Did you buy into SSR, with the sole intention of always staying at BCV/BWV?

[Jillpie]

Thanks for your feedback everyone, and your honesty. When I mentioned my sister's situation, it is only out of frustration because she USED to be able to book a month or two out with EASE at her home resort, BWV. She can no longer do that. She completely understands the ins and outs of windows and the need to book way ahead, she also gets that DVC has grown considerably, herein lies her frustration, that is all it is. Anyway, thanks again a very interesting discussion!

 

[cobbler]

Nope not me. Love SSR. Sure I will try the others from time to time but that is not why I bought.

Also I do think it is the membership and not the specific resort, more and more people will make any resort hard to get into.

Case and point, I called MS 12 weeks out for and end of October stay (did it this past Monday) and the ONLY property avail wasn't SSR, but OKW. Add to that I am waitlisted for one day that I need.

Now I know that this isn't always going to be the case, that a lot of times SSR will be the only one avail but it's the membership, not the resort.

 

[TiffanyW1]

I'm just curious. My sister, who is not on these boards, but is a DVC member, is convinced that that is the case of why it is so hard to get into these resorts a couple of months in advance now. She is very frustrated, after enjoying DVC for 5 years now, and has a hard time going at the last minute like she always enjoyed. I'm not so sure though. I'd like to get everyone's thoughts on this, thanks.

We bought SSR & don't plan to actually stay there (unless nothing else is available when we want to go). We liked the lower maintance fees, longer contract, and they gave us points to use right away (2007 points that we used for our June trip to Wilderness Lodge Villas). Our next set of points are available in October and our first trip of that year will be AKV for the holidays

 

[jenelope]

I bought at SSR last year during that big Friends and Family offer. I guess I'm exactly the kind of person people think are taking up rooms at the smaller DVC resorts. However, that's not the case. I love SSR. Love the rooms. Love the location. Don't plan on staying at either of the two Epcot resorts any time soon. To be perfectly honest, I looked into buying BCV back when it was the resort on sale, but I just couldn't see past the patchwork sofa!

 

[Merylj]

Good question - we bought at SSR and to be honest it was the resort I was least interested in initially. However we are really happy with our purchase and will happilly stay there forever more.
We are trying some other DVC resorts and if we like them we will add on there. We won`t try BCV though as we aren`t interested in the pools.
I think the only way to go will be to own where you want to stay - those waitlists are only going to become harder to get.

 

[starbox]

Also, if you look at the rent/trade posts - BCV seems to be the most requested location - and renting has taken off in recent years thanks to the Unoffical Guide's endorsement and other press. I'd say that more than owners of other resorts actually staying at BCV all the time, there's a situation where renters of points are renting requested BCV units for people. I have a feeling that a very high percentage of generic "X number of points for rent" end up as BCV reservations. It would be interesting to do a poll.

 

[mikron]

I'm just curious. My sister, who is not on these boards, but is a DVC member, is convinced that that is the case of why it is so hard to get into these resorts a couple of months in advance now. She is very frustrated, after enjoying DVC for 5 years now, and has a hard time going at the last minute like she always enjoyed. I'm not so sure though. I'd like to get everyone's thoughts on this, thanks.

We bought SSR for price and years, Bought resale at OKW for more points and resale cheaper then through Disney. We planed on staying at all the resorts and we have. We stayed at BW last and got a one bedroom with lake view, have not stayed anywhere since.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

We bought into BWV with intentions of staying everywhere. We didn't have a clue as to the differences between resorts. Hadn't even heard of VB

 

[JimMIA]

Doesn't BCV get fully booked before the 7 month window in several cases? Like F&W and Christmas? That can ONLY be done by BCV owners.

Yes, and this is the real answer to all of the "I can't get ressies at my home resort because of (fill in the blanks)."

Nobody's home resort booking ability has ever been changed one iota by any new resort or any number of new members. Each resort has a fixed number of points, and therefore a fixed amount of availability. Those points, and only those points, have home resort booking rights -- and the number of home resort points never changes for the life of the contracts. The only way home resort advantage could change would be if DVC decided to shorten the home resort period. Since the beginning of DVC, I believe there has been a four month home resort advantage, which frankly, seems to work very well. DVC could shorten that to as little as one month if they choose, but I don't expect them to do that, because the ability to have a realistic chance of booking at non-home resorts is an important sales tool for them.

If someone who is trying to book their home resort during the 11 month window can't get a ressie -- that happened because other owners at the same resort used their home resort advantage first and beat them to the ressie. If they are trying to book during the seven-month window, then an owner of any resort has the same rights they do -- and if they are not successful, it's because someone else with equal rights beat them to it.

Increased membership makes booking during the seven-month window more difficult at every resort, but it doesn't affect home resort bookings at all.

This "crisis" is really a case of "You snooze, you lose," not "(Fill in the blanks) has ruined DVC."

 

[bwvBound]

Did you buy into SSR, with the sole intention of always staying at BCV/BWV? I'm just curious.

Yes, that describes our intentions.

We had been trading into BWV via II and decided owning DVC points would be a good back up plan. We made several attempts to purchase BWV both through Disney and through resale channels -- but failed. After much effort, our guide succeeded in his goal of talking us into SSR.

