DVC members!

Well, it's official! Our offer on a resale purchase of Saratoga Springs was accepted through Disney's Right of First Refusal (ROFR). In case you're not familiar with what that is, all Disney Vacation Club resale purchases have to pass through Disney. They do this to make sure everything stays at fair market value. If they feel like someone is trying to sell their points for less than what Disney feels they are worth, Disney will buy it from them and it goes off the market. For us as a buyer, we bid as low as possibly safe for it to pass, based on research and trends on what has passed and not passed through ROFR.

So why DVC??

Before our first trip, we didn't think that we would plan on going back for some time (at least that's what my husband thought....I already had other ideas). However, after the first trip....DH (dear hubby) changed his tune and was all but booking a bounceback offer! We ended up returning the following year, but this time taking my mom on her first trip. So already we were in 2 years in a row and fully planning on returning the next year. It was right before we went on this second trip that I found out that I was a semi-finalist for the Mickey Mom's Panel! I knew to continue on my quest for knowledge, that my trips had to continue, at a minimum of once a year!

During the second trip with mom, we decided to take the DVC tour. I already knew that we needed to join DVC to afford these annual trips and already knew that we could have paid for DVC in these 2 trips alone! But to convince DH.....
We went on the tour that took place at Saratoga Springs so we could see the models of AKL and BLT (the new one at the Contemporary). He was sold on the idea once he understood how simple the point system is!!!

Then we had to figure out what route we wanted to go through (buy direct from Disney or through resale). After analyzing prices, incentives and contract end dates (different resorts contracts end sooner, for example, the one we really would like to buy at , Villas of Wilderness Lodge, ends in 2042. But Saratoga (SSR) ends in 2054, which is a few more years for cheaper), we decided to buy into SSR through DVC by Resale (great company!!) because of the buy-in price, lower maintenance fees, and the longer contract of use. I should say here, that SSR is probably one of our least favorite of the themings of the DVC resorts, although I know they are ALL nice. But the good thing about DVC is that we can use those points to stay at any DVC resort, depending on availability!

Once our contract is finalized, we will be waiting until we can try to get a reservation at the new Bay Lake Towers (where I hope to add on more points at) for our usual Thanksgiving trip!! But if we can't get in there, we will be happy to stay at any of the DVC properties and might even decide to check out our home, SSR!

Some links for more info:

http://www.dvcbyresale.com/

http://dvcnews.com/index.php

http://dvc.disney.go.com/dvc/guest/about/guestAboutOverview?id=ProspectsLearnAboutDVCPage