DVC presentation while at Disney?

[UnderTheMistletoe]

Hello!

Can someone plase tell us what to expect from one of the DVC presentations? We're considereing doing one for our upcoming trip in May; however, we've got a number of ADRs we'd like to keep ... and would like to get some park time. How long should we expect it to take? Is the information provided worth the time commitment? Anything that adds that Disney magic to it? Any tips on how to keep them to a specific time slot? We're looking at the SSR.

Thanks much!

 

[two-foxes]

We did not have an appointment when we went on Sunday 2/19. We were looking at OKW and went up to the DVC rep there and within 30 minutes we were picked up in a van, taken to SSR and meeting with our guide, Jerry. There was a similar thread earlier this week that may answer some questions....

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1040818

 

[cobbler]

About 2 hours. It can go longer or shorter depending on how many questions you may have.

 

[Lawrence Cooper]

One thing that absolutely made it "worth our time" was the 4 Fastpasses that they gave us to take the tour. Each one of the FPs had 2 on them so we actually had 8 total. Also, these were "anytime" FPs which means that when you get to whatever ride you want to use it for, you go right in to the current FP line. Because of this, when we got to Soarin at 10:30 and they were giving out FPs for 5:30-6:30, we were able to go right on (as well as being able to use our regular FPs throughout the day). If it hadn't been for these FPs, I don't think we would have had the time/patience to go on Soarin with my 3 year old DS and 5 year old DD and my in-laws. 6 of us got right on right away (and I was able to use the remaining 2 FPs to go on Mission Space and Test Track which my family wouldn't have wanted to go on and/or wait for me to go on). So right there for me the tour was worth it!

I guess if you consider the $15,000+ I spent they were fairly expensive, though...

 

[Mrs Potato Head]

YOu can set the tone...we'd already been on the tour twice before, had the video and the book and knew what the deal was. I wanted the current pricing, any incentives and to see the Saratoga rooms, resorts. So when our guide got us, (Bill) we had waited about 10 minutes, I was cranky already from our time being wasted, and when he started his sales pitch, I cut him off at the knees.. (a little rude, but wanted to get back to the parks) Anyway, he was great, sat back, regrouped his attack, and answered my questions. He let me run the show and didn't say or do anything I didn't want to hear about.

Then he had the van pick up us and off we went with our info...and we didn't sign then.

We thought for a day/night and came back the last day of our trip. We really didn't even need to go on the tour, just wanted pricing. I don't think he convinced us, we probably convinced ourselves.

Call and talk to someone before you go if you are nervous about your time while there. The whole tour will take at least 2 hours from pick up to drop back off, so it is valuable time. And you can't do it at 9 pm, you have to do it before 6:30 unless that's changed...so dinners get messed up. But you know what your questions are and only go with those, or only want a tour and to sign paperwork, you can cut it shorter.

On the other hand, call, get info, do the paperwork and go as a new member! Saves money.

 

[donald...really]

I think the tour is full of Disney Magic! The sales center is beautiful (especially the huge mural of world landmarks with the fiber optic pixie dust), they treat you like VIP's, they have free ice cream at the end of the tour in an old fashioned ice cream parlor, free cookies and lemon-aide at the beginning, and seeing the resort and rooms (especially the three bedrooms!) is a lot of fun. I would set aside a special time for the tour instead of trying to squeeze it into your trip. Make it part of the vacation and not rush through it.

There is NO PRESSURE to buy. So just enjoy it.

 

[Beca]

You could also call and get the package sent to you. Then you could "talk it over" with a guide on the phone BEFORE you go. Then, when you arrive, if you are still interested, you could call your guide to get a "tour of the rooms". That way, your guide would know he/she didn't need to do the whole "sales pitch" with you....that could save you some time.

DVC does NOT do anything "high pressure". If you get into your meeting and find that you have to go....just tell them so. They will let you leave and "check back" later....they really are wonderfully nice!!!



Beca

 

[mommym]

I, too, really enjoyed our tour and my kids thought it was so much fun to go to the childcare center-all the playstation 2 they wanted which they much appreciated after 12 days away from home! My hubbie decided to stay back at POR for some quiet. Poor guy-he needed to come with me to pull the reigns because after that I was a run-away train for DVC. I digress...

The one thing I can suggest is take your time and roam the grounds. My guide only pointed to the general vicinity of the Community Hall and the Arcade. Having young children, I wish gone into those places and asked more questions about activities. When people talk about locations within the resort and walking distances I really wish I had seen the 2 walkways to DTD, the boat dock, etc. I wish I had walked/driven around the whole resort to see Congress Park and the quiet pool and the Paddock. The Springs is where the demo villas are but you don't go to the other areas on the tour. I wished I had pulled a price list for rentals and even looked at how much the arcade games were. We do relax our budget when we are on vaca but on principle alone I will not let my kids feed 4 quarters into a machine for about 3 minutes of play. If that is the case, the arcade would definitely be less attractive to me. (Saveit for Disney Quest.)

I guess what I'm trying to say is really look at those aspects of the resort that you think will fit your wants and needs. The tour lasted about 1 and 1/2 hours for us but I wish I had taken a little longer to REALLY look around so I didn't have as many questions in my mind. ALthough I am thinking now I need a scouting trip for just ME to check the place out for our first real family trip home!

Best of luck and ENJOY!

Oh, I almost forgot-at the DVC desk when I signed up for the tour I JOKINGLY asked what incentives there were for the tour. They offered us some fastpasses for the family but I said no thanks because we weren't going back to the parks. She then asked if we'd like a $50 gift card for food or merchandise. We then had lunch on Walt which was totally unexpected and really appreciated. It doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[UnderTheMistletoe]

We just got the big purple "dream" book in the mail- and the DVD is on its way. We'll be checking things out and really looking into the whole resale/new purchase process.

Thank you all for your time and help! I think we are going to go ahead and schedule one of the tours. We've got two afternoons set aside for "Do not plan to do anything!" so that we can do something like this, or do something we didn't foresee wanting to do.

Look forward to lurking and gathering information!
xoxo

 

[disneykid4ever]

We just got back from WDW mid-February and our tour and discussion took about 2 hours (we had lots of questions). We not only loved what we saw and heard, we got free ice cream afterwards AND 2 $50 gift certificates to use anywhere on Disney property. This was all for just spending the time to look and listen, no pressure to sign or commit to anything. Also the van driver was great (very nice), he picked us up within 20 minutes of us walking up to the DVC table in our resort (WL), and he dropped us off wherever we wanted afterwards. We didn't have an appointment, the DVC guy (I think his name was Bob) just called over and fit us in.

 

[packetminnie]

We contacted them to let them know when we were coming and where we were staying. When we arrived at Wilderness Lodge we were upgraded from 2 standard rooms to a 2-bedroom at the VWL and we received a $100 gift certificate. It was a very successful marketing ploy. We purchased 200 pts before we left.