disney vacation club questions

[dweagles80]

please tell me the advantages of being a member! i have studied it and still dont get it.
i always look for deals every year, 40% off free dining etc.. and get it every year.
now the vacation club cost 12 to 15,000 to join can go once a year. does not include dining, tickets, room service every day , air fare (obvious)
please explain the advantages
thanks

 

[mrsR123]

You might want to head over to the DVC forums directly. THere are several FAQ-type threads and sections as well as numerous mostly patient folks who will help you out.

THe first piece of info you seem to need, though, is that you're not locked into going "once a year" or even every year.

Happy research.

And if you decide to join, beware the "add on" bug. It hasn't caught me, yet, but it's quite contagious.

 

[DizneyNutz]

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=28

 

[CanadianGuy]

I've moved this thread to where it will receive the best answers.



Knox

 

[DebbieB]

It's really for people who like deluxe accomodations. I like to stay in a 1 bedroom, which the rack rate is over $400 plus tax. That would be alot to put out year after year to get the same room.

 

[eliza61]

Basically it's just a hedge against inflation. We go at least every year, at least 7 nights a trip and always stay at a deluxe resort. So we just calculate how much we generally spend on room accomodations (we generally average out about $2800-3000 for the room alone) and decided it would more than pay for itself by the 5th trip. Now you shop for discounts and free dining which of course helps but when we first brought in there was no such thing as the ddp and free dining (god, I can't believe I've been going that long. LOL) and while there will probably always be discounts no telling how much or for when. So for us it was a cost advantage.

 

[DizneyNutz]

please tell me the advantages of being a member! i have studied it and still dont get it.
i always look for deals every year, 40% off free dining etc.. and get it every year.
now the vacation club cost 12 to 15,000 to join can go once a year. does not include dining, tickets, room service every day , air fare (obvious)
please explain the advantages
thanks

This is not Timeshare as most people think of it. You can go anytime of the year and not it is not limited to one vacation a year. You can also stay in a studio with Microwave and refrigerator or a one bedroom, two bedroom or Grand Villa that will sleep twelve. These are just some basics but on the other board you can get the complete breakdown.

 

[wildernessDad]

Presuming that you go once a year for a week to a deluxe WDW resort, the DVC will pay for itself in 7 years or there abouts.

Forget any of the extras like $100 off PAPs or other Member perks.

If you go once per year to WDW, you will save on accommodations after 7 years. If you do not go to WDW every year or every 2 years, then the DVC is not right for you.

You can run your own numbers. Someone here had a great spreadsheet illustrating the savings over time.

 

[dweagles80]

This is not Timeshare as most people think of it. You can go anytime of the year and not it is not limited to one vacation a year. You can also stay in a studio with Microwave and refrigerator or a one bedroom, two bedroom or Grand Villa that will sleep twelve. These are just some basics but on the other board you can get the complete breakdown.

you cant go for more than 1 year at with the points they give you,example i am going to the poly this year with the 40% for 7 nights w/ dining and ph tickets for 3100.00( also include room service every day)

 

[emlutz23]

you cant go for more than 1 year at with the points they give you,example i am going to the poly this year with the 40% for 7 nights w/ dining and ph tickets for 3100.00( also include room service every day)

You can definately go more than once per year, even with the minimum 160 points purchase. It's only 95 points to stay at SSR (studio) for 7 nights during the same time frame (Sept) as the free dining. If you buy the minimum, that leaves you with 65 points for a shorter trip some other time.

It all depends on how many points you decide to purchase as well as when you go, what resort you stay at, and what room type. You just have to be willing to be creative with your trip planning. But if you are a bargain hunter, and you like the package deals Disney offers then maybe DVC isn't right for you.

I like that I paid 2006 rates for my Disney accomodations for the next 48 years!

