New member, DVC from the UK

[hughesfamilyadventures]

Hi All

We are new here, it looks like an amazing wealth of information; we are definitely going to go through.
We are a family of 5, although our eldest is nearly 19 and not sure if she will be tagging along every time now. Does anyone have any older children now, what are your experiences of them joining the trip? Do they pay for themselves or do you contribute etc?
We are Chris & Kelly and both have been to Disney World when we were younger with our parents. We started going with our children in 2018, and just completed our 4th trip and we have videos on You Tube documenting our trips. Our latest trip we went as a family of 11, my parents and my sisters family. Anyone had experiences going as a larger family?
We are considering DVC and went for a meet at the Grand Floridian and they showed us around the Poly Island Towers. Since we have come home we have researched more and had a session thrashing it out of pros and cons lol and came to the decision buying direct is not worth the direct perks, when we can get resale for like half the cost. I thought the Moonlight Magic would be great but then found out you have to hit on the event being announced when we have booked and even then you have to try and get tickets in a queue, and stories don't seem great for getting them.

Sorry this is a lot of information on different topics really for a first post. I've got so much info to tell and questions to ask

 

[DL1WDW2]

Congratulations and Welcome Home …
Please tell us your Home Resort and we will offer lots of information .
I just sat next to a DVC member flying into MCO
She has Aulani & Grand Californian Resort membership with her Californian residency . I think she was staying at SSR this trip .
I asked if she knew about “Walking” and she did not …
And some of the newer resorts are “ restricted” …
I get confused about some of the new DVC .
The Yearly Annual Meet for DVC Owners is usually the first Thursday in December and it might be live streamed .
It is at the Contemporary Resort and starts with a “ surprise” appearance form Mickey and Minnie on stage and the entire DVC Board Members with official business updates and a few members are invited to ask questions from the audience…
I also told her to do some research about News and resale values , etc and recommended she visit the DVCResaleMarket.com because that site was created and owned by former DVC Sales castmember and many of the other sales guides were also former DVC Associates with WDW …

Give us more info and we will give you more than you want to know!

 

[lanejudy]

to the DISboards!

 

[hughesfamilyadventures]

We haven't bought into DVC yet, but actively researching. AKL seems to be one of the cheapest in's. We had the tour of Poly Island Towers and loved the decor and the location but it is one of the more expensive ones to buy into. I've looked at BR and CC, then recently OKW, that seems resonable buy in.

 

[DL1WDW2]

I hope your research has included the yearly maintenance fees .
Apparently AK has higher maintenance fees because of the upkeep required for the animals on the property.
You might find a great buy in cost and then wait for it to pass ROFR (right of first refusal) which gives Disney option to take it .
Also the price per point can increase but also the points can be manipulated by Disney and the maintenance dues seem to increase more as the properties get older. These are all things you do not have any control over.
When I first bought in , we fit into a studio but as the kids grow , you will not fit into that studio and when they start school your travel window includes the more point expensive school holidays.
Also want you to consider that overseas takes longer to finalize and is not as easy to sell if your family has a financial problem or the costs of travel continue to increase.

 

[hughesfamilyadventures]

Yes, included maintenace fees.
We are looking for the 2nd most expensive period I think looking at the charts, its end of Feb into March. 2 of the 3 kids are 16+ so left school. I've done calculations in Excel for the full contract terms and also found DVC Field Guide spreadsheet today which is cool, includes what I did on a spreadsheet but for all resorts, and AKL still comes out one of the cheaper resorts even if the dues are higher. Just checked and AKL dues are in the middle of all resorts.
What info do you have regarding overseas takes longer to finalise and not as easy to sell?

 

[hardcorestitch]

Welcome to your 24/7 Disney club level lounge! You’ll definitely find useful info out here. Make yourself at home!

 

[DL1WDW2]

Nothing to legally post but my memory …and many times over years about difficulty getting paperwork notarized and extended frustration with getting paperwork finalized .
Maybe somebody will be kind enough to give you better insight in response today.

Also wondering if your age group has visited Universal Resorts with new EPIC ? Disney is always fun but there eventually is more to visit besides Disney .
Maybe this is more for when the kids have left the house and Mom& Dad fun or maybe someday grandkids?

 

[DL1WDW2]

This post / discussion has exceeded Introducing new members to Disboards.
It will probably be moved to trip planning or DVC to get better response .

 

[Sandisw]

Welcome home!!!

 

[sndral]

Hi All

We are new here, it looks like an amazing wealth of information; we are definitely going to go through.
We are a family of 5, although our eldest is nearly 19 and not sure if she will be tagging along every time now. Does anyone have any older children now, what are your experiences of them joining the trip? Do they pay for themselves or do you contribute etc?
We are Chris & Kelly and both have been to Disney World when we were younger with our parents. We started going with our children in 2018, and just completed our 4th trip and we have videos on You Tube documenting our trips. Our latest trip we went as a family of 11, my parents and my sisters family. Anyone had experiences going as a larger family?
We are considering DVC and went for a meet at the Grand Floridian and they showed us around the Poly Island Towers. Since we have come home we have researched more and had a session thrashing it out of pros and cons lol and came to the decision buying direct is not worth the direct perks, when we can get resale for like half the cost. I thought the Moonlight Magic would be great but then found out you have to hit on the event being announced when we have booked and even then you have to try and get tickets in a queue, and stories don't seem great for getting them.

Sorry this is a lot of information on different topics really for a first post. I've got so much info to tell and questions to ask

My adult son joins me on most of my visits, sometimes w/ his partner. I pay for him (& her when she comes) because I can easily afford to do so & they are just starting their careers, buying a house, etc..
AKV is one of the resorts that I own, right now the cost of the animals & the CMs dedicated to them is around .49 US dollars per point.

Here’s a link w/ all of the maintenance fees for every DVC resort since the program started https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program-menu/financial/annual-dues-by-resort, AKV’s MFs are on the high end for on WDW property resorts, but they aren’t the highest - that honor goes to the cabins. In my case, the other resort I own is VGF & it’s MFs trend lower - so they sort of balance each other .
I love my AKV stays, we especially like Jambo, but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, it’s bus only which is frustrating for the park commando types, but I enjoy the relative quiet of the resort & I never get tired of watching the animals.
I fly in from the west coast & have never yet been on site for the member’s special events, so like you that benefit is worthless to me & I’ve owned over a decade. We do occasionally buy the discounted APs because we often want more than the 10 day max on US day tickets & we try to schedule our trips to get 2 trips covered by one AP, but I think UK residents can get longer than the 10 day max they limit US residents to on day tickets. And how discounted the APs are, or if they even offer discounted APs to DVC Y members, is dependent on Disney’s whims, so it’s not a benefit I would rely on in deciding the direct/resale question. The big issue to think about w/ direct/resale IMO is whether you’ll be ok w/ not staying at the Riviera, the cabins, &, out on the west coast, the DL hotel, + likely any new resorts.
There are about a dozen brokers who specialize in reselling DVC contracts - here’s the thread you might want to hang out in if you go the resale route https://www.disboards.com/threads/r...ost-for-instructions-formatting-tool.3969776/.
I also like following this thread https://www.disboards.com/threads/closing-time.3836891/page-415 to get a feel for how various brokers & title companies compare time wise throughout the closing process.
Good luck.