DVC compared to other timeshares

[Dean]

That's good to know. I will have to keep it in mind for next time. We are staying at HGVC Seaworld this trip but doing non-Disney so it should be an ideal location. Come to think of it, when we stayed at Marriott Harbour Lake, I don't remember the drive being all that long. I *believe* it was right off the highway???

CH and HL are both right around the corner from the Seaworld HGVC. I think the road that both are on is called Westwood and it's the first turn off Central FL parkway right next to the Hilton. One thing to remember is that you can only exit onto Cent Fl Pkwy going North on I-4 and you can only access I-4 headed south. This works great for in and out for Disney but not for Universal. Also remember that you can get to Palm Pkwy just past I-4 if you want to come into the LBV area from the other side, esp if you want to hit some of the restaurants in this area that are not in the crossroadsl like Amici, Crab House, Kobe, Millers Orlando Ale House, Carraba's or Giordano's Pizza location among many others. If you go down I drive, remember to cut through beside the outlets rather than going down to the "end" of I-drive for DD or similar locations.

 

[ccgirl]

CH and HL are both right around the corner from the Seaworld HGVC. I think the road that both are on is called Westwood and it's the first turn off Central FL parkway right next to the Hilton. One thing to remember is that you can only exit onto Cent Fl Pkwy going North on I-4 and you can only access I-4 headed south. This works great for in and out for Disney but not for Universal. Also remember that you can get to Palm Pkwy just past I-4 if you want to come into the LBV area from the other side, esp if you want to hit some of the restaurants in this area that are not in the crossroadsl like Amici, Crab House, Kobe, Millers Orlando Ale House, Carraba's or Giordano's Pizza location among many others. If you go down I drive, remember to cut through beside the outlets rather than going down to the "end" of I-drive for DD or similar locations.

Thank you so much for that! I had no idea they were that close. We didn't really venture around much when we stayed at Marriott Harbour Lakes but would like to do so when staying at HGVC so I REALLY appreciate your tips there.

OP - sorry to hijack your thread.

I think you can see that DVC is good for those that want to go to WDW every year and want to stay on site. Buying outside of DVC, is great for those that want to go elsewhere or even visit WDW but stay somewhere much less expensive and, in my opinion, better quality than DVC. I have stayed at AKL, BWV and BCV and prefer the Marriott and HGVC properties. I think (I know not everyone agrees) they are more upscale and offer better amenities.

 

[ldo]

I own DVc and 3 other TS. I have traded via RCI and II for many years. Both have drawbacks--for DVC, it is the cost and high annual fees. But, IMHO, DVc is an outstanding product. We bought our other TS to use--they are all summer east coast beach weeks. But, our kids got tired of the beach, so we trade them with RCI and II. Sometimes we get great trades (2 weeks HGVC in HAwaii), other times, we have to trade somewhere just "use" the week up--but even that is not so bad--the unit we booked with our use/lose was a 2 BR Xmas week at Marriott Grande Vista.
My advice would be to buy the minimum you need to travel to WDW every other year and see how you like it. I would also join TUG2.net and read about every other timeshare system--esp. how much annual fees are. I like the HGVC system and would probably buy that, if I were in the market.
Also, trading with RCI keeps evolving. So, that is another rason to consider a "system" such as HGVC, Starwood, Worldmark, etc.

 

[DeeCee735]

Back to the OP, and I'm sure it's in here somewhere, I didn't read all the posts. DVC is awesome, if you want to be in Disney most of your vacations. DVC offers nightly stays, Hilton Head and Vero Beach for beach vacations, and beautiful unique resorts (Animal Kingdom and BLT with the MK views), and now, of course Aulani, giving owners the Hawaii choice. The choice on what date/s and what size accommodations is also a great feature. Since this is our only TS, I don't know if there are any out there that do the same.

It has become very expensive, we own for 12 years, so we didn't pay high prices. Today, I think I'd look at resales and give that real consideration, but that's just us.

If you don't think you want to be in DVC most of your vacation time, perhaps another timeshare would work best. This past March was the first time we've traded out through RCI. We went to Sedona, AZ and it was fantastic. We are going to try to trade for a one bedroom once a year from now on, see how that goes, but our favorite place still remains WDW.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[dvcbnd]

To give you a different perspective, we own two TS's. We purchased our DVC 15 years ago & our HGVC ten years ago to have some diversity in our vacations. We also looked at Sheraton & Marriott. We do have a couple of complaints regarding our HGVC and none regarding our DVC. At HGVC, they call you periodically at home & upon checking in regarding adding-on more points. They also charge you to "bank" & "borrow" your points and to book your reservation outside of your "season", size of accomodations purchased, and "home" resort. Our other experience is that whenever we exchanged thru RCI using our HGVC points, we also receive phone calls regarding adding-on. IMHO, this is not my idea of a relaxing vacation.
We have NEVER been harassed by Disney to add-on and have done so two times since our initial purchase. We have never added onto our HGVC. In fact, we have considered selling our HGVC the past couple of years for those reasons & have never regretted or ever considered selling our DVC!