Serina
TUG Member
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2008
- Messages
- 513
- Reaction score
- 22
Staying/owning at BLT for MK is well worth it, imho. The convenience of walking easily into MK is “magical”. Go for it!(Now I kinda want to buy a wee BLT contract)
Staying/owning at BLT for MK is well worth it, imho. The convenience of walking easily into MK is “magical”. Go for it!(Now I kinda want to buy a wee BLT contract)
Our Copper Creek contract passed ROFR today.
And just like that our little buying spurt is done!
(Now I kinda want to buy a wee BLT contract)
Only if you can get a seat on the monorail. I have been on that long ride to Epcot from BLT and had to stand the entire way, while 40-something men are sitting in the seats. I started hanging back and not getting into a full monorail for that reason, so I can get a seat. I have balance issues as it is. I don't need to hang on for dear life on a monorail at Disney.
Sure...I had to say something ;-)Wow! When we ride the long Monorail it’s seldom even close to full....Still miss getting to ride up front though.
Is there some kind of winter or spring break? Wondering why it was so crowded. Dawdling kids…so frustrating but you don’t want to be a nag…been there done that. We will sometimes walk from BLT to the MK bus depot and catch a bus to BW or Beach Club and walk thru international gateway at Epcot. And sometimes do that to return if we are in the back of the park. Then can take the monorail back to BLT from the MK bus depot. It’s usually just the two of us, so no kids or strollers to worry about. It’s been more difficult since DH’s hip replacement…doesn’t like to walk as much as we used to. And park commando days are over. But we don’t spend much time in the parks. Early morning entry, resort for lunch and pool. Have some dinner, back to a park in the evening. Watch fireworks from room (BLT, RIV and sometimes from BWV depending on room location). Hope you’re having a great trip.Sure...I had to say something ;-)
Yesterday our kids dawdled and we left BLT a little after 10AM. There was a long line to get on the resort monorail at the Contemporary (and it was packed), then for the first time I can ever remember there was a line to get on the monorail to EPCOT (and it was packed).
Never again...and my apologies!
How do you get notified of when people are able to buy direct at either SSR or OKW?We own 1,500 points, bought 1,000 direct OKW this past May at $95 per point. The MF's are some of the highest, but our 250 points we originally had were set to expire in 2042. I thought we should buy more for our kids and grandkids to use.
I think it depends what you want. I don't usually book June, but I did rent out my SSR points this year and was looking at June availability at the 7 month mark and there was quite a bit.How easy is it to find availability outside of your home resort at the 7 month mark in June? I'm contemplating picking up a cheap resale contract if it allows me to stay at other resorts.
Buying resale one needs to understand what they are getting, not getting and what resorts are open to them. For all but the newest resorts which would including Boardwalk, Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, Beach Club, Animal Kingdom (both sides) Wilderness Lodge, the original Polynesian, GF and Bay Lake plus VB and HHI; it depends. The second half of June will be tighter than the first half. It also depends on what size you need. There is tremendous variability between resorts and unit sizes. Because DVC made a poor choice in structuring the points between a studio and 1 BR, the studios are far more difficult to book and the 1 BR the easiest by far. 3 BR are also difficult. At 7 months out one can basically always find something but often it will be OKW or SSR with AKV being the next easiest. If I were planning for June avoiding the holiday weeks, I am confident I could get a a full week for any unit size less than a 3 BR at any resort except Riviera (mostly not accessible buying resale), GF or BC. DVC's waitlist also works fairly well.How easy is it to find availability outside of your home resort at the 7 month mark in June? I'm contemplating picking up a cheap resale contract if it allows me to stay at other resorts.
No notification but they usually have points for sale for many if not most of the resorts and if not, have a waitlist though they may cut if off if the list gets too long. Just call them if you want to spend that kind of money for DVC to get the modest benefits of retail or add to one's existing points.How do you get notified of when people are able to buy direct at either SSR or OKW?
I think VB is an even better example. Can buy it for $20 PP cheaper AND the dues are $2.50 PP higher. Still for WDW they are the definition of penny wise and pound foolish. However, if one wants to use either of those resort a significant portion of the time (say 50%) it might be worth it if and only if the time one wants is peak time. The same can be said for all non WDW resorts though, giving up the 11 month window is huge if WDW is the goal.BTW- I would love to buy a nice stash of HHI points but I cannot make that math work. I expect little to mo resale value and the MF are too high. HHI is a great example of how a DVC contract can be purchased at a low cost per point but still be a poor value.
