Newbie needs some help Please.

[CapeCodMatt]

Hello all. Here is my question. I am looking to purchase DVC and I am looking at around 250 points. Here is the problem, BLT looks like the best deal, however this isn't my style of resort. I honestly see myself wanting to stay at BW, OKW, SS, BCV, etc. . . Is it a mistake to buy BLT for the longer contract and lower maintenance fees know that I really don't want to say at BLT. Will I have a hard time getting into other resorts. Keep in mind I don't book 7 months out. I am more like a 3 to 5 months out kind of guy. I am going to be livid if I spend 30k and can never get a room! Thanks in advance.

Matt

 

[Pioneer Hall]

If you like Saratoga Springs or Old Key West then I suggest purchasing a resale contract at one of those resorts. Saratoga Springs contracts end 6 years earlier than BLT, which really isn't much in the grand scheme of things. The big incentive though...on the resale market you can get points at SSR at for nearly half the cost of what Disney is charging for BLT. Just keep in mind that there are going to be a few restrictions on resale points if you do not purchase by March 21st.

 

[Phonedave]

Hello all. Here is my question. I am looking to purchase DVC and I am looking at around 250 points. Here is the problem, BLT looks like the best deal, however this isn't my style of resort. I honestly see myself wanting to stay at BW, OKW, SS, BCV, etc. . . Is it a mistake to buy BLT for the longer contract and lower maintenance fees know that I really don't want to say at BLT. Will I have a hard time getting into other resorts. Keep in mind I don't book 7 months out. I am more like a 3 to 5 months out kind of guy. I am going to be livid if I spend 30k and can never get a room! Thanks in advance.

Matt

As was said look resale.

But, be aware, if you are booking 3-5 months out, it does not matter WHERE you own. At that point it is open season so to speak, and you will most likely only be able to get whatever is left over, not what your choice is.

-dave

 

[tjkraz]

But, be aware, if you are booking 3-5 months out, it does not matter WHERE you own. At that point it is open season so to speak, and you will most likely only be able to get whatever is left over, not what your choice is.

Agree. It's all supply and demand and booking on 3-5 months' notice means hundreds-of-thousands of members are consistently getting the jump on you. You will rarely--if ever--get BWV or BCV in that sort of timeframe.

 

[disneyeater]

As was said look resale.

But, be aware, if you are booking 3-5 months out, it does not matter WHERE you own. At that point it is open season so to speak, and you will most likely only be able to get whatever is left over, not what your choice is.

-dave

I agree. And if you are booking 3-5 months out, it doesn't really matter what your home resort is, you are just going to get the leftovers which usually seems to be SSR.

 

[tjkraz]

I agree. And if you are booking 3-5 months out, it doesn't really matter what your home resort is, you are just going to get the leftovers which usually seems to be SSR.

At 3+ months out, most of the year you will probably find SSR, OKW and AKV available. But obviously the longer one waits, the fewer options will remain. And with SSR being the largest resort, that is likely to be the last resort to completely fill.

 

[hansel1]

Keep in mind I don't book 7 months out. I am more like a 3 to 5 months out kind of guy. I am going to be livid if I spend 30k and can never get a room! Thanks in advance.

Matt

This is a big red flag in my opinion. As was said prior, at 3 to 5 months you are at the mercy of what is left. You have to take into consideration the time of year you will want to go and where you will want to stay. The epcot resorts are booked solid for food and wine in the fall. Christmas time is big for all the DVC resorts.

If you spend $30K and your only option at 3-5 months is SSR you won't be happy. DVC works for those who can make plans between 11 to 7 months in advance. For others it is trial and error with alot of anger at not getting what you "paid" for.

 

[BlueSkyJohn]

...at 3 to 5 months you are at the mercy of what is left. You have to take into consideration the time of year you will want to go and where you will want to stay.

Bay Lake Tower is my home resort. I booked a 7 day December reservation two weeks ago and I could not get a MK View in any size villa. Disappointing, yes. Deal breaker, absolutely not! Bay Lake view is not too shabby but this does reinforce your point!

Jambo House in June for 10 days took the sting out of it a little!

 

[CapeCodMatt]

so you booked 10 months out? I would think that if you wanted MK view you would be on the phone exactly 11 months out to the day. We will see what happens.

 

[dizzney]

But where you want to stay, its the best way to go. We own in BWV and BLT and love both (BWV being the fav of the two). We always make our plans to stay at either 11 months out. We ahve however stayed at other resorts booking 7 months out but you get whats available. CHeck it all out and buy where you like it!

 

[DVCOwner]

I am a member at BWV and we always book 11 months out at BWV even if we want to stay somewhere else. Than a 7 months we can change or not.

 

[Lynne M]

If you're going to be consistently booking 3-5 months out, you'll almost always end up in OKW, SSR or possibly AKV. At certain times of year (Thanksgiving - New Years), you may have difficulty finding anything at 3-5 months out, or may be on waitlists, or taking a 1-bedroom villa at SSR one night, a studio at OKW the next night, a 1-bedroom at OKW the next night....

If you're going to be at SSR/OKW anyway, why spend so much on a BLT contract? You can pick up an SSR resale for much, much less money.

