DVC Questions...Help!

[Apple01]

Ok so I am totally new to learning about DVC... I have been researching it all day online; however, we have never stayed in a deluxe hotel nor been on the tour. We usually go to Disney once every 3 years...would probably go every other year if DVC really works out to benefit us in being able to afford it like they advertise. I am currently looking at planning our trip for next Jan/Feb (waiting for it to open up to book), and noticed a dilemma with the fact our family has grown and we need more room. We have myself & husband, and a 17 yr, 12, yr, 1 yr, and a baby due in June. Our last 3 trips was myself and husband and the 2 oldest. So the prices have really increased to look at bigger sized rooms! We were looking at AoA suites, but hate to spend that much on Value, and started thinking...wow if I'm going to spend around $2500-$3000 on a room, why not look into DVC Resale?! Cause I know we will be back, and spend that much again in the next 2-3 years...so just seems crazy to throw $ away, that could go towards a DVC. I have looked online and thinking around the $6500-$10,000 dvc resale price range (70-100 points)...only because we want to pay cash for it upfront, and then later probably buy some extra points thru Disney (and also that way we get the perks of buying thru Disney direct).
We have no interest in Adventures by Disney, or cruises, overseas trips, etc.... but do like the idea we could use points towards other places (thru RCI) on years we don't go to Disney (that's if we don't borrow them, etc for Disney).

So I'm curious for the ones that have bought DVC, what are your thoughts a couple years later...do you still love it? Like it? Hate it? Anything I should consider?

I am a little nervous trying to make this decision without going on a tour, and never staying at Deluxe before...but hate to go pay a bunch on $ on this next trip's hotel, to take the tour and then buy in (and could have put that $ towards our DVC purchase). We are considering AKL, Poly, and maybe WL. I like Poly location best, but room size options would be better at AKL. Also wondering how far the DVC Villas are from the main pool, food, etc at hotels...are they long walks to get to the room? Are you able to put in "online check in" requests for room location when you book...just like normal room bookings? Are you able to add Disney Dining Plans? Is Photopass included, or costs extra?

 

[WDWFanDave]

Ok so I am totally new to learning about DVC... I have been researching it all day online; however, we have never stayed in a deluxe hotel nor been on the tour. We usually go to Disney once every 3 years...would probably go every other year if DVC really works out to benefit us in being able to afford it like they advertise. I am currently looking at planning our trip for next Jan/Feb (waiting for it to open up to book), and noticed a dilemma with the fact our family has grown and we need more room. We have myself & husband, and a 17 yr, 12, yr, 1 yr, and a baby due in June. Our last 3 trips was myself and husband and the 2 oldest. So the prices have really increased to look at bigger sized rooms! We were looking at AoA suites, but hate to spend that much on Value, and started thinking...wow if I'm going to spend around $2500-$3000 on a room, why not look into DVC Resale?! Cause I know we will be back, and spend that much again in the next 2-3 years...so just seems crazy to throw $ away, that could go towards a DVC. I have looked online and thinking around the $6500-$10,000 dvc resale price range (70-100 points)...only because we want to pay cash for it upfront, and then later probably buy some extra points thru Disney (and also that way we get the perks of buying thru Disney direct).
We have no interest in Adventures by Disney, or cruises, overseas trips, etc.... but do like the idea we could use points towards other places (thru RCI) on years we don't go to Disney (that's if we don't borrow them, etc for Disney).

So I'm curious for the ones that have bought DVC, what are your thoughts a couple years later...do you still love it? Like it? Hate it? Anything I should consider?

I am a little nervous trying to make this decision without going on a tour, and never staying at Deluxe before...but hate to go pay a bunch on $ on this next trip's hotel, to take the tour and then buy in (and could have put that $ towards our DVC purchase). We are considering AKL, Poly, and maybe WL. I like Poly location best, but room size options would be better at AKL. Also wondering how far the DVC Villas are from the main pool, food, etc at hotels...are they long walks to get to the room? Are you able to put in "online check in" requests for room location when you book...just like normal room bookings? Are you able to add Disney Dining Plans? Is Photopass included, or costs extra?

