[Jennatrz]

Hi everyone, after much consideration DH and I are considering
purchasing DVC. Can anyone explain to me the ins and outs of this.
Which is the best resort? Any and all information would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks

[MickeyMcFizzle]

Yay for you! DVC rocks - we just joined in March. And as of today, I just bought more points!

My DVC guide told me Saratoga is almost sold out. AKV is on sale now with some good incentives. For any other home resorts, you'd need to go on a waiting list from Disney, or take your chances with resale, but there are other factors to consider for that too.

Basically you buy a set number of points (Usually its 160 as a minimum, but I think AKV is allowing 100 right now). You get those points every year for the length of your deed (Around 48 years for AKV right now).

You can bank them and borrow them - for example, next year I am planning a big trip in Grand Villa with my family, so I will be banking some points from this year, using next years, and borriwng some form the year after to make it happen because it costs more points for a Grand Vila than say, a studio or 1 bdr villa.

Currently points are $104 each, but if a member refers you (and there are many here so thats no prob), you get AKV for $96 a point.

There is 10% downpayment, and the rest you can either pay for all at once, or finance (ranges from $150 ish to $300/month depending on what you buy, and how long you finance).

It pays for itself in spades in my opinion.

I'm sure all the great DVC members here can give you lots of info on it.
But call Disney - they give the best info right from the horses mouth :-)

[Jennatrz]

Thanks so much for all of the information you provided. I think AK would be so great.

[llama]

We've been DVC owners since 2000 - and then purchased more points in 2006. McFizz has given you good information - there is so much information to digest. I think the best thing to do is contact DVC and ask them for an information package - there will be no high-pressure sales.

Personally, we've been very happy with our purchase. It's enabled us to stay in accomodations at WDW that we ordinarily would never have been able to afford.

[ranedrops]

We bought in 2006 with SSr as our home resort. We booked this year for a 2 week vacation at SSR & AKV. We were on the wait list for our last day for AKV but it came through about a month after we wait-listed. So you can get other resorts at the 7 month mark.

We love our DVC. It allows us to stay in deluxe resorts which we probably could not afford otherwise. As an example, to book our rooms with cash this year directly from WDW directly would be $6500.00 and we are paying $0 upon check-in. We pay our dues & our initial cost of purchasing but have our DVC for the next 46 or so years with no increase in points to us (and we are using $6500 worth of rooms this year alone). Room rates will certainly rise though.

If you plan on going to WDW every year or more and prefer to stay in deluxe resorts than it is a great idea. If you don't go that often and/or you prefer value resorts than you should way the pros & cons.

Like other posts have mentioned, use a DVC owner's name so that you get a better incentive from Disney.

Good Luck!

[brebre_51]

I am still totally confused now. Is this like buying a time share? You pay dues? You buy points? How much are the dues, the points & whatever else you have to pay?

[tiki]

Originally Posted by Jennatrz

Hi everyone, after much consideration DH and I are considering
purchasing DVC. Can anyone explain to me the ins and outs of this.
Which is the best resort? Any and all information would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks

I am so excited for you!! I was seriously considering it last fall, especially with the added 500 Disney reward points incentive at the time, but my DH didn't like the idea of the monthly dues, and when he added up what we usually pay for hotels against what we would be paying every month for 10 yrs, he thought it wasn't worth it for us because we don't go every year and we usually stay in the cheaper resorts.

[momofaprincess]

On your next trip, if you can fit it in, you should check out DVC's open house. They have a play center (supervised) for the kiddies if you choose and they are beyond helpful and will explain everything to you in great detail, along with the current offerings and incentives they have (we are one of the people who just recently bought into AKV with only 100 points--I do think we'll need more but it was a great way to get our foot thru the door and it was affordable!). The only AKV models available on property are in the preview center and they are amazing and really need to be seen in person!!

Then when you are finished you get to go to their ice cream parlor and have a sundae!!

[jk8]

Our guide told us they have inventory in all of the DVC resorts - you may waitlist for a specific "use year" but you can get them.

If I had the patience I would go the resale route. You can really come out with a good price if you know what you are doing. I did not want to figure it all out and just chose to go with the current incentives at SSR. I would have liked to purchase VWL but I had glad about my choice in the end.

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by jk8

Our guide told us they have inventory in all of the DVC resorts - you may waitlist for a specific "use year" but you can get them.

That's what we did. It took 3 months to get the resort and use year we wanted but it was worth it to get exactly what we wanted.

[Jennatrz]

I think that we will look into all options.

[tiki]

Originally Posted by momofaprincess

On your next trip, if you can fit it in, you should check out DVC's open house. They have a play center (supervised) for the kiddies if you choose and they are beyond helpful and will explain everything to you in great detail, along with the current offerings and incentives they have (we are one of the people who just recently bought into AKV with only 100 points--I do think we'll need more but it was a great way to get our foot thru the door and it was affordable!).

Then when you are finished you get to go to their ice cream parlor and have a sundae!!

I was never offered any ice cream, only my son was! Wah!

I just got an email from DVC, but 1/2 the message was blocked, maybe it had that 100 pt offer? How did you get it and could you tell me the details please?

[momofaprincess]

Originally Posted by tiki

I was never offered any ice cream, only my son was! Wah!

I just got an email from DVC, but 1/2 the message was blocked, maybe it had that 100 pt offer? How did you get it and could you tell me the details please?

We went to the open house on our trip in june and our guide had told us about it.

[Elmo]

I hear two frequent regrets on buying into DVC...



1. Not buying sooner.

2. Not buying enough points.

[WishUponAStar]

Originally Posted by Elmo

I hear two frequent regrets on buying into DVC...



1. Not buying sooner.

2. Not buying enough points.

I hear ya! I have 160 at SSR and now I would LOVE to have 50 more at AKL Villas.