Just go thome, looking into DVC where to start

[Twice_as_Nice]

We just got home from our trip and we had such a fantastic time, 11 days on site, that we would like to look more into DVC membership. We ordered the DVD but I would like to learn how it all works, what resorts they are selling right now and just figure out what would be best for our family from real resources and not sales people.

We are a family of 5, 3 kids 9yr 8yr and 3yr. We stayed at the newly renovated rooms CBR and it was more than enough space for us.

 

[chalee94]

We just got home from our trip and we had such a fantastic time, 11 days on site, that we would like to look more into DVC membership. We ordered the DVD but I would like to learn how it all works...

read this thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3041038

there are links to more info there that will explain things even further.

the short answer is that you buy a set number of pts at a given resort that renew each year until the expiration date of the resort. there are point charts linked here that tell you how many pts you would need at a given resort for your particular vacation preferences.

you can book your home resort at 11 months out which can be a benefit. at 7 months out, you can try to switch to another resort depending on availability. if you cannot book until 3-4 months out, you will likely find DVC ownership very stressful.

with 5 in the family, you might prefer 1BRs at BLT and AKV-kidani, since they have 2 bathrooms...or plan for 2BR villas (the 2BRs at BLT and AKV-kidani have 3 bathrooms). OKW 1BRs do have a sleeper chair to sleep 5 but only 1 bathroom.

but you may want to take your time and rent pts once or twice before committing to buying in. DVC will be around when you are ready...

...what resorts they are selling right now...

as discussed in the thread i linked above, you can buy any resort direct. DVC is constantly re-acquiring inventory through foreclosures or ROFR. but buying direct is a much more expensive way to go for no real financial value.

 

[chrisaman]

We just got home from our trip and we had such a fantastic time, 11 days on site, that we would like to look more into DVC membership. We ordered the DVD but I would like to learn how it all works, what resorts they are selling right now and just figure out what would be best for our family from real resources and not sales people. We are a family of 5, 3 kids 9yr 8yr and 3yr. We stayed at the newly renovated rooms CBR and it was more than enough space for us.

Some things u should ask urself before making the plunge are:

1) are you okay booking your trips 7 to 11 months in advance. If u can't plan your vacations that far in advance, u could have a hard time booking rooms when you want to go

2) What resort is your favorite of the dvc resorts and if u don't know yet, you may want to try renting points and doing a bit more exploring before buying.

3) are u okay only using points for DVC resorts because if you are, resale is the only way to go. If u want to use your points for non dvc resorts, cruises, or other things (which most will tell you is a bad use of points) then u need to buy direct.

4) what time of year do u want to go? If you want to go during food and wine and you want to stay at one of the Epcot resorts like boardwalk or beach club, you better own there because they will sell out right at the 11 month mark.

We bought at the Grand Californian and we love it. We live in California so disneyland is our primary vacation. We bought resale because the resale restrictions do not affect us. We always use our points for the grand or for disneyworld trips.

To answer your question, disney is still selling animal kingdom (very little though), Aulani, Grand Floridian, and the Polynesian is coming really soon. Maybe the beginning of next year. You can get most anything via resale though. Check out the time share stores web site. Just google time share store and it will come up. That will give you a lot of info on resale as well as trolling in here.

 

[mcap2004]

We just got home from our trip and we had such a fantastic time, 11 days on site, that we would like to look more into DVC membership. We ordered the DVD but I would like to learn how it all works, what resorts they are selling right now and just figure out what would be best for our family from real resources and not sales people.

We, too are looking into DVC. There is A LOT of information out there that it seems overwhelming. Look into the timeshare store at dvc-resales.com There is plenty to read on there and also look through the FAQ. Look through the resales they have and see if it is something for your family. We are a family of 4 and my boys are 3 and 8. We only plan on doing Disney so resale is the route for us.

The only difference between buying direct or resale is how you get to use your points. Oh, and also resale is a lot cheaper. Buying direct allows you to also do the Disney Cruise Line and visit other places around the world but if you know you're only interested in doing DVC resorts like WDW, Disneyland, or say, Aulani then resale would be the way to go. Go into that website above, look through the resales they have to offer on the resorts and fill out the contact info and someone will either email or call you back.

 

[Msmithmd]

One addition to mcap2004's post.

While it is accurate that resale DVC points cannot be used directly for cruises or the concierge/Disney collections, they can in fact be used indirectly.

One simply rents the points for that year (very easy to do via a broker) and uses cash to pay for the cruise or regular hotel. This point is salient because it is actually what a direct purchaser should do as well, since the exchange options consistently undervalue the points required to book those options- by as much as $5-6 per point used outside the regular DVC system. Even though a direct purchase owner "can" book these options directly, financially speaking they shouldn't.

Further, understand the sheer magnitude of the price difference of acquiring points resale versus retail. For my family, the savings by buying resale was $60 per point on our 300-point contract, or $18,000. That would obviously pay for a whole darn lot of cruises and cash hotel stays, should I choose to use the money in that fashion. And I would get to use my DVC points all those years as they are intended-for staying at the DVC properties.

Make sure you understand the point charts when you are contemplating a direct purchase for the alleged "benefits," as both the cruise and ABD options are point priced PER PERSON, not per family. You will quickly see how impressively expensive DVC chooses to make these options for the direct purchaser who wants to use their points in this manner.

 

[mcap2004]

One addition to mcap2004's post.

While it is accurate that resale DVC points cannot be used directly for cruises or the concierge/Disney collections, they can in fact be used indirectly.

One simply rents the points for that year (very easy to do via a broker) and uses cash to pay for the cruise or regular hotel.

Thanks for the info

 

[chalee94]

Buying direct allows you to...visit other places around the world but if you know you're only interested in doing DVC resorts like WDW, Disneyland, or say, Aulani then resale would be the way to go.

even without renting your pts for cash, it's not completely true that buying resale limits you to DVC resorts. resale pts can still be traded through RCI for other timeshares around the world.

but for the best financial value, it's true that it's best to use your pts only at DVC resorts (and that remains true whether you bought direct or resale, with resale being the best value.)

 

[mcap2004]

even without renting your pts for cash, it's not completely true that buying resale limits you to DVC resorts. resale pts can still be traded through RCI for other timeshares around the world.

But people usually recommend against RCI due to the fact that it takes a lot of your points. Is that correct?

 

[chalee94]

But people usually recommend against RCI due to the fact that it takes a lot of your points. Is that correct?

i would recommend against trades for disney cruises, ABD or the concierge collection (fancy hotels) because they take a lot of pts and you are better off renting your pts and paying cash...and the same is basically true of RCI also, sure.

you are trading in more value than you are likely to get back. there are rare situations where you might trade for a comparable quality timeshare in hawaii or something...but by and large, you are trading for timeshares that cost $1 upfront on ebay and have annual dues a fraction of what DVC charges.

it's like buying a lexus to trade routinely for an old chevy pickup truck...there may be a handful of times when you'd rather have the pickup (and if you decide to trade for somewhere other than the DVC locations, it's nice to have the option)...but while i wouldn't recommend buying into DVC to make regular trades into RCI, i just wanted to be clear that the option is still there for resale buyers.