DVC newbie buying advice

[realhawker]

Thanks in Advance!

I have watched a dozen of the DIS DVC videos and read a handful of posts - looking for some advanced advice/tips now.

Live in NJ - 2 kids 16/14 + Wife. Hoping to buy because a) we confirmed Disney part of our lives b) I think this could be great way to spend time with kids as they have their own in next 20 years.

1) Frequency: We have visited Disney with our High Schoolers 14 times, so we go at least once a year, sometimes its been 18 months, sometimes twice in a year. We usually have gone mostly late August, but a few spring break/winter break over years.

2) Location/Resort: that's pretty easy. Boardwalk is easily our number one choice by a mile. We love Epcot location and I feel the villas situated and blended nicely. Beach/Yacht club would be second. I've heard the "buy where you want to stay" and I am pretty sure this is where I would pick. My only heavy reservation is the expiration in early 2040s vs others. I usually book a year out or so. GF/Poly we love, but as kids got older Epcot better to be near. How much does that expiration factor into it? In 2030 is no one going to want to buy this if I was selling?

3) Points? - My financial situation is blessed (finally) and I would make cash purchase. I would like to be able to stay in 2 bedroom to bring my nieces, etc every year or so. I was thinking between 275-350 points? I would always want premium view and at least a 1 bedroom even with just 4 of us.
3.a) Direct vs Resale? - The discount on dining/merch perks seem to be only thing that would matter to me. Right now I don't have itch to get the card, and I heard on videos don't buy for perks. Leaning resale pretty heavy. Thoughts?

4) Minor thoughts - we almost always use Deluxe Dining plan - except last time we went. Am I crazy to use dining plan heavily? We do NOT want to cook during our stay. Also is there a way to pay for housekeeping more that what I have heard they have?

thanks!a
Ian

 

[RoseGold]

I found this chart very helpful when I was deciding what to buy:

https://www.dvcresalemarket.com/blog/best-economical-dvc-resort-to-purchase-spring-2020/
But don't forget this:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/e...s-total-cost-per-week-year-remaining.3803924/
You can see that resale for 2BR BWV is actually a GOOD value, because its 2BRs are so cheap in points. And, as you know, BWV is hard to book without priority. The 2BRs are especially hard because they are all lock-offs.

The part that is not clear from your post is how long you want to hold. If you want to run out the clock on BWV, great! But you are right that selling in 10 years might be a totally different beast. The 2042s are very inflated right now because of their excellent legacy locations and point charts.

I don't see the point of a Blue Card for you, you could stagger trips and get an AP every other year. Exception would be if you LOVE LOVE LOVE Riviera, which sounds like it might tick all your boxes. But, Riviera is a big commitment because of the resale restrictions and much bigger commitment with higher buy in and much steeper chart.

Pre-Covid, the dining plan had nothing to do with DVC and could be booked on top of it. Pre-Covid, you could pay for additional housekeeping, I think that has been suspended. You could always split stay to get a clean room.

 

[realhawker]

TY Rosegold! Wasn't aware that 2BR tough to get at BWV. I kept hearing studios are the tough ones. Should I do something different given that? When you say Priority, you are just saying make sure its my home resort?
I would like to hold the whole time. I only mentioned resale at 10 years in case something crazy happened.
Housekeeping isn't a dealbreaker, just nice to have, and split stay interesting idea though.

oops - edit: we love the casual walk to Epcot from hotel, even kids can go on their own.... I also like Jersey shore turn of century theme at BW vs Riviera. (although its nice looking)

Is there a link to the staggering AP strategy on these boards?

thanks!

 

[RoseGold]

All 2BR at BWV are lock-off. So, when the studios are gone, 2BRs are gone. You could do 2 1BRs instead with SSR points, which is my strategy. Those are easier at 7 months. But if you really want BW, you should buy BW. It's not like AK, which is a huge resort. BW is small and has a desirable chart and location.

Assuming APs exist again, you could go late August, spring break, early August on one AP. This is more cost effective than an AP every year, even a discounted Blue Card one, assuming there ever is a Blue Card discount again.

