Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

As soon as I heard about DVC I knew DH and I would eventually become members. We love Disney and it just seems to make sense. I had told DH about it and we figured it was a long way off. We typically stay at Values with AP discounts (like a$70 a night), so this is a big leap for us. I was thinking about renting DVC points for our next trip to try it out.

We were looking at the decorations at the GF and I came out of the bathroom and DH was talking to the DVC rep. He told us about the Open House on site. I was pretty excited about it bc I had thought I'd have to rent at each resort to see. We went on the tour. They had sample rooms from SSR, AKV, and Aulani. In addition, they were selling BLT, but had no rooms to show.

BLT was the most expensive, but the longest contract.

I didn't go in there intending to buy, but DH and I were so impressed. DH was VERY gung ho. Apparently when I had talked to him about it before he didn't know it could be financed and he thought it was more expensive than it is.

based on what we saw, I actually liked SSR better than BLT, but we thought BLT would be a better investment in terms of renting out points etc. Also, it has great proximity, so it would be nice to stay there.

DH is really gung ho and excited. I'm SO nervous. I started reading all the board on my phone and it says you should buy DVC if you can pay cash (we can't), and if you usually stay at Deluxe ( we don't).

But the way DH crunched the numbers it's basically like we get to stay at a Deluxe for what we'd pay for a Moderate.

I'm just really nervous about it. I also don't like the no mousekeeping thing.

Any members have any thoughts? How hard/easy is it to rent unused points?

We will have 2 years of points as of August so we were thinking of booking Christmas week at BLT and trying to sell the reservation. Is that hard to do?

Re: Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

Try contacting dvc-rental to sell your points. This is who we booked through, and it was so easy!!! They are so helpful!

Re: Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

Thanks! Are you happy with DVC?

I feel weird having made such a huge purchase basically on a whim

ETA: Oh I see you're not a member, but rented.

Message edited 12/12/2011 10:50:39 AM.

Re: Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

Re: Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

I've owned for about 7 years now. We did not finance. I bought the contract with my sister. We bought a large contract because we wanted to ensure that we would each get a week during the most expensive season in a one-bedroom villa.

I am very happy with my decision, but I always stayed in Deluxe. Our membership fees are about $1,000 a year, but again, that is cut in half because we both pay it. I think a lot of people buy and get caught up in the Disney excitement. The bottom line is it is a timeshare. You are basically pre-paying vacations for life.

As far as renting your points - I've done it a couple of times. It was always to friends or acquaintances though. It can be a bit of a pain to do because you have to be the person making the reservations, magical express, adding the meal plan, etc., but it's not that bad. Oh and technically it's against the rules. However, if it's infrequent, Disney won't catch on. The current rental market is about $10 a point.

Congratulations one your purchase.

Re: Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

Thanks! We still have about a week to cancel, so I'm trying to find out as much as possible.

It's not against the rules to rent points as far as I know, as long as you're not using it for "commercial purposes". Actually the DVC rep suggested that we reserve Christmas week and sell it on ebay. That sounds really tempting, but I'm worried it's going to be too complicated, or won't really work.

Re: Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

We have a small-ish contract? I was thinking of 100 points, but we got 160. That seems to be about enough for almost 2 weeks at a Studio at SSR, or one week at a nice accomodation, such as a TP view at our home, BLT

Re: Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

We have been DVC members for about 3 years now. We did not finance (my ILs gave us the money and we were paying them every month). We bought a resale though because we wanted OKW as our home resort.

My mom has owned since 1991 (I think, whatever year they started). She always stays at OKW but has enough points that she is able to get my sister a room at whatever resort she wants as well for the week we go down.

Not having housekeeping isn't a huge deal. When we go down by ourselves we don't make the beds and we hang up our towels after each bath/shower. We generally don't spend a ton of time in our room so it doesn't get super messy.

We've never rented out points.

Re: Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

The mousekeeping isn't a big deal. The room doesn't get that messy and making the bed takes all of 2 minutes. Extra towels are usually in the hallways on carts.

As far as renting points - any time you rent out points, it's for for "commercial purposes". It's at the discretion of DVC. If you rent out your points once every couple of years, it's not a big deal. However, if you do it with regularity, they will notice and you risk penalties. It happened to a close family friend. As far as your sales guide telling you to rent the points on ebay - remember he's trying to sell you a product.

