Joining via secondary market?

[spinnerf]

How is my thinking here...

Im thinking of buying Saratoga springs or old key west points because they are cheaper on the secondary market. Im not joining DVC to go on African safari or cruise so loosing those options doesnt bother me. However, I do prefer to stay at Beach club, Boardwalk and Bay Lake in one bedroom. I never plan my vacations any longer than a few months in advance and most are weeks to days in advance. I go to WDW appx 2 or 3 times per year. In my case I dont think the 11 months window will help, so I may as well get the cheapest points and buy more of them right? Also, I wouldnt mind staying at any of the DVCs resort, Ive been to them all and paid cash, so If I were closed out of my preferred resorts Id be ok with it as long as I get a one bedroom or greater somewhere.

[VWL Mom]

It makes sense to me. If your not going to take advantage of the 11/7 month booking windows where you own isn't going to make much of a difference. What's available on short notice will be there regardless of your home resort.

[TinkerbellT421]

Based on what you have described, resale is definitely the market for you. Make sure to check the timeshare store (the Intercot Sponsor) to see what points and prices are available to you. And really it may not even make a difference what your home resort on your contract is IF you are not taking advantage of the 11 month window. So go with what points are required for your one bedroom needs, etc, if affordable maybe account a few extra points if you prefer to be safe and have extras than have to bank. If it doesn't really matter where you stay because you are only booking a few weeks or maybe a few months in advance then where the contract is, will not matter.

[gardenia]

If you prefer to plan just a few weeks in advance, I think you'll end up being one of the dissatisfied DVC members who complain about never getting what they want. You'll end up staying at SSR every time and you'll get bored with it.

If you want to stay at BCV or BWV then buy points there. Buy several smaller contracts instead of one larger one. I have a feeling that DVC will increase the restrictions on resale contracts as time goes by and you'll have even less access to resorts other than your home resort. Just my two cents.

[Pirate Granny]

Don"t count on getting anything during holiday periods on a short notice...Easter, 4th of July, thanksgiving, Christmas, MLK weekend, marathon weekends, spring breaks, etc.

[faline]

We bought in the resale market a couple of years ago. We are happy with our purchase. Since buying, I've stayed in a 2-bedroom at Bay Lake Tower - lake view which was booked about 5 months before our visit. Do keep in mind that I had several different dates for our visit and additionally had two "backup" resorts to try. I got my first choice of resort with either my second or third set of dates. Bay Lake Tower is not our home resort.

We booked Animal Kingdom Lodge one bedroom at Jambo house. Concierge studio was our first choice which we did not get. The one bedroom savannah view was booked seven months out. This is not our home resort.

Last December, we booked a two bedroom at Old Key West which is our home resort. it was booked a little more than 6 months ahead of time. It was our third choice of resort for the dates we had selected.

In May, we stayed in a one-bedroom at the Beach Club. At the 7 month mark I was able to get our first choice resort for the dates I wanted.

For our upcoming trip, we booked 4 months in advance and the only resort available was Saratoga Springs. We booked there and are wait-listed at our first choice resort but the waitlist has not come through and we are not sure that it will. This is the first time we've tried using the wait-list system.

For another upcoming trip (outside of Disney World) this winter, we booked at the seven month mark and were able to get exactly the accommodations we requested for the time frame we wanted.

I would certainly purchase in the resale market again We used Intercot sponstor, The Timeshare Store for our purchase and were well satisfied with the process.

If you can only vacation at certain dates which happen to be premium dates and are inflexible with where you will stay, you should definitely purchase points where you want to stay and where you can book at the 11 months mark. If you can be flexible with dates and resorts, you might make out much better.

[MarkC]

Agree with Gardenia that you really, really need to buy where you want to stay the most. You may get lucky and stay at Beach Club or someplace some of the time, but not often. Always buy where you want to stay. You'll never regret it. You will regret not doing so.

Having said that, we went resale and are completely happy. We went through the Timeshare Store and would do so again.

[spinnerf]

I appreciate the responses! I will never be able to make a 7 to 11 month in advance reservation so I still cant rationalize buying points in the resorts I enjoy most, Im still going to go ahead with the best value. And yes I have been researching this with the Timeshare store. So far so good. Ill let you all know what happens.

[TinkerbellT421]

I appreciate the responses! I will never be able to make a 7 to 11 month in advance reservation so I still cant rationalize buying points in the resorts I enjoy most, Im still going to go ahead with the best value. And yes I have been researching this with the Timeshare store. So far so good. Ill let you all know what happens.

Yea, in my opinion if you are not utilizing the 7/11 month feature then the "home" resort is a mute point. If that were the case like I said before I would be more focused on the amount of points you are needing or wanting than where it is. The only advantage to buying where you "want" to stay is you have batter chance at the 7/11 mark. Other than that if you are flexible as to where you can stay, if whatever room is available anywhere then that is fine, but remember any busy times like a pp stated, ie Christmas, new years, Easter, etc., you may not get rooms at all, or you may have to switch to multiple resorts. If all of that is flexible then it doesn't matter where you buy. Good luck and keep us posted!

[DizneyRox]

The buy where you want to stay doesn't appear to apply to you. I don't know the specifics, but be aware that DVC manages their TS and if rooms are not being booked, they will release them to the general public.

With very short notice, I don't know what your chances are of using points. I just never tried it. I would not be surprised if there was some limit where at 3 days out you can't book using points. If its 3 days or 3 week or something else I'm not sure.

Owning DVC doesn't really guarantee you that you'll be able to use your points whenever you want for whatever you want.

Finally, since home resort doesn't come into play, make sure you take into account maintenance fees. Some of the cheaper properties have higher fees. And a buck difference in points for the purchase can easily get chewed up in even a couple of years if the maintenance fees are higher by even just a few dimes.

[spinnerf]

We had our offer accepted today for 320 points at Saratoga springs!