Vacations outside of DVC properities

[jkg]

Hi,
My wife and I are thinking about joining the DVC. While we love Disney, we want to find out how easy it is to take trips to the other "NON Disney" resorts listed in the package. Any and all experiences welcome.

Thanks,
jay

 

[kjjlouie]

The hotels in the concierge collection are much easier to book than the timeshare trades in the world passport collection. You have request trades early, and you may not get an exchange at all. I have made requests two years in advance and waited for up to 10 months with no success. However, I chose to request stays at Southern California resorts that owners from other time shares don't trade out. Think about the time you make your request. Summers and breaks from school tend to be high season at all timeshares.

Also note that the points required to book stays at the hotels listed in the concierge collection are extremely high. In addition to the points, they also charge $95 to make the reservation. If I book concierge collection, I would only book longer stays so that I am not paying $95 and points for a short weekend getaway.

Please be aware that people on this board will always tell you that using your points outside of the Disney Vacation Club resorts is a bad value. Sometimes they even scold you for even thinking of it. However, if you buy points, use them how you want to use them. I look at the hotels on the list for the concierge collection and research their rates. I can tell you that the rates for these properties are not cheap,$200-300 a night at times. So, if you reserve 5 nights in Monterey, CA for $95 and 200 points, it may not be such a bad deal. We all tire of Disney Vacations once and a while. Just don't book a golf outing at Pebble Beach while you're in Monterey

 

[Dean]

Some are easy and some are difficult or risky. Certainly buying with the idea of trading is a poor choice but yours to make.

 

[jdkdorn]

We have exchanged out to the Marriott in scottsdale, last October, and the Red Wolf at Squaw Valley, this July. It was very difficult getting this summers exchange, we put in for it over a year and a hal ago and did not get any of our top 5 picks. The Scottsdale exchange only took a month and we got our second choice.

While we have doen the exchanges for familt reasons I would never buy based on that. The exchanges are not easy and you have to really try in advance and have an open date selection. We had a hard time for this summer and we gave them any date from June 22-August 22.

Think hard before you buy if you want to exchage, you might be better of looking at Marriott

Judy

 

[rocketriter]

We've exchanged to Hawaii and to Williamsburg, VA. Both times, we did enough research to know likely resorts and seasons for easy matching and decent value. So it can be done. That said, the best use of DVC points will always be on DVC properties -- including Hilton Head and Vero Beach if you don't feel like doing the parks.

 

[kathy carleton]

can you tell me where you chose to stay in Williamsburg?? I plan to put in a request next week for next summer... what was your experience doing this??

We bought in for WDW, but frankly for us to be able to swap or trade or have options is a value for our family. thanks for the help!!

 

[Dean]

can you tell me where you chose to stay in Williamsburg?? I plan to put in a request next week for next summer... what was your experience doing this??

We bought in for WDW, but frankly for us to be able to swap or trade or have options is a value for our family. thanks for the help!!

Williamsburg is an easy exchange though of questionable value. And it's one of the locations where you could easily search for a 1 BR and get a 2 BR for the 1 BR price. The only place I'd trade DVC to for Williamsburg would be the Marriott there.

 

[jodifla]

I called up and asked for general availabilty in South Florida for the end of June and the end of August.

I could have booked a top notch Marriott right away during the time I was considering in August.

So if you have enough flexibility, you can trade with minimal hassle.

 

[Dean]

I called up and asked for general availabilty in South Florida for the end of June and the end of August.

I could have booked a top notch Marriott right away during the time I was considering in August.

So if you have enough flexibility, you can trade with minimal hassle.

Those are low times for South FL and I'd caution anyone from making too many assumptions about trading based on lower demand times and that's true both within and outside DVC. One could live in Marriott's in South FL from late April until the week before Xmas just on bonus weeks alone if you had enough of them. The one minimal exception is Beachplace for late June to the end of July as there is a secondary peak there due to travel from South America.

 

[vfinder1]

I am thinking about staying at one of the hotels in Chicago next year. Has anyone stayed at any of those hotels? Also, someone mentioned a fee for making these reservations with our DVC points.. Is that the case with all NON Disney Hotels? And is the fee always $95 per reservations?

Thanks

 

[jodifla]

Those are low times for South FL and I'd caution anyone from making too many assumptions about trading based on lower demand times and that's true both within and outside DVC. One could live in Marriott's in South FL from late April until the week before Xmas just on bonus weeks alone if you had enough of them. The one minimal exception is Beachplace for late June to the end of July as there is a secondary peak there due to travel from South America.

Well, I think the word flexible is key, yes!

I had never even called to see about other resorts in the past 10 years, so I was interested to see that I could have got what I wanted in pretty short notice.

I wonder if folks do the planning backward at all; for example, call with a vacation week or weeks in mind, and just see what they have available in the system for those weeks. That could be a fun way to try something different!

 

[rocketriter]

can you tell me where you chose to stay in Williamsburg?? I plan to put in a request next week for next summer... what was your experience doing this?

