCOT points regardless and assume those will be at BWV instead of BCV due to pricing. But we are somewhat fluid on how our MK points play out - 50/50 at BLT and Poly or 100 at BLT.

I'd go visit and see how it goes. I would stay open to something larger, 50 pts will be more difficult to find AND more expensive per point.

 

[Ash10]

We bought a small (65 point) resale BLT contract after renting points at Poly and BWV (studios). Never stepped foot in a BLT room. I loved Poly studio bathroom setup and the transportation variety is by far our favorite. But, we are a family of 3 so we aren’t too turned off at the idea of a studio at BLT. We figured it’s not much risk financially and didn’t want to keep renting when it could go to purchase. I obsessed over resort videos and read, read, read. Learned a lot from veteran DVCers.

However, we planned to add-on for bedrooms so our final choice was BLT. We added small direct since and my parents added resale at BWV.

I would recommend starting 100-160 at BLT then add on after. Or, even SSR if you travel in September. Gives you more points for price and BLT is pretty open in September, outside of standard studios. I’m looking at adding on there to use for September and save our BLT points for another time.

Not best value but you can add direct points as you go. We did one 35 pointer and charged Disney Visa with 6 months zero interest and paid off. Super quick and easy. Banked current points so we have an extra 70 points for upcoming trip in Sept.

I wish we had more points.

 

[blueant315]

It does sound like you've thought it through and it's not like you are planning to immediately buy 150 points this way. so here's a few more questions -

Have you considered VGF for the MK side? I did not realize until recently that studios at Poly and VGF cost the same # of points. Much of the Poly square footage is in the bathrooms. The VGF studio bathrooms are also split (and some say less conveniently than Poly's), but the room itself is quite large as a result. And, if you had VGF points you have the possibility of 1BR. VGF points may cost a little less than Poly, but probably not enough to make a meaningful difference on a 50 point contract.

BWV is definitely a better points-value, both in $ per point and also in being able to book standard studios. So it does seem that BWV may be a good place to start for you. The thing is, 50 point contracts are hard to find for any of the resorts you listed. And the price differential between a 50, 75, 100 point contract may be something that ends up not mattering as much to you. BCV we loved the pool, but the DVC building is sort of tucked away, and we like the BW area better, so it's sort of a toss up. I don't see many 50 point contracts come up for either resort, so you may want to consider both of them. I do love the EP area, and particularly the BW. Buying BW points may also be in our future, especially if the economy tanks. But for right now, if we go in the summer, 1BR seem to be available, and we can still rely on Starwood points for the Swolphin. So we can still get our BW fix that way.

Also there is nothing that you says you can't be a DVC owner and also rent points for hard-to-get resorts.

Oh yes, overthinking things is 100% my strategy and spreadsheets are my friend. But of course there are always things you can't put into a spreadsheet or see in on-line videos. So hopefully a short trip in June and the advice I've received here will lead us to a great solution. I don't think there's a bad one after all, but there's always one that would be better than the next. And I want the best one

I considered VGF when I saw a comment about their pool being more relaxing than the crowded PVB volcano pool. My son would definitely prefer the VGF pool as there's no way he will go down the PVB slide in the next decade. But the overall purchase price of VGF is higher than PVB assuming their MFs continue to be higher. And I think it was only the busier times of year when the points required for a studio were the same - the differential was quite small other times of year, but I think that was what tipped the scale when I compared it to PVB. If we came across an awesome deal on VGF it would definitely be on the table.

We would take either BCV or BWV that we were able to get at a reasonable price. Once you factor in MFs, their pricing is quite comparable. But as you noted, we prefer BWV slightly due to the lower points required. SAB would of course be a really nice amenity - just not something we are really willing to pay extra for intentionally at this point.

We wouldn't necessarily buy a 75 point contract over a 50 point contract even if they were close in price. That's only a few thousand dollars up front, but would be more like $10k or more additional in MFs over the life of the contract at somewhere like BLT. It would give us a nice opportunity to be able to get larger accommodations and bring guests some times. But most years we would just plan to sell the points, which we are totally ok with, assuming it's as easy of a transaction as I assume it is and points continue to be highly marketable. But there's so much conflicting advice on that one - buy lots of points, more than you think, but never buy to rent them out. What else would I do with the extra points? I don't want to take more trips than I want or just get larger rooms than we need because the points are there. That would make me feel like we wasted a lot of money on things that don't matter to us.

 

[blueant315]

I'd go visit and see how it goes. I would stay open to something larger, 50 pts will be more difficult to find AND more expensive per point.