Buying resale one needs to understand what they are getting, not getting and what resorts are open to them. For all but the newest resorts which would including Boardwalk, Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, Beach Club, Animal Kingdom (both sides) Wilderness Lodge, the original Polynesian, GF and Bay Lake plus VB and HHI; it depends. The second half of June will be tighter than the first half. It also depends on what size you need. There is tremendous variability between resorts and unit sizes. Because DVC made a poor choice in structuring the points between a studio and 1 BR, the studios are far more difficult to book and the 1 BR the easiest by far. 3 BR are also difficult. At 7 months out one can basically always find something but often it will be OKW or SSR with AKV being the next easiest. If I were planning for June avoiding the holiday weeks, I am confident I could get a a full week for any unit size less than a 3 BR at any resort except Riviera (mostly not accessible buying resale), GF or BC. DVC's waitlist also works fairly well.
I'm not sure the word cheap goes with buying DVC, even resale. VB will be cheapest followed by OKW (the 2042 expiration) and HHI. Most of those resorts will expire Jan, 2042, so 17 years left. Also pay attention to the yearly dues as they can make a cheap option very expensive, especially VB. IMO SSR is the sweet spot when looking at buying "cheap" to use mostly at WDW when you factor dues, expiration and purchase price. But if you have a preferred location or option, that could affect the decisions. I think AKV and BLT are good candidates as well. Another factor to consider that ultimately affects actual cost is the points structure at that resort. For example, BWV may be more up front, have modestly higher dues and expire in 2042 but if one is OK with the standard view rooms, which most people should be, it can be a great value because not only are the points cheaper for standard view, BWV points are cheaper than BCV overall.
If you want WDW, buy there so you can get something at 11 months out then try to change at 7 months out. Also pay attention to Use Year. You want something where most of your trips fall early in your UY so you have options if something happens including possibly banking points if needed as well as making other reservations if you need to change. On resale also pay attention to the UY and dues. DVC charge dues on a calendar year basis. That means that my dues for this year for my AKV Aug contract are for 7 months of the 2024 points and 5 months of the 2025 points. Thus MOST people overpay on dues reimbursement resale because you're basically always charged like the dues are for the actual points you're getting. Just realize that and factor it into our overall cost for the resale.
No notification but they usually have points for sale for many if not most of the resorts and if not, have a waitlist though they may cut if off if the list gets too long. Just call them if you want to spend that kind of money for DVC to get the modest benefits of retail or add to one's existing points.
Thank you both for the responses. I may just look into buying resale at Grand Floridian since that's really where I want to stay. However, if I do that, then I can never book at Riviera... Decisions, decisions.My personal thought processes on buying DVC:
1. It more expensive than trading in but also more flexible in many ways. And more of a sure thing
2. DVC is still a customer friendly organization that’s a pleasure to work with
3. Consider where you want to stay in your purchase decisions, how frequently you want to go, and what time of year.
4. Consider remaining contract life because this relates to resale value
5. Consider points charts, desired unit size, and MF, because the first 2 relate to how many points you need to buy and the second to how much those will cost you in the long run.
DVC is one of the few timeshares that still holds substantial resale value, and this mitigates your overall costs of ownership- quite significantly if you’re savvy.
So for us- our favorite resort is probably AKL. But we don’t intend to buy there because it’s relatively easy to book with our VGC points, and we want to keep that ownership for the booking advantage should we want to visit Disneyland.
Wilderness Lodge is our second choice resort. Copper Creek is a smart purchase because the points charts are reasonable, the resale cost is reasonable, and it has a lot of years left in the contract so we should be able to resell at a significant fraction of our purchase when we are done with it- which we expect to be in 15ish years.
We don’t have any particular affection for BCV (it’s perfectly nice) but wanted to own something in the EPCOT area. This purchase is questionable because there’s not many years left on the contract and its resale value will diminish significantly in the remaining contract life. We might be ok because in its final years it will likely still rent well. Also- our other options were Boardwalk and we’d for sure prefer BCV, and Riveria (which is a no go resale, and we’re not interested in direct).
So we now own what we expect will work for us: CC that gives us a booking advantage in the MK resort area, BCV which gives us the same in the EPCOT resort area, and a pool of VCG and HHI points to use at AKL and other resorts as available- plus the occasional booking advantage at Disneyland.
