Canadian DVC Members - 198 - List on Page 1

[EricMat]

Simply wanted to add my name to the growing list of Canadian DVC owners.
We own 200 BLT points since 2014

 

[tiredmommyof3]

You can add my name to the list. We have been owners since 2016 at AKL and we live in beautiful BC

 

[MarieCC]

Simply wanted to add my name to the growing list of Canadian DVC owners.
We own 200 BLT points since 2014

Hey! i'm from Quebec City too! I just wanted to know where did you buy your DVC? Directly from Disney or resale? If in resale, can you tell me exactly where you bought? Is it complicated to do it that way as a canadian? (Sorry in advance for all those questions )

 

[Canadian Girl]

Where in Atlantic Canada do you live? I didn't think there were any changes to the March Break next year...NS is from March 12-16 and NB is from 5-9. Not sure of the others. It may be cheaper if it is later.

Just saw your question. We live on PEI. Hopefully combining the break and Easter will not be a regular thing going forward.

 

[fab1976]

New owner at Polynesian! DVC is something I have looked into many many times over the years and after convincing my husband to go to an info session just to get the free gc and fast passes, he figured out it is actually something that works for us! We have started out small but I see us adding more in the future, again will wait for him to realize that himself!

 

[mernin]

We are new owners at AKV! We just finished our resale purchase for 120 pts at the end of October. Can’t wait for our first official visit on our own points!

 

[Goodwill234]

Hello! We're fellow Canadians from BC as well, and I'm interested in purchasing into DVC. We just got back from our trip, and stayed at both the Poly and Boardwalk DVC studios, and loved it. Poly especially. We're thinking about starting small, and then adding on later if we really utilize it. Anyways, I have a few questions:

1. As Canadians, how did you guys pay for the membership? Did you have to do a bank wire transfer, or could you do credit card? Also, with the yearly dues, do you do that at the beginning of each year with another wire transfer? Do you guys pay the yearly dues monthly or yearly?
2. Have any of you guys sold your membership? What's the tax implications on selling it? Are there any tax implications being a Canadian and owning DVC?
3. Have you guys had any trouble booking using DVC points? Is it possible to get a week in a row or have you guys had to piece together days at different resorts?
4. Anyone regretted their purchase?

Thanks in Advance!

 

[ABCanada]

Hello! We're fellow Canadians from BC as well, and I'm interested in purchasing into DVC. We just got back from our trip, and stayed at both the Poly and Boardwalk DVC studios, and loved it. Poly especially. We're thinking about starting small, and then adding on later if we really utilize it. Anyways, I have a few questions:

1. As Canadians, how did you guys pay for the membership? Did you have to do a bank wire transfer, or could you do credit card? Also, with the yearly dues, do you do that at the beginning of each year with another wire transfer? Do you guys pay the yearly dues monthly or yearly?

If you purchase direct you may use a Credit Card. I would only do this with a USD or no FX fee card to avoid the 2.5% FX fee.
It has been awhile but I believe we used a money order for the resale purchases.
We pay our annual fees by Credit Card in January. I believe you can only do monthly payments if you have a true US bank account. Most of the USD accounts though Canadian banks would not work. There is likely more information in the banking sticky thread https://www.disboards.com/threads/usd-bank-accounts-and-credit-cards.1678988/

2. Have any of you guys sold your membership? What's the tax implications on selling it? Are there any tax implications being a Canadian and owning DVC?

There is a recent thread on selling https://www.disboards.com/threads/any-canadians-sell-their-dvc-help.3647407/
There is a 15% withholding on sale. See the thread for more information.

3. Have you guys had any trouble booking using DVC points? Is it possible to get a week in a row or have you guys had to piece together days at different resorts?

There are certain room types, value and concierge, that are difficult to get. If you book far enough in advance, > 7 months, there should be no issues for most rooms at your home resort. Obviously peak times are also more difficult. Studios, lowest points, tend to go first.

4. Anyone regretted their purchase?

Given we have added on three times I would say no.
Things to be aware of:
Most people use the cost of a studio to justify the purchase and end up staying in a larger unit.
When it is just the two of us we usually get a one bedroom. Three or more is a two or three bedroom.
I suspect most people end up with considerably more points than they initially planned on.

I am interested in what you liked about Poly. We had considered an add on there but held off. What did love about it?

 

[Goodwill234]

Thanks for the input ABCanada. So you can pay your yearly dues on your Canadian credit card?

