If I'm not booking 11-months out, shouldn't I just buy the cheapest points avaialble for resale?

[tasha99]

You will. That’s exactly what I’m doing in August. Saratoga owner: staying at your resort.....for less!

You were very lucky to get a standard view, but August isn't hard. I would never buy counting on something like that. I'd at least get enough for a pool view, and know it would not be a sure thing. I've owned at ssr and never stayed there, but I was flexible about room view and resort choice. We sold ssr and bwv, and now own where we stay usually, which is vgc. I've stayed there on my Florida points but it was a difference of probability.

 

[zavandor]

Also consider that availability at 7 months and at 6 months, 29 days, 23 hours and 55 minutes is completely different. A lot of the inventory still available at 7 months disappears is seconds as soon as the 7 months window opens. You'll still find some availability after that, but if you cannot book at least 7 months in advance, I'd say DVC is not a good fit for you.

 

[PurpleJesus]

Ok, so this is all a lot of help. Thanks for all the advice and opinions so far.

So, it seems that having a foot in the door at our favorite resort may be the best option. If that's the case is the best strategy to try and acquire a small number of points at BLT, and then the larger/majority amount of points from another DVC resort? That would allow me to book BLT during that 7-11 month window, correct?

 

[BillPA]

No, only home resort has the 11-7 month window. Points at say VB can only be used at VB 11-7 moth, you need to wait until the 7 month mark to book any non-home resort.

 

[zavandor]

Ok, so this is all a lot of help. Thanks for all the advice and opinions so far.

So, it seems that having a foot in the door at our favorite resort may be the best option. If that's the case is the best strategy to try and acquire a small number of points at BLT, and then the larger/majority amount of points from another DVC resort? That would allow me to book BLT during that 7-11 month window, correct?

If you buy 50 points at BLT and 200 at SSR, you can use only the 50 points to book BLT at 11 months (or up to 150 every three years with banking and borrowing).

 

[PurpleJesus]

If you buy 50 points at BLT and 200 at SSR, you can use only the 50 points to book BLT at 11 months (or up to 150 every three years with banking and borrowing).

Ok, awesome. That's the bit of info I was missing.

So, if you want BLT then you need to suck it up and pay the piper.

Really appreciate everyone chiming in.

If I'm missing any other angles to this I'd love to know, fellow Disney lovers. Anything else I'm missing in terms of doing this in the most financially efficient manner?

 

[disneynutz]

This is Disney, there is no financially efficient manner, you will pay one way or another. The prices are the prices for a reason. A lower priced resort either isn't as popular or has high dues or both. As a DVC owner your vacation habits will change, your favorite resort may change, your favorite time of year may change. I say if you know that you want BLT, buy BLT or deal with playing the reservation game hoping to get what you really want.

Bill

 

[robinb]

We almost always go during August, September, November, or January. And, I generally only book for the "value" weeks of those months, and never go during the crazy holiday periods.

With DVC you need to take into account how you vacation now and how you will vacation in the future. When I first bought DVC, I loved going in May and October. Once my DD was in school, we were relegated to June-August, Spring Break and Christmas. You have two kids (one of them a 5 year old, from another thread) and you may not be able/willing to take them out of school in the near future. You may need to vacation during the "crazy holiday periods" because your kids will be in school in August, September, November, and January. Some families happily pull kids from school in the early grades but rethink that once the kids are in middle school because there is a lot to miss in a week in the higher grades. If you buy a resort based on when you go now, your DVC membership may not be able to grow and change with you as your family vacation needs change. Your current plan might be OK if you budget for a 2-BR but are willing to stay in a 1BR if you end up needing to book over Spring/Christmas break. I would still choose a WDW resort so you know you'll be able to book something at WDW in the 7-11 month window.

 

[ontheuptick]

Ok, awesome. That's the bit of info I was missing.

So, if you want BLT then you need to suck it up and pay the piper.

Really appreciate everyone chiming in.

If I'm missing any other angles to this I'd love to know, fellow Disney lovers. Anything else I'm missing in terms of doing this in the most financially efficient manner?

As far as other advice as you requested, here's mine:
As others have stated here, it seems like you are on the fringe of whether DVC is right for you because you don't book far enough in advance. If you can't book at 7+ out, it's really questionable of whether it's right for you. So, my advice is, since it's already "borderline" for you, it makes even less sense if you aren't paying cash. My personal opinion (which some won't agree with because they have financed) is that if you have to take a loan at 10-12% as the rates are, that DVC can't make financial sense with today's prices. Take a loan and book at 4-7 months out and it's a definite bad decision to buy DVC. But, pay cash, and book 7+ months out and it can be a fulfilling and smart decision!

 

[kboo]

So, if you want BLT then you need to suck it up and pay the piper.

There is *often* decent BLT Lake view 2br availability at lower seasons less than 7 mo out. October is very difficult to book anyway (fall frenzy, as @_auroraborealis_ said); also you have F&W and this year Star Wars:Galaxy Edge opening. But just for yuks, I looked at September of this year - less than 7 months out, and BLT 2BR LV and TPV are wide open from Sept. 7-20. So theoretically if you had SSR or OKW points you could book them right now. But, they are points eaters compared to the 2BR std, which is mostly all gone except for a few days here and there.

 

[PurpleJesus]

As far as other advice as you requested, here's mine:
As others have stated here, it seems like you are on the fringe of whether DVC is right for you because you don't book far enough in advance. If you can't book at 7+ out, it's really questionable of whether it's right for you. So, my advice is, since it's already "borderline" for you, it makes even less sense if you aren't paying cash. My personal opinion (which some won't agree with because they have financed) is that if you have to take a loan at 10-12% as the rates are, that DVC can't make financial sense with today's prices. Take a loan and book at 4-7 months out and it's a definite bad decision to buy DVC. But, pay cash, and book 7+ months out and it can be a fulfilling and smart decision!