 

[Ruttangel]

3.a) Direct vs Resale? - The discount on dining
[/QUOTE]
Resale has been able to buy Tables in Wonderland in the past, it’s currently unavailable to purchase so we will have to see what that comes back like

 

[Philsfan77]

TY Rosegold! Wasn't aware that 2BR tough to get at BWV. I kept hearing studios are the tough ones. Should I do something different given that? When you say Priority, you are just saying make sure its my home resort?
I would like to hold the whole time. I only mentioned resale at 10 years in case something crazy happened.
Housekeeping isn't a dealbreaker, just nice to have, and split stay interesting idea though.

oops - edit: we love the casual walk to Epcot from hotel, even kids can go on their own.... I also like Jersey shore turn of century theme at BW vs Riviera. (although its nice looking)

Is there a link to the staggering AP strategy on these boards?

thanks!

https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...-bd-charts-september-2019-2-bd-added.3689931/
You can use this to check hypothetical availability. It's not foolproof, but should give you a general idea of the room types your looking for and times of year.

 

[realhawker]

wow - didnt realize even at 11 months 2 bedroom so hard to get. I am intrigued by 2x 1br idea - but then they could be far away from each other right?

 

[Phatscott25]

I am intrigued by 2x 1br idea - but then they could be far away from each other right?

You can add a "traveling with" notification with Member Services. Every time I've done that we've been close but there's no guarantee. You could end up on opposite ends and different floors.

 

[havoc315]

2BR might not be the easiest at BWV, but August is not a high demand season. I don’t think you’d have any trouble booking 2BR for August at the 11 month mark, as long as you are okay booking that far in advance.

If they bring back the TIW card, if you qualify with Blue Card, it can potentially be a much better deal than the DDP.

The expiration on the BWV would give me pause. Yes, if it’s where you really want to stay, you can definitely still get value, especially buying resale.

I have kids basically the same age as yours. We just bought Riviera, especially thinking we want to just pass it on to them. But it was a close call — the location of the BWV is definitely a big draw.

 

[Sandisw]

TY Rosegold! Wasn't aware that 2BR tough to get at BWV. I kept hearing studios are the tough ones. Should I do something different given that? When you say Priority, you are just saying make sure its my home resort?
I would like to hold the whole time. I only mentioned resale at 10 years in case something crazy happened.
Housekeeping isn't a dealbreaker, just nice to have, and split stay interesting idea though.

oops - edit: we love the casual walk to Epcot from hotel, even kids can go on their own.... I also like Jersey shore turn of century theme at BW vs Riviera. (although its nice looking)

Is there a link to the staggering AP strategy on these boards?

thanks!

Given your travel times, you should not have a problem getting what you want in BW view if booking at 11 months, I owned BWV for about 8 years....just sold both in the last year,..and traveled similar times as a teacher and never had trouble with BW view,

It was SV studios during F & W over Columbus Day weekend that was difficult...but getting BW view was not.

 

[bcuinohio]

If you went enough to justify buying an AP, I would buy 100 points direct for blue card and then add on some resale.

 

[davidl81]

We love BW and stay there a ton in 1 bed rooms using SSR points. But 2 bedrooms are really hard to get there at 7 months, and with older kids you will really want two bedroom IMO. The 2042 expiration sucks, I agree, but it’s still 21 years of use which is a long time. And you hear people talk about this, but really the points chart at BWV is a huge advantage. Just compare the number of points you would have to buy at RIV to get a 2 BR for a week compared to BWV (both preferred views). RIV in mid to late Aug is 435! Points. BWV for the same time is only 313. It’s just such a good value that is really makes up a ton for the expiration date.

 

[Lva5]

I would calculate the price per point per year remaining on the contract and see what you come up with and if you're willing to spend that. Still, 22 years is a long time. No one knows what it will look like trying to sell those resorts in the future, but I think a lot of us are surprised they've held up as long as they have... eventually the value goes to zero, and closing costs become a bigger percentage of future value every year.

