BWV or BCV Direct (CORRECTION TO EARLIER POST)

[jvalic33]

So, I have a dilemma. I reached out to Disney to look into adding 100 points or so a beach club villas about a month ago. Then I got the invite for the webcast and they are offering $1000 off 100 points plus two park passes which I happen to need for my upcoming trip.

The catch is, that offer is not available on BCV points, but I could get 100 BWV points.

I currently own BWV and AKV but I wanted to add to BC. Should I just add the point at BWV and take advantage of the almost $1700 savings?

Have any of you had luck booking BCV at the 7 month window?

I hear price per point is set to rise the end of March so even if I did buy 100 BCV, the value of my purchase will be going up shortly after I buy.

Any thoughts would be welcomed!

[disneynutz]

You can spend about $250,000 during the life of your contracts, is $1000 off plus 2 park passes worth buying at a BWV when you really want BCV? Disney isn't offering any deals at BCV because they don't have to, it's a popular resort and they are short on points.

Bill

[bobbiwoz]

Gosh, that is very hard and I'm glad I never had to make that choice. We had 250 BWV points, when I began looking to stay at BCV. Our DGC got older and we really wanted a dedicated 2 bedroom with the 2 queen beds, so little by little we acquired 180 BCV points. I do book BCV at 11 months for 4th of July time frame and F&W time.

I love the Standard view point savings at BWV and use that for Flower and Garden time and over New years.

As far as "luck" getting into BCV at 7 months. I've been able to do it for studios, but I have never tried for more than 5 nights. I usually would book friends at BWV for say, 4th of July, and then move them to studios at BCV right at 7 months. It has worked, but mostly these friends stayed shorter than we did, mostly 3 nights.

Have you ever stayed at BCV at all? Is it the pool that's calling you? I know when I swim in the lazy river part, I just love love the fact that I have BCV points and I know I can book it for the times I need it.

But $1700 is a lot of money. I just don't know if I could pass that up.

When I say, I acquired BCV points, it was direct and in lots of 25 to 40 points. It took me awhile, and I did pay $105 for some of them and this was over a period of 4 years I guess. I mostly had to go on waitlists, the longest one was a few weeks. This was a time when BCV was around $85-$90 resale, and I didn't think I was overpaying by buying direct.

Have you ruled out going the resale route? Just asking.

[jvalic33]

I have four kids and have not yet stayed at Beach Club. Let's be honest, as far as kids are concerned, the pool is their favorite attraction and SAB is definitely driving my interest. I also love F&W and while I will always be able to book at the 11 month window at BWV, I think it would be really nice to have a choice.

Also, if I ever had to sell them, it seems like BCV would sell faster no?

I did look into resales but I have a Dec UY and those are few and far between. Also, I get the impression that due to the current offers, ROFR is going to be exercised a lot more often than it has been.

When I called last month, there was barely any wait for BWV or BCV from Disney direct, but now there is a 3 month wait.

Are all BCV 2 bedrooms dedicated?

I would always be getting a 2 BDR because of the size of our family so another thought is maybe I don't want to spread myself too thin on points in different resorts.

I'm also doing direct because I would finance it at the 8%. Lastly, I do see myself using my points for Adventures by Disney down the road. The trips seem awesome and with such a large family it would be great to have a guided tour which I'm sure is done as only Disney could do.

[CarolMN]

Originally Posted by jvalic33

...(snip).....Are all BCV 2 bedrooms dedicated?............

No they are not. There are 3 booking categories for 2 bedrooms at BCV:

1. Dedicated with two queen beds in the second bedroom. These are the most popular and usually book up first.

2. Dedicated with one queen bed and one queen sleep sofa in the second bedroom.

3. Lock off 2 bedroom. This has a studio as the second bedroom and so it has one queen bed and one double sleep sofa.

I do not know exactly how many of each there are. There are 78 dedicated 2 bedrooms - split between booking categories 1 & 2. There are 74 lock off 2 bedrooms, but a large proportion of those are booked as 1 bedrooms and studios. I would guess that the proportion varies depending upon demand.

