Non Disney World properties

[atthebeachclub]

The only problem I imagine is there would be absolutely no availability during the winter. Summer I guess could be fun depending on the town and if you were into mountain sports or hiking . It being near a lake too could open the possibility of water sports or swimming

For sure. Traditional timeshares near ski resorts really suffer in the summer months; seems like you can’t give them away, but are super popular in winter.

 

[supercarrie]

It was Aulani that really sold it for me. I kicked the tires for years on buying DVC after years of WDW stays, but after dropping over $1000 per night on an Aulani studio stay, I said enough, it is time to get serious about the research.

There are decent alternatives to DVC in WDW (especially if you are a studio dweller) but no other resort in Hawaii like Aulani, imo. And I've stayed at the alleged alternatives.

I probably would have still bought in without Aulani, though.

 

[Cfabar1]

We bought for WDW and VB... we aspire to go to Aulani someday, and likely also HHI...

DL didn't factor into our purchasing decisions...

 

[airjay75]

Although it wasn't a deciding factor by any means, HHI and VB were resorts that I'm glad are there and made the purchase even more attractive. In fact, the trip we toured DVC (and bought after getting home) was a split stay, 4 nights at Coronado Springs, 3 nights at a Cocoa Beach rental. Hearing that VB would be another option if we wanted a split stay involving some beach time was nice. AUL sounds cool, in theory, but for us living on the East Coast, it is such a LONG trip to Hawaii.

All that said, if VB/HHI/AUL didn't exist, would we have skipped on DVC? Probably not.

 

[intamin]

Although it wasn't a deciding factor by any means, HHI and VB were resorts that I'm glad are there and made the purchase even more attractive. In fact, the trip we toured DVC (and bought after getting home) was a split stay, 4 nights at Coronado Springs, 3 nights at a Cocoa Beach rental. Hearing that VB would be another option if we wanted a split stay involving some beach time was nice. AUL sounds cool, in theory, but for us living on the East Coast, it is such a LONG trip to Hawaii.

All that said, if VB/HHI/AUL didn't exist, would we have skipped on DVC? Probably not.

I'm excited to try out VB this summer! We're going as a little staycation since we're local temporarily. How is Cocoa Beach? I was thinking of taking my dog there to see the ocean for the first time if he behaves

 

[airjay75]

I'm excited to try out VB this summer! We're going as a little staycation since we're local temporarily. How is Cocoa Beach? I was thinking of taking my dog there to see the ocean for the first time if he behaves

We enjoyed it. Not our favorite beach we ever visited, but we had a good time. We happened to time it with a SpaceX rocket launch and that was pretty neat to see. There are also some restaurants on the water where the cruise ships come in and out, and that was fun too. If we do another DW/beach combo vacation, I think we’d try Vero, Daytona, or look at something on the Gulf side. But, Cocoa Beach is without a doubt the closest beach, which is nice.

 

[Disneydad14]

It was Aulani that really sold it for me. I kicked the tires for years on buying DVC after years of WDW stays, but after dropping over $1000 per night on an Aulani studio stay, I said enough, it is time to get serious about the research.

There are decent alternatives to DVC in WDW (especially if you are a studio dweller) but no other resort in Hawaii like Aulani, imo. And I've stayed at the alleged alternatives.

I probably would have still bought in without Aulani, though.

I had a 7 night Aulani stay booked and a 6 day Disney world trip booked and when I did the math it made sense to me to cancel , take the crdit and buy a 200 point contract. Disney to me is something we will probably go to 4-5 times in the next couple of years but economically the fact that I will go to HH, Aulani and vero beach made it a no brainer.

I just got my contract and already have vero booked for October which will be my first stay on dvc

 

[PolyRob]

I purchased for WDW access, specifically VGF because I was booking GF cash stays on discounts.

I had done my research and knew VGC under 7-months was a long shot prior to purchasing. VDH wasn't even announced at the time, but the ToT makes it less desirable to me personally.

I guess having Aulani is nice, but it's not why I purchased.

I have no desire to book VB or HHI so that was not a factor.

 

[Simba's Mom]

When we bought DVC, we didn't even know anything existed out of WDW (and there only 2, VB and HHI at that time). However, when DH discovered Disney had a HHI resort, he was thrilled since he'd always wanted to go there. He might have gotten the idea that we couldn't go there unless we joined I don't know why he thought that!

 

[intamin]

When we bought DVC, we didn't even know anything existed out of WDW (and there only 2, VB and HHI at that time). However, when DH discovered Disney had a HHI resort, he was thrilled since he'd always wanted to go there. He might have gotten the idea that we couldn't go there unless we joined I don't know why he thought that!

That's essentially what I told my wife but with Disney World..

 

[Pens Fan]

We still would have bought but we'd have less points. We have one HHI contract which we use once or twice a year. We've only been to Aulani once since we bought in 2019, but the plan is to go every 3 - 4 years from now on. We keep trying to get to Vero but have been unlucky. First time DVC cancelled on us due to maintenance issues, then the next two times we cancelled due to my husband's health issues. Maybe 4th time will be the charm! We've only used our points in CA once as it's so hard to get into Grand Cal and the transient tax is a big turn off on the new Disneyland Hotel DVC resort. Still, I will always stalk and waitlist for VGC if we make a trip to the left coast.

Bottom line, we'd still have bought, but the off site resorts are a great benefit to owning.

 

[amcnj]

At the time of purchase there weren’t any non-WDW DVC resorts. But I guess even today, WDW itself would be the main draw, and the others a nice extra. Despite some discussions over the years about utilizing one of those resorts, we still haven’t actually stayed at one!

 

[Budzooka]

Bought for WDW resorts but have stayed at VB and AUL more than we have at our home resort. Love having the options of non park resorts.

 

[deangeka]

If there had been a DVC ski resort that probably would've jumped the off-site resorts up to number 2 on the list because I love snowboarding as well

Oh My Goodness, How do we make a ski resort happen? That would be absolutely AMAZING.

 

[intamin]

Oh My Goodness, How do we make a ski resort happen? That would be absolutely AMAZING.

I feel like if the resorts were extremely small like VGC level small it could work. The problem is Disney would never make it that small because they wouldn't be able to make nearly enough money on it compared to somewhere on property where they can throw down like a 700 room resort. They'd also have to deal with all the rules and regulations of dealing with timeshare in more states. I'm pretty sure Walt Disney himself at one point wanted to operate a ski resort but anyways, one can dream..

 

[Boopuff]

We bought knowing we'd use the lion share of our points at WDW. We loved HHI and plan to use points to go back. We also have an Aluani trip in the future. DH doesn't like Vero Beach at all (the area not the Disney resort) I think trying to use my points at 7 months out at Grand Cal is an exercise in futility.

 

[DVC Deac]

We bought HHI points to stay at HHI and WDW points to stay at WDW. Using the WDW points elsewhere didn’t factor into our decision to buy since we have small kids who aren’t yet experiencing Disney fatigue. However, it’s more likely that our WDW points get shifted to use at HHI or VB or AUL, rather than the other way around, as they get older.