New DVC or Expand existing Wyndham?

[DCTooTall]

Sooooo.... I'm still in the early mulling over a idea I had stages, and thought I'd post here to maybe get some input.

I currently own some timeshare at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek resort located in that tiny nook between Disney Property, I4, and EPCOT Drive. The location is great and I really like the property itself.

I was thinking about maybe sometime next year expanding my ownership at that resort to allow me to spend even more time in the Disney area, However, I started to wonder if maybe I might prefer to get some DVC interest instead to compliment my existing timeshare interest instead of just expanding my interest in my current location.

So... From those familiar with DVC, Is there anything you could tell me about being a part of DVC that might help it stand out?


For those curious, My current resort is probably about the same drive time to DTD as it would be from OKW or SSR.... and I may actually be closer to EPCOT. (Definately closer to EPCOT Drive).

My Vacation schedule is normally pretty flexible (right now), and i'm the type to prefer several trips in a year vs. 1 BIG trip, so the room/resort swap wouldn't be a big deal since I could use one place 1 trip, and the other the following.



Wyndham also uses a point structure for their ownership, so I'm familiar with the concept. (My Parents owed Fixed Week locations since the mid-80's, so I'm VERY familiar with timeshare in general and those hidden 'gotcha's ' most people miss... like annual fees). The DVC Lease nature vs. purchase nature does concern me a little, but if the "extra value" is worth it, I may be able to look past it.


I guess I am curious mostly about those things that may be harder to compare when doing a price comparison. It's pretty easy to say for X amount I get enough points to spend a week in a 2bdrm during this time of year, but it's harder to necessarily do a direct comparison of those extra things that may come from owning one place vs the other. I'm pretty sure DVC is more expensive (esp if I go resale), but there is the onsite transportation so no need to rent a car.... and that emotional "I OWN DISNEY!!" feeling... but what else is there with DVC? (also thinking Synergy kinda stuff that might work... like the AP discount that I could apply during my non-DVC trips....)

 

[bookwormde]

The equivenlent value of resale point in DVC Vs wyndam are $20,000 Vs $500-1000 for a 2br week. So that the first hurdle to get over.

bookwormde

 

[disneynutz]

I suggest that you take some time and read through the posts here in the DVC section. You will find that info about buying is discussed several times a day.

I also suggest that you rent a reservation from a member and experience a DVC resort for yourself.

Bill

 

[DCTooTall]

I lucked out a few years ago. I had booked a room for a single night at the POR only to be told at check-in I was picked for a free upgrade. My Upgrade? a 2bdrm at OKW. I LOVED the resort. Sadly with only a single night I wasn't able to fully experience everything the resort had to offer.



Having stayed on-site before in both the Deluxe Monorail resorts, and that night at OKW... combined with my love of just exploring the resorts, Getting a feel for the properties and the advantages of staying at a Disney resort are pretty easy to get a grasp on. It's those things that are not so tied to the physical accomodations that are harder to get a feeling for from outside. I guess you could call it the overall "Ownership Experience"



Oh trust me.... I understand the price differences. One reason it's so hard to just choose to do it. Price difference combined with Lease vs Purchase makes the choice a no brainer if I was just looking at the financial aspect for a place to put my head while in town. Thankfully... I'm quite a distance from being ready to "splurge" on more vacation time. (couple years till I get an increase in time off of work to allow more time at Disney. ), so I have plenty of time to lurk here until then. I guess I figured a head start on the decision might help.

 

[Chuck S]

I think it really boils down to just a handful of things, given the location differences between Bonnet Creek and OKW are pretty negligible.

The Disney/DVC perks, like discounted annual passes, the ability to add a dining plan, resort delivery of theme park purchases, the ability to trade to other DVC locations, the Disney bus service as compared to the Bonnet Creek scheduled service, Magical Express, etc.

And bear that any of these perks could disappear at any time.

If, overall, you are happy with Bonnet Creek, and the Disney onsite perks are not a big draw for you, Bonnet Creek is probably a good choice. If, on the other hand, the Disney Perks would be to your benefit, or fit your vacation style better, then you could look into a resale at OKW.

To me, the DVC lease vs. infinite purchase is a benefit. WHy leave a timeshare to someone in my will that may not enjoy it, or perhaps could not afford the maintenance. Sooner or later, even the best maintained buildings will reach the end of their useful lifr cycle. Who would pay for that reconstruction, would it a special assessment, or is it budgeted into your Bonnet Creek dues? It would certainly be a more substantial cost than scheduled rehabs.

 

[JimMIA]

I'm currently researching the same question from the opposite point of view -- that of a DVC owner researching Wyndham as a way to expand my options.

First of all, here is a link to a recent DVC vs Wyndham thread started by nickspace: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2498514

The focus of that thread is helping folks like Nick and I understand Wyndham, but in those discussions, you'll see the main differences between the two systems.

