Thinking about DVC...

[Foolish_Mortal_UK]

Hi everyone,

A long time lurker pleased to have joined!

My partner and I have visited WDW for the past two years now, staying for two weeks each at Port Orleans Riverside. We’ve previously been Infinity AP holders at DLP and are now seriously considering purchasing a DVC direct/re-sale. However, we’re pretty green and would like some seasoned opinions rather than the DVC sales rep spiel....

So, we’re thinking of buying about 250-300 points for a two week stay each year. We we’re originally going to buy all in at Riviera, however we’ve considered buying a resale contract at Bay Lake Tower and ‘topping-up’ at Riviera. So our questions if you can help us out:

1. If we purchase Riviera directly from Disney, and then Bay Lake from resale, which would be considered as our home resort to enable us to book 11-months out? Would it be both, one of them or neither of them?

2. If we purchase Riviera directly from Disney and then Bay Lake from resale how our points from two contracts brought together as one? Is there a special kind of Disney magic that makes it happen? Or do we have to complete a reams of paperwork? The same for annual dues etc.?

3. Generally, what is the availability like for standard view studio rooms at 11-months out at Bay Lake Tower?

4. Finally, if we we’re to take the plunge, is there any availability for March/April 2020 at Bay Lake Tower for a studio, or is it looking chilly in hell right now?

Thanks in advance for your help to a DVC noob!

F_M

 

[siren0119]

1. If you had points at BLT and Riviera, both would be considered "home resort" for the points that you purchased there because..

2. When you own two contracts at two different resorts, nothing happens that makes them one single contract for all the points. Think of it like owning two separate pieces of property. They will fall under the same membership account, but will be two independent contracts for the purpose of dues and points usage.

If you bought the way you describe, at the 11 month booking window you could use your BLT points for a BLT room, and your Riviera points for a Riviera room. At the 7 month booking window, you could use your points from Riviera to book in any Disney resort. But your resale contract at BLT could only be used to book into the "legacy 14" resorts - meaning any resort built BEFORE Riviera. There are restrictions on resale contracts that you will want to become familiar with.

I would say spend a LOT of time researching DVC, the rules for resale vs direct purchase, what Use year means and how points can be used. You've got some good starting questions but consider that the tip of the iceberg before you take the plunge. DIS has a lot of FANTASTIC info in the various DVC threads, and there are a few podcasts devoted specifically to DVC ownership. Good luck!

 

[sndral]

Hi everyone,

A long time lurker pleased to have joined!

My partner and I have visited WDW for the past two years now, staying for two weeks each at Port Orleans Riverside. We’ve previously been Infinity AP holders at DLP and are now seriously considering purchasing a DVC direct/re-sale. However, we’re pretty green and would like some seasoned opinions rather than the DVC sales rep spiel....

So, we’re thinking of buying about 250-300 points for a two week stay each year. We we’re originally going to buy all in at Riviera, however we’ve considered buying a resale contract at Bay Lake Tower and ‘topping-up’ at Riviera. So our questions if you can help us out:

1. If we purchase Riviera directly from Disney, and then Bay Lake from resale, which would be considered as our home resort to enable us to book 11-months out? Would it be both, one of them or neither of them?

2. If we purchase Riviera directly from Disney and then Bay Lake from resale how our points from two contracts brought together as one? Is there a special kind of Disney magic that makes it happen? Or do we have to complete a reams of paperwork? The same for annual dues etc.?

3. Generally, what is the availability like for standard view studio rooms at 11-months out at Bay Lake Tower?

4. Finally, if we we’re to take the plunge, is there any availability for March/April 2020 at Bay Lake Tower for a studio, or is it looking chilly in hell right now?

Thanks in advance for your help to a DVC noob!

F_M

Answering your last question first - here’s skierpete’s helpful thread on availability at various DVC resorts, BLT is in post #6 https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...-studios-1-bedrooms-june-2018-update.3689931/
so based on this, by the time you had access to your points if you bought BLT resale - likely @ least 60 days from when you first made your offer - there’d be little availability.
Regarding having 2 contracts working together - first they must both be titled exactly the same, next they must both have the same use year, assuming both of those things are the same, then both contracts will appear under one membership number. You do not need to fill out reams of paperwork, it’s automatic - I’ve bought 3 different contracts @ 2 different resorts & contract #s 2 & 3 just appeared in my account.
W/ both contracts being in the same membership at 11 months you’ll be able to book at home resort - so in your case at BLT w/ BLT points & Riviera w/ Riviera points. At 7 months you could combine your BLT points and Riviera points to book at BLT or any other of the other legacy DVC resorts. When you book @ 7 months you choose which contract to pull points from or whether you want to borrow, etc.
Because of the new resale restrictions specific to Riviera your BLT resale points can’t be used there - ever.
If you choose to not title your contracts the same or you buy different use years you would instead have 2 membership numbers & there’s no way to turn it into one membership. It’s a bit of a hassle because you need to transfer points from one to the other if you want to combine points at 7 months and you have to keep track of 2 banking windows and use years, etc..
If you are going in March have you considered trying to rent points to try out one or two of the DVC resorts to see if DVC’s a good fit for you? If it is you could always buy direct while there, or buy resale after you get home if Riviera isn’t your preferred resort.

