Did you stay at your home resort prior to purchase?

[lodge]

I read that location is not the only factor... that the ambiance and "feel" of BWV's and BCV's is very different. We found this to be true.

Based upon this, we felt it necessary to spend some time on the properties we were interested in, prior to purchase. It did secure our choice (and what we felt was important was lowered on the priority list)

If I had gone with what we had intended to purchase, prior to a few visits, we'd actually be unhappy with our DVC purchase now.

[Kidanifan08]

We purchased AKV direct before Kidani was finished. We visited the models of AKV and BLT at SSR and really loved the feel of the AKV villas. I had never stayed at a DVC resort before, but my wife stayed at OKW once. Neither one of us had stayed at AKL. Up until owning, we had done primarily values and mods, besides staying at BWI once for a professional meeting.

We have tried other resorts and are considering eventually buying something in the Epcot area, but so far we don't regret our decision to buy AKV.

[michelleiada]

Originally Posted by joanne312

DH and I have decided after much consideration and number crunching to buy a resale. Because of location, transportation to Epcot & DHS we are thinking BCV or BWV. DH also likes the idea of the restaurants/bars at BWV.
We have never stayed at or been to either of these resorts. We've done lots of research and seen lots of pictures online, but I'm still hesitant to buy into a resort that I have never actually been to! We are thinking of going down for a quick trip just to take a look at the resorts, but then that's money we are using for the trip and not for our resale purchase, so our purchase will be delayed a bit. But if we went down we could see if we had a preference BCV or BWV.

Did you have a stay at your home resort prior to purchase? If not, did you worry that you wouldn't like it (even though you'd have no reason to think you wouldn't!)

We did! We rented points twice to stay in 2 bedroom villas at BCV. Fell deeply in love with it instantly! Finally took the plunge and purchased BCV points in August. Our first official trip home is 12 nights in June and I can't wait! I would definitely recommend staying once first, or at least seeing the resorts. Both BCV and BWV are beautiful resorts in the best location in Disney, IMHO! It is so nice to stroll into World Showcase at night to dine in one of the countries! The Boardwalk had great evening entertainment, and don't forget the Swan and Dolphin. They have some great restaurants and lounges/bars too, although not on Disney dining plan.

Best of luck with what ever you decide!

[puffkin]

We bought our first contract at SSR without ever staying there. That was in 2004 and we stayed there once in 16 DVC trips since. We do love AKV and did an add on there before it was built...but we had stayed in the hotel part prior. We've stayed in all the onsite DVC resorts and all have good and bad points. Home resort doesn't mean too much to us, we like variety.

[staceymay00]

While I think it is a great idea to try a DVC resort before purchasing points there, we did not...and so far have never regretted our purchase. I did my research and looked at a lot of pictures, and decided that OKW would be a great fit for us. It turns out that it is - we love staying there and usually choose to stay there even if we can switch to something else at 7 months. My family is not overly picky, though. We would probably be happy campers owning at most of the WDW DVC resorts, but the extra space and the parking right in front of the villas at OKW is very appealing to us. We like more of a condo feel than a hotel feel for stays of more than a few nights.

I'm not sure we'll ever add on somewhere else without staying there first, though. One of the things that has kept me from adding on is simply not being able to decide on a resort! Adding on at OKW is appealing because one day we might like to be able to have points to book a grand villa at 11 months. We are trying AKV in a couple of months because it is one of the resorts I've thought about as an add on. BCV is also on the list (we've stayed Beach Club Resort and liked it), but BWV is hard to pass up with a lower resale price and the 11 month booking window for standard view villas. We recently spent two nights at the Contemporary and liked it, which made me think about adding points at BLT to tack on a few nights after an OKW stay, or for shorter trips. And then there is the Polynesian...we love it there and maybe we should hold out for DVC there.

Anyway, I think if you are torn between several resorts it is a good idea to try them, but it is possible to find the right resort without staying at all of them. At least that was the case for our initial purchase.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

[disbound09]

We stay at SSR before we purchased there. Really loved the resort and are happy with our purchase. That said I would buy at the resort that you are most comfortable with and in your case a visit may be in order. Or split between the two resorts. The 11 month window is not a factor at SSR except for the THV but a major factor at the two resorts you are considering.

[Pirate Granny]

We rented points and stayed at GV at OKW...had a family meeting the last night to get everyone thoughts. Our 3 daughters are adults with 2 of them married with families. Although it was our $$$, we wanted their input. We bought resale enough points to do a GV every three years for ten days. BCV is for yearly trips and hope to add on VWL for Nov-Dec trips with hubby and I!

[chalee94]

did not stay at OKW prior to booking, but i'm pretty easygoing and happy to just be on-site at wdw.

[psac]

We're in the same boat where we're heavily considering adding on at AKV, but we're staying there for the first time in April, and we're getting impatient. We have been at Jambo for Boma and Jiko a number of times and love it. I couldn't imagine buying at OKW, for instance, where I've never stepped foot in.

[kristenrice]

We bought our HHI points and we'd never been anywhere on the Atlantic coast! We bought enough points to go every three years. We took our first trip in 2011 and we're going back in 6 weeks! I could not be happier with our purchase. We frequently travel over spring break which is often Easter week and that has become very difficult to get at HHI, particularly since we like the 1BR's. I love everything about HHI and I think DH likes it better than WDW.

[Ilyo]

Stayed in several non-dvc disney resorts over the years prior to buying..and then did a cash reservation at Boardwalk and bought at BWV a few months later through resale.

[gdrj]

We did not stay at BWV before buying. We had stayed in OKW and they had just stopped selling OKW (we've owned for sometime!)

Extremely happy with BWV. We love being able to walk or boat to EPOCT and Studios. The Boardwalk in the morning grabbing a cup of coffee at the bakery, watching Disney wake-up is great!. Being able to stroll over to EPCOT for dinner is huge!

What I really like about BWV is the feeling of a Resort/Hotel. We've stayed at BLT, AKV, OKW, SSR, BCV, and my wifes always insists on splitting so we spend part of our time at BWV, if not the whole time.

Good Luck with whatever you do, IMO, no wrong decisions, PLUS you can always book at other resorts.

[GOOFY D]

Nope. Never stayed at BLT, but stayed at Contemporary several times. We bought based on location and our stays at the Contemporary. We are awaiting ROFR on BWV and purchased there based on our love of the area and location.

[chasshan]

I am awaiting ROFR for a BWV contract. (first time dvc buyer)
We've never stayed there, but stayed at the Beach and Yacht club hotel once each. The location is amazing, which you really don't have to visit to know.
The kids loved SAB pool area! We chose BWV because BCV does not have GV and the 2bd at BCV are smaller square footage. We are a big family and definitely need the space.
If you are deciding between just those too, if it were me, I would decide without a trip and put the money towards the contract or future trips on your points.
If you were deciding between two completely different locations like BLT vs BCV or AKV vs BWV then maybe a trip would be good. But it sounds like you know the location you want to be. Just look at the pros and cons, the photos, dis threads etc. and go for it!

Just my opinon, Good Luck with your decision!
Shanna

[bwang123]

no. we had researched AKV for a few years and then made the purchase. we did see the model prior to that though. do not regret it at all.