First time buyer - 1 or 2 resorts ?

[spurs444]

So as it stand we have had a big 50th trip for my wife cancelled this year to the Caribbean and have decided to have some smaller closer to home holidays for 2022.
Being a regular listener to the DIS shows which feature a DVC show there has been a lot of talk of resale etc so i have started to take a look.
It appears for the value of this years cancelled trip and what we would usually spend on next years we could purchase around 250 - 300 DVC resale points dependant on which resorts.
This has really got me thinking as in my mind that money is spent and done with so putting it into DVC seems a tempting idea.
I have a few questions from you experienced owners -

Do you see any benefit in splitting between two home resorts in order to secure 11 month bookings with view to split stays ?
We would most likely be looking at 1 or 2 bed villas so would availability be better at the 7 month mark anyway if we do not need studios ?
Any particular recommendations for home resorts ? ( not interested in the coastal resorts)
Is there any real benefit in going for higher priced resort but getting less points apart from the 11 month booking window ?
Any other advice gratefully received even if it is "don't do it"

Its early days in the process and would not make any purchase until the world is looking more "normal" but i do like to have something to plan and think about.

[PoohBears#1fan]

1. Do you see any benefit in splitting between two home resorts in order to secure 11 month bookings with view to split stays ?
We would most likely be looking at 1 or 2 bed villas so would availability be better at the 7 month mark anyway if we do not need studios ?

1. IMO it's all about where you want to stay, until this year we've always booked 1 beds (owned BCV since 2002 & CCV since 2018) and I've never had any issues getting what we want, we've stayed at all the DVC resorts aside from Riviera and GF. I wouldn't attempt to predict future availability as we've certainly learned this year that things aren't always predictable, but studios do still seem to be the accommodation that's snapped up at 11 months.

If split stays is your thing, then yes, owning at 2 different resorts is a great way of securing that at 11 months, but as I said, we've had many split stays over the years when only owning at BCV and have always got what we wanted.


2. Any particular recommendations for home resorts ? ( not interested in the coastal resorts)
Is there any real benefit in going for higher priced resort but getting less points apart from the 11 month booking window ?

2. Buy where you want to stay is the ultimate advice, it's the advice I had when doing my research in 2002 and I still stand by it today, yes most of the time you can get other resorts at 7 months, but there's never a guarantee so knowing you can secure the resort you want to stay at gives you peace of mind.

From a renting POV, yes, if you ever need or want to rent your points out, then owning at a more sought after resort will pay off. I didn't buy with the intention of renting my points out, but then my marriage broke down so I did rent some points, being BCV points they've always been snapped up.

3. Any other advice gratefully received even if it is "don't do it"

3. I've never regretted owning BCV, we've had 18 years of amazing holidays from it, easily rented the points if we've ever not wanted to use them, gifted nights as wedding presents, let friends & family use them, it's been invaluable for us, so no 'don't do it' from me, just make sure you fully understand what you're buying so there are no surprises down the line.

Good luck and enjoy

[spurs444]

Thank you - had not really thought about rental demand vs which resort so that's great advice.
We are leaning towards Beach Club / Board walk or Bay lake at present but realise we will get less points for our money.
Lots of things to weigh up

[Dr.JumbaJookiba]

Originally Posted by spurs444

Thank you - had not really thought about rental demand vs which resort so that's great advice.
We are leaning towards Beach Club / Board walk or Bay lake at present but realise we will get less points for our money.
Lots of things to weigh up

See more...

You will also get a lot less years usage out of BCV/BWV.

I own at BLT and BWV purely for location at 11 months

[marlouwrig]

We own at both BCV and BLT precisely because those resorts are where we want to stay. It's wonderful to be within walking distance of Epcot/Hollywood Studios and MK when staying at those resorts and, as we don't drive not to have to wait for transportation especially after fireworks/Fantasmic etc.

Unless you really don't mind where you stay the ability to book at the 11 month window at those resorts is worth it for us, although you should take into account the fact that both BCV and Boardwalk have a relatively short shelf life.

[spurs444]

Being mid fifties now i am torn on the length of contact issue.

I would love to think that i would still be travelling past 2042 expiry dates and do need to take that into consideration.

Saratoga due to the proximity to Disney Springs and Animal Kingdom for the restaurants and the general ambiance of the place are also in the mix and give us another 10yrs plus at a great price- this is not going to be an easy choice.

