correcaminos
Well-Known Member
Good luck to you! We love OKW as well
I hope you pass ROFR!
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Any regrets? Why shouldn't I buy in?
- Thread starter yaksplat
- Start date
I hope you pass ROFR!macefamily
Well-Known Member
Been going to Disney for 23 yrs and should have considered VC decades ago. Too late now. I pay $550 a week for a three bedroom condo in a gated community near Celebration. Two pools, plenty of restaurants and shopping nearby.
baymenxpac
Well-Known Member
don't know if this will make you feel better about your offer, but my family bought at OKW in 1993. honestly, that resort is one of my happy places in life. i really love it, and always feel like you get a ton of bang for your buck because of the room size. best of luck!
YorkshireT
Well-Known Member
Buy where you want to stay can be good advice, it can be poor advice. It is often, wrongly, spoken as gospel on forums.
The real issue is studio and to some extent 2 bedroom availibility. Studio non availibility is going to get worse as the price increases that is all people can afford. Thus if you always want a studio, particularly mid September to early January it may be decent advice.
If however you are buying for 1 beds, particularly if you don’t travel mid September to early January (albeit Xmas week is fine as it’s higher points and less busy for DVC and in reality there’s mostly good 1 bed choice even in this whole period), then you can stop anywhere and even most views at 7 months. 1 bed availibility is a different kettle of fish at 7 months to studio availibility. I bought SSR ( which I like and have no issue staying there, AKL is the one I won’t stay at again due to lack of walking and running routes outside, SSR will actually be a preferred resort for me post refurb) and it was absolutely the correct choice. I stay in all resorts, no issues. I saved a ton over buying, say, Copper Creek direct.
I note Luvthegoof above says the same and they also stay in 1 beds. For ‘sleeping around’ and having ultimate flexibility you are much better buying twice the points at SSR and going for 1 beds, if you can live with the extra dues.
The real issue is studio and to some extent 2 bedroom availibility. Studio non availibility is going to get worse as the price increases that is all people can afford. Thus if you always want a studio, particularly mid September to early January it may be decent advice.
If however you are buying for 1 beds, particularly if you don’t travel mid September to early January (albeit Xmas week is fine as it’s higher points and less busy for DVC and in reality there’s mostly good 1 bed choice even in this whole period), then you can stop anywhere and even most views at 7 months. 1 bed availibility is a different kettle of fish at 7 months to studio availibility. I bought SSR ( which I like and have no issue staying there, AKL is the one I won’t stay at again due to lack of walking and running routes outside, SSR will actually be a preferred resort for me post refurb) and it was absolutely the correct choice. I stay in all resorts, no issues. I saved a ton over buying, say, Copper Creek direct.
I note Luvthegoof above says the same and they also stay in 1 beds. For ‘sleeping around’ and having ultimate flexibility you are much better buying twice the points at SSR and going for 1 beds, if you can live with the extra dues.
correcaminos
Well-Known Member
I do say buy where you like or don't mind staying. Or if you have to be somewhere, buy it, but don't ignire all options if you are flexible. I will caution that while I don't think booking trends will change, but one never knows. 2 bedroom dedicated is still doing well for us.
I think if you dislike a resort, don't buy there. Not to pick on SSR, but I don't care for it. I would buy about other resort though. BLT is also a pretty good deal an an FYI from what I've seen.
Club Cooloholic
Well-Known Member
As I go to look at getting tickets for the parks I have a few regrets lol...gosh dang they are getting pricey
Bpmorley
Well-Known Member
Exactly why my DVC is for profit now. I use less, rent more.
Phonedave
Well-Known Member
I hear you. For a while it was airfare. With DVC, lodging is a faxed, sunk, cost. We used to think about going for a quick trip, then look at the airfare and go "ugh, no". Now, airfare has come down to sort of reasonable levels. Now with think about going for a quick trip and think twice just because of the price of going into the parks.
-dave
nickys
Premium Member
Welcome Home! And congratulations, now you can start planning your first trip as members. Have fun!
Bpmorley
Well-Known Member
Back in 2006-08 me and DW would go almost every eighth week when my schedule would have me off starting friday morning and not due back til tuesday morning. Air travel had way more competition, at least in Philly. We paid as low as $29 r/t and never more than $89. With APs and a load of DVC points we just kept going. But as the airfares climbed the short trips weren't worth the $500, so we had started with longer trips to spread the cost out. Now it's park tickets too, unless they offer a cheap AP(which they've done in the past) I don't think I'll be buying anymore tickets. Along with that fees on rental cars have shot up. Lost car I got was $56 for the week, but $108 in taxes and fees. Every part of the trip has skyrocketed way above the rate of inflation. So as of now enough is enough and we will just be renting the points and going elsewhere, where our money gets you alot more.
correcaminos
Well-Known Member
Congratulations!!!
Phonedave
Well-Known Member
I have never had R/T fares that cheap out of Newark, but sub $200 was the norm for a while. Then they started to climb into $300-$400 range.
Recently they have come back down a bit - $200 or so if you hit it right. But now park tickets are insane. We almost went for a long F&W weekend last week - $205 flights. But there was no availability in studio or 1BR units anywhere on property.
We have not got to the point of renting out our points. We still use them, we just go for longer periods in larger rooms, but lately the Celebrity Cruise to Bermuda out of Bayonne NJ has been our go-to vacation. It's a great vacation, and a short drive from our house.
YorkshireT
Well-Known Member
Imagine if you are a UK DVC owner like me, with school aged kids so can only fly in the very expensive UK school vacation time. To leave the tarmac in Manchester costs me $5 k for 4.
Bpmorley
Well-Known Member
Those prices were down when SW and Airtran came into the airport. Made for a lot of competition. Of course since everyone is merging the competition isn't there and prices are up while flight convenience is down. I also think the recession we had in the late 2000s also made these prices go away. Now we are very lucky if we can get $200 r/t, most of the time it's 300+. And I'm not doing a layover to Orlando, or any part of Florida where it's only a 2 hour flight.
We rarely use our points for a 1bdr. Only for certain circumstances. Next September we are doing the cruise. So we will get a 1 bdr for the rest of the week so we can do our laundry, then we only have to do carry on bags
Philly used to run cruises out of the old navy yard, but they stopped years ago while they were dredging the delaware river. I was hoping they'd come back. So convenient, I could walk there if I had to.
Bpmorley
Well-Known Member
Prices go up when the kids are out of school here too. And you're doing international, so that's always more.
Phonedave
Well-Known Member
To be honest I never understood the vast draw WDW has for people in the UK. It's expensive, and it's the same thing over and over again.
I get the appeal of the weather. I had distant relatives from the UK who used to stay in my house when they would come to the States. On a day I would consider marginally warm and sunny they would be on the patio sunbathing.
But there are so many closer and cheaper places that have good weather. Yeah, WDW is expensive for us, and we do go often, but if It was costing me upwards of $5,000 for airfare, I would really be going elsewhere.
Bpmorley
Well-Known Member
About 10 years ago I got it. Our dollar was very weak. So according to people from Wales, they were spending pennies here compared to anywhere near home.
YorkshireT
Well-Known Member
I’ve been to 27 States and all over the world. I am lucky enough to have 5 weeks abroad on vacation a year so WDW is only one a year or even every other year.