How many have used DVC Points outside of Disney?

[Family5LovesDisney]

Have you ever used DVC Points for an exchange outside or Disney? If you have, where did you go? How easy was it to exchange? Any pictures to post?

 

[tmk0730]

Subscribing because I'd love to know about this too!

 

[dianeschlicht]

We exchanged once in our 10 years of ownership. That was a weeks exchange through II to Kona Coast II resort on Hawaii. We traded a 1 bedroom for 160 points and got a 1 bedroom with 2 baths at Kona. We left our request VERY open ended because we expected it to take a long time. We made our request 2 years ahead of when we wanted to travel, and requested ANY Hawaiian island any week between January 1 and May 31. We received our exchange after being on the list just 5 days! We got it for the 4 week of April. It was great to get it so far ahead, because then we could work on getting the other timeshare exchange through RCI for a week on either side of our DVC traded week. We got that week in Princeville, Kauai. We added 5 nights on Oahu to that and had a nice nearly 3 week vacation in paradise! It was our third Hawaiian vacation, so we knew pretty much what places we prefered. BTW, the amenities at our DVC exchange property were much nicer than the RCI one, and that one was considered gold crown.

 

[Family5LovesDisney]

We exchanged once in our 10 years of ownership. That was a weeks exchange through II to Kona Coast II resort on Hawaii. We traded a 1 bedroom for 160 points and got a 1 bedroom with 2 baths at Kona. We left our request VERY open ended because we expected it to take a long time. We made our request 2 years ahead of when we wanted to travel, and requested ANY Hawaiian island any week between January 1 and May 31. We received our exchange after being on the list just 5 days! We got it for the 4 week of April. It was great to get it so far ahead, because then we could work on getting the other timeshare exchange through RCI for a week on either side of our DVC traded week. We got that week in Princeville, Kauai. We added 5 nights on Oahu to that and had a nice nearly 3 week vacation in paradise! It was our third Hawaiian vacation, so we knew pretty much what places we prefered. BTW, the amenities at our DVC exchange property were much nicer than the RCI one, and that one was considered gold crown.

Anywhere along the Kona coast is heaven to me!
Of course I don't plan on doing this exchange but once or twice over my years of ownership. I was just curious what the resorts were like and how many people do this exchange. It's nice to hear that the DVC exchange property was nice. I would love to see some pictures.

 

[disneystick]

3 yrs. ago...took a Alaska cruise with Holland America. DVC made it very easy. Had to pay the 95.00 exchange fee and everything worked like a charmed. Never been to Alaska before...LOVE IT!!! Will be doing another Alaska cruise thru Holland America-different ship, next yr. using our pts. again. We went early June and weather was blue skys.

 

[Family5LovesDisney]

3 yrs. ago...took a Alaska cruise with Holland America. DVC made it very easy. Had to pay the 95.00 exchange fee and everything worked like a charmed. Never been to Alaska before...LOVE IT!!! Will be doing another Alaska cruise thru Holland America-different ship, next yr. using our pts. again. We went early June and weather was blue skys.

I would love to go on a cruise to Alaska! That sounds like fun!

 

[jns]

3 yrs. ago...took a Alaska cruise with Holland America. DVC made it very easy. Had to pay the 95.00 exchange fee and everything worked like a charmed. Never been to Alaska before...LOVE IT!!! Will be doing another Alaska cruise thru Holland America-different ship, next yr. using our pts. again. We went early June and weather was blue skys.

never knew you could do this .How many points
or where can I get the info

What was the weather like

sorry for so many questions

 

[Ferris]

My fiance and I are using our DVC points to stay at the Lowes Regency New York the first week of July. So far the experience has been great. The one thing I'll say is that we haven't had to book through II, we have only had to deal with member services, I think that has helped. I'll let you all know how it goes!

 

[pogopossum]

we stayed at big cedar lodge twice and the whithall hotel in downtown chicago once. i know that these are concierge collections and not true exchanges, but it was really no problem to get the exact dates that we wanted and everything went very smoothly at check in and check out. i wish dvc still had arrangememnts with big cedar lodge, it was a great place to trade out to.