Timeshares really work best for those who can plan well in advance. The great majority of DVC members book between 7-11 months out. At 3-5 months, you're getting whatever's left over. If that's OK, and you really don't care where you stay, and you're willing to deal with waitlists or moving during your stay, then I'd say go for it.

 

[slappy magoo]

BLT looks like the best deal, however this isn't my style of resort. I honestly see myself wanting to stay at BW, OKW, SS, BCV, etc. . . Is it a mistake to buy BLT for the longer contract and lower maintenance fees know that I really don't want to say at BLT. Will I have a hard time getting into other resorts. Keep in mind I don't book 7 months out. I am more like a 3 to 5 months out kind of guy. I am going to be livid if I spend 30k and can never get a room! Thanks in advance.

Matt

If BLT looks like the "best deal," you're not looking hard enough Follow the link above to the Timeshare Store. You'll find Saratoga Springs contracts between 60-63 bucks a point. And if SSR looks like more your style of resort, may as well buy there in the first place, save that money AND have your home resort be a place you'd really prefer to stay. Because SSR is one of the biggest (actually, I think it's still THE biggest) DVC resort, it will also usually be your best bet for getting a room 3-5 months in advance (though nothing is definite, and the more popular time of year you want to go, that harder it will be).

 

[disneyeater]

If BLT looks like the "best deal," you're not looking hard enough Follow the link above to the Timeshare Store. You'll find Saratoga Springs contracts between 60-63 bucks a point. And if SSR looks like more your style of resort, may as well buy there in the first place, save that money AND have your home resort be a place you'd really prefer to stay. Because SSR is one of the biggest (actually, I think it's still THE biggest) DVC resort, it will also usually be your best bet for getting a room 3-5 months in advance (though nothing is definite, and the more popular time of year you want to go, that harder it will be).

I think he is referring to the MF when he says it is the best deal. Over time you pay more MF than orig purchase price. If you try to factor time value of money into that, you will have to do your own math.

 

[CapeCodMatt]

Thanks for all the advice

I purchased BLT. I wasn't interested in the resale. I didn't want to lose access to Adventure/Concierge etc . . . and the savings didn't make it worth not buying direct. Thanks.

 

[bmarkelon]

I purchased BLT. I wasn't interested in the resale. I didn't want to lose access to Adventure/Concierge etc . . . and the savings didn't make it worth not buying direct. Thanks.

Great choice! We are owners there too. Congratulations!

 

[slappy magoo]

I think he is referring to the MF when he says it is the best deal. Over time you pay more MF than orig purchase price. If you try to factor time value of money into that, you will have to do your own math.

You may be right but of course, there's no guarantee that BLT's fees will always be cheaper than SSR's. So I don't know how wise it will be to use that as a deciding factor.

Plus, generally speaking, it costs you fewer points to stay in SSR than it does to stay in BLT, even with just a standard view. A week in Value season in a SSR studio is 95 points. A week in a studio in BLT is between 102 and 139 points. So even if you know you're always going to stay a week, and always in early december, and always in a studio, you need to pay for 7 to 44 more points to stay at BLT, and those points, even in resell, are more expensive. Most SSR points are going for 65 on average, versus 95 for BLT, which could put your purahcse price for BLT points to over $1300 more than the points you'd need at SSR. And of course, more points means more MFs. If you bought 100 SSR points resale (which is all you'd need in this scenario) you'd spend about 460 this year in MFs. if you needed enough points for a MK view, you'd probably have to buy 150 points on the resale market (it's rare to see someone buying or selling an amount like 144 points). That means your MFs would be nearly 600 dollars. So even after paying off your points, you'll probably always be spending more on maintenance for BLT versus SSR, only because you'll need more points to have the same length vacation at BLT than you would at SSR.

Bear in mind, I'm not comparing the resorts beyond price, I know BLT has location people are willing to spend the extra money on. I'm just talking about what's more affordable.

 

[ornurse]

I am interested in buying a timeshare with Disney but don't understand most of what y'all are saying. Where is the best place to start to understand how the timeshare at Disney works? We usually go to WDW 4/5x year and usually stay at a Deluxe resort. Do you buy a week at a resort when you would normally go? I realize I'm impossibly ignorant of the process and feel like I need a Timeshare for Dummies book. Any advice on where I can go to get started would be welcome. As an aside, I'm going to WDW in early April and suppose I could stop by one of the DVC booths but don't want to be pressured to buy or spend hours of my precious time listening to a sales pitch! Thank you for your help and patience!!

 

[216bruce]

I will probably get flamed for this, but the best place to start is with Disney's "free" dvd available through their website. The website itself is also a good place to start. Once you've looked at those...call a resale broker and get what you want for cheaper than Disney will sell it to you. They can also answer questions about how it works and can explain the new restrictions put in place by Disney on resale (not a huge deal). The only places you can easily get through DVC directly at this time are Bay Lake Towers (I think), Animal Kingdom Villas and Saratoga Springs. If you go 4-5 times a year and stay at a deluxe as you say, you are going to get a heck of a savings in the long haul. Just make sure you buy enough points (explained in the dvd and website).

 

[ornurse]

Bruce
Thank you for your reply! I went to the Disney site and ordered a DVD. Perhaps it will clear up some of my confusion!