DVC Tour

[kaylee1006]

Can anyone give me information regarding the DVC Tour? How long does it take? Do they offer any incentives? Can we bring the kiddos? Where does it take place? Etc. TIA

 

[com_op_2000]

Can anyone give me information regarding the DVC Tour? How long does it take? Do they offer any incentives? Can we bring the kiddos? Where does it take place? Etc. TIA

How long does it take? 1 - 2.5 hours depending on the number of questions you ask/details you want, your interest level, etc
Do they offer any incentives? Sometimes
Can we bring the kiddos? Yes, there is a play area.
Where does it take place? SSR

 

[kaylee1006]

Thanks! Do you know what hours the tours are available? I'm hoping to convince DH to go next month and late afternoon might be my best shot.

 

[disneynutz]

You need to understand that the salesperson who pitches the sale, becomes your Guide even if you buy later or buy resale. Make sure that you like the person and that you feel comfortable doing business with him/her.

Bill

 

[rlovew]

Thanks! Do you know what hours the tours are available? I'm hoping to convince DH to go next month and late afternoon might be my best shot.

They are available from about 8 am till around 5pm I believe. If you want to do this you can set something up before your trip or at any DVC kiosk. They will pick you up from anywhere on property and bring you back to anywhere on property that you want to go. The 2 places do not need to be the same. You get ice cream at the end of the tour so it makes a nice way to take a break in the afternoon. You can even change parks when you go back if you have hopper tickets.

 

[goneviral]

Where does it take place? SSR

So only one resort, Saratoga Springs, has timeshare seminars but all of them have showrooms to tour?

 

[dbs1228]

So only one resort, Saratoga Springs, has timeshare seminars but all of them have showrooms to tour?

When we went on the tour they had the 2 latest models (selling units) set up to show which was a BLT room and a AKV room. Not sure what units they have now.

 

[rlovew]

So only one resort, Saratoga Springs, has timeshare seminars but all of them have showrooms to tour?

The whole DVC showroom is at SSR. Right now they have models for grand floridian, animal kingdom, and Auluni set up. Any other resorts you want to see I believe you have to check and see if they have anything available to see.

 

[gibbow]

You need to understand that the salesperson who pitches the sale, becomes your Guide even if you buy later or buy resale. Make sure that you like the person and that you feel comfortable doing business with him/her.

Bill

Woah I definitely was unaware and glad we decided to hold off after our open house. The salesperson seemed to speak down to us assuming that just because we are young we could not afford it... is there any place on this site at all where people can recommend guides? When, not if, we decide to take the plunge, I would love to have a great guide!!

 

[Sadie22]

I received an email invitation, seemingly out of the blue, to take a mini-tour via telephone. A guide explained the process briefly on the phone, and will send me a gift card for my participation to use on our trip later this year. Really easy and no pressure. I've never received a pin code, but I feel like I've received a prize! They sent me email links to video and text to view with DH.

We did a timeshare presentation in Virginia once, and then years later when we had forgotten just how awful it was, we did one in Las Vegas. Disney's approach is so different. I didn't know that, which is why we've never done a DVC presentation while at WDW.

 

[FlipHipster]

I received an email invitation, seemingly out of the blue, to take a mini-tour via telephone. A guide explained the process briefly on the phone, and will send me a gift card for my participation to use on our trip later this year. Really easy and no pressure. I've never received a pin code, but I feel like I've received a prize! They sent me email links to video and text to view with DH.

We did a timeshare presentation in Virginia once, and then years later when we had forgotten just how awful it was, we did one in Las Vegas. Disney's approach is so different. I didn't know that, which is why we've never done a DVC presentation while at WDW.

Did you ever request a DVD or anything from Disney? I played the DVC sweepstakes game online earlier this year and started getting mail. Got the dvd in the mail and few days later they started calling. I'm not sure if they offered the mini-tour via phone (spoke to my wife) but wouldn't mind doing that from home vs. spending park time listening to someone sell me a dream I have already sold myself.

We were hoping to visit the resorts and look around on our trip this fall. I don't really care about doing the whole pitch. I just want to visit the resorts I haven't seen yet and ask if we can look at an empty room if one is available. Is this unrealistic?