BTW- I would love to buy a nice stash of HHI points but I cannot make that math work. I expect little to mo resale value and the MF are too high. HHI is a great example of how a DVC contract can be purchased at a low cost per point but still be a poor value.
Thank you both for the responses. I may just look into buying resale at Grand Floridian since that's really where I want to stay. However, if I do that, then I can never book at Riviera... Decisions, decisions.
I think VB is an even better example. Can buy it for $20 PP cheaper AND the dues are $2.50 PP higher. Still for WDW they are the definition of penny wise and pound foolish. However, if one wants to use either of those resort a significant portion of the time (say 50%) it might be worth it if and only if the time one wants is peak time. The same can be said for all non WDW resorts though, giving up the 11 month window is huge if WDW is the goal.
One way around this: a point transfer from someone who owns Riviera-eligible points. Transferred points retain their properties.I may just look into buying resale at Grand Floridian since that's really where I want to stay. However, if I do that, then I can never book at Riviera... Decisions, decisions.
Not with the resale GF points---at least, not anymore. You had to have bought them before RIV came online.You can stay at Riveria if you buy GF resale.
Not with the resale GF points---at least, not anymore. You had to have bought them before RIV came online.
Yes, if you bought after 1/18/2019, you're no longer grandfathered in which is why I'm struggling with all this. I don't want to buy direct at Riviera because I want to mainly stay at GF (but would like to try Riviera eventually) and don't want to deal with the resale restrictions if I ever want to get out of the timeshare. I can't imagine RIV contracts are going to hold their value considering you can only stay there for the remainder of the contract if you buy resale.Wut? Is this with all resale points now, for non-grandfathered members?
Yes, if you bought after 1/18/2019, you're no longer grandfathered in which is why I'm struggling with all this. I don't want to buy direct at Riviera because I want to mainly stay at GF (but would like to try Riviera eventually) and don't want to deal with the resale restrictions if I ever want to get out of the timeshare. I can't imagine RIV contracts are going to hold their value considering you can only stay there for the remainder of the contract if you buy resale.
Yes, if you bought after 1/18/2019, you're no longer grandfathered in which is why I'm struggling with all this. I don't want to buy direct at Riviera because I want to mainly stay at GF (but would like to try Riviera eventually) and don't want to deal with the resale restrictions if I ever want to get out of the timeshare. I can't imagine RIV contracts are going to hold their value considering you can only stay there for the remainder of the contract if you buy resale.
That's...surprising. We just came back from WDW earlier this month and of the twenty+ shops we visited each and every one of them wanted to see the DVC BY (or DVC YES) affiliation in MagicMobile before they would give the discount. And about 2/3rds of the restaurants. Just the DVC Member card in the wallet wasn't sufficient.Anyone going to Disney should get at least a small DVC contract. I got asked "are you a DVC member" at least 3 times a day wherever I shop or dine. Luckily I could say "yes" without a shame since I am (though I am not 100% sure that I should always get the discount as those "grandfathered" ones but no one really checks).
It's worse than that. Even if you and your heirs kept your Riviera ownership for the life of the contract you would be competing for reservations against an ever increasing share of fellow owners who can *only* use their points at Riviera.I can't imagine RIV contracts are going to hold their value considering you can only stay there for the remainder of the contract if you buy resale.
Guess you bought too much lol (I don't think Disney is losing on giving you discount though). Half the time I simply said yes, and half the time they wanted to take a glimpse in my mobile wallet. But yes restaurants seem looser than shops.That's...surprising. We just came back from WDW earlier this month and of the twenty+ shops we visited each and every one of them wanted to see the DVC BY (or DVC YES) affiliation in MagicMobile before they would give the discount. And about 2/3rds of the restaurants. Just the DVC Member card in the wallet wasn't sufficient.
I didn't even think about that. That'll definitely affect availability not only for people who are restricted into Riviera, but for people who bought at other resorts and want to try Riviera as well.It's worse than that. Even if you and your heirs kept your Riviera ownership for the life of the contract you would be competing for reservations against an ever increasing share of fellow owners who can *only* use their points at Riviera.
I had money burning a hole in my pocket to buy a fixed week at Riviera...and after the Riviera resale restrictions were announced I used that money to buy a resale contract at BWV instead.