Purchasing DVC from UK

[Poohbear80]

We are considering DVC as a family. We are from the UK. Considering either Bay lake tower or gran Floridian as home resort. Based on length of contract left and were will like. Additionally, we are thinking that we want a combination of resale and direct points but any of the direct contracts currently on offer don’t interest us. We like the Riviera resort but the resale restrictions prevent us buying any points there. We like the island tower but not as keen on the original poly rooms.

Is there anybody from uk bought dvc? Any advice? Was hoping to get info from dvc direct but they aren’t allowing me because from uk.

Back story- we used to look at DVC and just couldn’t understand how the prices worked out. Uk travel company done a good day in just a standard room on hotel side and we were mainly staying in gran destino (so moderate) but since I have got older we like having more space so love staying in 1 bedroom villas over the last few years has been amazing and we’ve being in the bubble. We revisited dvc and I can see the value. Trying to convince parents and the minute so we are discussing and thinking about it.

 

[JackosinDIS]

Hello! I’m a UK owner
I’m not sure what you mean when you say DVC are not allowing you to get info as you’re from the UK? We can’t use the add on tool online, but everything else is pretty much the same. If you call and arrange an appointment with a guide they will talk you through everything.
My advice would always be to buy resale first - it opens up better discounts on direct points if you eventually decide to go that route, and enables you to chose the use year.
It’s not easy to give advice on which resort to chose - that is very subjective and down to where you ultimately want to stay, but I will point out that the points being sold for Island Tower also cover the original Poly rooms so you can use them to stay in the longhouses as well.

 

[HFJohnson]

I'm also in the UK and currently in the process of buying a resale contract so not an expert but have some understanding of the buying process.

I had a meeting with an agent during my last trip to WDW in May which helped me to get a good overview of how DVC works. When I came home I was pretty keen to go ahead but after spending some time on a few forums I decided it made more sense for me to buy resale for the reasons listed above.

The hardest decision I had was deciding where to buy - this will come down where you want to stay and of course your budget.

Your preferred use year is also an important decision so research this before going too much further.

If you decide to go resale then its just a case of stalking DVC resale websites until you find the contract that fits your criteria.

My best advice would be to read through posts on DVC forums as any questions you have will probably have been answered before. I also bough the DVC field guide from the website of the same which goes through all the aspects of DVC, the different resorts etc.

 

[Choppers]

My advice as a recent uk resale buyer - buy the dvc field guide ebook. It answered almost everything I could have wanted it to and whatever it didn’t came here or thedibb to get help.

 

[Poohbear80]

Hello! I’m a UK owner
I’m not sure what you mean when you say DVC are not allowing you to get info as you’re from the UK? We can’t use the add on tool online, but everything else is pretty much the same. If you call and arrange an appointment with a guide they will talk you through everything.
My advice would always be to buy resale first - it opens up better discounts on direct points if you eventually decide to go that route, and enables you to chose the use year.
It’s not easy to give advice on which resort to chose - that is very subjective and down to where you ultimately want to stay, but I will point out that the points being sold for Island Tower also cover the original Poly rooms so you can use them to stay in the longhouses as well.

When go to the DVC website there is a tab where you can request information but asks where are you from..options being only USA or Canada. I take it you can only ring to get information from DVC directly.
Why would you say buy resale first? We were thinking buy direct first because of welcome home stay but didn’t realise if we added in direct after we could get better prices.

 

[JackosinDIS]

When go to the DVC website there is a tab where you can request information but asks where are you from..options being only USA or Canada. I take it you can only ring to get information from DVC directly.
Why would you say buy resale first? We were thinking buy direct first because of welcome home stay but didn’t realise if we added in direct after we could get better prices.

If you are an existing member via resale, you often get another $5 off the price per point (it varies).
Also you can make sure you get the Use year that you want, and DVc will match that use year when you buy direct.
Yeh, you don’t get the official welcome home stay when you buy resale, but that’s not a big thing if you buy enough in advance of your first planned stay.

 

[Poohbear80]

If you are an existing member via resale, you often get another $5 off the price per point (it varies).
Also you can make sure you get the Use year that you want, and DVc will match that use year when you buy direct.
Yeh, you don’t get the official welcome home stay when you buy resale, but that’s not a big thing if you buy enough in advance of your first planned stay.

Thanks for this. I actually didn’t realise there were different prices for existing owners to new owners. I knew a welcome home stay wasn’t a big deal but we were going to need buy direct and resale to get the points we potentially needed so I just thought if we were buying both about the same time we would just go direct first because of the welcome home stay. So really appreciate this info.

 

[PorcoSBC]

Im from an UK territory and had the same issue getting info directly form Disney. I spoke on the phone with a guide and claimed they could not provide me info or close a negotiation with me due to timeshare laws in the different locations.
Had to contact them next time I landed in the USA.
If you are planning to do a mix, Ill agree with others to buy Resale first (Bay Lake prices are looking good lately) and do the direct next time you are on property with the discount.

 

[FrancisK7]

We have the same issue in Canada. Are there any central DVC office in WDW?

 

[jshadd]

My advice as a recent uk resale buyer - buy the dvc field guide ebook. It answered almost everything I could have wanted it to and whatever it didn’t came here or thedibb to get h

 

[jshadd]

The book features a great chapter that dives into the unique challenges faced by international members. This part offers some really valuable insights and perspectives, making it a wonderful addition to the overall book!

 

[Poohbear80]

We have the same issue in Canada. Are there any central DVC office in WDW?

Yes, I would liked to speak to someone before we go on holiday and since we are interested in the original dvc resorts such as BLT it would be nice to be able to just go over and they have a contract ready for us to sign instead of wasting lots of time on holiday sorting it out and doing research. I’m trying to do as much on my own as possible but it’s still not ideal.

 

[JackosinDIS]

I have purchased all of my direct points over the phone with a guide- no issues. It may be different if you are financing the purchase.

 

[zavandor]

If you buy DVC for 1BR, then where you buy may be less important. 8 months a year, almost every resort has a 1BR available and from end of September to early January it's not impossible to get some either. I even managed to book a 1BR standard at BWV this year at 7 months. It's studios that are very competitive, for 1BR you'll have plenty of options at 7 months. Have a look at the historical availability tables:
https://dvcfieldguide.com/availability-tables

On the other hand, while 1BR cost double the points of a studio, for cash reservations are way less than double the cost. So savings owning DVC are smaller.