DVC & Marriott

[Nana Sue]

We too own DVC and Marriott and although it's great to have both I would suggest you buy DVC if you are buying to go to WDW every year or every other year. Orlando timeshares in general are not considered a great buy because there are so many of them, and certainly many Orlando timeshares out there are much cheaper than Marriott.

As you grow older your needs change and DVC is so flexible your reservations can change with your needs. With Marriott, as has been pointed out, you are pretty much locked into a) a week or season, b) a full week's vacation at a time, and c) a unit size. You really need to go to a Marriott presentation somewhere to find out all the advantages of owning a Marriott. Marriott presentations are usually very low key and not the hard sell you get at most timeshares. Both Marriott and DVC have 1st class accomodations and I highly recommend both of them, but as I said earlier, if you are buying to go to WDW, buy DVC.

 

[goldengirl]

We are in the opposite situation--we own a Marriott week and have been looking into a DVC resale purchase. We've been very happy with our Marriott, and have traded within the Marriott system many times without dissappointment. In fact, our home unit has the lockoff feature, and when we traded the 1BR side for another resort, we received a 2br unit for no additional cost. Marriott always seems to do their best to accommodate.

We've decided against DVC, though, because the main benefit seems to be flexibility of use--we're in California and wouldn't really be able to take full advantage of that. If we were closer, we would definitely consider it, as it sounds like DVC owners are very satisfied.

As to relative costs, consider the following: Interval International warns that trading into a DVC property is very difficult, but I successfully traded two of my banked Marriott weeks for two weeks at BWV. Disney for the price of Marriott...works for us!

 

[lat]

goldengirl, that was amazing to hear that you traded Marriott for 2 weeks at BWV.

Just out of curiosity, can you share which Marriott that you own, what time was the week at BWV, did you trade a 1-br for a 1-br? Did you wait a long time to get confirmed?

Thanks

 

[lat]

goldengirl, that was amazing to hear that you traded Marriott for 2 weeks at BWV.

Just out of curiosity, can you share which Marriott that you own, what time was the week at BWV, did you trade a 1-br for a 1-br? Did you wait a long time to get confirmed?

Thanks

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by lat
goldengirl, that was amazing to hear that you traded Marriott for 2 weeks at BWV.

Just out of curiosity, can you share which Marriott that you own, what time was the week at BWV, did you trade a 1-br for a 1-br? Did you wait a long time to get confirmed?

Thanks

Though I am a DVC owners, I've also traded into DVC twice. Once a 2 BR at OKW in Jan and once a 1 BR BWV a couple of weeks ago. I used a bonus week for one and a low rated 1 BR for the other. I search all the time to see what's there and see units regularly. They are usually off season excluding summer, Xmas and Easter. Most were Jan, Feb, May, and Sept to early Dec. Last Jan to March there were a ton of units on II. There was a 4th of July studio at one time though. This increased availability happend about the time they changed the trading methods. It seemed they had been savings up points for a few months and dumpted the units all within a month or so. Since then there has been a smattering of units with one or two available at any one time I looked.

 

[Nana Sue]

I'm sure a good Marriott will trade for DVC if anything will. The problem is you can only go to WDW if and when the weeks are deposited. Owning DVC allows you to go when you want, for as long as you want, and in the size unit you want. That's why I said earlier that if you are buying to go to WDW, buy DVC.

 

[goldengirl]

I traded two 2br November weeks for two concurrent weeks at BWV in November. If I recall correctly, it took about 3 months to get one unit, and an additional 6 days to get the second confirmation. My home resort is Marriott's Desert Springs I, in Palm Desert CA (golf!!), and although we bought the middle season, I think it's a high-season trade all year through Interval.

I'm excited to see Dean's remark about availability of DVC weeks from time to time...we always travel on off-season so maybe we can luck out again...but I agree with Nana Sue--might as well buy DVC and save yourself the trading uncertainty if you know you'll be back time and again.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by goldengirl
My home resort is Marriott's Desert Springs I, in Palm Desert CA (golf!!), and although we bought the middle season, I think it's a high-season trade all year through Interval.

The weeks Xmas through May will trade well, the rest just OK. Sinced the DVC units that show up will be off season, this shouldn't be a large deterent though as the Marriott there is highly rated. Don't forget about the $95 per week extra fee that DVC charges exchangers.