[CarolMN]

Originally Posted by jvalic33

......(snip)......I'm also doing direct because I would finance it at the 8%. Lastly, I do see myself using my points for Adventures by Disney down the road. The trips seem awesome and with such a large family it would be great to have a guided tour which I'm sure is done as only Disney could do.

Adventures BY Disney is a very expensive use of points, especially if you are financing. Those trips also take a LOT of points.

2013 Adventures BY Disney Point Chart

The points listed on the chart are per person. They can (and do) go up every year.

[bobbiwoz]

What Carol says, not all 2 bedrooms are dedicated at BCV, and really few, maybe under 30, have the 2 queens in the second bedroom. Still, since BWV doesn't have ANY dedicated never mind having 2 queens in the second bedroom, it's an improvement. Since DH and I do take the master, that leaves DS/DDiL and the 3 children to decide who uses the queen pull out,and the 2 queens. So, with your family that's another plus for BCV.

You are getting something for the extra money, surer access SAB, better chance to book dedicated 2 bedrooms with 2 queens, a slightly lesser walk to Epcot, but a definitely better parking area if you have your own car.

I do think BCV will sell better in the resale market.

How many nights would 100 points get you in a two bedroom at BCV for the times you really want? Are you willing to do a split stay? If you book x days at BWV and y days at BCV, each at 11 months, you can try to get it all at BCV, but you know you'll have some of the days there. That's what you're buying. How would you feel if you ARE able to move right at 7 months, would you rue your decision to buy at BCV, or chalk it up? If you can just shrug it off, I would agree with Bill, your heart is telling you BCV,and if you can afford it, go for it!

Heck, we own at VB, we love VB, and the MFs are high, and people do get in at 7 months. BUT DH loves the Beach Cottages and really would only stay there if we had enough points. So, we do family Beach Cottage vacations. There aren't many of them, so we think it's worth it. Others may disagree.

Best wishes!!!!

Bobbi

[jvalic33]

That is good information. I realize Adventures isn't the best way to spend points, but I like it as an option if we were to ever get bored of Disney (imagine that!).

The kids are still young, four under 6, so we are early in our stays with young kids.

I really do love the idea of BCV and if I did use my points I would probably bank and borrow so I had enough to do a full week at BCV and then keep banking the others and borrowing so I could use those for full week stays, alternating at home resorts. I think the 100 would be enough so I could get a total of 300 to use.

I also heard there is going to be a price increase very soon, so while I'm not taking advantage of the $1000 and 2 park passes, I am going to get on the waiting list before the prices go up.

I don't think I will be diappointed if it opens up at 7 months because if I want to go during a popular time (when the kids get older and I can't take them out of school), then I will definitely need to book at the 11 month window to get into BCV due to the lesser number of rooms.

It is just that everywhere I look, everyone LOVES BCV, so that is also the draw for me.

[bobbiwoz]

I think you have made up your mind! I hope you don't have a long wait for points!

Bobbi

[ELMC]

Originally Posted by jvalic33

Any thoughts would be welcomed!

I'm going to take you at your word here. But I'll warn you in advance, I'm going to disagree with a lot of what you say and give you my opinion which is not what you probably want to hear. If that's going to upset you, please stop reading now.

Originally Posted by jvalic33

So, I have a dilemma. I reached out to Disney to look into adding 100 points or so a beach club villas about a month ago. Then I got the invite for the webcast and they are offering $1000 off 100 points plus two park passes which I happen to need for my upcoming trip.

The catch is, that offer is not available on BCV points, but I could get 100 BWV points.

I don't recall seeing anything about a discount on BWV points in conjunction with this offer, so you may want to look into that. Also, if you plan on financing your purchase (which you said you were), please know that the fine print indicates that you will need to have a certain percentage of the loan paid off before they release the park tickets to you. This may mean that they will not be available for your upcoming trip.

