Disney Vacation Club..

[LisainIL]

Hi, I was hoping to get some information on the DVC from some actual members. My family is considering this a little more serious. I have talked to disney and now I would like to talk to some DVC members about their experience with the club.

Any information would be helpful.
Thanks

[JSTX]

We have been members for 3 years now. I would be happy to answer any questions you have. We started out with a purchase of 250 points at Animal Kingdom and now have a total of 750 points at both BLT and AKV. We love DVC.

[LisainIL]

Well...We have been coming every other year. We have been staying at the Value resorts. This has been the best way for us. We usually stay for a week. I really do not think this is a good deal for us. Although I would love to be a member.
I think if we stayed in the higher priced resorts I could see it being worth the money.
What do you think?? What is the plus to joining?

[kgar2121]

We are members for about 5 years now, and have 400 points between Saratoga Springs and Bay Lake. The only thing I regret is that we didn't do it 10 years ago when we got married instead of 5. Until we joined, we always stayed off property, mainly renting houses. But once we stayed on property, the house rental thing went out the window. I know you say you only go every other year, but you dont say if you stay on property or not. I have never stayed at any of the value or moderate resorts, so I am only going on what I hear on podcasts and other reviews, but apparently there is a stark difference in those and the deluxe resorts. Once again, that's only what I have heard and read, so I cannot verify.

If you are only visiting once every other year, you would still fall into the group of "worth it". You can figure out where you want to stay most of the time and the time of year you generally travel, then see what point total you need for that trip. Then you can buy HALF that number of points, and just bank and borrow points to make your trips. So for simplicity, you can figure you will get about 50 years (give or take) until the contract expires, so you will probably get 25 trips out of your contract. Take the amount you will spend (dont forget to add in the maintenance fees though) and divide it by 25 to see if you save money. Even if you come out flat, in my opinion, its totally worth it. Also, look at the amount you are spending for rooms now, and figure that rates will continue to go up, and up, and up with inflation, and you can rest easy knowing that the only inflation you will see is in the park ticket prices.

Obviously, you can see I looooooove DVC, and will probably continue to add points over the next several years, so if you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

[lock*shock*barrel]

We love being members. We have 275 points at 2 resorts but have been able to stay at just about all of them over the last 7 years. We go a couple times a year and it allows us to enjoy WDW so much more than if we were not DVC members. Then you get the AP and it makes those vacations really affordable.

[Jenn's BF AKA Garet]

If you look at it from a money aspect it is probably more affordable if you stay at the value resort (assuming you only go every other year). However in the long run (the 50 years of membership) it would probably be a better choice.

We have been members for almost a year (LOL :lol:), and have not used our vacation club points yet. We went with the basic for now, but plan on adding more once we get our other loans taken care of (cars and school :(). We love to travel and have already booked our stay at WDW in January for about a week, have it scheduled in to stay in Paris for 5 days, and in September for about a week for The Florida Project. For now, we love the Vacation Club because we do not have to pay up front for the hotel.

I would suggest however to look up the points that you would use for a week at the resort you would like and choose your points from there. Also, make that your home resort so you can book 9 months in advance instead of the 6. It made our trip in January very difficult to book as most of the close resorts were booked.

Good luck and keep us informed on your decision.

[hwangz12]

I've been considering buying a DVC membership as well, and was wondering how you all chose which resort to buy your points at. I see you can book at your home resort further in advance. Is there anything else I should be considering when picking which resort to purchase points at?

[Jenn's BF AKA Garet]

I've been considering buying a DVC membership as well, and was wondering how you all chose which resort to buy your points at. I see you can book at your home resort further in advance. Is there anything else I should be considering when picking which resort to purchase points at?

The only thing is that you get to use your points early.

