How important is your Home Resort?

[Takeitforgranite]

My family of 5 has rented DVC points from David's the last couple year at the Poly, and it has worked out great for us.

Every couple years, I dip my toe into researching the DVC. It's a pretty complicated if you really want to understand how it works. It doesn't take long to see the DVC direct isn't a good fit for us. I only recently discovered you can actually purchase DVC contracts.

On our last stay, we purchased 186 points, so I think we would be around a 200 point range for a yearly allowance. Looking at listings in that range, the price per point at various resorts ranges from $85 - $165.

My biggest question is how important is you home resort? If you can get 200 points at the low end of the price range with OKW as your home resort, how hard is it to request the Poly every year? What is the real significance of what resort your contract is under? I guess that's the biggest thing I don't understand.

 

[CastAStone]

You get a four month head start on booking your home resort, and when you try to book other resorts, the owners there will have had a 4 month head start.

DVChelp.com has availability charts that can help you understand availability at 7 months (after the 4 month booking advantage expires). Polynesian has historically been easy to get at 7 months but this year it’s been noticeably more difficult.

The big wild card with Poly is what they do with the new DVC tower they’re building there. If the new Polynesian DVC tower they’re building is added to the existing Poly DVC association it will get much harder to book studios there at 7 months. If it’s a separate association it will become slightly easier.

What matters most is what time of year you go. Summer is easiest to trade out of your home resort followed by spring and then late winter. December is the most difficult followed by fall. 1 bedrooms are easiest to trade out of, GVs and Studios are the hardest.

All in all, don’t buy somewhere you wouldn’t mind repeatedly being stuck at. If you only want to stay at Poly, buy at Poly. If you are okay being at OKW (or SSR, or AKV, all three of which are almost always available at 7 months) with some regularity, buy a cheaper resort.

 

[nickys]

You also need to look at annual dues. OKW dues are pretty high compared to other WDW resorts.

Also if you want to stay at WDW don’t be tempted to buy either Hilton Head or Vero Beach. Firstly you won’t have the ability to book WDW at 11 months and secondly annual dues are very high.

 

[Takeitforgranite]

We would likely be spending most, if not all of our points in the summer. The last two summers, we booked through David's within a 7 month window. We stayed a Moorea house both times, and it felt pretty empty each time.

We love the Poly for numerous reasons. It's a perfect fit for my family. We want to stay there for the foreseeable future, but to actually buy into the DVC there is on the high end of the $/pt. I'm really trying to look at it as a 10 year break even, compared to renting points, and I'd have to be around $100/pt to pull that off. From the listings I see, only OKW and SSR fit that price point.

Neither of those resorts appeal to us and don't have 5-person studios. So, we wouldn't want to be stuck there. If we bought there, I guess it would boil down to rolling the dice and hoping there would be availability a 7 months out. We would be pretty flexible in the summers, so that should help our chances.

 

[Takeitforgranite]

How do DVC members check availability? Is it similar to David's where a middle-person has to check dates individually, or is it more transparent for members?

 

[JaxFLBear]

How do DVC members check availability? Is it similar to David's where a middle-person has to check dates individually, or is it more transparent for members?

Members log on to the DVC website and check for availability.

 

[Kamikaze]

One thing about buying resale - I don't think its been made clear yet if the new Poly rooms are going to be part of the new or old rules as far as who can book there. If you buy old resale (SSR), you can't book at new resorts (Riviera). New Poly may or may not be part of the existing Poly DVC. In your situation, you want it to join the existing association if you are going to buy at a different resort.

 

[nickys]

One thing about buying resale - I don't think its been made clear yet if the new Poly rooms are going to be part of the new or old rules as far as who can book there. If you buy old resale (SSR), you can't book at new resorts (Riviera). New Poly may or may not be part of the existing Poly DVC. In your situation, you want it to join the existing association if you are going to buy at a different resort.

And to add, if you buy resale at Riviera then you can only use those points at Riviera.

 

[Phonedave]

Members log on to the DVC website and check for availability.

It is surprisingly well done too.

You put in the dates you want, the resorts you are thinking of, and the type of room(s) you want and it comes back with a series of calendars for each resort/room type, showing full availability, partial (some days are blocked), and no availability (all days blocked).

It does make planning quite easy.

 

[themeparkmama]

The best advice my husband and I ever got was to get points where you want a studio. Those go quickly and you should choose a place you wouldn’t mind staying often. We own resale at Poly and direct at Copper Creek and Riviera. We tend to stay at Poly a lot with a close second being SSR because it’s usually available by the time we decide on a quick trip.

 

[Marionnette]

There are certain times that it's critical to own at a specific resort.

• If you want AKV value or club level studios
• If you want a BWV standard studio
• If you want a 2BR standard or boardwalk view at BWV most of the year (but especially from late September thru early January) because all of the 2BR villas are lock offs.
• If you want anything in the original building at VGF since there are so few villas there.
• If you want to get a BLT standard view studio
• If you want BRV or CCV at Christmas time.
• If you want a Tower studio or standard view at RIV
• If you want a studio at BCV
• If you want any of the Epcot resorts during a race weekend

But if you're someone who doesn't mind split stays or you're content to stay at your home resort most of the time, then the biggest considerations are cost per point, length of contract and annual dues.

 

[nickys]

I would also add that at the very least you should buy where you wouldn’t mind staying. Especially if your travel plans include mid September thru to mid January.

If you don’t have a lot of flexibility as to when you come, or cannot book 11 months out, then I would advocate that you buy where you want to stay.

 

[Raidermatt]

Neither of those resorts appeal to us and don't have 5-person studios. So, we wouldn't want to be stuck there. If we bought there, I guess it would boil down to rolling the dice and hoping there would be availability a 7 months out. We would be pretty flexible in the summers, so that should help our chances.

Might want to also consider future needs when it comes to accommodation size. You don't say how old the kids are (I am assuming there are kids involved), but while a studio may work now, it may not work so well in a few years. When we bought at BWV in 2000 there were 3 of us including your 2yo and the studio was great. Now we are essentially 4 adults + a SO, so even the 1BR doesn't cut it.

If your kids are all still small this may not be an issue for a number of years. But if they are already a little older this could sneak up on you faster than you might think.