The Most Expensive Free Trip Ever - TR Link is Up! Pg. 164

[All7OfUs]

Transfering the file is done the exact same way though. Either USB cable or card reader.

And I sport both.

 

[marvali]

To fulfill our commitment to the Sheraton people we had to take a tour of their resort and run the sales juggernaut. Once we did that we got to keep our cheap room rate and we got $100 in spending money. Our tour time was 10:15 am, which kind of stunk for park touring, but at least we got to sleep in a little bit. We got around and drove the few miles to their new resort. We showed up on time and plopped down in the waiting area to be called for our tour. After a while our tour guide came and got us and we began the tour. I forget what our time commitment was to fulfill our obligation, probably two hours, but I remember thinking that if we took it slow on the tour and I asked a lot of questions that would mean more tour time and less sales pitch time. I couldn’t have been more wrong, but I’m getting ahead of myself. We enjoyed the tour -- the suites were gorgeous and the resort was beautiful and the pool looked wonderful. The kids had fun going through the suites and picking out which rooms would be theirs.

Eventually the tour was over and we went to a room for the sit-down portion, ie. the sales pitch. We said that the resort was lovely and all, but we explained that we had no money for a luxury such as this. (I know you’re looking at my signature and thinking “Really, Mr. DVC guy?” Yeah, really. Several things worked out for us to be able to buy into DVC in recent years. Back in 2005 a purchase like that was completely out of the question.) I think we even turned our pockets inside-out to show the guy. I remember him saying something like, “well you have money to take vacations don’t you?”, which would seem like the perfect “I gotcha” question from his standpoint since everybody that comes through there is on vacation. But we were able to explain that this trip was earned as an incentive trip through Judy’s PChef business and that’s how we vacation. The next year we’d be going somewhere else, wherever the incentive trip was. I could see him suppress a “doh” under his breath, and now foiled, he left to go bring in his manager. The score at this point was Glennbo 1, Salespeople 0. But before the manager arrived they let us sit there for a quite a while, picturing people pouring through the Epcot turnstiles ahead of us, in our minds. Now the manager guy was tough, and gave us the hard-sell. As the clock approached 1 pm, and we had been there for 3 hours, we finally lost our patience

and said, “Listen, we’ve taken your tour and met our time commitment to you. We’re not buying, so give us our money and let us get outta here!” And they finally did. So that’s what it takes to get them to let you go. It’s not that you’ve taken the tour, or a timer goes off on your time commitment. They won’t let you leave until you either buy or get upset. They didn’t get their sale, but I’d still call the game a draw, since we lost so much park touring time. We decided that it was nice to get a good deal on the room for a few days, but we’d rather not do it again.

We did a timeshare tour in Myrtle Beach one time, and I swore I would never waste my time on another one. I can't stand the way they present and pressure you to buy their product. When we were in DHS three years ago I wandered into the DVC kiosk while I waited on the family just to take a look. I never felt any pressure, they were just friendly and answered my questions, and offered to sign me up for the tour if I wanted to take more of a look. That is the ONLY way they were able to get me even remotely interested.

I've heard that the DVC tour is a lot less pressure than these other places, but I never took the initial tour...... Oh, I did tour Bay Lake Tower last year and there was no pressure from our guide at the end.

We signed up for the presentation, which was done in a meeting room just off the circle to the right of Main Street USA. It was similar to what we got initially at the BLT tour, but not as elaborate. It was about a 30 minute presentation with two guides interacting and just having a good time. They asked a few Disney trivia questions and threw a few gifts to the winners, but otherwise it was just presenting the info about DVC, rates, financing, how it worked, etc. They had video games to keep the kiddos occupied, and the incentive was fastpasses similar to what you got after talking to a sales rep at BLT. Each person got a FP for their lost time in the parks, and it was an immediate FP that could be used any time, in any park, for the next three days.....for three rides each. After the presentation, you either weren't interested and they gave you the FPs on the way out, or you could hang around and ask any additional questions, and if any further interest, they would plan a tour for you at the models located at SSR.

