Right on the edge of joining- have a few ?'s

[MermaidsMom]

Thanks for any assistance! What has been your experience using other properties like the concierge collection/ski lodges or Hawaii or Disney resorts overseas such as Paris Disney or the Disney Cruise Line? Has anyone gotten these over holiday/prime times? Is it as easy as they make it sound at the presentation? Was it worth it?

 

[travelbug]

Hi, MermaidsMom! The only experience I've had along the lines of what you're asking is that I booked the Mauna Lani resort in Hawaii for Easter week last year. I booked it about 8 months ahead of time with no problem. We stayed for 8 nights and had the time of our lives. What a fabulous place! It was a splurge with points, but I'm so glad we did it. The memories will last a lifetime.

Good luck as you finish deciding on a DVC ownership. Hopefully we'll be able to say "Welcome Home" real soon!

 

[mjstaceyuofm]

We've used our DVC points for 2 CC vacations - one to Washington DC and one to Mackinac Island. Both hotels were fantastic and we were able to get the dates we wanted - no problem. We visited Mackinac in May and DC in July. It's not an immediate thing though - they take down your info and then have to physically call the hotels (or at least that's what they did the two times we used the CC back when...). They called us back the next day with all the information.

We had a great time on both trips and thought the point value was well worth it.

 

[TeensMom]

We are going on our third cruise soon - all on points. No problem with dates even when we had to reschedule very late in the game last summer.

The only thing we find with the swap outs is that they must conform to the "week" of the other company (Sun - Sat, etc.) and we tend NOT to vacation that way. That's why we did DVC rather than one of the timeshares - so we could "have it our way".

 

[AreWeThereYet]

Hello MermaidsMom -

We have used the concierge twice in the past (once to Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC and once to Charleston Place in Charleston, SC) and I just booked another vacation for this fall, weekend before Thanksgiving. Have not had any problems getting the bookings, even though I have booked as few as two months out. The whole process is a breeze. I called yesterday morning for my next trip and had received a call confirming before I got home with a confirmation.

We feel the DVC is definitely worth the cost. We had been going to WDW almost yearly and spending thousands each time we went on food and logding (and of course, the parks). The first trip we took as members we barely reached $1000, and that's only because I sent my wife to the spa for the day, and took the girls to Disney Quest - about 1/3 of what we spent. Trades for the Concierge are also a great deal. The rack rates at Charleston Place were well over $500 for the time we were there, only points for us though, and no one but us knew we weren't spending anything (at that time) on the accommodations. Same with Grove Park Inn.

Definitely worth the investment - don't hesitate any longer. We waited for about three years before finally buying into the club. We could have paid off our membership with the money we spent on three trips during that time.

Hope this helps! Good luck.

 

[Pa@okw95]

I used my points once this way. Everything went just fine but it cost me 2 1/2 times the points if I used it for WDW in a similar one bedroom suite.

 

[reneesam]

The process is very easy for Disney Collection, Concierge Collection, and Adventurer Collection. These are confirmed at the time of or shortly after your request and most can be booked night to night. As you can see from the point charts , many of these require many more points than does a stay at a DVC resort. You many find it less costly to pay cash at certain times (e.g. for a cruise in the fall season when there are abundant deals.)

The exchanges with other timeshare companies (Interval International) require that you trade out a whole week. You many have to wait to get what you'd like, or choose from resorts other than your first choice. It depends on demand.

In all, these "other" options are not the most economical use of your DVC points, but they add a great deal of vacation variety. If you plan to use your points to trade out more than you stay at DVC, you may be better served by a less expensive timeshare.

Good luck!

 

[reneesam]

PS. I have cruised twice and used CC hotels. The only time I couldn't get what I wanted was the Boston Harbor Hotel on graduation weekend because they had rooms available only through the colleges. You can book exchanges 11 months out.

 

[Merilyn]

We have been to Newport Beach, CA. We have traded to DC and the Plaza in NY. We have traded to a Marriott twice and they are very nice. Our next possible trade is to NY again at either the Plaza or the Murray Hill. We can't wait for the Hawaii trip planned for the future. Have to save those miles up for airline tickets.

 

[draje01]

Just wanted to put my vote in and say GO FOR IT!! I totally understand your hesitancy, but believe me, for us, it was very much worth it. We have had so many wonderful, magical memories for our family and friends to share with us. Don't wait any longer, DO IT!!!