Ask the experts...

[yrusaf]

All,

Just got back from a land/sea trip at the BC and Wonder and were blown away. Since the return we've been diberating over a DVC purchase we're still unclear on one thing. I've read through many of these threads and I've gotten the impression that if Disney is not the primary destination that we would plan on visiting for the next 40-odd years, other interval programs would be better suited to us. We like the idea of a Disney resort as our home option, and don't want to have to attempt to trade in from other plans, but also are young enough that we have many destinations we want to visit.

I would anticipate our visits to on/off site Disney resorts would be a once every five years type thing. In many references I have seen it said that the point cost for the other destinations is at such a premium that it makes this plan inefficcient for travel outside of Disney. The Disney Club salesperson gave me the impression that, other than the Conc/Adventure collections, the point costs at the other destinations was forever tied to the lowest point schedule of the Disney resorts. To me, that seems like quite a good deal. the Adventure destinations do not really interest us, and for the times we might go to a Concierge destination, the premium might be worth it.

Am I off base in this understanding? And on a related subject, can anyone testify to the worth of this plan in general for traveling outside of Disney? And lastly, what about availability for the resorts outside of Disney-any testimonials?

Thanks so much for any advice that any of you can give. This board is an unbelievable resource. Here's hoping DVC ends up being our best option!

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Hi yrusaf, and welcome to The DIS!
I am not an expert on trading DVC, but there are people here who are. I am sure they will be along shortly. I have heard others say that if you do not do Disney at least every two years, DVC may not be for you.

One thing to remember is that you may become a Disney fanatic, and like many of us here, decide to go MORE than once a year!

Good Luck with your decision, and keep us posted. There are some very knowledgable people here to answer all your questions!

 

[dizfanz]

IMHO, once every five years is not enough to make DVC worth it. Travelling outside DVC resorts costs a lot of points. To do that more than visiting a DVC is not efficient point usage, but maybe that's just me. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Dean]

As stated, you will be better off using cash for the items you are interested. the other points options are expensive in terms of points netting you about $5-7 per point in value while your cost is more in the $8-11 per point range depending on when and how you bought plus which resort. You can almost always get the other points options (CC, DCL, Adventurer, etc) for cheaper than the value of the points. There are too many restrictions with Interval as well as uncertainties to make that a reasonable reason to buy DVC. As for the other options being tied to the cheaper points, hogwash. They are very expensive and the program could change dramatically or even vanish next year. There have been major increases in the Cruise and Disney Collection (other WDW hotels) in the last couple of years.

If you want to buy enough points to go every other year or so and pay cash or look at other alternatives for the other options, you might be able to make it work.