Disadvantage of buying VB

[adventure_woman]

Is there a big disadvantage to buying at VB? Are the dues likely to go way up or do they go up at the same rate as others? If not VB, thinking of OKW or SSR. We will be using points at WDW, but prefer AKV. Trying to look more at budget and VB is quite a bit cheaper than a WDW resort ( minus the dues)

 

[DreamChasers]

There are two big problems with buying Vero Beach with the intention of using the points at WDW. The first is the dues at VB are much higher. Any savings that you receive versus buying AKV will be lost with a few years MF. As for the MF going up, only time will tell, but Vero Beach have gone up considerable over the years as all of the beach front properties have. You can check the sticky for MF history to see.
The second big problem is that if you buy VB you will not have a 11 month booking window at WDW. This is particularly important for some resorts like AKV. Without the 11 month booking window you will never be able to book concierge or value rooms. The values are a great way to stay at AKV on a budget, but you need the 11 month booking window.

 

[Msmithmd]

VB dues are so much higher than the others that any cost savings at purchase will be more than overcome within the term of your ownership, unless you're wanting to own DVC short term- and that isn't a good idea anyway. Plus, if you want to go at absolute peak time (first 2 weeks of December or Christmas to NY) you risk not getting anything at all at WDW if you don't own at any resort there.

Buy VB if and ONLY if you want to stay there most of the time. It is cheaper for a reason- because of the extremely high dues.

Future dues inflation is a guess. But you can imagine which resorts are more or less likely to be affected financially by the top natural disaster in the region (hurricanes).

If you're looking for the most cost-efficient way (purchase price plus dues) to access the system, buy SSR. If you want to stay at a specific resort most of the time, then you should buy wherever that is, regardless of the cost.

Implicit in this advice is that you can truly afford whatever your choice is, which I would define as having the financial ability to purchase with cash, as well as to be able to afford the future maintenance dues and trip costs without risking other areas of your overall personal budget.

 

[adventure_woman]

Thank you!

 

[disneynutz]

IMO buy where you want to stay or deal with some disappointment later.

It doesn't make sense to spend thousands and thousands of dollars over 10 years plus and have to hope that you get to stay where you want, when you want. There is a reason that there are so many resales and selling a resort that you don't care for and buying the one that you love is one of them.

I also have to mention that probably in a few years you will find yourself spending more time at the resort and less time in the parks.

One last word, if it was a great idea, everyone would own VB.

Bill

 

[Dean]

There are no situations at current prices where buying VB simply to get points makes sense from a financial standpoint. Generally SSR is the best value $$$ wise for WDW alone.

 

[Tunseeker1]

I will say the same things that everyone else has, namely buy where you want to stay.

A long time ago (When they were building Hilton Head I saw the buildings going up) I bought at the Disney Vacation Club, because that was the only option.

I got married, and baby #1 came along. Time for an add on at animal kingdom because giraffe!

Then came the wanting to go to the beach bug. Trying to go to VB in a busy time isn't going to happen without VB point, so another add-on.

Now we are looking at having to go during school vacations, and want monorail, so we are looking at another add-on!

We have friends that bought saratoga,OKW, and Hilton Head.
They always want to trade points for VB points for some unknown reason!( Right its the beach!!)
The friends with kids want to trade for Animal Kingdom just for the Value rooms.
We have traded to get a treehouse. Other then that we go to the resorts that are home usually.
(I always look at the 7 month for upgrades! BC for DS 6th birthday!)

 

[djohn06]

Is there a big disadvantage to buying at VB? Are the dues likely to go way up or do they go up at the same rate as others? If not VB, thinking of OKW or SSR. We will be using points at WDW, but prefer AKV. Trying to look more at budget and VB is quite a bit cheaper than a WDW resort ( minus the dues)

If you prefer AKV then buy AKV. Not sure if you are familiar with the value rooms there, but the value rooms have the lowest point total of any resort and truly costs less than SSR.

 

[Dean]

If you prefer AKV then buy AKV. Not sure if you are familiar with the value rooms there, but the value rooms have the lowest point total of any resort and truly costs less than SSR.

I'd agree if you wanted AKV value, GV or concierge basically every trip it'd be important to own there. However, I'd also point out that AKV is easy to get otherwise and using the points for other items reduces the value (and increases the cost of owning there). Buying SSR for the purpose of using for standard view at AKV is roughly the same cost long term as buying AKV for value rooms, esp when you consider the cheaper dues. Then for every other item you use points for, SSR becomes cheaper and AKV more expensive. Given that I believe there is significantly more long term risk of the dues increasing faster for AKV than SSR, the spread may actually increase in favor of SSR.