What happens on a DVC tour?

[Welsh *Disney* Girlz]

Hi all,
We're off to Florida in 2 weeks time and after reading about DVC thought we might have a tour. I've got a couple of questions which I hope you can help me with.
1) Is there a 'best place' ie Downtown Disney, to arrange the tour?
2) What happens on the tour?
3) How long does it last?
4) Are you given anything for going on the tour?
5) What happens if we don't want to sign up straight away?
Sorry about all the questions!
Thanks

 

[Revtel]

Hi all,
We're off to Florida in 2 weeks time and after reading about DVC thought we might have a tour. I've got a couple of questions which I hope you can help me with.
1) Is there a 'best place' ie Downtown Disney, to arrange the tour?
2) What happens on the tour?
3) How long does it last?
4) Are you given anything for going on the tour?
5) What happens if we don't want to sign up straight away?
Sorry about all the questions!
Thanks

Downtown Disney is fine, but there are sales booths all over WDW.

They will show you the "models" for AKV and SSR, and explain how DVC works.

Anything from 45 minutes to 2 hours, depending how chatty you want to be.

Coffee, muffins, a set of Fast Passes and free ice cream (with a photograph)

No problem, take it away and have think in your own time. Never any pressure.

Enjoy

 

[1andrea]

When we went on a DVC tour just under 2 years ago we arranged our tour at Magic Kingdom on our first day! (It was our second trip though!)

We were given a time to return and they took us over to SSR. We waited a couple of mins for the tour guide tea, coffee and pastries were available.

DD went into the creche (we had never left her before on holiday so watched her for a while before leaving her)

We were shown a presentation with slide show that lasted around 10 mins.

The guide then showed us the DVC room models just like show homes and we asked to take a look at the main pool.

We then went back to an office and he talked us through the figures and left us to talk for a few mins and told him to call if we needed him.

He popped back a few minutes later and asked if we needed more time etc.

There was no pressure to sign up there and then but we did!

We were offered free Ice Cream

We needed our credit card so he arranged transport back to All Stars Movies for me while DD and DH went over to DTD.

I then returned signed up and transport was arranged over to DTD and we were given a gift card, I think it was for $60 and you got his even if you didnt sign up.

If i hadnt needed to go back to our resort it probably would have taken about an hour.

When we got home they also extended the time we had to close by with no problems (As we signed up on he first day of three weeks away)

And I honestly havent once regretted it!

 

[UKDEB]

Reading the previous 2 posters' responses, I would say every experience is different . We didn't get any incentive, per se (i.e. no $60 gift card), but at the time they were running a $15 per point discount. I'll answer your questions in the order posed based on our own experience:

1) No one place is better to book than another - there are DVC booths all over. If you see big Vern, tell him I said "Hi!"
2) I think our Tour Guide assumed we were a done deal (which couldn't have been further from the truth), so eveything was very laid-back and pretty much just a chat - we talked about everything but DVC! We'd been introduced by friends and for some reason he assumed we were going to buy. In actual fact, we'd gone along for the tour partly to be nosy and partly because we thought it might help big Vern. When dh showed some interest in buying, you could have knocked me down with a feather.
3) We were there for a good hour and a half, but that was partly due to the fact that he thought we had already made up our minds. I think we'd have got to the stage where we went to view the units a lot sooner if he'd thought we were undecided.
4) See my opening comments. If you're staying onsite, they do provide transportation and there are refreshments available at the preview centre.
5) We didn't sign up there and then. We'd made arrangements to meet friends for lunch and so we ran out of time. We arranged to go back a couple of days later. There was absolutely no pressure at all. It pretty much sells itself. Must be the most sought after sales job on the planet!

 

[Callum]

In our case it was a last minute thing. On our last day at MK we just went into the DVC point and asked about it. Quick reservation made for us at SSR the next day - this was the day we were flying back to UK.

Coffee, juice, video, figures, payment options etc were all discussed in less than 2 hours. We had to leave and our biggest regret was missing out on the ice cream

We came away with their big blue book with all the details and our guide, Glenn, simply told us to have a think and he would call us a few days after we got home. Absolutely no pressure whatsoever.

Made our first visit in mid January and can't wait to do it again

(PS - spent many a Friday lunch in the Bluebell before it became the Goat Major - is it still there? Cymru am byth)

 

[fuse04]

For us we got hold of a contact name (someone who works for DVC at the booths) before we went out and whilst we didn't meet him he arranged an appointment for us.

We were picked up by a DVC vechicle and after the ride taken to wherever we wanted to go (on WDW that is!). Coffee and ice cream. Short video and tour of AKL villa's. Salesman was not pushy, we did not buy and received compliementary DVC fast pass tickets to make up for the time we lost in the parks!

Rob

 

[spm23]

For us, we were staying onsite for the first time and had time to talk to one of the reps in the hall area about what it was about.

We were picked up from a park one day, the children went into the play area with sweets, drinks childcare etc all taken care of.

We had a tour round the room types and explanation of how it all works.

We then decided to sign up as the quality and experiences of on site stays and options to use worldwide places was good for us.

There was no pressure at all, the kids didn't want to leave the club and they then took us back to the park. Overall, about 2 hours as we signed up, could have been less if we didn't have to complete the paperwork.


Be warned - Visiting this tour could seriously affect your wealth........Its very impressive.

 

[Welsh *Disney* Girlz]

Thanks to everyone who've replied.

One more question-do you get to choose between visiting SSR or AK?

Thanks

PS. Callum- must admit I have no idea if the Goat Major is still there or not. It's odd isn't it that I know more about what's going on at Disney than I do of my home town!

 

[Revtel]

Thanks to everyone who've replied.

One more question-do you get to choose between visiting SSR or AK?

Thanks

PS. Callum- must admit I have no idea if the Goat Major is still there or not. It's odd isn't it that I know more about what's going on at Disney than I do of my home town!

No, all the "models" are at SSR, although there is nothing to stop you visiting AKL and having a look around. Most folk do that anyway.

 

[Liljam]

Just thought I'd chime in here on a few things...

You can view both SSR and AKV models at SSR. These are the only two DVC units that offer incentives at all right now, but please note, you can buy (if available) at any other DVC unit like OKW or BCV too. You can buy them through Disney or through resale although there aren't the same incentives. I think this is important to mention because our guide and most others will not try to sell you DVC points for anything but SSR and AKV.

As for our sale - we had 3 business days to decide if we wanted to buy with the current incentives last year. They weren't pushy but they did put a limit on us. The problem with that is that the same incentive was offered for a long time after that. Either way, DVC does sell itself, and if you do enough research you can make your trip shorter by telling you guide that you have already educated yourself on a lot of the perks of DVC. One thing I wish I'd have done is to go to the spa and check it out while on the tour. I can't wait to go there in a month and a half!!!

Good luck on your holiday and with your tour.

 

[paulh]

didnt do the tour just told them to bring the papers for me to sign
We did a try before you buy
paid for 3 nights at boardwalk (got upgraded from a studio to a 1 bed)and got 4 at vero for free(or the outher way roun carnt rember)
By the time we were due to do the tour we were begging them to sign ue up

Paulh