It sounds like resale is a good idea for you; we bought direct because we wanted to get blue card benefits now knowing that the point requirement for blue card benefits is likely to go up in the future. And also knowing that perks will change over time and I think there's a decent case to be made for Disney needing to make them better over time.

Staggering APs just means you buy an AP one year, fit in two trips during that time frame (eg. weeks 1 and 50), then don't buy one the 'next' year and don't have trips during that time; rinse repeat.

 

[My3kids1989]

I love BWV. It was my first purchase and I’m looking to add on. Tomorrow my window opens for 11 mo for the weekend I want. My birthday weekend for food and wine. I want the least amount of points, studio, and it looks like it’s already booked for today. I bought enough points to get the weekend that I know I want. Other than that I am buying points to stay elsewhere. My SAP (sleep around points) is my mission now. I love the Epcot area and I think compared to BCV, BWV is a better purchase. Your kids are too old for stormalong bay I imagine. If you love BWV, the 15$-20$ pp difference will likely be the last thing you think of when you’re there. The walk to Hollywood and Epcot are worth it IMO.

 

[RoseGold]

My birthday weekend for food and wine. I want the least amount of points, studio, and it looks like it’s already booked for today.

Book around it and waitlist and stalk. Availability is changing constantly during this mess. Someone might walk their October reservation right by you.

 

[dvc lover 1970]

I agree with older kids EPCOT resorts are a better choice. Since your kids are older I would not worry about the expiration and I love the Std. view room option at the BWV. I would buy resale, BWV and then if you want direct I would purchase SSR. With older kids myself - their choice is always either an epcot resort, SSR, or AKV for lounging days.
I also use the dining plan, because I have no desire to cook while on vacation. Also the dining plan ensures we all sit down for dinner, otherwise the cheap side of me would probably have us eating quick serves for dinner or going off site. While the dining plan doesn't save money it makes everything more convenient as a prepaid option

 

[My3kids1989]

Book around it and waitlist and stalk. Availability is changing constantly during this mess. Someone might walk their October reservation right by you.

I imagine someone was walking, I checked it after a few days and the Friday I wanted opened up. I got the lowest point studio so now I have a bonus night some other time

 

[Skywalker3]

We own at BWV and love it. LOVE walking to Epcot/HS. However, I will have to agree that it's not easy to get a 2 bedroom, which is our one big gripe about BWV, especially now that the kids are older, and we want another bathroom. Tried a couple years back, and NO 2 bedroom standard view at 11 months, granted it was an Oct F/W trip, but still, nothing. I just checked availability online for 11 months out from today, (Sept) and standard 2 bedroom n/a for the first day. people are walking a studio I would think, and if all the studios are gone, the 2 bedrooms will be too.BUT there is availability for pool/garden view. So if you can swing that view, it's there. I wish so much that they'd change some 2 bedrooms to be just 2 bedrooms and not lock offs. We bought a 350 point resale to give up options to book non standard views if need be, so I do think it's a good idea to have some cushion of extra points. But otherwise, we LOVE the BWV. if we really need a 2 bd, I think we'll either have to start walking (which I don't like or think is good,) or go w non standard views.

 

[gmflash88]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...-bd-charts-september-2019-2-bd-added.3689931/
You can use this to check hypothetical availability. It's not foolproof, but should give you a general idea of the room types your looking for and times of year.

Why does this post keep getting linked/recommended when it's so out of date. Is it because the site where the info is listed is blacklisted?

 

[Philsfan77]

Why does this post keep getting linked/recommended when it's so out of date. Is it because the site where the info is listed is blacklisted?

If you check the blacklisted site...it is still the same information. Those charts are the exact same ones that are on this site as well...instead of using words/they used numbers...but the chart is still the exact same. The studios and 1-bedrooms were done in 2018 (booking for 2019)...the 2-bedrooms were done last year (booking for 2020), only thing new is Grand Villa's this year (booking for end of 2020 and parts of 2021). I really wouldn't call that "so out of date" personally, and ultimately the information is the same on the other site when it comes to Studios/1-BR/2-BR. Grand Villas and Vero/Hilton Head are the new information.