 

[DizneyNutz]

You are not speaking of a DVC Resort using the Poly, But We can stay at the Wilderness Lodge for 12 nights excluding Fri and Sat during the Value season (Early Dec )When we most like to travel. Tickets and dining do not figure in, because that is not DVC related. But we could use the points to stay there (Poly) but not being a DVC resort you would have to rent a microwave or refridge staying in a standard room that comes standard in a DVC. There are also not the options of multiple bedrooms at non DVC resorts if you want to take large family and stay together. We typically do 5 days each trip with 10 day non expiration tickets which last us two trips at average of 40.00 dollars a day. Then we only have to worry about travel and dining and every couple of years we get new 10 day tickets. Works for us

 

[LilGMom]

The DVC section can answer it better than I can.

For us there were a few deciding factors. Even though we are FL residents and have always gotten the Seasonal Passes and FL res. rates at the resorts it was getting to were we knew that in a few years we could be priced out of the deluxe resorts (our preferred resorts). Back in 2001 we could stay at a moderate for around $80/night (tax. included) and now that same room is about $20/night more. The deluxes... we could stay for around $120/night now those same rooms are closer to $160/night. We go to WDW at least 2 times, usually 3 times, a year and when our kids are older we will need to have at least two rooms. I don't even want to think about what that resort bill would be . When you buy into the DVC you are locking in today's prices for the next X number of years. We like the deluxe resort accommodations and the studios are that plus some. For us it will probably pay for itself in about 5-7 years and I konw that we'll still be going to WDW for our vacations. Plus you can use your DVC points at so many other non-Disney locations that we'll adventure out to other places eventually.

We are really new to the DVC but those are some of the reasons we went ahead and did it. We considered it for a couple of years and now my only regret is not joining sooner. Venture over to the DVC boards and they have a ton of info.

 

[crisi]

If you are happy in a value and like to take advantage of promotional offers like free dining, DVC makes no sense at all.

We can't travel in September - there aren't any promotions when we do travel. Code games aren't fun (I used to use the AAA discount). We are Deluxe resort snobs. And DVC gives us the option (which certainly doesn't SAVE money, but which is a value add to us) of getting a one or two bedroom and having the kids sleep in a different room for something approaching an affordable cost.

 

[Abbysmom327]

While you can stay at the Poly this year for $3100 come back to me in 10 years and tell me what you are paying. With dvc we don't have to worry about that. For us a hotel room just doesn't work. We are family of 4. We like to get a one bedroom so the kids can go to bed and me and my husband can have alone time. We are going this Novemebr and to pay cash for our stay it would cost us $4800 with no park tickets or meal plan. We won't be able to afford that.

Erica

 

[Lynne M]

you cant go for more than 1 year at with the points they give you,example i am going to the poly this year with the 40% for 7 nights w/ dining and ph tickets for 3100.00( also include room service every day)

Sure you can go for more than one year! You pay the purchase price once, and you get a fresh batch of points every year after that.

Once you've paid off the initial cost, it's just maintenance fees after that. So, for my $700/yr in maintenance fees, I can stay for 10 nights in a studio at a deluxe resort. Add my discounted annual pass, and it's about $1000. Add in dining for 10 nights and it's about $1500. Which seems to compare pretty favorably with $3100 for 7 nights.

You can't count on getting that 40% discount every time, either.

 

[MagikMom]

Basically it's just a hedge against inflation. We go at least every year, at least 7 nights a trip and always stay at a deluxe resort. So we just calculate how much we generally spend on room accomodations (we generally average out about $2800-3000 for the room alone) and decided it would more than pay for itself by the 5th trip. Now you shop for discounts and free dining which of course helps but when we first brought in there was no such thing as the ddp and free dining (god, I can't believe I've been going that long. LOL) and while there will probably always be discounts no telling how much or for when. So for us it was a cost advantage.

EXACTLY!!

 

[DebbieB]

you cant go for more than 1 year at with the points they give you,example i am going to the poly this year with the 40% for 7 nights w/ dining and ph tickets for 3100.00( also include room service every day)

They don't "give you" anything. You buy as many points as you want to go as many nights as you want. I bought 250 points which I originally used for 2 trips a year in a 1 bedroom, 11 nights total. Now I usually stay in a studio, I could probably get 15 to 20 nights out of it, depending on the number of weekend nights.