OK. So just how does DVC work?

[SugarPlumFairyUK]

We looked in at a couple of the DVC stands at the end of our hol last year. The cast member explained that it was about buying points but didn't really go any further than that as she said that it was best to go to a presentation. It was too late for us at this stage as we were due for our flight back (horror).

Can somebody explain how it works, what is costs and what you get?

It all seems a bit complicated to someone who knows nothing!! Thanks folks.

 

[paulh]

most timeshares you would buy weeks and be locked into them
with DVC you buy points and use those points for each night you want
so if you want to go in a studio SSR at Xmas (24-31)would be 21 points for a weekday and 27 for a weekend day
Then drops in january to 12 points for a weekday and 15 for a weekend day
These are the highest and lowest seasons, but it varies through the year.And by resort and room type
You buy an amount of points we bought 200 at $63 per point (think now around $145 per point) you have to pay an annual dues (maintenance)of around $5 per point
You can bank one years points but if you don't use them by the end of the year there banked you lose the
And you can borrow you points from your next year
So in theory if we didn't go one year we would ban our points and the next year we could have the use of 600 points
Hope this helps
Paul

 

[Samaya]

There are 11 DVC resorts with one more in the process of being built at the Grand Floridian; you can stay at any of the resorts depending on availability and you get a priority-booking window at your home resort where you buy the points.

You can purchase points either directly from Disney http://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/ or from a member selling their points through an agent like The Timeshare Store http://www.dvc-resales.com/ which works out cheaper.

The resorts are priced differently and through resale are approximately; Bay Lake Towers $95, AKV $68, Beach Club $75, Boardwalk Villas $65, OKW $58, VWL $68 and SSR $68.

So if you think you will be taking Disney vacations for many years to come and you have some spare cash (not earning a lot of interest) then buying into DVC could be an option worth exploring, here's an example on cost.

Depending on the resort a resale today can vary between $50 and $100 per point, a resale on the Timeshare Store for a 200 point Bay Lake Tower contact with about 46-years remaining on the contract can be purchased for $18,000 which is a large outlay but could save you money over the coming years.

If you break that down that $18,000 for each year of the contact the cost per point is about $1.96.

The annual dues at Bay Lake Towers is one of the lowest at $4.50 per point for 2013, so you would pay annual dues in January each year, with 2013 being $900. Annual dues increase by a few percent each year so next year’s dues might be around $930.

As an example, those 200 points allows for either 12-nights in September in a lake view studio at Bay Lake Towers or 13-nights in a savannah view studio at Animal Kingdom. The minimum cost for those stays would be over $4,000 if booking a room on the US Disney web site.

If you factor in the purchase cost per point per year of $1.96 to the annual dues of $4.50 then this year each point would have cost you $6.46.

The annual cost of the 200 points (200 times $6.46) would be about $1,300, so a saving of about $2,700 for a 12 to 13-day vacation this September when compared to booking direct from Disney.

If you don't use the points one year you can bank those to the following year (as Paul has already explained) or you can rent your points at about $10 a point, http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-vacation-club/RentTrade-FAQ.htm which could pay the annual dues for two years.

And if the time comes when you want to sell it on then you might be lucky with the exchange rate and not loose too much, but it could work the other way so try and sell when the dollars weak against the pound.

There are other benefits that members receive but we don't get offers like free dinning so bear that in mind, along with the initial outlay.

Best of luck and hope that makes sense.

 

[Samaya]

If $18,000 is over your budget then look to purchase points at lower priced resorts such as OKW, there's currently a 210 point contract with about 30-years left on it selling for $55 a point, so an initial outlay of $11,550 (around £7,500).

The annual dues for 2013 at OKW is $5.34, so 210 points x $5.34 = $1,122

Those 210 points could secure a studio at OKW for up to 19-nights in September and January or for the last 2-weeks of August this year checking in Sat 17th and out on Sat 31st.

So if you forget about your initial outlay of £7,500 (as you can always sell it on and get some of that back) then the room cost per night for those 19-nights in September works out at $1,122 / 19 = $59 per night.

Whereas the 14-nights in August works out at $1,122 / 14 = $80 per night.

Where else can you stay on site or in fact near by, use the free transportation, Magical Express and all the other smaller benefits for between $59 and $80 per night?

Depending on the time of year, the nightly rack rate in a studio at OKW for 2012 varied between $335 and $495 but bear in mind Disney has offered large discounts of up to 35% at OKW.

And those OKW points can be used at all the other resorts, this year we are using our OKW points for a stay in a studio at Bay Lake Towers and then at Animal Kingdom and last year we stayed at the Beach Club.

Would be grateful if any member reading this can verify my statements and highlight any mistakes as I wouldn't want to mislead a potential new member, many thanks.

