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Ok, I've been seeing these stalls everywhere and wasn't exactly sure what it was. Can someone please give me a review of what the Disney Vacation Club is and its benefits?
Please give it to me from a user's point of view and not a businessy one.
Thank you
Hi DisneyFreak!
Unfortunately, I'm afraid I will give you the "businessy" definition since that is my business. :D However, here is the cliffnotes:
The DVC is a timeshare which allows your family to choose the location, unit size and time of year for your vacation from year to year and saves you money on the accomodations.
Now, if you don't mind the long version, here is an article that gets really detailed. I hope you'll find it helpful:
Disney’s version of what has been knows for years as a “timeshare” is not only a smarter, more flexible version of vacation ownership, but it also has a friendlier name: The Disney Vacation Club. (Can you hear the “ta da!” that goes with it?!)
Not sold by the name alone?
Let’s talk about how it works. When you buy into the Disney Vacation Club, you’re given an annual allocation of points -- let’s assume you have 200 points per year for our discussion. Those points may then be “spent” on your vacation accommodations until they are all used. Each resort has a points chart associated with it that helps you determine how much each room or unit size will “cost” in points as correlated with the time of year you are traveling. Weekends and holidays always require more points per night, while weekdays and the slow season cost sometimes half as many points. Obviously, three bedroom grand villas (between 24-196 points) require significantly more points each day than a studio (6-44 points) or a one bedroom (11-80 points). Some of the premium location resorts, such as Disney’s Beach Club, require more points than the flagship resort Old Key West, which has larger rooms, but isn’t within walking distance to Epcot.
Here’s an example: Given 200 points - A family of four, sleeping in a one bedroom unit could spend a week at Disney’s Old Key West in early December, using 160 points. They would have 40 points remaining, which they could use for 4 weeknights at Disney’s Vero Beach in a Deluxe Garden Inn room in July. The beautiful part is they get to look at the charts and decide where, when, and how often they can go based on their annual allocation of points.
A point to ponder: Unlike a traditional timeshare, owners may stay at their DVC homes for as little as one day at a time instead of being locked into a whole week – a feature that has bothered traditional timeshare owners for years.
Need more details? OK, let’s look at two different scenarios, frequently asked about by potential DVC buyers: 1) “What if I’m not traveling one year?” or 2) “What if I need more points than my annual allocation allows?” This is where banking and borrowing come into play. Disney will allow an owner to bank up to one full year’s allocation of points into the next year (you do have some rules to remember) and you may borrow up to 100% of the upcoming year’s allocation as well (again, there are rules and restrictions). Therefore, the most you will ever have available to travel with is three times your annual allocation. That seems pretty easy to remember!
What else can you do besides go to Disney? Boy, is that a loaded question! I’ll break things down as Disney does, by title:
The World Passport Collection: This is your traditional timeshare exchange program and it primarily offers resorts with the Interval International system. You can call Member Services and trade a week’s worth of points (one or two bedroom) for a week in a resort somewhere else in the world, such as the Kona Coast in Hawaii, or maybe the Grand Timber Lodge in Colorado (which I have traded into myself). It is worth mentioning that Disney had a team hand-pick these locations to meet certain criteria and not all of the Interval International resorts are available. At the time of this writing, Disney charges an additional $75 fee for this exchange.
A point to ponder: There are more details about these resorts at www.intervalworld.com than may be offered by Disney’s Member Services. You do not have to “sign in” to view the resorts.
The Concierge Collection: This collection consists of primarily full-service hotels throughout the world, to which you may use your points to travel. They include a wide range of hotels, from a basic, like the Shelburne Murray in New York City, to the adventurous, like the Tanque Verde Dude ranch in Arizona – both of which I have traveled to and enjoyed tremendously! These are typically available in daily increments, but you should check the chart before booking. Keep in mind that at the time of this writing, Disney charges an additional $95 fee for this exchange, which can add to your overall bottom line if you are only traveling a couple of days.
The Adventurer Collection: This includes fun trips like an African safari, a back-road biking trip to California and France, an eco-trip to Costa Rica, or even a cruise on the Holland America cruise line. Points vary, as some of these trips are 14-day adventures. Again, a $95 booking fee is applicable, at the time of this writing.
The Disney Collection: While you may think this would include your DVC resorts, it doesn’t. This collection applies to all the non-DVC Disney hotels, including those in California, Florida, and Paris, and the Disney Cruise line. Each hotel has its own applicable points chart, as do the 3, 4 and 7-day cruises. No fees are applied to the hotels at the time of this writing, but the cruise line has a $75 booking fee.
DVC Resorts: Back in 1991, Disney introduced its new timeshare concept with one resort, known simply as The Disney Vacation Club. The idea was so popular that the DVC quickly expanded, and the original DVC resort is now known as Old Key West. Its sister resorts in Orlando currently include the Boardwalk Villas, Villas at Wilderness Lodge, Beach Club Villas, and Saratoga Springs Spa and Resort. About an hour and a half east overlooking the Atlantic Ocean is Disney’s Vero Beach resort; about six hours north in South Carolina is Disney’s Hilton Head Island resort.
OK, so assuming you are convinced this is the next best thing since sliced bread you’ll probably want to know which resort you should buy points for and why. Once you decide to become a “Member” – Disney’s coveted term for a DVC Owner – you’ll have to choose which will be your home resort. Money, ownership and reservation privileges are all factors to consider:
Length of ownership – At the time of this writing all the DVC resorts have a lease term expiration of 2042, except Saratoga Springs, which, as the newest DVC resort, has a lease term that expires in 2054. (Sorry, unlike a traditional timeshare no one gets to own a piece of the magic forever.) Only Disney knows what will happen after these terms expire. (Personally, I think they will be marketing them to our kids a few years before expiration so the tradition will live on.)
