Is it worh it for us???

[KristiKelly]

My family will be going to WDW 9/03, this will be our 4th trip since 1998. This time we have rented points and will have a studio @ BCV. I would love to be a member of DVC but my husband doesn't see the need. He wants to visit and expose our kids to places other than WDW. I told him that the points can be used to go other places for $75 exchange fee (I think). Would this be the economical way of doing that? The way my husband sees it, save $$$ and take a trip. I would like to always have a trip in my future - DVC, either to WDW or exchange. He wants to know the actual places we could go. He wants to go to Atlantis in Bahamas next year - anyone know if this is an exchange? Is there a website anywhere that tells locations other than WDW? I'm writing this in a hurry and hope that all of this makes a little since to someone. Also, why does it use up so many more points to stay @ a resort AKL, GF, etc. than staying on DVC resorts, just curious. Any answers anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

 

[JOC]

You get the most bang for your DVC buck (in this case, it would be thousands of DVC bucks!) if you use your points at one of the DVC resorts. On the other hand, they're your points to use however you want to so if you use them for other than DVC reservations and that makes you happy, then it doesn't matter does it? If you contact DVC (www.disneyvacationclub.com) they can send you a booklet and video that will tell you more about the program and where possible exchanges are located.

P.S. Harborside Resort at Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas, is part of the DVC exchange program.

 

[crisi]

We have a similar situation in that we want to go other places than Disney (right now, the kids are too little to do too much adventurous travel) and believe DVC works for us, but not for exchanges.

We have a small contract (150 points). We go to Disney every other year. That means for every trip, we bank and borrow to average 300 points for the trip (usually a little less). This will generally mean a two bedroom unit for a week during a lower point season.

DVC points, to us, are only for Disney stays. We won't use them to cruise or trade out. If we have extra points, we have family and friends lined up to help us use them.

 

[JimC]

Besides the video and website mentioned before there are several Disney sites that discuss DVC.

http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/dvc/1_Forward/forward.htm

http://www.dvc-resales.com/

Also consider calling DVC and talking with a guide. They are no pressure. Ours spent hours talking with me - I had plenty of questions. Our guide is Byron Helgeson. We like him very much.

Or call a resale broker. We used Pat Spell at the Timeshare Store. She was professional, efficient and answered all questions straight up.

Your best value is to use points for DVC. Others on this board have said that other timeshares are better for exchanges outside of Disney (they cost less).

You can always rent points and use the cash for travel elsewhere, or to use other Disney resorts.

Good luck!

 

[CK1]

It's now $95, I believe, to do the swap-er-roo for another resort.


For us right now the Concierge and other collections in the DVC offerings are not really viable -- meaning, they aren't very kid-oriented (more geared to an adult crowd), and I have 3 of the lil' nippers. And we can't seem to tear ourselves away from WDW anyway! My sister took her fam of 4 to Tanque Verde and to Maui, but by and large, the hotels are not geared to small ones.

My dh is the type who typically does NOT like to travel, or be adventurous, or stay in "elegance", so in our case, none of that was a seller. We bought because we love WDW, we have faith in the lasting power of the Mouse, and because with a DVC ownership, my DH was making a commitment to take a vacation that he wouldn't later back out of! Also -- we LOVE that 2 br! We have done our share of cohabitation in a single room with our 3 kids and it is clearly NOT a vacation.

Read around on the boards and you'll see that the passion for DVC typically runs in those who love WDW and travel there at least every other year. If your interests are too diverse and lie predominantly outside the Kingdom walls, you might be better off renting as the need presents.

Cindy

 

[jimmytammy]

1st let me welcome a fellow NCer to the DIS boards!!

Yes, you seem to be good candidates for DVC if you visit WDW that much and feel like you will continue to do so. Im not sure if using DVC pts for places other than DVC is really worth it or not, we have never used pts at other places before. I, like your DH like to visit other places also. National parks, battlefields, the beach, mountains, etc. etc. So you look at DVC as a guaranteed vacation while the other places are extras. I would seriously consider DVC if I were you but figure how many pts you would really need to visit other places and see if that much more money can be justified. Good Luck!!

 

[laceemouse]

I agree with crisi! We own another timeshare which we trade through RCI. We take a one week vacation every year and have 4000 resorts worldwide to choose from. If you like the timeshare experience, I would check into resales. They cost much less than DVC and the fees are a lot less also. We just bought 160 points at BCV because we love to stay onsite when we go to Disney. With this small number we will probably go every other year or tack on a few Disney days to our other timeshare stay at the beach or whatever every year. I must admit I am already getting add-on fever though! We love Disney but also want to see and do other things, especially as our kids get older. We have 4 kids and a hotel room just does not cut it. The t/s thing is so great with the kitchen, 2 bathrooms, and so much space! It would be very expensive to buy enough DVC points to exchange and travel around IMO it is not necessary with so many better options around. Check into it and take your time deciding what is best for your family.

 

[eagle29]

Kristikelly...The Atlantis used to be a property that you could trade for thru DVC but they have been removed from the list. I recently tried to do an exchange there but MS (Member Services at DVC) told me that they were almost never available, so instead of frustrating DVC members, they just stopped offering it as an exchange.

Atlantis is an incredible resort. My wife and I were married there in Oct. '97. It is very expensive (especially the Dining). However we found it to be worth it!! We had 47 family members join us and not one regret about going!!

