One thing I would add is to your question about booking standard rooms.
When you’re working out how many points you need, don’t rely on getting the cheapest rooms at any resort. They will always be the hardest to book.
So the value rooms at AKV (Jambo) and the standard rooms at BLT and BWV.
So allow yourself enough extra points to be able to book the next level up.
Also remember that October through mid January is peak season, along with any race weekends. If that’s when you’re likely to travel then be prepared to book your home resort at 11 months out and switch at 7 months if you can.
Ok so I have a question on something that DH just asked me -
He’s still working the pros/cons of direct vs resale. He wants to know if we decide to buy direct, if we have to use disney’s finance company. Because I’m certain we could get better rates through a personal loan through USAA. Because if we go direct, the extra increase per point is going to mean that we need a loan.
I believe you can because I know you can refinance. This company is the one that teams up with DVC resale and DVC rental
Since it is a timeshare the financing of the real estate is a little different. I know this company advertises 9.9? That is the lowest Disney offers for first time buyers (8.9? For second contracts).
What @PrincipalTinker said, “It’s a timeshare” But Disney is different as you know b/c you are NOT locked into one place, the same time every year, you have flexibility. If you finance w/ them it’s not reported to credit reporting companies so you won’t take a ding on your credit rating. The annual fee is based on property taxes instead of the cost of maintenance: for example w/ a traditional timeshare the owners would split the cost of a roof repair equally whereas Disney takes care of all that, but at Disney you are splitting the cost of the property taxes. They are making enough money off this venture to cover the cost of maintenance so sharing the property taxes makes the cost more predictable and are constant whereas BIG repairs are not. And you get an annual tax statement for reporting and deductions.
I’m not sure the above is correct re annual fees-the statements including many items, and property taxes is one of them, but I know properties have been hit with increases due to maintenance (eg the coastal properties with hurricanes) and, for instance, AKV has historically higher maintenance due to the animal care. Skyline resorts carry a portion of the sky liner costs. What is true is that if there is a hotel component to your resort DVC is only responsible for the part that is carried by the DVC units.
And if you do buy direct, in most cases it is much cheaper to only but the minimum direct (125) and the rest resale-really no reason to buy more than that direct. It’s also much easier to buy your resale contract first as Disney will match your use year. And remember Disney will often tell you you can only buy RIV, CCV, and Aulani direct, but you can buy any resort but GCV and VGF from them in reality.
Given the uncertainly of availability for the next few years, I would definitely buy where you want to stay. I think there are going to be a lot of owners with points to use for the next few years. If you like Animal Kingdom, buy there. I would not buy at Saratogo unless that is where you want to be. Especially given the times of year you said you would be traveling. Fall is very popular with DVC.
I agree with the idea of research. Make sure you understand use year. Know that point charts can change. Think about what type of room you want. Will you always want that or could you see a need for something else in the future? Consider buying extra points than you think you need as a buffer.
To echo @limace maybe you could buy 125 with Disney in cash and then the rest of your points (assuming you are buying more than 125) resale with whatever other financing. That’s the best of both worlds and smaller contracts are easier to sell (and at a higher point price) on the resale market.
The uncertainty for the next years pushed us to buy a BCV resale contract (still waiting ROFR). Every comparison chart indicated that it was one of the least cost beneficial, but it is where we want to stay and where we’ve stayed for the past 5 years. Looking at the availability charts (pre-covid, probably) it already seemed pretty hard to book a studio at the 7-month mark because of its size and I think this will get worse for 2 or 3 years.
We considered buying SSR direct for the perks, cost benefits, for FOMO, being able to stay at future resorts, all these things… but we had to have BCV, and SSR points wouldn’t guarantee us that.
Maybe we buy more points direct in the future, who knows? Disney normally have special conditions for owners, including when they start selling a new resort.
Let us know what you decide. Here’s hoping for an easy decision process for you!
This is a big one. You definitely don’t have anywhere near the flexibility that you do when booking a regular room. If you book at 11 months and get the room you want, you’re pretty much locked in. And if you need to change your dates, you’re at the mercy of whatever rooms are available. We’ve been lucky in finding things slightly more last minute (53 days until our split stay at BCV and BWV!!!), but you might get stuck at OKW or SS. Not the end of the world, but something to consider.
Everyone has to also be aware there are dates when even a split day might be impossible . I just looked December 5-11th (7 month window is in May). There are some SSR 1 and 2 bedrooms fully available, Treehouses, and Poly Bungalows. It would be a challenge to find a complete stay in a studio switching from resort to resort.
I don’t know what all those CC and GFV owners that have points for studios, but could not book, are going to do?
I have another recommendation and that is to rent before you buy. At the end of the day it’s largely an emotional decision and you want to be sure that the resort you’re most likely to be staying at is the one you love.
We’ve already decided to do this for the October '22 trip DH suggested. We love the hotel side of AKL, but want to make sure we love the DVC villas as well.
Me too. In the states at least. I may readjust this when I get it stay in the hotel in DisneySea or Paris with a private entrance to the park from the club rooms. I really think private entrances make a Disney hotel magical and GC is the only one with that. Plus the food is some of the best I’ve ever eaten period.