BCV is very popular, and a quick check on the Timeshare store has zero resales at the moment. Why 30k? That would get you about 250 points there. Anyway, a few questions to think about.
1) When you went to Disney, where did you stay? Deluxe? Moderate? Do you ever stay Value or off-site just to save money, and do you prefer that? DVC is only for someone wanting to stay at a Deluxe resort, and save a ton of money doing it.
2) If you are sure that you will go every year, then it becomes more of an option for you. If you decide that you don't think you may want to visit the resorts for a few years, you can at least rent your points to pay for your dues that year.
3) One thing to understand about buying resale, is that you are limited to how you can use your points. You will not be able to use your points for a cruise, AdbyD, or the resort collection. You are pretty much limited to DVC resorts, and trading out to RCI. Not an issue for 99% of us, but just want you to understand up front.
4) Maybe start with a smaller contract. We started with 160, but added on another 200 just 2 years later, and will be adding on again soon. They call it add-on-itis and it is real! When we first purchased many years ago, we thought a studio would be just fine for the 2 of us. On one trip we decided to do the 1 bedroom, and we have never looked back. While we don't cook on vacation, having the extra space, king bed, whirlpool tub, washer/dryer, and living room, we have decided that a studio is not for us, unless as a short ad-on to an existing trip.
5) Perks. Well, there are some. We get the Florida resident rate for APs and PAPs, even if you don't live in Florida. Big savings over the normal price. They do have specials to watch out for. A few years ago, they had PAPs for $399!! Wish they would bring that back! We also get the TiW, which really saves on the TS restaurants. There are discounts for some other activities like La Nouba and such. The rest are discounts for shopping that you get as a passholder as well. One thing to remember - ALL of the perks can go away without notice at any time. DO NOT buy into DVC thinking that you will always get discounts on park tickets (unless you live in Florida), TiW, and the other perks. Buy into DVC ONLY to save money on future RESORT costs only.
I have a spreadsheet that I maintain with every penny that we have spent on DVC - buy-in, dues - and how much we would have spent if we would have paid cash. Just in the last several years, with 16 trips, we have saved, just in the cost of the resort, over $12,000. That doesn't even include the savings from the APs and TiW. We live in TX as well, so would normally not be able to purchase the TiW or get Florida resident pricing for the APs. Oh, and I factored in any possible discount that we MIGHT have gotten if we paid cash. That savings has paid for a lot of extras on our trips.
Some naysayers claim that you can do better with a CM discount, or with the other discounts that Disney offers, seemingly every year. What they fail to understand is that not everyone knows a CM (we don't) to get that discount, and Disney can end discounts at any time. In addition, not every room type is available either. If you have extended family that you are bringing down, and want to all stay in a 3 bedroom Grand Villa, well, you will NEVER see those available for cash rentals as they are always booked by DVC members, since is there are so few of them.
So crunch the numbers. It is a good idea to buy where you want to stay, but getting BCV will be difficult, even on the resale market. You'll probably have to contact the resale companies, and get put on a waiting list for what you are looking for.
Good luck, and yes, it was definitely worth the investment to us!
This meant we had to get more points to comfortably meet our new needs. Just my personal experience but in one calendar year we will recoup close to 50% of our resale purchase based on the rack rate for the stays we've had and will have in the coming months! Yeah, rack rate is probably a poor guide but if you use discounted rates or even point rental rates we are about a third of the way to recouping our initial resale buy-in in one year. While we are still quite green as being DVC members we have no regrets and look forward to the future!
