Disney Vacation Club

[Ahaim]

I met with a DVC salesperson on a recent DCL cruise 9/5/09 and placed a deposit for 300 points at the Grand Californian at a discounted rate of $85 a point. We just went on second cruise Eastern Caribean $3500 and spent roughly $5800 last year on a DCL in Mexico, both seven night cruises on the Magic in Cat 6 with veranda, two adults a 3 year old and infant. We have not signed our papers yet as we met with the DVC salesperson on the last day of the cruise and they are sending us the paperwork next. My wife and I are so excited about many vacations to come. I just want to make sure I am making a good decison. We love, love, love the Disney Cruises and would like to use DVC to go on a cruise every other year, a few WDW trips and World Passport/Concierge Resorts. We usually don't like staying at the same resort more than twice and usually stay at really nice hotels all over the world. I am reading various treads that make it sound like DVC is only good for those that go to WDW more than once a year. I want to hear from those that use DVC for World Passport resorts and DCL. Is it worth while? Is it a good use of points? Also does anyone know how many points are required to book the 10-night European (Med) Cruise sailing August 18th for a Category 6, two adults and two kids 4 and infant?

 

[majortom1981]

I can say this we had no problems using our points at The Polo Towers in Vegas. Room wise it was pretty much the same as a dvc room ( having a kitchen in vegas rocked).


So if its the same at other places it shouldnt be a problem.

 

[disneynutz]

Don't sign the papers and pay cash for your cruises.

The DVC is a OK value if you use your points to stay at WDW at a DVC resort every one or two years. They are not a good value for cruises or exchanges outside of the DVC.

 

[wendyinoc]

The cruise you want in the Med is 1514 in points. I love my DVC but I use it for hotels not cruises. Last year I paid cash for the cruise. It's not a good deal if your going to use it for cruising every other year.

 

[Ahaim]

I thought so. It seemed like a great idea. I explained our travel ideas to the salesperson and they made it seem like a no brainer. My wife is a teacher which makes it difficult for us to travel i.e we are always vacationing when school is out (peak season). Wendyinoc, what is the breakdown for the 1504 points Adults vs. 3rd and 4th passenger. Anyone have a sense of how many points will be required for the Hawaii resort, I assume at least 300 a week.

 

[disneynutz]

I thought so. It seemed like a great idea. I explained our travel ideas to the salesperson and they made it seem like a no brainer. My wife is a teacher which makes it difficult for us to travel i.e we are always vacationing when school is out (peak season). Wendyinoc, what is the breakdown for the 1504 points Adults vs. 3rd and 4th passenger. Anyone have a sense of how many points will be required for the Hawaii resort, I assume at least 300 a week.

Even at Disney you can't expect a salesperson not to sell and bend the truth a little bit.

 

[bookwormde]

The price you are getting for DCG is good but how you want to use the points eliminates that value and a lot more.

As others have said the value from DVC is staying at DVC resorts, anything else can be done much less expensive for cash. Sure members use their points outside DVC (for occasionally something different), but to buy points to do this as a major portion of the reason for the purchase makes no financial sense.

bookwormde

 

[jel0511]

As stated above, the best value you get using your points is to use a a Disney resort, not DCL, concierge collection, or RCI. I have used points for a cruise, but it was more of a one off thing. I'll probably do it again, but hey that's why I bought DVC. The thing to remember is that the points required to cruise goes up every year, for example we used points for a cruise this year and next year DVC wants 22% more points for same cruise, same season. So buying to use for something where the points are guaranteed to go up, not a good deal, your 300 points might be good for the next few years, but soon enough you'll find yourself out priced of the options you want to use.

 

[CarolMN]

DVC renegotiates the cost to cruise every year. They also do that for the other options in the Disney Collection (non-DVC WDW Resorts and WDW DL resorts), the Concierge Collection and the Adventurer's Collection. The points required for those options can and do change every year. They virtually always increase. (That's not so for the DVC resorts. DVC can reallocate the points required to stay at a DVC resort, but they cannot change the total number of points it would take to stay in every room for every night of the year).

That's why we say the best economic value of a point is to use it to stay at a DVC Resort.

DVC is one of the more expensive timeshares, both to buy in and to maintain (annual dues are relatively high). There are less expensive timeshares that can be used for trading if that is one of your priorities.

Many buy just enough points to use for their DVC stays. They pay cash or another timeshare to cover their other vacations.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Disneycouple99]

I thought so. It seemed like a great idea. I explained our travel ideas to the salesperson and they made it seem like a no brainer. My wife is a teacher which makes it difficult for us to travel i.e we are always vacationing when school is out (peak season). Wendyinoc, what is the breakdown for the 1504 points Adults vs. 3rd and 4th passenger. Anyone have a sense of how many points will be required for the Hawaii resort, I assume at least 300 a week.

610/Adult and 213 for 4yo and 111 for the infant for a total of 1544 points.

 

[Ahaim]

Thank you for the feedback. I think right now I might be better off forcing myself to put aside money every month in an investment at the equivalent DVC cost and pay for all vacations with cash. DVC has yet to give me the points required for the Med cruise. I have asked three times. Now I know why.

 

[Ahaim]

I assume since I have not signed my DVC paperwork I can cancel with a full refund of my deposit. They have yet to charge my card for the down payment. Will I get a full refund, are there any penalties? Is there a good place to book DCL? I always use Amex and get no discount but usually get double points and twice I have received four and seven night stays for free in Mexico.

 

[CarolMN]

I assume since I have not signed my DVC paperwork I can cancel with a full refund of my deposit. They have yet to charge my card for the down payment. Will I get a full refund, are there any penalties?

Yes, you can cancel and you will get a full refund. No penalties.

 

[Jason@dvcstore]

I met with a DVC salesperson on a recent DCL cruise 9/5/09 and placed a deposit for 300 points at the Grand Californian at a discounted rate of $85 a point. We just went on second cruise Eastern Caribean $3500 and spent roughly $5800 last year on a DCL in Mexico, both seven night cruises on the Magic in Cat 6 with veranda, two adults a 3 year old and infant. We have not signed our papers yet as we met with the DVC salesperson on the last day of the cruise and they are sending us the paperwork next. My wife and I are so excited about many vacations to come. I just want to make sure I am making a good decison. We love, love, love the Disney Cruises and would like to use DVC to go on a cruise every other year, a few WDW trips and World Passport/Concierge Resorts. We usually don't like staying at the same resort more than twice and usually stay at really nice hotels all over the world. I am reading various treads that make it sound like DVC is only good for those that go to WDW more than once a year. I want to hear from those that use DVC for World Passport resorts and DCL. Is it worth while? Is it a good use of points? Also does anyone know how many points are required to book the 10-night European (Med) Cruise sailing August 18th for a Category 6, two adults and two kids 4 and infant?

As many others have already stated DVC works best for the Disney Vacation Club resorts. I would suggest buying points to use only for your DVC resort stays. For example, there are many that only own 25, 50 or 75 points and use the points every three years for their DVC resort stays. Your family might consider that option.

FYI: This might be information you already know but you can purchase as few as 25 points via resale.

Jason

 

[toniosmom]

I bought a small 60 point contract at BCV so that I can have a 5 or 6 day trip there every 3 years at spring break (which is pretty high in points). I'm sure I can get a full week at a less popular season. My advice is to think about how often you REALLY plan to travel to WDW and decide whether or not you want to purchase. Small resale contracts are not that expensive and can give you that trip every 2 or 3 years.

 

[kerickson]

Hawaii Point Charts
If BLT and VGC are a launching point for Hawaii point charts, my guess is that the average week in a studio will cost 200+ points