 

[dianeschlicht]

If you want to do exchanges, be sure you buy enough points at the onset. We have only exchanged once in 7 years. We exchanged to Hawaii, and it was great. BTW, DVC is one of the few timeshares that has as much exchange clout as Hawaii!

 

[laceemouse]

The average timeshare week sells for 5,000 to 6,000 bucks resale. There are lots of other vacation destinations which have good trading power. If money is no object to you, yes, go ahead and buy mega points at DVC and go ahead and exchange to your hearts content!! My point is that this is not really necessary to do just to be able to make trades.

 

[KristiKelly]

Wow! Thanks everyone for the info / advice.

Also, I want to tell JimmyTammy, not just NCer, but live in Bigger Better Burlington "It's a Small Small World".

I think we'd be better off buying fewer points, if my husband would agree, and just pay cash for other trips. I really feel like I need to become a member (and fast) because I read these boards so much that I'm starting to convince myself that I am a member. My therapy will probably cost more than 150-200 points.

My husband & kids asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day and I told them a full day -24 hours- no fighting, whining, cooking, etc., maybe I should tell him I want 150 points, too. Doesn't sound unreasonable to me. . Again, thanks for all the info.

 

[cheyita]

I just wanted to pipe in my two cents here too. We're in the process of joining with the realization that we'll probably be using DVC for WDW trips at least 50% of the time. Once every couple of years we will want to explore options outside of WDW. While that might not be the most economical use of our points - in our minds it will be the most economical overall because those trips will have already paid for, and we wouldn't be doing, say, Hawaii and WDW in the same year anyway!

 

[jimmytammy]

KristiKelly

We sent you a Private Message

 

[crisi]

In re-reading this thread - I'd talked about extra points but not about not enough points.

If we want to do Disney more often than our 150 point every two year plan allows, there are a lot of options with and without DVC:

1) We could stay in a smaller unit. As a family of four, studios work fine for us if the priority were longer stays, more stays, or stays at higher point seasons. Our current plan is a two bedroom for seven in October every other year - moving to early June as the kids reach "can't pull them from school age" where we'd shorten a night from DVC (maybe stay in the other resorts, or a Universal resort.) And finally moving to several short golf vacations in a studio when the kids no longer travel with us (yeah, right.)

2) We could stay in a room with a better point value. We are BWV owners, so SV rooms are possible - as is booking at OKW at the seven month window. The "plan" was for preferred BWV points, so we have a little wiggle room.

3) We could stay at one of Disney's regular resorts. I haven't had a chance to stay at the GF or the CR yet, or the AKL - all three are on my list. I have stayed at WL and the Poly, and would like to go back. I'd like the kids to have a day at SAB, and could just book a YC room rather than trying to get into BCV. My current intent is to use a Saturday night (when point values are high) and do a one night resort stay before moving for the rest of the weekend on occation, to get a chance to try these resorts.

4) We could rent points from another DVC member who might currently have too many.

5) We could add on.

I'd recommend reviewing your point needs using Caskbills wonderful planner. Give yourself a little wiggle room (don't assume you'll always stay only seven nights, you might want that eighth weekend night. Don't assume you will always get a SV BWV room. Don't plan for a studio - unless you will realistically stay in a studio.) Remember if you are going every other year, you'll have 2x the number of points on average (and it will average. Our current reservation uses 7 banked points, 150 current point, and 125 borrowed points - for 282 points. If we take the same trip in 2005, it will use the 25 banked points from 2004, the 150 points current in 2005 and the 107 points we need to borrow - 282 points, and we will have 43 points from 2006 to bank for our 2007 trip. Eventually - a long time from now, if we don't go over the 282 every other year plan - we will need to use over 300 points in a year to get us back on plan. It will be a hardship, but we will manage).

 

[CK1]

We too do the every-other-year plan. When we joined, we had 2 small boys, still in preschool, and we bought 175 pts because we thought we would visit for about a week every year in off-season, probably getting a 2BR at OKW. Along the way we decided, however, that we preferred longer stays, and that realistically, every year was actually too often (ok, maybe not too often -- is it ever "too often" ? -- rephrase to "just not possible", due to schedule conflicts!) THe boys are now into sports, their dad usually coaches, and it really eats into our summer. School covers 9 mos of the year... really only late late summer is "open" for us! Also, we added a daughter 3 years ago -- so now that 2BR is really a must. That's one of the aspects of DVC I just love -- not having to cram all of us into a tiny room! And... we have branched out of OKW and decided we would really like to try the other places, even if they do cost more points!

Our last trip we used 412 pts -- stayed in a 2BR in VWL for 9 nights in mid to late August, and brought BIL SIL and their 3 yr old son with us. In evaluating our points use, however, it became clear that at that spending rate, we would tap out every third trip with too few points and losing a year to build back up. So we added on (30 pts) with this recent BWV event. Part of me would have loved to add more, but then sanity kicked in and says, "30 is perfect for now, for us". That puts us at 205. That means possibly 10 or 11 nights at OKW or a SV at BWV every other year, or 8 nights at VWL or maybe BCV. For our current needs, that's right for us. As we age and our needs change, I'll reevaluate my spreadsheet and see what we need to do next!
That's the beauty of a program as flexible as this...

Cindy