I personally see four main differences between the two systems:

1. DVC is WAY more expensive. Bookwormde was not exaggerating a bit above -- DVC is 10X or more the price of a comparable Wyndham contract resale on eBay.
2. DVC is much better for WDW. Wyndham has Bonnet Creek, which is a beautiful resort adjacent to WDW, two very nice resorts in Kissimmee 20 minutes away, and one on I-Drive that doesn't look up to par to me. DVC has OKW, SSR, BWV, BCV, VWL, BLT, and AKV inside WDW, with the transportation and other onsite perks that go with those resorts.
3. Wyndham - talking about its internal system alone - is vastly superior outside of the Orlando area. All of DVC's non-WDW resorts are beautiful, but there are only three (VB,HHI, and GC) operating, and one under construction (Aulani). I'm not sure how many Wyndham Club Plus resorts there are, but I'm pretty sure there are more than 60. That's a lot more choices, although some will appeal to some folks, others to other folks.
4. Wyndham is not a great "trader." Neither is DVC. The big difference here is that Wyndham provides full RCI membership, which is more than 4,000 resorts worldwide. DVC's RCI connection is a tiny fraction of that number. DVC provides access to some very nice resorts, but does not have the geographic coverage or variety of the full RCI system.

Minor differences include DVC being more owner-friendly in terms of ease of understanding the system and interacting with Member Services. There are some nuances with both systems, but with DVC you don't have all the little nickel and dime things like housekeeping and transaction credits.

I think DVC is a great product for staying in DVC resorts -- especially at WDW. Is it a great idea for you, considering you already own at a beautiful resort right across the street? I can't tell you that. That's your decision.

I suspect that one of our real timeshare gurus will come on here eventually and suggest that you also consider a really strong trader that will allow you to trade into DVC.

 

[Dean]

Sooooo.... I'm still in the early mulling over a idea I had stages, and thought I'd post here to maybe get some input.

I currently own some timeshare at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek resort located in that tiny nook between Disney Property, I4, and EPCOT Drive. The location is great and I really like the property itself.

I was thinking about maybe sometime next year expanding my ownership at that resort to allow me to spend even more time in the Disney area, However, I started to wonder if maybe I might prefer to get some DVC interest instead to compliment my existing timeshare interest instead of just expanding my interest in my current location.

So... From those familiar with DVC, Is there anything you could tell me about being a part of DVC that might help it stand out?


For those curious, My current resort is probably about the same drive time to DTD as it would be from OKW or SSR.... and I may actually be closer to EPCOT. (Definately closer to EPCOT Drive).

My Vacation schedule is normally pretty flexible (right now), and i'm the type to prefer several trips in a year vs. 1 BIG trip, so the room/resort swap wouldn't be a big deal since I could use one place 1 trip, and the other the following.



Wyndham also uses a point structure for their ownership, so I'm familiar with the concept. (My Parents owed Fixed Week locations since the mid-80's, so I'm VERY familiar with timeshare in general and those hidden 'gotcha's ' most people miss... like annual fees). The DVC Lease nature vs. purchase nature does concern me a little, but if the "extra value" is worth it, I may be able to look past it.


I guess I am curious mostly about those things that may be harder to compare when doing a price comparison. It's pretty easy to say for X amount I get enough points to spend a week in a 2bdrm during this time of year, but it's harder to necessarily do a direct comparison of those extra things that may come from owning one place vs the other. I'm pretty sure DVC is more expensive (esp if I go resale), but there is the onsite transportation so no need to rent a car.... and that emotional "I OWN DISNEY!!" feeling... but what else is there with DVC? (also thinking Synergy kinda stuff that might work... like the AP discount that I could apply during my non-DVC trips....)

I don't know how many Wyndham points you own or whether they are qualified points and that could affect any recommendations I'd make. DVC is a great but very expensive option compared to Wyndham and many other similar options. Personally were I in your situation I'd actually look at something else entirely given the current prices. Something to get you more options that would also allow you to trade into Orlando (which is easy to do for good places) and give you more options for non Orlando trips. Something like Bluegreen, Marriott, Worldmark, Club Intrawest, etc. For Orlando you can easily and cheaply trade in to very nice resorts and in some cases, to DVC itself.

 

[littlestar]

We own both DVC and Wyndham. As stated above, Wyndham bought resale will be extremely cheap in price compared to DVC resale. You might be able to pick up some DVC SSR resale points at around $65 a point. But say you're looking at 100 points - that's still around $6,900 with closing costs included. As a comparison, I just purchased and closed on 126,000 Wyndham points at Smoky Mountains for under $500 total - a huge difference in price!

Even with the huge difference in price between Wyndham and DVC - I still enjoy owning some DVC points. I like the annual pass discount and I like booking 2 or 3 days at DVC before my Bonnet Creek or Marriott week stays in Orlando. I enjoy the theming of the DVC resorts, frequent transportation to the parks, and not having to rent a car for the first few days of our trip. Although by the weekend at the start of our week stays, I'm ready to rent a car to go off property to visit outlet malls and offsite restaurants.

We recently booked a stay at Disney's Vero Beach for our daughter and some nights at Wyndham Bonnet Creek for her, too. I really like owning both systems. One really nice thing about DVC is you can book and rebook without incurring transaction fees like you do with Wyndham.