How to get started????

[mchhp]

My family (my mom really) is wanting to try to become a dvc owner. But, we only know a little about it. We do know there is a tour you can take.

We are planning on going to disney in december and there is a morning (the morning before we go to MVMCP) that is open other then a character breakfast that we could be available for this tour.

How do we set that up? When do they typically do the tour? certain days? certain times?

or if there is a quick area where i can find all these answers, can you point me in the right direction.

Thanks so much

 

[DVCconvert]

the quick answer is to dig out your checkbook!

You can schedule a tour at anyone of the information desks at any resort or park. There are sticky notes on top of the 3 DIS "dvc" forums which will give you tons of info...also, other sites such as www.dvcnews.com and www.wdwig.com have dvc info.

The 2 purchase methods are 1) direct from disney or 2) on the resale market ie. the timeshare store (www.dvcstore.com) ->this site also has a fair amount of dvc info on it.

HTH

 

[JWG]

Find any of the "hidden" best kept secret kiosks and walk up and ask for the tour. You can schedule a time with them. Stop by the SSR Preview Center anytime and schedule a tour with them as well.

They may be able to take you as a walk-in at the Preview Center, but hard to say.

 

[chalee94]

How to get started????

read through the threads here on the DIS - both recent and older. get a feel for what has changed about DVC and what might change and how that might affect you.

it's easy to get a feel for how many points you would need for a given resort at a given time of year (link above). then figure out how much it would cost to buy such a contract - dvcnews has pretty accurate direct pricing and there's another link above for resale contracts.

you can also look at the DVC resource center thread to see current and historical maintenance fees, which are due annually based on how many pts you have at a certain resort.

once you've done your homework, then you'd be ready to take a tour. but if you take a tour first and trust your guide (i.e. salesperson) completely, don't complain later if DVC doesn't seem to work out like you expect...

 

[disneynutz]

My advice is to not get emotional about buying something affiliated with Disney. This is a business decision that may or may not make financial sense for you and your family. Do your homework and unless you have a great reason for buying direct from Disney, buy resale and save a few thousand dollars.

Bill

 

[mchhp]

thank you so much for all your suggestions.

I wanted to make sure that we could get in a tour when we wanted since we only have the one morning free. So, if i needed to schedule before the trip to ensure our time slot, i would want to do that.

but, it sounds like you can get in whenever you want anyway.

off to read.

 

[juncker]

If you're going to be down there, then definintely take the official tour. We had requested the DVC DVD and material direct from Disney and were planning on going that route until we found Disboards. Here we learned about the resale process and went that route instead. It did save us thousands of dollars.

Realize that the guide (salesman) will want to reel you in to sign. If it works for you, great. Resale was the answer for us though.

Main thing that the guide will point out for going direct is that a current resale has restrictions on other Dis properties, adventures by Disney and Disney Cruise line. Reality is that these aren't the best use of your points. DVC is best used for DVC properties. The other downside to resale is that it takes a couple of months to process the paperwork. With direct, you can be making reservations that day.

Going Direct limits you to locations that you can buy (with some exception contracts) to BLT, AKV, SSR, and Aulani. With resale, you can buy at any resort where you find someone listing. These prices are lower. That's the bottom line for most people. Do your research. Thes boards are great. Lots of different opinions, but no salesmen.

Biggest decision is going to be where you want to call home. The advantage of your home resort is where you get advance window to reserve. This is key during busy times.

Good Luck. I hope it works out for you.

 

[MrShiny]

Usually, there are plenty of spots available for tours. If you are staying on propoerty, there will be a DVC desk, usually in the lobby of your resort. Ther are also kiosks in all the pars and Downtown Disney.

The first day you are there, stop by one of them and they should be able to set up something to match your schedule. Figure it's about a 45-90 minute process - longer if you actually intend to buy.

I would do research on the resales available and the new restrictions on resales so you can compare that against whatever Disney might offer you. Disney does make it very easy to buy direct and sometimes has offers that are very attractive (no one knows what will be in December). They make financing very easy and pick up the closing costs. That said, resale is often cheaper.

I would be happy to answer any questions you might have offline too. I am an owner at SSR and AKV and did buy direct from Disney because at the time they had some fantasic offers.

mrshiny@gmail.com

 

[JWG]

I would go in with the predetermined decision NOT to buy. It's so easy to get caught up in the tour, the free ice cream, the Disney magic.

Agree as a family (heck, including the kids if necessary) that you will walk away from the presentation with all money in your pocket no matter what "incentives" there are. They'll be available later (did I reveal the timeshare dirty secret ).

Then, think about it and if a few weeks later you're still in love with the idea execute. My parents originally toured in August 1998. They bought in January 1999. They got the same deal 5 months later.

You can also really think about how important is the difference in perks between and direct and resale because the price difference for those perks is significant.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Don't buy DVC with a plan to trade out most of the time. DVC works best using points for DVC. No matter how they spin it (500 Kingdoms, see the world, etc), trading out is not the best way to use your points.