Newbie - thinking of DVC

[NewEnglandCamper]

We are thinking about stopping at a DVC to get more information. It seems like we are heading to Disney once a year in some capacity. This year it will be my wife and I only. How much of a time commitment is it during the tour? We in Disney for 5 nights and the fly out? Is it high pressure sales? What is involved? Tour of a property?

I appologize in advance if this question was covered elsewhere.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

DVC has a sales center at Saratoga Springs Resort. This includes mock-up rooms from the resorts they're currently selling. You can either stop in there on your own, call them from the phone in your room to make an appointment, or visit one of the kiosks throughout Disney World. They'll pick you up in a van and take you to the sales center. Depending on how many questions you have, plan on it to take 2-3 hours (including the transportation).

Disney's guides (their term for their sales force) are not as high pressure as some other timeshares. But it is still a timeshare sales presentation. They'll take you through the model rooms, and explain the program to you.

At the end of the presentation, there's ice cream sundaes for everyone!

Another option is to do it over the phone from home. You can request a DVD from the DVC Website, then have the interview with your guide over the phone. This is the way we purchased. LOL, no ice cream, but it saved us the time of the tour during a vacation.

In addition to the DVD, also be sure to check out this valuable information here on Dis. You'll want to do some research before you talk to DVC. Also ask a lot of questions on here. The DVC guides won't do anything intentionally deceptive, but their objective during their meeting with you will be to sell you on the resort where they have a sales goal. It will be very helpful to have done some homework and have a good idea of what you want when you sit down with them.

If you're not aware of it, there's currently a friends and family incentive going on. If you have a friend or family member who is a current owner and mention them during your interview with your guide, you get a discount and your friend gets a very nice reward for the referral.

 

[disneynutz]

Presentation can take a couple of hours. I wouldn't say that it's high pressure but Disney has some new Guides who aren't as easy going as the originals. You can tour the models that are currently being highlighted for sale.

Bill

 

[CaliforniaDreamn]

We are thinking about stopping at a DVC to get more information. It seems like we are heading to Disney once a year in some capacity. This year it will be my wife and I only. How much of a time commitment is it during the tour? We in Disney for 5 nights and the fly out? Is it high pressure sales? What is involved? Tour of a property?

I appologize in advance if this question was covered elsewhere.

Our experience was pretty much everything BOPDave said.

We enjoyed the talk and enjoyed the models. Also, since our tour took up a lot of the kids play time, they gave us about 30 NO WAIT fast passes. The kids loved that.

 

[Greysword]

HOLD OUT FOR THE ICE CREAM!!!!!

The most convenient is to talk to the kiosk people (in your resort or around the parks). They'll set an appointment for you and have a DVC decorated van pick you up (only time in your membership this happens). They'll talk with you, show you the models, answer questions, stuff you with ice cream, then the van will drive you anywhere on property.

Do the tour early in your visit. This is due to being able to take advantage of any fast passes they give you (as mentioned) and (more importantly) if you do decide to join, you can sign the paperwork at WDW (they notorize the docs, give you any premiums (SWAG for new members), help with new reservations, and get everything done without the wait). PLUS, you get more ICE CREAM!!!

Just sayin'

 

[JimMIA]

I think we'd all be remiss if we didn't mention that you can save 20% to more than 50% on a DVC purchase by buying resale.

There are several very good resale brokers, including the longtime sponsor of these DVC Boards -- The Timeshare Store -- and they work in a very tightly-regulated timeshare industry here in Florida. They follow the same rules and regulations, in fact, that DVC follows and are regulated by exactly the same people.

I've bought both ways, and honestly found my Timeshare Store representatives more helpful, more knowledgeable, and more professional than my DVC "guide."

DVC is a typical timeshare (although many of our members will go at that comment), and you have to do a lot of research to understand the system, and to understand what it will or will not do for you.

Obviously your DVC timeshare salesman is going to present only the most beneficial view of DVC. You need to do your own research to sort out the hype from the real value for your family.

 

[booklady]

We took the tour last summer by just walking in...Loved it, came home and bought resale. Traveled in the fall with DH and we are going next week sans kids again. My excuse for buying was to take the Grandkids, but it's so much fun with and without them!

 

[lovedvc]

I think we'd all be remiss if we didn't mention that you can save 20% to more than 50% on a DVC purchase by buying resale.

There are several very good resale brokers, including the longtime sponsor of these DVC Boards -- The Timeshare Store -- and they work in a very tightly-regulated timeshare industry here in Florida. They follow the same rules and regulations, in fact, that DVC follows and are regulated by exactly the same people.

I've bought both ways, and honestly found my Timeshare Store representatives more helpful, more knowledgeable, and more professional than my DVC "guide."

DVC is a typical timeshare (although many of our members will go at that comment), and you have to do a lot of research to understand the system, and to understand what it will or will not do for you.

Obviously your DVC timeshare salesman is going to present only the most beneficial view of DVC. You need to do your own research to sort out the hype from the real value for your family.

Yes you can save a huge amount buying resale, but the losses may outweigh the savings. Resales owners can not use their points the way they used to.

 

[dbs1228]

Yes you can save a huge amount buying resale, but the losses may outweigh the savings. Resales owners can not use their points the way they used to.

When buying DVC the real value is using your points for DVC stays. Resale purchasers cannot use points for cruises and a few other things but CAN use to trade into RCI. Do your homework, research, take a tour when you are there if you have time but also research resale! We just added on a SSR contract after renting 2009 points out (they were going to expire before we could use them) we ended up paying 49.00PP for a fully loaded contract, still got 2010 and 2011 points to use buying direct is 99.00. A difference of 6500.00!

 

[ToddyLu]

As a newbie, read, read and read some more. You need to understand of the stickies on this forum. I would also encourage the purchase of the Pass Porter downloadable DVC Guide. It is less than $10 and has great info. You can also get free info from the Timeshare Store.

You need to make sure you understand Uy (Use Year) and its importance on banking and borrowing.

The rules about cancelling reservations

Picking a Home Resort if you haven't done so.

ALL DVC properties are for sale. Aulani is the only one that hasn't hit the resale market yet. DVC will sell you any property directly but you may want to wait on a certain UY and amount of points. Disney resales their points again by using Right of First Refusal on contracts up for sell. The only active sales are going to be SSR, AKL, BLT and Aulani. The other resorts are so called "SOLD OUT". So if you want BWI or BCV you can purchase directly form DVC or from a resale company. DVC may not have the UY you want right away causing you to wait. Resales will always be cheaper though not the most convienent especially if you want something very specific.

You want to have smaller contracts so they will be easier to resal in the future. It is easier to sell 4-50 point contracts than a 200 point contract. DVC will split it up for you if you want. This will also allow you to have a couple of smaller contracts to leave to kids.

All of the info I have gotten on DVC has been here and using the Pass Porter Guide. It has taken me a couple of years to really figure out how to best use my contract---and I want to know---because it is a very expensive Timeshare.