Can someone school me on the whole dvc thingy??

[cyndibelle]

Hi there..hubby and i and the kids average 2-3 trips a year and i am wondering if it would be worth our while to buy into this....we stay at pop century every time and love it there..i am not sure what resorts etc they offer for dvc..but any and all info you folks can give me would be great !!!! Thanks so much !!!!

 

[Chuck S]

Well, the DVC resorts make the most financial sense if you normally stay in Moderate or Deluxe class Disney resorts. If you all are perfectly happy and comfortable at Pop (we often stay there one night if we arrive early, it is a nice resort), you probably won't see the savings in DVC.

My advise would be, on your next trip, schedule a sales tour...DVC is very low pressure, the tour should last about 2 hours, you can see the SSR resort rooms, find out about the DVC, then see if it is right for you.

http://130.94.75.33/showthread.php?t=1571

Also browse through this thread, it will answer a lot of the common questins people have when they first look into DVC.

 

[Blackunicorn]

DVC is a point-based program. You purchase X number of points and spend them how you wish. You'll get a book with the number of points required to reserve at each resort at each time of year. You will pay association fees on your property. You may reserve a stay at the resort you own 11 months before your stay, and you may reserve a stay at any other DVC resort 7 months before your stay. You may bank your points for one year. You may borrow from one year in advance. In essence, if I banked last year's points (not happening), and I chose to borrow the points from 2007, I would have the equivalent of three year's worth of points for a trip this year. Then, if I chose to travel next year, I could borrow points from 2008, but that's a nasty cycle that ends in add-ons. (Add-ons are additional contracts with more points to help the Disney addicted get their fix.) You have a use-year, which is basically the month that your DVC year ends and begins. You must have your points banked or used up by this day, or they will expire. All DVC contracts expire after a certain length of time, which I can't remember at this moment (sorry) but seems to me to be something like 50 years from the opening date of the resort. This is a very simplified explanation, but I think it's good for basics.

DVC is a luxury resort, so I don't think there's any way it can be considered a savings if you normally stay at a value resort. Just like you'd pay a lot more for a room at a deluxe resort, you'll pay more for DVC than you will for a value room.

However, some things to consider are: Would you **like** to stay at a luxury resort, if you could afford it? Would it be a big convenience to you to have a kitchen and/or a washer and dryer available to you? Would you appreciate having the extra room available in a villa? How important would these things be to you?

I second the notion of taking a tour. It can't hurt, you'll get some specific answers to your questions, and they are *not* meant to be high pressure. If your guide pressures you, they're doing their job wrong, and I would ask for a new one.

 

[aDVCwannabe]

sent you a pm - hope the info helps

 

[vascubaguy]

I've did quite a few calculations and estimates before I decided to buy-in. I am a budgeting type person and was checking to see if I could "save" money by going with DVC. What I determined was that I could save some money (not much) with DVC as long as I stayed in a studio during the low cost seasons; however, the savings was not significant. The deciding factor for me was that we desired to stay in nicer/bigger accommodations.

You might want to consider renting points and actually stay at one of the DVC's AND do the tour at SSR. Then you can get a good feel for at least 2 of the resorts.

 

[CruzNMom]

The previous post did a great job of explaining the "points" concept.

I want to add that with the points you can also cruise on Disney's line or select other line (maybe only to Alaska), you can also "trade out" to literally hundreds of other non-Disney locations. We spent 2 weeks in Hawaii last year and have already planned a week at Atlantis (Bahamas) this year. I have a co-worker who went to London, Rome, Finland in last several years and is in Brazil right now. These tradeouts are for other timeshares (like Marriott) and are usually for 1 week Sat-Sat or Sun-Sun. Some are available nightly.

As our kids got older we found we weren't doing the Disney thing as much but still enjoy spending the points other ways. I'm guessing in a few years, we'll be doing the Disney thing again with grandkids.

 

[Eeyore In Disguise]

I would also suggest that you take a tour. There is no pressure whatsoever. We had been staying at Disney for two weeks every year for about 10 years before we discovered the DVC. Although our kids are now 19 and 21, we all still enjoy our trips to Disney, not just for the parks, but for the quality and service. We only became DVC members 4 years ago, but it is one of the best investments we have ever made. It really is home from home. Not only can we also visit without the kids, but over time they can use our points to visit without us. We have saved and borrowed enough points to take the whole family(9 of us,) over Christmas this year for my husband's 50th birthday. We could never have done that without the points. I would recommend it to anyone. Go for it!