.....More potential owners questions !!!!!

[Baldrick2]

Hi Folks....
Just joined the forum... a wealth of info here so I apologise if some of my questions have been asked before but I couldn't find the answers in my searching (yet!!!)

I took the tour at Saratoga today & looked at the models of the AK & BLT they have. I must admit I was impressed & very very tempted to put my hand in my pocket ...... however I've a few questions I wonder if anyone can help me with......

1. Incentives..
We were offered what I considered so good incentives.... i.e. cash towards our initial outlay which totaled around $3k, as well as 480 to use at Saratoga before 30 Oct 09 (in addition to the points we were purchasing). Question is are incentives in any way negotiable? For example is park admission ever included or available???? Can I push for more??

2. Availability..
I have to admit this is my main worry from reading the posts. We come from the UK & will normally book at least a 2 week stay. Assuming I have sufficient points etc will I be able to book my 2 week stay without a problem (have read the posts about people not being able to book their full stay etc). What's the real story on availability & booking (both in home & other resports?)

3. Availability - Short notice
Is there ever any? I sometimes get to travel over with work so could tag a few days onto my trip. What's the short term availability (i.e probably around 4 weeks notice) like? Will I get in anywhere?

4. Transportation
IS it really that bad????? If the buses are poor then this would be a downside to being at AK vs the 2 monorail lines & MK walkway available at BLT.


Out guide def pushed us towards either AK & BLT........ AK cost per point rises in Jan so looks good value vs BLT cost now (I know I have to bear in mind the differing locatins & the convience of BLT)

Any help with the above answers would be much appreciated....... we go back to UK on 26 Dec so need to make a quick decision!!!

Thanks in advance for any advice!!!!!
Mark

 

[Lynne M]

1. Incentives...way, way back when DVC first started, park admission was included. It hasn't been for many, many years, and you won't get it now no matter how hard you push. DVC generally does not negotiate on any part of the deal. You can try, but it's not going to get you anything more than a couple of fastpasses or some ice cream.

2. Availability....As long as you book right at the 11-month window at your home resort, you have nothing to worry about. The answer becomes more complex once you get outside of that. At 7 months....BCV, BWV and VWL are very tough to get from Oct. 1 through the end of the year. AKV concierge, BWV grand villas, and BWV standard view are always tough at 7 months. The period from Thanksgiving to the end of the year is the most popular time for DVC travel, and reservations can be difficult to get at any resort at 7 months. OKW, AKV (once Kidani opens) and SSR are large resorts, and outside of December, it's pretty easy to get reservations at 7 months year-round. BLT is still a bit of an unknown.

As you can see, your choice of home resort can be important. Remember that you can get any resort through DVC, though incentives may not be available on the older resorts. Also consider going through the resale market, you can save a great deal of money.

3. Short -term availability....it's possible, though you can't count on it. Very difficult at certain times of year (i.e., December) and the smaller resorts (BCV, VWL, BWV). Some people have luck getting short notice reservations, but DVC (and all timeshares) definitely work better when you plan long-term.

4. Buses....no resort has consistently bad transportation. All resorts have sporadic transportation issues, as you would see in any large transportation system. Buses break down, drivers get sick. There's no doubt that the monorail and MK walkway at BLT are very convenient, but if you have a strong preference for AKV for other reasons, I wouldn't let the fact that it's buses-only scare you off.

Hope that helps!

 

[DVC Mike]

1. Incentives..
We were offered what I considered so good incentives.... i.e. cash towards our initial outlay which totaled around $3k, as well as 480 to use at Saratoga before 30 Oct 09 (in addition to the points we were purchasing). Question is are incentives in any way negotiable? For example is park admission ever included or available???? Can I push for more??

DVC does not negotiate on the incentives.

2. Availability..
I have to admit this is my main worry from reading the posts. We come from the UK & will normally book at least a 2 week stay. Assuming I have sufficient points etc will I be able to book my 2 week stay without a problem (have read the posts about people not being able to book their full stay etc). What's the real story on availability & booking (both in home & other resports?)

I've never had a problem booking my home resorts. As far as other resorts, it really depends on which one you're looking to book and the time of year (i.e., VWL in December may be hard to get if you don't own there).

