3 Questions before buying

[nls721]

Hopefully someone could help me.

Under the topic of if your home resort matters it states you should book where you want to stay. I'm looking at HHI (cheapest outright buy) and I would never want to stay there, usually stay at the World. I can book plan 7 months out and I would usually be traveling during DVC "Choice" or "Adventure" season. I want to try staying all all WDW resorts so I really don't care where I'd stay. Given that do I need to be concerned about my home resort?

I saw some discussion about people asking if others received their tax statement. I thought you just pay your annual dues and that covers maintenance and property taxes. Am I missing something and do you pay in addition to your annual maintenance?

I can technically have 3 years worth of points at a given time, right? Carry over one years points, points available that year then borrowing a year in advance?

Thank you!

[Pirate Granny]

Adventure and Choice seasons are different for for HH than the world resorts...and you may pay less for initial purchase, but your maintenance over the years will tip the scales. We love our two home resorts and currently have an ROFR in for our Xmas favorite.

Maintained bill includes something towards taxes.

Yes, you can have three years of points if you bank 2013 plan a trip in 2014 and borrow 2015 points.

[DonLefNY]

1. In reply I'd say buy were you think you'll stay the most. That 11 month booking window is very important at certain times of the year.

2. Taxes are included in your yearly dues. Some of us can write off the tax portion of the dues and that info is included at the end of the year statement.

3. Yes, with planning you can have 3 years worth of points to spend at one time.

[tjstrike]

You also have to take into consideration that some of the older resorts points will expire before the others. (Old key west, HH, vero beach and Boardwalk) are the oldest and will expire 1st.

[Lisa and Alan]

We always book at 7 month window and Love where ever we stay. We try to make a resort priority list before we call and typically get our first or second choice. And then we wait list for our first choice, which had typically become available about 80% of the time.? One year, the only resort we had available was Saratoga, and we ended up having a blast. I say go with buying the lesser expensive points. You will love whatever WDW DVC resort you stay in. If you would be disappointed not staying at " your favorite ", then I would purchase at that particular resort.

[nls721]

Thanks for everyone's response.
And, thank you for bringing up the expiration dates. I am looking for something out the next 25 or so years, so that really is fine with me at any resort.

Lisa & Allen, what time of the year are you going that you're able to do 7 month window? I would mostly travel Sept 1 - Nov 15. Which I know is the "cheapest" 2 times for points....

Thanks again!

[Carol]

I've never had a problem booking 7 months out. In fact I just booked a two bedroom villa at the Grand Californian (which is nearly impossible to get). You need to call on that day though. I have my finger on the dial as soon as DVC opens.

It all hinges on what time of year you will be traveling. If it's a busy time, like Spring break or Christmas than I'd buy where you want to stay. Also, the Epcot resorts fill up very quickly during special event times, like the Food & Wine Festival.

I never vacation during the busy season, hence, I'd don't have an issue.

[Tinkermom]

Ditto what Lisa and Allan said. We own at Vero and SSR. We were able to get in at OKW at 7 months staying 12/28/12-1/4/13. We have never had a problem getting a place to stay at 7 months out but we are NOT picky about where we stay. We love staying at a different resort each time. We too make a list of our 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice for each trip and typically get our 1st or 2nd choice. We actually chose OKW for this past December since it was cheapest in points cost (and we love the bigger villas!).

When we purchased back in 2001 we purchased Vero Beach because they had a special with a discount on the total point cost. We have never once regretted purchasing Vero. Of course we also LOVE going to Vero but many times we use our Vero points to stay at WDW.

Good luck with your decision!

[TinkerbellT421]

I'm going to echo what carol said.

We own at SSR. We crashed the pool once, but never have stayed there.

We typically book 11 months out at our home resort, SSR, this way here, worst case we have SOMEWHERE to stay. But we literally have never had a problem with the 7 month window, and that includes our most recent trip in December when we got a one bedroom, boardwalk view at the boardwalk, which I hear is hard to get...we have never had a problem. However, with this last trip we did haveto "waitlist" for boardwalk view. We reserved preferred view, but with boardwalk there were two days in the middle we couldn't get. The week our waitlist was about to time out, we got a confirmation email with our waitlist info as coming through!

Like another posted said we do the same, we make a list of our "where we would like to stay" we have never had to go past our second choice.

[sleepydog5]

Hopefully someone could help me.

Under the topic of if your home resort matters it states you should book where you want to stay. I'm looking at HHI (cheapest outright buy) and I would never want to stay there, usually stay at the World. I can book plan 7 months out and I would usually be traveling during DVC "Choice" or "Adventure" season. I want to try staying all all WDW resorts so I really don't care where I'd stay. Given that do I need to be concerned about my home resort?

I saw some discussion about people asking if others received their tax statement. I thought you just pay your annual dues and that covers maintenance and property taxes. Am I missing something and do you pay in addition to your annual maintenance?

I can technically have 3 years worth of points at a given time, right? Carry over one years points, points available that year then borrowing a year in advance?

Thank you!

I'll play devil's advocate and say you should think about buying into a resort that you find most appealing based on your travel dates, desires for amenities (some pools are nicer than others, for example), and closeness to particular parks (BLT is close to MK; BCV is close to EPCOT; etc.). Overall, I've had good success with attempting to book non-home resorts at the 7-month period or going on waitlists when nothing was available then. However, that approach hasn't always worked. I know of a current case where someone has tried to book anything for the first two weeks of December and the best she has come up with is a partial booking at SSR in a studio.

If you can be extremely flexible with your travel plans, if you have the patience to wait out waitlists, and if you aren't picky about the type of room you would need (a studio when you wanted a 2BR, let's say), then HHI could be a good buy for you. I bought where I love staying--VWL--so when I book at 11 months, I always get my room. Should I then wish to change, I can try at the 7-month point; however, if it doesn't come through, I'm absolutely okay with where I am. Here's a real world example. My fiancée and I wanted to stay at either BCV or BWV for Food and Wine Festival last year. We booked a room at VWL at 11 months, and at the first day of the 7-month booking option, we called MS. Nothing available at either one. . .or BLT. We went on two waitlists and neither one came through, so we wound up at VWL.

I would be hesitant to buy into a DVC resort at which I never intended to stay. Notably, HHI resale contracts are relatively inexpensive compared to some at WDW proper, but there are some good deals for other resorts than HHI. Good luck with your decision!

[Plex]

We have never stayed at our home resort and we always have no problem getting exactly what we want. We usually travel in July and August, which is one of the busiest seasons. I wouldn't be worried about home resort for purposes of staying where you want. Just book at the first day of your 7 month window and you'll usually be fine.