[billsid29]

DVC member of 13yrs here at BWV, the home resort gives you an 11 month priority for booking stays if you wish to stay away from your home resort you can book at 7 months. I think they are selling Bay Lake Towers now and maybe Saratogo Springs but if you don't want your home resort to be either of these tell your guide where you want your home to be and they will do their best to help. We bought at the Boardwalk I think 175 pts and after staying the first time we added on I think we're up to around 800 pts now.
Your points are based on a USE YEAR so you have 12 months to use x amount of points. The best part is if you don't use all your pts you can BANK them and add them to next years pts so lets say you had 200 pts in an April use year and stayed in a studio for a week this year and it was 150 pts you could bank those unused pts to next year so next April your total pts would be 250 to use in 2011. You can also borrow pts from the following year so in 2011 you want to stay longer and the pts needed is 325 just borrow them from 2012.
The real bonus you have to look at is the cost is set for the length of your contract and the only rise in price is your maintainance fees which is minimal compared to the rise in the price of rooms. Once your contract is paid in full all you have to pay is maint. fees.

[hwangz12]

When you borrow points or bank them, is there a charge for that? (either monetary or points)

[Jenn's BF AKA Garet]

No, but you can only bank your points for one year before and you can only borrow points for 1 year in advance. So if you travel every 3 years, you can maximize your points.

[hwangz12]

Has anyone here bought a resale DVC membership? Is there anything I'd be missing by going that route instead of buying directly from Disney? Thanks for all the feedback so far. I'm trying to do a lot of research before buying anything.

[billsid29]

I bought direct thru Disney so I really can't help you, I do know that the best place to buy resale is The Timeshare Store, I've heard alot of good things about them.

[hwangz12]

I bought direct thru Disney so I really can't help you, I do know that the best place to buy resale is The Timeshare Store, I've heard alot of good things about them.

Thanks! I'll take a look at that website.

[mugirl0307]

I've been considering buying a DVC membership as well, and was wondering how you all chose which resort to buy your points at. I see you can book at your home resort further in advance. Is there anything else I should be considering when picking which resort to purchase points at?

If you buy directly through Disney, a lot of it just depends on what's available at the time. When we joined in 2006 they were selling Saratoga Springs and I'm pretty sure that's the only resort they were selling at the time. I know you can also buy through resale too if you wanted a resort like the Beach Club or Boardwalk.

Yes, you can book your home resort 11 months out vs. the 7 months at any other DVC resort. Obviously it would be harder to book anything other than your home resort during peak times. But in our 4 years of membership I've gotten to stay at SSR (our home resort), Beach Club Villas, Animal Kingdom Lodge (both Jambo House and Kidani Village), and the Wilderness Lodge Villas. My sister and I are staying at Old Key West in March and my parents stayed at the Boardwalk in Jan.

I can't offer any advice on the whole purchasing thing since my dad is the owner but we all agree that we should've done it years ago. My sisters and I are older now but still LOVE going to WDW. We all love our DVC membership!

[bamfer23]

The only thing that has held me back from doing this is the severe amount of headache I get from trying to figure all of this out, haha.

So, in a nut shell, let me get this straight....

You buy a certain number of points for a year at a resort. Sometimes, only certain resorts are available for you to purchase as your "home" resort (which, to me, kind of sucks!)

You can then use those points or bank them for next year. Or, if you're adventurous, use your points for the next year to get a better deal?

Sorta kinda got it?! Maybe? Haha.

How much do the points cost?

[CrustyJuggler]

I've been a DVC member since 2002. It was great at first, but over the years it's become increasingly more difficult to make reservations since more and more members keep joining and not enough resorts are opening to keep up with the demand. I tried to make reservations for the Beach Club (my "Home" resort) back in May for the week of December 7th and I couldn't book ANY resort for that week. The best I could get was one night at resort A, another night at resort B and then 3 nights at resort C. After 5 months on the wait list, I was finally able to get 4 nights at a single resort (AKL Jambo house) and just gave up on the 5th and spent the night at Universal Royal Pacific. Maybe it was just bad timing, but I had never run into a problem of booking 7 months in advance before - even in early December.

