How does DVC work?

[Lanshark]

I know this is a wide open question.

DH, DD (20), DS(16) and I visit WDW on a yearly basis. DH an I went on our honeymoon 27 years ago and we've been going every since. The kids absolutely love it and we use this annual trip as a time to "reconnect". It's very special to us.

We always stay on site. Our new favorites are the Swan and Dolphin, mainly because we all love the Boardwalk area and I get a teacher discount. Although we've never stopped to listen to the DVC shpill could someone point me in the correct direction to research DVC. We usually stay for about 10 days per trip and really spend very little time in our rooms. I always though it wasn't really cost effective but I must be missing something.

 

[phorsenuf]

DVC is awesome! We have been members for about a year now. The best thing I can recommend is to contact a guide at DVC for the initial info to look over. I have a great guide if you'd like his name.

Essentially you buy points and then redeem your points for each nights stay. Every year you are awarded a new set of points to use. You can also bank and borrow the points. It's a great way to stay in some wonderful resorts at a fraction of the price.

Right now SSR is offering a $15.00 off per point with a member referral. So you would pay $86.00 per point. Minimum buy in through Disney is 150 points.
Its a great deal. Disney does offer financing as well with as little as 10% down.
This special deal will expire Jan 20th.

You can also buy resale but I'm not as versed in that. I sent you a pm as well.

 

[Buckalew11]

Marcie,

We did the tour last Feb. when we stopped in to WDW for a few days for my b-day. It was so darn cold in Feb. that we were looking for "warm" things and decided after 6 years of wondering about DVC to actually take the tour.

We fell in love with it and bought resale at BCV. I thinkI love them all though! LOL.

You should get some good answers here and if you are interested, take the tour next trip. It is not high pressure at all and I think it only lasted about 1 hour at most. Then, if you think you are interested, you could think about purchasing through Disney or resale (which is not hard to do).

Best Wishes on your decision. We stay at the S/D quite often also and that ara appeals to us which is why we decided on BCV. However, this trip "home" will be to Old Key West and I am so excited to stay there!

 

[tjkraz]

My buy-in cost: $79 per point
Years of ownership: 50
Buy-in cost per year of ownership: $79/50 = $1.58 per year
Buy in cost plus 2007 dues: $1.58 + $4.12 = $5.70 per point

Points required per night for 1200 sq ft OKW Two Bedroom Villa: 27
Cost per night: 27 pts x $5.70 = $153.90

(A Studio room would have been 10 pts x $5.70 or $57.00 per night)

Note that DVC members do not pay the 12.5% Orange County room tax.

How does that compare with nightly rates at the Swolphin?

EDIT: Too bad you didn't investigate DVC about 15 years ago when points were less than $50 each and purchases included a decade's worth of free park passes.

 

[casper]

Although we've never stopped to listen to the DVC shpill could someone point me in the correct direction to research DVC.

I just joined a few months ago. This is how I got started. I went to disney.go.com. By "Disney Destinations" a pull down menu appears. One of the menu items is "Disney Vacation Club." Click on that and from that page you can do a lot of research and order a DVD. After ordering a DVD you will be given a phone number to call Disney for questions. At that time you will be assigned a "guide." The guide can answer most questions. However, I have found that most (and better) info can be attained right here on this site.

It sounds like you might be perfect for DVC. However, only you can determine that. So have fun doing the research. The $86 promo is reported to end sometime around Jan 20th (I think). But don't let that cause you to "rush" your decision. Personally, I would rather pay a little more knowing I made a right decision than pay less wondering if I made a wrong decision. Also, resale is available. Since you like the Boardwalk area, consider BWV (Boardwalk Villas) or BCV (Beach Club Villas). Check the Timeshare Store link on this site to get some of thier prices.

Blessings!

 

[Granny]

Here is the DVC FAQ link from this site that gives a good primer on what DVC is and how it works: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacation-club/faq.shtml

I have found this site to be helpful as well: http://www.allearsnet.com/acc/dvc.htm

 

[Deb & Bill]

Man, oh, man. Too bad you didn't join about 15 years ago when it first opened up. You could have saved a bundle.

 

[Lanshark]

Thanks for all of the information.

I'll be doing some reading tonight.

Thank you for the PM Cathy

 

[disneymom8589]

We did just what casper mentioned in their post. Before calling the guide, we wrote down as many questions as we could think of. Our guide was wonderful and thoroughly answered all of our questions. If you happen to know someone personally who owns DVC s/he could also be a valuable resource. We also talked to my uncle who has owned DVC for awhile. Happy researching!

 

[3DisneyKids]

Man, oh, man. Too bad you didn't join about 15 years ago when it first opened up. You could have saved a bundle.

This is exactly what I was thinking! If you have been going every year for 27 years, always stay onsite and love staying in the Epcot area, then you are a DVC family waiting to happen! Yup, you're gonna kick yourselves for not joining years ago.

Please ask your questions and use the search function...you will find wonderful folks here who will patiently answer your questions. Good luck as you make your decision!