The Overlooked Value of Owning Disney Vacation Club’s Bay Lake Tower

A calm lake rests behind the modern exterior of Bay Lake Tower

Typically, when buyers think about Disney Vacation Club’s Bay Lake Tower they think location, location, location, which is true, however, seldom do buyers also consider that Bay Lake Tower frequently ranks as the #2 best economical DVC resort to own long-term.  There are 3 components of economic value to consider with Disney Vacation Club: 1. Price  2. Annual Dues  3. Years left on the Deed.  When all three components are considered Bay Lake Tower is currently ranked #2 just behind Saratoga Springs.   Buyers often overlook Bay Lake Tower as a great economical choice because of only 1 of the 3 factors – Price.  When all 3 economic factors are considered for the long term, Bay Lake Tower is a top 2 choice driven largely by having the lowest annual dues in the DVC network ($5.28/pt.) and by having one of the latest deed expiration dates (January 31st, 2060). (See the chart below)

BLT exterior 4

 

Resort Average Cost Per Point Years Left Cost Per Point Per Year From Price Dues Per Point Total Cost Per Point Per Year Rank: Summer 2016
Saratoga Springs $86 38 $2.26 $5.44 $7.70  1
Bay Lake Tower $118 44 $2.68 $5.28 $7.96  2
Old Key West (Extended) $89 41 $2.17 $6.01 $8.18  3
Animal Kingdom $86 41 $2.10 $6.42 $8.52  4
Grand Californian $147 44 $3.34 $5.37 $8.71  5
Grand Floridian $151 48 $3.15 $5.71 $8.86  6
Aulani $105 46 $2.28 $6.79 $9.07  7
Polynesian $152 50 $3.04 $6.09 $9.13  8
Old Key West $82 26 $3.15 $6.01 $9.16  9
Hilton Head $64 26 $2.46 $6.82 $9.28  10
Wilderness Lodge $92 26 $3.54 $6.22 $9.76  11
Boardwalk $97 26 $3.73 $6.18 $9.91  12
Vero Beach $61 26 $2.35 $8.08 $10.43  13
Beach Club $113 26 $4.35 $6.13 $10.48  14
– Dues per point based on 2016 Calender Year
– Average cost per point based on average asking price on disneydvcresale.com August ’16

BLT family room

Many will argue where Bay Lake Tower differentiates itself significantly from the other resorts in the top 4 of economic ranking is the need for home resort priority.  Since Bay Lake Tower is the only resort you can walk into Magic Kingdom from, and because it is smaller than some of the larger resorts such as Saratoga Springs (428 rooms at BLT vs. 1,320 at SSR), having home resort priority at Bay Lake Tower can be critical.  So when you consider overall value, the long-term economic value coupled with the value of home resort priority it is hard to rank anything above Bay Lake Tower.

BLT pool2

Learn more about buying and selling with DVC Resale Market.

Comments

  • Kathy
    July 19, 2019

    Would need a place that holds 6 adults and 7 children 2 are babies. Do the 3beedroom accomodate that many?

    • Nick Cotton
      July 19, 2019

      Kathy – 3 bedroom Grand Villas accommodate up to 12. Excluding the 2 babies from your room count, you would still be at 13. In this case you would have to do a combination of rooms like a 3 bedroom and 1 studio or two-bedroom and a studio, etc.

  • Julie Gallardo
    August 24, 2016

    Confused about the points so what size rooms are these and how many days do the points equal.

    • Nick Cotton
      August 24, 2016

      Julie, Thank you for your question. With Disney Vacation Club you receive points each year that you make reservations with. You can book various sizes of rooms with those points – the bigger the room the more points, the smaller the room the fewer points. To understand how many days that may equal please see the following point chart: https://www.dvcresalemarket.com/wp-content/uploads/BL16_17.pdf

  • Ferry Wibowo
    August 2, 2016

    Would you pls add Aulani with subsidize dues? Thanks!

    • Nick Cotton
      August 2, 2016

      Ferry, we left Aulani subsidized dues off this list along with Vero Beach subsidized dues as well because both are so rare and there is not being more created. However, to answer your question, if subsidized Aulani contracts were on this list they would be tied for #1 with Saratoga Springs at a cost per point per year of around $7.70.

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