If you were going to to join DVC all over again......

[rcchello]

If you stay on point you will not get the free dining plan when offered. The free dining plan, when offered is to fill cash rooms. This is not a problem, but does confuse a certain amount of people.

 

[crisi]

Some people feel that as DVC members they are treated as lesser guests than cash guests. Others do not. But it is a possibility to be aware of before you make the commitment. A timeshare is not a hotel and if you expect a hotel, you may find yourself disappointed. It may be things like no daily maid service. Or that there may be some rooms with not great views and the front desk tends to shrug their shoulders (and should, we are all members and no member is more deserving of a room with a view than any other...except bootable views of course).

Also note that DVC resorts do eventually tend to book up at or near capacity. If you aren't booking seven months out, you may find yourself locked out of home. This can be frustrating as well.

 

[rcchello]

my stay is $8,000 for the rooms only

When that $8000 hotel stay go to $16000 in a bunch of years your maintenance fee will have only gone up to approx. $4000. When I bought in my maintenance fees used to pay for a week at Port Orleans ( or what we used to call Dixie Landings), my current fees would only pay for 3 days.

 

[NoleFan]

We are new owners (via resale) & are thrilled about our purchase. FL residents who have stayed on & off site. We love the WDW resorts & stayed at many of them- convenience, dining, amenities, on-site transportation. I love the idea of planning ahead & always having a vacation to look forward to. Therefore, the home resort book window is great. My DS 7 loves WDW so I know we will enjoy many more years of fun vacations. Only regret is that I wish we had bought sooner! Good luck!

 

[Dean]

Given the things I know now and my other options, I likely wouldn't buy DVC or would buy in very small. But that's because my options have changed, not that I don't like DVC. For the situation you've described, I'd buy a fixed week 2 BR that best matches your usual travel patterns. I think 9 years is optimistic as your best comparison is to what you've been paying at the GF and you fail to track the time value of money most likely but it still would be a good choice compared to 2 rooms at the GF yearly assuming you can afford to pay for it up front and ongoing and can plan ahead plus you plan to cont the same type of trip.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Another difference between DVC and a hotel. If you want more towels, you pay for them. If you need more shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, soap, you pay for them. If you want turn down service, you won't get it except for AKV Concierge villas (five two bedroom lockoffs on the sixth floor at Jambo House with not great views). You get what you get and nothing more unless you pay for it. All costs are passed on to the members at that resort.

 

[Daisyduck49]

We must be the exception. We have never paid for extra towels and request them often. Same with shampoos, etc. We do try and catch the cleaning team.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We must be the exception. We have never paid for extra towels and request them often. Same with shampoos, etc. We do try and catch the cleaning team.

Nah, you AND I are paying for them. With our dues as they go up each year to pay for the extra housekeeping supplies and towel laundering that some members aren't paying for.

 

[lovin'fl]

We bought DVC in 2006 and I wish we would have split our 200 points into smaller contracts and I also wish we would have bought at BWV or BCV instead of OKW. We have since added on HH and AKV (smaller) contracts for 425 points total and I suspect we aren't done adding (would like some more HH and maybe BCV or BWV). I agree with those who suggest you do multiple contracts as they sell easier and faster if you ever need to sell (and if you have 3 kids...maybe buy 3 contracts to pass on to them someday). Or you could also do the fixed week...I would LOVE to have a fixed week there (standard view studio for Halloween week...for DH and I to do Food and Wine).

I will say that we have been very happy with owning DVC. We love to have a villa with a separate bedroom for us parents (we have 3 kids too and they are now teens so the 2BR is REALLY nice). We also like having the washer and dryer and use it a lot (then we can pack less). We don't use the kitchen all that much but it's nice to keep drinks in the fridge and have a place to make coffee and keep snacks and quick breakfast items. We do 2-3 shorter WDW trips in a year with APs or PAPs (bought with DVC discount) and then the following year no WDW, but use our points for HH or VB instead (last year was VB year, this year is WDW/PAP year and next year is HH year).

As far as DP or deluxe DP...yes you can get it. We will have DP for our upcoming Xmas trip, but we have found that the TIW card (cost is $100 for 13 months of 20% discount on most TS locations) is the best deal going. We can order appetizers and bar drinks and get a 20% discount (but it can't be used for Xmas and Xmas Eve, so we'll just do DP for convenience).

We bought all 5 contracts via resale and it is the way to go in most circumstances. But, I don't see VGF being on the resale market for a while (probably some time next year). And I think they are going to sell out fast. I also think it's going to be difficult to get into VGF at 7 months out using other resort points. If you always stay at VGF and know that's where you will always want to stay...and you have the funds to buy points there...then I can see it's the way to go for you. Come back and tell us what you end up buying.

 

[DizBub]

Well then we must really be the exceptions because we have never requested extra towels, shampoos or soap. If some people need extra they can gladly have ours.

We use the towels provided and make them last until trash and towel day or launder them ourselves. We always bring our own shampoo and soap.
In fact we usually decline T&T service because we don't want Mousekeeping in the room. When they do come in they leave extra toiletries.

