Buy DVC Membership in park or by phone?

[christa112]

Awww Stacie don't beat yourself up over the free cruise because I do believe you had to take it during certain times etc. So, though it was free there were stipulations to getting it. When we purchased you could either get a free cruise or extra $ off. We chose the $ off for a few reasons 1. It dropped the price 2. The stipulations with traveling with the cruise and my entire family would not have been free.

This is why I rarely look at the new incentives that come out. I am always afraid there will be a better deal out there.

We just purchased by phone after watching the winter DVC webcast, and after taking two tours on site during the past 2-3 years. On both on site tours we received what we called the "magical fast passes." The passes were great, and made up for the time for the tour.

I needed/wanted the time to digest the info, research things, review paper work, etc. (I'm a lawyer so its just a part of me!) Although we could have made the leap a couple years ago (and maybe we should have..still went there anyway), DH was still in residency, and I was still the primary income. Now, I'm only part-time, DH has his job and at the end of the day I am satisfied. We did pass up what I now think was probably a fantastic offer on the second tour (free cruise...never realized how must those cost!), but feel satisfied with the deal we got.

 

[amystevekai&bump]

We did a tour back in 2001 and were not really in a position to buy (I don't think we got any FP's then as we were on our way back to the airport for our flight back home), we have recently purchased over the phone and will be looking to add on next year. Our first trip 'home' will be in Dec - is it worth us doing the tour again, will they offer FP's etc to add on customers or just 'brand new' buyers?

Plus I can't decide whether to add on at BLT (our current home) or BCV - would it be possible to look around a room at either resort to help me make up my mind? (We are staying in a MK view studio this trip, but the add on would mean we could regularly stay in a 1 bed MK view and I would quite like to see one 'in person')

Many thanks for any info!!

 

[DisneyHeather]

Really, the only advantage of buying in person is that, once you sign your paperwork, you will get a temporary DVC ID which can be used for discounts. Also, if you buy in-person your points are immediately available to you, and you can make your first reservation before you walk out of the Preview Center. You will also get FastPasses (to compensate for the time on the tour) and everyone, regardless of whether they buy or not, will get ice cream. Purchasing by phone will take a couple weeks in order to get you in the system but, other than that, the process is the same. Good luck!

I bought by phone and the temporary DVC ID came with the paperwork which took about 2 days to get to me. Once I had that I was able to call and book stuff right away with it. It didn't take 2 weeks to be able to do it.