First, welcome to WDWMagic! We looked at DVC on and off for years, and joined about a year and half ago, directly with DVC. Thinking about adding more, too. We've stayed at the WL, AKV, and Poly. Loved all three of them, and honestly, it's hard to decide which one to stay at next. Family of three here, so space isn't a huge issue for us. Poly is great as it's on the Monorail, AKV is stunning, WL is quiet. Prior vacations we would stay offsite or at resorts like AoA, Port Orleans, etc. Never had stayed at one of the DVC resorts.
AKV is the one you could end up with the longest walk to get to anything. Our stay there we had a Savanna view room, and it was a brisk good 10 to 12 minute walk to the room from the lobby (including elevator time). It's a haul, but it was worth it. Poly, we were closest to the TTC and one building away from laundry, probably a three minute walk to the GCH and pool. WL - we were at the far end, was still a shorter walk than AKV. Actually was quite a walk to get to the MK boat, but pretty close to the bus stops.
You can buy the dining plan - we did last year for part of our trip (one great thing about a split stay - which is how we stayed at so many different resorts) is that they are separate reservations, so you can buy the dining plan or not for each portion). Probably will not do it again, just didn't make sense for us. Now we just 'pre-pay' for our dining plan by picking up Disney gift cards at the local warehouse club with a discount. We bought the DVC annual passes (Gold), so, our Photopass is included. It isn't unless you get an AP.
FWIW - our home resort is actually Vero, and we're going to check it out for the first time in a few weeks. One great thing is that at the 7 month mark, you can reserve at any resort.
I'm no expert, just a life-long (almost) WDW fan, and we couldn't be happier with our investment.
Oh - and I know WDWMagic won't mind - you should check out the site DVCInfo.com, they have a similar forum (I think it's built on the same web platform), and the information there is fantastic. I visit it frequently and am a member there, too. Lots of folks there that love DVC, too, and are able to answer questions like you have, and you might get more, and faster, replies there, especially where it concerns buying resale.
Best to you, and hope it'll be soon you'll be hearing the "Welcome Home"

 

[Tinkerbell397]

We bought DVC direct through Disney on our last trip in March 2016. We scheduled the tour before our trip so we were able to choose a time that fit our schedule. When we were there, they were pushing the Poly and Aluani.....we chose the Poly and could not be happier. I wish that we had bought when our kids were small but there are always other priorities when you are raising a family. Anyway.....we bought 100 points because we tend to visit every year or 2. Our next visit will be April 30-May 5 and we all be staying at BLT in a 2 bedroom....bringing my daughter, so in law, granddaughter age 4 and grandson age 1. We also have another granddaughter on the way so subsequent trips will be with 3 children. I love the idea of leaving our DVC to our daughter, son and their families until 2065 so my granddaughter who is 4 will be able to take her grandchildren....how fun is that thought. We have alway stayed at deluxe resorts so it was almost a no brainer for us. Originally, our upcoming trip was scheduled for September so we booked 2 suites at the Poly at 11 months out. When my daughter found out that she was pregnant with # 3 and due at the beginning of September, we called and changed our trip to April 30 and booked a 2 bedroom at BLT with not problems and that was 4 months out. Due to the need for a few extra points, we bought 20 at $15 a point....a very nice feature of the DVC. We went online and ordered groceries from The Green Grocer and they will be delivered to our resorts the day we arrive. We are sooooooo looking forward to our first DVC Vacation and we are already thinking about our 2019 trip. I am sure that members with more years of ownership can help you. Have a Magical Day!

 

[Phonedave]

I bought 160 points direct at SSR 10 years ago (go with resale, I was a sucker at the time). Aside from the fact I bought direct, I do not regret it all. If I had to do it all over again, I would buy 160 points at SSR resale. Acutally no, I would buy 160 points at SSR resale and then add on 25 more direct. We are acutally looking for smaller 25 to 50 point contracts on the resale market right now to add on. We find we are using more and more points. Lets put it this way, we are booked for a trip in June, and then after that we will not be getting any more points on our contract until Feb 2019 - yes 2019

Cruises, ABD, Concerige collection, etc are all a waste of points, but some of the other perks I do like, so that is why I would have a small direct add on if I did it again.

