A Shout-Out for DVC

[TravelTime]

I must say Disney Vacation Club is simply amazing. Great service, good availability for members and wonderful website. I know it is expensive and not for everyone so if my post does not fit your needs, I understand. We just joined DVC in 2017. We bought the annual pass for approx $500 per person. We are planning two trips to WDW in this time period, for a total of 19 nights in VGF, AK and Poly (not including Grand Cal and Aulani). This year, we are staying in 1 bedrooms (except Poly since they only have studios) and next year we are planning to stay in 2 bedrooms (except Poly). Dining reservations were recently released for our dates. I was able to reserve every restaurant we want. I also reserved Mickey's Very Very Merry Christmas party at a slight discount since we are DVC members. The ability to book dining and fast passes early is fantastic as a member staying at DVC resorts. Already, most dining reservations are booked in the first week. If we weren't members, I doubt we would have been able to do all of this or even afford it at a per night rate. Our DVC phone rep said we have an amazing itinerary planned. He was even questioning why we booked so much because he said it was unusual for members to do so. If we were not DVC members, we would be unable to book everything we did and the cost per night would be at least double. As a member, we can book early and maximize our points, leading to a more cost effective DVC vacation. We are so excited to take our kids for their first WDW vacation later this year. There is so much to do at WDW that we definitely need to go back next summer. There is more to do than we have time to do in 10 days. As an adult, I am excited! I can just imagine how wonderful this will be for our children. In addition to our satisfaction, we bought at just the right time. All of our DVC resorts have increased in price this year. If we sold right now, we would make a small profit! Super unusual for a timeshare. "Welcome Home" summarizes it all!

 

[Lisa P]

The ability to book dining and fast passes early is fantastic as a member staying at DVC resorts. Already, most dining reservations are booked in the first week. If we weren't members, I doubt we would have been able to do all of this or even afford it at a per night rate.

Your enthusiasm is wonderful. I thought anyone could request dining reservations at 180 days ahead and all guests staying at all Disney resorts (cash, DVC, or exchange) may reserve fast passes at 60 days ahead. Is this different now for DVC members?

 

[TravelTime]

Your enthusiasm is wonderful. I thought anyone could request dining reservations at 180 days ahead and all guests staying at all Disney resorts (cash, DVC, or exchange) may reserve fast passes at 60 days ahead. Is this different now for DVC members?

I am not sure. I think anyone staying at a Disney hotel or resort can book dining at 180 days out and Fast Passes at 60 days out. We are DVC members so we do not know if you are a non-DVC member staying in Disney what the rules are. I am just so excited and happy with our DVC membership and all the perks that come with it so I wanted to share. Also every time I call DVC, the phone reps are wonderful. Today one rep gave me his extension so I can call him directly in the future. This is why Disney and DVC have a phenomenal reputation. I have never had a bad call with DVC. They will stay on the call as long as you need to complete your requests. This week, I was on a call with a Disney rep for over an hour to book all our dining reservations. We needed to call because we have 3 Disney resort reservations so we could not book dining online yet for the final 2 resort reservations. By calling, they will book all dining through the end of multiple resort reservations. I am new to this and learning.

 

[bendadin]

Dining reservations open up for everyone at 180 days. And 60 day FP are available for all guests staying at any WDW resort as well as many Disney Springs partner hotels. Photo Pass is included in your Gold AP. Resort guests also get Extra Magic Hours (sometimes AM, PM, or both depending on the day.) The point chart is the point chart. It doesn't change. And don't use your points for RCI or Disney cruises. The cost is too high.

We love our DVC membership as well. We just attended the AK Moonlight Magic party. I was thrilled to see Jiminy Cricket for a Photo Pass op.

I use Touring Plans so if you don't have a subscription, you should get one. It will give you an educated guess as to crowd levels, hours, and special events. That is what guides which park you do and where you want your dining reservations and on which day. You will also hear the words "Owner's Locker" being kicked around. You can store a bin of stuff (for a fee) so you don't have to haul it back and forth. Helpful if you go to Disney often, and/or if you don't have the luggage space for "stuff."

Trading pins are also a big thing in WDW so look that up as well.

 

[TravelTime]

We are going around Thanksgiving and we signed up for the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. They close down the park to ticket holders from 7 pm to midnight. I think the service at DVC is the best of any timeshare I own - and I am happy with all of them.

 

[Cyberc]

I've snipped into your messages below

..... This year, we are staying in 1 bedrooms (except Poly since they only have studios) and next year we are planning to stay in 2 bedrooms (except Poly)..... As a member, we can book early and maximize our points, leading to a more cost effective DVC vacation. ...... All of our DVC resorts have increased in price this year. If we sold right now, we would make a small profit! Super unusual for a timeshare. "Welcome Home" summarizes it all!

Even for 1br being great for the extra space they are not the best value in terms of maximising your points or for the best value compared to renting direct with disney. Most members find that the best value are the studios and 2br. This is also why studios and 2br book the fastest.

The point chart is the point chart. It doesn't change.

That is not entirely correct. The point charts do change however the overall number of points for a specific resort do not change. Take AKV as an example the point chart for 2019 has been changed compared to 2018. DVC decided to increase the points required to book club level rooms and to make sure the overall number of points didn't increase they lowered the amount of points required to book value room.

This is not something that happen every year but it happens and some owners have started speculating why DVC haven't increased the points for "fall frenzy" as the rooms goes as fast as they do and then lower the points required outside "fall frenzy". Take Boardwalk villas as an example here you can book a studio for 10 points a night, thats less than $70 (cost per point in mf) the same room costs directly from disney more than $300 a night. No wonder with savings like that, that some rooms book faster than others.

Personally as a Boardwalk owner I only book studios when we go, or 2br when that is needed. This year we stayed in a 1br just to try it out. DW loved it for the extra space and the kitchen. During our 10 day stay we only used the kitchen once and ate out the rest of the time, like we "normally" do. Even though the extra space is nice we dont utilise the other extra amenities that comes with a 1br so why book it? next time we are gonna go back to the studios and if we can see we won't be using all of our points we are renting out some. That could cover some of the meals we eat out.

 

[TravelTime]

I like the extra space of 1 and 2 bedrooms with a family. Even when it is just me and my husband, we enjoy extra space.

 

[Cyberc]

I like the extra space of 1 and 2 bedrooms with a family. Even when it is just me and my husband, we enjoy extra space.

Dont get me wrong I like the extra space too, but IMO its too many points and since we normally only stay 3 in a studio I'd rather go twice a year than only once per year.

 

[bnoble]

The thing I liked about a 1BR is that it accommodates different sleep schedules. The LR gives the person who is awake a place to hang out without disturbing the person sleeping.

 

[TravelTime]

What I like about 1 and 2 bedrooms is while the bedrooms might messy but can have a clean space in the living room.