My best advice would be to rent points from a current DVC owner and see if the DVC program is right for you and your family. There are a few quirks that I didnt care for such as the rooms not being freshened each day ( Heck I would settle for clean towels every day!!!)
Strangely enough, I find this to be a PLUS, rather than a negative. I like the fact that if I happen to be in the room that day, that I don't have to worry about waiting for housekeeping to come in. We tend to come back in the mid afternoon to take a shower and a quick nap before going out in the evening. Typically, our rooms at regular hotels won't be made yet. So we end up sitting around waiting for housekeeping. Knowing that on most days that we won't be disturbed and can simply go on with relaxing in our room is something we definitely prefer. So we don't mind them not coming in every day.
and the set up of the rooms is a bit different from a standard resort.
We have stayed both at our "home" at Saratoga Springs, and at OKW, and have seen the rooms at the Boardwalk. I don't think there's anything out of the ordinary in the standard studio accommodation. In fact, I think the DVC rooms have a lot more amenities, especially with a mini kitchen with microwave, refrigerator (a BIG plus), and cups/plates/utensils. The refrigerator is a major convenience because we can keep our water cold, and we can also being back leftovers from restaurants, something we could never have done before.
Also what resort would be your home base? How easy is it to get accomodations at another DVC property?
Honestly, I don't think this is a major issue. If one is trying to book a resort only a few weeks ahead, it really doesn't matter where one's home base is. It only makes a difference if one want to make a reservation 8 months ahead, or 11 months ahead. But let's face it, how many actually make a reservation earlier than 8 months before? So in that case, where one's home property is really does not matter. I personally have never had any problems getting the resort that we requested, and I usually make a reservation 5 months ahead of time, even at a resort that isn't out home.
Also investigate the set up for the rooms that you would most likely be using. For example Old Key West is the only DVC property that has 2 Queen size beds in the room for a studio.
Even this is very limited. We have stayed at OKW where they only had 1 queen size bed and a pull-out sofa, very much like the arrangement at SSR.
The others all have a pull out couch and a king size bed, does this work for your family? Also be aware of the amenities offered, for example at the studio I stayed in at OKW the washer/dryer was NOT in our unit, we would have to go to the pool area and use those machines. Granted no quarters were needed, but not having a washer/dryer in my unit wa a bit unexpected!!!
That's strange, because that is what we expected after we had a tour of the SSR resort before we bought in DVC. We clearly saw that the studio accommodation had no washer/dryer inside the unit, while the 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, and 3-bedroom villas do. Our DVC rep. told us that that was a pretty standard arrangements at all the DVC resorts, with only a few exceptions. So not having the washer and dryer inside a studio unit is the norm.
My advice to the OP is that, if you go only once a year, and you're used to staying at a budget resort, then buying into a DVC would probably NOT save you any money, if that is your major criteria. However, I would seriously suggest that you work out how much you would spend per year on your Disney vacation, and then take the DVC tour. When you sit down in front of their computer to work out how many points you would need and how much you will end up paying for the duration of the DVC ownership (currently up to 2054 for SSR), then you can make your own comparison in terms of expenditure. This, I think, is the only way to see if what DVC has to offer is worth the money, even if it is more than what you would normally pay for your vacation.
Zz.
