Questions for DVC Beachclub Villas Lovers

[ChairborneRangr]

A friend of mine has joined a timeshare that exchanges with DVC and they got a bunch of points up front. We (our two families) are looking at going to the Beach Club Villas. I've already looked at the pictures in the DIS photo gallery. I also have looked at that wonderful SAB slide show.

Please tell me all about it. We will need two rooms each capable of holding 2 adults and 2 teens and two younger children.


How do you like it?
Pros Cons?
How close are the Villas to SAB?
How crowded does SAB get?
How far from EPCOT?
How far from Studios?
Can you see Illuminations?
Do you have any good pictures of the buildings and rooms that would accoodate our families?
Are the weekends more expensive than the weekdays?

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[Deb & Bill]

You will actually each need a two bedroom villa. The two bedroom villa sleeps 8 plus one under the age of 3. The one bedroom or studio only sleeps four plus one under the age of 3. There are no rollaways provided.

You can easily walk to Epcot from BCV. You can also walk to Disney Studios, but you may want to ride the boat. The boat also goes to Epcot, but the walk to the boat dock from BCV is about the same distance to Epcot.

Some of the BCV rooms have a view of Illuminations, but during the day, it could be noisy. We prefer the pool view instead.

The walk to SAB is easy. Closer than the boat dock.

Fri/Sat points are more than Sun-Thurs points.

In the summertime, SAB gets very crowded, especially late morning, early afternoon. They require that you show your room key (sometimes for every member of your party) and issue you a wrist band. No wrist band, no swim. My son and husband love SAB, but I prefer Dunes Cove (the quiet pool).

 

[jcanary]

I would think is going to be close to impossible. Not sure if your friends bought the disney vacation club or not. But if they did not you will probably be lucky to get into OKW. The trading into DVC is always a selling point but I don't think it happens very much. I have friends who have tried for years and they have had no luck.
Now if they bought the Disney timeshare just make sure they call in advance especially if you want a 2 bedroom with 2 queen beds in second bedroom.
Good luck with the trade, and if you do get BCV you will love it. We are going back in June/July with friends.
Another idea is maybe your friends would be better off doing an exchange for the BCV for their home resort. They can do that on the DVC trade/rent board. Have fun and good luck.

 

[HookdonWDW]

Originally posted by ChairborneRangr
How do you like it?
Pros Cons?
How close are the Villas to SAB?
How crowded does SAB get?
How far from EPCOT?
How far from Studios?
Can you see Illuminations?
Do you have any good pictures of the buildings and rooms that would accoodate our families?
Are the weekends more expensive than the weekdays?

1. We own at BCVs, and love it!

2. Pros: SAB, closeness to Epcot and MGM, serenity, Beaches and Cream
Cons: Some people don't like the closeness to the road, but we've never had a problem with it.

3. You have to walk through the main lobby of the BC to get to SAB, but the walk isn't THAT long. Some of the rooms in the BC have a walk that is at least as long. There is a quiet pool right at BCVs.

4. It just depends. We've been at SAB when it was super-crowded and also when there was just a handful of people. We've always been able to find chairs though, especially since they started requiring wristbands. SAB is really big, so there is room to spread out there.

5. EPCOT is about a 5 minute walk away.

6. MGM is about a 15-20 minute walk or a 20 minute boat ride away.

7. Depending on your room, you may be able to see Illuminations from your balcony. The number of rooms with these views are very limited, are not guaranteed, and are hard to come by. If you are counting on getting one (or two!) you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

8.
BCV Accomodations - As mentioned, you would each need 2 BR villas.

9. Yes, the weekends are more expensive than the weekdays.

Just a couple of other points:

- If you are trading in from outside of DVC, you will have to accept a 7 day reservation at a fixed price. II trades are not available on a day-by-day basis. On top of your trade-in fee, you will also be charged a $95.00 transportation fee for each room. The points charts that exist for DVC members have nothing to do with those who are trading in from the outside. Different resorts have different trade valued.

- II trades are hard to come by. MANY, MANY more people want to trade into DVC than want to trade out. Most of those who buy DVC buy it because they vacation regularly at WDW/DVC locations. As was mentioned, when reservations become available, it is usually at OKW, and not the smaller, newer DVC resorts. It is virtually impossible to find trades during peak periods such as holidays and school breaks. I think it would be very doubtful that your friend could find two 2 BR villas available at BCVs for the same week.

- If your friend owns at DVC, then the process becomes much easier. The points charts list how many points are required. Since BCVs is a smaller resort, it can still be challenging to get into during peak times if you don't own there. The key to getting two 2BR villas is that you have to be flexible, and book as close to the 7 month window as possible.

Good luck! BCVs is a FANTASTIC resort!

 

[AdventurerKat]

I don't own DVC or II but I do have a friend with an experience with this. They bought II and have NEVER been able to trade into a DVC. Not going at particularly busy times either. They have had it about 3 or 4 years now.

Good luck to your friends.

