Uk dvc members please help..

[glossopj]

Hi,
We have just received our DVC pack and considering purchasing between 160 - 200 vacation points. my understanding is that this will get us a studio for 2 weeks every 2 years. Living in the UK means we won't be popping for short breaks and would need a 2 week break to make it financially viable.
However with the offers on constantly for free disney dining when you book between certain dates is it really worth it ?? I would value others opinion. I'd also welcome info on how UK members best use the points they have.

Thanks Julia

 

[Shooby doo]

Julia tbh 200 points is overkill for a studio every 2 years! We own 175 points & there is only a MK view at BLT during Premier Season (which is 2 weeks at the end of April & Xmas week) that is out of our reach. that being said 200 points would open up 1 beds at resorts like OKW & SSR but if you are buying BLT then that's a bit of a "waste".
I read your post somewhere else & someone mentioned booking costs,there are no booking costs for booking the DVC resorts,there are costs if you decide to book DCL or the RCI/II programme.
Have you considered Resale? We bought from the Timeshare store & paid $68/point for SSR,direct this is $99, so basically more points for the same money!
As far as is it worth it,only if you were going to stay at that standard of accommodation anyway, otherwise it's hard to make it work : We have 2 studios booked for 18 nights which would cost £4500 Direct (but we would also get Free Dining!) but we could get a 2 Bed villa at the Staybridge Suites LBV for £1600 -full kitchen,free breakfast....
Just a final point,I have used a calculator to work out my total cost over the life of my contract & it's £54k!! That's my intial buy & annual dues for the life of the contract.
SD

 

[DisFanJen]

...with the offers on constantly for free disney dining when you book between certain dates is it really worth it ??

In the short term you may find that the free dining and cheap offers make DVC a hard sell, but what you need to remember is that they are short term. Once things turn around (please oh please let things turn around!) then DVC will definitely be a good deal.

Even now given that a lot of the deals are at SSR, I don't regret my 330 points there, especially with the cheap APs, TiW card, etc...

 

[orangetiggs]

We are looking at 110 points that will get us a studio every two years so i think maybe too many for every two years

 

[Elise79]

We are looking at 110 points that will get us a studio every two years so i think maybe too many for every two years

If you've been in a one bed a studio is going to be hard! Just a warning

 

[Wedgeh]

If you've been in a one bed a studio is going to be hard! Just a warning

Amen to that, the first year we bought in we had points to burn so had our last 3 nights in a 1 bedroom... big mistake!

 

[orangetiggs]

The space is great but would prefer smaller really. Only thing i will miss is washer and dryer, only stayed in one bed as it was a glitch and cheaper than studio

View blt tomorrow so will se where home will be blt or ssr

 

[Elise79]

You will want the one bed at BLT - the studios are quite small especially as the girls get bigger.

Also you would then have the 2 beds in the living room so they wouldn't have to share later.

With not doing the DDP I really like having the kitchen too (not that I have cooked!) but it makes breakfast easy and reheating and eating left overs for lunch

 

[skelfbsfb]

We used to stay in a studio but like others have said once you stay in a 1 bedroom you dont want to stay in a studio. Next year as my DD1 and her BF are coming we are staying in a 2 bedroom at OKW or SSR with free dining, 9 nights at BWV but in 2 seperate studios as the 2 bedroom was too many points, same also when we stay at Vero and HRH.

 

[DisFanJen]

We used to stay in a studio but like others have said once you stay in a 1 bedroom you dont want to stay in a studio...

I have to pipe up on this point. It really is personal taste. I've done 1 bed rooms more than once and they are nice, but I have no problem staying in a studio. What swings is for me is how many meals 'out' we intend to have. If there's loads we go studio, if we want to eat in the room more often than not then we go 1 bedroom so we have more facilities.

I will add the caveat though that my partner any I are the only ones who go, and 2 in a studio is a breeze. Not sure I'd be so happy with 3 or 4.

 

[RDP]

If you've been in a one bed a studio is going to be hard! Just a warning

Agree!

 

[crabbie1]

We hv just bought into dvc and bought 180 points. As they hv given us this years points in full we hv banked them so can use 360 points next year if needs be. I hv booked 5 nights in a studio at 88 points and 6 nights in a one bedroom. Both at vwl but at 7 months I am hoping to change our first 5 nights to either a studio at okw or a one bed at aklv. Have no issues with the studio at all especially at the beginning of the holidays as not in the room much but the latter of the holiday like to relax a little.
Dvc is well worth it to us. Took 9 months to decide and glad our home resort is VWL

 

[1andrea]

I bought at 225 points at SSR resort 5.5 years ago and I'm glad I have the piece of mind that I can stay in Disney when I go to Florida and I don't have to worry about the cost. I've also rented my points out to dissers when I've needed to and will probably be doing the same again soon or hopefully a points transfer. The flexibility is great!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Hi

We bought 160 points at SSR with the same plan as you (two weeks every other year) but it didn't work out that way because we now want to come every year! So we bought more points (another 25) last year. We now come every year in october or november. We buy an annual pass and get two years out of it, use our virgin credit card all year and use miles plus points for the flights. I watch the exchange rate and get currency when its in our favour. Book the hire car early with alamo to get the best deals. It all makes a difference! i work out even with free dining this is still a better deal long term ( because you have to buy the pass to get free dining and we get two years from ours plus discounts in various places )

We pay the 10 dollars to do the virgin downtown checkin on the day we leave and hand back the hire car and get the magical express. We get the ME to the resort as well and pick up the car the next day ( alamo will pick you up for free in a shuttle ). This saves two days car hire!

