What's great about DVC?? The anti whining and free dining thread

[alamode]

With all the whining and (free) dining threads, as well as the ticket price increases, I think it's time for a good news thread.

For me, I just got into the system today. Wooot!!!!!!!

 

[DVCGeek]

I own at BLT and my first DVC home looks absolutely awesome from the grand opening reports coming out so far. I can't wait to stay there!

Plus, DVC is making it easier for me to get in more Disney time. I've got my first three DVC stays booked right now- VWL Oct. '09, BLT Nov/Dec '09, and BLT again Jan/Feb '10. Plans are being worked on for a VGC stay in Oct. 2010 and I've got ideas for 2011 and beyond as well...

 

[El&Asmom]

Right there with you. I don't get all the whining about free dining. You have to pay rack rate for a room, and buy a one day ticket. It's really about the same as a 40% discount code. Just because the word "free" is in the discount doesn't mean your getting anything for free. It's just another type of discount.
Plus we get our rooms for the next 50 some years. Just wait until the economy improves. These discounts will be long gone.

 

[Maddykins06]

I own at BLT too - heck it feels GREAT just writing that!
I'm so excited about going "home" in January.
We just bought our AP's & I will be booking a Steam Train Tour for DH for his birthday.

T-minus 5 months + 5 days til I go HOME!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

1. We can now afford to go to Disney twice per year instead of every two years.

2. We can now take wonderful trips to Savannah and Hilton Head that we never took before.

3. My boardwalk view is spectacular.

(Before DVC our standard resort views were always...a beautiful view of the parking lot.)

 

[FindTheMickeys]

Add me to the list. I have owned at SSR for 4 years now and just paid off my loan So going forward, my lodging for every vacation is already paid for. So that leaves transportation and park tickets (which I buy as 10 visit ultimate park hopper with water park and more non expiration) so I still have 8 visits on the 2 tickets I bought in 2006. As far as free dining goes, it is what you make of it. I was able to get the TS ressies that I wanted at 45 days out and am content with that because I go to Disney for the parks, NOT the food Half the fun is eating in the room, with my feet up on the coffee table (can't do that at home (hehe))

 

[wdrl]

Now that Disney has released the rack rates for 2010, I did some comparison of the prices for our BLT stay March 1-8, 2010, which will be in a studio with an MK view. According to the Disney website, that room, with tax, will cost $4,646 for that 7-day stay. I figure it will take less than six trips for us to recover the cost of our DVC buy-in AND the yearly maintenance fees. And that doesn't consider that we'll use only 183 of our 210 points for that stay. We'll have an extra 27 points each year to apply to another DVC stay, which will help speed up our DVC cost recovery.

But here is the added value of DVC in my mind: We would NEVER pay $4,646 for a hotel stay if I had to pay cash. Thus, we would never stay at BLT because it is out of our price range. Now, since we are DVC members, we can consider a resort like BLT, even when we are planning family gatherings.

 

[disneyobessed]

I LOVE DVC!! We own at AKL.. but havnt stayed there yet..not sure when.. but LOVE staying at BWV..BCV..SSR!!!! I would never dish out that much money a night for the 2 bedrooms.. Looking to try to get BLT for the next trip!! Now I just have to figure out the best passes.. non expiration..10 day.. ect. No complaints here.. !! They can have their free dining! IVe got my DVC!

 

[Granny]

DVC has been a good value for us since we joined in 2002. While some consider it a drawback, we are glad that they have built so many DVC resorts since we bought out VWL contract. The ability to "change it up" and stay at so many places on-site plus the exciting addition of California and Hawaii locations just adds to the value and flexibility of our ownership.

But here is the added value of DVC in my mind: We would NEVER pay $4,646 for a hotel stay if I had to pay cash.

This is really how I've described the benefit of DVC to my acquaintances. DVC doesn't really save us money, but it allows for a quality of vacation I would never have otherwise.

 

[december14disney]

I love our DVC. Lodging is "paid for" (the mait. fees are by month and VERY doable), annual passes and we drive. So really we just have to worry about food and misc. DVC vacations are easy and affordable for us right now in this economy. And they are GREAT vacations to have.

 

[rentayenta]

What's great:

• My home is SSR/THV
• If I want to participate in FD, I can rent my points and pay cash
• Quality family vacations for the next 45 years
• Homelike

• Can trade out which we are doing next March for Mexico
• Constant vacation planning

• Affordable!

 

[Corinne]

Right there with you. I don't get all the whining about free dining. You have to pay rack rate for a room, and buy a one day ticket. It's really about the same as a 40% discount code. Just because the word "free" is in the discount doesn't mean your getting anything for free. It's just another type of discount.
Plus we get our rooms for the next 50 some years. Just wait until the economy improves. These discounts will be long gone.

I agree! Although, I would be lying if I said I have never whined about the "free" dining---but it is NOT because we don't get it, it is because all the "free" diners are going to be there during our usually calm, quiet time to visit!

 

[DebbieB]

I'm coming up on my 10 year anniversary as a DVC member and am very happy with it! When I joined, it was just OKW and BWV. I actually liked both but bought BWV because I figured it would be harder to get reservations. Over 20 stays later, I have stayed at all the WDW DVC's except SSR and BLT. I was sitting on my balcony at AKV Kidani in June and said who would have thought we would have a DVC resort with live animals! So many choices now! At one time we were lobbying for a 10% discount on AP's - they came through in an even bigger way!

 

[jpolak]

We love our DVC and wouldn't trade it for anything. We get great accomodations at beautiful resorts. I just use my TIW card and get my discount that way.

 

[bwvBound]

My favorite: Receiving a $0.00 bill at checkout!

With all the whining and (free) dining threads, as well as the ticket price increases, I think it's time for a good news thread.

For me, I just got into the system today. Wooot!!!!!!!

 

[photobob]

I am providing my son and his fiance a beautiful room at Vero Beach for their honeymoon! The get married this Saturday and will check in at Vero Sunday!!!

 

[DVC Mike]

Another happy DVC member here!

 

[DiznyDi]

I am providing my son and his fiance a beautiful room at Vero Beach for their honeymoon! The get married this Saturday and will check in at Vero Sunday!!!

Our daughter and her fiance will be using our points for their honeymoon in October/November. 10 days at the World split between 2 resorts would not have been possible without DVC!

 

[MrsNick]

Hip hip hooray for DVC! Why? Because in this economy, we get to take a vacation even during these tough times. Without our lodging pre-paid, DH and I would not be able to justify spending the money on a vacation.

On our next vacation, we get to treat my DSis + family and my DM to a stay with us in the THV's. Family reunion: Priceless. We could never afford to do that if we didn't own DVC. We have spare points next year since we were unable to go away this year - unrelated to the economy.

With DVC, we have gotten really good at spending very little money on vacations. We eat out less (and prefer it), and I have managed to get at least one free airfare with frequent flyer programs on many of our recent trips. So far, I've earned one free RT ticket towards our next vacation

My only whine is that I'd like to add-on more points, but that will have to wait!

 

[Deb & Bill]

With all the complaining about the poor quality of Disney food, some are complaining about not getting that same poor quality food for free??? I say we buy up lots of Ramen noodles for everyone and leave them in the villas for the next guests. Who's up for a ramen noodle share???

What I like is we bought our first 175 points for about $50 a point. We sold 175 points of later contracts (had five, still have three) for more than we paid for them. And we still have enough points for a real nice vacation every year.