Choosing Your Home Resort: One of the first decisions a prospective Disney Vacation Club member has to make, after deciding to buy into DVC, is which resort they should purchase and make their home resort. DVC members who wish to add-on face the similar issue of choosing which resort to add-on points at.
DVC members can book their home resort(s) up to 11 months prior to the check-in date, while being able to book other DVC resorts only 7 months prior to check-in date. This 4-month booking advantage is important for certain high-demand periods or certain room types. An example is the concierge rooms at AKV.
Prospective DVC members may not be aware that they are not limited to just the resorts that DVC is actively marketing, but that it is possible to buy into any of the DVC resorts, even the older “sold-out” resorts. You can buy these resorts on the resale market, as well as direct from Disney (once you convince your guide that you simply are not interested in the resorts DVC is actively marketing).
FACTORS TO CONSIDER
Now, what factors should one consider in choosing their home resort? People consider a wide range of things when deciding to choose their home resort. This includes (in no particular order):
Everyone’s personal tastes and individual preferences are different. Some may value certain factors more than others or not at all.
PURCHASE PHILOSOPHY
In addition to these individual factors, there are a few popular philosophies that you’ll hear from DVC members.
WHY OWN MULTIPLE HOME RESORTS
Some members may decide to purchase at more than one resort, giving them multiple home resorts. Typically, the reason is that the owner wants the 11-month booking advantage of the Home Resort Priority Period in order to make it easier to get the resort they want, at the time they want, with the accommodations they want. This reduces any possible frustration at the 7-mo window, wait-listing, or having to “settle” for another reservation while missing out on the one you really had your heart set on.
Keep in mind that if you have more than one home resort, all vacation points being used to make a reservation during the Home Resort Priority Period must be associated with that home resort. That is, you cannot combine points from multiple resorts to book one resort during the Home Resort Priority Period. You may combine all the points you have at all your home resorts and book any DVC resort only at the 7-month window.
If you own 150 points at BLT and 200 points at VGF, for example, you can use those 150 BLT points to only book BLT 11 months in advance, and those 200 VGF points to only book VGF 11 months in advance. You could not, however, combine your points 11 months in advance to have 350 points to stay at either resort – you must wait until seven in advance to do so.
Some folks purchase small add-ons at other resorts and then, by banking and/or borrowing, book a vacation there at the 11-month window every 2 or 3 years.