[lisalovesmickey]

Can someone breakdown DVC to its easiest form? I mean just the basics....

Is there a monthly payment plan? If yes aprox. how much?

How much per year does it cost (aprox)?

What exactly do the "points" get you?

Why do you think its worth it?

I hope these questions can be answered easily.

I am interested in learning more to see if I would be interested in speaking with a DVC rep!

Lisa

[b1wife]

I am most certainly not a DVC expert, but we just purchased in April, so I can remember some things...

First, you decide how many points you want to purchase, based on the number of nights you typically stay, what time of year you typically go, and which resort you want to stay in.

Once you've decided that, you have your purchase price. There is a minimum of 10% down.

Yes, there is a monthly payment if you choose to finance through Disney. There are also annual resort maintenance fees. These are calculated based on the number of points you purchase and vary from resort to resort. These can also be paid monthly if you choose.

I know there are some good deals right now if you want to purchase at Saratoga Springs. They are trying to sell it out real fast so they can concentrate on Animal Kingdom. We didn't want SSR as our home resort, but the deals allowed us to buy more points, which will help us in the future.

We haven't stayed in DVC yet, first time coming up in October, but we thought it was worth it because we know that we want every vacation for the next few years to be to WDW. We wanted to have room for our family of 5, plus the full kitchen and laundry right in the room. We truly wanted a "home away from home" and feel like DVC is the right choice for us. Plus, there are other discounts available to DVC members, such as annual passes, dining discount cards, etc. We are ecstatic to have joined the DVC family!

[b1wife]

Originally Posted by lisalovesmickey

Can someone breakdown DVC to its easiest form? I mean just the basics....

Is there a monthly payment plan? If yes aprox. how much?

How much per year does it cost (aprox)?

What exactly do the "points" get you?

Why do you think its worth it?

I hope these questions can be answered easily.

I am interested in learning more to see if I would be interested in speaking with a DVC rep!

Lisa

Let me clarify a couple of my answers for you...

The cost per month/year depends totally on the number of points you purchase. The points cost a certain amount per point.

Each night of your stay "costs" so many points. Friday and Saturday nights are always more, the size of your room matters, the resort matters, the time of year matters, etc. So, you just have to look at the chart they provide and see how many points your proposed trip would "cost."

The nice thing about DVC is they allow you to bank and borrow points. For example, if you have 200 points in 2008, but aren't planning on taking a trip in 2008, you can "bank" those points to use in 2009. So, you'd then have 400 points to use in 2009. OR, if you aren't planning to go in 2009, but are going in 2008, you can "borrow" points from your 2009 use year. Does that make sense? So, even if you only have 200 points, if you need 214, you can borrow 14 points from next year. It really adds to the flexibility.

Plus, if you buy now, they are throwing in an extra year's worth of points. We purchased in April 2008, but as an incentive, they gave us the amount of points equal to what we purchased in 2007 points. So, our trip in October is actually using banked 2007 points, and we haven't even touched our 2008 points!

Our DVC rep was Anne Middlemiss and was a pleasure to work with. I'd just give her a call at 888-889-3819 and she'd be happy to send you the information.

Best of luck with your decision!

~Rebecca Jones

[woohoo]

Well first off- your payment is based on how much you finance. You need 10% down to do it through disney and its based on down payment and term. Kind of like how much a car payment would be.
Second- the points are like a big gift card. Different times of the year and different days have different costs of points. Depending on when you decide to go you will be spending so many points from your magic gift card. If there is some left over you can bank it and add it to the next gift card and if you need more you can borrow from the next one. How much depends on the size of the room, the location of the resort and the days that you stay.

Is it worth it? Well Im a very frugal person and I have hemmed and hawed over this for a long time. But in the end we were paying so much for the rent of two rooms each trip and in the end had nothign left to show for it but pictures..... it was not worth blowing that cash anymore. Then we stayed for the first time there and it was unreal- it was 10x nicer than I ever thought and it was so relaxing. Im kicking myself now. I can also take it anywhere I want to go wether it is here in CT or over seas to Europe- they trade with interval international and it is highly prized and worth a lot to trade.

if you have anymore questions feel free to pm me. (I wont pm you since rumor has it that if you ask dvc questions, the world pm's you for the referral)

Karie-anne

[lisalovesmickey]

OK thanks guys for the explanation. I get it...almost....J/K I get it. Just a couple more questions.

How much is one point say at Beach Club or SSR? Would they be different if I wanted to own Beach Club or SSR or any other resort?

What is the min # of points you can purchase?

Ummmm, thats it for now!

Thanks again.

Lisa

[lisalovesmickey]

Oh wait a minute...One more question....

If I own SSR but want a quick trip to WDW cuz I have some extra points left, could I use them at say POP or POR?

Thanks

[b1wife]

Originally Posted by lisalovesmickey

OK thanks guys for the explanation. I get it...almost....J/K I get it. Just a couple more questions.

How much is one point say at Beach Club or SSR? Would they be different if I wanted to own Beach Club or SSR or any other resort?

What is the min # of points you can purchase?

Ummmm, thats it for now!

Thanks again.

Lisa

Right now, you can only purchase SSR or AKL. I want to say our points at SSR were something like $108/point, with a $10/pt credit. So, ultimately, $98/pt. I also believe the min amount of points you have to buy is 160.

If you really wanted Beach Club, you could do DVC by resale, or get on a wait list through DVC, but that's a whole other thread....

