Confused...

[tinkerlisa]

I am looking into DVC but do not understand it at all!! How does it work? Hopefully somebody can explain it to me better.

 

[javamom]

Hi there Tinker!
That's a tall order to explain DVC!

I suggest that you Google "DVC FAQ" and I bet that you will find lots of info on it. Otherwise, read, read, and read these threads as well!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Readers' Digest Version:

It's Disney's version of a timeshare. Only you don't buy fixed weeks, you buy points to stay in multiple places at different times of the year.

 

[tinkerlisa]

But when you buy the points, is it good for one hotel or a choice? The DVC website says you get your pick but i went to this other website I think it was the timeshare store, it looked like you buy into one hotel(ie: AKL for 3 days at 125 points). Would it be worth it to buy a resale or straight from Disney?

 

[chalee94]

But when you buy the points, is it good for one hotel or a choice? The DVC website says you get your pick but i went to this other website I think it was the timeshare store, it looked like you buy into one hotel(ie: AKL for 3 days at 125 points). Would it be worth it to buy a resale or straight from Disney?

here's a FAQ to start you off.

DVC pts can be used to book some onsite hotel rooms, such as those at the GF, but it costs a LOT of pts and they can increase over the years. it's cheaper to pay cash than buy DVC to reserve hotel rooms like that. (edited to add: there's also a $95 fee.)

DVC is primarily useful for booking the onsite DVC resorts (listed in the FAQ): Disney's Old Key West, Disney's BoardWalk Villas, the Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa, Disney's Beach Club Villas and the Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary Resort. (there are also 2 offsite resorts - at hilton head, sc and vero beach, fl). these have studio rooms which are similar to hotel rooms (but generally only have one queen size bed and one pullout sofabed) as well as multiroom "villas" for larger families or groups to spread out.

if you want to stay at the AKV (the 5th and 6th floors of the AKL as well as the new building currently under construction), then buying that AKV contract for 125 pts would allow you to book rooms there. (you would not be able to use the pts to stay in AKL rooms). the point charts here will tell you what you can get each year with 125 pts.

you will also owe annual dues on the AKV contract of roughly $625 per year (and it will generally increase by 3-4% over the years).

as an owner at AKV, you would be able to book reservations there 11 months in advance. at 7 months, you could book at the other DVC resorts if they still have availability and other DVC owners will be able to book at the AKV. BTW, timeshares don't typically work as well for people who like to make reservations on short notice.

in short, resales are usually cheaper than buying direct and you have the option of purchasing fewer pts (buying direct requires a purchase of 160 pts), but it takes longer.

 

[dianeschlicht]

DVC is a timeshare, not a hotel. You buy into one as your "home" and you can reserve at all of the DVC resorts if there is availability 7 months ahead of your vacation time. The flexible part of DVC is that you are not limited to a specific room type or week like some traditional timeshares. Instead, you can book any time and any size unit as long as you have enough points, and it is available.

 

[stopher1]

The key to DVC is the flexibility that comes with it, as others have said. It is basically a Disney timeshare program. Your initial purchase becomes your "home resort" - but you will have the opportunity to use any of the resorts in the growing DVC collection of resorts. There are 6 DVC resorts at WDW (soon to be 8), one at Vero Beach, one at Hilton Head, one under construction at Disneyland and one in initial site-work (pre-construction) in Hawaii.

At your home resort you will be able to book reservations 11 months prior to your desired vacation time - all other resorts it's 7 months prior, so the priority for that individual resort belongs to those who purchased that resort as their home resort.

You also purchase a # of points per year vs. a set week each year. How you use those points is completely up to you. You can use them all at once, or over several trips if you want. If you won't be traveling one year, bank them into the next year and enjoy a longer vacation, or several smaller ones. Or, if you need to, borrow points from the coming year to give you what you need in the current year. Plus you can choose the size of your accomodations based on the needs of an individual trip - perhaps one time you need a 1 br and other time you only need a studio, maybe another time you want to bring some friends along so you need a 2 br - ok, as long as there is availability you can do it!

You also have the flexibility, if you want, to trade out those points to use at other Disney resorts around the world (including FL, CA, Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong), or trade-out for one of hundreds of resorts via the RCI timeshare network. You could also use the points for Disney Cruises or Adventures by Disney excursions, if you so desired. Any of these options would come with a $95 transaction fee.

As an owner of points, you are responsible for annual dues in proportion to your point total, but when you stay on points at a DVC resort, you don't pay anything out of pocket since you've paid your lodging expenses in advance via your initial purchase price. Basically you're pre-paying for lodging via your purchase, and then get to enjoy the benefit when you want to and how you want to over the life of the contract.

There are perks and discounts that come along with your membership as well, but they can and do change from time to time, so don't consider joining just because there might currently be a cool perk. Currently there are discounts on AP's at both WDW and Disneyland, and various other discounts.

For us, having the room size was important. As a family of 5, we didn't enjoy cramming into a small hotel room. Being able to spread out, make meals in our room and having the flexibility of going when and where we wanted to sold us on DVC.

 

[tinkerlisa]

Oh ok I see now...Thanks everyone!