As for location, I am happy with SSR. My dues are low, and I happen to enjoy comming home to :"The Hood" (for those who belong to that FB group - you know who you are). The only time I have problems booking at other resorts are at the EPCOT area resorts during Food and Wine. Other times, I rarely get waitlisted. We are at Boardwalk this June for example.

You can book DDP as a seperate item when staying on points (but why would you, it is such a waste of money, especially if you are in DVC and have a full kitchen in the unit - not saying to cook every meal, but ditch the DDP, put in an order with Garden Grocer and eat breakfast in the room.Cheaper, better for you, easier, and it gets you out the door faster with less hassle too). Or if you really do eat that much, and do a lot of Table Services, look into the Tables In Wonderland card. You are allowed to purchase that if you are DVC owner.

You can do room requests, and some properties have certain rooms in different categories too.Photopass is not included with DVC, but you can get the gold Annual Pass at the FL resident rate with your DVC membership, and that does include Photopass. So if you are going a number of times, or at least every year and you time it right, that can work out to a savings.

Now that I think about it though, you need to show your DVC card to get both the AP and the TIW card, and if you have a resale contract, you dont get a member card, so then you don't get those perks.



-dave

 

[Apple01]

I bought 160 points direct at SSR 10 years ago (go with resale, I was a sucker at the time). Aside from the fact I bought direct, I do not regret it all. If I had to do it all over again, I would buy 160 points at SSR resale. Acutally no, I would buy 160 points at SSR resale and then add on 25 more direct. We are acutally looking for smaller 25 to 50 point contracts on the resale market right now to add on. We find we are using more and more points. Lets put it this way, we are booked for a trip in June, and then after that we will not be getting any more points on our contract until Feb 2019 - yes 2019

Cruises, ABD, Concerige collection, etc are all a waste of points, but some of the other perks I do like, so that is why I would have a small direct add on if I did it again.

As for location, I am happy with SSR. My dues are low, and I happen to enjoy comming home to :"The Hood" (for those who belong to that FB group - you know who you are). The only time I have problems booking at other resorts are at the EPCOT area resorts during Food and Wine. Other times, I rarely get waitlisted. We are at Boardwalk this June for example.

You can book DDP as a seperate item when staying on points (but why would you, it is such a waste of money, especially if you are in DVC and have a full kitchen in the unit - not saying to cook every meal, but ditch the DDP, put in an order with Garden Grocer and eat breakfast in the room.Cheaper, better for you, easier, and it gets you out the door faster with less hassle too). Or if you really do eat that much, and do a lot of Table Services, look into the Tables In Wonderland card. You are allowed to purchase that if you are DVC owner.

You can do room requests, and some properties have certain rooms in different categories too.Photopass is not included with DVC, but you can get the gold Annual Pass at the FL resident rate with your DVC membership, and that does include Photopass. So if you are going a number of times, or at least every year and you time it right, that can work out to a savings.

Now that I think about it though, you need to show your DVC card to get both the AP and the TIW card, and if you have a resale contract, you dont get a member card, so then you don't get those perks.



-dave

@Phonedave thanks for the great info!! Yes I'm thinking more and more we wouldn't need DDP...only reason I ride the fence on it is because we normally stay in parks during the day and eat lunch there, and then we usually do a character meal at each park to see characters without having to wait in line...and the kids love it.
So one question, if I were to buy resale for say AKL being my home resort...and I buy 25 more direct, do they add on to AKL or do you choose a different resort for those points? Sorry problem a dumb question...but just was thinking how that worked for people that bought like 50 points thru resale for 2 different hotels (so 2 different 50 point DVC's), do the points add together and you then have 2 different home resorts to get the 11 month window to choose from to book?

