DVC Resort Reviews

[Daverene 14]

How do the sell any at all who would pay those prices !

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Btw. Do know what the minimum points Disney will let you buy?

From what I've read it seems like the best to buy a DVC is to buy the minimum and then add more.

Is that what y'all did?

 

From Disney, you have to buy 160 I think. Resale, you can find contracts of 25 points, but they are rare. 

[dvccamper 32]

When we bought our VWL points 13 years ago we paid $63 per point, through resale. I just checked their website and their current VWL contracts for sale run between $77-84 per point. So I feel pretty good about our purchase.

I can tell you why DVC has been a good choice for our family. We have stayed at most of the DVC resorts, in various size accommodations. These are nicer resorts than we would normally stay (if we were going for a regular resort stay we would be in a moderate). Instead we are in deluxe resorts, easily accommodating our family of five, which most regular hotel rooms do not. We love having a kitchen and save a lot by using it. We also have our own washer and dryer which is priceless with kids.

We've often included extended family on our vacations and invited them to stay with us. We've been able to get a grand villa at OKW when there were 10 of us, which we loved. We've stayed in a savannah view room at AKL with our kids and nieces and nephews, and loved that the kids were in awe, watching the animals constantly instead of Stacy on the tv! In total we've had six different families come with us and they've all been blown away by it.

Lately we've been feeling a little Disney-ed out and considered selling. But then we heard about a company that rents out DVC points (same one you use, Ray). We decided to try it and it has been great. We rented out our

points and used the money to take a cruise in January.

I certainly know DVC is not for everyone and I'm not trying to sell it. But when we came to the realization that we were going to be visiting Disney a lot (at the time our kids were 6, 4 and 1) for our family vacations we decided DVC was the way to go for us. Had we lived closer to Florida we would have bought an RV, which we had also researched.

So bottom line, I'm happy with our DVC (which is different from being happy with decisions made by those that run DVC, but that's a story for another thread).

[Avatab.... Steve 124]

I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing that Disney has not made some of the campsites in the Fort part of the DVC.  One of the reasons I've never considered DVC is because we would always be there in our camper.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

I much prefer to stay at the Fort nowadays, so I'm not really interested in DVC at all.... However, having said that, if you are from out of state, and have a large family, AND having annual passes is important to you, the Annual Pass discount pays for itself with a 25 point contract (if you can find one), and the couple of nights you can stay is gravy.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

If we're going on a long family trip, I want to be at the Fort. BUT, as Z gets older, I see myself drawn to Disney more than Jason can go. That's why a small contract is appealing to me. 

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

When we bought our VWL points 13 years ago we paid $63 per point, through resale. I just checked their website and their current VWL contracts for sale run between $77-84 per point.

We've stayed in a savannah view room at AKL with our kids and nieces and nephews, and loved that the kids were in awe, watching the animals constantly instead of Stacy on the tv! In total we've had six different families come with us and they've all been blown away by it.

Lately we've been feeling a little Disney-ed out and considered selling. But then we heard about a company that rents out DVC points (same one you use, Ray). We decided to try it and it has been great. We rented out our

points and used the money to take a cruise in January.

).

1. That's interesting that the point have gone up in value. That definitely makes a big difference. That a significant increase.

2. DD loved it when we stayed at BCV and said tit was her favorite WDW hotel. But after staying at AKV. She changed her mind. She woke up every morning and went out on the balcony to look for animals she could check off of her list.

3. We have used them twice now and really love it. It's a great way to get into a really nice deluxe resort for what a moderate would cost us. I highly recommend it to anyone who is considering staying at a mod or deluxe. The only downside, according to my DS is that it a DVC rental doesn't include daily maid service.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

From Disney, you have to buy 160 I think. Resale, you can find contracts of 25 points, but they are rare.

That's SMB! If you could buy just a few points from Disney and than the rest from the secondary market you could save a ton of money and still get all the benefits of buying directly from Disney.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

First, I want to say that this thread has forced me to waste entirely too much time today!  I decded that in the interest of figuring out how we've been using our DVC membership since we bought it in the summer of 2012 (direct from Disney) and then added on around fall of 2013 (resale).  So far, we've gone on 8 trips using DVC points that I can remember, including a week at Aulani. It's far too advanced math for me to figure out whether it was worth it, on a financial basis only, for us to do it through DVC rather than through WDW, but I definitely believe that it has been worth it overall for us.  We have gone on more trips than we would have otherwise, we have stayed longer on some of the trips than we would have otherwise, and we have stayed in nicer resorts with a lot more space than we would have otherwise.  Plus, we have gotten good use out of the APs that we bought at a discount, whereas before I alwsays just bought regular tickets for each trip.  Plus, the APs allow me to get Tables in Wonderland, which saves money on dining.  And both DVC and the APs will get a discount in the stores.

