Considering DVC

[maznorm]

Hi,

We are considering buying into DVC (resale) in the very near future. We have a few questions before we take the pluge though.

Firstly, we are hoping to buy points for BWV as this is our favourite resort. We are planning on taking a trip to WDW in November 2011. I know that resales can take 8 weeks or so to come through. Since right now would be our 11 month mark we won't have that opportunity this time around but we are buying for the long term so that is ok. Just wondering though, what are my chances of booking something within the 7 month window (BWV or other). I'm just trying to work some logistics out for this trip. Are there any particular resorts that we stand no chance with, any that are almost guaranteed to be available.

Are the studios really that small? I hear a lot of comments regarding this and it is a concern since we are a family of 4 but the kids are really young. We have only stayed in the Standard rooms so far so would it really feel that cramped up. Or would it be worth using up extra points for a 1 bedroom. I do like the idea of the jacuzzi tub. We do hope to add on in the future.

If we choose a Preferred view points use, do we get a Boardwalk view? I would feel hugely ripped off if I used extra points and got a pool view (especially since the pool gives me the creeps anyway lol). Is it worth the extra points or would you just stick to a Standard view? What is a standard view?

Can you get room service in the DVC villas?

Do you miss things like Club level etc?

Do you feel like you miss out on the deluxe disney treatment? I mean with no daily maid service, no ability to make room requests or late check outs etc. I sometime get the feeling from reading dvc trip reports that Disney sort of just treat dvcer's as part of the furniture and the fact that dvc is already heavily discounted that they shouldn't expect the standard Disney treatment. I don't want to lose that Disney magic feeling that you generally get staying on Disney property and I would really dislike this kind of treatment.

I currently have an AP which expires in June, in order to get the DVC renewal rate would I need to purchase another before June? Is that even possible or do I have to collect it from Disney when I get there (in November)?

Is there any other advice you can offer that might help?

 

[chalee94]

We are planning on taking a trip to WDW in November 2011.

thanksgiving week will be tough to book - other than that, you should find something, but plan to be flexible just in case...

Are the studios really that small?

they are hotel-room-sized. and other than OKW, they all have one queen bed and one sofabed. not miserable for a family of 4 but not as spacious as the other options. (AKV value studios and BLT studios are a little smaller than the rest, though.)

If we choose a Preferred view points use, do we get a Boardwalk view?

not necessarily - boardwalk view is a subset of preferred view, so not all preferred view is bw view. if you book exactly at 11 months, you'll probably have a good shot at bw view.

Can you get room service in the DVC villas?

i think BWV has access to BWI's room service - some of the condo DVC resorts like SSR do not have room service IIRC.

Do you miss things like Club level etc?

AKV has club level (well, 5 villas on club level - really tough to book)...i'm sure it varies.

Do you feel like you miss out on the deluxe disney treatment?

it's a timeshare. if you're a "hotel" person, you may not want to buy DVC...there are trade-offs that suit some people more than others. some are "hotel" people and some are "timeshare" people.

I currently have an AP which expires in June, in order to get the DVC renewal rate would I need to purchase another before June? Is that even possible or do I have to collect it from Disney when I get there (in November)?

not sure. hopefully a BWV owner will be along soon to add more details to BWV specific questions.

 

[Tink2312]

Our favourite resort was always BWV (we first toured DVC when BWV first opened) but we just last month bought in at BLT which is our new favourite. My advice would be to wait and do the tour and even go to BW to look at the model unit and then you can get a feel for the size. Personally I would never have made such a large and life-long purchase without seeing the units etc. Having said that there's plenty of people here that have done exactly that and been perfectly happy with their purchase.
Btw we are a family of three adults and we've stayed in a studio at SSR twice both times for 2 weeks and had no problems. Also, compared to the other non-dvc resorts we've stayed at, we feel we were treated even better at SSR (and we weren't even members then).
Best of luck with your purchase

 

[DisneyHotDog]

first of all, we purchased dvc in 1991 and considered it a great investment. so i think you cant go wrong! my points are in old key west and never had a problem booking in other resorts(except holiday time) so i wouldn't worry about the resort.
the studio in all resorts are simular to a hotel room with two beds, so if that is fine (and always has been for my family of 4) you are good.
also you may find youself withe extra points in some years and just upgrade to a larger room.
sometimes the larger rooms are the only one avail. in the time period you want to be there so its a moot point.
anyway, its a great investment just dont forget to figure the yearly common charges into your houshold budget.