We stayed at the Marriott Ford's Colony, about a 10-minute drive from Colonial Williamsburg. The colony is very nice and the suite was spacious and lovely, although I suspect that we got a dumpster view because we're not Marriott owners. The resort offered activities every day, but we filled our week with CW, Jamestown and Busch Gardens. Our biggest problem was the outdoor temperature which, in August, was about 1,000 degrees. By the way, if you're staying several days I strongly recommend the Williamsburg Annual Pass (much less expensive than a DW Annual Pass). Take lots of tours and attend a couple of the "trial" re-enactments, which we loved. The more you engage your family in Williamsburg experiences, the more you'll get out of it. (I stress this because we have relatives who visited Williamsburg one day, walked down the main street without going into any buildings, then left announcing that there was nothing interesting to do. Yoicks!)

 

[kathy carleton]

thank you !! thank you!! Our DVC guide Judy had recommended Marriott Ford Colony as well.. You have given just the info we needed! We would never trade for hotel rooms, but am i nuts, but i just do not think 160 points is that bad of a trade for a week in a 1 bedroom at a place like that !! We are just thrilled to have options. WE also are very close to Destin< Fl and do plan on using some points at some time for that location as well... that did not look like a bad deal either! keep the suggestions coming! thanks!

 

[bpmorley]

I've tried a couple times, with absolutely no luck, to trade on both Concierge & World passport collection.

 

[Dean]

Well, I think the word flexible is key, yes!

I had never even called to see about other resorts in the past 10 years, so I was interested to see that I could have got what I wanted in pretty short notice.

I wonder if folks do the planning backward at all; for example, call with a vacation week or weeks in mind, and just see what they have available in the system for those weeks. That could be a fun way to try something different!

As you likely know I'm a big planner. One of these days I'm going to plan a week of vacation and simply find something within 30-60 days during that time that matches my week.

Just to see I did a search for the next 13 months and looked at all the Marriott properties outside Orlando. Basically July to mid December was wide open and for PC, a 2 BR was available most any week of the year for the next year. It makes me glad I didn't buy a week there because had they been lockoff's I would have.

 

[dancingvolleyballmom]

We purchased SSR in August of 2006. My DVC sales agent told us this program is not for last-minute travelers, and because of my husband's schedule, we can never travel last-minute anyway. We were able to book a studio for Food and Wine immediately.

My husband and I are using 434 points this summer to take an Alaskan cruise with Holland America. I began calling in January having no ideal what ship or route we wanted, we just wanted to go. So we were able to get a week at a time we could plan ahead for. We paid a $400 upgrade for outside stateroom with balcony. He also told me to figure point value at $6 per point (the purchase price per point divided by 48 years, plus the annual maintenance fee per point). So we are both cruising for $3101 for one week, including the $95 fee and upgrade price!

After booking the cruise, I began receiving emails from Holland America about last minute "deals" but each time I called to compare, the agent told me that our situation was better than any specials they were offering. So we are happy and looking forward to our cruise.

 

[JudyS]

...He also told me to figure point value at $6 per point (the purchase price per point divided by 48 years, plus the annual maintenance fee per point). So we are both cruising for $3101 for one week, including the $95 fee and upgrade price!....

I consider my DVC points to be worth a lot more than $6! It's easy to transfer points to other owners via the Rent/Trade board here for $10 a point. This method that the DVC salesman suggested for valuing your points has a major problem. It takes 48 years to get the full value out of your points, but you have to pay the full price of those points right now. So, if you are financing your DVC purchase at, say, 10%, you need to factor in what you are paying in interest. Once you do that, you realize that the real cost is more like $11-$12 a point! Even if you didn't have to take out a loan to buy DVC points, you still are giving up the interest that you would have earned on your money, had you invested it or put it in the bank instead of using it to buy DVC.

It sounds like you are all set for your cruise, so go ahead and enjoy it. But, if you want to use your DVC points for cruising in the future, you may want to consider renting your points out and booking the cruise with the cash you get for the rental. This is more work, but makes your points go a lot further.

 

[JudyS]

Hi,
My wife and I are thinking about joining the DVC. While we love Disney, we want to find out how easy it is to take trips to the other "NON Disney" resorts listed in the package. Any and all experiences welcome...

I love my DVC points, but I consider them too valuable to use for trading into other resorts. If I don't use all of my DVC points, I rent them out instead. For going to non-Disney locations, I've purchased at a different resort, a much less expensive one, which I use for trading in Interval International. This has worked out really well for me. Next week, I'll be staying at Marriott's Newport Coast Villas and going to Disneyland! I traded in through Interval, using my inexpensive week. (I've heard that the land for Newport Coast Villas was originally going to be used for a California DVC resort, but Disney decided to focus on building more Orlando resorts instead, so they sold the land to Marriott.)

 

[bpmorley]

It sounds like you are all set for your cruise, so go ahead and enjoy it. But, if you want to use your DVC points for cruising in the future, you may want to consider renting your points out and booking the cruise with the cash you get for the rental. This is more work, but makes your points go a lot further.

I did the math on using points to take a Disney cruise and I found that it was worth it. Instead we're paying cash for a W Carribean cruise and I believe we saving about 50%.