Help needed from DVC UK Members

[Englishman abroad]

Hi Every one

I am just about to confirm my purchase at saratoga springs (450 points) and would like to hear from members who have had the full DVC experiance. We have had many great holidays at Disney (Florida, California and the Cruise Line). However I am buying the points to hopefully take advatage of the World Collection sites, as my kids are now 21 years old and it will only be me and the wife from now on. Most of the othere boards everyone talks about Disney only ( we will always want to visit them of course) but I wondered if any one could give me feedback on the off site vacations and how difficult or easy it was to make bookings.

Thanks for your help

 

[Revtel]

To be honest, DVC only makes real sense if you stay on DVC property. The Disney Collection etc. is VERY heavy on points and increases year on year. I know that DVC use the exchange stuff to sell their package, but my experience in this area has not been inspiring.

But DVC at WDW is truly awesome wherever you stay!

 

[mark&sue]

We have used our points for stays at WDW and are taking two families with us. We have used our points for stays at Disneyland Paris and for a week in Devon during half term on an exchange with II

We have booked at Disney Cruise for next summer along with stays at SSR.

I am really happy with it and it guarantees me a holiday every year.


Susan

 

[Pootle]

Hello and welcome to the boards.

This is discussed often on the US DVC boards and as Revtel says, DVC only makes financial sense if you usually stay at DVC properties but is considered to be a nice option to use for the occasional trade out. A few years ago for instance, it was common to pay for Disney cruises with points and then they raised the number needed and many members chose to rent out their points and pay for the cruise out of pocket.

Incidentally, have you purchased the 450 points as one contract or more? The perceived wisdom is that you should have at least 3 contracts with that number of points, making them easier to sell (small contracts sell easier).

 

[pampat]

We have used our points to stay at quite a few of the Concierge Collection hotels and resorts. Believe me, THIS way makes huge financial sense! Check out room rates at somewhere like the Arizona Biltmore against what you pay in points per night. Phenomenal value.

Pam

 

[gilld]

I don't think it matters whether it makes financial sense or not as long as you're happy.

We stayed at the GF Concierge last year using points - a huge number of them - but we had the points to use and we probably wouldn't have spent over $600 per night out of pocket. We have also booked DLP several times for family members using points, as well as a couple of Concierge Collection Hotel stays.

Do what feels right for you, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

 

[Pootle]

I don't think it matters whether it makes financial sense or not as long as you're happy. .......

Do what feels right for you, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

I don't disagree with either of those statements, but if I were about to put down a huge chunk of money, I'd definitely want to know the ins and outs.

This current thread on the US boards may be interesting for the OP http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1234515

 

[bom_noite]

Hi, a Yank DVC member who is in the UK this year working in Leicester! Leicester is not WDW for sure - but I like it.

Anyway, I saw this post and felt like I might make a comment.

If you are buying 450 points I think many would advise you to buy 3 separate 150 point contracts.

Obviously you are not buying to sell tomorrow or next year. But, unfortunately we never really know what life plans to throw at us. If you ever want to sell it is very difficult to sell off one 450 point contract!

In addition, if you want to sell only a portion it is my understanding you must sell ALL or nothing! So, it is easier to sell 150 pt contracts.

You also may want to buy 150 at SSR and then add-on two 150 pt contracts at 2 other resorts. The other 2 contracts could be purchased via Disney (once you have secured the first contract) or through the Timeshare store (or any other reseller)

Through banking and borrowing you would have 450 pts at each resort every 3 years. So, every year you could stay at a different resort and almost be guaranteed a room (since you will have the privelage of the 11 month reservation rule).

Many on these boards feel that 7 month ressies will become more difficult as more and more people join DVC. And, that makes sense - DVC may grow by 25,000 members in the next three years - but - the Beach Club will not add 1 more room!

You may want to ask opinions from others on this and the US board.

 

[mickg7dyd]

Hi,
I have a very different view to many on the subject of using your points to stay at places other than Disney. Last year we stayed in a one bedroom unit at Marriotts Desert Springs II in California and it used just 124 points. To me this represented excellent value and the quality of the resort and accomodation was at least equal to Disney and in many cases better. Some say it is better to rent out your points and then pay cash but imho for the small savings (if any) it wasn't worth the hassle. We still go to Disney at least once a year but the fact that we can also exchange elsewhere if we want to is a great bonus. Hope you get as much enjoyment out of DVC as we have.

Mick

 

[jjpenguin]

I don't really subscribe to the using DVC only at Disney thing. I think 124 points is a great deal for the top notch accomodations you can get.

My take on this is I've paid for the points, and after 6 years and a lot of Disney Vacations they've paid for themselves, now I'm vacationing on annual dues alone, and no way can I get such luxury accomodation for such low prices. Also I don't want to spend all my time looking for them or renting or any other hassle. We will also be using the points for other vacations more and more and will still feel we're getting value for money.

We've done an exchange to Spain and it was great. There are a lot of great places to stay out there. Disney collection is expensive, but I have used points for Disneyland as I had them anyway.

As long as you have a bit of flexibility as to where and when you want to stay you shouldn''t have a problem, if you're not in peak season it should be even easier..

 

[Halo]

Last year we stayed in a one bedroom unit at Marriotts Desert Springs II in California and it used just 124 points. To me this represented excellent value and the quality of the resort and accomodation was at least equal to Disney and in many cases better.

We own at Marriott as well as at DVC. I am in the camp that believes that DVC points should only be used for staying at DVC if you want best value from them. If you want to stay at Marriotts for example the best thing to do is to buy Marriott. You can buy a Marriott Cypress Harbour 2-bed Sport week for $6000. You can then use this to exchange to other Marriott resorts through Interval International ("II"), or any other II registered Time Share Resort as Marriott owns II - which is the world's no.1 time share resort exchange company and is the one which provides the DVC exchanges. An extra benefit of owning outside DVC is that you can become an individual member of II (indeed you have to). This enables you to book unlimited "Late Getaways". Using Marriotts Desert Springs as an example, I could book 3 weeks there from Oct 21st in a 2-bed apartment for £149 a week. This is without touching my purchased Marriott week. This compares to exchanging 124 points for a one bed where you have paid premium price up front, and have paid say $4 a point for maintenance. So the maths would be do I exchange 124 DVC points worth 124 x $4 = $496 say £260 or do I get a larger apartment through II on a getaway for £149? In fact to allow for the purchase premium the 124 DVC points should be priced at their rental value - $10-$11, say $10 to keep it simple. Do I pay 124 x $10 = $1,240 (£650) or do I pay £149? It's a no brainer IMHO.

Given the age of your children you will not necessarily be looking to travel in the school holidays (give it a few years until grandchildren start to arrive though ), so I would say buy DVC to stay at DVC but buy Marriott to stay elsewhere.