Disney Vacation Club

[kasar]

From these boards, I see that many people use DVC points toward cruises. Excuse my ignorance, but how does this work? Is there a place where I can get basic information on DVC (price, pluses/minuses, etc) without speaking to a salesperson? I tried checking out DVC DISboards but it seems to be for people who are already members, not newbies without a clue how it all works. Sorry this is a little off-topic, but I trust the good people on the cruise boards to steer me in the right direction. Thanks so much!

 

[CarolAnnC]

Our DVC DIScussion Forum is actually full of information for newbies as well as existing members. Here is a link to the DVC Frequently Asked Questions that Webmaster Doc has put together. Feel free to visit our DVC Board again if you have further questions after reading the FAQ's. Good luck!!

DVC FAQ's

 

[din]

YOu can try and look at the Disney DVC information. It gives you some basic info. As for the points, it depends on which resort, I belive right now only Beach Club Villas are for sale and how much you want to spend buying the points. YOu may have to speak to salesperson to get the details. From our dealings, they were not at all pushy. If you happen to be there, visit them, transport from anywhere to anywhere within WDW. If you have kids they have counselors to take care of them. Our kids has so much fun they did not want to leave at the model.

BTW I almost forgot DVC is a timeshare.

 

[HookdonWDW]

Originally posted by din

BTW I almost forgot DVC is a timeshare.

We prefer the term "Vacation Club" to timeshare. To me, DVC (and a few others) are a step above timeshares.

 

[JonHM]

where you said 'without speaking with a salesperson', I must second the notion that DVC sales reps are VERY informative, and completely NO-pressure. We put off learning about DVC because we thought it would be pitched in a high pressure way like other timeshares. When we finally decided to go and learn about it, we were VERY happy with the complete lack of pressure, and have thus far been very, very happy with our DVC membership. The board here does have a lot of information for newbies and curious people. Post some questions that you have on that board, and you will get LOTS of answers very quickly.

 

[mickeymom629]

DVC is definitely more flexible than a timeshare and perfect for people who love to go to WDW. The sales people are not pushy and they are not on commission. I was apprehensive at first, but during a WDW trip in 1999 while staying at the All Stars, I inquired about it at the desk and scheduled an appointment for the following day. We got picked up (our family of 6) by a private cab (an huge old fashioned type) and driven to the Boardwalk where our children were entertained while we listened to the talk with no commitment on our part at the end (but with all the paper work because we were leaning toward joining) and then we were treated to a full lunch at ESPN. When we were done, the same taxi took us back to our hotel. No one asked for a commitment from us and there was no pressure. We have been able to stay in two bedroom villas that we would NEVER have been able to afford. I am a planner and love planning our WDW vacations with our points! (sorry this is so long) Oh, one last word - our "home" is Hilton Head because it was the least expensive at the time, but I have never had trouble booking at WDW in our 7 month booking window. We haven't been to HH at all, but plan on a two night stay after our Jan. cruise.

 

[kasar]

Great info - thanks. I'm just not sure if it's for us, due to family schedules we usually book things at the last minute whenever we have a long weekend/break in schedules. But next time we go to WDW will definately check it out. Obviously we can't check out the villas while on the cruise but worth considering for the future. Again, thanks for helping.

 

[FOJMO]

Originally posted by kasar
I'm just not sure if it's for us, due to family schedules we usually book things at the last minute whenever we have a long weekend/break in schedules. [/B]

That's the beauty of DVC! You CAN book last minute. Depending on what's available and the amount of points you have, you have a multitude of choices within WDW to choose from to get the reservation you wish. Of course, if you live out of driving distance to WDW, you will have to be concerned about travel involved, so it couldn't be last minute because of that.

We've been DVC members since 1993 and have had the time of our lives! It's the best investment we ever made! Because it's not a "timeshare" you're not locked into a specific week -- in fact, you can make reservations for as short as one night! Living within an hour's drive from WDW, it really has paid off for us. We had a 5-year loan through DVC and it was paid off in 1998. But, we were able to begin using our points for vacation from day one! We figured the monthly cost to pay the loan would have been what we were going to spend anyway on a yearly vacation.

They say the points aren't as "cost effective" when you use them for the DVC cruises as opposed to using the points at WDW; but if we didn't have them for that purpose, we wouldn't have been able to go on the cruises, so it's worked for us.

Hope this commentary help you! Enjoy!

 

[din]

Originally posted by HookdonWDW
We prefer the term "Vacation Club" to timeshare. To me, DVC (and a few others) are a step above timeshares.

I fully agree. Did not how to best explain without using the "T" word...

 

[SC Minnie]

Do check out the DVC board. The people over there are really nice and will answer any questions. Don't be afraid to ask what you want to know. We bought into DVC while on the cruise last January and stayed at the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge this summer using points. We have another trip planned for March. We bought annual passes last summer so our trip is basically paid for. We were not going to be able to use our points for the following year at WDW and to cruise on points was not the best thing for us so we rented that use year and most of our 2004 cruise will be paid for.

 

[floridaminnie]

You can check out the DVC on the boat. That is how we found out about it and we actually bought on the boat at Vero Beach.

 

[WDWLVR]

sdoane is right. If you are going on the 7 day cruise there will be at least one DVC information panel you can attend. They usually also have a desk set up on deck 5 with a rep at it most days. They will be happy to walk you through things and DVC is not high pressure at all.

 

[ncligs]

We bought into DVC in 1999 and it was the best decision we ever made.Now 4 members of our family are DVC members after staying at a DVC resort and seeing how flexible and "1st class they are.