DVC benefits for II exchange?

[MINNIEsota MOUSE]

Hi! Brand new to this board and Loving it! I've been totaly obsessed with reading it 24/7! I get like this when a Disney Vacation is in my future! (OKW Jan 2006! Celebrating my bday!)

Anyway........ my question is this. When we did the exchange we were charged an additional fee ($95 I think) for DVC benefits during our stay. I know they said like EMH and Disney transportation. Would this include all DVC benefits? Could we get the discount on AP?

We really wanted to use our weeks mostly at Disney - they said if we purchased elsewhere it's easy to 'exchange'. We did get in during our requested dates - but didn't realize the extra charges! We shold have done DVC!

Karen

 

[vascubaguy]

By staying at a DVC you get the benefits of staying on Disney property, but you don't get access to the "membership benefits" which would include the AP discounts, meal discounts, shopping discounts, etc.

Most likely, when you get your room key it will have "member" on the back, but many places are requiring you to present the actual DVC Membership Card to get the discounts.

 

[littlestar]

The discount for the AP is for DVC members and immediate family that live in their household. When we bought our AP's we had to show our blue DVC membership cards (this has our membership number on it) and driver's licenses. We weren't able to buy them for our married children as they don't live in the same household.

By the way, what resort did you use to trade in? My sister is going to try to trade in with her Hawaii 2 bedroom pretty soon. Did Interval charge you the $95 transporation fee up front, then? I didn't know if they collected it at the front desk or what.

 

[MINNIEsota MOUSE]

Thanks for the quick response! I guess it makes sense that we wouldn't get the DVC membership bennies. It was wishful thinking! I think we are going to try to sell our home resort (in MN) and buy DVC. I don't know what posessed us to buy what we did. We are an easy sell I guess! We went there saying 'we aren't going to buy' but they said "Disney" and we did! I should've known better! Oh well! Live and Learn!

In answer to the ?'s - Our home resort is in MN. Yes they made me give a credit card over the phone before the request could go through. I think I read somewhere that only a couple of resorts charge this -OKW and maybe SSR?

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Hi! Brand new to this board and Loving it! I've been totaly obsessed with reading it 24/7! I get like this when a Disney Vacation is in my future! (OKW Jan 2006! Celebrating my bday!)

Anyway........ my question is this. When we did the exchange we were charged an additional fee ($95 I think) for DVC benefits during our stay. I know they said like EMH and Disney transportation. Would this include all DVC benefits? Could we get the discount on AP?

We really wanted to use our weeks mostly at Disney - they said if we purchased elsewhere it's easy to 'exchange'. We did get in during our requested dates - but didn't realize the extra charges! We shold have done DVC!

Karen

First, congratulations on exchanging into DVC! Not many DVC members exchange out, and there's a huge demand to exchange in, so consider yourself lucky this time.

The $95 fee is just a fee. Think of it as a Disney tax.

As others have noted, you'll have all the benefits of any on-site WDW guest (Magical Express, extra park hours, free parking at the parks), but you don't have additional DVC member perks.

You can usually exchange into other Orlando-area quite easily, including the excellent Marriott Vacation Club resorts, without incurring an additional $95 fee. As good as those resorts are, I'd gladly $95 more (for a 7-night stay) to stay at a DVC resort.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Welcome, Fellow Minnesotan! I agree, you were very lucky, but you are also exchanging in when it is fairly easy to get a DVC ressie. We own at OKW and checked out a few of those "Minnesota timeshares" before buying 8 years ago. It didn't take us long to figure out it would be difficult to exchange into DVC, and since that was where we wanted to be most of the time, we decided to buy there. We have two OKW contracts (230 and 150 points), and mostly stay there. What size unit are you staying in? We love the 2 and 3 bedroom units at OKW....they're huge!

When in January will you be there? We are going Dec. 31-Jan10, and we are planning a little DVC/DIS board get together on Jan. 6th. If you want to join us, send me a quick PM, and I'll give you the details.

Which resort are you exchanging from? Is it Breezy?

 

[kadaten]

Slightly off topic, but being as I have never been to Minnesota and don't know anyone from there or who has been there.....what kind of timeshare is there in Minnesota? I hear "Minnesota" and just think COLD. So is this a ski place? A lake resort? Just wondering! Since there's no ocean in Minnesota, we're not likely to be there any time soon (DH is Navy) so was wondering what I'm missing!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Slightly off topic, but being as I have never been to Minnesota and don't know anyone from there or who has been there.....what kind of timeshare is there in Minnesota? I hear "Minnesota" and just think COLD. So is this a ski place? A lake resort? Just wondering! Since there's no ocean in Minnesota, we're not likely to be there any time soon (DH is Navy) so was wondering what I'm missing!

Most Minnesota timeshares are lake/golf based with some of them ski based. Think lodge retreat for a few of them. There are some great places up on Lake Superior, and yes, there's a Navy or Coast Guard port there.