I'm usually a pretty saavy traveller and we had travelled to Disney World in February of 2016 before our most recent trip a week ago. We stayed at the Best Western in Disney Springs when we went the first time, and a day at the All Star Resort (I had stayed there once about 10 years ago with my parents). Looking at the prices for the moderate and deluxe hotels, I couldn't imagine ever staying at one and didn't really understand why anyone would considering the price difference between the off site hotels at Disney Springs. We had booked to go back to the Best Western this trip, until we had an opportunity to stay at the DVC rooms at the Polynesian and Boardwalk through a connection and I finally understood why people pay the premium to stay onsite at a Disney resort. There really is a Disney bubble!

It's interesting because we're from the West Coast, and have travelled to many of the Polynesian Islands, including Rarotonga and Hawaii, so we werent too sure what to expect at the Poly, but we loved it because of it's location and the rooms. I wouldn't say it's exactly like being on a Polynesian island, but its unique in a different way. We loved being able to hop on the monorail or ferryboat, and also being able to see the fireworks from the resort was pretty awesome. We also loved the double bathrooms and how large the rooms were. I also found it a lot quieter than the Boardwalk, our room at the Boardwalk was quite noisy.

Currently, we're a family of four with 2 young boys aged 2 and 4, but we're expecting another one later next year. We do travel quite a bit, and usually we enjoy going somewhere new, but we've been to Disney World twice now within 2 years, and Disneyland twice within those two years. I don't know what it is about Disney, but in the past few years have found myself really interested in it, and really enjoying the parks. I guess for me it just feels like a place of inspiration, and a place to escape the realities of the world. I'm pretty sure we'll continue to go to Disney World for the next few years.

With that being said, I'm weary of timeshares, and have heard nothing but bad things about them ever since I was young. I understand DVC is a bit different from your typical timeshare, but just wanted to get some opinions before we dive in. Resale seems reasonable if purchasing without finacing and if it's being utilized every year or every second year. I think my biggest concern is buying into it, and not being able to book a room.

 

[deedubb]

With that being said, I'm weary of timeshares, and have heard nothing but bad things about them ever since I was young. I understand DVC is a bit different from your typical timeshare, but just wanted to get some opinions before we dive in. Resale seems reasonable if purchasing without finacing and if it's being utilized every year or every second year. I think my biggest concern is buying into it, and not being able to book a room.

I think the big difference with DVC is how easy it is to sell your timeshare if you decide in a few years that Disney no longer suits your family's vacation style. It's unlikely you'll make money off it now, whereas those who bought many years ago certainly could. However, you'll almost certainly get a big chunk of it back. The other benefit is that it is very easy to rent your points if you decide to take a break from Disney for a few years. If you love Disney, I think it's almost a no-brainer.

As for using your credit card, I don't believe you can do so if buying resale. You can use it for the initial deposit, but the remaining funds must be wired or a money order.

 

[pharm55]

Thanks for the input ABCanada. So you can pay your yearly dues on your Canadian credit card?

I'm usually a pretty saavy traveller and we had travelled to Disney World in February of 2016 before our most recent trip a week ago. We stayed at the Best Western in Disney Springs when we went the first time, and a day at the All Star Resort (I had stayed there once about 10 years ago with my parents). Looking at the prices for the moderate and deluxe hotels, I couldn't imagine ever staying at one and didn't really understand why anyone would considering the price difference between the off site hotels at Disney Springs. We had booked to go back to the Best Western this trip, until we had an opportunity to stay at the DVC rooms at the Polynesian and Boardwalk through a connection and I finally understood why people pay the premium to stay onsite at a Disney resort. There really is a Disney bubble!

It's interesting because we're from the West Coast, and have travelled to many of the Polynesian Islands, including Rarotonga and Hawaii, so we werent too sure what to expect at the Poly, but we loved it because of it's location and the rooms. I wouldn't say it's exactly like being on a Polynesian island, but its unique in a different way. We loved being able to hop on the monorail or ferryboat, and also being able to see the fireworks from the resort was pretty awesome. We also loved the double bathrooms and how large the rooms were. I also found it a lot quieter than the Boardwalk, our room at the Boardwalk was quite noisy.

Currently, we're a family of four with 2 young boys aged 2 and 4, but we're expecting another one later next year. We do travel quite a bit, and usually we enjoy going somewhere new, but we've been to Disney World twice now within 2 years, and Disneyland twice within those two years. I don't know what it is about Disney, but in the past few years have found myself really interested in it, and really enjoying the parks. I guess for me it just feels like a place of inspiration, and a place to escape the realities of the world. I'm pretty sure we'll continue to go to Disney World for the next few years.

With that being said, I'm weary of timeshares, and have heard nothing but bad things about them ever since I was young. I understand DVC is a bit different from your typical timeshare, but just wanted to get some opinions before we dive in. Resale seems reasonable if purchasing without finacing and if it's being utilized every year or every second year. I think my biggest concern is buying into it, and not being able to book a room.

