Can you tell me about DVC from a Canadian perspective?

[Addicted2TheMouse]

I'm no where near ready financially to actually buy but I'm very curious and hope to convince DH in the next 5 years. All the information on the DVC website is kind of vague and they won't send the DVD to Nova Scotia. So I'm wondering if any of you would feel comfortable giving me an idea as to how much you pay. Anybody buy as a resale? And what kind of discounts do you get on annual passes? And the dining plan?

Thanks so much!

 

[digskat]

I'm no where near ready financially to actually buy but I'm very curious and hope to convince DH in the next 5 years. All the information on the DVC website is kind of vague and they won't send the DVD to Nova Scotia. So I'm wondering if any of you would feel comfortable giving me an idea as to how much you pay. Anybody buy as a resale? And what kind of discounts do you get on annual passes? And the dining plan?

Thanks so much!

I would suggest you go on one of their tours the next time you visit WDW, they are very informative and you get little added bonuses, ie meal vouchers. It is a very relaxed info session. We did not buy this time but would interested in a few years. we met fellow Dis'rs who said they went every year for 3 years until they bought.
Check out the DVC forum and maybe post this here you may find some responses from fellow Canucks there also. Oh they dgive you a lovely hard cover book detailing resorts and points at different times during the year as well as a DVD. The kids get to play in a huge toy room and everyone gets a sundae afterwards.

 

[Torontogal]

We bought last year and used Timeshare Store. They were excellent. We bought OKW and will be embarking on our 2nd DVC vacation. I really love it and we always have soemthing to look forward to. I suggest you look into Timeshare Store and look at there current sales. We dealt with about 3 people there who are all really good.
PM me if you have any detailed questions...

 

[Addicted2TheMouse]

I would suggest you go on one of their tours the next time you visit WDW, they are very informative and you get little added bonuses, ie meal vouchers. It is a very relaxed info session.

Hmm... we were just down and I wanted to do that but I was afraid of a high pressure sales pitch when we aren't even in the position to buy yet.

 

[TreesyB]

I just bought in January as they were having a special promotion going on where I save $2200 off the list price.

The current rate is $98/ point, which buys you 50 years at Saratoga Springs Resort. I bought at the minimum 150 points, but you can add to your contract or buy a new one at any time. Basically that 150 points will get me a 6 night stay in a 1 bedroom during value season (which is when i normally travel). The resorts are the equivalent to a deluxe hotel on site, but at the rate of a moderate. Personally I like that kind of deal!

The aggregate points are guaranteed never to go up for the next 50 years. So basically you are locking your resort stays for the next 50 years at the current price.

And now, for Canadians, is a good time to buy because of the value of our dollar. Last time I checked it was sitting at 87 cents to the US dollar! I'm going to have the whole thing paid off by December (which I'm hoping the dollar would be closer to 90 cents). So even if you are currently just putting money away into a savings account, I think you start transferring it into a USD savings account so that you can lock in the great currency rate (but I am not a financial analyst, I just have dealt with a lot of US : CN currency exchange through my work).

The other thing I really like about DVC is the ability to take other Disney vacations as well as exchange those points to about 450 different resorts around the world. Some people don't think it's a great use of points, as it's more cost effective to rent your points out to others, but I like that I have the option to do it.

Anyway, that's my perspective of why I bought into DVC, as a Canadian!

 

[murcor]

Addicted2themouse....where in Nova Scotia are you? I know all about not being able to get any info since we live in a non-registered province. We got lots info from the disboards dvc forum. After reading disboards for about a year before our vacation, I knew I wanted to buy in when we were in Disney. My dh was not so sure. We paid cash for a weeks stay at SSR and he was sold on the dvc in a couple days into the vacation.

We booked a presentation, which is very laid back....no pressure and purchased 150pts. We added on 120pts when we were in Disney last year. I have no experience with resales. I do know that direct through disney is so easy and headache free.

Enjoy thinking about your dvc purchase

Angela

 

[cslittle999]

We're in the process of closing on a BWV resale. We used the other resale company that can't be mentioned. We bought 200 points at $80 point.

The high Canadian dollar saved us around $500 so now is a good time but I wouldn't let that rush you. $500 is nothing over the life of the contract.

Everything I've read says that the sales presentations are very low key. No pressure at all.

 

[MikeyNS]

I'm no where near ready financially to actually buy but I'm very curious and hope to convince DH in the next 5 years. All the information on the DVC website is kind of vague and they won't send the DVD to Nova Scotia. So I'm wondering if any of you would feel comfortable giving me an idea as to how much you pay. Anybody buy as a resale? And what kind of discounts do you get on annual passes? And the dining plan?

Thanks so much!

Hello fellow Bluenoser! We purchased at SSR in 2004 and could not be happier! Dues are about $900/year for 180 points, which we find to be a great amount for us. The savings are HUGE!!!! We're staying in a 2BR at the Boardwalk this October and the equivalent "rack rate" for the room is about $7k.. needless to say this being our third trip we have the value of DVC paid for. When we stayed at SSR in a 2BR for our first trip it would have cost us about $5,500; at the Boardwalk in a studio about $3,000 and this trip is equivalent to about $7,000 (ballpark!).. so about $15k in trips already and only 47? more years of vacation to go. One of the nice things is that we like to travel in the fairly low season (October/end Jan/Feb), so crowds are fairly low and the winter weather is balmy compared to NS! Plus when we get direct flights to Orlando from Halifax it's absolutely dreamy.

In order to get the value out of DVC you have to go there every year or two. Don't look at it as an investment, look at it as a pre-paid deluxe vacation. I feel very fortunate we were able to buy DVC. 180pts will probably do us for a long long time and don't regret not getting more (we don't stay on weekends on points). The AP discount is great and this year we'll probably get about 15 days out of them (October/Feb/October). Anyhoo I can't say enough good things about DVC.