Should we sign or not? What would you do?

[act1980]

Originally Posted by TinkTatoo

Goof for you, sounds like the right decision for you. When are you planning to use the points?

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We’ll be using them in January 2020. We’ll have double points to start with as Disney will give us 2019’s points too which is good!

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by skstorm

I was under the impression that the reason there were always properties available at OKW and SSR was down to the sheer size of the resorts which I think are a lot bigger than some of the others giving much more availability. I could be wrong though so don't shoot me down.

I am someone who has just bought in at Saratoga and that was because it felt the right thing to do for me. Once the initial cost is paid, for me it is much easier to get the cost of the dues together on an annual basis than pay for the hotel room. When I did a dummy booking at OKW just before I bought in it was £4100 for 2 weeks. I appreciate that you get free dining and realise that I will need to pay for that however we found ourselves spending loads on the tips alone on top of the free dining whereas I think that on points I will still do some of the meals but nowhere near as many and a lot more quick service and external. so taking into account the tips I won't be paying, it will offset some of the cost of dining and I believe I will still be cheaper on points. We are hoping for a stay in August so I may do a report on the cost of dining without free dining against what we paid last trip.

As for the changes I think in the short run there is a chance that the contracts for the original 14 resorts will hold their value as I can't see any way that they wouldn't be more desireable than the new ones as certainly for a while to come there is access to more properties with them - all in the prime locations.

I also think it looks like they have just put the kiss of death on Riviera resort and if it comes out at a high price would not even entertain buying there direct.

For me everything I looked at before buying still applies and the reasons that I bought in will still apply. I am hoping that eventually the increase in dues will settle back down again and also that the exchange rate will rise again at some point which would put a whole new perspective on things. I'm still really glad I bought in, I really like SSR and I'm perfectly happy that is where my points are it certainly didn't come across as a moderate resort to me and I like the fact that my room isn't part of one big building. SO I am happy that I purchased despite the fact that all these changes have been made.


If you are asking whether I think some of the changes should be challenged and explained that is a different question and yes I do.

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I think this is a very good point. If you want to do Disney dining every day, and IF (big IF) the same deals on SSR and OKW (and AKL) continue (and I would say that this year they were in very short supply if you could get one, many reported they couldn't) then using points at one of these two resorts, in free dining time is not the best use of points.
However, if you are like us, and just do maybe 3-4 meals (and we like the Landrys so 2 of them are on Landrys card discount anyway) and otherwise eat breakfast in the room, we even make sandwiches, and the kids have no desire whatsoever to be going to table service restaurants (spoilt, in my day going to a restaurant was a treat, now they prefer to be left at home) and prefer quick serve anyway, then the value is still there using points even at these two resorts in free dining time. I was spending under $150 a day for all of us this past year all incl.
The real value of DVC does though come from the larger accommodations and the monorail resorts, Beach Club and Boardwalk. They are the most expensive cash.
I have no issues staying at SSR at all, love it and I love OKW. I would much rather stay at either than some of the more expensive resorts, as we like the openness and we like to walk and run (although Crescent Lake resorts are also superb for that).
I bought with a strategy, we stay in 1 beds and never have any issue getting any resort, nearly any view at 7 months. So this is where DVC really gets good value, bought in relatively cheap for cash (many of my points sub 70 purchase), stay in 1 or 2 beds at the expensive resorts, eat very few table service. I am saving a fortune.
The biggest test ever of the 1 bed stay anywhere strategy will be next Xmas when Star Wars has just opened- I am not sure if I will be able to switch then at 7 months, but I will be perfectly happy with SSR even though I wasn't wanting to go back until post refurb, if I cannot switch. If I can switch next Xmas, any switch is possible. I will report back at 7 months if the switch even in what I imagine will be WDWs busiest time ever, was possible. I am cautiously optimistic.

[WDWMAD]

Pleased to read that you are going for it, because deep down in your heart I think it really is what you wanted to do. I think sometimes crunching the numbers and getting other peoples opinions isn't the right thing to do. My honest 'opinion' on DVC is that you really shouldn't buy into it if you can't afford it, it is a luxury at the end of the day just like any Disney holiday, factor in the Annual Dues increase for the rest of the contract and if you can't afford that it's a no go. By all means if you don't understand something, ask for help, but, opinions never really help.

Our reasons for buying were based on many factors, not just the cost, our choice of hotel has always been the Grand Floridian and each year the price was going up and up, imagine what it will be like in 10-15 years time. The availability was getting less and less, we had to pay silly money for Main Building rooms or Deluxe Rooms because our main choice (Lagoon View) was never available so we were stopping in rooms we didn't really want to stop in and paying more money for them. We always needed to book up around 6-8 months before the departure date for our holidays due to running a business and school dates, so booking up was never fun.

This year we went online 11 months before the date we intend to go and got a 1 Bed lake View Villa at VGF for 10 nights in October as easy as anything, for us that is priceless and we know that if we can't make it closer to the date we don't lose any money whatsoever and just use the points another time. If we wanted to book up direct with Disney today to go on our dates, we would have to pay over £8,000 for a Theme Park View room and that includes the FREE nights offer, because, as always, there are no Lagoon (Lake) View rooms available and we always want a Lagoon View room. Direct with Virgin Holidays a Garden View room at Grand Floridian, including flights would be just under £12,000, so if it we were factoring in the reasoning to buy into DVC due to cost alone, it would be a no brainer. I know you should go by a renting points value, but, at 6 months out the chances of getting points may be slim and it's just not as easy as booking through the DVC website.

For us it was all about making our life easier because we intend to holiday at WDW's Grand Floridian for the rest of our lives and then onto our daughter, it is our favourite place on earth. So before you decided to go for it, my opinion would have been go for it if you can afford it.

[act1980]

So we’ve now gone from buying 250 points to maybe not buying to now buying 275 points
The deal was too good to pass up!

[Halowa]

Originally Posted by act1980

So we’ve now gone from buying 250 points to maybe not buying to now buying 275 points
The deal was too good to pass up!

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