Originally Posted by jvalic33

I currently own BWV and AKV but I wanted to add to BC. Should I just add the point at BWV and take advantage of the almost $1700 savings?

If you want BCV, why are you really considering a different resort? It's like going to the grocery store for milk and buying orange juice instead because it was on sale. You may have gotten a good deal, but that's not going to help you with your morning cereal.

Originally Posted by jvalic33

Have any of you had luck booking BCV at the 7 month window?

BCV is one of the smallest and most difficult on property resorts to book at the 7 month window.

Originally Posted by jvalic33

I hear price per point is set to rise the end of March so even if I did buy 100 BCV, the value of my purchase will be going up shortly after I buy.

Whoa...this is so not true. The value of your purchase is determined in one of two ways:

1) Use value: This is the value you place on the enjoyment you get from the use of your DVC membership. This typically is not measured in dollars and should not really vary that much regardless of what you pay for your membership.

2) Asset value: As determined by the fair market, the value of your asset is what you can likely sell it for on the open market. So please know that if you buy direct, the value of your asset will immediately plummet. Fair market value for BCV contracts right now is somewhere in the $75 per point range. As soon as you buy direct, you will be losing $40 per point in value plus another $7 per point in commissions. Of course, if you buy direct after the prices go up you will be losing $55 in value, so it is less bad to buy before the price increase than after.

Originally Posted by jvalic33

Any thoughts would be welcomed!

Just reminding you that you said it.

Originally Posted by jvalic33

I have four kids and have not yet stayed at Beach Club. Let's be honest, as far as kids are concerned, the pool is their favorite attraction and SAB is definitely driving my interest. I also love F&W and while I will always be able to book at the 11 month window at BWV, I think it would be really nice to have a choice.

I would recommend staying there before buying there. What if you hate it? Also, going back to what you asked earlier, if you want to go to BCV during F&W you will definitely need the 11 month booking window.

Originally Posted by jvalic33

Also, if I ever had to sell them, it seems like BCV would sell faster no?

I would say no. Based on my experience buying contracts over the past 14 months, I would say that BWV is the highest demand resort on the resale market right now. I wouldn't even put BCV in the top three as the next two highest demand resorts (IMO) are SSR and OKW.

Originally Posted by jvalic33

I did look into resales but I have a Dec UY and those are few and far between. Also, I get the impression that due to the current offers, ROFR is going to be exercised a lot more often than it has been.

Is having the same UY really worth $40 a point to you? Something to think about. Also, check out this thread that would suggest that ROFR activity has been pretty constant over the past year.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2529191&page=18

Originally Posted by jvalic33

When I called last month, there was barely any wait for BWV or BCV from Disney direct, but now there is a 3 month wait.

Or so they say.

Originally Posted by jvalic33

Are all BCV 2 bedrooms dedicated?

I would always be getting a 2 BDR because of the size of our family so another thought is maybe I don't want to spread myself too thin on points in different resorts.

I'm also doing direct because I would finance it at the 8%. Lastly, I do see myself using my points for Adventures by Disney down the road. The trips seem awesome and with such a large family it would be great to have a guided tour which I'm sure is done as only Disney could do.

Most of these questions were answered above. One that wasn't was the financing. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but just know that on top of the $40 per point difference between direct and resale, financing this purchase at 8% over 10 years will add another $42 per point.

Also, I think you misread Carol's answer regarding Adventures by Disney. Check out the point charts again. If you banked and borrowed points and used three years of your points, your 300 points would be enough for you and maybe one other person to go on an ABD trip. And that's if you choose one of the lesser expensive trips and it assumes that the points requirements don't go up. You will still be responsible for paying cash for your four kids to join you.

Originally Posted by jvalic33

That is good information. I realize Adventures isn't the best way to spend points, but I like it as an option if we were to ever get bored of Disney (imagine that!).

The kids are still young, four under 6, so we are early in our stays with young kids.

FYI, there are a lot of people who will tell you that financing a luxury purchase such as DVC is not a great idea (especially with four young children). I don't know what your situation is, but you should at least take that into consideration before making this huge financial commitment.

