DVC-I'm not sure...

[Ham Ham]

Your home resort choices are currently Saratoga and Animal Kingdom. They are not selling any others (as of the DVC cruise last week).

When I was on a cruise early this month Board Walk DVC was available with no incentives. I needed to be a little inquisitive for them to tell me.

 

[abirdd]

Please remember to figure in your monthly maintance costs...but the discounts are good for annual pass at WDW, 20% off most dining, the availability of washing machine and dryer in the 1 BR or larger units is a great help for long trips.

DH and I have been seriously talking about the DVC - and whether it would prove to be a wise choice for us. One of the areas we keep coming back to are annual maintenance fees. What exactly are those covering?

Also, could someone explain what the annual pass pricing is like currently for WDW?

 

[realfam]

We recently purchased at Saratoga Springs while aboard the Disney magic in September.
The yearly maintence fee was a small road block for us as well. The best way it was explained to us was think of it as taxes, hydro, water, and maintenance to the facility. Remember DVC has a high standard when it comes to the appearance and quality of there properties. I have read many post of people saying they wouldn't buy into DVC because they feel they can do better by booking into XYZ hotel each time they visit Disney. Yes there probably right if you don't mind staying at 1-3 star average hotel. But if you enjoy the better things in life, and for my family we want great hotel and facilites when were vacationing. So DVC was an easy discission. We have also looked into purchasing Intrawest in the past. And by far think DVC is a better product.

 

[drag n' fly]

DH and I have been seriously talking about the DVC - and whether it would prove to be a wise choice for us. One of the areas we keep coming back to are annual maintenance fees. What exactly are those covering?

Also, could someone explain what the annual pass pricing is like currently for WDW?

"Annual Dues are collected to fund the operating costs of the resort. DVC owners pay for the costs of nearly all resort amenities including front desk Cast Member salaries and benefits, theme park transportation and even Property Taxes. Another component of the dues goes toward a Reserve Fund which is used to pay for long-term projects such as roof replacement, parking lot and road repaving and even wholesale room refurbishments.

Given the inflationary nature of the economy, dues should be expected to rise at a rate of 3-4% per year. Staff salaries increase...fuel costs increase...insurance premiums increase.

While the compounding impact of 3-4% increase over an extended period of time will be significant, simiar increases should be expected at Disney cash resorts. In recent years Disney's rack rates have steadily risen at a rate of 3-5% per year. "

Annual passes are approx 100 dollars off if you are a DVC member. For current pricing go to the WDW website

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/index

 

[Ham Ham]

So DVC was an easy discission. We have also looked into purchasing Intrawest in the past. And by far think DVC is a better product.

The great thing about DVC is we can go to Disney or Intrawest properties.

 

[realfam]

That's right

And your DVC point go further in a trade than if you were a club Intrawest member. 160 points trade for a one bedroom at Intrawest. Good deal if your a skier...... Which our entire family is......

 

[Ham Ham]

That's right

And your DVC point go further in a trade than if you were a club Intrawest member. 160 points trade for a one bedroom at Intrawest. Good deal if your a skier...... Which our entire family is......

I don' think you'll be skiing must this season, judging by your signature. Congrats!

 

[merryweather20]

When I was on a cruise early this month Board Walk DVC was available with no incentives. I needed to be a little inquisitive for them to tell me.

Yeah, I thought so as well. I have only experienced this once but when my Uncle was buying, someone told him to just be adamant that you weren't going to buy the resort they were currently offering and they would sell you any of the resorts. I was thinking this is what they do with the ROFR's . He was able to buy at the board-walk.

 

[ont/ohana]

The resorts they offer now for sale are SSR and AKV, if you want another resort make it very clear that is the resort you want. They will sell you any resort at the DVC's but it may take longer if Disney does not have the inventory you are looking for. They had OKW inventory for sale when we stayed there in March. There is a thread on DVC boards on how long before the add on came through for sold out resorts. Keep in mind there may be no incentives to buy a these resorts.

Here is the link to the sold out resort question;
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=735842

 

[CanadianGuy]

I wonder if our soaring dollar could turn around and bite us in the tookus?

Any economists out there?

This is a fair bit off topic, but I figured I'd answer anyway.

While I'm not an economist, you'll note that the dropping US$ hasn't exactly re-opened a bunch of factories or manufacturing industries across the border.

Canada lagged behind the US$ in advancing this country to a value-added or service based economy. I've read several articles that said the businesses and industries that will survive in Canada (if the dollar stays up there as predicted).. are those that successfully :

- Maximize efficiency and reduce waste &
- Transition to a value-added or service based proposition

Exporting raw goods, usually natural resource based, has been Canada's raison d'etre in the world for the last 70 years. We need to transition away from that and make those raw goods into produced final products in an efficient and cost effective way.

Some companies have already started that transition. Others haven't but will and still others just won't figure it out in time.

Despite that, Canada has had a huge trade imbalance .. that is to say we import way more goods than we export. Those imported goods are going to be cheaper for Canadian companies to buy on the world markets now.

The smart companies and organizations will take sharp advantage of that and offer goods and services to Canadians at significantly reduced prices... AND won't waste any time doing it.

In the rush to complain about our dollar hurting manufacturing sectors, nobody seems to think about the raw ingredients, custom machinery, etc.. that are imported for those manufacturing efforts which will now be cheaper to acquire.

It's a complicated system. But those who will hurt the most are companies and organizations involved in the harvesting and export of wood, coal and other natural resources that aren't processed in Canada .. They are in for a rough ride no matter how slice it.

 

[realfam]

I don' think you'll be skiing must this season, judging by your signature. Congrats!

Hi there HamHam,

Love the pics........ Funny to see were both on Disboards and Disney Magic.ca
Us Canadians must stick together! My wife won't be doing much skiing this year, I have already made plan to head out to Marmot, Sunshine, and lake Louise for the first week of Dec. And doing weekend in Tremblant berfore Christmas. ( Try to get some skiing in before the baby arrives ) Our family skiis quit a bit just south of the border at Bristol Mtn, just outside Rochestor. But we probably spens more time this year at Mt. St. Louis.
I see your pic was in Park City. We skied both Park City and Salt lake City resorts last year. Loved it.
Hence our ski habit helped in our DVC decision.

Cheers