When we stayed at AKL we got a flyer in our room stating that we would get a 100 $ Disney gift card for taking the DVC tour. I was a bit tempted but since I really did not want to buy DVC and really wanted to have the time for the parks, I did not go on the tour. I think I have also read that people got special fastpass tickets at the DVC tour.

Yes on the fastpasses. We decided to take the tour where we met with one of the two guys who did the earlier presentation. They offered to pick us up from our resort in a van, but we were staying offsite at the time, so we drove to SSR. We went to see models for SSR, and also AKV, which was still yet to open, even in Jambo House. Afterwards, we got to ask any more questions and they showed us some examples of what our financing, etc. would be for different point amount options we were thinking. Then our guide left the room and told us where to find him after we had time to discuss it in private. Still no pressure, which is what sold us, on top of the flexibility to choose your vacations (time of year, facility, one long or multiple short, etc.). We told our guide we had decided to buy in and he went to get the sales manager. The very first thing we were asked was if at any time we felt any high pressure tactics at all during any of the process. My response was "If we had, we wouldn't be sitting here right now." That was what they were hoping to hear since that is the way they want to do business.

And for those who mentioned it, after everything was done, we got to go to a little ice cream shop they had right there in the DVC sales area of the resort and tell them exactly what each of us wanted on our ice cream sundae.

After we toured the models they had a "day care center" where you could sign in your kids while you talked to your guide about the details. They had video games, TVs with Disney movies/shows, play areas for the younger kids, etc. When you were done, and ready to go for the ice cream, you signed them back out so you knew they were safe and looked after while you were with your guide.

 

[glennbo123]

Wow Marvin that is such a stark contrast to my "three hour tour" story. That approach is so much more appealing than the "used car salesman" method. Thanks for sharing your experience.

I mentioned earlier that we bought remotely, and never took the tour. I'll add to my story though to say that it started as just a trip to the DVC website to see if I could find the current prices and incentives. I could not find that kind of information anywhere on their site, which I understand from their point of view, but it was a little frustrating. (I didn't know about websites like dvcnews link to pricing & promotions where you can find this.) As I was poking around the DVC website a box would pop up every so often saying, "would you like to chat with a guide?". After closing it once or twice, I finally relented so I could find out the pricing info. Our chat consisted of some general info. back and forth before I was asked if a guide could call me. Again, a little reluctantly, I agreed. So, I quickly went from surfing the web from the anonymity of my computer screen to talking to a guide over the phone. But like you said, there was no pressure. He just told me how the system worked, the prices, the current incentives, and asked me to call him back with questions, which I did -- a whole list -- a few days later. Needless to say, Judy was a little surprised when I told her all of this information about DVC (Kidani being built, cost, how the point system worked, etc.), which had been nowhere on her radar screen.

 

[marvali]

Wow Marvin that is such a stark contrast to my "three hour tour" story. That approach is so much more appealing than the "used car salesman" method. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Yeah, I kept thinking when I read your story how that "three hour tour" probably felt like about 6. When we decided to move forward and actually did the whole shebang, we were probably involved about three hours also, but it didn't really feel that long.

DVC wasn't on Alison's radar either when they all came back from riding ToT without me, but she was pretty much into it as much as I was all the way along as we learned more.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

You drive a hard bargain Dan. Is that just to take the tour, or to buy? I think the current incentive now is a Disney cruise.

nope to take the tour, my buying demands are much higher.

i work the system instead of the system working me.

 

[glennbo123]

Yeah, I kept thinking when I read your story how that "three hour tour" probably felt like about 6. When we decided to move forward and actually did the whole shebang, we were probably involved about three hours also, but it didn't really feel that long.

The actual "tour" part of our Sheraton visit was okay, it was just the lengthy sales-pitch and arm-twisting afterward that I wish we could have avoided or shortened.

DVC wasn't on Alison's radar either when they all came back from riding ToT without me, but she was pretty much into it as much as I was all the way along as we learned more.

That was an expensive non-ride. They're not going to leave you alone when they go on any rides anymore.

nope to take the tour, my buying demands are much higher.

i work the system instead of the system working me.

I was hoping so.

 

[marvali]

That was an expensive non-ride. They're not going to leave you alone when they go on any rides anymore.

