Is it imperative to rent and stay at a DVC property prior to purchasing?

[BamaGuy44]

I'd say it's not imperative. We thought about renting first, but decided we'd rather put that money toward the contract purchase. We bought in at AKV just a couple of months ago, having never stayed there. In fact we've never stayed in a Deluxe on site hotel. Our go to for years has been the Swan, so I guess it's Deluxe-ish, but not DVC. Our Welcome Home visit is in May, at Boardwalk and Copper Creek.

I've been to AKL multiple times to eat at Boma, etc and love the vibe, so I'm quite positive I'll enjoy staying there. Only downside is all bus transport, but not a huge deal for us. We watched a lot of room and resort tour videos (sooooo many) when we were researching. I think they give a good idea of what a resort is like. If not for the 2042 exp date, Boardwalk would have been a no-brainer. But for us AKV was the best mix of exp date, purchase price, and point chart.

Good luck with your research and purchase!

 

[vacay77]

My family and I bought at VGC without ever having staying there before. At $600/night, we were reluctant to pay that price outside of DVC. I don't regret it. Our first stay was amazing, lol.

 

[CraigInPA]

I'm going to buck the consensus of the previous posters with my own story...

My wife and I had stayed in marina view rooms at the Poly every year for about 20 years. We spent a LOT of money on these, even with "return" offers and offers during times of economic downturn (35% off!). We were going to look at BLT when it opened, but it "wasn't the Poly" so we did not. When they announced DVC was coming to the Poly, we were right there ready to buy as soon as they were ready to start selling. That is, until we saw that the buildings that were being converted were on the side of the resort we didn't like, and that there was a good possibility that you'd get a room facing the monorail. So, we decided to look at all the other DVC resorts. We had money saved up, but are very careful people. We looked over the various candidates, crossing off some due to location, others due to transportation options, and one (BRV) because the Wilderness Lodge looked like where we live so it wasn't like going to Florida on vacation. We narrowed down our list by various criteria, scored each resort for each category, and then rented points for a week stay at our top choice, BCV. While the resort checked ALL the boxes, we did not enjoy the room. The design of the building meant that you either tried to get a top floor on the Epcot side (to see the fireworks over the trees), looked at a wall of trees (everything else on that side of the resort), or looked at the pool. While we loved the ability to walk to two parks and the food and nightlife options, the room views were a bust. So, armed with this knowledge, we then rented more points and stayed at our second choice, BLT. The resort checked all of the boxes, although with lower scores in some areas than BCV, but had room views which BCV lacked. After 5 days at BLT, we knew we found our "home". We then waited until that "Cinderella" resale contract came up, which took 9 months. We then added on direct to fill out our points need.

Had we not rented those points to stay in BCV, and just bought there, we might be yet another DVC member looking to switch resorts as soon as the 7 month window opened. That would be wasteful, as BCV points are pricey, and if we always wanted to stay somewhere other than our home resort, we could have purchased cheaper points at SSR or OKW.

 

[SG131]

I bought boardwalk despite never staying there. For me, the number one criteria was location. So beach club and boardwalk were my top choices. I didn't want to pay the premium for the beach club because we don't usually do a lot of pool time during our trips. I have since stayed at both, and as soon as I walked into the boardwalk I knew it was the right choice. The only downside is that after I had made my decision my mother decided she wanted to buy in as well meaning we were looking at 2 bedroom units instead of the studios I had planned. BWV only has lock-offs, dedicated 2 bedrooms would be nice.

We semi-recently added on at BLT. I've stayed at the contemporary, but not specifically the DVC rooms. I fell in love with the location there as well. I actually still haven't stayed there yet because we took advantage of the open availability in late 2020 to stay at some DVC properties that are typically hard to book.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I would suggest that the most important resort to really be sure about is RIV, because if you buy RIV and then decide later that CCV is the place for you, you may want to sell and purchase a CCV contract. And you'll take a bath with the resale.

 

[RoseGold]

I rented points at WL and immediately ruled it out. That was a good use of one night of points IMO. Another resort people either really love or hate is AKL. Maybe the transportation is a big deal to you and you're never going to be there in daylight anyway, maybe you really like relaxing on the balconies.

Picking a home resort matters more to some people than others. If you're just buying sleep around points anyway, maybe it doesn't matter as much. I think it depends on your reasons for buying and your exit strategy.

If you're buying SSR, plan to book what you can at 7 months, and sell in 7 years -- that's very different than wanting to leave VGF to your kids. I own a lot of SSR, and I've never been there, except the worst Mears ride ever from the airport.

 

[Prince John Robin Hood]

Checking out the rooms and resorts on YouTube will give you a good feel for them. We had only stayed DVC at Poly but bought VGF and AKV. We've visited GF a few times but have never been to AKV.

