Given What You Know Now

[CarolMN]

Would you still choose the same home resort if you could go back and do it all over again?

Yes! Location is very important to me. I'm still happy with our 1999 purchase of BWV and earlier this year, we added points at VGF - to have a resort that is walkable to the MK.

 

[808blessing]

I love my home resorts and the amounts feel just right! Maybe I would give up a few aulani for a few more VGC.

Actually I stayed at Aulani twice this month, so no I wouldn't. I did good!

 

[bumbershoot]

Would you still choose the same home resort if you could go back and do it all over again?

I wish we had purchased SSR when I first took the tour, rather than waiting and buying Bay Lake when it and AKV were actively being sold. I would have been able to buy more points, and frankly I like SSR more than Bay Lake, and wish that it were my default.

If I came into money, though, I'd buy GF now.

 

[AdamsMum]

Yes! Saw BW from the friendship boats, got off the boat, walked around, went home and badgered then DH to let me buy my first small resale contract. No research, hadn't a clue about UY, maintenance dues, points charts, I just knew I had to stay there. Happily staying there ever since!

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Absolutely! Of course, when we bought, Old Key West was called Disney Vacation Club and was the only option available! But even with that, we have loved our time at OKW. As the years passed and kids got older and family structure changed, we also bought at AKV and BCV - love all 3 for different reasons. But never regretted the OKW purchase and would do it again very quickly.

 

[Fauntleroy]

Absolutely (BLT in 2011). So much so, I've rechanneled all my "addonitis" to holding out for a potential BLT II. We just love the combination of location (especially with a young child now), dining (Contemporary + TOWL), fireworks, and views (Park or Lake).

 

[kboo]

Yes, I chose BLT when Disney was selling. If I had to do it all over I would still buy there, but I would buy more points than I did while I could get them cheap.

^^ this!!
When we first bought (resale) - we had 2 kids under 6 and BLT was the right choice for us as it was the only resort where you could walk to/from MK. I have done the Double-Stroller-Jog many times. We actually went several years without even visiting HS, or at most spending a half day because the kids were too small to ride much of anything (and scared by the shows). We also bought 25 points direct for blue card benefits. I do wish we had bought more points (at least 200) to get us into a larger unit. It was also selling at about 25-30% less per point than VGF (direct or resale) and 30% or more less than Poly direct.

VGF was next, and we *still* didn't get enough points. We bought specifically for larger units and to use for winter holidays. LOVE LOVE LOVE

By the time Riviera came online, our kids started to love roller coasters, and the timing of both TS land and SWGE hit the sweet spot for our family. Although we do love BWV and BCV, the <25 years length of contract felt too short. I guess it's not surprising that since we love BLT and VGF, we would love RIV for our EP/HS stays. We have 2 different UY and split stay a lot to have easy access to 3 parks.

My wish still is:
more points at BLT since it's the most points cost-effective for family stays
maybe should have bought some VGC before resale prices went so crazy.

 

[Lorana]

Absolutely!

Then again, I have a lot of home resorts, lol.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

My wish still is:
more points at BLT since it's the most points cost-effective for family stays
maybe should have bought some VGC before resale prices went so crazy.

Exactly this!!!

 

[DVCjj]

Own BCV/Poly - Love my resort choices (never stayed at any DVC before) but might have changed it to BWV/BLT had I known then what I know now. Definitely wanted one Crescent Lake area and one MK area.

No regrets whatsoever though.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Exactly this!!!

Ditto!

 

[DduzDis]

^^ this!!
When we first bought (resale) - we had 2 kids under 6 and BLT was the right choice for us as it was the only resort where you could walk to/from MK. I have done the Double-Stroller-Jog many times. We actually went several years without even visiting HS, or at most spending a half day because the kids were too small to ride much of anything (and scared by the shows). We also bought 25 points direct for blue card benefits. I do wish we had bought more points (at least 200) to get us into a larger unit. It was also selling at about 25-30% less per point than VGF (direct or resale) and 30% or more less than Poly direct.

We did exactly this ^^ (and around the same time IIRC). We have since purchased BWV and PVB. My girls now LOVE AKL but it is easy enough to get there at 7 months so I don't anticipate buying there (but I'd never say never). Our touring has changed a bit too. We spend a lot of time in EP now and BWV has become a favorite resort. I would not likely add on at BWV as the time to expiration is shorter and it has gone up in price since we bought. I don't see us changing anything or adding on for a while (maybe, maybe something with PV2 if it is added to the existing association, but we're good either way if it isn't).

 

[RamblinWreck]

Would you still choose the same home resort if you could go back and do it all over again?

I’d probably have all of my points at VGF instead of split between RIV and VGF.

But I love both resorts so I don’t really care.

 

[Craho]

Yes! Saw BW from the friendship boats, got off the boat, walked around, went home and badgered then DH to let me buy my first small resale contract. No research, hadn't a clue about UY, maintenance dues, points charts, I just knew I had to stay there. Happily staying there ever since!

This is me right now but have not pulled the trigger yet. LOVE BW but I’m discouraged by people on this board saying it’s a terrible value with the 2042 expiration. I’m also older (47) and have a tween and 2 teens who are starting to outgrow Disney but my husband and I would love to go every other year for the next 20 years. I am thinking 80 points for a studio or possibly 1 Bedroom (if we bank and borrow). Sometimes the kids will come sometimes they won’t. I REALLY want to do this but don’t want to make a bad business decision when renting is an option too.