FWIW, we still mostly trade in through II. Since our purchase in 2004 we've consumed 13 nights at BWV using DVC points but 14 using exchanges. We also hold reservations for 2n coming up in January extending an exchange week.

As inbound exchanges are still working for us -- we've been able to spend our DVC points on short stays at Vero, OKW and a future reservation at AKV.

My sister, who is not on these boards, but is a DVC member, is convinced that that is the case of why it is so hard to get into these resorts a couple of months in advance now.

Perhaps. It goes with the game.

My "fixed week" timeshare requires very little planning. I know which resort I'm going to, when, and what unit size I'm getting -- as they are the same answers each year. Not so w/ DVC. DVC's flexibility with respect to location, unit size and dates forces me to anticipate my needs, budget my points, and call ahead for reservations.

EDITED to ADD: JimMIA - your post above (#29) is spot on. Thx!

 

[NemoMOm]

To be honest we don't really care for those resorts, they just don't appeal to us. Not meaning they are bad just not for us. We bought SSR and love it, also bought AKV for the kids.

 

[Sammie]

based on friends who work at BW and BC more members are booking their home resort between 11-8 months than ever before. Some of those are rentals which is dramatically increased in the last 3 years.

So the blame of not getting last minute does not fall on other members but home members changing their booking stradegy.

 

[IndianaMouseLover]

We bought at SSR for the sole intent of staying there! We love SSR!

With that being said that doesn't mean in the next 35 years (between now and 2042) we wouldn't like to try the other DVC resorts. But our sole intent is to stay at SSR.

 

[Lexxiefern]

I have a friend who has been thinking about buying for a few years. She keeps saying she will buy wherever is cheapest and then always try to stay at BWV/BCV. Even tho I have explained to her how it all works, she seems determined to do this.....BTW, I own at BWV and BCV already because that is where I prefer to stay - but I am very excited about my trip to SSR in october!

 

[TDC Nala]

I own 100 SSR points, but I stay all over the place.

And I don't have trouble getting a room except during peak reservation times.

 

[castleri]

Bought each of my contracts, OKW, SSR and BCV with the intent that the points be used at that resort. So far that has pretty much held true except for a couple of short stays to try out BWV and VWL (probably won't do them again. That said - we have used the BCV points more at OKW and SSR than we have at BCV. The only real draw there for us is the pool and if we don't plan to use it why spend the points there beside it opens it up for someone who really wants to be there.

 

[LSchrow]

bought BWV cos we loved it (thank goodness, it's still our fave cos that's where most of our points are)
bought BCV cos it was near BW
bought SSR cos of the extra years, then came to love the resort.
if we were to sell one, it would be the BCV, cos those are only "back-up" points in case we can't get BWV

have used our points at OKW (won't again).
like AKL & WL, but don't feel AKV or VWL are for us, so no points there (tho we def will stay there at some point)

we might add at the CR when it opens......

 

[CarolMN]

based on friends who work at BW and BC more members are booking their home resort between 11-8 months than ever before. Some of those are rentals which is dramatically increased in the last 3 years.

So the blame of not getting last minute does not fall on other members but home members changing their booking stradegy.

This doesn't surprise me - there have been many, many reports of members buying small add on contracts for those resorts. Those members are USING their home resort advantage - else why buy a small contract at a different resort!

So in addition to the increased competition at 7 months (due to increasing membership), the availability has decreased (due to more owners using their booking advantage). That makes it a lot more difficult to book on short notice. As Jim said, "You snooze, you lose".

 

[eporter66]

We bought into SSR because we love WDW, and thought staying in a deluxe resort with wonderful accomdations was the way to go. This was before we really knew much about DVC or how it worked

Are we satisfied : Absolutely
Do we like other resorts : yes
Do we plan to stay at other resorts : yes - we already have

So - we have no regrets, and have had no trouble booking, but we usually use the 11 or 7 month window. We did make one quick reservation for a short unplanned trip, and had to stay at SSR, but that does not bother us in the least.

The advice on this board is perfect...BUY WHERE YOU WANT TO STAY.

But - in my opinion, as long as you can get a room at one of the DVC resorts, in reality you have little if anything to complain about.

E

 

[Mtnman44]

Your sister is thinking about this all wrong. After the 7 month window comes for a particular reservation, she no longer really HAS a home resort . For that reservation, she is "just" a DVC club member the same as everyone else. Her complaint at the "month or two out" time frame really has no more weight than someone else who owns at Vero or SSR that likewise cannot book BCV. People need to drop the mindset that where they bought their points somehow follows them all over. The ONLY thing it really does is give you a 4 month booking advantage. After that, it really means nothing (until the dues bill arrives).

Thanks for your feedback everyone, and your honesty. When I mentioned my sister's situation, it is only out of frustration because she USED to be able to book a month or two out with EASE at her home resort, BWV. She can no longer do that. She completely understands the ins and outs of windows and the need to book way ahead, she also gets that DVC has grown considerably, herein lies her frustration, that is all it is. Anyway, thanks again a very interesting discussion!