Back from our DVC exchange to Devon in UK

[mark&sue]

Hi

We are now back from our Disney Vacation Club exchange to Devon we had a great time.

Our villa was right on the ocean

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c129/markmrkhntr/croydeBay.jpg

The weather held out for us and we found some beautiful places

This is a photo of DD in secluded beach we found

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c129/markmrkhntr/DSC00051.jpg

This was a great week we had during our school holidays over here in the uk



Susan

[magicmouse2]

Lovely I hope it was worth the exchange for you. Whereabouts in Devon was it ? I'd love to visit !

[mark&sue]

This was in North Devon. A place called Croyde Bay. It is very remote but we thought it was worth 144 points as it only took us 4 hours to drive from London. We recently bought an add on so had very little cash to pay for flights to WDW until our trip this coming October. Plus we got an extra 100 points.

The scenery was really great. Here is a photo of DH

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c129/markmrkhntr/DSC00050.jpg



Susan

[J and R's mom]

Thanks so much for sharing your photos and experiences with a trade outside of the WDW resorts. I plan on trading a few times in the next 49 years and it's nice to hear some positive feedback from those that have done it.

The pictures were very nice and the scenery looks amazing. Thanks again!

[bobbiwoz]

Wow! Those are fine pictures. That is a great rock formation!
Bobbi :)

[BCV23]

Love your pictures. :sunny:

Was it a one bedroom unit and would you say the quality was as good as DVC? What was the bedding like?

I agree that is is so nice to see a report on an exchange. :cool1:

[mark&sue]

We had a one bedroom apartment as there is only three of us, but there were two and three bedrooms. From our window you could see the ocean.

The sofa bed was exactly the same as Saratoga Springs so it gave Kirsty, my DD a chance to practice taking it out every night and back again in the morning as we will have two weeks at SSR in October and are taking our friends with us in a two bed lock off so will need to make sure the sofa bed is put away as the living area is for both families.

You could not fault the villas as they were clean and had lots of cooking equipment including a dish washer (with powder), washing machine, full oven and hob, fridge freezer and microwave. There was a DVD player with DVDs for hire. There was a small pool with a spa and sauna. There was even a pizza and burger delivery which you could phone up. The bedding was fine.

The area we stayed is a surfing centre and even though this is UK winter there were plenty of "surf dudes" out every day

Devon is very pretty and has lovely pubs where children were welcome. Cream teas are a speciality

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c129/markmrkhntr/DSC00017.jpg

I would not think it would be worth the points for members in the US because of the very expensive flights out to UK and the not so good exchange rate, but was excellent for us and is definately something we would do again. :sunny:



Susan

[gothmommie]

144 points for how long a stay?

[CarolA]

OH I want to go.... I want the cream tea.

Thanks for posting!

[mark&sue]

144 points is for one week, Saturday to Saturday.

This works out longer than our 165 points we used for three nights at Hotel New York at Disneyland Paris in our October school holidays.



Susan

[Frankiesmom]

really wonderful pictures! I would really love to visit your country one day;thanks for sharing! Looks you all had a great time! Angel

[Pootle]

I'm not sure this is playing fair Susan, I'm just getting ready to pack to fly off to the US and you're making me think about how lovely Devon is (and the cream teas!) ;) Loved your photo's too.

[mark&sue]

This is why I am so happy with DVC because we can go to WDW every year (this year we are taking another two families as well as us 3) and go somewhere else with the points for a second holiday each year.

I LOVE DVC. Definately one of our better decisions.



Susan

[gothmommie]

144 points is for one week, Saturday to Saturday.


Sounds like something we might check out some time. Thanks for the information!

[momsgoofy]

Okay, my interest has been peaked!

It honestly sounds like a decent use of points, even coming from Illinois...hey, I want to travel any ol' place my bum can go! lol So, I'm gonna ask some more questions...

Did you exchange thru DVC? Which one? And how far out did you make the arrangements?

Okay, assuming we would fly into Heathrow, would it be easy enough to get to this place? DH might be a bit nervous about driving, but I'm not as long as I can remember to stay on the correct side of the road. I'm assuming that I would need a rental car...any thoughts on how easy it is to rent one? I suppose I could use my AAA travel agent for that part.

And then about your posts...

could you "Americanize" what a hob is?

Is the fridge/freezer US standard size or would it be similar to one found in a DVC studio? I ask because I remember while living in Holland that the standard fridge there was smaller than those in the US.

Is the pool/sauna outdoors or indoors?

And one last question...what was available in the area to do? Sightseeing? We've never been to the UK, so it would all be quite new and interesting to us.

Thank you so much for the additional information!

[Cinderella]

Hi Sue - great pics. I love Devon and this looks great, right by the beach. And only 144 points was great value. Glad you enjoyed it.

[mark&sue]

Laura

Firstly I would re-iterate that I am not sure if this would be a good use of points for someone living outside of Europe. Heathrow is approximately 210 miles from Devon. There are many other places in the UK which do exchanges. (In fact many places in the world). The exchanges DVC currently do are on this link. http://disney.intervalworld.com/web/cs?a=5
Devon is at the foot of the UK and not near the main International Airports. You would need Satalite Navigation which we used. The roads in this part of Devon are practically dirt tracks and cars can only go one way down these roads (so it would not matter which side you drive as there is only one side!!!)

With regard to booking I just phoned up MS and asked them for an exchange anywhere in the UK for the week commencing 10th February as this is our week's school holidays in most parts of the UK. The ojbective for us was not to pay travel costs or accommodation costs. We can get cheap flights to Spain and other parts of Europe which we will look into in the future when exchanging again. DH fancies skiing in Italy or Germany.

You are right the fridges are smaller here in Europe than in the US and a hob could be a range but I am not sure. The pool and sauna were indoors and the main attraction here is surfing! The summer is the best time to visit the UK but the exchange rate currently is not good.

Many thanks


Susan

[wintergreen]

Thanks for the report! I love hearing about the exchange opportunities other members have taken.

[PBader]

Great pics! I am glad that your exchange worked out for you. Hope to make it to your side of the world one day.
Paula

[momsgoofy]

Laura

Firstly I would re-iterate that I am not sure if this would be a good use of points for someone living outside of Europe. Heathrow is approximately 210 miles from Devon. There are many other places in the UK which do exchanges. (In fact many places in the world). The exchanges DVC currently do are on this link. http://disney.intervalworld.com/web/cs?a=5
Devon is at the foot of the UK and not near the main International Airports. You would need Satalite Navigation which we used. The roads in this part of Devon are practically dirt tracks and cars can only go one way down these roads (so it would not matter which side you drive as there is only one side!!!)

With regard to booking I just phoned up MS and asked them for an exchange anywhere in the UK for the week commencing 10th February as this is our week's school holidays in most parts of the UK. The ojbective for us was not to pay travel costs or accommodation costs. We can get cheap flights to Spain and other parts of Europe which we will look into in the future when exchanging again. DH fancies skiing in Italy or Germany.

You are right the fridges are smaller here in Europe than in the US and a hob could be a range but I am not sure. The pool and sauna were indoors and the main attraction here is surfing! The summer is the best time to visit the UK but the exchange rate currently is not good.

Many thanks


Susan

Susan...thank you so much for the extra info! I think you are right...probably something better to exchange for after reading about your drive to Devon. I will check the link you listed and see what I can find that might be better for us. Thanks again!