You do get some discounts/perks as a DVC member, but they have slowly dwindled over the years as well. Most of the discounts are 10-20% off lunch at random restaurants, spa services and tours. My wife is a Disney Visa Card holder and we found her discounts were often better.

Also, you're not allowed a late checkout if you stay with the DVC. I don't really know why, but last week our flight left at 7pm and they wouldn't let us check out late. They said that no DVC rooms are allowed late checkout, even though I have done it in the past. Maybe it's a new rule, or maybe that Cast Member made it up. I don't know. Either way, I was kind of annoyed.

In terms of the dining plan. I never get it, but for those who do should know that recently Disney has been holding a lot of promotions where you get the free dining plan if you book a resort stay with them. You won't be able to get that promotion with the DVC at all. It's really annoying to be in the park when everyone is getting free dining and you aren't because you chose to pay for your trips up front. On the other hand, that promotion won't always be around.

It's great if you go there often and enjoy planning months in ahead. It gives you an excuse to go on vacation. Though if you like to just to go there on a whim for an extended period of time, you may run into difficulties finding a room.

Also you may want to think about things like airfare. In 2002, airfare from Boston to Orlando was about $120-150 per person round-trip. Today it's about $250-300.

[cherylp3]

how much do the points cost - varies on resale or direct through disney or cm rate. right now I think its $100 a point and you need 150 points minimum I believe (not 100% on that)

I usually use my points last minute (after 7 months) and have never not gotten a room for disneyworld.

-Cheryl

[SirScott99]

I've been a DVC memebr since 93 when it first started with Old Key West and then Beach Club in 02 and it's awesome. It really is the best investment my parents ever made (besides a house of course) because it saves a massive amount of mula each year when we go. We don't have to worry about how much the hotel is going to cost because of our points. We have about 270 something points. We've also stayed at Boardwalk Villas and plan to do Animal Kingdom Lodge this summer. I don't think this has been mentioned but if it has I apologize. You can use your points at any of the DVC's even your non-home resorts but reservations for those villas can't be made more than 7 months out while your home resort can be booked 11 months out, though no certainty that you will get it if it isn't your home. It is definitely the best thing we've ever done and it's the only reason we can stay for 2 1/2 weeks at the end of august. I highly recommend it for all of those of you who are not members already

[Pandaevo]

I just did the tour and plan on signing up next month. Currently points are $150 to add to your package that you select. The "basic" package which is $12,900.00 you get 100 points to use per year. I was thinking of getting the 150 point package which is currently $17,900.00 which is a savings of $2600 for 50 additional points. The nice part for my family that all the times that we go to DL is off peak so our 150 points will go much further. The only sad part is that California is currently sold out :( so our home will be Aulani Hawaii :) which is not quite finished being built. Now you also will have to pay annual property tax as well. Hope this post answered a few questions. If not let me know :)

[dipstick72]

My parents bought into DVC in 2001 and take my family and my sister almost every year. They bought resale as we wanted Boardwalk as our home resort and Disney was only selling Wilderness Lodge at the time. Even today, you can have any home resort you want, you just may need to buy on the resale market. I don't think we missed out on anything by purchasing on the resale market because once everything closes you are in the Disney system and a member like anyone else.

I think the most important thing would be to buy where you want to stay because the 11 month window can be very helpful. On some the smaller resorts, it is harder to get a room at the 7th month window. However, all of the resorts that we have tried have been great. We have stayed at Boardwalk, Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas, Old Key West, Wilderness Lodge Villas, Beach Club Villas and Grand Californian villas. They all have something special about them.

[Grumpys Revenge]

I got my parents to buy into DVC and we all get to use it all the time we we go to Dl and not have to worry about where to stay. And my parents come to wdw 7 to 9 times a year. this we our entire family can go. we as a family have bought 900 point and its scattered at all the DVC and we are planning to buy more. Hawaii here we come and love that we can use it on the Cruise as well.

