Anyone a DVC member?

[osugal]

Sorry if this should be somewhere else. I looked around and missed it if there's a board for this. I love WDW enough to see the appeal of DVC. But, I feel like all I ever hear is "this isn't included" and "that's not included". It seems like it doesn't come with many perks - just the basics. Then you still have to pay for lots of extras to make it a nice vacation. Is that an incorrect perception?

 

[AJKMOM]

It all depends on what you want in a vacation. We usually stay once or twice ( total of 8 to 10 nights) a year in 1 or 2 bedroom villas, and our assessment and taxes are the cost of maybe 2 nights in a 2 bedroom villa, rack rate. DVC memebrs do get discounts and perks. We wouldn't use any dining plan because we always have meals in our villa.

There are a lot of perks, not sure what you mean by "this is not included". It might be something we wouldn't want anyway, never know.

 

[notaclue]

The only perk I can think of that we as DVC owners do not get is daily maid service. We get towel/trash service on the 4th day of our stay and full cleaning service on the 7th day. We can't take advantage of free dining because we aren't paying rack rate for our deluxe rooms. However we wouldn't trade DVC for anything; we absolutely love owning DVC. So much that when we stayed at Saratoga Springs 2 weeks ago we purchased an additional 100 points. The only downside I've found is that I want to stay at Beach Club but it's not our 'home resort' so we can only make ressies there 7 months in advance whereas if it were our home resort we could make ressies there 11 months in advance so I haven't been able to book there yet. You might check the DVC Boards subforum of this forum and read up. We wish we'd learned about DVC 5 years ago because it would have saved us a TON of money for all those trips we take. We always stay deluxe and usually take all the kids and grandkids with us and pay their expenses. DVC definately makes money sense for us.

 

[jnfr2424]

Let me help you out
take a look at this link and hopefully it can help you with your question


http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=7

 

[chalee94]

It seems like it doesn't come with many perks - just the basics.

it's a prepaid lodging timeshare program - with access to larger multi-bedroom villas to make staying onsite more relaxing. but tickets, dining and so forth is up to you.

there are perks like discounts on APs, free internet and dining and shopping discounts, but the perks come and go. if it's not a good deal for you on the lodging side, it's not worth it.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

As a previous poster mentioned, the main advantage is that it's a prepaid accommodations program.

My family likes its space, so we'd stay in a one or two bedroom suite whether we were DVC members or not, we will always stay in the deluxe resorts, and we like WDW enough to know that we'll go at least once a year, so it's a decent deal for our family. It's not the deal of the century by any stretch, but it works for us. The DVC rooms are not as plush as the regular Deluxe resorts, and are certainly not up to the standards of the Ritz, Four Seasons, etc.,(they are more like nice Marriotts) but we enjoy them and the relatively less frenetic pace of the deluxe-level resorts.

As far as the perks, we actually don't like daily maid service, so that works well for us. We don't do the dining plan, but if we want it, it is available to us. We like the discount on the APs, and the ability to purchase Tables in Wonderland with the APs. We do, as I mentioned above, like our space, so we can either pay $800-$1000 a night for a two bedroom villa, or prepay for many years of them at a somewhat significant discount and then just pay our annual dues.

It works for us. Whether it works for you is what you have to determine for yourself.

 

[DebbieB]

I bought DVC for the luxury of a 1 bedroom villa. The rack rate for that room is around $600 per night. My DVC is long paid off (bought in 1999), I'm paying about $1300 in dues for 250 points per year, which I pay $113 a month. That will get me about 10 or 11 nights in a 1 bedroom. It's nice not to have a big hotel bill to pay. You still have to pay for food & tickets, members get a $100 discount on annual passes. Best vacation move I ever made. I have used it at both WDW and Disneyland.

 

[Pakey]

I think that DVC offers larger accommodations and that is the appeal. If you are only interested in a studio, which is the same size as a hotel room, then
no, I wouldn't buy it either. The hotel rooms are nicer. But a one bedroom with a king sized bed and a whirlpool tub, separate living area, washer/dryer for those bathing suits, full sized refridgerator for your favorite appetizers to combine with your cocktails as you sit on your large balcony, well that's another story altogether.

 

[daisyduck123]

The only downside I've found is that I want to stay at Beach Club but it's not our 'home resort' so we can only make ressies there 7 months in advance whereas if it were our home resort we could make ressies there 11 months in advance so I haven't been able to book there yet.

Have you ever tried to book a summer trip?