 

[EOD K9]

@Phonedave thanks for the great info!! Yes I'm thinking more and more we wouldn't need DDP...only reason I ride the fence on it is because we normally stay in parks during the day and eat lunch there, and then we usually do a character meal at each park to see characters without having to wait in line...and the kids love it.
So one question, if I were to buy resale for say AKL being my home resort...and I buy 25 more direct, do they add on to AKL or do you choose a different resort for those points? Sorry problem a dumb question...but just was thinking how that worked for people that bought like 50 points thru resale for 2 different hotels (so 2 different 50 point DVC's), do the points add together and you then have 2 different home resorts to get the 11 month window to choose from to book?

If you buy 25 direct, they have to exercise ROFR on another 25 point contract with the same use year at AKL. Also, yes you get the 11 month booking window, but you would only be able to use 25 points at 11 months if you got a different home resort. So, for argument sake, you have 25 points direct at Poly, and 150 at AKL with the same use year, you could book 25 points at 11 month at Poly, which would barely get you one night. You would then have to book the rest of your trip at AKL at 11 months, or wait another seven to use your AKL points at Poly. Hope that helps a tad.

 

[Apple01]

If you buy 25 direct, they have to exercise ROFR on another 25 point contract with the same use year at AKL. Also, yes you get the 11 month booking window, but you would only be able to use 25 points at 11 months if you got a different home resort. So, for argument sake, you have 25 points direct at Poly, and 150 at AKL with the same use year, you could book 25 points at 11 month at Poly, which would barely get you one night. You would then have to book the rest of your trip at AKL at 11 months, or wait another seven to use your AKL points at Poly. Hope that helps a tad.

@EOD K9 ok that makes sense. So if I buy resale at AKL, and want to buy 25 points direct thru disney...will they sell me those points at AKL since they are not currently selling DVC for AKL? Or would I have to buy those for Poly since that is what they are currently selling?

 

[EOD K9]

@EOD K9 ok that makes sense. So if I buy resale at AKL, and want to buy 25 points direct thru disney...will they sell me those points at AKL since they are not currently selling DVC for AKL? Or would I have to buy those for Poly since that is what they are currently selling?

You can pretty much demand any home resort, Disney has to have the points available.
Scenario-----I have 150 resale at SSR. Someone is selling resale at SSR and I want 25 from Disney direct. Disney will buy those points from that person at the cheaper price, then sell those to me at full price so I can get what I want.

Now, if you had AKL and demanded 25 at Poly, they will get them to you, but they still need the contract for sale. They cannot magically create points for the public. They will eventually come through with what you want, it just may take time. I did purchase 150 direct points at SSR in 2005 and paid it off early, I then bought another 35 resale with the same use year at SSR to make things easier. It is possible that Disney did not exercise ROFR because those points were not in demand or I am already a member and didn't want to EFF with me.
If you buy resale first and really want the same resort direct with the same use year just ask. As I said, you may have to wait a bit.

 

[gmajew]

We bought 3 years ago I believe at the Grand Floridian.... Love it... We use our points currently for one trip a year but the thoughts were as my family grows up my wife and I will be able to use the points on the smaller rooms for multiple week long vacations a year.

Hopefully it works out that way we never borrow points as we don't want to be with out at any point.

 

[dreamfinder]

Keep in mind that most of the advertised cost savings is over the posted rack rate for a DVC room, which tends to be a fair bit higher than a normal room at the same resort (if applicable). So unless you are going to be paying cash for a DVC room, the savings usually won't be any where near what they advertise. To get a real rough break even/cost savings idea, figure out how much you would spend on rooms now at the resort you would stay at, and then compare that to the DVC cost. Lots of cash resale buys break even at about 7-10 years, while cash direct is usually closer to 12-15 years. Financing either, add on like 5 years.

Keep in mind that with your family, you may be locked into a 2BR or 3BR villa in a few years, pretty sure the 1BR max out at 5 people. So if you do buy that 70-100 pt deed resale, you would most likely be doing a trip every other year. And even that might be tight, a 2BR will usually be at least 200 points, even in the slow seasons.