I really don't think we'd use more than 50 points on an EPCOT property, but I'm totally open to buying a 100 point MK contract instead of 2 50s there. I would probably feel a tiny amount of regret with the purchase for the first few years if we aren't able to get a Poly studio at 7 months, assuming we buy BLT. But after that I don't think it will matter, as we will probably then move on up to BLT 1 BRs. But yes, the smaller contacts are definitely harder to find and pricier in the few weeks I've been monitoring them. We will need lots of luck and stalking to get what we want probably. But we do have time and patience in our favor fortunately.

 

[blueant315]

We bought a small (65 point) resale BLT contract after renting points at Poly and BWV (studios). Never stepped foot in a BLT room. I loved Poly studio bathroom setup and the transportation variety is by far our favorite. But, we are a family of 3 so we aren’t too turned off at the idea of a studio at BLT. We figured it’s not much risk financially and didn’t want to keep renting when it could go to purchase. I obsessed over resort videos and read, read, read. Learned a lot from veteran DVCers.

However, we planned to add-on for bedrooms so our final choice was BLT. We added small direct since and my parents added resale at BWV.

I would recommend starting 100-160 at BLT then add on after. Or, even SSR if you travel in September. Gives you more points for price and BLT is pretty open in September, outside of standard studios. I’m looking at adding on there to use for September and save our BLT points for another time.

Not best value but you can add direct points as you go. We did one 35 pointer and charged Disney Visa with 6 months zero interest and paid off. Super quick and easy. Banked current points so we have an extra 70 points for upcoming trip in Sept.

I wish we had more points.

My personal opinion is SSR points are only slightly cheaper in the long run and not worth it unless we actually want to stay there. BLT is really close in price with the assumptions I've made on MF projections, so we would put our money there given our preference for location. My only hold up in sinking 100 points into BLT is the studio size and the fact we want to do studios for the next 5ish years. But it does seem foolish to make a 40 year purchase based on our expected traveling habits for only 5 of those years. So we will most likely get a 100 pointer at BLT and hope we can transfer to Poly studio at 7 months. Which brings us back exactly to where we originally planned to buy...lol.

I thought about buying BCV direct but when I thought we could still get full member benefits at the 25 point add on, but it's not worth it to us for 75 points - we don't think we'll need that many (but I also didn't originally think we'd need 50 at BWV or BCV until I started looking at peak season point requirements). Plus we won't use many (or maybe ANY) of the full member benefits, though I would like to have the option of the EPCOT lounge and the special member events. However it's not even close to worth it in price for what we are looking at and how we would utilize the added benefits.

Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[Dean]

I really don't think we'd use more than 50 points on an EPCOT property, but I'm totally open to buying a 100 point MK contract instead of 2 50s there. I would probably feel a tiny amount of regret with the purchase for the first few years if we aren't able to get a Poly studio at 7 months, assuming we buy BLT. But after that I don't think it will matter, as we will probably then move on up to BLT 1 BRs. But yes, the smaller contacts are definitely harder to find and pricier in the few weeks I've been monitoring them. We will need lots of luck and stalking to get what we want probably. But we do have time and patience in our favor fortunately.

50 limits you so much both in terms of how you can use them and the contracts available to you. If you think 50 is sufficient and gives you at least a 20% cushion but you're open to say 75 then a good 50 pt contract comes along, you'll have options. And for BWV you'd want to assume you couldn't get standard for planning purposes so you'd want the cushion minimum around 20% for the higher points of BW or garden view. Remember if you buy and decide you need more, the per point cost to get the additional 25-50 pts is high. You also want to minimize banking/borrowing. I'd far rather see someone buy and rent the difference than have a significant portion of their points for any given reservation as banked/borrowed. I think most who buy going in for only 50 pts regret it later. You're current plan also includes more points later elsewhere, I'd strongly encourage somewhat more than 50 as your initial purchase and then wait for anything else.

 

[Katie L]

LOVE THIS THREAD! Thank you so much. Helping me to clarify my thinking.

 

[AdamsMum]

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 also bought for location, without ever staying at a DVC resort. After about 10 disney trips, I didn't even know DVC existed until I took the friendship boat from the Studios to Epcot one day (I was a Disney dummy). Saw BWV got off the boat, walked around, didn't see a room. I didn't even know there was a model room there. Got home and badgered my then DH into letting me purchase. He said "As long as you don't put my name on it! ...and buy it with your money" Started with a 60 point resale and the rest is history. No regrets 3 add ons later. I got custody of the DVC. I believe this qualifies as "who laughs last, laughs best".