Joining DVC

[mantismad]

We are just about to contact DVC with a veiw to take up membership. Has anyone got any advice or pitfalls to be aware of.

 

[RobDoc]

DVC does a good job of presenting the program. Ask questions about any/all aspects of membership.

If you have any specific questions about joining, feel free to ask them here. There are lots of folks here eager to share their experiences with the program.

If your preference is BWV or OKW, you can also consider a resale opportunity and maybe even save some $$$.

Enjoy the process!

 

[Bexx]

Hello fellow Brit and welcome to DIS.

Have you been reading through threads on these boards - they should be a great help to you.

Check out this thread asking a similar question -

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?threadid=294543

Hope the link works - I'm not an expert!

 

[Laurabearz]

My only advice is to buy where you want to stay...... If you want BCV to be your home..... go thru Disney...... but if OKW or VWL are more to your liking, then buy via resale.

The main falsehoods I hear that the DVC reps say is that home resort doesnt matter that much...... it does... maybe not in your current traveling style, but you got 39 years of traveling to do with this and sooner or later Home resort WILL matter to you.

Have fun checking out all your options!

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Watch the use year that you purchase. Most people don't give it a second thought until after they buy. It is probably one of the more complicated issues for most people not used to the system.

Buy a contract with a use year that enables you to bank the points if you cancel a vacation. For example; you can bank 100% of your points in the first six months of your use year. If you usually travel in February every year, you wouldn't want a March contract because if you had to cancel in December for your February trip, you couldn't bank all of the points. However if you had a February use year and had to cancel in December, you could bank 100%.

Good luck and have fun.

HBC

 

[mantismad]

Well thanks very much for your replies so far.

It seems verrryyy important to get the correct timing for the Use Year.

Question; Is the timing of the UY post datable?? or does it have to be when the membership is purchased, I realise that a resale UY is already set so my question is for a new purchase for 450 points at BCV.

Thanks y'all.

 

[lehrsj]

I think you can pick your use year at BCV - as long as there are points available for the one you want. So if you buy today your use year could start in June 2002 or Sep 2002 or any other use year that is available. And the dues for 2002 are prorated to the day you buy, not the day the use year starts.

One thing I've noticed when looking over resales is that the bigger contracts seem to take longer to sell. If you are buying from Disney instead of one 450 point contract you might want to consider a 225 point contract and then a 225 point add on. Or a 150 point contract with (2) 150 point add ons. You would also have some flexability in the future if you want to keep some points but sell the rest.

Sherry

 

[Jimbo]

It seems verrryyy important to get the correct timing for the Use Year.

Well, I wouldn't say verrryyy. It only comes into play when you need to cancel a reservation. It has no affect on when or how you reserve rooms.

If you expect to travel at the same time every year, and will continue to travel at that time for the next 40 years, and are likely to cancel a vacation close to your travel date, it can be important. Otherwise it's just not a big deal.


(edited to add smiley 'cause I sounded snotty without it)

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

The date is set when you purchase and may depend on what Disney is selling at the time. You can explain your need to them and I'm sure they would work with you.

On a 450 point purchase you may also want to consider buying 2 contracts at 225 points each instead of one at 450. Just in case you ever had to sell, smaller contracts usually sell quicker on the resale market.

HBC

 

[Sharper]

I think that the use is IS very important. Most people don't know exactly their plans for the next forty years, but most would know the most likely/least likely times to travel. My favorite time to travel is the fall, so a November use year would be a very bad idea, e.g., if I routinely plan an October vacation, but due to some unexpected change of plans in September or October I could not go, then there is a likelihood of losing most of those points if unable to reschedule or transfer the reservation at the last minute. Some people always or never would travel in the summer, for another example, and can try to get a UY which best accommodates their personal preference.

 

[mantismad]

Brilliant!!!!

Thanks so much for the information, I never would have thought of breaking down the purchase into smaller modules for possible future resale.

We are now experiencing difficulty getting back in contact with our DVC rep. I expect Thanks giving has something to do with that.