 

[MINNIEsota MOUSE]

We will be there Jan. 6th! That would be fun! We are staying in a 1 BR - it's just DH & I. DD's are 'finally' both in college!

Our timeshare here is "Causeway on Gull". We own week 2 - which is actually a RED week = "most popular"! (People come to ski, snowmobile and ice fish) It's also the week of my Bday and usually quite cold and snowy! That's why we're going to WDW!

 

[kadaten]

and yes, there's a Navy or Coast Guard port there.

Bite your tongue, woman! (Man?!?) He keeps "threatening" to move me to Nebraska! Which is colder?

I'm not much of a cold weather girl. 6 years in ol' Virginie was more snow that I EVER want to see again, and I bet you've got them beat hands down!

DH would probably love a MN timeshare. He loves skiing My idea of a "skiing vacation" is to find a nice rocker beside the fireplace and keep a steaming cup of hot cocoa in my hands at all times. I might be convinced to venture to some shops, but they better be good ones! And I'll happily build a snowman or two with the kids.....but a week is about all the cold I can stand. I's just wimpy!

Needless to say, I'm LOVING our new locale.... Florida! Only 70 minutes door-to-door home-to-WDW! Now if only I can figure out a way to keep us here for more than 3 years....

 

[dvc_john]

I think I read somewhere that only a couple of resorts charge this -OKW and maybe SSR?

This fee is charged at all 5 WDW resorts (OKW, SSR, VWL, BWV, and BCV), but not at Hilton Head or Vero Beach.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Bite your tongue, woman! (Man?!?) He keeps "threatening" to move me to Nebraska! Which is colder?

I'm not much of a cold weather girl. 6 years in ol' Virginie was more snow that I EVER want to see again, and I bet you've got them beat hands down!

DH would probably love a MN timeshare. He loves skiing My idea of a "skiing vacation" is to find a nice rocker beside the fireplace and keep a steaming cup of hot cocoa in my hands at all times. I might be convinced to venture to some shops, but they better be good ones! And I'll happily build a snowman or two with the kids.....but a week is about all the cold I can stand. I's just wimpy!

Needless to say, I'm LOVING our new locale.... Florida! Only 70 minutes door-to-door home-to-WDW! Now if only I can figure out a way to keep us here for more than 3 years....

LOL, I think I'm a woman (not too many men named Diane). Yep, we probably have Virginia beatten for snow, but then the cold here is very dry, and having lived in upstate NY, I will say I would take the dry cold here to the damp cold of Virginia and the Eastern seaboard any day.

Anyway, DVC is definitely the thing to own if WDW is your expected usual destination. Minnesota girl, how long did it take you to exchange into DVC? We were told by Causeway on Gull that we could exchange into Disney any time we wanted to also, but we knew they weren't on DVC's direct trade list, so we also knew it would be chancy. Izaty's is the only Minnesota timeshare on DVC's direct trade list.

 

[Ellester]

Bite your tongue, woman! (Man?!?) He keeps "threatening" to move me to Nebraska! Which is colder?

I assure you that both are far colder than you would EVER want to be. We lived in Iowa for 5 years (right between Neb. and Minn.), the day we packed to leave it was -26 (Dec. 27th, without windchill). When they tell you to bring in your dogs so they don't die from the cold, it's too cold for me! I didn't even know that diesel fuel could turn to jelly when it gets cold enough until we lived there!

 

[MINNIEsota MOUSE]

Anyway, DVC is definitely the thing to own if WDW is your expected usual destination. Minnesota girl, how long did it take you to exchange into DVC? We were told by Causeway on Gull that we could exchange into Disney any time we wanted to also, but we knew they weren't on DVC's direct trade list, so we also knew it would be chancy. Izaty's is the only Minnesota timeshare on DVC's direct trade list.

I had to put in a request and got a call a couple of days later! I was surprised it was available so quick! Now that you mention it - it was an Izaty's trade - we originally owned with them (and hadn't used that week yet) and when we went to Midwest Resorts to dicuss our frustrations they told us Izaty's lied to us and talked us into spending more and getting causeway during a red week! So now you're saying that we might not be so lucky with our more 'desireable' (read - expensive) week! I knew we should've done DVC!

 

[Dean]

The $95 fee is a "resort services fee", the tax idea is a good one. It is essentially to cover the exchange system itself. They quote for other things but all the rest are things guaranteed by staying on property anyway and already paid for by the members. You need to know that II didn't charge your credit card for the $95 fee, only the exchange fee. You must contact DVC directly to pay this fee, the number is on your confirmation. You can put in requests at the same time you call and ask for dining reservations (priority seating).

DVC is not at all hard to exchange into for Sept and Jan, I've done it several times with moderately rated weeks and pulled hundreds of units over the past few years.

You will get none of the member benefits unless you were a DVC member anyway. But the benefits are fairly meager overall so don't fret too much about it.

