Cost of DVC Membership

[maryisme]

Hello,
I've been reading this board with much interest. I've contacted disney and am waiting for a representative to call me regarding DVC membership. I'm hoping that in the interim you folks wouldn't mind answering a cost question for me. I realize that disney has different levels of resorts available, am I correct in assuming that the cost of DVC is based on which level resort you buy shares from? What is the average cost for one week at a moderate resort? or rather, how many points do I have to buy to have one week at a resort?

I hope I'm phrasing my questions correctly. It's almost like trying to learn a new language . Sorry it got so long.
Thanks in advance.
Mary

 

[Doctor P]

Welcome to the DVC board. Let me take a stab at your question and I'm sure others will chime in. DVC resorts are "Home Away from Home" resorts in the WDW lingo. They provide unique amenities that set them apart from most all of the other resorts at WDW (Disney Institute and Fort Wilderness Homes I think might be the only Home Away from Homes that are not part of DVC). In particular, the DVC resorts provide cooking facilities (kitchenette with microwave in the studios, full kitchens in the 1BR, 2BR, and Grand Villa). In general, the cost of each of the DVC resorts has been the same when purchased directly from Disney at any given point in time, but there have been per point price differences over time (e.g., all the available DVC resorts for purchase directly from Disney are currently priced at $72 per point and the currently available resorts are Villas at Wilderness Lodge, Vero Beach, and Hilton Head; immediately prior to January 15th, the available properties were priced at $67 per point and included Old Key West, Boardwalk Villas, Vero Beach, and Hilton Head. Old Key West and Boardwalk sold out for direct purchase from Disney during the last few months and are no longer available.) Though it is possible to use your points at moderate and deluxe resorts at WDW, this is actually through an exchange program and does not involve purchasing into those resorts.

Hope this helps.

The current minimum number of points to join DVC is 150 points. Depending on the resort and time of year you go, this will gnerally at minimum buy you one week in studio accomodations. It can get you as much as 12 or 13 consecutive days in a studio at OKW (lowest season is 80 pts per week in a studio at OKW). If you only stay "weekdays", you may be able to stretch this into more days. If you stay in larger accomodations, you will get fewer days. However, in general you can bank a years worth of points and borrow a years worth of points so that you could vacation once every three years using a larger number of points instead of going every year using a smaller number of points.

[This message was edited by Doctor P on 02-08-01 at 10:59 AM.]

 

[Bennet]

Cost of a DVC point from Disney is fixed. The number of points required to book a room varies a little from resort to resort and more by time of year. So the cost of a vacation in points can varry. Resale costs are somewhat negotiable and are function of the market forces of supply and demand.

I think you will find that most DVC members will say that the biggest issue regarding points and resorts is to buy points at the resort that you want to stay at most often. The reason is you can make reservations at your home resort 11 months prior to the stay and 7 months prior at other DVC resorts. So if you think you will stay most at a particular resort, it is in your interest to have that resort as your "home."

If the resort you want is sold out, say Old Key West or Boardwalk, then you should consider a resale to get the resort you like best. However if it is the Wilderness that lights up your heart then you will most likely not find any resales available since it is so new and will need to buy from the Mouse.

There is a fairly active community here. Keep asking questions.

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