 

[Samaya]

And here's some of the additional benefits a DVC member receives.

Discount on annual passes, example - 2013 Premium Annual Pass - price before discount $744.44, price after discount $595.34.
But for 3-months last year they were on special offer and the Premium Annual Pass only cost £425. (That was a great saving and we've hoping to get two trips out of this and possibly covering up to 42 days, so an average of $10 a day).

You receive a 10% discount at UK Disney Stores.
Free use of the DVC Fitness Centres.
Free DVD rentals at the resort.
10% discount on merchandise at all Disney owned and operated merchandise locations.
10% off Fort Wilderness Archery Experience and Tri-Circle-D Ranch horse rides.
10% off Disney Marina Rentals.
10% off at Disney Spas.

Discount on food at participating restaurants, here's a small sample....
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge - Sanaa: 10% discount on lunch and dinner.
Epcot Nine Dragons Restaurant China: 20% discount for lunch and a 10% discount for dinner.
Disney’s Contemporary Resort - The Wave - 10% discount on breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Disney’s Wilderness Lodge - Whispering Canyon Cafe - 10% discount on breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Wolfgang Puck Cafe - Downtown Disney - 20% discount on lunch and 10% discount on dinner.
Raglan Road™ Irish Pub and Restaurant - 10% discount on lunch, dinner, and retail store.
Fulton’s Crab House - Downtown Disney - 20% discount on lunch and 10% discount on dinner.

 

[SugarPlumFairyUK]

And here's some of the additional benefits a DVC member receives.

Discount on annual passes, example - 2013 Premium Annual Pass - price before discount $744.44, price after discount $595.34.
But for 3-months last year they were on special offer and the Premium Annual Pass only cost £425. (That was a great saving and we've hoping to get two trips out of this and possibly covering up to 42 days, so an average of $10 a day).

You receive a 10% discount at UK Disney Stores.
Free use of the DVC Fitness Centres.
Free DVD rentals at the resort.
10% discount on merchandise at all Disney owned and operated merchandise locations.
10% off Fort Wilderness Archery Experience and Tri-Circle-D Ranch horse rides.
10% off Disney Marina Rentals.
10% off at Disney Spas.

Discount on food at participating restaurants, here's a small sample....
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge - Sanaa: 10% discount on lunch and dinner.
Epcot Nine Dragons Restaurant China: 20% discount for lunch and a 10% discount for dinner.
Disney’s Contemporary Resort - The Wave - 10% discount on breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Disney’s Wilderness Lodge - Whispering Canyon Cafe - 10% discount on breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Wolfgang Puck Cafe - Downtown Disney - 20% discount on lunch and 10% discount on dinner.
Raglan Road™ Irish Pub and Restaurant - 10% discount on lunch, dinner, and retail store.
Fulton’s Crab House - Downtown Disney - 20% discount on lunch and 10% discount on dinner.

Thanks very much for all this information - it has made it understandable! I really had no idea how this worked before. One thing I still don't fully understand though is - how are you able to stay at the higher end resorts, with points purchased at 'lower end' DVC home resorts? Wouldn't everyone buy the lower end resorts if they can do this?

Also, might it a bit risky buying from one of the resale sites (you hear so many nightmare stories of these things and people being swindled out of their hard earned cash!)

We are at SSR in the summer so it might be worth going to one of their presentations? (this was mentioned to us when we enquired)

Thanks so much!

 

[SugarPlumFairyUK]

most timeshares you would buy weeks and be locked into them
with DVC you buy points and use those points for each night you want
so if you want to go in a studio SSR at Xmas (24-31)would be 21 points for a weekday and 27 for a weekend day
Then drops in january to 12 points for a weekday and 15 for a weekend day
These are the highest and lowest seasons, but it varies through the year.And by resort and room type
You buy an amount of points we bought 200 at $63 per point (think now around $145 per point) you have to pay an annual dues (maintenance)of around $5 per point
You can bank one years points but if you don't use them by the end of the year there banked you lose the
And you can borrow you points from your next year
So in theory if we didn't go one year we would ban our points and the next year we could have the use of 600 points
Hope this helps
Paul

Thanks Paul for your advice! Seriously going to look into this.

 

[Samaya]

Thanks very much for all this information - it has made it understandable! I really had no idea how this worked before. One thing I still don't fully understand though is - how are you able to stay at the higher end resorts, with points purchased at 'lower end' DVC home resorts? Wouldn't everyone buy the lower end resorts if they can do this?

Also, might it a bit risky buying from one of the resale sites (you hear so many nightmare stories of these things and people being swindled out of their hard earned cash!)