[lisalovesmickey]

Originally Posted by b1wife

Right now, you can only purchase SSR or AKL. I want to say our points at SSR were something like $108/point, with a $10/pt credit. So, ultimately, $98/pt. I also believe the min amount of points you have to buy is 160.

If you really wanted Beach Club, you could do DVC by resale, or get on a wait list through DVC, but that's a whole other thread....

OOOOOOOOOOOOOKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKk. I get it. So lets say SSR and I buy the min # of points (say 160). My payment would be based off of the aprox. $98 per point x 160 = $15680 + finance charges.

Then depending on the time of year, size of room I would "spend" points on the vacation and I can only stay at SSR.

I finally have it, thanks so much!

Lisa

[joseph3947]

One small point, I was told 2 weeks ago you can now only bank 1 year of unused points, then they must be used or expire. If this info is wrong, I stand corrected.

Also, it actually cost more points to stay at a non-DVC resort than a DVC resort.

[cinderbella]

Originally Posted by lisalovesmickey

Oh wait a minute...One more question....

If I own SSR but want a quick trip to WDW cuz I have some extra points left, could I use them at say POP or POR?

Thanks

Oh I know the answer to this one!

You can..but it would be silly. Non-DVC resorts typically cost more points than DVC resorts.

[Goodegirl2007]

Originally Posted by lisalovesmickey

OOOOOOOOOOOOOKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKk. I get it. So lets say SSR and I buy the min # of points (say 160). My payment would be based off of the aprox. $98 per point x 160 = $15680 + finance charges.

Then depending on the time of year, size of room I would "spend" points on the vacation and I can only stay at SSR.

I finally have it, thanks so much!

Lisa

You almost have it!! Once you buy points at SSR or AK, that would be your home resort. You can book a vacation up to 11 months before at your home resort using your points. If you want to stay at another DVC resort (SSR,
AK, BWV, HH, BCV, etc..) you can use your points and book 7 months in advance - depending on availability. You can also use your points at over 500 destinations around the world. Also, the points you buy will be good for over 45 years. So it is well worth it.

For instance: this year alone, I used 11 nights in a studio at Boardwalk in May and then i have 8 nights in October in a 2 bedroom villa at the Boardwalk. The cost to rent these rooms for that many nights is over $8500 - I used 1 1/2 years worth of points for these trip combined. So you can see, after 45 years, you would save tons of money.

I suggest you do make an appointment with a DVC cast member. It is not a HARD sale, and they don't pressure at all. They don't need to, because it is a very good deal. I'm very happy to answer any questions you have - but theres nothing like talking to the DVC cast members and getting a tour.

Good luck with your big decision!!

[lisalovesmickey]

Originally Posted by Goodegirl2007

You almost have it!! Once you buy points at SSR or AK, that would be your home resort. You can book a vacation up to 11 months before at your home resort using your points. If you want to stay at another DVC resort (SSR,
AK, BWV, HH, BCV, etc..) you can use your points and book 7 months in advance - depending on availability. You can also use your points at over 500 destinations around the world. Also, the points you buy will be good for over 45 years. So it is well worth it.

For instance: this year alone, I used 11 nights in a studio at Boardwalk in May and then i have 8 nights in October in a 2 bedroom villa at the Boardwalk. The cost to rent these rooms for that many nights is over $8500 - I used 1 1/2 years worth of points for these trip combined. So you can see, after 45 years, you would save tons of money.

I suggest you do make an appointment with a DVC cast member. It is not a HARD sale, and they don't pressure at all. They don't need to, because it is a very good deal. I'm very happy to answer any questions you have - but theres nothing like talking to the DVC cast members and getting a tour.

Good luck with your big decision!!

Wow, so if I am doing the math right, and you book resorts based on that $8500 per every year and 1/2 you get $200,000 worth of rooms for the original 13 - 15 K investment?

Thats cool, I really get it now. Ugggg, I was trying to tell myself it was not as good of a deal as it sounded. Now I gotta talk to DH.

What is the catch?

Lisa

[MickeyMcFizzle]

Everyone here has given you good information.
The cost per point is differnt for SSR than AKV, slightly higher at AKV.

My advice, as will be the advice of many others- buy where you'd want to stay. That's the most important thing. Because having that 11 month advantage mens less availability at other resorts at 7 months.

Call DVC or visit them while down there - they are definitely the best source of info!

I loved that it was a one time purchase price for 50 years of vacation - the cost of the DVC membership will pay for itself for me over 2 or 3 years.
So worth it!

[MickeyMcFizzle]

Originally Posted by lisalovesmickey

Wow, so if I am doing the math right, and you book resorts based on that $8500 per every year and 1/2 you get $200,000 worth of rooms for the original 13 - 15 K investment?

Thats cool, I really get it now. Ugggg, I was trying to tell myself it was not as good of a deal as it sounded. Now I gotta talk to DH.

What is the catch?

Lisa

There is no catch! That's the crazy part! I was trying to sell DH on it forever and once he realized this he was on board right away.

It really pays for itself in the short term.

[Andrea]

Originally Posted by lisalovesmickey

What is the catch?

Lisa

Not a "catch", exactly, but don't forget the yearly maintenance fees. You've gotta add those in.

From everything I've put together, DVC is an emotional decision rather than a purely logical one. You've got to put your own value on that.