@EOD K9 ok that makes sense. So if I buy resale at AKL, and want to buy 25 points direct thru disney...will they sell me those points at AKL since they are not currently selling DVC for AKL? Or would I have to buy those for Poly since that is what they are currently selling?

Yes and no. You can request points at any DVC resort, and DVD should waitlist that request. Then if a corresponding deed comes up for sale on the secondary market, they can exercise ROFR on the sale, buy back the points, and then sell them to you at full cost. Now if you were to do this you would most likely want to get the same use year, which may mean you have a decent wait until the perfect contract comes up. But if you don't mind managing multiple use years, then in theory someone would open up faster. For a while people were saying that DVD wasn't taking anymore waitlist request for some resorts, not sure if that is still the case or how often it happens. If they are not taking any more requests, then you would either need to wait until they do, buy another resort direct, or buy more resale. It all depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

Buying multiple deeds can get tricky. Each deed is tied to the booking window for that deed, and you can't just mush all your points together and use them at once. And even if they are at the same resort, you may still need to keep an eye on use years if they differ. There are multiple ways to handle this, some people will book a split trip at the 11 months, and then try to rebook one part at 7 months so it is all at one resort. Others may bank/borrow, so they use all their 2015/2016 points at AKL in 2015, then their 2015/2016 at SSR in 2016.

 

[harryk]

Always try to keep your use years the same -- it makes life so much easier. Room requests when checking in on-line is a nice option -- but I have yet in the last 10 visits have had my requests honored -- possibly due to when we visit the World -- beginning of December, which has slowly become a high visit time. (and we book one and two bedroom units)

 

[DuckTalesWooHoo1987]

We bought in 9 years ago before we had kids and it's the best decision we've ever made. We get to take 3 trips a year and always have deluxe accommodations. We are members at BLT and the best thing about being in DVC is the fact that you get 11 month dibs on your booking at your home resort. One thing you guys should consider though is that most DVC resorts don't accommodate 5 in a studio so you may want to opt for the resorts that do like Grand Floridian, Wilderness, and Poly. Also Boardwalk does as well. I'm just going off memory but I think those are the ones. Also realize that if you're booking in to the older resorts it makes your annual dues be quite a bit more than the newer resorts because it just costs more to maintain them. The people we know that bought in at Hilton Head really hate the amount of dues they have to pay but being by the ocean puts them at risk for hurricane damage and so forth. I HIGHLY recommend DVC to people but ONLY if they like to go a lot. I'm not sure if I'd recommend it for people that only like to go every 3 years. I think the greatest value in DVC is being able to take more frequent trips. One thing you could try is renting points at a resort which you think you might want to join at and staying there for a trip and that would help you decide if you like the resort or not. I can tell you this. After getting used to deluxe Disney accommodations I would hate to think that I'd ever have to stay at another value resort again. So beware. You might get spoiled. LOL!

 

[Simba's Mom]

We bought DVC about 15 years ago, and for the most part think it was one of the best decisions we ever made. Any reluctance revolves around the idea that we're aging and not so much into parks nor very mobile any more (that one's me-DH is still quite mobile). So we spend more time around resorts, and fewer hours in the parks at WDW, and much more time at HHI than we used to. Overall, still really love it though.

 

[Ralphlaw]

Read the thread called "Is DVC Worth It" just below this thread. Lot's of candid remarks, good and bad.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Wow, the resale market has moved quite a bit recently, huh? Animal Kingdom Lodge was at $80 per point for awhile but now the cheapest I'm seeing is $95.

 

[correcaminos]

Wow, the resale market has moved quite a bit recently, huh? Animal Kingdom Lodge was at $80 per point for awhile but now the cheapest I'm seeing is $95.

Huh? I have a few apps going while looking for a unicorn listing, but the most expensive I see is for that. Most are in the low to mid 80s with solds in the upper $70s Saw one for $74 that is pending. That's just a few companies too.