 

 

I think this is one of the upside I see to buying in.... I think people spend more time together as a family because of the investment to buy in.  For us, it's like our camper.  It's a big investment to buy a new trailer (as least we think it is) so I am DETERMINED to camp as MUCH as possible... which means more time together as a family.  WIN!! 

 

My brother and his wife have been very happy and I know that my folks really appreciated staying with them list last trip (they had one bedroom units at both resorts, but that worked fine for them as mom/dad got the bedroom and jeff/rach got the pull out in the living room).  I will say that I believe the 1 bedroom condos are very LARGE (and nice).  I can see this being true:

 

 

I can tell you why DVC has been a good choice for our family. We have stayed at most of the DVC resorts, in various size accommodations. These are nicer resorts than we would normally stay (if we were going for a regular resort stay we would be in a moderate). Instead we are in deluxe resorts, easily accommodating our family of five, which most regular hotel rooms do not. We love having a kitchen and save a lot by using it. We also have our own washer and dryer which is priceless with kids.

Lately we've been feeling a little Disney-ed out and considered selling. But then we heard about a company that rents out DVC points (same one you use, Ray). We decided to try it and it has been great. We rented out our

points and used the money to take a cruise in January.

I certainly know DVC is not for everyone and I'm not trying to sell it. But when we came to the realization that we were going to be visiting Disney a lot (at the time our kids were 6, 4 and 1) for our family vacations we decided DVC was the way to go for us. Had we lived closer to Florida we would have bought an RV, which we had also researched.

So bottom line, I'm happy with our DVC (which is different from being happy with decisions made by those that run DVC, but that's a story for another thread).

 

Also... the point about renting out the points, I hope Disney continues to allow this as it's sounds like a REALLY great solution if you have a few years where you just can't travel.  Better to sell the points and make up your money, then to just loose them.  

[Duane 152]

We are DVC members and have been so since 2006... We own 160 points at SSR and have been very happy there.

 

Like others who have posted, I used to be very very "anti-timeshare", but those were back in the days where you had to specify which week you wanted to use every year.  I just didn't see the benefit of being locked into a specific time I had to vacation. DVC changed my mind with allowing me to vacation whenever I wanted as long as there was availability and I had enough points to cover the stay.

 

We purchased our points on a Disney cruise and received a pretty good discount.  I think we paid less than $100/point for ours as this was back in the day when they were still building out SSR. So far the maintenance fees have been pretty reasonable at around $830/year.  Yearly dues are different for each resort due to the way they are built, or their location. Meaning, since OKW and SSR are outside entry (or condo style), they don't have to maintain long carpeted hallways and elevator lobbies like you find at Beach Club or Boardwalk. Locations such as Hilton Head and Vero Beach have higher insurance rates due to them being directly on the coast and susceptible to hurricanes, so their insurance rates are highter.   I think SSR and OKW has some of the cheapest dues so far.  

 

All in all, we have really enjoyed our purchase and have found that 160 points have been sufficient enough for us to use over the years.  We have stayed at OKW, SSR, Hilton Head, Grand Californian, and Aulani. We just came back from a trip to SSR this past week, stayed in a dedicated 2 BR for 4 nights...  We used all of our 160 points and had to buy a few "one time use points" to make up the difference.  Disney sells a max of 24 points per year at $15 pp if you need a couple to make up any shortfall that you may have to complete a reservation. So basically for that we had one king size bedroom, another separate bedroom with 2 queen beds, 2 separate bathrooms, a full kitchen and living room.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thanks for sharing that, Duane.

 

One point that hasn't been made yet is that another advantage of DVC is that you are locking in future trips at today's prices.  With the real estate market being flat for a long time, that hasn't really been a factor any time in the recent past.  But, out of pocket room rates in 10 or 20 years will almost certainly be a lot more than they are now.  I assume that the points per stay could be adjusted to some degree, but I doubt they would raise as much as out of pocket room rates.

 

TCD

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Thanks for sharing that, Duane.

 

One point that hasn't been made yet is that another advantage of DVC is that you are locking in future trips at today's prices.  With the real estate market being flat for a long time, that hasn't really been a factor any time in the recent past.  But, out of pocket room rates in 10 or 20 years will almost certainly be a lot more than they are now.  I assume that the points per stay could be adjusted to some degree, but I doubt they would raise as much as out of pocket room rates.

