Can someone explain how a DVC works? It sounds like a great thing but I'm new to this

[K'smom]

I've heard of these but I don't know how the points work or how much it costs. Do you pay monthly, all at once? I assume the price differs depending on how lavish you go, right? Does it only pay off if you go every year? If anyone has the time to give me the basics, I'd love to hear! TIA!!!

 

[safetymom]

Moving to DVC board

 

[mama03]

You can get many answers to your questions down on the DVC boards. I will try to answer some for you. We have been members since 1999 at BWV.
You pay for points, not weeks (like traditional timeshares). We paid for 150 points with use year March. Use year is when you get your years points and have to use or bank your past years points. Right now I think it is about 95.00-100.00 per point. So for 100.00 per point at 150 points would be $15000.00, that is all you pay for the life of the points, I think 45 years. It is not a lifetime ownership. Then depending on how many points you own you pay yearly maintenance fees. Can find current fees on this website. Also, look up resales. Then when you become a member, at your home resort you can book at 11 months out. If you want to book at your non-home resort then you can book at 7 months out. We have most certainly gotten our money's worth, we usually stay in a 2 bedroom for 6-7 nights. This has a full kitchen and washer/dryer in rooms. If you do not wish to commit your money, I would suggest renting from a long time owner. You can get the same accommodations and pay less than disney would charge. Hope this helps out some.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

I've heard of these but I don't know how the points work or how much it costs. Do you pay monthly, all at once? I assume the price differs depending on how lavish you go, right? Does it only pay off if you go every year? If anyone has the time to give me the basics, I'd love to hear! TIA!!!

Check out Wikipedia for a real good summary of DVC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_Vacation_Club

 

[thepops]

Also at the very top of the page here is a selection for DVC Points Charts. That will give you the number of points needed for a particular room, at a particular resort, during a partucular week. (Christmas time, Spring Break and thanksgiving are obviously more costly in the number of points you'd need to use than off times). If you plan on going to Disney often (once a year or every other year) and you like staying in nice accomodations, then DVC might be for you. If you're happy with the value resorts and that's really where you want to stay, then DVC may not be the right choice.

 

[Reginak]

You can buy resale (better price) form The Timeshare Store or new from Disney. If you buy new then you can pay in full at time of purchase or get a loan from Disney (easy to do) which you can pay out for up to ten years. You can make yearly payments or monthly payments. If you purchase from Disney, they offer great incentives, so check them out before you decide. You can also purchase resale from Disney and get it financed through them.


The standard reply is if you go at least once every two years and stay in a moderate or deluxe then DVC will save you money. We have owned for five years and it has already saved us money.

For a rough idea about how much it costs us each month, we financed 150 points for ten years and the loan payment runs about $150 a month and dues presently run about $50 a month or $600 a year. The dues rise at an average of 3%/yr.

If I had known that it was possible to finance and that the payments could be so low then we would have done this years earlier when my husband first mentioned it.

Look at the point charts and figure when you like to travel, how long you like to stay, and what size room you need - then you can figure out how points you should get. If you travel every other year then you can get by with only half of the points and bank them toward each trip.

The links above as well as the one at The Timeshare Store and Disney.com explain it better than I can, but if you have any questions or if some of it is confusing just ask.

Regina

 

[Grandbuddy]

Go to the Disney site and look at the DVC section. You can tour the various resorts online, and you can order a very informative DVD. However, if you do this, you will almost certainly start looking at your finances to see how many points you can afford to buy...;-)