Originally Posted by jvalic33

I really do love the idea of BCV and if I did use my points I would probably bank and borrow so I had enough to do a full week at BCV and then keep banking the others and borrowing so I could use those for full week stays, alternating at home resorts. I think the 100 would be enough so I could get a total of 300 to use.

This is a good strategy for how to use a 100 point contract efficiently.

Originally Posted by jvalic33

I also heard there is going to be a price increase very soon, so while I'm not taking advantage of the $1000 and 2 park passes, I am going to get on the waiting list before the prices go up.

Mission accomplished.

Originally Posted by jvalic33

I don't think I will be diappointed if it opens up at 7 months because if I want to go during a popular time (when the kids get older and I can't take them out of school), then I will definitely need to book at the 11 month window to get into BCV due to the lesser number of rooms.

It is just that everywhere I look, everyone LOVES BCV, so that is also the draw for me.

Not everyone loves it, but even if they did, it's only important that you love it. I would suggest staying there first to see if it's a resort you actually want to own.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on your situation. I hope you (and others reading this) find them helpful. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Sammie]

Put us in the category of one that does not love the BCV. I love the resort but not the villas. The wear and tear due to the popularity is just ridiculous to me.

I definitely agree about staying there before you decide. SAB to me is highly over rated and the new wears off quickly.

[Sandisw]

I have gotten in to BCV at 7 months in the summer but for me, if I had not, it would not have been a big deal...

My question is always...if you don't own at BCV and find it difficult to book what you want and have to be at BWV, are you going to be okay or a bit disappointed?

If there will be any level of disappointment because you don't have the home resort advantage, then I would not buy at BWV and pay the extra to own what you want.

We own BWV and BLT--BLT being my favorite. We decided to add on more points and I could have gotten BWV a lot less than BLT, but in the end, I love BLT more and the number of BWV points I have are enough to use the way I need them to..having more at BLT to take advantage of SV options was more important so I paid more.

And, if you are considering a plan to use BCV points with banking and borrowing, maybe consider buying a few more points and going with a different UY. That is what we did when we bought BWV in 2011--I wanted only 100 but didn't find them in my UY--I ended up going to 150 which was enough to make having the different UY and membership worth it.

And, with the difference in cost between resale and direct for BCV, you might be able to get 150 for a similar price!

Good luck!

[CarolMN]

Originally Posted by ELMC

....(snip)...........I don't recall seeing anything about a discount on BWV points in conjunction with this offer, so you may want to look into that. Also, if you plan on financing your purchase (which you said you were), please know that the fine print indicates that you will need to have a certain percentage of the loan paid off before they release the park tickets to you. This may mean that they will not be available for your upcoming trip..........

I was quite surprised, but the BWV is included in the webcast promotion. It tempted me for a nano second or so, because we own BWV. I would like more points,but we already have as many as I am willing to pay dues for, LOL.

BLT is also included, which was also a surprise. There's summary of the promotion over on DVC News.

[ELMC]

Originally Posted by CarolMN

I was quite surprised, but the BWV is included in the webcast promotion. It tempted me for a nano second or so, because we own BWV. I would like more points,but we already have as many as I am willing to pay dues for, LOL.

BLT is also included, which was also a surprise. There's summary of the promotion over on DVC News.

Sorry about that, I don't think I was clear in my point. BWV is part of the park ticket promotion, but I don't remember seeing a price discount on top of that (the OP referenced a $1,000 discount on 100 points). I couldn't find it on DVC News either, so if it exists, can someone please point it out?

[Missyrose]

Originally Posted by ELMC

Sorry about that, I don't think I was clear in my point. BWV is part of the park ticket promotion, but I don't remember seeing a price discount on top of that (the OP referenced a $1,000 discount on 100 points). I couldn't find it on DVC News either, so if it exists, can someone please point it out?

The sheet my salesperson sent me said BWV was $500 off 50-99 points, $1000 off 100-199 and $1500 off 200 and above. Price is $115pp.