Calling all Disney Vacation Club members

I read a little about it online and am interested in it. For those of you that are members, can you please give me some of the pros/cons and tell me if you think it's worth the investment? TIA!!

Re: Calling all Disney Vacation Club members

I've been a DVC owner for 7 years and for me it's a great deal. However, I think that if you are looking for an "investment" it's a poor choice. Basically, what I have done by buying DVC is I have prepaid my future Disney vacations.

I think it's definitely worthwhile if you like to stay at deluxe or moderate resorts. Dolllar for dollar if you are the type to stay at the vaule resorts, it doesn't really pay off.

Some things to note:

1. You will no longer be eligible for "free dining" plans. DVC memeber are eligible for the disney dining plans but they are never offered "free" with your room. However, you won't be charged the "peak" surcharge.

2. "mouskeeping". DVC members staying on points do not get daily housekeeping. We don't get back from a long day at the parks to find the beds made and room clean. However, there are always extra towels available, you get "trash & towel" service on your 4th day and full cleaning on your 8th day. You can request extra mousekeeping but they will charge you for it. The charge can run between $25-$50 per day based on your resort and room type.

3. You will get discounts on Annual Passes! These come in very handy. Last year, I used my points to spend a total of 18 nights in Disney over the course of 4 trips. I had an annual pass which I was able to use each visit. If I had bought 18 days admission to the parks it would have been MUCH more $$$.

If you buy direct through dvc and not through the resale market, you will have the ability to swap your points for vacations through other timeshares (RTC) and on Disney Cruise Line and Adventures by Disney. We have done a swap out through RTC for a place in Arizona and the cruise line on points.

DVC is not cheap, and it's a big decision, if you have any other questions, please FM me.

Re: Calling all Disney Vacation Club members

we became members in may. great decision for us!

We had the money to pay for it upfront. if you have to finance it think of the amount of interest your paying on your vacation every month PLUS your annual dues.

we are happy we became members, we already went in sept and were going again in january and planning again next sept.

if you like staying at a deluxe resort every year or every other year at disney then its something to consider. (again for me its something i would only consider if i had the money to buy it outright)

i priced out the contemporary for our family and it was about 5k before we became members - with little ones i knew we were going to go at least every other year - if not every year and i don't like staying at the value resorts. so it actually pays for itself in 4 vacations or so.

the convenience of having a kitchen and a washer and dryer is great (one bedroom) with little ones as opposed to a regular hotel room.

disney is now selling 100 point contracts (they used to be a minimum of 160) which may be great if you go every other year - but imo not worth it if you go every year. You can always add to your contract but i think disney is selling those small contracts just to lure people in bc they will eventually need and buy more points.

It still gets expensive going there - as a dvc member its just your room thats included. you still have to buy your dining plan (if your going that route) and your passes - all those things add up.

for us it was definitely a win win situation. we bought into bay lake towers and stayed at a 1bedroom in sept - we loved it.
we are staying at a 1bedroom in january at boardwalk villas. with little ones we knew it was right for us

good luck! and let us know what u decide!

Re: Calling all Disney Vacation Club members

Don't forget about your annual dues. The fees are based per point on your home resort. For 270 points, I think we pay just about $1,000 a year in dues.

Again it can be a big savings depending on your vacation type. DH and I (no kids) are going for 8 days 7 nights in January staying at the Beach Club. It's costing us about $725 for the meal plan (the basic meal plan, one counter serve, one table serve, one snack a day) and airfare of $225 each $450 total. We already have annual passes so we don't have to buy park admission.

That's $1,100 for a week at Disney. Room prices alone priced through Disney would be $2,700.

Re: Calling all Disney Vacation Club members

Re: Calling all Disney Vacation Club members

Re: Calling all Disney Vacation Club members

I too agree with everything above posters said. I've been dvc member for 9 years now and it really just guarantees you will take a vacation (and most likely at disney but doesn't have to be) every year. I probably would not do again if I had to decide today but I don't really regret it bc it has forced us to take a vacation when we probably would have gone without. But having said that, it has worked out well for our family and probably will for the next 5 years at which point we would probably sell our remaining years. I think the one big con for me and why I can never honestly recommend buying it to anyone is because there are no "real" perks that come with it. They NEVER give DVC members benefits like discounted park tickets, cheaper dining, etc. Basically they give away like a 10% discount at some of the shops and a few of the restaurants (not in the parks) at lunch time. And that is it. But it is really nice having suites instead of hotel rooms while there.