 

[backyardponder]

You ask if studios are "really that small". To us they are a lot larger and much nicer than a room I get at a Hampton, Courtyard, or just about any other hotel. If you are comfortable in a hotel room, you'll love a studio.

On daily maid service...if you feel you need it, then you can pay for it. We do not feel we need it.

 

[jarrdisney]

It seems like you are looking for the downsides to owning DVC, and I will share some of mine that differ from booking a hotel room.

1. Availibility - Staying where you want and when. It's a bit of a game and hassle sometimes, especially if you want to stay DVC during a peak times; ie BWV in Dec. This is my biggest complaint, especially if you're not the kind of person that plans nearly a year in advance.

2. Member Services - My experience calling to reserve/check on rooms has been subpar compared to regular Disney reservations.

3. Check in time can sometimes be after 4pm.

4. Check out time is NO later than 11am.

5. Housekeeping daily...(though this is no an issue for us).

Overall though, we knew all of this prior to joining and have NO regrets what so ever. I believe we are treated as good if not better when we arrive at the resort and the studio rooms are on avg, a little bit bigger than a normal hotel room.

 

[maznorm]

Thank you for all of the replies so far. You have all provided some very interesting insights. Don't worry, I'm not exactly looking for downsides per se, just trying to figure out if any perceived downsides are really all that...down?!

I guess DVC works for us because we would love to stay in deluxes most of the time, not just a couple days of the trip.

However, I do enjoy the general feeling of being taken care of that you get with, say, Club level. I'm not sure if I would feel less taken care of as a dvc owner staying in a DVC villa.

Did anyone out there used to be a Club level lover before they went DVC?

Btw, I am by no means generally able to stay club level. However, the few times I have stayed Disney Deluxe for 2-3 days per trip, it has been club level. I do enjoy the feeling of pulling up to Valet, getting them to deal with the car, having special check in and being treated as special. It's not an experience I generally get to enjoy in my ordinary life so I like to indulge my inner millionaire when I am in Disney.

 

[JimMIA]

I do enjoy the feeling of pulling up to Valet, getting them to deal with the car...

I'm glad you used this example, because it's a perfect example of the difference between a core use of DVC and a perk. Too often, people focus on perks like AP discounts and valet parking and they forget that those are just perks and can go away at any moment with a swipe of the Mouse's pen.

Valet is a particularly good example, because a year or so ago we used to get free valet parking at the hotel-connected resorts. Then, poof! Gone, and gone literally overnight with no notice. DVC members literally left their cars with the free valet at night and woke up the next morning to find that they owed $10 for valet because the contract had changed at midnight.

Focus on the real stuff...not perks.

 

[deerislemaine]

We just bought a resale contract (250 points), and we're happy with the purchase. In terms of your question about whether we miss a club level-- it's not a big deal for us. I travel a lot, and I usually spend 60-70 nights a year in hotels like Sheraton, Westin, Hilton. I have points to qualify for the premium level service from frequent stays, so I'm usually upgraded to a suite and the club level.

My family loves Disney, and I enjoy it much more than a club level suite in a hotel. We tend to stay in a 2BR or 1BR because of the size of our family, and we've found those rooms to be spacious. We don't care about the maid service, etc.

