Many questions from a prospective buyer

[qwerty2k]

Hey everyone,


Been looking and researching for a month or two now at this point and have a list of questions / thoughts and wondered what everyone else thought.


We are a family of three (our son is 8 months old currently) from the UK and like to vacation every other year in August for 2 weeks starting off in a studio (and one day maybe getting enough points for a 1-bedroom).


So the first question to ask is...


How many points do i need?

Well, i think around 125ish would be a good starting number allowing us to stay in a variety (depending on availability that is) of different resorts in the studio category. Would you say around this number is good for a 2 weeks every other year (so effectively enough points for 1 week every year in August) or should we save for more, or possibly try and get away with less, though that may limited where we can stay?


Direct or Resale?

The 125 points i think may be a good number for us also happens to be the minimum number of points required to buy direct from Disney. I was all set for buying resale and do still think its the more sensible financial solution... but there is something about having that blue card and knowing that my points will be good at all future resorts that is pulling me towards buying direct and what i assume will be a quicker and easier transaction direct with Disney?


What happens to the resorts that expire in 2042? Well i guess no one really knows but my fear would be that they essentially rename the properties, classify them as new resorts and then stop and resale contracts from being able to stay there (unless its your home resort of course), can they do this? is it likely? should this be taken into consideration when purchasing?


Which home resort?
My wife and i both love AKL and also love the look of CCV and RIV. We have discounted any 2042 resorts as we are both in our early 30s so want somthing longer term.


AKL

Pros:

Love the theming

Savanah / Animals

I really like the pool

Both Kidani and Jambo to pick from


Cons:

Transportation?

Slightly higher dues

From what ive read it has good availability 7 months out so do we really need to have it as our home resort? Should we pick somewhere more difficult to get into at 7 months?

Not as keen on the room look and feel as some of the other resorts? from videos ive seen seems a bit more 'basic' looking?


CCV

Pros:

Love the theming

Proximity to MK


Cons:

Heard that its difficult to book studios at even when owning (how about in August)?

Rooms are a bit smaller (though we dont tend to spend too much time in the rooms so not a big con but maybe somthing to consider if 3 becomes 4 one day)


RIV:

Pros:

Skyliner for DHS and Epcot

Love the rooms, they look amazing


Cons:

Dues are higher

Expensive points chart for rooms compared to AKL and CCV


So AKL is the cheapest to buy and has the cheapest points charts so in one regard it makes a lot of sense to buy there. Say we bought 125 points at RIV then in theory we couldn't even book 2 weeks at RIV, so would need to buy 130 points, costing even more upfront and more in dues, even though we would sometimes switch out the second week and potentially end up somewhere cheaper leaving us with points left over/wasted? CCV my main concearn is not being to actually get a studio booked to stay in for a 2 week period as ive read online its tough to book even at 11 months out?


Timeframe

If im being honest we aren't likely to purchase in the next year possibly 2, so by the time we actually come to purchasing it might have changed again, just want to do as much research as i can so that when the time comes im as informed and sure about it as i can be.


Just wanted a bit of feedback from some other UKers who have DVC and how it works out for you, booking 2 weeks, 7month availability etc


thanks,

scott

[Shooby doo]

As a potential buyer, personally I wouldn't be bothered about Resorts that are miles away in the future, Reflections is only just come back on to the radar after announcing last year that it was off the table. . Personally I wouldn't pay the high premium of a "new" resort & then stay at AKL. How much is that Bluecard worth to you? As basically you are looking at the difference of £18k or £10k & perks wise(that can be removed at any time) that's a lot of discounts - AP discount is no good if you are only going every 2. Also worth considering that the average owner sells up after 15 years & no-one wants a Riv contract at the minute!
1. Yes 125 is enough but it doesn't give you much wriggle room, all it takes is for Disney to juggle the numbers (Again!)& you are "priced" out of Aug.
2. I would advocate Resale but that's because IMO DVC is not worth the Direct money, I would rather have bigger accommodation offsite than pay those prices.
3. AKV or SSR (for the right price 3 years on the bigger scheme of things isn't much) usually no problem getting these apart from the "cheap" suites at AKV that go quickly.
4 7 month availability is at best sketchy at the minute but I have no experience of August, this year for Sept I could get the usual AKV or OKW & occasional days elsewhere.

