Talk me into it!!! Please!! ...

[jaybird]

Hi!

My family consists of me, DH, ds (5), dd (3) and dd (1). We went for our first trip as a family last month and stayed at AKL. Since we had a babysitter with us, we had to book a deluxe room. Actually, we got switched from POR to AKL in December. Anyhoo...

I've been thinking/reading up on the DVC. Here are some questions...

1. How many points are needed for a yearly trip (value season) in a one bedroom?

2. What are the rooms like.. example of a one bedroom... I hear they have laundry and kitchens.. What about beds? How are the beds layed out?

3. Since I love Disney, and my DH is so-so about Disney, what other options are there to use your points, ie. Cruise, trading for other cities? How easy is it?

4. I know that in the long run, we need the space as our kids get older, the choices for a family of 5 decrease as does the interest in staying in a studio hotel room with 3 teenagers ! Plus, it will pay for itself eventually... I think... BUT... Won't the family get sick of ONLY GOING TO DISNEY... you know the dreaded words, "Disney, AGAIN???"

Well, those are my questions for now... I really would like to know the approximate number of points needed for a one-bedroom, Beach Club room for value or regular season... It isn't in the calculator yet...

Oh yeah, We are planning a 9 day trip next June (2003). Would we be able to get a deal with that trip (free nights, tickets, etc) if we wait to tour and buy then?

Thanks,
Karen

 

[JADEMM]

Disney again? What planet did you get that info from? I cant get the kids or our sister-in-laws family to go anywhere else. There are many other places to go in the DVC, but WDW is the best value in our opinion-but thats why we bought in. Your biggest concern will be enough points for a 2 bedroom so you can stay comfortably.

 

[caverill]

Karen,

Everyone has a different reason why they join...I will be happy to tell you ours (DW and I).

We purchased into the vacation club for the following reasons:

- We had (have) been going to WDW every year
- We only wanted to stay on-site
- We wanted to stay in a deluxe hotel
- We wanted to vacation every year
- We wanted to go to warm weather during the winter (we are from Minnesota)

We felt that DVC was a great option for us because of the flexabilty and the Disney quality.

You will hear discussion on whether DVC saves money. IMHO the answer depends on your criteria for a vacation. Can you stay off-site cheaper? (Yes) Can you get better deals at deluxe resorts? (Maybe)

With our vacationing habit and desires, DVC worked for us!

As far as a one-bedroom...The one-bedroom sleeps four people. You will have a King-sized bed in one room and a pull out sofa in the other. The rooms are very good sized, but if you have five people you may need a two-bedroom as the kids get older.

To calculate points, just use the point chart calculator for the dates you normally travel.

As far as trading out...Last year we used points to stay two nights at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. We called Member Services (MS) and gave them dates and told them to book the room. The only thing we paid on the room was a transfer fee of $75. We have not traded to any other location yet (but we will).

Good luck with your decision and ask all the questions you want!

 

[KathyR]

Just an FYI-use the point calculator for VWL. The point stucture is the same

We love our DVC points, and in fact just added on more this morning . I love the fact that we are "forced" to take a family vacation. I would just hate not using our points and loosing them. My husband is not a disney person at all, but he puts up with my obsession . However, he LOVES the DVC 1 and 2 bedroom units. He could just spend all his time in the room reading and relaxing. I am sure someday he will do just that, but thankfully for now, he goes into the parks w/the kids and I

I would buy enough for the 2 bedroom. You may want to consider dropping a weekend day or 2 (points are double for Fri and Sat) and staying in another place just for the weekend days if the amount of points needed for a 2 bedroom are too much for you now.

You will absoulutely LOVE the DVC accomodations. Esp the 1 and 2 bedrooms!

Good luck w/your decision!

 

[Terry S]

Karen, The points for BCV are the same as for Villas at Wilderness Lodge so you can just punch in your dates and use the VWL as the resort and that will give you the number of points.

Here is a link to the BCV Accomidations page on the DVC site. Just click on the Floor plan links when you are there and you will see the floor plans. http://dvc.disney.go.com/disneyvaca...ionsindex?id=BeachClubVillasAccommodationsGrp

You will need the 2 bedroom. If you get a dedicated 2 bedroom you will have a king size bed in the master bedroom, and 2 queen size beds in the second bedroom. There is also a pull-out in the living room.

Here are some nice pictures of the insides of the BCV. Pictured here is a lock-off 2 bedroom instead of a dedicated so there is a queen bed and a couch in the second bedroom instead of 2 queen beds, but you will get the idea. http://www.members.aol.com/suedvc/bcv.html

As far as getting sick of going to Disney, I am going to assume that was only a joke. My family loves Disney so much my daughter keeps asking why don't we just move into the castle.

There are a lot of other options of places to stay, they may not be the best use of your points though, staying at a DVC resort is definatly the best use, but you can use them a lot of other places. You should call DVC and ask them to send you some information, it explains all the other places you can go.