Re: Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

We have been members for about 11 years now. We bought at Beach Club and we did finance. Things we like, we love that we have the option of where we stay and have really enjoyed having the extra space--makes being in a regular hotel room hard now! It has forced us to take a vacation just about every year. Actually this was the first year we did not use our points but we were able to sell them fairly easily. We don't love that Disney rarely throws in any perks for members-no discounted tickets, hardly anything off at restaurants, etc. We pay over $1000 for maintenance fees which stinks. Forget the cruise, you need like 5 years worth of points just to book one person for a week cruise and you can only borrow/bank for a total of 3 years! Basically all it does is ensure that you will book your vacation for the next 50 years with them. What a brilliant idea for them! Anyway, would we do it again? Probably not but at least for the next 10 years our kids get to go to Disney just about every year.

Re: Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

I thought you do get discounts on tickets?

I have read $100 off Annual pass

Re: Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

we bought into blt in june... so far we went stayed in a 1 bedroom in blt in sept and we are going in january at boardwalk.


that being said while i love that we are dvc members we did NOT find it hard at all getting where we wanted to stay (we had some flexibility).
We booked blt 3 months in advance (got what we wanted) and booked 2 months in advance at boardwalk - also what we wanted.

i kinda wish we bought into ssr bc it is a lot cheaper than blt and we haven't had an issue staying where we wanted.

tbh i actually like that i don't have anyone coming into my room when we aren't there. -- i make the bed - wipe the bathroom with clorox wipes wipe the counters down in the kitchen after we use it... nothing crazy but i feel like it gives me more privacy

you do get discounted annual passes - i believe it is 100 off -- also if you renew your annual pass you get an additional amount off (forgot the exact amount)

for us its definitely worth it.

eta: don't think of it as an investment.. if you bought for an investment definitely not worth it.
think of it as a prepaid vacation. you may get someone to rent your points - or you go thru a place like timeshare store to rent your points out for you - so whoever rents the points gets to pick when they want to go. the going rate for renting points is $12 a point if you go thru a rental place but i believe you may get 10 or 11 for it - the rest of that is commission.

Message edited 12/14/2011 1:11:00 PM.

Re: Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

We have been DVC owners for about 2 years and love it. For us it was a no brainer because we needed the bigger room and love having the kitchen (DD is autistic so having more room and the able to cook food is key for us).

Before DD we always stayed in Deluxes and would with DD if we didn't have the DVC so after pricing it out DVC was definately more cost effective for us. If you like staying at the moderates or values you really need to crunch numbers to make sure DVC is worth it for your family.

We paid cash and did not finance.

The mousekeeping really isnt an issue. The room doesnt' get that messy and if it does there is a vacuum in the room for a quick fix. They also have garbage bins that we dump our garbage in every day. Most units have a washer and dryer so we do a few loads of clothes while down there to cut back on how much we pack.

We've stayed at BLT and Saratoga and loved them both.

Re: Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

We became DVC members about 4 years ago. Our home base is Kidani Village at AKL.

We absolutely love it!! We have 4 kids, so every time we went to Disney we had to get a suite or 2 rooms. DVC totally worked out better for us.

Buy the minimum amount of points that you will need for now. You will constantly get incentives (free stays) to add on more!!

Re: Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

I have looked into it, but it just isn't for us. Maintenance fees are just too much per point. Doesn't seem like a good deal at all, and I just don't see the savings. Especially if you have to finance. I'm sure there are substantial savings compared to rack rate, but I don't think anyone pays rack rate anymore. We don't stay deluxe though, and the moderates don't really appeal to me.

Our most recent trip we actually stayed off site (free with Marriott points) and I think our trip was more enjoyable. Separate bedrooms, free breakfast, 2 minutes to the gates, free wi-fi, etc.

Re: Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

Message edited 12/16/2011 4:52:23 PM.

Re: Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

ur right - there is no way you can compare a value resort -- even a moderate resort to a dvc room - even in the standard dvc room you get a kitchenette, have free laundry facilities, and is bigger than a standard room

staying off property is a big no for us as well. you get to use the extra magic hours - (and trust me we use them) the resorts are so close to the parks - when your done with the park - even if its midday you just go back to your resort and go back to the park when your rested.

with 2 lo's (2 yrs old and 9 months old) its definitely worth it for us.

its a big investment but one that you will get many years of enjoyment from

congrats and welcome home!

Re: Just joined DVC - AHHH Help!

Thank you!

I'm really excited for our first DVC stay!