We're heading there in 3 weeks (in a 2BR) for our 5th summer trip in a row. It is not our home resort either, but we've never had trouble getting a room there at 7 months.

We love it! It's our favorite resort!

 

[beer dave]

I have calculated that the cost of my dvc purchases combined with my current monthly fees multiplied by the total months of ownership in the dvc contracts, divided by the total number of points I will recieve in the term of ownership comes to between 5 and 6 dollars per point. This means that I can rent a studio at a deluxe resort for on the average about 15 points equaling a total out of pocket expense of 75 to 90 dollars per night.

Not too bad.

 

[rentayenta]

If you prefer beautiful comfortable villas with amenities of home, then DVC is for you! I don't feel perkless at all ; ) With 5 in our family, gone are the days of cramming in a single room with 2 beds. Living space is key for us. I love being able to have room to move, have coffee on the deck, stay up and write after the kids go to bed, not live out of a cooler or college mini-fridge, throw a load or two in the washer while not having to find quarters and lug our dirty clothes thru the resort......basically where I lay my head has become as important as how I spend my days. We enjoy our resort time as it's part of the vacation.

Our past vacation at the GCV would have cost half the amount of our contract.

 

[cvjw]

We bought DVC because we outgrew/got tired of cramming all 4 members of our family into a regular Disney hotel room. We have been visiting Disney once or twice a year for the past 10 years. Our boys aren't little anymore, and sharing a single room lost it's appeal or us - just really didn't seem like a vacation anymore. DVC works great for us. We get either a 1 or 2 bedroom villa for the 4 of us. That gives us lots of space to spread out in. We don't cook on vacation, but enjoy having the full size refrigerator, dishwasher and dining area for our breakfast and snacks. The washer and dryer allows us to just bring a few clothes and keep them clean. We leave tomorrow for 13 nights at Disney - 4 nights in a 1 bedroom at BWV, 3 nights in a 1 bedroom at BLT, and then 6 nights in a savannah view 2 bedroom at Kidani Village. We could never have done this vacation without DVC - we could stay 13 nights, but only in a moderate. We are totally spoiled by DVC.

 

[MelissathePooh]

DVC isn't for everyone, but it works GREAT for my family. We are able to vary the size of villa we stay and have different home resorts to take advantage of the 11 month window as we like certain places at certain times.

We're loving life at BCV right now. We (2 adults, 2 kids) are in a dedictated studio #339 for 11 nights. We'll check out and head over to Vero for 2 nights and the back to Kidani in a 1 bedroom for 6 nights. We were just sitting at SAB an hour ago feeling so completely relaxed and content that there is nothing rushed about our vacations anymore and how much we love our DVC.

Studios aren't ideal compared to a 1-2 bedroom, but we wanted to maximize our points. We've travelled with friends, family - its truly been something that we get to pass on. Now I will say that we bought back in 2002 (wish we'd done it earlier) and always had a CM discount on the contract so we haven't paid NEARLY as much as some, but resales are still reasonable.

I'm anxious to try out the pick and choose meal plan for this trip. That is a huge perk to me. I hate the DDP, but being able to pick and choose what nights and plan I get allows us to really maximize our cost and still enjoy some favorite meals.

 

[Disneygal27]

my family loves having DVC, we get a nicer quality for the money we spend on average each trip with purchase price and dues, and instead of going every two years we go at least once a year (if we do studios for the 3 of us, sometimes we get a summer and Christmas trip ) Plus, we like that on this trip we can stay for 9 nights at the Poly for the same as a 2 bedroom, because we would NEVER shell out that kind of cash at this point haha. Plus, with DVC you can get some shopping, tour, and other discounts, so you can check out those as well. Really it comes down to what kind of vacation experience you're looking for, for us it works out to have DVC to get some larger rooms and a quieter experience, but others are perfectly happy staying in value or moderate resorts every time. We were just looking for something more, plus the fact that my parents have guaranteed quality hotel rooms until they're in their 90s didn't hurt either lol

 

[rjvose17]

For us DVC made lots of sense too! We go at least once a year and there are four of us. We have stayed at all levels of Disney resorts and enjoy the deluxes the best with the exception of POP we really enjoyed our time there. Anyways we could never afford the rack rates for the deluxe resorts anymore so this provides us a way to have deluxe accommodations but not the deluxe price. We have two 100 pt contracts and our plan was to provide a long term investment for our girls too. We can will one contract to each. We got into BCV at 7 months too and our two contracts are for OKW and AKL. This will be our first stay using our DVC points in September. We are staying at both BCV and AKL. I love the flexibility. For us our only regret is not buying sooner...everything else that has been said by the previous posters is totally true. If you are still on the fence go to a tour...u get some free stuff and a view of the resorts. It's def. Win win!!

 

[Disney's Walt]

We have been members since '96 and have never once regretted buying our own piece of the magic. Back then we got free park passes until 2000 for every trip so that made it even more fun! I have 3 kids and my wife and I love being able to setup the kids in their own room and relax with some space. We are OKW and have never stayed anywhere else in 12 years of visits. The "homes" are huge and we like the quietness of OKW after a day in the parks. As far as perks go, to us the ultimate perk is to know that whenever we head down to WDW we know what our rooms are like and we know exactly what we will be getting on our vacation.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

As others have said, getting a deluxe villa for a lot less money is the main perk of DVC. If you are content staying in a small hotel room and getting daily mousekeeping, and other "bonuses" like free dining etc, DVC is not for you. I have no problem cleaning my own room, I'm a neat freak as it is and I love having a villa. Can't imagine doing Disney without it, so I love my DVC!

 

[Lynne M]

Sorry if this should be somewhere else. I looked around and missed it if there's a board for this. I love WDW enough to see the appeal of DVC. But, I feel like all I ever hear is "this isn't included" and "that's not included". It seems like it doesn't come with many perks - just the basics. Then you still have to pay for lots of extras to make it a nice vacation. Is that an incorrect perception?

Since DVC is a timeshare, it's not about perks - it's all about the villas. It's simply a way to pre-pay for your lodging in the villas. When comparing costs, you want to look at your costs for lodging now, and not include all of the other vacation costs - you'll be paying out of pocket for tickets, food, travel, etc, whether you stay on DVC points or pay cash for your resort reservation.

A few of the reasons people might decide that DVC is for them:

1) They want larger accommodations - the family's getting too big to fit into one resort room, or they just want a separate bedroom.

2) They want to be able to cook some meals on vacation, or have a washer/dryer in the villa.

3) They've been staying deluxe on a regular basis, and want the cost savings of a DVC studio - deluxe resort amenities, much lower cost overall for accommodations (that was my main reason for buying in).

Do check out our 3 DVC boards, you'll find lots of information and many, many DVC owners who will be happy to explain the ins and outs.

DVC - Operations
DVC - Planning
DVC - Mousecellaneous

 

[DisneyMim]

Thought I'd give my 2 cents. I am one of the oldest (wow, really don't like the sound of that one!! LOL!!) members, bought way back in 1991. My family loves, loves, loves being DVC members, BUT I would be the first to say it's not for everyone. We bought enough points over the years to be able to stay in a 2 bedroom villa. We love having 2 bedrooms and 2 (or sometimes 3) bathrooms so my family of 4 can be comfortable. My kids were raised on DVC and we all really feel that OKW is truly our second home. All that being said, we also like staying at the other resorts, staying club level, etc. We do this too. In addition we take other vacations like cruises (love RCCL, sorry Mickey), etc. DVC is expensive. I know some people say you really can't compare it to staying at a value or a moderate, but if your family likes staying there you may be better off doing that. If you want to take other vacations each year and the cost or owning DVC will not allow you to, than maybe DVC is not right for you either. What I am trying to say is that before you buy really really look into it. Read everything you can and don't take anyone's advice as your be all end all, including mine. Only you can tell if DVC is right for your family. There are tons of ways to enjoy WDW. You just need to find the best one for you.

Oh just thought of more. I could talk all day about Disney and DVC, but will try to contain myself!! You asked about extras. Well, yes. If you like to dine out at Disney you still have to pay for that. Some members cook and this saves money, but I'll be honest with you I've never used the stove in all our years of owning. We have breakfast in our villa and get the DDP for lunch and dinner. My family loves to go our at night to a Disney restaurant. It is a big part of our vacations. Obviously this adds to your vacation. Also we usually always have annual passes, and even with the DVC discount it adds to your vacation. As for perks I will tell you that way back Disney included passes until the year 2000, and there was always little gifts left in your villa. It was much more personal back then. Now it really can't be because there are so many members. Really all members get is a really great place to stay. As I said before we also stay at the resorts on non-points stays and sometimes we do feel the magic more, like free upgrades, etc. If you are looking for this sort of thing as members you really won't find it. I am trying to be as honest as I can be, because I believe you should hear everything before spending your hard earned money.

Hope I helped.

Enjoy The Magic!!