Staying in other Cities with DVC

[BabyTurtle]

I'm getting ready to start on my paperwork and I was wondering how often do DVC members stay at places other than the World? has anyone ever gone to New York or Las Vegas using points? What about Disney Paris & Tokyo? (I think they have hotels.) Is it fairly simple to get reservations for these places? Any info would be greatly appriciated!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

I'm sure others will pipe in.

We've only gone to Hilton Head through DVC, but had a wonderful visit to Savannah. Savannah is a fantastic tourist destination if you enjoy old homes, history, etc. We were also surprised at how well we loved Hilton Head primarily for the resort.

We went at Thanksgiving in 2006 and was surprised at how easy it was.

 

[DVCLiz]

I'm sure others will pipe in.

We've only gone to Hilton Head through DVC, but had a wonderful visit to Savannah. Savannah is a fantastic tourist destination if you enjoy old homes, history, etc. We were also surprised at how well we loved Hilton Head primarily for the resort.

We went at Thanksgiving in 2006 and was surprised at how easy it was.

Yes, but that's not a fair comparison since Hilton Head is a DVC property easily booked with, and comparable to the point values of other DVC units at WDW. I think the OP means trading out for things like the Concierge Collection, etc. I'm assuming you stayed at the Disney resort at HH, and not another Hilton Head timeshare through a trade.

Most people will say it's not the best value to use points outside the WDW DVC system. It's a much more "expensive" use of your points, compared to the DVC units themselves.

That said, they are your points to do with what you will, so if you'd occasionally like to have a trip to another city, you'll find some good options. Just know that if you really sat down and looked at the numbers you would see that it would be cheaper to pay cash for those trips and save your DVC points for the real value they were intended to be at WDW.

 

[jodifla]

We did the Whitehall Hotel in Chicago last month. It was fabulous!

Yeah, the points were high, but so is hotel cost in a city! We used the Pinnacle level, so it also came with free breakfast and happy drinks and appetizers. We'd stay there again in a heartbeat!

 

[Candace]

I'm getting ready to start on my paperwork and I was wondering how often do DVC members stay at places other than the World? has anyone ever gone to New York or Las Vegas using points? What about Disney Paris & Tokyo? (I think they have hotels.) Is it fairly simple to get reservations for these places? Any info would be greatly appriciated!

Others will tell you that it's not the best use of your points, but I feel like it's easier to use them, than to rent them out and pay cash, etc. If you have the points to use, they are yours; use them as you wish. I have used mine to stay in Boston (Concierge Collection), and I used some years ago to visit Disneyland Paris. I currently have some deposited with Interval International. These were holding points, so this gives me two years to use them. I was surprised and delighted that I could deposit them. By the way, the Boston Harbor Hotel in Boston was wonderful - very elegant - but I don't know if it is still in the Concierge Collection. The CC has gotten smaller, it seems.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Yes, but that's not a fair comparison since Hilton Head is a DVC property easily booked with, and comparable to the point values of other DVC units at WDW. I think the OP means trading out for things like the Concierge Collection, etc. I'm assuming you stayed at the Disney resort at HH, and not another Hilton Head timeshare through a trade.

I was aware of what the op meant. However, HH is off WDW property, and is a very conveniently used property as you said. I did not mean to skew the use of DVC for outside of WDW, but was giving the only advice that I had available to me, while pointing out that HHI could be used to visit Savannah, and is a highly valuable component of DVC.

I'll add that from the DIS, I have seen others very happy with Disney cruises, trades to Mexico, Aruba, and Hawaii through II, trades to Destin, FL through Club Intrawest, Washington DC, New York, and Keystone Col. using Concierge Collection, and I think trips to other Disney parks through Disney collection. I think getting what you want through II can be more difficult and much more confusing than using the other collections.

 

[Disney_Villain]

It really depends on what DVC options you have in what city you'd like to go to - and how many points you have, and how many points you wish to spend.

The best bang for you points is obviously the DVC resorts, but that only covers Orlando and South Carolina at the moment.

The next best deal for your DVC points is either within the "Disney Collection" or with exchanges through "Interval International" (aka "World Passport Collection").

Disney parks outside of USA: Yes, I've found that the Disneyland and Disneyland Paris hotels are easy to book with DVC points - on the 11-month windows (I always book them on no less). I also found them a good value at 170-ish DVC points for a week's stay at either. Not sure about Tokyo or Hong Kong ease-of-booking.

NYC: I paid cash for NYC this March to go see Little Mermaid & Mary Poppins on Broadway - and would do that again. The only DVC option is (unfortunately) through the "Concierge Collection" - which uses the Loews Regency Hotel for 378 DVC points per week. I won't give up 378 DVC points that I can use for 3-4 weeks of WDW vacations when I can pay cash for my NYC hotel week's stay instead. I am sure that the Conceirge Collection has very nice places - but if they eat my annual 345 points in ONE SINGLE WEEK that is not something I would ever do.

Hope that helps!

 

[TiszBear]

I don't know if this helps but in Setpember 2006 I used my points to stay at the Mandarian Oriental in Washington DC. I stayed there for a week and loved every minute of it. It only cost me at the time the $75 fee but while I was there I asked the front desk if I had made the reservation on my own how much would it have cost me. I was told the room I had was just over $300 a night. I had booked the Mandarian District deluxe.

I would definatly use my points again to stay outside the "World", the way I see it I have options to stay anywhere that DVC allows me; at places I might not other wise be able to.

Jennifer

 

[disneystick]

We have used our points to go on a Holland America cruise to Alaska, stayed at DisneyLand Grand California and DisneyLand Hotel, the Fairmont in San Fran and even had a ocean view room with a balcony in Monterey, CA. watching sea otters and sea lions swim by.

In fact we would have never been able to afford any of those places if it was not for using our points and staying there.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We used 160 points for an II exchange to Hawaii early in our ownership.

 

[Dean]

I'm getting ready to start on my paperwork and I was wondering how often do DVC members stay at places other than the World? has anyone ever gone to New York or Las Vegas using points? What about Disney Paris & Tokyo? (I think they have hotels.) Is it fairly simple to get reservations for these places? Any info would be greatly appriciated!

You have the opportunity to make these decisions up front. You'll be better off (and come out cheaper) buying just the points you'll use for DVC and looking to other options for the non DVC options. NONE of the other options are guaranteed, they could (and have) change so much as to make them unusable or be taken away altogether. And there is not a SINGLE item that is likely to be available and is a good value compared to just using cash.