How hard is it??

[HappyGrumpy]

So if we decide to do resale and get VWL but could see ourselves wanting to stay at BLT is it going to be hard to switch between your home and non home?

I know you can book your home resort a year out and I guess that is why I am trying to determine If making BLT our home (which is not my favorite)to making the one that I really love (which is VWL) really going to matter since I will be able to stay either one? Please give some feed back!:brick:

 

[slappy magoo]

Some resorts will always be more difficult to get into than others. And other factors will always come into play, like when you go and the size of the resort. I'd guess that BLT will always be popular, but you know what? VWL is popular, too. I managed to stay in a VWL studio for a week once in August, after most schools reopened. OKW & SSR (minus treehouses) will usually be easier to get iinto by virtue of their size and seclusion.

 

[pacochran]

You may also want to look at using your points at the hotel vs the Villas, because you can book your resort reservations at the same time frame as your home resort not the 7 month in advance like other resorts. We did that one year and staid at AKL instead of our home resort and loved it.

 

[jenlar]

We have flexible schedules that let us travel off-season and have always been able to use our SSR points to stay anywhere eventually. You may not get the time of year that you want or be able to make reservations in the near future, but you should be able to stay wherever you want eventually. Even with the limited number of rooms at BLT you should be able to stay there eventually. It will just take a lot of calling, wait-listing, and flexibility.

The only reason that we added BLT points is because we know that we'd like to stay there for birthdays, anniversaries, etc. when we can't be flexible. If you really like VWL the best then I say go for the VWL points!

 

[Lynne M]

I think the most common recommendation that DVC members give to prospective members is "buy where you want to stay". Certain resorts and villa types can be very difficult to get at 7 months, depending on time of year. I believe VWL has the smallest number of villas of any DVC resort, and it books up quickly. Getting it at 7 months out for the entire month of December is going to be very hard. And it seems to book up right after the Epcot resorts during F&W, so you'll pretty much be dealing with waitlists for any VWL stay from Oct 1 through the end of the year, if it's not your home resort.

If you think you'll be disappointed if you can't stay at VWL most of the time, then buy VWL.

I would not recommend exchanging your points to stay at non-DVC resorts on a regular basis, as another poster suggested. Once in awhile is fine, but if you plan to do it regularly, you'll find that a) the point costs are outrageous, b) the point costs go up every year, and c) there's a $95 exchange fee.

 

[HappyGrumpy]

Wow, this really helps! Our travel pattern is to travel in Dec for our Anniversary and then in March or April for EPCOT FG Festival and some baseball. I love WL at Christmas and would love to stay at BLT in the spring!

But now knowing that VWL in Dec are not that easy to come by this will help in my decision making.
I spoke to my DVC rep and if we decided to go with BLT she gave me the break down of rooms that have actual MK views and It is going to be very hard even if I make BLT my home resort to get a studio MK View (there are 20 studio 21 1 bedroom and 28 2 bedroom MKV).

I am working with 160 points for 2 trips a year so a 1 or 2 bedroom uses to many points and we are just 2 adults traveling. I know that there is an observation deck to go see fire works but I REALLY would want a MKV if I stay at BLT.

So I will really have to weigh my options! I am sure regardless of which I go with I will be happy just to be at DW 2 a year!

 

[hansel1]

Wow, this really helps! Our travel pattern is to travel in Dec for our Anniversary and then in March or April for EPCOT FG Festival and some baseball. I love WL at Christmas and would love to stay at BLT in the spring!

But now knowing that VWL in Dec are not that easy to come by this will help in my decision making.
I spoke to my DVC rep and if we decided to go with BLT she gave me the break down of rooms that have actual MK views and It is going to be very hard even if I make BLT my home resort to get a studio MK View (there are 20 studio 21 1 bedroom and 28 2 bedroom MKV).

I am working with 160 points for 2 trips a year so a 1 or 2 bedroom uses to many points and we are just 2 adults traveling. I know that there is an observation deck to go see fire works but I REALLY would want a MKV if I stay at BLT.

