Please help! Things you would tell a newbie... (how to's)

[Rellyrooly]

Hi All-

We are by no means novices to WDW and DCL as we go every year. We are, however, newbies to the DVC. We purchased at AKL last year in October and we will be using it for the first time on 5/29-6/5/08. I feel so lost in so many ways. I feel like I have no idea how to best utilize our DVC membership. Are there perks I should use? How best to go about purchasing our tix for the best prices? Little secrets?

I'd love to hear from all of you as to how you handle your vacations and all of the things that I might not know are available to me. I am so excited for this new chapter to our DIS lives and can't wait to start.

THX!!!!!

 

[ChelleinNC]

I think the "best kept secret" is that once you own DVC your vacations change. Since you know you'll be coming back a lot, it's easier to relax and enjoy the small things. Enjoy your resort, spend time by the pool (little drinks with umbrellas are good ) leisurely visit the parks, play golf or tennis or both, you're on vacation

Perks, they seem to come and go and change a lot. Mostly the dining discounts, you may find them on the dvc member website, but you'll get a current list of "member perks" when you check in. A big perk is the DVC discount AP's. $100 off the price of an AP It is the only ticket discount for DVC. With the AP, you can get the DDE (Disney Dining Experience) or if you prefer DVC members can get the DDP without buying tickets/package.

Welcome Home and have a great trip!

 

[Deb & Bill]

We deliberately planned this year's vacation a week or two later than normal so we can fit a second vacation into a one year's time frame. We usually go right after school is out, we were told the school calendar might start and end a bit later next year, so we moved our dates two weeks later. We found out that the school calendar will be the same next year, so we will have a two week time frame (maybe take 10-12 days for next year's trip) to plan the next trip. Then we get AP or PAP's and get two trips out of one ticket (at least 18-20 days). We can also get the DDE card for both of those trips.

That's one of the things you learn about DVC. You try to maximize your tickets, days, etc. But you don't have to commando your trip because you have plenty of time.

The discounts change all the time for dining and shopping and recreation. But with the AP, sometimes you get better perks.

You also learn if you want to get those hard to get reservations, you own points there and make the reservation at 11 months out. Or you book during a less busy time exactly at 7 months. Or you just enjoy your home resort because you made that reservation at 11 months.

Miniature golf is fun, you probably wouldn't do it if you were going for that once in a lifetime trip. But with DVC, you'll wind up playing each of the three courses, maybe more than once. And you can get a discount (but the AP discount is better).

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Go ahead and buy the APs!!!

We went with a big family group in April '07 and used a lot of points, so we decided against the APs. A few months later a college friend asked if we would join her at WDW in January '08. Oh great! We go, but we didn't buy APs. Well we definitely won't need APs now we thought. So then in March we see special airfare for 10 cents each way for May, less than $50/person round trip after taxes and fees. We could borrow the points, it could work out, but wait...we didn't purchase APs. I'm now kicking myself. I could have gone to Disney for $50 and a grocery delivery.

Keep in mind,, we only have 100 points, and our borrowing will eventually lead to addonitis, but we really, really, should have bought APs. Already having the rooms makes going to Disney so much more affordable, that you do end up going much more than you would have otherwise, and spending more money on non-accommodations. We flew and used DDP for the 1st time in January and it was magical. We wanted to go back before we even got home.

Did I mention that you should go ahead and buy the APs?

 

[TenThousandVolts]

Hi Rellyrooly! Congrats on your DVC purchase!

The 1st thing I would tell a newbie is this: check out tagrel.com They have a great points calculator (exact url: http://www.tagrel.com/dvcCompChart.shtml )
also download caskbill's great free program "DVC Planner" here: http://web.nalu.net/~wneth/dvcplanner.htm
These will both help with point management and give you an easy way to see how to best stretch those points.

As for perks definately the biggest is the AP discount, but there are lots of others including recreation and dining discounts. At check-in you will be given a booklet called "Portable Perks" that will include all the current discounts available to you. Unfortunately there is no MYW ticket discount at this time. We don't go every year so we use the non-exp. MYW tix and we do the parks a few days each trip and save a few days for relaxing or a water park or Disney Quest. If we go during a time that they have a special party like MNSSHP we always go to that and save a day on our MYW tix.

I think the "best kept secret" is that once you own DVC your vacations change. Since you know you'll be coming back a lot, it's easier to relax and enjoy the small things. Enjoy your resort, spend time by the pool (little drinks with umbrellas are good ) leisurely visit the parks, play golf or tennis or both, you're on vacation

Totally agree! This is the REAL secret.