 

TCD

 

That was my brother's thought and one of the reasons they bought in.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

That was my brother's thought and one of the reasons they bought in.

 

I wonder if it is as true with DVC as it is with a traditional timeshare (referring to locking in your price).  With a traditional timeshare, you buy a week that you can use every year for the next 20 years (or whatever the length may be).  You pay a set price, and then you use that week for as many years as you can. Your price will never increase. But, the DVC uses points.  Which is genius.  They can change how many points it takes to stay at a given resort at a given period of time.  I think this lets them adjust for inflation, so it may not insulate owners from escalating prices.

 

TCD

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

I wonder if it is as true with DVC as it is with a traditional timeshare (referring to locking in your price). With a traditional timeshare, you buy a week that you can use every year for the next 20 years (or whatever the length may be). You pay a set price, and then you use that week for as many years as you can. Your price will never increase. But, the DVC uses points. Which is genius. They can change how many points it takes to stay at a given resort at a given period of time. I think this lets them adjust for inflation, so it may not insulate owners from escalating prices.

TCD

I don't think they have "traditional" timeshares anymore. I know you can still buy them online but I don't think they sell them that way anymore.

We have wyndham bonnet creek and 199,000 points. It works the same way as Disney. But the big difference is that there is no expiration date. You own it. Just like you own a condo or house.

To sell or buy it you have to get a deed. (warranty deed, quit claim deed, etc)

It is real property.

IIRC, many years ago, at a timeshare presentation, they told me that the points per room will never go up. But the maintence fees wilI because expenses go up.

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

I wonder if it is as true with DVC as it is with a traditional timeshare (referring to locking in your price). With a traditional timeshare, you buy a week that you can use every year for the next 20 years (or whatever the length may be). You pay a set price, and then you use that week for as many years as you can. Your price will never increase. But, the DVC uses points. Which is genius. They can change how many points it takes to stay at a given resort at a given period of time. I think this lets them adjust for inflation, so it may not insulate owners from escalating prices.

TCD

If I remember right the number of points at a resort are locked but the can shift the points around within the resort. For say moving target holidays like Easter.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

If I remember right the number of points at a resort are locked but the can shift the points around within the resort. For say moving target holidays like Easter.

Exactly, that's what I remember too.

 

A few years ago, weekdays were super cheap, and weekends were outrageous. They shifted things around to raise weekdays a bit and lower weekends, but overall points stayed the same.

[Memphis 105]

I am sure whatever saving there maybe in the future rates is more than taken away by the fact you paid for your trip 40 years in advance. 

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

I am sure whatever saving there maybe in the future rates is more than taken away by the fact you paid for your trip 40 years in advance.

Another way of thinking about it is that you paid for 15 years of vacations and your getting 25 years free.

The glass is half empty.

The glass is half full.

[Memphis 105]

25 years free    :rotfl6:  :rofl:  :rofl3: You think anything at Disney is FREE.

 

 I'm just a cheapskate. The Dues are more than I spend on vacations.  

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

25 years free

I'm just a cheapskate. The Dues are more than I spend on vacations.

That's one of the reasons we haven't bought one, yet. We have a goal to stay at every Disney resort there is and the value and mods are cheaper than buying into one. But you do save money on the deluxe resorts with a DVC.

We have averaged 1.5 trips per year for 12 years. And once we retire we hope to do more per year and that's when I think it will be cost affective for "our" lives.

It's all in how you travel and the types of accommodations you want to stay in.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

I wonder if it is as true with DVC as it is with a traditional timeshare (referring to locking in your price).  With a traditional timeshare, you buy a week that you can use every year for the next 20 years (or whatever the length may be).  You pay a set price, and then you use that week for as many years as you can. Your price will never increase. But, the DVC uses points.  Which is genius.  They can change how many points it takes to stay at a given resort at a given period of time.  I think this lets them adjust for inflation, so it may not insulate owners from escalating prices.

 

TCD

Points at each resort have a locked total, but they can change points around, but wherever they raise points, there must be a corresponding drop in points elsewhere. 1:1

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Review of Beach Club has been added.

 

http://www.easywdw.com/uncategorized/beach-club-villas-1-bedroom-disney-vacation-club-review/

[caveat lector 181]

Was a member at OKW for many years. It was great, but when our family expanded to include pups, camping was the natural step for us. We sold our interest and did surprisingly well. We loved it, and depending on financials, we would gladly entertain a Fort DVC