[tinker2222]

I have a some questions about the DVC. Accually, I know very,very little, and we are looking into buying into it.I did get the blue DVC book, but it dosen't really give you spesifics

So once you "buy into" the resort you can only go to that resort?
Are there any bad sides of buying into the DVC?
Are the AK rooms much nicer in the DVC compared to a regular room?
We are going in June 2010, but I'd like to have as much info as I can before i get there.

Thanks for any help everyone

[DisneyTeacher]

We love our DVC. Once you buy you can book your home resort at 11 months out and any other DVC resort at 7 months out. Some resorts are harder to book at 7 months than other resorts. We bought at Beach Club Villas so we could always stay there since booking that resort at 7 months can be tough certain times of the year.

Do you have a guide (sales person) yet? We have a great referral thread at the top of this forum if you want a referral for any special offers going on right now. Most of us love our guide and are happy to share them with someone who is interested in looking at DVC.

DVC isn't for everyone. Ask lots of questions and do you your homework before you buy in. You have to be able to plan ahead and commit to your vacation because it can be a little harder to cancel or change your reservation at the last minute.

[jo-jo]

Also a few things I didn't know about before we joined. Try to get a use yr shortly before you usually travel. We got a Dec use yr and we usually travel in the fall. It would have been much better for us if we had gotten a June use yr. Also depending on how many points you are looking at, try to break up the contract into smaller chunks. We have a 200 point and a 100 point contract. It would have been better (for either selling or leaving it to our 2 kids) if we had gotten 2 - 100 point and 2 - 50 point.

[PeterPansPixie]

We have owned our DVC for about a year now and we absolutely love it. We have already taken 1 trip, are going at the end of September, and I just booked another trip for March, 2010. We researched DVC for about a year before we purchased and I am glad to see you are doing a lot of research because it is not right for everyone.

To answer your question about a bad side, the number one complaint I see from DVC owners is not being able to take advantage of all the deals Disney is putting out there right now. I really don't agree with this for two reasons. First, these deals are not always going to be there, but my DVC will still be around. Second, it is just my DH and myself and with DVC we are getting deluxe accomadations. To book at a deluxe resort with free dining we would have to pay rack rates, which is never a good deal.

As for the rooms, I have found the DVC rooms work much better for us. We just get a studio and for 2 people it is more than enough room and it is nice having the living area instead of the extra bed. We also love always having a balcony to sit out and relax on at the end of the day. We have only stayed in the regular rooms at AK, but are booked at Kidani in March. I am sure the rooms are just as nice if not nicer though.

Hope that answers some of your questions.

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by PeterPansPixie

To answer your question about a bad side, the number one complaint I see from DVC owners is not being able to take advantage of all the deals Disney is putting out there right now. I really don't agree with this for two reasons. First, these deals are not always going to be there, but my DVC will still be around. Second, it is just my DH and myself and with DVC we are getting deluxe accomadations. To book at a deluxe resort with free dining we would have to pay rack rates, which is never a good deal.

I agree. We do have the best deal, we get deluxe resorts at a good price and we don't have to wonder if there's going to be a discount offered for our trip. I haven't seen a code or special deal yet that has made me second guess owning DVC. If we did see an offer too good to pass up we could always bank our points for a year and book the special offer but I don't see that happening very often.

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by jo-jo

Also a few things I didn't know about before we joined. Try to get a use yr shortly before you usually travel. We got a Dec use yr and we usually travel in the fall. It would have been mush better for us if we had gotten a June use yr.

Good point on the use year. Some guides will tell you use year doesn't matter but it does. Pick a use year that fits your usual travel history. We usually travel in the summer so we needed a use year that would allow us to travel during the first 8 months of our use year in case we canceled a trip and needed to bank our points.

[jo-jo]

Originally Posted by DisneyTeacher

Good point on the use year. Some guides will tell you use year doesn't matter but it does. Pick a use year that fits your usual travel history. We usually travel in the summer so we needed a use year that would allow us to travel during the first 8 months of our use year in case we canceled a trip and needed to bank our points.

The reason I had said a June use yr, was so we could travel in the fall and in the future when my grandkids travel during summer breaks and still have that banking window. So you sort of have to guess way down the road too.


We love the DVC setup for us. The bed and sofa is great for the two of us. Love not having to leave the room to make coffee and toast (or whatever) in the morning. When we stayed at POP, I was always the morning coffee runner.

[NokeyNose]

There is so much to learn about DVC, but it is a good idea to look through this Forum, there is so much information here, AND we have a fairly large portion of people that own so you can always get your questions answered!

When I read this thread it reminded me of what brought me to MouseBuzz (Disney Central) to begin with! We had a trip planned for September of 2006 and we were taking my inlaws. We were paying somewhere upwards of $4000 for teh hotel accomodations at the time. We were curious as to what DVC would offer us, since we had been interested for a while! I contacted DVC and came on here one weekend and got so much info. I then realized that if I used the $ for that years accomodations to put a downpayment on DVC then not only would I have that Vaca, I would have a lifetimes worth of vaca's to come! It worked out terrifically we ended up staying at Old Key West in a two bedroom for like 14 days and they even gave us an extra years worth of points to use when we booked! It was wonderful! When we came home, we added another 75 points to our contract, we loved it so much!!! We have been three other times since and are glad everyday (except for when we get the dues bill every year) that we have it! So what I suggest is that you do all of your research now, and if this is definately something you would do, then take advantage and use the $ that you have put aside for next years trip for a dual purpose!

