Disney Vacation Club for dummies

[KAT4DISNEY]

This conversation is very interesting. Thanks for all the great info. We go to DLR all the time but we never really thought about DVC. I guess I never really paid attention to it.

My question is can you stay on club level with DVC?

Within the actual DVC resorts only one in WDW - AKV Jambo - has a club level and there are only a possible 10 rooms (5 2BR lockoffs). We used to be able to use points to stay at club level for DLH, PP and GC up until the Villas opened at GC. Now that option is removed.

 

[ACDSNY]

Okay, another question. I notice that some of you have used your points for a DCL vacation. I cannot find a chart with the point costs for those. Do any of you have a chart or know what the point cost is for some of the cruises?

You'll get very mix answers regarding using points for a cruise as they take quite a few points and in most cases you can get a better rate paying cash. I personally have never used points for a cruise as all of ours seem to always be used up on our resort stays.

Some members will rent out their points and then pay cash for the cruise.

I can't think of a public point chart for cruises, but if you'd like me to look up a specific cruise I'd be happy to.

 

[Golfing Goofy]

Within the actual DVC resorts only one in WDW - AKV Jambo - has a club level and there are only a possible 10 rooms (5 2BR lockoffs). We used to be able to use points to stay at club level for DLH, PP and GC up until the Villas opened at GC. Now that option is removed.

Thank you so much. Just curious, why do you think that option was removed?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thank you so much. Just curious, why do you think that option was removed?

That has been puzzling to me. Oh - I forgot to mention, although I was thinking your were most interested in DLR, but you can use your points for concierge options at WDW non-DVC resorts - The Grand Floridian, The Poly and the Yacht Club I believe. It takes a lot of points though. Since it's still available there I was very surprised by the DLH and PP ending that option. They had always controlled the number of rooms available for point rentals so it shouldn't have been b/c they thought it would become too popular.

 

[MinnieVanMom]

There is an entire section on DVC on this board. There is planning, misc. operations and yes, rentals from owners. http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=29

The average price to rent is $10 per point and they have contracts and great section to read about renting points.

I am an owner and renter. I have had great experiences renting as the person was a Dr. and had his secretary do the transaction and ran my credit card.

I bought my OKW points resale from the sponsor of the site, the timeshare store.

At first my head was spinning, borrow, bank, use year, transfers, points, but after time I did figure out how it works. I am point poor but learned to be conservative one year, studio, short trip, and then bank points and have a bigger, longer trip the next in a 1b at BCV.

DVC members do get a good discount on AP's and a few other perks.

We had booked our first trip to WDW at ASM and the lady called to say they wanted to upgrade us to a studio at OKW. I didn't know so I got DH, by the time they were done it was a 1 br at OKW. So we did it. I swear they must profile! It was just lovely and I did buy a resale contract. It is smaller but we just make it work.

 

[debloco]

O.K. my head is swirling. I was wondering if it would be worth it to rent a Villa for a couple of nights in late September, early Oct. I want to take both kids and spouses and 5 grand kids. Is it worth it to rent points for something likw that. I really love staying on site and being retired I don't have the money to rent that many rooms. I only stay onsite when they are having a sale and that is only for one night. I have to pay for this on my little $1,000 a month pension. My husband could afford it as he still works but thinks Disneyland is a waste of time.

There are a lot of issues at work here, I'll try to address them all but will need to make a few assumptions-

First~ there are 3 adult couples-you and DH, your two children and their spouses-and five grandchildren, for a total of 11 guests.

Second~That you would like a Grand Villa (3 bedrooms) since there are three adult couples, and not a 2-Bedroom Villa.

In fact, if all of the grandchildren are older than 3, you would need to reserve a Grand Villa since a 2-Bedroom Villa capacity is 9 people.

If two of the grandchildren are under three, a Two-Bedroom Villa is possible, but realize in addition to the little ones needing to sleep in "pack 'n' play" type of portable cribs, that one of the adult couples will need to sleep on a pull-out sofa bed in the living room area.

Third~ September is in Adventure Season (lowest point season) and October is in Choice Season (next highest point season) so the amount of points needed changes from September 30th to October 1st. Since you are looking for lowest cost, I will use September-Adventure Season.

Fourth~ Sunday-Thursday nights are lower amounts of points per night than Friday and Saturday nights. So I will assume that you can go Sunday-Thursday. I will also assume you mean 2 nights when you say "a couple" of nights in your post.

Fifth~ While I could not find the anything online that listed the cash cost of a Grand Villa per night at the Grand Californian, I did find the cost of a Grand Villa at Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary Resort at WDW for September. Since this is one of the newest DVC resorts, it's probably a fairly good idea. Cost per night is just over $1600 plus 12.5% tax, which brings the total to $1800. If the tax is similar in California, this total is a good bet. So for two nights, I'd guess the total would be at least $3600.

To rent points for your stay it would be 83 points per night, for a total of 166 points. Owners rent for around $10 a point, so the cost would be $1,660. A far cry from $3600, since it saves almost $2000 of the cost to book the room from Disney.

So is it "worth it" to rent points for what you want to do? Absolutely. This, for me, is the value of DVC.

To answer the OP:
The tipping point came for us when we realized the cash cost of regular rooms at the deluxe resorts was far greater than the point cost of even the 1 Bedroom villas for DVC. Even factoring in the maintenance fees (which almost sunk our calculations) it's still a screaming deal. Especially at Christmas when cash rates are through the roof.

Buying DVC was some of the best money we ever spent.

ETA:If your DH would not go at all, your guest count goes to 10, and then only one child under three makes a 2-bedroom a more likely possibility. In that scenario, your point cost goes down to 40 points a night, 80 points total for a cost of $800. Forgot to mention there is no tax on a DVC point rental. Also, it is very unlikely that a Grand Villa would even be available for late September, especially for someone renting points from a member. A 2-bedroom is a better bet, but any room at the GCV is hard to come by as it is the smallest of the DVC resorts and one of the newest.

 

[stampingoddess]

I beleive that everyone had already given most of the relevant information. I just wanted to add that i have been a DVC member since 1998 and have never once regretted the decision. We do to WDW regularly as well as Hilton Head. DVC has allowed our family to take annual vacations and stay in much nicer accomodatations than we would have otherwise been able or willing to afford.

My only other comment is that if you do decide to buy directly from Disney, get the name of a current DVC owner and use them as a "referral source" Disney gives us a nice perk for referring DVC that does NOT effect the cost to the buyer. So, by giving someone's name, you are essentially giving a feller Disboard member a nice surprise!

 

[bumbershoot]

You'll get very mix answers regarding using points for a cruise as they take quite a few points and in most cases you can get a better rate paying cash.

This year I keep being surprised when I look up the cruise points, though! It seems like pretty close to a good value this year, for the shorter cruises at least.

Thank you so much. Just curious, why do you think that option was removed?

We stayed at DLH concierge on points, and even though we are vegetarian, don't drink soda, and don't eat Uncrustables (HFCS and corn syrup in them! forbidden in my house b/c of DH and DS's reactions to those things), we got a BIG value from concierge food/waters. Too big. And we weren't gorging ourselves, either. I think we got far more from it than what we "paid" (especially since we were using "bonus" points to pay for it).

At DLR, you can take things away. We routinely were offered two waters per person, we took fruit, cookies, coffee, etc etc. But I've read that at WDW, ti's much more monitored. They don't have bottles of water, but they pour you a glass of water. etc etc. So it is allowed to take more advantage, at DLR.

So I think it was just too crazy to use relatively low-cost points for concierge at DLR, and was nixed for financial reasons.