DVC Direct - Tour worth it?

[brazzledazzler]

Hi all! I've been reading all the posts on these forums (you all are so knowledgeable, thank you!) and watching the DVC show. I think I have *most* of my questions answered.

Is meeting a guide in person and a tour helpful to making a direct purchase?

My husband and I are 90% sure we plan to buy CCV Direct from Disney. I've contacted a guide and there is limited availability. I know all the numbers, done spreadsheets, etc. The only "surprise" may be related to financing. We want to finance a portion of it (and pay it off aggressively). We could front all the cash, but we like the liquidity of cash.

I ask my question since we are booked to stay in SSR in August for 2 nights (DVC rental) to see family and enjoy the pools. I don't feel like I *need* to purchase DVC today, and maybe it's worth waiting until I stay at SSR or meet with someone at DVC directly?

Then again, maybe I can just move forward since there are no specials for CCV and since the minimum purchase for a blue card just raised to 150 this month, I feel pretty confident it won't be higher in August.

Did you think meeting in person or touring was the best for making this purchase? Thoughts?

Thank you!

 

[RoseGold]

I'm not sure what they can tell you in person that they couldn't tell you on the phone. I'm sure they'll be happy to tour whatever you want.

 

[brazzledazzler]

I'm not sure what they can tell you in person that they couldn't tell you on the phone. I'm sure they'll be happy to tour whatever you want.

Yeah, I felt the same. I don't think I need to be in person. I've been going to Disney World since I was a toddler and stayed at many of the resorts. I'm not sure a tour would do much except being a waste of valuable vacation time.

Thank you RoseGold!

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

I’ve heard they are very generous with finance qualifications. Best if you can put 20% down though. Since you are doing CCV I would point out what you probably have already read on here: studios are small and hard to get. If you are someone who tends to like to stay for a week and the same time of the year, consider a guaranteed/fixed week if they still have any of those remaining. Excited for you!

 

[cruisehopeful]

Look at LightStream for financing, the rates will be much better than Disney and you can pay it off early with no penalty. Or, if you want to pay off in 3 months, I think I've seen a lot of people say that they bought their contract direct without financing, but were able to make 3 payments on credit cards.

 

[brazzledazzler]

I’ve heard they are very generous with finance qualifications. Best if you can put 20% down though. Since you are doing CCV I would point out what you probably have already read on here: studios are small and hard to get. If you are someone who tends to like to stay for a week and the same time of the year, consider a guaranteed/fixed week if they still have any of those remaining. Excited for you!

Great to hear about the generous financing. We planned to put 20% or more down, so that could work. I will have to ask about financing from the guide.

Yes, I've read all the forums about studios at CCV and the issues with availability. That was my one concern with CCV.

However, my husband and I live less than 2 hours from Disney World, and we both work from home with generous vacation time. We visit Disney during the low season times. I'm hoping our flexibility means at 11 months we can get a few nights at CCV a year. All other nights, our family is ok with staying at other resorts. They are all very lovely!

Wilderness Lodge is a special place for my husband and I; otherwise, I'd consider another resort.

 

[brazzledazzler]

Look at LightStream for financing, the rates will be much better than Disney and you can pay it off early with no penalty. Or, if you want to pay off in 3 months, I think I've seen a lot of people say that they bought their contract direct without financing, but were able to make 3 payments on credit cards.

I'll look into LightStream. We definitely plan to pay it off soon, but not in 3 months. More like 3 years at most.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[princesscinderella]

Have you toured the CCV rooms before? We just toured them this weekend and compared to other DVC resorts they feel very small. We did not like it at all, we toured a 2 bedroom lock off. The cabin however was amazing. I definitely think you should see the rooms before buying, RIV rooms have the complete opposite feeling as they are richly appointed and open feeling as compared to CCV. It’s a big purchase and if you are going to Disney anyway I’d wait.

 

[brazzledazzler]

Have you toured the CCV rooms before? We just toured them this weekend and compared to other DVC resorts they feel very small. We did not like it at all, we toured a 2 bedroom lock off. The cabin however was amazing. I definitely think you should see the rooms before buying, RIV rooms have the complete opposite feeling as they are richly appointed and open feeling as compared to CCV. It’s a big purchase and if you are going to Disney anyway I’d wait.

That makes sense. Will a Disney Guide take us to tour these rooms at CCV? I guess, I just thought they keep you at SSR and show you a mock-up of their latest resort room. (I may have no idea what I'm talking about).

 

[Benchedguy]

We did the tour prior to buying in 2019. They booked us at the wrong location, had to get shuttled over to to Boulder Ridge. The sales rep doubled booked. We got the rush treatment and couldnt care about us. Soooo, after that trip we decided that if the sales rep couldnt care, we did all of our research online. Found out more info through resources like DisBoards and DisUnplugged among other. Then we bought re-sale in September of 2019 at the Poly. The tour did nothing to help us.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

The only value I ever found in doing a tour was to actually see the room. You will find as much and often more information here about DVC than guides will get you in the time of a tour plus they ARE trying to sell you even if it's a soft sell and have been known to fudge the info a bit. The financing will be the financing. The pricing will be the pricing.

You do want to do your research on DVC and learn all you can to decide if it is a proper fit for you and then seeing a villa if you never have before is also good. But touring to get info? Wouldn't be my first place to start.

 

[brazzledazzler]

The only value I ever found in doing a tour was to actually see the room. You will find as much and often more information here about DVC than guides will get you in the time of a tour plus they ARE trying to sell you even if it's a soft sell and have been known to fudge the info a bit. The financing will be the financing. The pricing will be the pricing.

