What is DVC???

[lisagirl88]

I heard the term DVC tossed around alot on the cruise we just took. I know it stands for Disney Vacation Club, but what exactly is the Disney Vacation Club and how do you sign up? Also where would I sign up for the Disney Visa Card? Do you accumulate points for all of your purchases? If so is it 1 point for every $ spent? We would like to go either on another Disney cruise or the WDW in 2010 and I would love to do things that would earn us "rewards" to help off set the price!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I can't answer the DVC questions, but I do know about the Disney VISA.

The Disney Visa is offered by Chase bank. You can accumulate Disney rewards to be used at any Disney park, resort, store, cruise, etc. You earn $1 for every $100 you charge on the card. You also can get freebies and discounts at Disney parks.

Check out this site: http://disneyrewards.disney.go.com/index.html

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Disney Vacation Club is vacation ownership (similar to a Time Share)

 

[lisagirl88]

So would the DVC only benefit people who plan to go to Disney ALOT? How does it work for cruises??

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

I can't really explain it very well. I recommend attending one of thier presentations next time you're at WDW or on the cruise.

You don't have to go to WDW... I have three friends here in Orlando who are DVC members. Points can be used for cruises, Adventures by Disney, any other Disney park, as well as like 400 other destinations worldwide. Of course your best value is your home resort.

I'm sure you could go to disneyvacationclub.com and find out more information.

 

[WolfpackFan]

DVC IS a timeshare. You buy into DVC and actually own part of the DVC resort. You buy points which you can then apply towards stays at the different resorts. Bottom line is you are talking about a minimum expenditure of anywhere from $10,000-15,000 (depending upon if you purchase directly from DVC or thru the resell market) to join and then you have to pay annual maintenance dues. It really only pays if you go to WDW on a regular basis (like every year) and stay in a moderate or deluxe resort. Using your DVC points to go on cruises is not usually considered a very good use of your points because you can pay cash for the cruise and get a better deal. My advice - do a lot of browsing in these message boards and then the next time you are at WDW, go to one of the presentations.

 

[Anal Annie]

Check out this link...it should help explain a little more. Through this link you will also be able to check out the different DVC resorts etc. (use the Destinations link). They recently announced Bay Lake Towers (BLT) at the Contemporary as the newest DVC resort. It is only for sale to current DVC members RIGHT NOW and the sales will open to the general public next week.

http://dvc.disney.go.com/dvc/guest/about/guestAbout?id=ProspectsHowMembershipWorksPage

DVC is a flexible timeshare system where you purchase points at a "home" Disney resort. You have a priority booking window at your "home" resort of 11 months and then can book at the other DVC resorts at 7 months. To help you figure out how many points you would need you study the point charts for the resorts and consider the size unit you would probably want to stay in most often (the accomodations vary slightly from resort to resort but basically they offer studios that sleep 4, 1 bedroom villas that sleep either 4 or 5, 2 bedroom villas that sleep 8-9 and Grand Villas that sleep 12). They have 5 seasons, so you then decide which season you would most likely travel in and then find the corresponding number of points. You can bank and borrow your points too - so there are a lot of people who own DVC who do not go every year. They purchase enough points to bank and borrow for the size unit / season they want and they go once every 3 years. We purchased enough points at SSR to be able to go for 2 full weeks during the peak summer season in a studio if we wanted or for 1 week in a one bedroom (yes, the points can vary by that much) OR we could take others with us and spring for 2 studios for one week. To be more frugal tho, we could travel in mid-August when the points drop and only go for 5 nights (weekends use more points) and we could get a 2 bedroom unit. It is not like a traditional timeshare. You are not locked into a specific time of year or unit size. It's very flexible.

The units are considered "deluxe" accomodations and there are a few small perks to being a member - one is $100 off Annual Passes - so if you DO go every year or for more than 1 trip a year those are a real deal.

There are links at the top of the DVC boards to the point charts and for resells (purchases made not directly thru Disney). There are annual maintenance dues (per point purchased) and they vary from resort to resort. I think the Timeshare store has a link to the maintenance fee charts.

 

[CraftyMouse]

So would the DVC only benefit people who plan to go to Disney ALOT? How does it work for cruises??

DVC is a major investment and it really works best for those who travel to WDW often. You can use your points for the cruise, but you won't save much money over booking a cruise yourself.