 

[zebsterama]

If you're well versed in all things DVC, I would say having a walkthrough probably makes sense before buying (no renting required - you likely know what you're getting).

IF you're BRAND new to DVC, I'd probably suggest doing some real due diligence first, followed by some kind of DVC rental. Either way - I'd say at the very least - do a walkthrough.

 

[Minniesgal]

no

 

[pianomanzano]

Never rented points before joining DVC, but we did stay at AKL on the hotel side once and prior to that only stayed in values. That stay sold us on deluxes and at first I scoffed at the idea of DVC b/c you know timeshare. But after doing lots of research, listening to podcasts, watching youtube room tours, and having a baby that we know we wanted to take to WDW on a recurring basis, we decided to buy in without having stayed. Just know what you're getting into (direct vs. resale, home resort, use year) and you'll be fine!

 

[Lumpy1106]

A stay on rented points doesn't tell the full story. Yes, you'll have a nice stay in a really nice resort, but what about availability for your typical accommodations? Are you comfortable with banking and borrowing restrictions? Are you OK booking at 11 months out? If you are looking to try different resorts, how does the availability look at 7 months? Yes, do at least walk through the resort you want to buy points at. We own at BLT but our last stay was at BWV based on a walk-thru we did on the previous trip (LOVE BWV - like the BLT rooms better). FWIW - my kids hated SSR from the time we spent there during the tour so likely won't be staying there. YMMV - just saying it doesn't take a full vacation to determine that.

 

[Orion Nebula]

Thank you everyone for so much feedback! I really appreciate the help!

 

[MickeyMice]

i would be a little more hesitant with a direct purchase because that contract is going to depreciate 20-40% as soon as you drive it off the lot. if you're going resale, at least you can unload that contract fairly reliably (and might even make money) if you have buyer's remorse.

 

[bumbershoot]

What do you guys think? If we are pretty positive we are going to buy in, should we dump all the cash for the "trial" stay one into the purchase? Or should we rent points and just try a possible home resort out?

I had never even been to WDW when we purchased at Bay Lake. When we stayed at Disneyland we generally stayed offsite (before all the nice hotels were there), and occasionally at Paradise Pier and Disneyland Hotel.

But we knew that when we visited Orlando we wanted to invite local family, and to do that we needed bigger spaces than Value resorts (the equivalent to most of the places we stayed at Disneyland). So we bought 100% sight unseen. It worked out very well.

And FWIW I have no problems at all staying at moderate or value resorts even now, if that's what works for my trip and I don't have points enough for a villa.

 

[bumbershoot]

i would be a little more hesitant with a direct purchase because that contract is going to depreciate 20-40% as soon as you drive it off the lot. if you're going resale, at least you can unload that contract fairly reliably (and might even make money) if you have buyer's remorse.

Saying that completely negates the value they will get by staying there. The fact that many of us can recoup all of the cost of our contracts when selling them is amazing, but IMO shouldn't be expected. We have gotten quite a lot, and that should be counted when valuing DVC.

 

[MickeyMice]

Saying that completely negates the value they will get by staying there. The fact that many of us can recoup all of the cost of our contracts when selling them is amazing, but IMO shouldn't be expected. We have gotten quite a lot, and that should be counted when valuing DVC.

fair point - just saying that anyone considering buying direct should be even more circumspect because selling a direct contract would be a guaranteed financial hit while selling a resale would be closer to a wash.

 

[sethschroeder]

I think now with so many videos on youtube you can get a better idea. The concept behind staying first though is often to make sure you like the resort you are going to buy.

Any chance you can visit them on your next trip?

Its hard to consider all the things though like the layout the of the room, location, ect but it is doable.

 

[HappyThoughtsTees]

We had never stayed deluxe prior to purchasing. However we live in Northern California and only visit Disneyland so we purchased at VGC. We knew we would never pay rack rate, and saw the benefits for us staying onsite so DVC was a good fit for us. Good luck!

 

[Jwaire]

Coming from a moderate, you should be satisfied with any of the DVC resorts (except maybe Boulder Ridge). They're beautiful, unique and I haven't stayed in a bad one yet. Do I have my favorites? Sure, but they're all amazing (except BR currently—it's finally getting its hard refurbishment this year so that will be remedied soon).

I would spend my effort learning about point charts, use year, room types, resale vs. direct, etc. Ask a lot of questions! Especially if you go resale.

 

[RoseGold]

Do I have my favorites? Sure, but they're all amazing (except BR currently—it's finally getting its hard refurbishment this year so that will be remedied soon).

LOL, poor Boulder Ridge. I stayed there in December and I thought the fixtures were fine, same as all the others (except the amazing Poly post-refurb). It was WL's transportation that was my issues, and plenty of other DVCs have the same issue.