Pondering DVC and looking for your feedback

[sfibelko]

Ok… Almost every year my family and I do something Disney. My living room is painted in Disney colors and full of Animation. My game room is decked out like a Disney arcade, and so on. You Disney fans know from which I speak.

We do a Disneyworld Christmas every other year, and a Disneyland trip in the opposite years. Yes, there have been a few times we missed, but for the most part the mouse sees my cash yearly and willingly. We just got done booking the Contemporary Resort for Dec 19 to 26th of 2006, with park hoper and Disney dining. Hotel was $1947, park tickets were $940, and dining was $1064, tack in the air and the transfers (which are included this year – YEA!) and I’m at about $5000 for a Christmas of Mouse bliss. Disneyland this past summer was at about $3000 for the 5 night at the Disneyland Paradise Pier.

So now in today’s mail I get this nifty little DVD on the DVC, and I call. They are sending me the info, and told me I can do what I have been doing for less. I can do the math (looks like a deal), and I have read through the boards, and so some worriers, but not many complainers.

So to my point: Do I have any others who do Disney like I do, and have bought into the DVC recently? I have timeshares now (so I understand the concept, risks and rewards), and will say that my other time shares do not hit as large an annual fee as Disney is asking for, but then again - they do not house the Mouse.

If your can offer advice, I would love to hear it! Is it hard to get the weeks you are looking for, or is it really as easy as the telephone lady said? Are the rooms as nice as the other properties (I have stayed at Pop Century, Paradise Pier, Contemporary and so on – never had a compliant with the room, the quality, or the service). I love to get up in the morning and ride the monorail, bus or boat into the MK – is the shuttle service from the DVC property as prompt?

The points…. The points… what to do with the points. I hear that 150 is base, and 200 – 300 is great, but that people buy into the 400’s and beyond (what do they do – travel all year?). In your opinions and experience, how many points did you buy, was it enough, too much, ect? If I buy more points and are not using them, will Disney buy them back? If I do not buy enough, is it hard to purchase the extra?

Well, anyway, you get my drift. I am just someone who is about to obligate himself to a 49 year contract valued at 60,000 and want to make sure that everyone out there agrees this is the deal.

Thanks for any and all of your help.

 

[DeeDeeDis]

stefbelco

I will try to help but to be honest there are much more knowledgeable dvcers on this board than I

Number of points you will need depends on:

a - what time of year do you want to go?
b - How many people are in your immediate family (dw, kids, etc..)
c - How long do you usually vacation for (5 days, 7 days, 10 days, etc..)

The number of people can determine the type of accomodations, time of year is needed to help determine # of points (i.e. it will take more points during disney Holiday/School Vacation Seasons for a villa then it would during their Value Seasons) Weekend days (fri & sat) have a higher point value. It takes considerablily less points to stay Sunday to Thursday nites.

You mention enjoying taking the boat & Monorial. to have easy assess to all these modes of transportation, have you considered a resale at BW and/or Beach Club?? From either of these resorts you can walk to two of the parks.

In 3 years of making reservations, our trip for next thanksgiving is the first time i have not been able to get my first choice, I do have accomodations for that nite and am on a waitlist for what i really want, hopefully it will come thru. If you know when you want to go, don't mind planning in advance (up to 11 months) you should not have any problems but I do believe it makes it easier if you are organized and a planner.

If you let me know the number of people and when you usually vacation and lengh of stays I could give you a better idea on how many points you would need to purchase to met your current needs.

deb

 

[DeeDeeDis]

opps - sorry double posted

 

[Plutofan]

You can never have enough points. Once you join you usually find other reasons to buy more points. If you make reservations less than 7 months out then it does not matter what resort you choose. The home resort 11 month window is important for high occupancy times like Christmas, Food & Wine festival etc. You should go to www.disney.com and click on resorts and then click on vacation homes. You can take a 360 degree tour of the rooms and also take a tour of the resorts on the internet. After you stay in a DVC it is very hard to go back to a regular room.

 

[JimC]

Welcome to the DIS and our little DVC community!!

As Deb suggested look at when you go now, how many go with you and for how long. Look at the points charts and determine how many points you need to replicate those vacation patterns. Look at all of the resorts and see where you would most like to own. If you like to be close to the parks VWL, BCV and BWV are ideal. If you like a certain theme or style of resort add that in to the mix. Where you buy will affect your costs (dues vary by resort as do purchase costs). Consider resale as well as direct from Disney. Each has advantages in certain situations.

Visit this site, DVC Planner and download the planner program. It will aid you working through the question of how many points.

DVC does have peak periods that differ from normal WDW travel patterns. One that is counter intuitive is early December (low point adventure season, low crowds in other resorts and festive mood/events). It is a busy time for DVC. If you are able to plan well ahead you will probably be fine in getting reservations.

A word of warning, once you stay in a one bedroom villa it will be very, very, very difficult to go back to your old way of vacationing. Since you own other timeshares you probably understand that very well.

Good luck and keep asking questions.

 

[tamu91]

Reservations are still fairly easy to get if you do your homework. We've now been to WDW as DVC members twice, May & Dec 2005, and we've had no problems getting the rooms we needed. The December trip was a last minute deal and I did have to go on the waitlist but all went well.
I don't think Saratoga Springs owners has had a real big impact on DVC inventory because each resort has it's own charm and offers different things to different people.