Booking as early as possible will insure you get the resort and accomodation you want. If you want to stay at your home resort, I would book exactly 11-months in advance. For other resorts, I would book exactly 7-months in advance. If you really don't care which resort you'll get, you don't have to do this. DVC will typically have availability at SSR (or possibly OKW).

3. Availability - Short notice
Is there ever any? I sometimes get to travel over with work so could tag a few days onto my trip. What's the short term availability (i.e probably around 4 weeks notice) like? Will I get in anywhere?

Yes, there is, but I wouldn't count on it. Chances are they will have availability at SSR.

4. Transportation
IS it really that bad????? If the buses are poor then this would be a downside to being at AK vs the 2 monorail lines & MK walkway available at BLT.

Bus transportation at AKV has been pretty good, unlike SSR as of late. Walking to the MK from BLT and having the monorail can't be beat, however.

Out guide def pushed us towards either AK & BLT........ AK cost per point rises in Jan so looks good value vs BLT cost now (I know I have to bear in mind the differing locatins & the convience of BLT)

Also keep in mind the annual maint fees; over time, this is actually the biggest out-of-pocket expense. Over 50 years, BLT may cost you less than AKV.

 

[Phonedave]

1. Incentives..
We were offered what I considered so good incentives.... i.e. cash towards our initial outlay which totaled around $3k, as well as 480 to use at Saratoga before 30 Oct 09 (in addition to the points we were purchasing). Question is are incentives in any way negotiable? For example is park admission ever included or available???? Can I push for more??

They do not negotiate, full stop. Thats just they way they are. Reps have no latitude to do so.

2. Availability..
I have to admit this is my main worry from reading the posts. We come from the UK & will normally book at least a 2 week stay. Assuming I have sufficient points etc will I be able to book my 2 week stay without a problem (have read the posts about people not being able to book their full stay etc). What's the real story on availability & booking (both in home & other resports?)

As others have said, if you book at the 11 month window in your home resort, you should have no problems. Depending on the time of year, booking at other resorts may or may not be possible. What you can do is book at your home resort at the 11 month. When the other resorts window open, you can try and book there. If it is not available, you can ask for a wait list. They will wait list you, and if the resort open, they will automaticly move your reservation over to the new resort.

3. Availability - Short notice
Is there ever any? I sometimes get to travel over with work so could tag a few days onto my trip. What's the short term availability (i.e probably around 4 weeks notice) like? Will I get in anywhere?

Higly dependent on the time of year. Having said that, I too end up in Orlando on business on 3 or 4 weeks notice. I have booked DVC on 3 weeks notice and never had a problem. I just asked what they had available. Once it was at Boardwalk, and twice it was at SSR.

4. Transportation
IS it really that bad????? If the buses are poor then this would be a downside to being at AK vs the 2 monorail lines & MK walkway available at BLT.

I own at SSR and never find the busses a problem, however this seems to be a very personal thing. Some people HATE them and will never take them. Others have no problems with them.

Out guide def pushed us towards either AK & BLT........ AK cost per point rises in Jan so looks good value vs BLT cost now (I know I have to bear in mind the differing locatins & the convience of BLT)

BLT may cost more now, but you have to look at resale (even if you don't think you will, you never know) and maintance. BLT, by the nature of the resort (A high rise) is less to maintain than AKL (animals, grounds to maintain, lots and lots of roofs to replace every 10-15 years, etc)

-dave

 

[disneymar]

Incentives - Non-negotiable.
Availability - I've never had a problem with availability, my home resort is BCV. The only issue I have ever encountered is getting consecutive days at the same resort. We're not big planners, so typically I don't make it to book a resort within the 11 month, or even the 7 month window, thus our problem getting consecutive days. I have no complaints tho. We just returned from a 7 day stay at OKW, it was great! The bus system there, and everyplace else we've stayed, is always excellent.

I do prefer to stay at BCV or BVV because you can walk to both Epcot and Hollywood Studios tho.

My only DVC regret is that we didn't sign up sooner!

 

[DisneyPirate85]

The best adage I have heard is "buy where you want to stay" ALWAYS rings true. Also would consider resell, SSR and AKV have multible listings and are MUCH CHEAPER we saved $20.00 a point on our SSR ,and got a bonus of all the prior owners unused points, purchase thru Time Share Store!
We toured the BLT model last week and MOST definately the pictures do not do it JUSTICE:sohappy:, but for the money we are adding on at BWV like the ease of EPCOT and DHS:wave: