Any Canadian DVC owners?

[NorthernON_MOM]

I'd love to ask you some questions. If you are out there please post. Thanks

 

[DSNY FN]

Fire away what do you want to know?

 

[jaysue]

Canada Calling

 

[RoyalCanadian]

Glad to be a part of SSR here in Cambridge, ON.

 

[maryann4086]

Member at BWV since Jan 2000, how can I help?

 

[MikeJ]

To paraphrase Dr. Seuss:

"We are here! We are here! WE ARE HERE!!

- Mike

P.S. Don't get me going. I may start reciting Fox in Socks from memory. Yes, be afraid. Be very afraid....

 

[mbb]

although we are few...

we are Proud to Be CanadianDVC



...apologies to the liquid refreshment company...

 

[NorthernON_MOM]

We just got back from our first Disney vacation on Thursday and we really enjoyed ourselves. We definitely know we want to go back again. Also, on the DVC channel we watched it a few times and with all the DVC boths around you can't help but be interested. We didn't look into it though while we were down there as we wanted to make the most of the time we had. SO....now I'm filled with questions on how it works. So here I go.

1. How long have you been a Member and what made you decide to become one?

2. How does it work?

3. Roughly how much does it cost?

4. How often do you use yours? and do you fly or drive down?

5. Do you always see the parks when you are using it? or do you just vacation there?

6. Did you buy through Disney or resale?

7. Anything else helpful that you can add would be great. Thanks for anwering.

 

[mbb]

Originally posted by NorthernON_MOM
We just got back from our first Disney vacation on Thursday and we really enjoyed ourselves. We definitely know we want to go back again. Also, on the DVC channel we watched it a few times and with all the DVC boths around you can't help but be interested. We didn't look into it though while we were down there as we wanted to make the most of the time we had. SO....now I'm filled with questions on how it works. So here I go.

1. How long have you been a Member and what made you decide to become one?

2. How does it work?

3. Roughly how much does it cost?

4. How often do you use yours? and do you fly or drive down?

5. Do you always see the parks when you are using it? or do you just vacation there?

6. Did you buy through Disney or resale?

7. Anything else helpful that you can add would be great. Thanks for anwering.

1.Since last August. Lots of reasons...WDW/Orlando is a great place to vacation, it fits our families vaction needs, like the flexibility, remember, DVC is a prepaid Vacation Club, wasn't like other Timeshares(fixed week), the "Disney Brand",...and we just really liked it
2. Call and ask for the info..our guide is Karen Guyder - she's great!
3. SSR - $89/point going up to $95/point April 9Minimum "Buy in" is 150 points
4. As often as we can!!
5. Bit of both...looking forward to no park vacations
6. Through Disney...though we would do resale
7. You'll get lots of great info from everyone...although it seems really overwhelming, once you get the "hang" of it...you'll wonder why it seemed so hard...

Enjoy - and ask away some more!!

 

[mbb]

but I'll leave it for another poster...you'll get lots of replies!

 

[snarfieca]

Hi. I'm a Winnipeger who used to live in Kenora.

We've been DVC owners since 2001. We have 150 points at Villa of Wilderness Lodge. I've loved the Wilderness since the first time we went there for a breakfast shortly after it opened. We bought into DVC when we were staying in the back corner of one of the back buildings at All Star Movies. VWL reminds me of the area around Kenora.

We've been down twice as members. We bought a 5 day park hopper passes. We used the passes between the 2 stays. We were shocked to find out how much park passes costs as we had gone thru package vacations before.

We've stayed at VWL 2 times & have spent 4 days at their resort in Vero Beach. That was a treat. We will be going to Disneyland this summer & staying at the Grand Californian on points (for a few days).

Because there's a kitchen in the room we save a bundle on food. We save our dining out for lunches or special suppers.

We've flown down both times - the second time was on Airmiles
Next year we're planning to drive down in March & maybe see some Spring Training baseball games.

We have no regrets.
I hope this has helped you.

Brenda
from MB

 

[NorthernON_MOM]

Other than the original purchase price of the DVC are there upkeep costs each year? or is it just a one shot deal?

 

[DSNY FN]

We have been members since 2001 and wanted to join in 98 when we first toured at OKW. I was still in school at the time so we figured it probably wasn't the best idea thinking back on it we should have gotten it then oh well you know hind sight and all. We go almost every year and we drive down from London. Our original purchase of 150 points was 14thousand Canadian if memory serves. We have a 500 dollar a year service fee and we financed it through Disney and it comes off our Mastercard every month. We always visit the parks we couldn't go and be that close to the place and not go to the parks that would just be wrong especially with 5 kids there that would be including the 2 adult kids Lisa and I. If you have any more specifc questions feel free to ask them I know they will get answered for you.

 

[Canadian Tom]

Hello: We own 300 points at the BCV purchased 150 in Aug. another 150 in Nov. I have been studying DVC for 12 years and finally took the plunge. Just got back from BCV in a studio during march break and it was the best vacation at WDW we've ever had. We've been 21 time before.

How much does it cost? Depends, if you buy from Disney it's $89 going to $95. If you buy a resale it depends where you buy, price can vary anywhere from $60 - $80. One very wise bit of advice, buy where you want to stay. If you don't know, then rent points from members and try it before you buy it.

Up to now we go once/twice a year(school march break or summer) but that's all changing, We're retiring and planning to spend more time at WDW. Usually fly and rent a car.

We now buy annual passes and visit the parks when we feel like it, usually sometime during the day/evening.

Bought through Disney.

Biggest advice I can offer, buy where you want to stay.

Any other questions, Just ask or e-mail me. Canadian Tom

 

[jaysue]

There are ongoing maintenance fees - these vary by resort and currently range from $3.80 US per point to $4.70 US per point with Saratoga Springs Resort being the least expensive and Vero Beach the most.

This may or may not be a consideration for you - some people will buy where they think the maintenance fees will be consistently lower and some buy for location first other considerations second.

Your total maintenance fees will be based on your number of points.

Your number of points needed/desired will be based on the following factors and constraints:

Factors:

Location - some resorts "cost" more points per night than others

Room Type - some resorts have Grand Villas (sleep up to 12), others do not - if room type is important in this respect, it factors into the decision

Room Size - Old Key West has larger rooms - the other WDW resorts have almost identical rooms

Planning Horizon - Do you have the ability to plan a vacation at 11 months or is it always 7 months or less - if it is 7 or less then you should buy the least expensive resort since you would not be able to take advantage of your home resort priority booking

Frequency of Visit - with DVC you can bank and borrow points so in theory (unless DVC stops this which they could in theory) you could have 3 years of points available for a single year/trip - so if you want to go to WDW once per 3 years, this is a factor in your decision

Access Costs - since you live in N Ontario, you may want to/have already considered costs to get to Orlando (air fare etc.) - this factor may impact your frequency of visit and thus the number of points you require

Constraint - constraints are mental, financial and family related - in other words can I mentally handle the purchase/planning etc. associated with this investment

Am I able to handle the financial commitment whether up front and also in maintenance fees

Am I ok that this timeshare point ownership has a fixed end date being either 2042 or 2054 based on the resort choice

Is my family ok with this and prepared to commit to Orlando centric vacations

Is Disney World specifically so important from a location view that I need to pay out the premium price for the location or would other timeshares in and around Orlando that are less expensive be ok? For example if Universal, Sea World and other area attractions equally or more important than Disney than DVC may not make the most sense from a cost perspective compared to other area timeshares

thanks
jaysue

 

[CdnPoohBear]

Hi, we are also from Cambridge,Ontario. We have been members of DVC since 1999. We own 150 points at BWV. We have had many great trips.

2000 Shelbourne Murray Hill, NYC
2000 Old Key West
2001 Hilton Head Island
2001 The Sagamore, NY
2002 Vero Beach
2002 BoardWalk
2004 Hilton Head Island (counting the days until we leave!!)


All of these trips have been entirely with points, they have been all for 1 week stays with the exception of NYC and The Sagamore, they were for 3 nights each.

It was a great "investment", not in the financial way, for our family time together. Disneyworld is great, but we've had fabulous family time at the beach too!!!

 

[Alysa]

1. We have been memebers since we went for New Years and the Millennium celebration in 1999/2000 (yes, I know that was not the real millenium).

2. How does it work?
Other people have probably answered this question much better than I could but if you have a specific question let me know!

3. Re cost: I always wish that I had investigated resale but I have heard that with SSR you might get all fifity years which would be a good reason to go through Disney (is that correct DVC members)?

4. We use ours every other vacation - we go to Europe or skiing, then we go back to Disney. We used to drive but after almost hitting a deer on our way down we vowed never again. With hotels, food, gas and outlet malls you don't really save that much. Plus I think it would take a stronger person than I to drive with children. A great tip we found on these boards was flying out of Buffalo - at $200 CAN per person you can save that quite quickly if you plan ahead.

5. Do you always see the parks when you are using it?
This trip were are going to Vero for four days and then WDW for three and we only plan to spend one or two days in the park at the most. It is so relaxing and fun and luxurious just spending time toghether in the beautiful restaurants, pools and hotels. Wonderful family time - the parks are always fun though - I would still go every day for a bit if I had unlimited $

7. Our parents never made a lot of time for family vacations when we were young. We wanted to change that for ourselves. This has been a great experience for our family and for us as a couple. We are so excited about our first trip with our little girl! Arrange a great loan with your bank with a quick payback plan and you won't regret it!



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