Instead of purchasing a specific week, like most timeshares, with DVC you purchase an allotment of points. You get that amount of points every year until your membership expires (most current memberships expire in the 2040/50's) and you can spend them on any size DVC unit at any time of the year. You can also spend them on rooms at Disneyland, DIsneyland Paris, on DVC cruises (although it takes a LOT of points to do this) or to trade out to other locations around the world.

Points are currently running around $100 each and the minimum purchase is 160 points. For that $100 per point you will get your annual allotment of points every year for the next 40-odd years. If you go through a resale agent the cost will be less and you can purchase less than 160. Once the original purchase is made there are also maintenance fees that must be paid each year. They are currently running in the $4-5 per point range per year, depending on the property you choose.

That's a brief overview. If you are interested in pursuing a membership then you can get lots more information here on the DVC boards.

 

[crisi]

DVC is a major investment and it really works best for those who travel to WDW often. You can use your points for the cruise, but you won't save much money over booking a cruise yourself.

And, ideally, have the cash on hand to support the initial investment, and the long term cash flow to commit to dues. Or, less ideally, have the short term (five year) cash flow to commit to both payments and dues.

 

[CraftyMouse]

And, ideally, have the cash on hand to support the initial investment, and the long term cash flow to commit to dues. Or, less ideally, have the short term (five year) cash flow to commit to both payments and dues.

We financed our initial purchase but always had the cash to pay for the dues. Our payment fit easily into our budget at a time when we didn't have the full purchase price available in savings. I think that it is fine to finance, as long as your monthly payment is a realistic one.

 

[NancyDVC]

Yes, many people say that the only way to get your money's worth with DVC is to go every year or more often. But I have found that the flexiblity helps a lot. The first year that we owned (way back in 1992) we banked all our points into our use year for 1993 and were able to take my parents and my sister and her 3 kids at Easter.
We have banked points many times since to have a longer vacation, one at a holiday time (the whole gang again at Thanksgiving) or used them to cruise (7 day Magic), NYC at The Plaza, the Disneyland Hotel in California etc.
I have also used them to treat family members to a stay.
I know members who routinely use their points outside WDW and outside DVC.
Some members take careful accounting of their points and stay in a studio to get in more trips.
The flexibility is the key for me.

I have a friend who owns at least 4 timeshare weeks in other companies and is pretty much locked in to the 7 night stays at her home resorts unless she requests trades very far in advance.
I love WDW but have enjoyed all my DVC vacations no matter where they took us. And quite frankly I could not have been able to affors some of those trips without DVC.

 

[jfinke]

Apparently it is still the best kept secret at WDW!

 

[Entropy]

DVC IS a timeshare. You buy into DVC and actually own part of the DVC resort. You buy points which you can then apply towards stays at the different resorts. Bottom line is you are talking about a minimum expenditure of anywhere from $10,000-15,000 (depending upon if you purchase directly from DVC or thru the resell market) to join and then you have to pay annual maintenance dues. It really only pays if you go to WDW on a regular basis (like every year) and stay in a moderate or deluxe resort. Using your DVC points to go on cruises is not usually considered a very good use of your points because you can pay cash for the cruise and get a better deal. My advice - do a lot of browsing in these message boards and then the next time you are at WDW, go to one of the presentations.

You don't need to go every year to get the most out of a DVC membership. We bought enough points to be able to stay in a 2-bedroom unit for 9-10 nights every other year. We just borrow or bank points as necessary. On alternate years, we do something else like take a cruise, go camping or go to Disneyland.

 

[natsiswdw]

when you go to disney using your DVC points to you still pay for the hotel room??? I know that is probably a silly question.

 

[hakepb]

when you go to disney using your DVC points to you still pay for the hotel room??? I know that is probably a silly question.

No. DVC is your WDW accomodations. (hotels)

Buying DVC is "just" pre-paying your WDW hotel bills, kinda locking in today's rates. DVC members still have to pay for park tickets, food, transportation (I should add, as any on-site WDW hotel guest, DVC members can use onsite busses, boats, monorails, and ME to get from the airport, but you still have to pay to get to the airport or WDW)...

 

[edk35]

My dh would call it "Disney Vacation Cult"

 

[Brancaneve]

I was just reading this thread and I thought it might answer your DVC question. Very interesting and true!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1973843