Thinking of buying DVC, but have a few questions

[helenk]

I've been going to WDW twice a year, sometimes even three times a year and I really think that DVC would be a good fit for me. Plus I now have a grand-daughter and would love to know that we'd have a great place to say with room for everyone.
I will be in WDW the first of Sept and I was considering visiting the DVC sales desk while at the WL.
What deals are they offering now? Are they only offering sales for the AKV?
If I decide to buy, will I need to make a deposit while I am in WDW? I ask because I normally do not take my check book with me...but I do have a Disney Visa.

 

[allaboutthemouse]

Would also be curious to know this too...how does all this DVC stuff work? A brief explanation? how much does it cost initially? thought i saw somewhere $16,000 was the cheapest to start? how much are maitenance costs? I have always heard bad things about timeshares...is DVC better??? Sorry for stealing thread! Any info would be great!!!!

 

[jdb1232]

The incentives on new purchases through Disney are great. However, buy a resort that you want to stay in. If you are used to staying at the WL AKV and SSR will be a big change consindering how far away they are to the Majic Kingdom. We bought a resale through the TSS because we wanted the WL and because could save some decent money by buying a resale.

If we liked AK or SSR then the incentives offered and full 50 year contract would have made our choice easy, but that was not the case.

 

[disneynutz]

You are both in the right place to find the answers to all your questions. I suggest that you take a little time to review the posts in the DVC threads. Buying into the DVC is an important decision. The more you know, the easier it will be to determine if ownership is for you.

 

[DMKEDM]

To the OP: you certainly can make a deposit at the time of your tour/discussion w/the DVC guide, and you can do so via your Disney Visa...but you can also wait til you get home and mail a check if that's your preference...

TO the next poster: DVC is a time share...but you don't buy specific weeks/times...you buy points which you use to reserve a villa (based on availability) whenever you want to go.

Buying direct from Disney is easy, quick and quite pleasant...you can buy at any of the resorts (WLV, AKV, BCV, BWV, SSR, OKW, VB, HH), even if they're "sold out"--but usually there are no incentives (discounts) to buy at a sold-out resort...prices are around $104/point at the sold-out resorts. Right now, Disney is actively selling the Animal Kingdom Villas and there are incentives...$8 discount per point, some one-year-only "developer points" (ie, points you can use this year only (year is from date of purchase) only at SSR with reservations makeable only 7 months or less prior to your desired dates...

Disney has a minimum buy-in number for your first contract (add-on's allow you to buy far fewer points at a time)...I believe there's a special that lasts til sometime in Sept that will allow you to buy "only" 100 points--the usual minimum for the first contract is 160 points...

That means the minimum buy in price is around $10,000 (too early in the morning for me to do the math!), at AKV for 100 points.

Disney takes credit cards (if you happen to want to do one of those 0 percent interest offers, or for any other reason); they also offer financing...I didn't finance so really don't know much about the financing terms.

Then, there are annual maintenance fees...just shy of $5/point for most of the resorts (each resort's maintenance fees are different)...you pay those every year. You pay for your points only once, when you buy in...and then you get whatever number of points you buy renewed each year (e.g., if you buy 100 points tomorrow, you'll get 100 points this year, and another 100 points each year thereafter until the end of the contract (each resort contract started at 50 years...so each has something less than 50 years left now--the oldest, OKW, has about 32 years or so left on it)...

That's DVC 101 (from the money point of view--there's lots more from the how to use it point of view)...hope the info helps...and obviously, it's possible I remembered something incorrectly...your guide (the DVC rep you discuss this with) will have the info you can rely on! But I'm pretty sure of my facts here...

 

[jdb1232]

If you are seriously considering buying on your Sept. visit, call DVC now and get the guide book sent to you. The DVC guide book has all of the resorts and how many points you'll need to stay in them during different times of the year. You should be in good shape by September if you can read the guide book and the threads on this site.

 

[helenk]

If you are seriously considering buying on your Sept. visit, call DVC now and get the guide book sent to you. The DVC guide book has all of the resorts and how many points you'll need to stay in them during different times of the year. You should be in good shape by September if you can read the guide book and the threads on this site.

I did not think of calling, I will do that today this way from the information I gleam here and a guide book I'll be prepared when we get there.

 

[bookswin]

If you put your down payment (up to 10% is allowed) on the Disney VISA, you have 6-months-same as-cash to pay it off. Zero interest.

 

[helenk]

If you put your down payment (up to 10% is allowed) on the Disney VISA, you have 6-months-same as-cash to pay it off. Zero interest.

So, if I was buying 160 points, I could put 10% of that amount on my Visa. Hmmmm, I like that, it will give me a few more reward points and I would pay it off as I was considering not financing anything anyway.