Hi - you may already have all the answers you need on this but in case not I thought I would chime in.
Yes you can use a Canadian credit card to pay dues - that is how we do it every year and they are due Jan 15. In order to set up monthly payments you need a USD bank account in the US so we aren't able to do that as we don't have one of those.
We own at Aulani (direct) and Grand Cali (resale) and have stayed at Grand Cali, BLT, Kidani and Grand Floridian. We are booking another trip this summer in Florida and looking at Beach Club and Copper Creek. Because we are mainly booking 2 bedroom villas we have never had a problem getting a room when we wanted it as long as we were booking 7-11 months out. With that though there are resorts you can get within the 7 month window; just may not be the one that was your first choice or view etc. With our work we have to plan that far ahead (7-11 months) anyway so that hasn't been a problem. Having said that tho we have not tried to book in Florida during F&W in the fall as that time of year is more difficult for us to travel so when we have gone then it has been to California where we have home advantage so getting a room hasn't been a problem there either. When most people buy into DVC the biggest problem for them seems to be having enough points to go as often or stay as long as they want provided they can afford the purchase and the maintenance fees as there are lots that end up in foreclosure or up for sale quickly on the resale sites. I would never recommend buying a timeshare if you couldn't afford to buy it outright as they are not good investments BUT if you are going to buy a timeshare this is definitely the one to have especially if you are a disney fan. We made the decision to not travel to Disney in 2017 and to rent out our extra points that we wouldn't need or be able to use for a 2017 trip. We did that through David's and it was super easy and fast. If renting out your points tho you want to make sure you rent them when they still have home booking advantage as you will get paid more for them.
The biggest disadvantage to being a Canadian DVC owner other than the exchange rate is the high airline prices to travel to California or Florida compared to what the americans can get similar flights for. If you are lucky enough to live close to the US border you may be able to take advantage of that but we are too far away.
I have never regretted our DVC purchase and look forward to using it long term. We have another timeshare that we bought in 1998 (non-Disney) and I regret that one every year when I pay the maintenance fees and wish we didn't have it. The locations we can book with it are not great and quite run down compared to Disney and we struggle every year to use our week as it is so restrictive. Disney is much more flexible and easy to use, just pricey.
Did you guys end up buying into DVC?

 

[Goodwill234]

Hey, we did end up buying into DVC through resale at SSR and our deed just got recorded on Friday! Now it's just waiting for the membership info to get mailed. I'm still wondering if we made the right decision, but I guess time will tell. I did purchase with cash, there would've been no way I would've financed something like this. We're hoping to make an annual family tradition of going to Disney for Christmas or Halloween for a week. Once I get our membership info I'll post with our timeline and buying as Canadians if anyone's interested!

 

[pharm55]

Hey, we did end up buying into DVC through resale at SSR and our deed just got recorded on Friday! Now it's just waiting for the membership info to get mailed. I'm still wondering if we made the right decision, but I guess time will tell. I did purchase with cash, there would've been no way I would've financed something like this. We're hoping to make an annual family tradition of going to Disney for Christmas or Halloween for a week. Once I get our membership info I'll post with our timeline and buying as Canadians if anyone's interested!

That’s great! Congrats!

 

[cjbcam]

Our deed closed on Dec 18. We still have not received mail with member ids and stuff. How long on average does it take.

 

[FindingTheMouse]

You can add us to the list. We purchased AKV last summer, resale direct from Disney. Started small, we were able to buy 75 pts and they contract had 75 points from 2016 still unused. We are already thinking of adding more points through resale, non direct from Disney. Will probably do same UY and resort. Our first DVC trip is coming up in 50 days and hopefully a trip in December when the 11 month window opens for the days we want to go. Our trip in March is a split stay. Three nights in Jambo standard view and 3 nights in Kidani with a savannah view.

 

[Goodwill234]

Our deed closed on Dec 18. We still have not received mail with member ids and stuff. How long on average does it take.

You should call in. Ours closed on Jan 4th and deed was recorded on Jan 5th. I called in today to get the member id and activation code and points and everything was already loaded on account. They were actually super helpful, stayed on the phone with me when I signed up the account too. Supposedly ours was already on record since January 11th.

 

[mort1331]

You can add us to the list. Been members for 5 years just have never come on this link. We have 2 contracts both SSR. Waiting for the dollar to go back to per to add more on.

 

[bcwife76]

Please add us to the list!!! We just came back from Hawaii where we purchased our first contract, direct with Aulani being 'home'

 

[Roguez]

Please add us too!!! Just closed on our OKW purchase...woot!

 

[stfxkid]

Me too. OKW through resale, just got my membership number and have already booked 4 days at VB for May 2-4 and a week in September at AK. So excited!!!!