 

[AdamsMum]

This is me right now but have not pulled the trigger yet. LOVE BW but I’m discouraged by people on this board saying it’s a terrible value with the 2042 expiration. I’m also older (47) and have a tween and 2 teens who are starting to outgrow Disney but my husband and I would love to go every other year for the next 20 years. I am thinking 80 points for a studio or possibly 1 Bedroom (if we bank and borrow). Sometimes the kids will come sometimes they won’t. I REALLY want to do this but don’t want to make a bad business decision when renting is an option too.

Renting is an option, but I think it's also expensive. Only you can decide if the remaining time is good enough for you, I had 35 years on the contract when I bought. On the other hand, I think one of the good things about DVC is that it does expire, I've read that some timeshares are forever.
Be aware of the difficulty with booking standard view rooms. 1 bedrooms are not as hard as studios. 80 points could technically give you a 1 bedroom standard with banking and borrowing, depending on when in the year you intend to travel, how far ahead you can book, and how many nights you want to stay. I only have 100 Boardwalk points and I've done studios and 1 bedrooms.
For my part, I'm never as happy when I have to stay elsewhere, even at my 2nd home Beach Club which a lot of people love.

 

[DduzDis]

This is me right now but have not pulled the trigger yet. LOVE BW but I’m discouraged by people on this board saying it’s a terrible value with the 2042 expiration. I’m also older (47) and have a tween and 2 teens who are starting to outgrow Disney but my husband and I would love to go every other year for the next 20 years. I am thinking 80 points for a studio or possibly 1 Bedroom (if we bank and borrow). Sometimes the kids will come sometimes they won’t. I REALLY want to do this but don’t want to make a bad business decision when renting is an option too.

We actually bought BWV with the intention of letting it expire at a time we would likely be downsizing as we get older anyway.

 

[LadybugsMum]

We actually bought BWV with the intention of letting it expire at a time we would likely be downsizing as we get older anyway.

Same as I'll be 68 when it expires. I also have VGF contracts; so I can sell those or keep them with plenty of time left on the contracts.

 

[kboo]

We did exactly this ^^ (and around the same time IIRC). We have since purchased BWV and PVB. My girls now LOVE AKL but it is easy enough to get there at 7 months so I don't anticipate buying there (but I'd never say never). Our touring has changed a bit too. We spend a lot of time in EP now and BWV has become a favorite resort. I would not likely add on at BWV as the time to expiration is shorter and it has gone up in price since we bought. I don't see us changing anything or adding on for a while (maybe, maybe something with PV2 if it is added to the existing association, but we're good either way if it isn't).

LOL. We were! And BLT was such a good value then!

We stayed at AKV recently (2021) and my kids were meh. Partly it was very lonely and quiet due to the pandemic, and partly because we did not get a savannah room. DH loves AK and we have a newfound love for Jiko, so I could see us booking a split stay again sometime. I do have a soft spot for BWV since it was the first DVC where we stayed (on cash), but so far we haven't had any issues booking it with points from other resorts. We spend more than 50% of our time at HS and EP now, too (kids are 7, 11 and are foodies), so a part of me wants to get more RIV points....

 

[CaoilinnsMom]

I wish I had bought VGC to begin with, but I do love BRV at Christmas

 

[Genie+]

This is me right now but have not pulled the trigger yet. LOVE BW but I’m discouraged by people on this board saying it’s a terrible value with the 2042 expiration. I’m also older (47) and have a tween and 2 teens who are starting to outgrow Disney but my husband and I would love to go every other year for the next 20 years. I am thinking 80 points for a studio or possibly 1 Bedroom (if we bank and borrow). Sometimes the kids will come sometimes they won’t. I REALLY want to do this but don’t want to make a bad business decision when renting is an option too.

One factor is often glossed over for BWV, the much higher success rate booking standard. People do the math of points/dues of owning other resorts and say that’s cheaper to get into BWV, but how often will that actually happen? If wanting to use the majority of points in BWV std studio or 1br (or getting BW view over pool view for the point jump), BWV can be worth the cost. This is not easily quantifiable in running resort cost comparisons. Success rates need to be factored in. I don’t know that answer but safe to say an owner can do it more than half the time and non-owner less than half.

2023 BWV point chart- *6 night stay avoiding either Fri or Sat night

Season/dates	Sun-Thurs and Fri/Sat	6 night stay*
Sept 1-30	9 and 13	58
Jan 1-31; May 1-14	9 and 14	59
May 15 - June 10; and	10 and 15	65
Dec 1-23

The only other resorts comparable to this low point cost is OKW and SSR. We bought a 50 point contract for $7k allowing over 15 days every 3 years. Perfect. It will expire when we’re in our early 70s. Fine. And we love Boardwalk! The location and resort is awesome. It‘s getting an overhaul in 2023 and another before the contract expires.

It didn’t make sense to us to buy elsewhere If we want BWV the majority of the time. What would that even look like? I would’ve needed to buy more points because we would’ve averaged a much higher point cost per night over the contract. That also means paying more dues.

There are 95 weeknights per year I can pay under $200/night, and 38 Fri or Sat under $300. Can a non-owner do this too? Sure. But how much lower are the chances they get a string of 6 nights in a row, how much more work will it entail, how often will they succeed?

The fairest way to compare BWV to others is average point cost per night using the contract. Now I know everybody doesn’t care about this and I agree other resorts can be worth their point costs… but we’re talking about how the math can work in our favor at BW. A BWV owner can achieve a much lower points/night average and that’s a huge factor in the math. It depends on individual intentions and desires though. BWV makes no sense to buy if planning to mostly stay elsewhere.