 

[ZerasPride]

Hi Karen! I'd like to give you my family's experience.

As far as question #3 is concerned, my hubby is far from a Disney fan even though he grudgingly comes along on the Disney trips I plan every year. The one thing that got him to agree to DVC was our stay this past December at Hilton Head. We both love it there! Peaceful, quiet, the annual dues are one of the lowest of all DVC properties and the rooms are large and spacious. My son loves it just as much if not more than Disney (he's a teen). Have you considered making Hilton Head or Vero Beach your home resort?

Which leads me to your question #4, there is quite a bit of variety built into DVC. For instance, our home resort is Hilton Head so when we want a relaxing beach vacation, we go there. If we want the excitment of the parks, we stay on-site. For special occasions DH and I can book an inn oceanview room at Vero Beach. We can visit Disneyland in California, take the cruise or visit one of the accommodations in the concierge collection. On another note regarding getting bored with Disney, that's one of the main reasons why we did not purchase a bazillion points. If we had all our disposable income tied into DVC then we couldn't take other trips. Again, this is just speaking for my family, but this way, we can spice things up a bit every once in a while and go other places - banking and borrowing makes the DVC program so flexible we can occasionally bank our points into the next year and on the "off" year do something different.

Have you called for the video and booklet that gives you the details of the program? It really helped my family. I'm sure other members will give you their opinons as well but I hope this helps. We love DVC and the flexibility of the program and the ability to go to Disney often make it just a wonderful "investment" in my family's vacation future. My only regret is that we did not buy in sooner.

Lisa

 

[crisi]

You might want to consider buying enough points that you can go every other year - it makes the maintenance fees a little less of a bargain (we have two years of fees tied up into any one vacation - we figure we will still do better than break even), but gives you vacation time to do something other than Disney - and helps keep the Disney vacations special. Also, as the kids get older, we anticipate using our DVC rooms, but spending time at US or the waterparks or the golf courses, instead of Peter Pan's Flight (six times on the last trip!).

(you can bank points from one year into the next, and borrow points from next year to this year - theorectically, this means you could go once every three years - in reality you are pretty likely to "waste" a few points that way)

We are planning alternate year vacations for our family - we are also planning on lots of other trips that have nothing whatsoever to do with DVC. I know that some will think its sacreligious - but I could not face year after year after year of Disney vacations - I want my kids to see the world, not just the World Showcase in Epcot (for that matter, I want to see the world!). I know I could use the DVC points to trade and travel other places - but those aren't really the kinds of vacations we are hoping for.

I'd buy in before your trip and use the points you buy for you 2003 trip - for one thing, prices are set to increase in June and they anticipate selling out BCV long before your 2003 trip. Disney's sales tactic is fairly low pressure, and so there aren't a whole lot of "pay for the vacation you are on right now" incentives. Also, look into the resale market (unless you are set on the BCV). You may find a deal.

 

[mikesmom]

There's frequently asked questions on this site that will give you hard facts but here's some extra info to consider:

• you'll have to have 2 bdrm. The rules are only 4 people plus a child under 3 in a 1 bdrm. Besides , have you considered you and 3 teenagers with one bathroom? Yikes!!
• Yes, to the kitchen & laundry. As a mom, your vacation will be more of a vacation because you don't have to pak a week's worth of clothes and you won't have to wash a week's worth when you get home.
• The kitchen is a dream. It's SO nice to have your own coffee, maybe a bottle of wine and a little cheese in the fridge for an evening on the balcony with hubby. It's also great to have a real fridge stocked with snacks, ice cream, fresh fruit, bottled water, yogurt, etc. so the teens don't spend you into the poorhouse on snacks
• The Jacuzzi in the 1 or 2 bdrm is heaven at the end of the day!
• As the prices of hotels increase, your costs remain the same. My husband the accountant figured we'd be ahead of the game in about 5 years
• You don't have to go to the park! Aside from Vero (wonderful place!) and Hilton Head, the WDW resorts are great even if you never go into the parks, and since you've got years to do it, you won't feel compelled to be a commando and do it all

In case you can't tell, we travel with teenagers. Believe me , the quality of the vacation goes way up when you have the extra space!

 

[Tigger1]

You will love it.

Tigger

 

[Mrs. Snowgod]

When first considering DVC, I wasn't crazy about the idea of WDW each year, either. But, once you get out of the commando mindset, it is so relaxing and fun, that after buying 200 VB points in 10/01, I was the advocate of adding 100 VWL last December. The viewpoints expressed in earlier posts are a really good cross section of opinions. I don't think I've yet seen any posts from people sorry they invested in DVC. But that's OK, too, cause it gives us resales!

 

[Richyams]

I think the two bedroom is needed for parties of four.

The extra bathroom is mandatory.....especially when you are on vacation.

Four or five in a studio is just silly....and only a little sillier than a one bedroom.