I feel a pro's and con's list coming on.

Maybe it will just come down to what is on offer with the right points per pound etc at the time

[Br'er Bear]

Originally Posted by spurs444

Being mid fifties now i am torn on the length of contact issue.

I would love to think that i would still be travelling past 2042 expiry dates and do need to take that into consideration.

Saratoga due to the proximity to Disney Springs and Animal Kingdom for the restaurants and the general ambiance of the place are also in the mix and give us another 10yrs plus at a great price- this is not going to be an easy choice.

I feel a pro's and con's list coming on.

Maybe it will just come down to what is on offer with the right points per pound etc at the time

See more...

We had started a response before you had posted your most recent reply and had used different resorts as an example, so this is what we wrote.

Depending on your age and financial circumstances you might find a longer term resort a better option/investment as there's only 22-years remaining at many of the resorts, such as BCV whereas a resort like BLT has an extra 18-year's. Therefore almost twice as many and BLT is only slightly more expensive per point against BCV when purchased through resale.

Consider that if you wanted or had to sell in 18-years time, BCV will only have 4-years remaining while BLT will still have 22-years and therefore will be worth a lot more in the resale market, maybe even getting back what it initially cost you.

Therefore we would say BLT over BCV especially if you don't mind split stays and want to experience all of the DVC resorts.

Over the years you will be able to pick up nights at most of the resorts.

We booked 7-nights at BCV for next March with our OKW points, not all at once just needed to waitlist and monitor for cancellations and within a month we had all 7-nights.

If you were going to purchase at BLT then if you have spare cash that's invested and only earning a few percent then also consider buying more points just for renting.

Lets say you were going to buy 200 BLT points, dues cost in 2021 would be $1,380.

If you brought 360 points then your dues will increase to $2,484.

But if you rented the extra 160-points at $15.50 per point then you'll receive $2,480 which basically covers all of your dues.

The extra 160-points would cost you around $25,000 resale plus fees and as those rented points cover all of your dues that's around a 10% p.a. return on your investment.

Worth considering that if you don't buy the extra points then you will need to find $1,380 in dues in 2021. Over 18-years that will cost you $24,840 at todays prices, bear in mind that dues could increase each year by around 5% so that could cost you upwards of $35,000 over the next 18-years.

The extra $25,000 to purchase the 160-points therefore looks to be a good long term investment plus in 18-years time there will be a higher resale value in your BLT points compared to BCV points.

We used $15.50 as that's what David's rental pays members and when things get back to normal if you rented privately to the US market then you might get a few extra dollars per point.


As for your latest post where you reference AKV and SSR, we would say just AKV especially if you were going to buy the extra points for renting to cover all of your dues cost.

The main reason being the lower points required for their value rooms and they have club level, both of which are limited to just the AKL Jambo House resort and therefore can be one of the more difficult room types to book.

Compared to AKV, SSR is much easier to book at 7-months, AKV also has 3-extra years and if you're only buying one resort there's only one purchase fee, also higher point contracts can be cheaper to buy.

Also consider in Adventure Season a BLT 1-bed varies between 210-points for a standard and 287 for a theme park view while an AKV 1-bed varies between only 137-points for a value and 297 for a club level room, so better value for you and for when renting.

The extra points also gives you more flexibility as there might be some years when you want to stay longer, therefore you can use some or all of the extra points instead of renting or borrowing.

We purchased in the 90's and didn't even know about renting, so never consider extra points and therefore we're not speaking from experience, as you say it would be wise to start a pro's and con's list.

And when you do, suggest including a currency fluctuation chart on future dues and what if it fluctuated by + or - 20%.

Over the last 10-years the pound has varied roughly between $1.70 and $1.25 and we've also experienced $2.00 for a short period while we've been members.

So if you did lock in now the extra points for renting then currency fluctuation going forward won't affect your dues payments and therefore one thing less to worry about.

Good luck in your choice.

[spurs444]

You must have read my mind - I was doing the maths on extra points with a view to renting to cover dues so good to know it’s an option
Thank you for taking the time to respond with so much info - I am going to sit down and do a spreadsheet to look at points cost vs points per night etc and contract lengths and try to make an informed decision
Nice to hear reassurance from all and that no one regrets their purchase.