Expolring DVC Questions

[ashman]

I recently got the DVC DVD and brochure and I have a few questions that I would like answered by members:
1) Does it matter what your “home property” is? Right now they are selling Saratoga, If I buy 260 points there can I use 240 at another location like the Caribbean Beach Club or Vero beach ?
2) Annual fees- the materials I received indicate how much the upfront cost is but no info on the annual fees. Are they a certain amount per point per year?
3) Fees again- Have they increased the fees?

Thanks for your help!

 

[poohj80]

1) Does it matter what your “home property” is? Right now they are selling Saratoga, If I buy 260 points there can I use 240 at another location like the Caribbean Beach Club or Vero beach ?

You can start to make reservations at your home property 11 months ahead of time, but only 7 months ahead at other properties. You can use SSR points to stay at other properties, but it will always be subject to availability.

You specifically mentioned the Caribbean Beach Resort. This is not a DVC resort and the points required for non DVC resorts are usually not considered a good use of points. If you mean the Beach Club Villas, that is a DVC resort.

2) Annual fees- the materials I received indicate how much the upfront cost is but no info on the annual fees. Are they a certain amount per point per year?

Annual fees are based on the number of points you own and at which resort. A good estimate is about $4 per point per year. These fees can be paid monthly or in a lump sum.

3) Fees again- Have they increased the fees?

Yes, but fees have also gone down. If you do a search of this forum you will probably find the historical fee info as it has been posted many times.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I recently got the DVC DVD and brochure and I have a few questions that I would like answered by members:
1) Does it matter what your “home property” is? Right now they are selling Saratoga, If I buy 260 points there can I use 240 at another location like the Caribbean Beach Club or Vero beach ?
2) Annual fees- the materials I received indicate how much the upfront cost is but no info on the annual fees. Are they a certain amount per point per year?
3) Fees again- Have they increased the fees?

Thanks for your help!

1- Your Home property matters if you specifically want to stay at that resort during popular times. For example: During the food and wine festival, many folks want to be near Epcot for the ease of walking in and out after a night of eating and drinking. That makes an 11 month booking priority important at BCV, so it would be important to have that as a home resort. You can use points at any of the other DVC resorts, but you can't book those until 7 months before your desired travel time. That means those who have that resort as their home will have a 4 month booking advantage at that resort. FYI, Caribbean Beach is NOT a DVC resort, but a WDW moderate. Using points at non DVC resorts is not a good use of points, since they are negotiated annually with the various resorts, and it will not be as cost effective as staying at a DVC resort.

2- Yes, maintenance fees are per point per year and vary by DVC resort. SSR and OKW have dues around $3.80 while the others have dues around $4-$5. Vero has the highest dues. It makes sense too, since there is a great deal of more maintenance near an ocean that sometimes spawns hurricanes.

3- Fees can increase and are re-evaluated annually. They don't usually increase as much as 5 %, but some years they have actually gone down. The past several, they have increased around 5% annually because Florida taxes on timeshares have increased greatly, and the dues help pay the tax on your share.

 

[tjkraz]

Dues history:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=483351

 

[AFMom]

Just wanted to add - it should say this in the info they sent you - but the actual DVC resorts are:

Old Key West
Wilderness Lodge Villas
Beach Club Villas
Boardwalk Villas
Saratoga Springs Resort
Hilton Head Resort (non-WDW)
Vero Beach Resort (non-WDW)

The points to stay at these resort will stay the same from year to year (week to week they may fluctuate a bit - but they can only charge the same number of points per year for the life of the contracts). All other properties that are non-DVC can and will go up. It's usually agreed to here on this board (not always, though) that using points to stay anywhere except a DVC property isn't the best use of points - ie you'd get a better rate at the Poly by paying cash or getting some sort of deal.
Good luck!

 

[ashman]

Thank you all for the information. Can a non-DVC member pay cash to stay at a DVC resort. This thread and others have indicated that use of DVC points isn't a good deal. Is there a way of comparing what a stay at the DVC would be to a non-member to determine the value of the deal?

Thanks for your patience for my endless questions I appreciate the willingness of the members of this board to share their knowledge greatly

 

[CarolMN]

Thank you all for the information. Can a non-DVC member pay cash to stay at a DVC resort.

Yes. All you have to do is call CRO/WDWTC. You can book a stay at the DVC resorts just as you can for any WDW resort. Because the DVC resorts are owned by the members, availability for cash guests is limited, though. You generally will not find as many discounts for the DVC resorts as you may for the other WDW resorts.

This thread and others have indicated that use of DVC points isn't a good deal. Is there a way of comparing what a stay at the DVC would be to a non-member to determine the value of the deal?

That's because you can stay in a DVC resort for less points than it costs to stay in a moderate resort. There are charts available, but they are not accessible to non-members. However, you can use the points calculator (link at the top of this page) to get an idea of the cost to stay in one of the non-DVC resorts. Just put in some dates and select the non-DVC resort. You'll get a point total. Then put in one of the DVC resorts. I think you will be surprised at the difference. And of course, a DVC unit has so much more in the way of amenities than does the moderate resort. You'll find the 1 and 2 bedroom DVC units less costly than the deluxe resort rooms.

Thanks for your patience for my endless questions I appreciate the willingness of the members of this board to share their knowledge greatly

Welcome to the Forum - feel free to ask away.

Best wishes -

 

[ashman]

CRO/WDWTC?

Central Reservations Ofiice
Walt Disney World
TC?

Sorry for the tedium, where can I find this number?

 

[tjkraz]

WDWTC = Walt Disney World Travel Company

You can reach them at 1-407-W-DISNEY. You can also get rates by using the reservation tools at www.waltdisneyworld.com.

 

[poohj80]

Thank you all for the information. Can a non-DVC member pay cash to stay at a DVC resort.

You can also rent points from a member if you want to try out DVC before buying in (see the DVC Rent/Trade Board). We stayed at the Boardwalk in a 1BR and that sold us on DVC and we joined during that trip.

This thread and others have indicated that use of DVC points isn't a good deal.

The use of DVC points at non-DVC resorts is not as good of a deal as using points for the DVC resorts because the points for DVC resorts are lower and the DVC rooms can be bigger and have more amenities.

 

[JimMIA]

I recently got the DVC DVD and brochure and I have a few questions that I would like answered by members:
1) Does it matter what your “home property” is?

This is probably the most important question you have to answer, and the BEST answer for everyone is different. You will get a lot of "buy where you want to stay" advice, but if you really think about that critically, it may be wonderful advice for your family, or it may be irrelevant. Here's a link to a thread we started a couple of months ago. It starts out with a discussion of the home resort question, and the entire thread (although it's long and wanders off occasionally) has a lot of good info from a number of DVC vets.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=778634

Take your time, do your research carefully, and use the versatility and flexibility of DVC to find the best strategy for your family. Good luck!