So I will really have to weigh my options! I am sure regardless of which I go with I will be happy just to be at DW 2 a year!

You should really look at the point charts. 160 points don't go very far for two trips. Plus depending on what season you go, the point costs vary.

 

[dizzney]

That 11 month window is so important, and sometimes at special times of the year unless you call the first day, you still dont even get in your home resort, we have 275 in BWV and 100 in BLT. I called 10 months and three weeks out for BW for NYE 2009, I got a garden view 1 bedroom but not a BW view, I'm wait listed for that, I did call the first day i could for BLT and got MK view beginning January 5th for 5 nights and very exicted about that. Your choice of home resort really counts if you are going down at peak times of year. I have tried several times seven months out for Hilton Head Island in the summer months (kids out of school) and have never been able to book more than 1 night, sort of wish I had bought some points there, but 375 is about our limit.

 

[HappyGrumpy]

You should really look at the point charts. 160 points don't go very far for two trips. Plus depending on what season you go, the point costs vary.

Thanks for the feedback, if we do 2 4 night studio with MK view(if we can get it) at BLT in either Adventure or Dream season then we can do 2 trips a year. We are not financing our points we are paying cash and 160 is all we can afford for right now. I know it's not allot of points but I am not willing to go into debt for more.:hammer: When we have more cash then we will either buy into whatever new DVC is out there or go resale! I am just back and forth on BLT or a resale of VWL.:ROFLOL:

We usually travel Dec 1-14 for 4 nights and then do DCL for 4 or 7 nights(Not using our points for the cruise obviously) and then usually we do late spring early summer. We skip the Easter week altogether we have our family here in Virginia that we are with.:animwink:

 

[CatsMeow]

We are OKW owners and have always had an easy time with booking at our preferred time and for the size of unit we wanted. The only exception was for early December two years ago; we were put on waitlist, which did finally come through for us. We have only booked the GV twice, both in mid to late May and had no issues because we did it within the 11-month time span.

We booked at BLT for two nights this August because we had a b-day to celebrate and wanted to check out the new DVC. We were able to book a studio for two nights, but not with an MK view. ; we received a water view, which is okay. I think we lucked out because late August is not quite as busy as early August.

Having a "backup" resort in mind is always a good idea. We all have our favorites other than our home resort. It is disappointing not to be able to book at home, but it is a good chance to try out other resorts. Personally, we do not use our points to stay at the hotels (we did do this once during spring break a few years back); we don't find it to be cost-effective.

 

[dizzney]

We did use our points last year to stay 4 nights at Disneys Grand Californian with a park view in early August and it worked for us since I had juggled points to do it. It made the trip affordable since we flew from NY on Miles for 3 of 5 of us. It was our second trip in 08 since we were in WDW for 8 nihts at the BWV for Presidents week. There are times when it works to use points for a hotel room.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

For the mostpart, I've had very good luck switching at the 7-month point. I'm very flexible, though, and wouldn't mind staying at SSR for any trip where another resort didn't pan out.

There are certain seasons and room types/views that are difficult to get unless you're an owner. If you have your heart set on those, "buy where you want to stay" certainly applies. For example, the Boardwalk Villas and Beach Club are in very high demand during the Food & Wine or Flower festival. (We went ahead a bought a small add-on to allow us to have some BCV points for this flexibility.)

There is a very limited number of villas with a boardwalk view at BWV. If you want to get one of those, you're best served by the home resort advantage.

BLT is new, and I think will be very popular as the new owners want to use their points for the next year or so. After that, I personally think it will calm down a little. (The number of points per night will keep a lot of people away.)

 

[One Lil Spark]

That's what she said... :lookaroun

 

[dizzney]

We LOVE Disney!

 

[SMRT-1Michael]

i would go with purchasing BLT.
The membership at BLT is 18 years longer than VWL