I don't know.....this non-ride lasts for 50 years; if not for us at least for the kiddos. I'd say we've gotten our money's worth so far. How else would I have ever met great people like glennbo and family!

 

[glennbo123]

I don't know.....this non-ride lasts for 50 years; if not for us at least for the kiddos. I'd say we've gotten our money's worth so far. How else would I have ever met great people like glennbo and family!

Aw thanks, right back atcha. I love thinking that we've got a place to stay at Disney for many years into the future. No buyer's remorse here!

 

[All7OfUs]

Aw thanks, right back atcha. I love thinking that we've got a place to stay at Disney for many years into the future. No buyer's remorse here!

I see you're on, so I'll ask it now. When you want to stay your week, or however long every year at one of the DVC Resorts, do you pay above and beyond? How does that work??

 

[glennbo123]

I see you're on, so I'll ask it now. When you want to stay your week, or however long every year at one of the DVC Resorts, do you pay above and beyond? How does that work??

Warning, this long-winded response may be way more than you're asking, but....

The thing that's neat about DVC is that you buy points, you don't buy a set week like most other timeshares. This makes it so FLEXIBLE, it's amazing. You can buy however many points you want/need. Disney has a minimum buy-in, basically 160 points, but I think there may be an exception that you could get 100 at Animal Kingdom. And you can buy fewer points on the re-sale market, ie. not through Disney, but buying from an existing owner.

Anyway, each night's stay costs a certain number of points, which vary depending upon:

1) the season (Christmas-time and Spring Break time are more expensive than October, for example),
2) the size of accommodation (2-bedrooms cost more than a 1-bedroom, duh),
3) the view (savanna view is more expensive than standard view at AKV, Magic Kingdom view is more expensive than lake view at Bay Lake Tower, etc.), and
4) the day of the week (Friday and Saturday nights are more expensive than the other days of the week)

You can see the point charts if you go to the DVC forums on the DIS. There are links at the top of the page. Generally, a week's stay in a 1-bedroom would probably cost you around 200 points, but obviously that depends on when you go and what view you reserve. You could get away with less if you go during a non-peak time, or use a lot more points if you go during a busy time.

Adding to the flexibility is that you can break the points up and use them for mini-trips, or all at once, whatever. However many points you buy, you get that much alotted to you every year, but you can bank and borrow, 1-year forward or backwards. For example, the most points you could use for a trip would be 3-year's worth. In year 1, you'd have to bank your points into year 2 (no Disney trip that year ), then in year 2 go on a big trip using the banked points, the existing year's points, and borrowing next year's points. Then in year 3, no trip again because you used them the past year. I don't plan on doing that, I just wanted to point out the flexibility.

You get the points for years into the future. Each resort has a different "end date", but for example, AKV goes through 2057. So, we'll get them until then, or until we sell, or until we get our "eternal reward", in which case the ownership would transfer to our beneficiaries.

Now....you do have to pay Maintenance Fees each year, and maybe that was your question. They're around $5 per point each year, depending upon the resort.

Other than that, you pay nothing when you stay. Upon check-out you only have to pay for things you charged to your room, like room service or whatever. No tax, no nothing.

Another topic is the point charts. They're not supposed to change, so you're not going to see the point-cost increasing with inflation. But...they're allowed to change how they're allocated across the seasons/weekdays-weekends/room-sizes. For many years they made no changes, other than when the obvious year-to-year ones like when Thanksgiving or Easter fell on the calendar. But they've made some major tweaks the last couple of years and there were a lot of winners and losers in that, as a lot of people go at the same time every year and the changes may have affected them, especially if they bought the exact amount of points they needed for that particular trip each year.

Okay, I've written enough in one post. Maybe I should just hit "Submit Reply" now.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

so they are planning on making it so you can hand it down to family members? or what did you mean by that.

that is what i like about my inlaws one, they bought it for a flat rate with a small maintance each year..then whenever they want to hand it down to the family whenever they want...they can sell it for whatever price they want.

 

[glennbo123]

so they are planning on making it so you can hand it down to family members? or what did you mean by that.

that is what i like about my inlaws one, they bought it for a flat rate with a small maintance each year..then whenever they want to hand it down to the family whenever they want...they can sell it for whatever price they want.