 

[Dean]

We must be the exception. We have never paid for extra towels and request them often. Same with shampoos, etc. We do try and catch the cleaning team.

The rules in place say you will. Obviously you're bypassing those rules, hopefully not intentionally. Some systems don't have charges for such issues but DVC does.

 

[jimmytammy]

That's the dilemma I face. I realize the cost is going to go up annually BUT 15 years from now (or anytime after my break even from upfront costs is realized) paying even $3,000 annually for a weeks stay seems like it would be worth it when you take into account that the hotel cost at that time would more than likely have increased also. Agree?

This was the way I viewed DVC when buying in. For ex., All Stars are priced at $155 per night rack rate in Oct., thats where we were staying until purchasing DVC. Best rate we ever got there, $50 per night, but circumstances were 9/11 had just happened, so travel was slim those days.

We knew the price for rooms would continue to rise, so buying in DVC got us bigger rooms, more amenities, and eventually we would reach a break even point.

As others have mentioned, your vacation habits will change. Ours did. No more up at crack of dawn, running around like wild people on a mission, coming in at night cranky and mad, tired, and doing all the same the next day. We now relax

Our 1st contract, $72 per pt, steep in those days, knowing many had bought in at low 50s. Next contract, $75, next, $81, last, $83. All were tough to swallow, but we have gotten so many great trips out of those pts.

Which brings me to now...knowing what I know as a member since 2001, I would have to go resale at the steep prices buying direct are. Buy where you want to stay for sure, and if VGF is where you want to be, thats got to be your personal decision, but if you looked at resale market(DIS sponsor, The Timeshare Store is one such resaler)you may see things in a different way, as prices are roughly half of what you are looking at now.

 

[Dacky619]

We've owned for a few years now and have no regrets up to now. As others have mentioned, it is best to use your points at Disney (when we don't use them we rent them and use that money elsewhere). You know exactly where you want to buy in and that's good, it is just too bad there aren't resale options. We bought into BLT when there were really no resale contracts (and those that were out there were almost the same price as direct) and it has worked out for us, but sometimes I still think about how much I could have saved buying resale at another resort.

 

[CPTJAK]

One suggestion I would make is to purchase 200 points instead of 400. This would allow you to take your next trip on points by borrowing, verify you want to continue with DVC at Grand Floridian. Perhaps by the time you are ready to add more points you will want a different resort and/or be able to purchase Grand Floridian resale. Just a thought.

 

[Daisyduck49]

Just to close on the extra towels/soap - we certainly aren't trying to go around the rules. If we see a mouse keeper and need an extra towel they have always been great. We are very mindful of the little things - turning off lights, checking out early or on time because we know how anxious the next family is to get their room. Clearly we all pay through our maint fees for the soap, towels, everything. We know not to expect the daily service - knew that when we bought. We do bring extras - hangers is the one that we always run short on .

 

[bakerworld]

Not sure we'd do anything different.

• bought the minimal amount to get the most incentives.
• financed, which we're more comfortable than depleting our bank account
• bought strictly to save $$ on hotel rm - not to stay in a larger rm

We're not typical TS buyers (we don't own any others)

• when we vacation elsewhere we don't stay more than 2 or 3 nights
• WDW FL has been the only place that we're comfortable staying for a whole week
• only 3 places we returned repeatedly and the others aren't worth more than a long weekend

We would like to buy in one more WDW FL area but we don't have the need to own every venue. Not a big flyer or driver - just don't like to sit in an airplane for hours on end - my time is worth more than the destination after 3 hours. When we drive to our destination our goal is to park with the next time we get into the car is for the ride home.

Long winded way to say DVC is relevant. It allows us the experience environments I won't travel to experience for real and I bet it's cleaner than those destinations.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Just to close on the extra towels/soap - we certainly aren't trying to go around the rules. If we see a mouse keeper and need an extra towel they have always been great. We are very mindful of the little things - turning off lights, checking out early or on time because we know how anxious the next family is to get their room. Clearly we all pay through our maint fees for the soap, towels, everything. We know not to expect the daily service - knew that when we bought. We do bring extras - hangers is the one that we always run short on .

Not to nag, but you are going around the rules if you stop a housekeeper and ask for an extra towel. Of course they are great. They don't always understand the rules of DVC. All they know is they are supposed to fully clean or just provide trash and towel service to a specific villa.

All those "stop the housekeeper in the hallway" wind up adding extra costs for the members at that resort. If you need extra, call Housekeeping, ask for an extra towel pack and ask for it to be added to your bill.

 

[Daisyduck49]

But you see you are nagging. Unbelievable

 

[crisi]

But you see you are nagging. Unbelievable

Perhaps she is just trying to make sure that you understand that you are circumventing the rules that have been put in place to keep dues down for all of us and wants to make sure you understand that.

 

[Deb & Bill]

But you see you are nagging. Unbelievable

I'm sorry. Ask your forgiveness.

(And,thanks, crisi, for explaining for me.)