We dont worry about free dining as we like to dine off world as well. We like the variety and eating off world is cheap and good!

Sometimes like this year we also do 3 or 4 nights on the disney dream because its wonderful and it saves room points! If you are spending the money on the flight might as well stay for as long as possible.

Last year I was speaking to some Americans who check out of SSR at the weekends and check in to a cheaper local hotel to stay longer and save points!

We have never regretted our purchase! One year when we couldnt come we rented out the points which is very simple via Davids vacation website. Worst year of my life lol...

 

[Tink2312]

We own 160 and our points get us approx12 nights/ yr in a BLT studio in Sept-Feb (ex xmas).

Like pp i must say we (my parents and I) find a studio has ample room. We particularly love the dedicated kitchen at BLT and the extra storage that affords. We've stayed in offsite condos and we always felt the bigger the space, the more mess we'd create and the smaller the condo would feel.

We'll probably add on in a few years but it will be more to have more nights without borrowing than it will be to stay in larger accom. In fact i really don't like the idea of spending double points to stay in the same resort and spend little time in the room anyway.

OP, i hope you enjoy your purchase

 

[Meggysmum]

We bought 160pts at BLT and buying direct we had two years worth to spend so booked a 1-bed. We liked it so much that we decided to add on another 125pts at BLT resale.

We have found that even though we live in the UK we can still find good deals for flights and our DVC gives us great flexibility. Our holiday pattern has changed beyond belief!

We stayed last October at BLT in a 1-bed.

Last week e spent 4 nights in California at GC in a 1-bed in a location we would never have dreamed of paying for and our DVC made it possible.

In September my daughter and her friend are heading to studios at BLT and then BW. This is their pre-university holiday, they are paying for their own flights but I was able to gift them the accomodation so I know they wont be staying in some seedy motel!

In October we are taking advantage of the free DDP and staying at SSR for a week. The deal was actually cheaper than our flight prices only for last year so I couldn't resist!

In December we are staying a couple of nights at AoA then using DVC for a 1-bed at OKW for New Year.

Having pre-paid our accomodation has given us the ability to just save for our airfares and snap up bargain flights when we see them knowing that we are more than likely going to be able to sort out some DVC accomodation or other.

 

[happyj]

We bought 250 points at SSR in 2005 and 35 at AKL a year later. We have never regretted it only wish we had done it sooner. We go every year for about 3 weeks. Spend a few nights off Disney using Avios. Now we are only 2 but even when our daughter came with us 3 was fine in a studio. Yes more would be nice but we prefer to stay longer. Thus year we had 2 studios as my daughters partner came. We love the choice we have and are very happy with DVC. we also get 2 years out of an annual pass and do virgin miles plus money.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Hi Happyj. How lovely re spending 3 weeks! I wish we had enough to do that. Do you stay at SSR using the 7 month window with the extra AKL points you bought or do you change resorts after a few weeks and go to AKL using the 11 month window for both?

 

[happyj]

Hi Paula we have tried all except OKW. Our favourite is BCV and BLT. But if we would be happy any where. We have never had any trouble booking at the 7 month window. Though we do normally book at 11months SSR.
Janet

 

[Huey]

Hope I am not hijacking a thread, not only am I new to this forum, I am new to forums full stop...sorry if this is bad form.

Hopefully just about to pick up an OKW contract through resale which is fairly heavy on points. I scoured this site for information before committing to make sure I was armed with information needed to make such a big decision so thanks to all the experienced DISers for the help I have gleaned so far.

My question: I am considering converting a capital sum into US Dollars when (if) I close on the DVC contract. The idea is to invest enough in Dollars to pay future dues and holiday spending money from growth on the investment. If the Dollar weakens in the future I can still choose to convert more Sterling and pay for the dues as they occur but if the Dollar strengthens I will be holding Dollars so it won't matter. Please can anyone recommend a bank which offers an account which can hold Dollars, has a debit card facility to pay the dues from the UK and use for spending money in the US as well as a linked investment account that will let me deal shares in Dollars or buy Dollar denominated funds to get the investment growth I require all for a UK resident?

I had better say thanks in advance in case I can never work out how to log back in again, so "cheers" and happy holidaying!