[schwanzie]

my parents bought into dvc in 1995 and back then we got free park passes until the year 2000, which worked out great considering i have 4 siblings. my parents were iffy about it when they first bought into it, but it's honestly been one of the best purchases they've made. i love that we can stay at any resort, go on a cruise, or even travel outside of disney with the points. my boyfriend and i are going to get a membership of our own in the next few years.

[flyosu]

Thanks for this thread LisainIL! There has been a lot of good info on here!
My wife and I have been debating joining DVC since our Disney Wedding 4 years ago. We visit annualy and the last few trips we have been staying at POP Century, which we really do like . With what we spend per trip each year, we figured for nearly the same yearly expense, we could instead be staying at a location such as Boardwalk, Wilderness lodge, etc by using DVC points. Without a DVC membership we are not likely going to be able to afford staying a week at anything more than a moderate resort , if that. Anyways... if all goes well this year we hope to become members by 2012.

[magicfan8686]

I would not buy into this unless you have lots of money to spend and can afford lots of points. We are both school teachers so we can only afford 100 points. That only buys you 4-6 days in the standard rooms. And those rooms aren't as nice as your typical standard rooms at the regular resorts. A couple years ago we stayed at the All-star sports before we were members and the room was bigger then the room at Bay Lake and Saratoga Springs we got with our points. Plus regular customers get maid service and DVC members don't. Plus we don't get any discounts on any of the resturaunts or shops we normally go to. And to make it worse, it is harder to book rooms being a DVC member because there are such few rooms available for members. It has its perks but we do feel a little duped.

[Vargas]

We have been DVC Members since 2005. We currently have 500 points at Saratoga and Bay Lake Towers. I would recommend joining DVC, it is the best deal. We spend like 3 weeks at different resorts. In July we are spending 5 days at Boardwalk, 5 at animal kingdom and 5 at Bay Lake towers all are 1 bedroom. My kids are 14 and 16 and we gave the a choice of going to the Caribbean or cruise and they said " can we go to Disney again"? We have been going every year since 1997. They have a blast at the resorts and the parks!!! So take the plunge and join!! Good luck.

[djv777]

my family has been members for years. Go for it. Its well worth especially if you have young kids. Its one of the main reasons we go on so many vacations

[magicfan8686]

Is anyone signing up for this anytime soon?

[crazybones27]

Is anyone signing up for this anytime soon?

What do you meaning signing up? We've been DVC members since 2009. I can help you with some questions if you have any :). We LOOOOOOVE our DVC membership sooooo much!!

[SirScott99]

I've been a member since 1993.... well, my parents are but I still technically am. We love it and it's the only reason we can afford to go down every year. We're ancient in terms of DVC

[crazybones27]

I've been a member since 1993.... well, my parents are but I still technically am. We love it and it's the only reason we can afford to go down every year. We're ancient in terms of DVC

:rofl: 1993 is ancient in DVC terms! I wish I could have been members since then. My parents would NEVER had gone on the tour EVER! I'm so happy JtChief and I bought in when we were ready. It's the best things we've ever done! Since 2009 we have had 3 great vacations and have another 3 lined up till next May. You just can't beat that :).

[ranaong]

My husband and I just purchased at the Aulani. We are really excited and about to make reservations for a Hawaii trip for next year. We are a family of 5...so staying at a "regular" room is quite cramped. So with the DVC points....I am planning a 11 night/12 day stay at a one bedroom villa (banking this year's points and borrowing some from 2012 points). We would not be able to afford such a long vacation if we did not have the DVC points. The only downside of purchasing Aulani is that our points are not available for usage (for any resorts) until the end of August.

[magicfan8686]

What do you meaning signing up? We've been DVC members since 2009. I can help you with some questions if you have any :). We LOOOOOOVE our DVC membership sooooo much!!

No I was wondering if there was someone who wasn't a member that was going to be signing up soon?