Reservation ability – Once you decide how many points your family needs, you’ll want to choose which resort you want to buy, or your “home” resort. Disney allows members to make reservations at their home resort up to 11 months in advance, but at all the other “non-home” DVC resorts reservations can only be made up to 7 months in advance. Points are points are points, but the home resort is a much-debated topic so your families travel habits should be considered.
Purchase price or initial investment – While Disney is charging a whopping $98 per point as I write, resales from DVCbyResale.com can be found for as little as $61 per point at Vero Beach to $83 per point at Saratoga Springs, with prices for all other resorts somewhere in between.
Annual dues a.k.a. Maintenance Fees and taxes – Each resort charges fees that go toward maintaining the property. The fees vary from resort to resort, but currently average $4 per point. Your home resort determines how much you will pay and how much Disney charges on a per point basis. Dues can vary as much as $1 per point between some resorts. If you own 200 points, not only is that a $200 difference per year, but it adds up to $8,000 over 40 years. Wow!
Well, what about perks? DVC Members not only get a big “Welcome Home!” anytime they arrive at one of their resorts, but they can also take advantage of a few dollar-saving benefits that aren’t available to the ordinary family traveling to Disney. Disney’s Members Only website (www.dvcmember.com) lists and updates these benefits regularly. The best perk added recently is a significant discount on annual passes to Walt Disney World for anyone living in a member’s household.
So now you’re thinking: I’m convinced! Where do I find these points? My first recommendation is to call Disney directly at 1-800-840-3708 for the information packet -- feel free to give my name as a referral! Then visit our website, www.DVCbyresale.com, for the current DVC Resort point charts and all our resale listings. If you send me an email I will be happy to forward the charts for the other properties and add you to our update list: info@dvcbyresale.com. Better yet, just give me a call 1-800-844-4099 and I’ll answer any of your questions about becoming a member. I’ve been one for more than seven years!
Shontell has certainly provided a comprehensive answer...I'll try to give you something less "businessy".
DVC is basically a timeshare with a twist. Instead of getting a specific condo for a specific week each year (traditional timeshare), you get an annual allotment of points. Think of the points as Monopoly money, and then each DVC resort has its own rates for different accommodations and different times of the year.
You pay once for the points and get them "replenished" each year for another 48 years (buying SSR through Disney) or 36 more years (buying resale on the other 6 DVC resorts).
Each year you pay maintenance fees on your points as well....about $4 a point or so, and that can go up each year but no more than 15% in a year.
Basically, DVC makes a lot of sense if you vacation at WDW frequently (at least every other year) and stay on-site in moderates or luxury resort accommodations already. For similar or less money than you'd pay for the standard rooms, you can get an upgraded studio room or a 1BR, 2BR or 3BR "condo" accommodation complete with full kitchen and laundry facilities.
DVC can be traded out, or used in the various fashions described in Shontell's post. However, it is the opinion of many people more expert than I in timeshares, that DVC works best if:
1. You plan on using it primarily at WDW DVC resorts (or Hilton Head and Vero Beach).
2. You want to go to WDW at least every other year for the next 30-50 years.
3. You can plan trips more than 7 months ahead.
4. You can afford to purchase DVC without putting a huge financial crunch on yourself.
Good luck in your decision. It's a great program, but isn't necessarily for everyone.
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for example, ................ ^ is that 12 points a night, or 12 points for the week of sun-thur ??
It's 12 points per night, Sparky. :-)
Well, Let me just say that DVC IS AWESOME!!!!!!!
The downside of DVC? You have to make your own freakin' bed!
per night per person?
The points are for the room, you don't have to worry about per person things. You also get discounts especially on AP's
Wow, thank you very much DVC by resale.
Now, I need someone to show me the benefits of the Disney Vacation club over just staying at a hotel room besides the cost.
Lol do I sound too demanding?
You don't sound too demanding at all. Though if you ask a new question, you often get more answers by starting a new thread.Quote:
Originally Posted by DisneyFREAK91
DVC currently has a lot of perks, including a sizeable discount for the Annual Pass. However, I'd advise against making the decision based on the perks....they could all go away as the only thing you are contractually guaranteed are the points to make accommodation reservations.
When you say "just staying at a hotel room", do you mean an off-site hotel? That's a whole different discussion than comparing DVC to a regular WDW Resort room. Assuming you mean a WDW Resort room, the difference in accommodations is primarily noticeable if you book one-bedroom villas or larger. Then you get a full kitchen, a separate living room from the bedroom(s) and laundry facilities in the villa.
Good luck in the decision, and keep asking those questions! :)
Actually, cost is an important factor. Hotel rooms (either on or off site) will continue to go up every year. Point costs for DVC rooms will not go up every year (it's true that point costs can be reallocated, but that has only happened once).
There are some other benefits to being a DVC member. DVC members get some restaurant discounts (restaurant discounts are usually reserved for annual passholders and DDE members). DVC members can partake in the dining plan (this is usually reserved for guests who purchase a full package through Disney). DVC members get some other discounts (golf, spa, Disney Shopping, etc.).
Perks for DVC members can and will change, but there always seem to be some available (my favorite is the discount on annual passes).
And even though the studios don't have built-in laundry facilities, DVC members have access to free washers and dryers. This means you can pack fewer clothes.
DVC is amazing. You don't just have to stay at Disney Hotels. you can go all over the world using your "points" you get. You can also go on cruises and adventures by Disney. There is no real free dining for DVC members. Another good thing about it is the discounts. You can get discounts in popular disney stores, and other entertainment venues to. If you buy it from someone else you cannot go on Adventures buy disney, but it is WAY cheaper.