Stays at non-Disney hotels

[stnet]

We haven't bought yet but were wondering what kind of experience anyone has had with booking and staying Non-Disney. We would definetly like to take some trips outside of Disneyworld - such as skiing in CO or maybe even a trip over to Europe. My question is how easy is it to book a vacation and what types of hotels do you stay at? I noticed most of the hotels listed in the dreams book seem to be other timeshare resorts. Do you get hounded to buy into their timeshare while you are staying? Are the resorts really nice? We have owned a timeshare before and it was the absolute most AWFUL experience of our lives. Any insight would be wonderful!!

 

[MAO]

I've stayed at the Biltmore in Phoenix, AZ (evidently no longer available through DVC) and the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, CA. These were through the "Concierge Collection" and are not timeshare properties. I had absolutely no problems booking or staying at either hotel -- and when you check out, the bill says "$0" (unless, of course, you've charged stuff to the room.) You must be looking at the "World Passport" collection of places to stay. I sincerely doubt that you'd be hounded at any of those places or you'd be seeing lots of posts on these forums warning people to stay away.

I'm sure you'll get lots of people telling you -- and they'll be right -- that it's more expensive to stay at one of these other properties using DVC points than it is to just pay cash. For a once every 6-8 years type use, I'm okay with it. But generally I agree with the rest of the crowd. If you're not planning on staying at a DVC resort at least once every two years and using your points almost exclusively at DVC resorts, DVC membership is probably not for you.

 

[stnet]

Thank you!! We were thinking along the same lines. We absolutely love Disney World and will probably hit almost every year - my biggest problem though is that we usually stay at the Poly and don't know how we would feel staying anywhere else!! Decisions, decisions!! Thanks again for the info.

 

[TiszBear]

I have used it to stay in Washington DC (LOVED the Mandarian Oriental the best service) and in Chicago. Never have had a problem. I can honestly say I could have never afforded to stay at the Mandarian if I had to pay for it myself. But the way I see it you have a whole world of places to go and a way to do it.

Have fun planning.

 

[MAO]

I stayed at the Contemporary two or three times, the Poly a couple of times and the Beach/Yacht Club two or three times before I became aware of and purchased DVC (during a trip, having absolutely no knowledge of DVC or timeshares or, really, anything except a history of going to Disney every year two or three times each year.)

I would suggest that you take their tour or whatever the terminology is to get a feel for what the rooms look like vs. what you're used to. Personally, I think you'll be amazed at the difference, but that's just me. The other thing I would strongly advise you to do is to seriously consider where to buy. At the time I purchased, I think Boardwalk may have been the only option. Fortunately, by then I had determined that my absolute favorite park was Epcot and I have been so pleased with my luck ever since. What do you like about the Polynesian? The access to MK? Wait for the Contemporary units to become available. If you prefer a different park, you should consider a resale to see if you can get into Beach Club or Boardwalk. Since you're posting here, you're miles ahead of where I was in terms of learning about DVC and thinking about what you want. It's a lot of money, so take your time. I hit the 10 year mark this year and I figure my stay this October will cost me about $154 a night. That's for a two-bedroom Villa, about 2 1/2 times the size of a Polynesian room and half the price (rack rate) of the Polynesian (based on info from allears.net and my vacation dates.) If you can afford it at the beginning, and truly do expect to go to Disney frequently and for *many* years to come, I believe you'll save money.

 

[Deb & Bill]

There is a $95 transfer fee for every non-DVC reservation you make.

 

[PrettyKitties]

We stayed at the Grand Wailea in March. The biggest problem with the ressie was waiting for the 2008 point charts to become available (I was booking in 2007).

 

[kikiq]

Thank you!! We were thinking along the same lines. We absolutely love Disney World and will probably hit almost every year - my biggest problem though is that we usually stay at the Poly and don't know how we would feel staying anywhere else!! Decisions, decisions!! Thanks again for the info.

We also love the Poly and didn't think we would ever stay any where else.
We took our trip to the Poly and spent time visiting the different DVC resorts (taking the wise Dis folks advice of buying where you like to stay) to see if we liked any of the resorts. We narrowed the choices to SSR or BWV resale. We did include our DDs(20/24) in this decision since they would be using it also. Our family chose SSR. We will still occasionally stay at the Poly using cash discounts.

My dad loves the Poly and was a little upset that our family gathering will not be there this summer. But I explained to him that 3 rooms for a week, would pay for 1/3 of the total cost of our SSR points.
He's willing to "give it a try" knowing that he can still stay at the Poly once in a while.

It's not the best use of points to stay at non-Disney or Disney hotels(except the DLR hotels, no extra fees YET) but we look forward to staying at the Keystone Lodge in Colorado and trading points for a girls trip to Tuscany. My thoughts are...yes, not the best use and there is a transfer fee, BUT they are our points to use.