"I bought it sight unseen"

[roomthreeseventeen]

I'm interested in this... in another thread I posted a few days ago, quite a few people said they bought their DVC points with the resort "sight unseen".

What could be the motivation for this? Did they mostly assume they'd stay somewhere ELSE within the 7 month window? Or were they just happy to have DVC in WDW/DL, and didn't care where they stayed?

TIA.

 

[Sammie]

I know people do it, I couldn't. We went to Disney World for 13 years on a very regular basis before we bought.

 

[cvjw]

We bought OKW without ever having seen it. We knew where the resort was - we regularly stayed at POFQ before DVC. We had already purchased our favorite resorts, but wanted a 3rd contract that was loaded with points, and was cheaper than BCV and VWL. We are still happy with the choice - we have now driven thru OKW, but still haven't seen the inside of a villa.

 

[JWG]

I guess it depends on what you call "sight unseen". We did this, sort of. We bought at BLT without ever stepping foot into BLT. Now, we'd been to Disney World 9 times and Disneyland 2. We'd been familiar with DVC since 1998 and had stayed in DVC accommodations 6 of our 9 visits. My parents had purchased BWV in 1999 and we'd stayed at BWV, SSR and OKW.

So, I guess not really "new" to DVC or sight unseen to the program. Just the resort. That being said, we did tour our "new" home today after the Merry Mixer. The studio didn't seem as small as I thought it would (though small) and the 1/2 BR is very nice.

 

[disneynutz]

This is a testament to the brand power of Disney. If it comes from Disney, most people believe everything that they are told as being true.

Last week on the Magic, people were buying BLT sight unseen other than the pictures that they were shown.

Bill

 

[kansas_wazzu]

I recently bought BLT without visiting, but I have been impressed with my stays at other WDW DVC properties. Not worried at all.

 

[bwvBound]

What could be the motivation for this? Did they mostly assume they'd stay somewhere ELSE within the 7 month window? Or were they just happy to have DVC in WDW/DL, and didn't care where they stayed?

I bought SSR over-the-phone, sight unseen -- but at the same time we are extremely picky about where we stay (BWV). The guide convinced us that we'd have no trouble booking BWV using SSR points for our intended stays (late January). Indeed -- we've been successful booking BWV at the 7 month window each time we've tried. In fact, most years we book our BWV stay via RCI/II at 10 months. Our SSR points have become a "backup" system.

FWIW, of our five different timeshare products, we only toured one before buying. The other four were each "sight unseen." Of these same five there is still one I haven't visited after 8 years of ownership. No big deal, it trades well

Our most humorous timeshare purchase story involves a legendary ranch about 70 miles from our home. I wanted to book a weekend there for my 40th Birthday. We drove to the ranch to check it out a few weeks prior to my birthday but were denied entrance at the gate. We begged at the registration desk but were denied, "Only owners and their invited guests may enter!" We visited the sales office -- and even the sales staff denied us. We guessed were weren't the "right kind of people." It took me 8 months to find a resale on eBay ... but eventually bought my way in for $1 + closing costs. My first time setting foot inside the property gate was as a new owner. It remains my happy place to this day.

Oh, that 40th birthday? My husband took me to Paris for the weekend. Yeah, it was great!

 

[DVC Dude]

It all boild down to "location-location-location"

 

[heathrow42]

Bought BLT sight unseen.. had very much impressed upon our guide that we would buy anything they built over at the Contemporary. She called us the first day or 2 it could be sold and we bought. We didn't need to see it, we knew we wanted it.

No hesitation - my only regret is that we didn't buy enough points. We assumed that we'd stay in a studio for years to come.. the day after we agreed to buy, we found out we were finally pregnant! Fast forward to our first trip at BLT in one of those awful tiny studios! Within a day we asked to move to a 1BR - and now we are in a borrowing cycle that can't last. I'm really wishing I had heard about that Black Friday deal!

--h

 

[heathpack]

We own at HHI and have never been there. We bought this 25 point contract in order to have access to buying a small VGC direct from Disney- back before the economy tanked & we thought it might sell out really quickly. We never did buy the add-on from DVC, but are in the process of buying a resale VGC.

We also own a Hyatt timeshare that we've never been to. That one we got for access to the Hyatt system & good II trades. So far that has worked out really well, too. We've been to the Hyatts in Sedona & Carmel, which were lovely. We've traded into Marriotts Ko Olina in Oahu, the Royal Sands and Royal Haciendas in Mexico, a private apartment in NYC, Palm Springs, and Vegas.

H

 

[Tauwillow]

I have never been in a DVC villa, but have been reading about them here on the Dis for the past 5 years. It was a longtime dream to be a part of it all.

We were finally able to visit Disney with my children last year, and after that I was bound and determined to find a way to make it work.

I looked at photos, youtube, and poured over reviews here on the boards. We just bought SSR resale and are in the process of closing now! Its the resort I think appeals to my sensibilities the most, and if it doesnt - I still have the ability to book at any other available villa!

I just don't see any downside.

 

[leane]

I was one of the sight unseen purchasers that posted in your other thread.

We hadn't gone on a vacation out of state in 10 years because of my dad being ill. While he was sick he always said he wanted to take his girls to WDW and once he was gone he wanted us to go and celebrate his life.
We planned a trip for DDs bday. Upon planning and knowing we couldn't do it all in one trip and it wasn't fair to not go back for DD#2s bday one year we were then looking at almost $12k because I am an admitted resort snob. For a little more we could buy into DVC and continue to go to WDW for many many years celebrating my Dad's life. So with my inheritance we bought in.