 

[bdb7607]

We just went thru the process you're beginning and ended up purchasing 350 pts @ BCV. Our reasoning was simple, we wanted a 2 bedroom for our family of 5 for at least 7 nights, this accomplishes that easily for when we travel to WDW (usually Oct / Nov), then we can "bank" points we don't use for the next year and invite others (parents, brother & family, etc) for a family vacation.

To us, it became increasingly simple - we wanted space (2 bedroom) and stay on site (have done the off-site a number of times) for our family. Since our kids are 7, 5 & 4 we'll be doing the WDW thing every year for the next decade - I figured my breakeven was 7-8 years based on our vacationing $$ history.

The biggest decision we had to face was which "home resort" - all of which people have varied opinions, we focused on the best pool since our kids are at that age.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll come to the same conclusion we did...I should re-state: I'm sure you'll come to the same conclusion I did - which happened well AFTER my wife did - yes, we should have bought in earlier!! She was right.

 

[sfibelko]

I came back in just to see if anyone had looked at my posting yet. You all are great! First thing I just learned... I did not know that the other resorts were an option still for purchase. Thought it was only to SSR. I am making the assumption that although I would own at SSR, I could still trade for a week at one of the others, but one of our biggest concerns is closeness and ease of access to the parks. What I also hear is that I can request and see if the boardwalk or other closer places are availible.

JimC - that planner site is just to cool (remember - I am geek). I can see the software becoming very handy. I do not have the same with my other timeshares.

Question for all - In my other time shares, I send a request, along with a processing fee, and then pay for any upgrades above the 1 bedroom I am entitled to (along with my $299 annual maintenance). Are there processing fees for the requests as well with DVC? I have not heard of one yet.

For the family questions - myself, wife, two daughters (now 15 and 12). Biggest thing we run itto in a 1 BR is lack of bath space - yep the man is always out numbers in my group. I am sure I could still do a 1BR, but prefer a 2BR. On the other hand, I have 7 more years till the kids go off to college, and then I am back to a studio (until grandkids - yep can see that coming in the next 49 years of ownership).

 

[cobbler]

There are no processing fees or request fees if staying at DVC resort. There are some for exchanging to the cruise or through II.

The maintainence fee is based on how many points you own and at what resort.

I only know SSR off the top of my head because I own there and ours is 3.98 per point. The other resorts are in the $4 range.

Needs change so if you want a 2bdrm now then go for it. I think hubby and I would always do a one bedroom even if the kids weren't around. Then again we could go to more trips.

 

[DeeDeeDis]

With DVC you purchase Points not a certain size Villa. Lets says you buy 300 points. You only pay a processing fee (75.00??) if you book at an RCI timeshare (skiing in Vale, week in Hawaii) - sorry don't know much about this part since i haven't used this yet.

Your Maintenance fees are assessed every Jan and you can choice to pay monthly or pay in full in Jan. For instance I own at BW and BC, just received my mntnce fee today - at boardwalk I own 180 point and will be paying 70.00/month for my fees this year.

In 2006 - you do dec in 2 bedroom villa for 7 nites

In 2007 - cant go in dec so you go during a less point value time, you go Sept for 7 nites in a one bedroom which uses only 200 points, you have 100 points left, you decide to take DW for 4 nite stay in a Beach Club Studio in October for the Food and Wine Festival - 100 points Total year use is 300.00

Thats one of the best things about this time-share, you buy points that you can use ANY TIME during your use year and in ANY type of VILLA as long as you have the points to cover the reservations (oh and you can borrow and bank your points from and/or to the coming year).

With the one bedroom, the bathtub and a sink where hairdryer is located is seperate from the toilet, sink, shower area. there is only one king size bed in a one bedroom and a sofabed in the living/kitchen area.

To make a reservation you can email or call the Vacation Club Member Services. I usually call its easy and I alway double check on my point balances when i make my reservations.

Yes you can request from disney if they have any resales for Resorts that are "sold' or you can purchase resale from a private realitor, such as the sponsor of this site, just click on "dvd resales". Seems lke alot of people mention this company.

 

[luvindisneyworld]

sfibelko,I have sent you a PM.

 

[SueOKW]

We have a family of 5 and need a kitchen. We also have a disabled child. So we need space AND a kitchen. We were booked at OKW by a travel agent for our "once-in-a-lifetime" trip to WDW about 8 years ago. We were treated so well - and the parks were good for my kids, (walkers and rollers) I knew there was no staying away. This would become a yearly thing.

Almost as soon as we got home I started making plans for our next trip. When I realized that it was going to cost me $5000 for a week I knew I had to do something. I bought into OKW and haven't looked back. I know the math I am about to portray is extremely simplified - but.... our contract costs were made up in 3 years worth of trips.

It was a no-brainer.. once the decision was made it was just a matter of finding the right contract.

Have fun in the search. You definitely sound like a DVC family to me.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

For the family questions - myself, wife, two daughters (now 15 and 12). Biggest thing we run itto in a 1 BR is lack of bath space - yep the man is always out numbers in my group. I am sure I could still do a 1BR, but prefer a 2BR. On the other hand, I have 7 more years till the kids go off to college, and then I am back to a studio (until grandkids - yep can see that coming in the next 49 years of ownership).

You'll be surprised - just when you think you are in the studio, here come the Grandkids

 

[nestlejean]

sfibelko,
I sent you a PM with my thoughts.

 

[byoung]

We where able to get 20 nights in a studio with are 200 points with some left over. IMHO not bad at all for a time share. I love the DVC.