My advice is keep researching, unless an impossible to resist contract comes up! But also consider the additional costs of flights,passes & spending money. You are probably committing to saving at least £250/month every month not including those dues.

SD

[2point]

Plenty of time to do your research which is a good thing.

Points wise, you are looking in the right ballpark for the every other year experience. If you change your mind and go every year you can still go for a week and take a week offsite cheap enough. Bear in mind that DVC points are relatively easy to rent out, so you can rent them out and use the cash for other experiences. We are selling 100 points for next year, £14 a point. £1400 to go towards a 5 night cruise on the Disney Dream (£1800). The flexibility is a key benefit of DVC for us.

Availability. Before covid we had no issues booking most places at 7 months, we own at CCV - studios are limited but with a bit of planning you can get what you want(this year we have August and December in studios at CCV. We book at 11 months then switch out various dates for other resorts at 7 months to mix and match - for August that means we have a studio at the Boardwalk, then Copper Creek, then offsite at Universal then a 1 bed at Old Key West - initially I had the entire 2 weeks booked at Copper Creek). Once the Covid glut of points has gone I expect the availability to go back to normal, at the moment the availability is VERY low across all resorts - you know something is amiss when standard fallbacks such as SSR and OKW are fully booked at 9 and 10 months out!

With the latest price rises resale is the obvious way to go. Resort wise I put a spreadsheet together and calculated the 'points value/cost' for every resort given the market price and the length of contract. When I did that SSR and AKV came very close as being the best bang for buck choices. We bought direct at CCV as the length of contract and developer incentives made it a viable choice for us. I wouldn't look at RIV - the points chart is way over priced IMO. As you are already interested in AKV I'd steer towards that one, good availability and the bonus of being able to get access to the Value rooms and Concierge rooms.

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by Shooby doo

As a potential buyer, personally I wouldn't be bothered about Resorts that are miles away in the future, Reflections is only just come back on to the radar after announcing last year that it was off the table. . Personally I wouldn't pay the high premium of a "new" resort & then stay at AKL. How much is that Bluecard worth to you? As basically you are looking at the difference of £18k or £10k & perks wise(that can be removed at any time) that's a lot of discounts - AP discount is no good if you are only going every 2. Also worth considering that the average owner sells up after 15 years & no-one wants a Riv contract at the minute!
1. Yes 125 is enough but it doesn't give you much wriggle room, all it takes is for Disney to juggle the numbers (Again!)& you are "priced" out of Aug.
2. I would advocate Resale but that's because IMO DVC is not worth the Direct money, I would rather have bigger accommodation offsite than pay those prices.
3. AKV or SSR (for the right price 3 years on the bigger scheme of things isn't much) usually no problem getting these apart from the "cheap" suites at AKV that go quickly.
4 7 month availability is at best sketchy at the minute but I have no experience of August, this year for Sept I could get the usual AKV or OKW & occasional days elsewhere.

My advice is keep researching, unless an impossible to resist contract comes up! But also consider the additional costs of flights,passes & spending money. You are probably committing to saving at least £250/month every month not including those dues.

SD

See more...

Is Reflections back on? I thought the opposite as they’d filed permits to remove all the construction buildings?

wdwnt/2021/04/permit-fil...akeside-lodge/

[Shooby doo]

YT thought I'd read on a US site that it was back on but I have no insight on this, in which case for the OP even less incentive to pay that high premium for future resorts that currently don't exist IYKWIM.
We've had 11 years & as much as we love it, it's a lot easier to love at $67.50/point, I wouldn't pay $201/point as I don't think it's worth that sort of money. If you do the math (as the say in US) $28100 + Dues x 50 years (just on this years rates) each 2 week holiday costs £2400, 2 weeks at RPR costs £2600 & you get 2 weeks of Express passes & what do we get... some shopping & dining discounts Or Vistana, have a lot more space & change in the bank! A lot easier to justify my dues when we've paid less, even though we haven't been able to get near for over a year! Our Suntrust account is depleting rapidly
SD