A couple of other things to keep in mind are:

Length of the contract, now before anyone starts to give me a hard time, I will say that this doesn't really bother me, but when I talk to other time share holdres (say RCI) they like the fact that their timeshare is for life, that they can will it to their children and then on to their grandchildren, etc.... DVC contracts do expire! My contract is good until 2054! To me that is perfectly fine!!! I will be well into my 70"s by then and God willing, I will still be vacationing, but not quite as often I assume! My children will be in their late 40's/early 50's and I would hope financially, able to afford their own timeshare by then. I think my $16,000 investment will have definately gotten it's use! I can and have set up preparations for my children to be "willed" the contract if something should happen to DH and I but what can you say! Like I said, this is not really a factor to us, but to some it is a big deal!

The use year and home resort is important though! Our guide, who we love, didn't stress this issue for us at the time and I wish he did! You need to keep in mind the times of the year in which you prefer to travel and and the resort you would most like to stay at. For example...we have always wanted to stay at Wilderness around Xmas and with an October use year and a home resort of SSR, that has never and will likely never be an option for us! Just an FYI!!!

Jo-jo, that is a great suggestion about buying separate contracts, I never thought of that! When we bought in the minimum points allowed was 160, not sure what it is now.

Last but definately not least, make sure you buy enough points to support the accomodations you will need. For instance, even if you only have one/two children now, but definately plan on having more, keep in mind Disney will only let you stay in a one bedroom with 5 people if one of those 5 is under the age of 3, so therefore, each trip will require you to book a two bedroom resort! That means the rooms will cost you more points each year then that of which you were using before your family expanded! Just an FYI!

Sorry, I have babbled, I hope I gave you some food for thought!!!

[Huakai]

Originally Posted by NokeyNose

The use year and home resort is important though! Our guide, who we love, didn't stress this issue for us at the time and I wish he did! You need to keep in mind the times of the year in which you prefer to travel and and the resort you would most like to stay at. For example...we have always wanted to stay at Wilderness around Xmas and with an October use year and a home resort of SSR, that has never and will likely never be an option for us! Just an FYI!!!

I must be missing something. We never consider our use year except when we need to bank points. Why would you not be able to try for Wilderness late in May (7 months out)? I am really curious now.

[jo-jo]

Originally Posted by NokeyNose

For example...we have always wanted to stay at Wilderness around Xmas and with an October use year and a home resort of SSR, that has never and will likely never be an option for us! Just an FYI!!!

Aside from maybe not getting in at seven months, have you ever tried to get it? I don't understand your statement why you think that would never happen aside from home resort priority.

[DVC Mike]

Originally Posted by NokeyNose

The use year and home resort is important though! Our guide, who we love, didn't stress this issue for us at the time and I wish he did! You need to keep in mind the times of the year in which you prefer to travel and and the resort you would most like to stay at. For example...we have always wanted to stay at Wilderness around Xmas and with an October use year and a home resort of SSR, that has never and will likely never be an option for us! Just an FYI!!!

I don't think Use Year is particulaly important.

Use Year month has nothing to do with when you can travel or even make a reservation at a DVC resort. You can always reserve 11 months ahead of travel for your home resort, and 7 months ahead for other DVC resorts. The reservation date determines which Use Year the points are deducted from.

Use Year only matters if you have to cancel a vacation that was scheduled to occur in the last four months of your Use Year. That's because banking of points is not allowed during the last four months of your Use Year and you don't have much time to reschedule before the points expire. Many owners never have to cancel a vacation, so they don't worry about Use Year.

If you travel about the same time of year on a regular basis, it may be best to choose a Use Year that starts right before that timeframe, or at least falls no more than 7 or 8 months prior to that time. Keep in mind that your travel pattern may change over the course of your DVC ownership. What starts out as a "perfect" use year may end up being not so perfect later on.

[DVC Mike]

Originally Posted by tinker2222

So once you "buy into" the resort you can only go to that resort?

No, but you get the 11-month booking advantage only for your home resort, and your annual dues are determined by your home resort.

Take a peek at the Choosing Your Home Resort - Factors to Consider thread.

[tinker2222]

Thanks everyone you guys are great!
I like hearing everyone personal stories better than getting the info from a CM at the DVC better. Not that I don't trust them, and when we go in june I will talk w/ someone but, I just think you all have more to offer somethimes.

~Robyn

[NokeyNose]

You guys are right, I am sorry I must have been distracted while writting. Use Year is not that important but home resort is much more important then we were lead to believe! Getting wildreness at 7 months out is almost impossible for Christmas! We have tried for three years! I was told by someone here, I would have to try to trade in order to stay there for Christmas! Just my experiences!

[ErinRB]

DH and I have been sort of considering buying into this whole disney time share thing, this thread has been extremely helpful as I was not aware it would be difficult to cancel reservations. With DH being in the Army, it is sometimes hard to plan 11 mos. out. If we have reservations and then DH gets deployed, will DVC honor military orders and allow us to cancel? And what is the deal with multiple point contracts? I understand that you buy points yearly, but why would you have more than one contract? Is that only to add points onto your other contract? Sorry for all the questions...i'm definitely new to this whole thing...