 

[blessed2BaMama]

FYI, We brought our children through the tour rather than leaving them in the play area as we wanted them to know what was going on and what we were considering. THe guide was fine with that...Also, they said that tours generally last one hour but we spent more time asking questions. The guide gets an idea of your interest and if he sees you are not a strong sale, he may go faster than the planned time, they are VERY good and trained to recognize interest!

 

[Sadie22]

Did you ever request a DVD or anything from Disney? I played the DVC sweepstakes game online earlier this year and started getting mail. Got the dvd in the mail and few days later they started calling. I'm not sure if they offered the mini-tour via phone (spoke to my wife) but wouldn't mind doing that from home vs. spending park time listening to someone sell me a dream I have already sold myself.

We were hoping to visit the resorts and look around on our trip this fall. I don't really care about doing the whole pitch. I just want to visit the resorts I haven't seen yet and ask if we can look at an empty room if one is available. Is this unrealistic?

I've gotten a couple of online surveys to complete since making a reservation for a trip later this year. I remember looking at the DVC sweepstakes game but not playing it. I paid off my trip recently and was talking to the CM about planning a future trip. Something triggered the email, but I'm not sure what it was. The DVC person said if we bought now, we could convert my upcoming trip to points.

 

[bighoo93]

You need to understand that the salesperson who pitches the sale, becomes your Guide even if you buy later or buy resale. Make sure that you like the person and that you feel comfortable doing business with him/her.

Bill

Wow, I didn't know that. I liked our salesperson, but we didn't end up buying direct. Under what circumstances would I interact with this guide?

 

[stargazertechie]

Does anyone know (and is it allowed to be answered) what the current tour incentives are?

We've done the tour twice now, fairly sure we'll be buying in the next 2 years, but we'd love to see the Auluni and GF models, and my mom has never been on the tour, and she'd be using our points probably as much as we would be, especially after kiddos come into the picture.

 

[disneynutz]

Does anyone know (and is it allowed to be answered) what the current tour incentives are?

We've done the tour twice now, fairly sure we'll be buying in the next 2 years, but we'd love to see the Auluni and GF models, and my mom has never been on the tour, and she'd be using our points probably as much as we would be, especially after kiddos come into the picture.

Based on what I have been told by Disney, the reason for the tour incentive is to get qualified first timers to attend a sales presentation. It could be a gift card, fast passes, or ice cream. The incentives change and sometimes aren't offered at all.

Disney isn't in the business of giving out freebies. The Guides are not given carte blanche to give them out and some Guides seem to have better access to them.

Bill

 

[Breyean]

Based on what I have been told by Disney, the reason for the tour incentive is to get qualified first timers to attend a sales presentation. It could be a gift card, fast passes, or ice cream. The incentives change and sometimes aren't offered at all.

Disney isn't in the business of giving out freebies. The Guides are not given carte blanche to give them out and some Guides seem to have better access to them.

Bill

Yes it seems to be somewhat hit or miss.

A year ago we brought a young family of friends to WDW with us. I called my guide before hand and made a reservation for all of us to take the tour. I had already done one referral to him that year, plus two add ons through him, so I figured he'd be happy to see me again.

We did the tour - our friends asked tons of questions and we were in the room with them the whole time.

Afterward, the kids got ice cream; the family got a picture, and our guide came out with FPs for them. Our friend asked about FPs for my wife and me, but he said no, only for prospective buyers. Our friend told him since we were doing the parks together not having them for everyone was awkward. Nope, no FPs for us.

So our friends told him if that's how they treat members after the sale they weren't interested and they left the FPs on the table, giving them back to our guide.

So it seems there are some rules which I don't know about who gets what.

 

[vicki_c]

Well I think some have the misconception that the FPs are free, so they should be more generous with them. But apparently that is not the case at all. DVC has to pay the theme parks in some way for those FPs and it's been said before that they are a relatively expensive item for them. I don't know how they are valued or paid for, but in the area of intracompany transfers, apparently they are a big deal.

 

[rcchello]

If fastpasses were free, they would be giving them out like candy. It would also kill the fastpass system.

 

[Iceman93]

In any event, free or not, they definitely shouldn't have been that stingy with Breyean and his wife. That sounded like the very definition of penny-wise, pound-foolish...