Thanks again for all your suggestions and help if there is any more please keep it coming.

Please all of you have a great Thanks Giving.

 

[EROS]

Two words.................BUY RESALE . Save yourself some money.

As for USE YEAR, I feel that it's really irrelevant UNLESS you plan to travel during the same month/season to WDW over the next 40 years. In our 5 years of DVC membership, we've traveled there during 6 DIFFERENT months. In looking at resales, I'd look for the best deal and not worry about use year ......

 

[Sharper]

I suppose if you have no rhyme or reason to your travel whatsoever then use year would not matter. That is not the case with most people.

Let me give you an example of use year being important. You have small children. Your school has a spring break every March, a fall break every October. You DO NOT want to vacation in Florida in the summer. You love Disney. There is a strong probability that for the next dozen years or so you will vacation in March and/or October. If your use year is April, May, November or December you will continually run into stress regarding points and the "what if our plans change and we must cancel our trip" as you have severe limitations on what you can do with points within the last couple of months of the use year.

If you have a choice, obviously selecting a use year following the period of time when you are least likely to travel (summer, in this instance) would make sense and save serious stress during your children's school years.

 

[EROS]

SHARPER, your travel plans are much more organized than ours over the next 40 years . If your choice of use year(s) has decreased your stress level, then more power to ya ........

 

[Sharper]

But a few obvious factors make a difference. Not just my children's school schedule, but that neither my husband or myself like Florida in the summer. Simply selecting a late summer use year would give us the greatest flexibility and least restrictions. Selecting a use year just after our favorite time to travel would always be a hassle. Very simple, but an area which I didn't really take into account when purchasing but right away realized made a difference.

 

[tiggerguy2000]

Joining is just a phone call away so make the call . The prime home resort is BCV. I have one home resort at the VWL and just added the BCV as my 2nd home resort. They will send all the paper work you need or just go down for a long weekend getaway and join on the spot.

GOOD LUCK ! HOPE TO BE ABLE TO SAY WELCOME HOME

TIGGERGUY2000 ºoº

 

[tiggerguy2000]

ooooooooooooooooops!
no long weekend for you from the U K
HE HE HE HE I JUST FORGOT THAT YOUR OUT OF THE STATES

 

[icydog]

DO TAKE USE YEAR INTO CONSIDERATION. WE HAVE A SEPTEMBER USE YEAR AND CAN NEVER BOOK A CHRISTMAS VACATION NOW THAT OUR KIDS ARE GROWN AND SCHOOL IS NOT A CONSIDERATION.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by Happy Birthday Cat
The date is set when you purchase and may depend on what Disney is selling at the time. You can explain your need to them and I'm sure they would work with you.

On a 450 point purchase you may also want to consider buying 2 contracts at 225 points each instead of one at 450. Just in case you ever had to sell, smaller contracts usually sell quicker on the resale market.

HBC

There are so many intricacies, it's impossible to communicate them all in this thread. First, I'd agree to break the points up into smaller packages if you can. BUY where you want to stay most of the time and DO NOT buy at VB or HH with the idea of staying mostly at WDW. Resale will be the cheapest but you may not have as many choices. On 450 points you can save a lot of money for say BWV over BCV. VWL is starting to show up resale but tends to be higher than BWV since the owners paid more per point.

You might even consider buying 2 contracts at different resorts to have more choices. As for use year, I feel it can be very important. I would be willing to bet that choice of use year will affect every member at least once during their membership. If you have a good one for you, you have a lot more flexibility in making reservations and cancelling them if something happens. It is however more important for some than to others depending on your schedule and vacation habits. In general, I'd buy a use year that's just before my usual travel and no more than 6 months before my usual travel. This gives you 2 advantages. One is if you cancel you can bank 100% of your points and for this you need one within about 6 months. The other is if you cancel, you will have more time to do something else with the points, for this the closer your use year to your travel the better. I actually have 3 use years and chose which contract I use for a certain vacation with these ideas in mind in case I have to cancel.