No, not for whatever price, like you describe. I just meant to say that it's inheritable, if I kick the bucket before 2057. If I want to sell it to someone, children included, it has to pass Disney's right of first refusal. If the sale is too much of a bargain, Disney will snatch it up.

 

[marvali]

Hey Glenn, did you happen to take a pic of the activity sheet during our stay at Kidani last summer? If so, can you post it on the AKV Owners and Lovers Thread please? There was a Mom over there who was asking about activities for her and her kids the one day they are there before her DH arrives. She didn't want to take them in the parks by herself, and was interested in things they could do at Kidani.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

No, not for whatever price, like you describe. I just meant to say that it's inheritable, if I kick the bucket before 2057. If I want to sell it to someone, children included, it has to pass Disney's right of first refusal. If the sale is too much of a bargain, Disney will snatch it up.

ouch that stinks, you should be able to keep it in your family no matter what between now and 2057

 

[glennbo123]

Hey Glenn, did you happen to take a pic of the activity sheet during our stay at Kidani last summer? If so, can you post it on the AKV Owners and Lovers Thread please? There was a Mom over there who was asking about activities for her and her kids the one day they are there before her DH arrives. She didn't want to take them in the parks by herself, and was interested in things they could do at Kidani.

I don't think I ever took a photo of that.

ouch that stinks, you should be able to keep it in your family no matter what between now and 2057

It's not that bad really....if we get to the point where we don't want to go but the kids do, instead of selling it to them, they could pay the maintenance fees and we could make reservations for them.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

I remember doing timeshare presentations as a kid - my dad really got into it. There was no WAY he was buying - but he really loved to point out the logical flaws in the sales guys arguments. And he's such an... assertive guy that they didn't want to mess with him. As for Scott and I, we are both fairly type B personalities, so it's not safe for us to risk the time share thing. We did do it once, on our honeymoon in Mexico. We got a beach towel and a free harbor cruise, but it was a real hassle.

So Glenn, how did you figure out that DVC made financial sense? Do they give you a chart or something that lays out all the costs and divides them over a certain amount of time, so that you can compare it to what it would cost to stay at a Deluxe resort without DVC?

 

[glennbo123]

So Glenn, how did you figure out that DVC made financial sense? Do they give you a chart or something that lays out all the costs and divides them over a certain amount of time, so that you can compare it to what it would cost to stay at a Deluxe resort without DVC?

They don't give you a chart, you'd have to do that on your own, which a lot of people do. Every so often there are threads in the DVC-Operations forum where someone has done a comparison. When we bought, our guide told us that it generally pays for itself in 6 years (I think that's what they were saying). But that's a comparison to deluxe resorts, at full rack rate. If you stay at moderates and/or take advantage of all of these discounts they're offering now, it's probably a lot longer. I just like knowing that our accomodations are paid for, because over the years the hotel rates are going to inch higher and higher. And I think it'll hold its value pretty well, near-term, if we ever have to sell.

 

[glennbo123]

Back when I wrote last year's trip report some people were interested in the microfiber towels that I mentioned we took to the parks with us. (I used them a couple of times after my drenchings on Kali River Rapids.) Anyway, I noticed that they're in the Outlet section of a certain website, which shall remain nameless, at least here. PM me if you'd like more info.

 

[All7OfUs]

Ok, maybe I"m dense as Pound cake here, but if I'm obligated to pay roughly $800 a year (160 points X $5 per point) ON TOP OF THE BUY IN, where's the free accomodations?

I don't get it. $800 would almost pay for a stay in a mod for sure, for a week's stay and be about 1/2 of a deluxe stay. I think I"m missing something....

 

[dd50]

Ok, maybe I"m dense as Pound cake here, but if I'm obligated to pay roughly $800 a year (160 points X $5 per point) ON TOP OF THE BUY IN, where's the free accomodations?

I don't get it. $800 would almost pay for a stay in a mod for sure, for a week's stay and be about 1/2 of a deluxe stay. I think I"m missing something....

You probably get that around 2053 or 54 if you make it that long.