We are at SSR in the summer so it might be worth going to one of their presentations? (this was mentioned to us when we enquired)

Thanks so much!

Firstly, it's not like a normal timeshare programme and don't worry, it's not risky buying from the major resale sites and you will save a lot of money.

Current price to new members if buying direct from Disney and prior to any discounts.
Animal Kingdom Villas - $140 per point.
Aulani (Hawaii) - $140 per point.
Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Villas - $165 per point.
Beach Club Villas - $115 base price; 160-point minimum purchase.
BoardWalk Villas - $115 base price; 160-point minimum purchase.
Hilton Head Island - $80 base price; 160-point minimum purchase.
Old Key West - $100 base price; 160-point minimum purchase.
Saratoga Springs - $110 base price; 100+ points.
Vero Beach - $75 base price; 160-point minimum purchase.
Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel - $130 base price; 160-point minimum purchase.
Villas at Wilderness Lodge - $102 base price; 160-point minimum purchase.

Note: Effective March 20, 2013, the base price for Aulani, Disney Vacation Club Villas and Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas will increase from $140 to $145 per point.

When you compare those prices with going through resale then there's big savings to be made.

There's a number of reason why resort points vary in price, one is with the years that remain on a contract, all DVC resorts start with a 50-year contract so as OKW which was the first DVC resort opened in 1992, then those original contracts will end in 2042 whereas when the newest DVC resort opens at The Grand Floridian either this year or next then those contracts will end in 2064.

Having the flexibility to use your points at any of the other DVC resorts or on Disney Cruises is one of the big selling points.

 

[irenep]

Thanks very much for all this information - it has made it understandable! I really had no idea how this worked before. One thing I still don't fully understand though is - how are you able to stay at the higher end resorts, with points purchased at 'lower end' DVC home resorts? Wouldn't everyone buy the lower end resorts if they can do this?

Also, might it a bit risky buying from one of the resale sites (you hear so many nightmare stories of these things and people being swindled out of their hard earned cash!)

We are at SSR in the summer so it might be worth going to one of their presentations? (this was mentioned to us when we enquired)

Thanks so much!

Buying points at lower priced resorts does allow you to book rooms at any resort but only after the 7 month window opens (you may book your home resort from 11 months out).
What this means in practice is that popular resorts at busy times might be booked up by owners during their exclusive window and there is then no availability for non-owners.
For instance, if I own at SSR and want a room at BLT for New Years Eve I am likely to be unsuccessful as it will probably be already fully booked up by BLT owners.
In fact, it can often be hard for owners to get in at 11 months- as of today, BLT seems to be full but don't let that put you off - before I bought there, I managed to get into BLT on NYE a few years back by waitlisting.

I bought my first contract from a resale site (TSS) with no trouble at all and would be happy to do so again but there's no harm going for a look when you are there.

 

[crabbie1]

I bought in nov 2011 after renting a few times off uk members. I looked at the value for buck as in lowest price for points but really wanted wilderness lodge as the home resort. OKW was the next cheapest but decided on WLV. I am going in just over 8 weeks end of easter hols here and staying 7 nights wilderness logde in a studio 2 nights studio BLT then move to a one bedroom BLT last 5 nights.
When u join depending on ur use year they will give you the points for that year even if its a few months in. We joined november but the use year was june. Si we had 2011+2012 points(360) we could use. As I had to cancel last years trip I sold 168 of them which has more than paid the dues plus am now staying in nice accommodation for 2 weeks. Still hv a few left.
Its been a real struggle for me as my partner died last year and I was left to pay it all on my own but im doing it and will go when i can if not will sell the points or rent them.
One thing im going to do is open a US bank account so I can pay my dues monthly as well. I like to budget. Not such a lump to find at the end of the year.

 

[paulh]

Thanks very much for all this information - it has made it understandable! I really had no idea how this worked before. One thing I still don't fully understand though is - how are you able to stay at the higher end resorts, with points purchased at 'lower end' DVC home resorts? Wouldn't everyone buy the lower end resorts if they can do this?

Also, might it a bit risky buying from one of the resale sites (you hear so many nightmare stories of these things and people being swindled out of their hard earned cash!)

We are at SSR in the summer so it might be worth going to one of their presentations? (this was mentioned to us when we enquired)

Thanks so much!

In DVC eyes there is no such thing as lower end resorts DVC is DVC no matter were you stay that the beauty of dvc, just resorts which cost more points per night. At moment the highest per night is Aulani in Hawaii and the cheapest is OKW, they take your points no matter were your home resort is.
Once a resort has sold out of its points there unable to sell any more so they build new ones and cost of points go up each time
If buying resale one point to look at is your not able to transfer out to II or the non disney DVC resorts( i think its them)
Paul