I wouldn't finance it; we could pay for the points now, but like most people, I'm just trying to figure out the cheapest way to do it. 200 points at BLT @ $140ish/point vs. the other places like OKW @ $85ish/point was really the reason I started this thread, but in either case, we'd pay cash for the lump sum and not finance any of it.

Honestly, the more I'm reading this the more I'm thinking that renting points may be the way to go for the time being. That's been what we've done before, but with how often we go (typically once per year) I thought DVC might save us some money in the long term.

So, if/when we ever do it I'm just going to buy at BLT and that'll be that.

Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[kboo]

I wouldn't finance it; we could pay for the points now, but like most people, I'm just trying to figure out the cheapest way to do it. 200 points at BLT @ $140ish/point vs. the other places like OKW @ $85ish/point was really the reason I started this thread, but in either case, we'd pay cash for the lump sum and not finance any of it.

Honestly, the more I'm reading this the more I'm thinking that renting points may be the way to go for the time being. That's been what we've done before, but with how often we go (typically once per year) I thought DVC might save us some money in the long term.

So, if/when we ever do it I'm just going to buy at BLT and that'll be that.

Thanks everyone for the help.

We rented a few times before taking the plunge - that was before the last two rounds of restrictions. One thing too - if you're happy going only 1x a year, it may be best to just rent points; if you buy, I cannot be held responsible for what you do with "extra" points!!! (see my signature - we went from a once a year plan to ... )

Another point to consider - if you are happy to be at OKW (and they save you a LOT of points, and the 2BR are supposed to be huge), then you may want to consider not just 200 points at BLT v 200 points at OKW but whether you could buy fewer points at OKW and still stay in 2BR. Or stay at OKW for more nights than you could on the same # of points at BLT.

 

[PurpleJesus]

We rented a few times before taking the plunge - that was before the last two rounds of restrictions. One thing too - if you're happy going only 1x a year, it may be best to just rent points; if you buy, I cannot be held responsible for what you do with "extra" points!!! (see my signature - we went from a once a year plan to ... )

Another point to consider - if you are happy to be at OKW (and they save you a LOT of points, and the 2BR are supposed to be huge), then you may want to consider not just 200 points at BLT v 200 points at OKW but whether you could buy fewer points at OKW and still stay in 2BR. Or stay at OKW for more nights than you could on the same # of points at BLT.

Great points there, thanks very much. I have a feeling my sig would look like yours if I had extra points too

...I'd go more than 1x per year, the girls would too, but I doubt I'm getting my wife there for longer than the one week, lol. She enjoys it, but the crowds get to her after a few days. That's actually one of the bonuses with BLT b/c my daughters love the MK, and with BLT walking distance my wife would be able to skedaddle back to the hotel easily if she got anxious.



Another question:

Is your "home resort" simply the resort you own the most points at, or is it the first property you purchased at? In other words, if I have 100 points at BLT, but I bought 50 points at Saratoga a year prior to purchasing the BLT points - which is my home resort?

 

[BillPA]

Home resort is where you own the points.
If you own 100 at BLT, you have 100 home resort points at BLT. If you also own 100 points at SSR, you have 100 home resort points at SSR. Both would have the 11 month booking at their home resort. At 7 months you have 200 points that can be used anywhere in the original 14 resorts.

 

[rg35]

Ok, not sure why the link won't post....if you search for dvc availability tool, it come right up at the top of the search. Hope this helps.

It's because this site operates like it's still 2002 and blocks links to websites that aren't sponsors / partners even though there are plenty of ways to discover those sites exclusive of finding them here.

 

[rg35]

Great points there, thanks very much. I have a feeling my sig would look like yours if I had extra points too

...I'd go more than 1x per year, the girls would too, but I doubt I'm getting my wife there for longer than the one week, lol. She enjoys it, but the crowds get to her after a few days. That's actually one of the bonuses with BLT b/c my daughters love the MK, and with BLT walking distance my wife would be able to skedaddle back to the hotel easily if she got anxious.



Another question:

Is your "home resort" simply the resort you own the most points at, or is it the first property you purchased at? In other words, if I have 100 points at BLT, but I bought 50 points at Saratoga a year prior to purchasing the BLT points - which is my home resort?

You should rent points at OKW for your next trip and see if you like staying there enough to buy there.

One thing to note about OKW is that some contracts expire in 2042 and others in 2057, and there is some question as to what will happen with OKW once the 2042 contracts start to expire.

 

[BillPA]

The questions of what will happen is not only for OKW, but all the 2042 resorts.

 

[disneynutz]

Do your numbers and decide from that. Is it cheaper to rent or own. If you rent you may pay more but you can stay anywhere you want without dealing with the DVC politics and issues of ownership. If you own will you be happy at your home resort or frustrated if you can't get the reservation you want, when you want at other resorts.

Bill

 

[Bobb_o]

What about Dream/Magic season? I can see myself going a during that time. I like AKL and the Poly (have rented there) but would like to stay at BWV/BLT/BCV which has steered me towards renting since it gives more freedom. I would never pick OKW or SSR over other resorts but those cheap points looks so tempting. I'm also a studio renter which I also know makes things more difficult. Stays are likely to be 5-7 nights.

 

[gharter]

It really depends on what time of year you are traveling. If you are going during a very busy time of year for DVC, there may be very little available at other resorts at 7 months.
In off times ( if those will still exist), you may not have as much trouble.
Once a year, we travel during F&W. If we didn't own BWV, there is next to nothing available there at 7 months.
I understand the buy the cheapest points you can, but I still believe in the buy where you want to stay. YMMV.