You do want to do your research on DVC and learn all you can to decide if it is a proper fit for you and then seeing a villa if you never have before is also good. But touring to get info? Wouldn't be my first place to start.

I agree. We booked 2 nights renting DVC to stay at an SSR studio to see how we felt. The room size isn’t as big of a deal, since we generally only go for 2-4 nights at most. We like Wilderness Lodge because it doesn’t feel like we’re in Florida. We are FL residents from the north and it’s an escape experience.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

That makes sense. Will a Disney Guide take us to tour these rooms at CCV? I guess, I just thought they keep you at SSR and show you a mock-up of their latest resort room. (I may have no idea what I'm talking about).

I haven't seen any reports recently but last time I toured to see the RIV rooms they still had CCV models too. AFAIK they are both still there although if they follow the norm those will end up shut down in the upcoming months for the new VGF room models to be alongside the RIV models.

As your FL residents and qualify for the same AP discounts as DVC have you also considered resale? It sounds like you mostly want to stay at your home resort so the so termed "sleep around" ability may not be much of a factor for you and you still would be able to stay at all resorts except Riviera. And you wouldn't have the same 150 pt minimum purchase requirement if you went with resale so could finance less and maybe save up to add on some direct later after you paid off the initial purchase.

 

[brazzledazzler]

I haven't seen any reports recently but last time I toured to see the RIV rooms they still had CCV models too. AFAIK they are both still there although if they follow the norm those will end up shut down in the upcoming months for the new VGF room models to be alongside the RIV models.

As your FL residents and qualify for the same AP discounts as DVC have you also considered resale? It sounds like you mostly want to stay at your home resort so the so termed "sleep around" ability may not be much of a factor for you and you still would be able to stay at all resorts except Riviera. And you wouldn't have the same 150 pt minimum purchase requirement if you went with resale so could finance less and maybe save up to add on some direct later after you paid off the initial purchase.

Great points! We love WL, and want to stay there a few nights a year, but we're also open to other resorts.

Yes, I've looked into resale, but for a variety of reasons we want to buy direct. Disney keeps moving the goal post for "blue card" membership and what that means, so we want to be direct members.

Also, as a couple in our 30s with a baby and a toddler, we don't want to be excluded from future resorts. I wish the resale prices were lower, but they aren't and the cost difference isn't enough to entice us currently. If we want add-on points, I definitely would check out resale.

 

[princesscinderella]

That makes sense. Will a Disney Guide take us to tour these rooms at CCV? I guess, I just thought they keep you at SSR and show you a mock-up of their latest resort room. (I may have no idea what I'm talking about).

They are touring all the big rooms stills at all the DVC properties. We went for lunch at Geiser point and it was amazing and while there we did the tour. (The bison burger there is amazing). They also have the CCV rooms on showcase at the SSR sales center. RIV rooms you tour at the hotel they are not at the SSR sales center. You can go to all the DVC resorts and make a day of seeing all the big rooms

 

[sethschroeder]

Its smart I think just to check out all the rooms. Will it maybe impact your decision to buy somewhere? Maybe not.

That being said its nice to get around and see the resorts while they still have temporary rooms to show off.

We didn't schedule some drawn out meeting though we just stopped by to look at the rooms quick. Also if you are buying direct might as well get that done before or at the start of the trip to get access to Epcot lounge and whatever discounts are available.

 

[brazzledazzler]

Its smart I think just to check out all the rooms. Will it maybe impact your decision to buy somewhere? Maybe not.

That being said its nice to get around and see the resorts while they still have temporary rooms to show off.

We didn't schedule some drawn out meeting though we just stopped by to look at the rooms quick. Also if you are buying direct might as well get that done before or at the start of the trip to get access to Epcot lounge and whatever discounts are available.

My husband and I will be traveling with a baby and toddler, so, not sure how many resorts we can check out with them in tow. But, it’s something to consider.

 

[BruinEd03]

My husband and I will be traveling with a baby and toddler, so, not sure how many resorts we can check out with them in tow. But, it’s something to consider.

You may still want to consider checking out the resort rooms. It's one thing to see them online, and another to actually be there. We did a tour of all of the DVC resorts last year, and we definitely changed the rankings of our favorite resorts after seeing all of them.

On the flip side, if you want the August Use Year, it may be beneficial to buy before your trip, as you will get 2020 points included. That isn't applicable for the other Use Years as you will be past them, or they are upcoming.

 

[brazzledazzler]

You may still want to consider checking out the resort rooms. It's one thing to see them online, and another to actually be there. We did a tour of all of the DVC resorts last year, and we definitely changed the rankings of our favorite resorts after seeing all of them.

On the flip side, if you want the August Use Year, it may be beneficial to buy before your trip, as you will get 2020 points included. That isn't applicable for the other Use Years as you will be past them, or they are upcoming.

I think that it’s probably beneficial to do a tour. I guess, since per point minimum just went up to 150, I don’t see the pressure to buy today. I can wait until I get a tour. We will be there in August and in January.

With or without a tour, the room size doesn’t matter as much as the ambiance of the resort…and I’ve eaten or visited them all. Some I’ve even stayed at!

 

[Matty B13]

My husband and I will be traveling with a baby and toddler, so, not sure how many resorts we can check out with them in tow. But, it’s something to consider.

If your baby is big enough for a stroller, then I would rent a double stroller from one of the local rental places.