 

[wdwstar]

ChairborneRangr
What type of timeshare did they buy?
and you said "they got a bunch of points up front"
points from their timeshare or they traded into dvc already and was given dvc points?

just would like to know so we can help you with some more info

if they have not already traded in with dvc, like the other posters
said it may be hard to near nothing to trade in, and we dont want you to get your hopes up.

if they have not traded into dvc yet, they can always post on the rent/trade board, example:

i own at the marriott maui ocean club and would like to trade my week for a 2 bedroom at the bwv for a week.


and some dvc ers are willing to trade their points for a week somewhere else

good luck and let us know more info so we can help you better.

 

[ChairborneRangr]

Thanks for all the responses. I am a serious newbie when it comes to timeshares. I have never owned one. Two of my friends do. Benito (the guy on the other side of the winners cup from me in my sig picture) owns one affiliated with Interval Internation (??) and gets 11,000 points per year. They took advantage of a deal upgrading from 6,000 to 11,000 points. Because they did, they got maintenance fees paid and 11,000 points up front.

What does it mean when you say trading points for DVC points? Is that something you do up front? or is that the same as saying trade out of the existing timeshare and in to the DVC timeshare?

I would appreciate any and all information real DIS members have had with DVC. I never like the sales pushes and the hype.

Can you make money selling your points each year (at least enough to cover expenses etc)? Since it is so hard to trade in to DVC, is it easy to own DVC and trade out to where-ever?

I guess I'll have to visit the DVC site...

Thanks again all, any info is appreciated. Is there a DVC 101 thread somewhere?

 

[GrimGhost]

I'm sure others will add to my response.

First, as suspected your friend does not have DVC points. Many vacation clubs now operate on "point systems".

Second, as it has been already been suggested, you can only enjoy "POINT" stay's at DVC resorts like Beach Club Villa if you own Disney Vacation Club points, which clearly your friend does not.

Third, it appears it is very difficult to get INTO exchanges for DVC resorts
You can, however always stay at Beach Club Villas for cash..or rent points

I'll let someone else expand on that!

 

[ChairborneRangr]

Thanks. That's what I was afraid of. ANyone have more details?

I have seen points for sale on ebay, but they are only for OKW. I'd rather stay at Pop Century than OKW.

Is there some decent sites for the purchasing of DVC points?

 

[MelissathePooh]

If you want to BUY DVC points you can go thru Disney or a resale vendor, but if you mean RENTING points there is a message board on this site that can help you out. Just go to the DVC section of the DIS boards and you should be able to get some answers.

DVC is a timeshare, but not really. It works quite a bit differently and can be complicated initially. Although it sounds like others are going to a points system.

Good luck

Oh and - don't go thru E-bay for points at OKW or any other DVC for that matter. If you're just looking to rent - you'd be MUCH better off going thru a member directly. Depending on who you rent from and whats available you wouldn't be limited to just OKW.

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Originally posted by ChairborneRangr
Is there some decent sites for the purchasing of DVC points?

Here is a link for the DVC rent/trade board. Most renters pay between $9-$10 per pt.

http://130.94.75.33/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=29

 

[chainkid]

Your only shot at getting into BCV or BVVV would be to rent points from a member on the rent /trade board. Even members have trouble getting into these resorts at busy times. Just make sure the member sells you points for the resort you wish to stay at or makes a reservation for you so you know there is availability at the time you wish to go. In fact I would make the member secure a reservation for the size units you want at the times you want before agreeing to purchase points. Most points sell for $10 each. Even members points go quickly on that board so give yourself time or you could find none available. Joan

 

[ChairborneRangr]

Thank you so much for enlightening me

Is Boardwalk just as sought after?

 

[Deb & Bill]

Originally posted by chainkid
...In fact I would make the member secure a reservation for the size units you want at the times you want before agreeing to purchase points. Most points sell for $10 each. Even members points go quickly on that board so give yourself time or you could find none available. Joan

The member ties up their points as soon as they make that reservation, so they may require a deposite to even make the reservation. If you want to rent the reservation (you really get a reservation, not rent points; the points can only be used by DVC members) for a period of time less than 30 days out from the reservation, the member may require payment in full to make the reservation. If they cancel less than 30 days out, their points go into a holding account and they can't use them to make a reservation any more than 60 days out. If they borrowed points, they can't go back to the year they were borrowed from. The DVC member has as much to lose as the person asking for the reservation.

If I made reservations using my points for others, I would want a commitment to pay for the reservation prior to making it.

 

[chainkid]

I agree with Deb, you would have to pay something upfront. I've purchased points and paid in full up front.There is an element of trust involved. In my case everything went off smoothly.

Is Boardwalk just as sought after? Very much so. I like it much better especially now that we can reserve a guaranteed boardwalk view. Room size is similar, layout alittle different. Some like the pool much better at Beach Club but I find it too crowded because I generally get there when everything is taken. Boardwalk has a nice pool and fun slide. Some are known to have nightmares after seeing the angry looking clown face all day that is the mouth of the slide.

If you like activity then Boardwalk is closer to ESPN Club,Jelly Rolls and has alot more fast food options on the promenade. Beach Club has a sand beach and is closer to the marina where you can rent craft and is a much shorter walk to Epcot. Both offer LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. My home resort is Boardwalk and I'm very pleased with it. Beach Club is similar but not enough so for me to buy points there. The pool is a big draw there and is the number one reason most people give for the any plus BCV have over BWV. I prefer the overall better views offered at BWV and the ESPN Club as our family are major sports nuts.

Joan