 

[Tinker74]

Has anyone been to canada with Dvc?
We are hoping to do this next year so any help would be great.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Only concierge collection. Tanque Verde Ranch in Tucson, and the Grove Park Inn in Ashville. Both were great stays. The TVR stay was one of our top 5 ever.

 

[nymets]

Just stayed at the Suites of San Francisco for 1 week Great location, they have housekeeping every day Concierge service was excellent

 

[mouseclick1]

We just got back from 6 nights at the Grand Wailea in Maui. It was wonderful! We also stayed a few nights at the Broadmoor in Colorado a couple of years ago, but I don't think that is offered anymore through Disney.

 

[Family5LovesDisney]

Thanks for sharing everyone! It's fun to read about what other people have done.

 

[goofy4dvc]

Like Ferris, we too are using our points to stay at Loew's Regency in NYC. Our trip is in June. We paid the $95 fee. I hated to use the points, but DH said that's what they're for, so we did it. Hope it's worth it. And I hope I don't miss WDW too much, since we used most of our year's allocation of points for the NYC trip. We're staying 6 nights for 300+ points.

 

[Family5LovesDisney]

Like Ferris, we too are using our points to stay at Loew's Regency in NYC. Our trip is in June. We paid the $95 fee. I hated to use the points, but DH said that's what they're for, so we did it. Hope it's worth it. And I hope I don't miss WDW too much, since we used most of our year's allocation of points for the NYC trip. We're staying 6 nights for 300+ points.

It's an awesome hotel! I think you will enjoy it!

 

[Ferris]

So, my fiance and I recently got back from New York (OK, it's been almost a month. What can I say, work is a pain). We stayed at the Lowes Regency over the 4th of July. Surprisingly, we got the reservations without a problem.

Yes, it is an awesome hotel (you'll find it as a part of the concierge collection), though at first we did feel a little schleppy to be staying there. Most of the other guests we saw were all in what I would term business casual (slacks and a button down for guys and whatever the equivalent is for women). We were in full tourist regalia with shorts, t-shirts and sneakers. We got over the awkwardness when we asked the concierge to recommend a good place to get NY style pizza. He smiled and was happy to point us to Mariella's on 60th. Well worth it. Another great recommendation he gave us (for a casual dinner) was Serafina. This place was great because it actually had more formal dining up front and casual dining on the patio out back. Terrific Italian food and moderately priced (about $15-$20 per person).

Back to the hotel...The room we got was a Superior King, which was nicely sized, though not much of a view. They list the amenities on the website, so I won't bore you with them here. We were disappointed that it didn't include in-room coffee or tea, though I think that hotels like this expect you to order room service, or have breakfast in their restaurant. We opted for a bagel shop on Lexington (I think it was called The Bread Factory). Again, well worth it, just make sure you know what you're going to order. They move quick! The best amenity was the TV in the bathroom. I had never sat in a bathtub while drinking a beer and watching a Dodger game. It was an experience worth repeating.

Overall, I think the best thing about this place (aside from how nice it is) is the location. It's a block from the subway, and two blocks from Central Park. We were able to walk as far south as the Empire State Building and as far north as the Met without too much trouble (though admittedly, the Empire State Building was pushing it).

We accomplished our main purpose for the trip, which was to visit Yankee Stadium. If you have the chance to visit before they tear it down, I highly recommend taking the tour. At $15, it would be worth it at twice the price, and it was easily the most memorable experience of the trip. The least memorable portion would have been the fireworks display over the east river on the 4th. I'm sure being spoiled on Disneyland's fireworks display had a lot to do with that

-Ferris

 

[Ed T]

We have book the disney cruise on points twice and have done London twice, once at the Dorchester and once at the Royal Gardens. Both are beautiful hotels with very central locations. I would never pay the rack prices for these hotels especially now with the exchange rate being 2 to 1. We have stayed at the Disneyland hotel as well. While most people will tell you that using DVC points for anything other than staying at WDW is not suggested I say use the point however you want to.