As we researched the possibility of buying DVC, we decided that it made sense if you could purchase the contract without a loan, and if you think that you'll make a Disney trip at least every other year. Our family was able to do this, so we went for a resale contract. We know that we'd like to go to Disney for the next 5-6 years at least every other year. If we get tired of it after that, we can sell our contract. Even if we sell it at a loss, the risk is not nearly as great as purchasing a vacation home.

For us it was a great decision that we're all happy about. We're the type of family that doesn't mind moving around, so we weren't worried about a home resort. We thus went for a loaded contract at SSR at a good value. We'll probably stay at OKW on most trips, but we're really happy staying anywhere.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[ocdb8r1]

Thank you for all of the replies so far. You have all provided some very interesting insights. Don't worry, I'm not exactly looking for downsides per se, just trying to figure out if any perceived downsides are really all that...down?!

I guess DVC works for us because we would love to stay in deluxes most of the time, not just a couple days of the trip.

However, I do enjoy the general feeling of being taken care of that you get with, say, Club level. I'm not sure if I would feel less taken care of as a dvc owner staying in a DVC villa.

Did anyone out there used to be a Club level lover before they went DVC?

Btw, I am by no means generally able to stay club level. However, the few times I have stayed Disney Deluxe for 2-3 days per trip, it has been club level. I do enjoy the feeling of pulling up to Valet, getting them to deal with the car, having special check in and being treated as special. It's not an experience I generally get to enjoy in my ordinary life so I like to indulge my inner millionaire when I am in Disney.

I think being a part of DVC you get treated "special" in a different way. In many ways it's much like being part of a family. You will be made to feel very at "home", but that comes with the good and bad. Just like when I go home to visit family I am made to feel special in some ways and expected to fend for myself in others. There will be a special familiarity with most DVC staff and a lack of polished pleasantries.

 

[browniemtb]

BWV is a great choice and the location really can't be beat in our eyes. We bought sight unseen, though I did walk the property once while being at the Swan on business so it wasn't completely unseen. My DW trusted the decision and she has no desire to stay anywhere else.

Booking can be an issue at more popular times. You mentioned November so the Food and Wine Fest and Thanksgiving come into play. Around the 7 month mark expect both standard views and boardwalk view to be gone during these times. We just booked a big extended family trip but we knew that to get standard view you may have to plan to book around the 11 month mark.

Daily mousekeeping, not a problem with us. We prefer not to have someone in our room everyday. Disney magic is still there, it's all around you when you stay on site.

Good luck in your quest and rest assured that BWV is a great place.

 

[psac]

We have the same question that the OP was alluding to, but I don't know if it was explicitly answered. They're going in November, but won't get their points until Feb-ish. That's after the 11 month but before the 7 month. I imagine at or soon after the 7 month window there's a flood of non-home booking. But is booking at the 8th or 9th month much worse than at the 11th?
Thanks!

 

[chalee94]

They're going in November, but won't get their points until Feb-ish. That's after the 11 month but before the 7 month. I imagine at or soon after the 7 month window there's a flood of non-home booking. But is booking at the 8th or 9th month much worse than at the 11th?

depends.

for early november, i suspect availability won't show much of a difference between 11 months and 9 months.

for thanksgiving week, i'd probably book at 11 months.

also, certain villa types are fewer in number and higher in demand - value or concierge villas at AKV, boardwalk view villas at BWV and such will be relatively tougher to book at 8-9 months than at 11 months exactly.

 

[culli]

We have the same question that the OP was alluding to, but I don't know if it was explicitly answered. They're going in November, but won't get their points until Feb-ish. That's after the 11 month but before the 7 month. I imagine at or soon after the 7 month window there's a flood of non-home booking. But is booking at the 8th or 9th month much worse than at the 11th?
Thanks!

That is a hard question to answer but as long as you book before the 7 month opens you greatly increase your chances. But for the highest of demand times you could have issues if you don't call on the exact day of 11 month window. I called at 10 months 1 week out for treehouses and I'm missing one day of my ressie (and not even a peak time). It really depends, I know that is not a great answer but as soon as you know your dates call it in.