If you bought expecting to routinely exchange into DVC you were sold a load of manure. Jan, early Feb, May, Sept, early Oct and early Dec are possible, some more than others. The rest are difficult to impossible other than the odd studio at times for the summer and November. There will be exceptions but this is what you can routinely expect. Xmas and Easter are not deposited PERIOD and neither are the 3 BR units. Most deposits are at OKW and SSR for WDW and for less than a 2 BR unit. By the time you paid for your week, pay the dues and pay the $129 exchange fee plus the $95 resort services fee, you still might want to consider DVC instead and possibly sell the week you have if your goal is simply DVC anyway or use it for other exchanges. That's not to say that exchanging in isn't a good option, it is for some given the right circumstances. I myself plan to sell most of my points at some time in the future and go that route, but I can easily travel Jan and Sept now.

 

[gjw007]

The $95 fee is a "resort services fee", the tax idea is a good one. It is essentially to cover the exchange system itself. They quote for other things but all the rest are things guaranteed by staying on property anyway and already paid for by the members. You need to know that II didn't charge your credit card for the $95 fee, only the exchange fee. You must contact DVC directly to pay this fee, the number is on your confirmation.

I had wondered about this because I thought that the guest paid DVC when they arrived at the resort for the fee leaving many guests angry and confused. It makes sense that it was just the exchange fee and not Disney's "resort service fee". I think that I would check to verify what fees were paid just to be sure.

 

[Dean]

I had wondered about this because I thought that the guest paid DVC when they arrived at the resort for the fee leaving many guests angry and confused. It makes sense that it was just the exchange fee and not Disney's "resort service fee". I think that I would check to verify what fees were paid just to be sure.

II makes it VERY clear about this fee when one lists and/or accepts the exchange. I can't see anyone being confused about the fee itself. I can see a possible confusion about where and when to pay it. I've never seen much for complaints from one having to pay the fee. What I have seen is people with an axe to grind about Disney and DVC who complain loudly about the fee, including a couple with a campaign aimed at punishing DVC and the DVC members for the fee. With one who wants people to accept an II exchange then once it's over complain loudly to II and mark DVC very low in the evaluation, again for punishment. And another that wants other resorts to charge ONLY DVC members a fee when they exchange out.

Don't get me know, I think the fee is stupid also, but I am realistic about it. Even with the extra fee, getting a DVC or 2 BR would be the best exchange many people would ever make.

 

[gjw007]

What I have seen is people with an axe to grind about Disney and DVC who complain loudly about the fee, including a couple with a campaign aimed at punishing DVC and the DVC members for the fee. With one who wants people to accept an II exchange then once it's over complain loudly to II and mark DVC very low in the evaluation, again for punishment. And another that wants other resorts to charge ONLY DVC members a fee when they exchange out.

Well this sounds very stupid; if you don't like Disney and DVC, why stay and go there? I probably wasn't very clear as my attempted point was that I had heard of people who had felt that they had paid the fee before arriving only to find that they had to pay the fee when they did arrive. I'm sure that the fees are clearly stipulated but I also sure that many people get confused about when and where to pay the fees as you note. I'm also not convinced that staying onsite is best for everyone but that is a judgement that each individual has to make. It would seem the couple with the campaign fit this category.

 

[Dean]

Well this sounds very stupid; if you don't like Disney and DVC, why stay and go there? I probably wasn't very clear as my attempted point was that I had heard of people who had felt that they had paid the fee before arriving only to find that they had to pay the fee when they did arrive. I'm sure that the fees are clearly stipulated but I also sure that many people get confused about when and where to pay the fees as you note. I'm also not convinced that staying onsite is best for everyone but that is a judgement that each individual has to make. It would seem the couple with the campaign fit this category.

I couldn't agree with you more. It is stupid and petty to take the stance that some do with DVC as I described. One is a former owner who was disgruntled. There has been confusion at times as to when and where to pay the fee. And as much as DVC members don't understand, there are many people who simply PREFER to stay off property for a variety of reasons.

 

[MINNIEsota MOUSE]

You need to know that II didn't charge your credit card for the $95 fee, only the exchange fee. You must contact DVC directly to pay this fee, the number is on your confirmation. You can put in requests at the same time you call and ask for dining reservations (priority seating).



If you bought expecting to routinely exchange into DVC you were sold a load of manure. Jan, early Feb, May, Sept, early Oct and early Dec are possible, some more than others.

I checked my cc statement and I have only been charged the $129 exchange fee! Thanks Dean for bringing this to my attention! I haven't received a confirmation from OKW yet. Is it to early to expect this? (Jan 7 - 14)

Hopefully we will be able to exchange again as easily. It's only DH and myself so we only need a 1BR (or even a studio) and we usually like to go when WDW is less crowded so it sounds like we might be in luck. If not we will be thinking of changing!