Thinking of buying DVC

[mayte]

We are trying to decide whether to buy. One of my concerns, though, is the condition of the rooms. I checked the room condition reports and some of them are alarming! If there's a problem with the cleanliness of the room, do the hotels correct this?

Also, are there people out there who have used points to take "member getaways" in any of the interval resorts? This is a main selling point for us--we like Disney World but want to travel to lots of other places--and I'm wondering about the other travel options.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I am not sure what room reports you were reading, but we have had GREAT room quality and condition at all of our many stays at OKW.

Do not buy into DVC just to use for trade purposes. As timeshares go, maintenance at DVC is more costly than a lot of other timeshares. It is more cost effective if you plan to stay at WDW at least every other year and would normally stay in a deluxe or better resort. If you plan to do a lot of trading, you would be better off with a cheaper timeshare resale that has low maintenance fees.

 

[JimC]

Disney rooms across the entire operation are kept better than most five star resorts. They are not perfect, but I would not let room condition be a reservation against buying.

We use DVC for DVC and other Disney resorts when it was advantageous to do so. The timeshare experts on this Board indicate that there are other timeshares that are better for trading purposes both in value and availability.

 

[CarolMN]

I wouldn't give the room reports much weight - I never even read them myself, LOL. Very few people (relative to the number of DIS posters who stay at WDW) even bother to write one and those who have a bad experience are much, much more likely to post.

FWIW, you can find reports of "dirty" rooms or poor housekeeping at all of the WDW resorts. Just spend some time on the resort board. It seems as though the resorts take turns getting bashed - including those that win the highest ratings from the ratings services like AAA and CondeNast!

I've never encountered a housekeeping problem at BWV and we've stayed there many times since 2000. Same for VB. (Those are the only two I have personal experience with). If you do find a problem, you can just call and it will be taken care of quickly.

All that said, if you don't plan to visit a DVC resort on a regualr basis, don't buy DVC. As Diane already posted, there are much less expensive alternatives if your main desire is to trade.

Best wishes -

 

[rocketriter]

Most people don't go onto a board like this to say "our room was clean." But if you look at the occasional poll about room problems, you'll see that on average the DVC housekeeping is better than most hotel housekeeping, and that the resort desks come to fix most problems that are discovered within 30 minutes. Our family has stayed at expensive non-DVC resorts where that level of service was a promise not kept.

As for trading, yes, you can do some and enjoy it. It's not worth the points to trade out to West Overshoe Springs. If you want to do a lot of that sort of trading you are, as other posters have suggested, better off buying a cheap timeshare for that purpose. (Be prepared, however, for the fact that the cheap timeshare--especially if bought new--will drop 2/3 of its resale value during the first 15 minutes after you buy it while DVC has historically gone up in value.) There's a poster on this board named Dean who is well-informed on other trading alternatives who can give you great advice.

That said, it's certainly possible to use your points to travel to Hawaii or the Caribbean or the Alps and get good accomodations. It takes flexibility and planning ahead and it doesn't squeeze the very best value out of your points, but compared to first-class hotel rooms it's not a bad deal either. For many families the occasional trade out is part of their points use pattern. Here on the DIS board, the subject attracts diverse opinions. But the universal theme is that you should buy into DVC primarily for use at the Disney properties, and consider Member Getaways or Concierge Collection to be the side dish rather than the entree.

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by rocketriter
As for trading, yes, you can do some and enjoy it. It's not worth the points to trade out to West Overshoe Springs. If you want to do a lot of that sort of trading you are, as other posters have suggested, better off buying a cheap timeshare for that purpose. (Be prepared, however, for the fact that the cheap timeshare--especially if bought new--will drop 2/3 of its resale value during the first 15 minutes after you buy it while DVC has historically gone up in value.)

Also be aware that despite what other timeshares may tell you trading INTO a Disney resort is very difficult to do. Functionally it's possible, but demand makes it incredibly hard to accomplish.

If you are going to spend the majority of your trip at a Disney, then DVC is probably a good option to pursue. But don't expect the same level of accommodations for the same "price" via a trade into other timeshares. Whenever you want to spend your points elsewhere you will likely end up paying a premium to do so.