For us it was a way to force us to spend family time together and make memories. I knew Disney would be fine for us for many years to come so we took the plunge never stepping foot on property. If we outgrow Disney we are fine even doing resort trips. We will always rent a car so we would be able to visit other Orlando area attractions.

 

[castleri]

Not exactly sight unseen but without a tour or look at the villas except from the canal going from PO to DTD in 1997. We had taken a pontoon boat from PO to DTD and detoured by OKW - did not know that it was DVC at the time. Stopped at the BW sales center on a whim and asked a couple of questions. Did not have time to actually tour any of the rooms but ended up with 220 points at OKW. There were only the two resorts to purchase at the time and we took OKW because it had lower maintenance fees. Finally got a look at what we bought when we stayed in a GV and 2BR the following year. Have since bought BCV and SSR presale which also must have been sight unseen since they hadn't been built yet. OKW is still my favorite and the other two are number 2 and 3 on my list. Have no regrets and would not have changed my choices even if I had seen some of the others first.

 

[stmize]

We also bought sight unseen. We had researched for almost a yr. While in WDW at Thanksgiving we took the tour at SSR and loved the size of the rooms for the models but it wasn't exactly what we wanted. We wanted something more layed back. So we asked if there was some OKW or BWV points to be had. We got lucky the guide said she thought they had some points at OKW which we bought. I look forward to staying there. We haven't seen the rooms yet but after we bought we went over and looked at the resort and it is beautiful. So I think we will be happy.

 

[jolia]

Bought "sight unseen" 10 yrs ago. Had not even been to WDW! Someone wrote before about the brand - thats exactly what I bought! Well I also read about the program to understand "what" I was buying because in the end "what' I bought was a brand and flexibility. I would have never bought the traditional timeshare sight unseen but I had no issue with Disney. Even more I bought RESALE! No regrets. I must admit that I did not do the same for my wife (I did see her before...). Enjoy!

 

[rsschneck]

We typically buy sight unseen.

First contract was a resale @ OKW. We went to the DVC talk while on the cruise ship. We had not been to Disney since 1989 and purchased in 2004. We knew we had been to Disneyland so many times that we were ready to start traveling to Disney World. We liked the point structure and the pricing of resale and our DVC rep was trying to sell us on BCV, BWV, HHI or Vero and we wanted OKW for the size of the units, etc. So after the cruise we went the resale market and purchased our first contract.

Second contract was SSR pre-sale. We were making our first trip to OKW when they were selling SSR pre-sale and we added on points because we love the DTD location and the condo feel (not attached to an existing hotel).

Forth contract we just bought Aulani. This again is a leap of faith. We love Hawaii (Maui is our favorite). After looking over and listening to the Aulani master plan we decided this would be a fabulous, relaxing resort for Oahu and we really could stay in the resort area without venturing into Waikiki.

We have stayed @ all of the DVC resorts (except VWL) and still really like our "home" resorts the best. I try to get DVC accommodations close to where we plan on spending most of our time during each vacation. When we have a need for LARGER accommodations being able to get a grand villa @ OKW is fabulous (can't beat the size and point structure of OKW).

 

[ssawka]

We bought "sight unseen" so to speak. We had stayed at BCV before purchasing, so we were familiar with DVC accommodations. When it was time to buy, I did some research on what resort we wanted. We fly to WDW and do not rent a car, so I knew transportation would be important. We also love MK and never felt like we got enough time there, so BLT was really a "no brainer" for us. Also, when we bought (June 2009) BLT was not selling for much more than the other resorts so we went ahead and bought.

We are now considering buying a contract at HHI so we can go to the beach in the summer and preferably drive. Now, we will not buy at HHI "site unseen". Not really because we are unsure of the resort, but more because we aren't quite sure we'll like HHI. We've never been there before.

 

[RescueRanger]

Count us in the "sight unseen" crowd. We had stayed at OKW and VWL on a friend's points, but we had never stayed at AKV or even AKL for that matter. However, we had looked at all of the photos on the web and did the research on the resort through the internet. We loved the theming of AKL. We bought into DVC earlier this year and then took a short cash trip in July. We went over to AKL and asked if we could tour the villas since we had bought there but had never actually seen it. Let's just say that we were not disappointed.

 

[TLinden16]

I bought DVC sight unseen--I had never taken a tour or visited a model anywhere. I didn't even really look at the information online before buying.

My motivation to call DVC was after I spent a week at Pop Century. While I had a nice stay there, I knew that I didn't want my Disney trips to be spent staying at the Value resorts. I called DVC within a couple of weeks of my stay there.

This was back in November of 2004 when they were pushing SSR. My guide was giving me a hard sell for SSR, but I knew it wasn't the right resort for me. I don't like resorts that are that big and spread out, and I knew that I wouldn't be happy there. She said I would have no trouble getting one of the smaller resorts at the 7 month window, but logic told me that supply and demand wouldn't make that a true statement.

I told her that I wasn't really interested in buying SSR, but if she had BWV or BCV points, I would put a deposit down right away. I had previously stayed at the BWI and the BC (but not the villas), and knew that I liked that area. Proximity to Jellyrolls was a big plus for me, too.

So, my guide looked, and by the end of the phone call, I had given them a $500 deposit on 170 BWV points.

I had a trip planned a month later, and finally went on the DVC tour at SSR. I knew I made the right decision.

 

[chalee94]

What could be the motivation for this...were they just happy to have DVC in WDW/DL, and didn't care where they stayed?

this is pretty much me.

i bought OKW since it was cheaper.

i've traded twice into AKV (also got locked out once for part of the reservation and the waitlist never came through) and once into BLT right after it opened...but i do love OKW and have enjoyed my stays there. i would be happy at any of the DVC resorts on-property (and might try the HHI location at some point).