I have a poll for you, but want yo give the set up first.
In 2020 we bought a 120 AKL resale contract (our first). We are a family of 3 (1 kid) and always happy to stay in studios, though we wouldn’t turn our nose up at a 1 bedroom.
Having banked 2019 points and 2020 points (plus buying 60 transfer points ) to start out with made me a little spoiled. Basically, I’m going to need more points.
Here is what I know:
We tend to travel in the highest point, hardest to get seasons (5- 6 nights, Spring Break and Christmas).
Except, we will take some last min 3 night trips in July or Oct
We love AKL (resort) we love Poly (large studios, 2 parks), but
I enjoy trying new resorts.
I have been interested in buying more points, and part of me wants to buy direct so I can use them at any resort. I am saving up to buy Poly points when they go on sale and really hoping they are part of the same condo association.
Until then, help me make a decision in my DVC daydreams. These scenarios cost roughly the same amount. Would you;
Add on 75 direct Poly points when they go on sale
Sell our AKL contract and buy 150 direct Poly points so I qualify for memeber benefits and discounts
Spend the same money some other way
0voters
Would love your thoughts and comments. (PS I lean one way, DH leans the other).
I don’t really understand how resale points work w/ making reservations, I assume you get the 11 months out for a home resort regardless. If you like both AKL and Poly then having points at both resorts affords you that 11 month reservation window; so I voted for adding on 75 Poly pts.
They work the same way, except I can’t book at all at Riviera and probably the new Disneyland DVC. Excellent point about the booking window (noting that down for arguments for DH).
Here is the thing - and take my advice for what it’s worth NOTHING, your family=your needs…but I would hold off buying poly without knowing what the points charts will look like- if it were me I would add on Direct at animal kingdom…you still be able to use thsw direct points at any new hotel and you might be able to save a few bucks compared to adding at Poly
I was listening to a podcast this morning, I think it was a quarterly review on resale on the My DVC Points Podcast. Chad said something that struck me. He was talking about the new Poly building could be the opportunity to reconfigure the bungalows (decrease those points when introducing 1 and 2 bedrooms).
A few years ago when Disney tried to adjust the bungalows they had to undo it since they were increasing the studios? This would not impact any overall point allotment that has been set. It is an interesting idea but those point charts could be scary.
Haha - I am here to get everyone’s opinion and advice! So thank you and @PrincipalTinker and @vcka for commenting. I have a lot of time to make the decision but I twnd to think these things through for a looong time before I do them.
I definitely would not purchase anything until I know if they are going to be the same condo association. I don’t want to buy into resale restrictions. I also will absolutely watch the points charts. If I can’t stay any reasonable time on the points, its not worth it.
Great suggestion to just get more AKL points direct. But given our tendency to travel at high seasons, and the desire to be closer to the parks for part of the trip, it won’t solve some of the problem. Honestly, if I had the money saved already and it wasn’t a 2042 experation, I would buy BRV in a heartbeat.
I’d like to add… for what it’s worth… if I could do it over, I’d buy direct w/ the resort that had the lowest annual fees. We bought into Aulani b/c they tell you to buy where you most want to visit, but Aulani has some of the highest annual fees and we could still visit w/ the 7-month reservation limits.
The only DVC resort worth buying into for a better chance at staying there, IMHO, due to high demand would be GC at DLC b/c even at that 7-month reservation window it’s hard to get a reservation.
Man oh man am I in the same boat with you on this. I still feel like I might cave at some point. I just love it there.
My bottom line has always been that if you want to stay at all resorts then just buy where it is cheapest because why pay for home advantage that you aren’t going to use? I would still buy resale because the Riviera is so points hungry and if you really want to stay there that one time just rent the points.
FWIW I own 100 points at SSR and 25 points at BWV because I did need to pay for home resort advantage there. All resale although my SSR points are grandfathered in for me to book everywhere.
The biggest challenge for me is that we like to travel at Christmas and Spring Break which CAN require the 11 month window unless you want to stay at SSR or OKW which we don’t really.
In the short time I have owned, we have stayed at AKL, Poly, BRV, HHI and are booked at VGC for next spring break. So we have definitely explored.
But thinking that through further, even though we have stayed at a lot of places, we (me) are really drawn to staying are AKL, BWV, Poly and the BRV/CC. Possibly GFV. Additionally, we like to travel in crazy point heavy season.
Which is to say, maybe my goal should be to have as many points as possible for the $$ - at one or more of these places where we want the 11 month advantage. Which definitely would mean resale.
They definitely are. It is one reason I am considering direct points, because I strongly suspect they will have the resale restrictions.
I am staying at VGC next April - I miraculously was able to snag that at 7 months. I suspect with all the DL hotel points that will be floating around with West Coast residents, VGC will be even harder to get at 7 months. So if I go for more points via redale, I think it will be Best Western for me!
PS I need to catch up on your Hawaii trip report! We are going next summer (no to Alauni) so I am excited to follow along.
Okay, that is a long time! I rented my first points ay BEV in 2018, then statted listening to podcasts in 2019. When we cancelled a DLR trip for April 2020, I said - that’s it, we are buying DVC"
I only voted for buying at the Poly because I think it sounds like you want to do that.
I am considering buying direct at the DLH DVC tower when it opens for sales next year. But that is because I know that tower is going to be high in demand and hard to get at 7 months, and we are a DL family. I’m still waffling though because I like staying at GCH better, and I might as well just pay cash to stay there.
I know I want some Poly points, as a resort it just checks a lot of boxes. My DH was suggesting selling our AKL and buying all Poly points, which would make us “blue card holders” so I thought it would be good to get perspectives here.
Through this discussion though, I am questioning my need for direct points. Maybe MORE Poly points would fit our point hungry travel season needs. I also realize I have no desire to sell our AKL points, I love that resort too much.
I love the west coast parks so much, but I don’t think I can plan to regularly use those points, or else I would totally buy DLH!
If you are going to travel to WDW enough to make the AP discount worth it, I might consider direct.
My family at the moment can’t make it to WDW more than once a year, and on the off chance I can go more than once, it would just be me and/or my wife, so the direct benefits aren’t going to be economical.
So it always comes down to “I can buy more points with resale.”
One point I’ll bring up: buying something during an “IPO” is usually advantageous because prices will rise later. If the price point for the new Poly villas is significantly discounted, it might be a good time to buy. That’s one reason I’m considering buying DLH - because GCH points are crazy expensive and maybe the same thing will happen to DLH after the “IPO.”
The AP discount won’t be worth it for us. We don’t plan to go often enough. I wouldn’t mind the other discounts but it would take a long time for that to make things more economical!
My original plan had me saving enough money each month to buy Poly points when they first go onsale after seeing the crazy good prices at VGF when they went on sale. I should look to see what happened to resale prices there, to get a sense of what might happen with Poly. At least we know they won’t ROFR!
If you want DLH, you have to be ready go buy right away! Prices are only going to go up and I suspect resale restrictions will be in place.
) to start out with made me a little spoiled. Basically, I’m going to need more points.
