Couple of questions for possible DVC owner

[boxer]

Really thinking about buying into this, but have a few questions:

1. How much in advance do you need to book for the more 'off season' times? We don't plan too much in advance, so I would make my bookings about 3-4 months out. We plan on staying at OKW or SSR primarily.

2. Is this plan worth it for just using it for vacations (not renting points) maybe once a year? Meaning, we would only take 1 large vacation that would use all our allotted points for that year.

3. How do you all think this plan works in regards to still having to buy tickets and such?

4. Finally, can you still get the 'meal plan' with this DVC package???

 

[dianeschlicht]

Really thinking about buying into this, but have a few questions:

1. How much in advance do you need to book for the more 'off season' times? We don't plan too much in advance, so I would make my bookings about 3-4 months out. We plan on staying at OKW or SSR primarily.

2. Is this plan worth it for just using it for vacations (not renting points) maybe once a year? Meaning, we would only take 1 large vacation that would use all our allotted points for that year.

3. How do you all think this plan works in regards to still having to buy tickets and such?

4. Finally, can you still get the 'meal plan' with this DVC package???

Between 7 and 11 months before check out, you have exclusive booking priveledges at your home resort. After the 7 month mark, other DVC owners can also book your home resort. In the last 60 days, the reservations can be booked by anyone, so your chances decreas greatly at that point. Remember that "off season" at DVC resorts is not necessarily off season at WDW! For example, there are some "off season times" at WDW that are VERY difficult to get at DVC resorts. October and early December are some of the most difficult reservations to come by unless you are willing to book at the 11 month booking windwo. That being said, I think SSR and OKW will always be a bit easier than the other smaller DVC resorts.

Yes, it is "worth it" for once yearly vacations. That is what we started out doing, and it worked great....still does even though we now go about 3 times every 2 years.

Ticket purchases are great, because with DVC, you get $100 off the price of an annual pass. That is the cheapest annual pass available. Even if you only plan one trip a year, you can skew the dates by a week, and get two trips on one pass. That amounts to a BIG savings for us.

Yes, dining plan is available with DVC, but you need to pay for it. I believe it is currently $38 a day per person.

 

[Anewman]

Really thinking about buying into this, but have a few questions:

1. How much in advance do you need to book for the more 'off season' times? We don't plan too much in advance, so I would make my bookings about 3-4 months out. We plan on staying at OKW or SSR primarily.

Sure it can be possible to book even one month out during the "off season", but typical WDW and DVC "off seasons" do not match up exactly. Some of the DVC lower point requirement periods can draw in lots of DVCers, etc... Just ask others what they consider "off season" and it will run the gamut.

2. Is this plan worth it for just using it for vacations (not renting points) maybe once a year? Meaning, we would only take 1 large vacation that would use all our allotted points for that year.

I dont understand what you mean by "(not renting point), but you can still save with dvc if you take a large trip vs several small trips.

3. How do you all think this plan works in regards to still having to buy tickets and such?

You still have to buy tickets and such when you pay full price for a hotel room. I just consider it a savings on the ROOM portion of our trip, plus the rooms are much nicer.

4. Finally, can you still get the 'meal plan' with this DVC package???

Yes you can purchase the disney dining plan while staying on points at a DVC resort.

LUCK.

 

[JimMIA]

Really thinking about buying into this, but have a few questions:

1. How much in advance do you need to book for the more 'off season' times? We don't plan too much in advance, so I would make my bookings about 3-4 months out. We plan on staying at OKW or SSR primarily.

OKW and SSR are the two largest resorts, so they would have the most availability. Generally...I'd say you are likely to be okay there 3-4 months out -- certainly better there than anywhere else. HOWEVER, even at those resorts, you could experience difficulties at certain times. Early December, for example, although it is a slow time for WDW, is a VERY busy time for DVC. You might have difficulty getting a ressie during that particular time.

2. Is this plan worth it for just using it for vacations (not renting points) maybe once a year? Meaning, we would only take 1 large vacation that would use all our allotted points for that year.

The conventional wisdom is that you'll do well going once a year.

However, keep in mind that if you are doing a "large vacation," Friday and Saturday night cost roughly double the points of Sun-Thurs. So if you're taking a 9 night trip, with four of those nights on Friday or Saturday the economics change.

Just for a hypothetical, if you go nine nights in an OKW 1 bedroom 11/3/06, checking out 11/12/06 (nine nights, four weekend nights), that's 254 points. If you arrive on Sunday 11/5 and check out on 11/14 (also nine nights, but with only two weekend nights), the points cost is 208.

3. How do you all think this plan works in regards to still having to buy tickets and such?

4. Finally, can you still get the 'meal plan' with this DVC package???

I would encourage you to completely disregard both of these as factors in evaluating a DVC purchase. They are both very nice perks. But perks come and go. They can, and frequently do, change -- and just because we enjoy something today does not necessarily mean that benefit will be around next week. My advice is to evaluate what DVC does for your family for onsite lodging costs...and NOTHING else.

 

[Dean]

The 3-4 months out bothers me but otherwise it sounds like DVC would be a good fit as long as you're not doing long weekends. Just make sure that the times you usually would travel are indeed low demand. For WDW I'd say Jan, early Feb, May, Sept, Oct, early Nov are all low demand to a degree and the rest are higher demand of varying difficulty. But even then specific weeks or weekends can be very difficult within those months. If you can be flexible as to which week or even month at 3-4 months out, you should do ok. If you get to the 3-4 month window and are not flexible as to when as well as where, you may be better off not owning DVC. The dining plan is currently available but no guarantee as to how long it will last.

 

[boxer]

When I say 3-4 months, that is only because I wait for a DING airfare from Southwest, and this is the usual window the fares arrive at. I've been doing this for my past 3 trips, and it has worked VERY well. My last trip (just last week) we all flew down for $34 each way from BWI.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Booking 3 or 4 months out is certainly feasible, not a guarantee, but definitely possible. I think the key to it is being flexible with where you would want to stay. If you have your heart set on BWV for example, you may find that you need a longer window for booking.

 

[JimMIA]

When I say 3-4 months, that is only because I wait for a DING airfare from Southwest, and this is the usual window the fares arrive at. I've been doing this for my past 3 trips, and it has worked VERY well. My last trip (just last week) we all flew down for $34 each way from BWI.

Well, the other thing you could do is make advanced reservations and then cancel if a decent fare doesn't materialize. If you do that, though, be sure you know where you are in your use year, what your various banking deadlines are, etc, etc. You don't want to end up with distressed points.

I'd also NOT tell the little guy until everything is set in stone. I can't imagine telling DD4goingon24 we're going, and then having to tell her we're not.

Actually...I think she'd just say, "Oh yes we are!"

And she'd be right, despite the fact that I have these momentary lapses where I think I'm in charge.

 

[Dean]

When I say 3-4 months, that is only because I wait for a DING airfare from Southwest, and this is the usual window the fares arrive at. I've been doing this for my past 3 trips, and it has worked VERY well. My last trip (just last week) we all flew down for $34 each way from BWI.

I agree, booking a week or even weeks, then canceling if it doesn't come through can be very reasonable for some. Are your plans that flexible that you can pick up 3-4 months out and go based on the fares? If so and you don't really much care which resort and you are looking at lower seasons, I suspect it would work out well for you. Assuming you aren't doing long weekends of course.

 

[boxer]

yeah we've vacationed at the 3-month window for just about every one of our Disney trips, so that is not a problem at all. Actually the guide told us the exact same thing about booking the room at 7/11 mos, then cancelling if something comes up.