 

[Deb & Bill]

At 11 months out or seven months out, you can only book seven nights. You'd have to add your additional nights one at a time until you got your entire stay if you wanted all 14 nights at one location. Otherwise you book seven nights at one location and seven days later you book your other location.

Studios tend to book up the quickest with the lower point categories booking the quickest. Don't plan on the low point category villas at seven months out.

 

[Foolish_Mortal_UK]

Hi all,

Thanks for your responses so far, really helpful! Although I'm not massively experienced with DVC, Riviera is becoming a bit of a headache, in terms of resale.

With regards to what Deb & Bill put, we generally vacation for two weeks, and although we don't mind resort hopping it's easier if we can just stay in one place. With that in mind, when would be able to achieve a 14-night stay if say we had re-sale at BLT? 7-nights at 11-months, what about the other 7?

 

[Marionnette]

Hi all,

Thanks for your responses so far, really helpful! Although I'm not massively experienced with DVC, Riviera is becoming a bit of a headache, in terms of resale.

With regards to what Deb & Bill put, we generally vacation for two weeks, and although we don't mind resort hopping it's easier if we can just stay in one place. With that in mind, when would be able to achieve a 14-night stay if say we had re-sale at BLT? 7-nights at 11-months, what about the other 7?

You can book the first 7 nights right at 11 months. You can add the remaining 7 nights by modifying the reservation after the 11 month + 7 window opens up for the remaining nights.

So, let’s say you want to book July 15-29, 2020. You would book 7/15-7/22 today. You could then modify the reservation later to add the remaining 7 nights. You could do this each day for the next 7 days or you can wait until August 21 to modify the reservation to 7/15-7/28 and then add the last night by modifying again on August 22.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Or, using Marionnette's example above, you could wait until Aug 22 (eight days after 11 months out) and book all 14 nights at one time. But your standard villa at BLT might be gone already for the first seven nights.

 

[Foolish_Mortal_UK]

Excellent, thank you so much for explaining that, obviously coming from the UK we're just so used to booking 14-nights that we don't really think about it!

 

[MICKIMINI]

Having two resorts is a nice way to change it up. With Uber, Lyft and Minnie Van services, you can move your luggage to the next resort after you check out and then use WDW transportation to go where you want and Disney will stow your stuff for the day. We like to alternate EPCOT resorts with MK (monorail) resorts and prefer a one bedroom...but always get the one bedroom last (a big letdown the other way). Laundry is free for DVC members and you get a W/D in a one BR and larger which may save you lots of packing...baggage fees. You can also alternate resorts each year with banking and borrowing options. You should always book at 11 months and then try to switch out at 7 months so you are sure you have accommodations regardless, otherwise you are taking a big chance of not having any reservation or heaven forbid, two nights here, and there, and there...

I'd recommend buying BLT first, resale so you have options should you decide for some reason it's not for you. Riviera is IMO riskier. If you decide to buy Riviera you can get a matching UY for your BLT contract. If you buy a BLT contract with banked points you can double your number of points for your first stay and perhaps tour RIV to see if you even like it and go from there or rent from a 3rd party for a few nights to try it out.

Good luck!

 

[CanadaDisney05]

Having two resorts is a nice way to change it up. With Uber, Lyft and Minnie Van services, you can move your luggage to the next resort after you check out and then use WDW transportation to go where you want and Disney will stow your stuff for the day.

I've never actually done this, but from what I heard, you don't even have to bother using Uber or Lyft. Drop your bags off at the front desk during checkout, and Disney will move your baggage to your new resort for you

 

[jerseyduke]

I've never actually done this, but from what I heard, you don't even have to bother using Uber or Lyft. Drop your bags off at the front desk during checkout, and Disney will move your baggage to your new resort for you

You don't, Disney will do it for you, but it may take a few hours, so if you need something in that time frame, keep it with you.


Heck, half the time I have a car, but if I am calling Bell Services for my luggage I still have them move it to my new resort for me. But if my car is close, I drive it myself

 

[MICKIMINI]

I've never actually done this, but from what I heard, you don't even have to bother using Uber or Lyft. Drop your bags off at the front desk during checkout, and Disney will move your baggage to your new resort for you

We tried that and it seemed it took bell services forever to get our bags to us...that was in the late 1990's! We usually have a car for a split stay so I make DH lug them around!