danicaw
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 5, 1999
If you are wondering how DVC compared to another timeshare here is my opinion.
We just returned from the Kona Coast Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii. How we ended up there is a crazy story. But here goes (I will try to keep it short)
We joined DVC in 99 and our first trip "Home" was last December.
My hubby's family has a great tradition of having family portraits every 5 years and last Dec. was the date for the next installment of photos. Well the last 5 years have brought 2 new family members, my brother in-law (Hubby's sisters husband J) and myself. The family decided to meet at WDW for a week and take the portraits on site, instead of meeting a in-laws house and taking it in a studio. So since we are DVC members it made the most sense to use our points for the family trip. In exchange my in-laws gave us their timeshare for use this year. So the 6 of us stayed in a GV at OKW last December (wonderful) and hubby and I spent last week in Hawaii, which we have wanted to do for a while. I think we made out really well.
So we traded with Interval International and landed at the Kona Coast Resort - Phase I (which is listed in our DVC books). I have had limited exposure to timeshares in my 25 years of life. This was to be my 4th stay in a timeshare. The first I don't remember (to young), second was with hubby's family a few years before we were married (Orlando), third was our GV last year and 1 night in 1-bed (WOW!), and this was the fourth.
The Kona Coast (KC) was great. It is a large spread-out resort set up in 2 phases. Phase one rooms are older, larger and have garages. Phase two rooms are more modern in décor, and seemed to be closer to the water. The décor in our room was tropical and only seemed dated (1980's) in the kitchen, bathroom and dinning area. We stayed in a 1 bedroom, which was a standard size room, not as big as the bedroom (in the 1 bedroom) at OKW but had lots of closet space and a easy to use safe. Our room had one bathroom with a large tub (which reminded me of the tubs in the Honeymoon suites at the WL but w/out jets). 2 sinks and lots of counter and storage space. Kitchen was standard size but dimly lit and the most dated of all the rooms. Full washer and dryer, ample dishes and utensils, dishwasher. Large dinning room and living room with TV oversized couches and again lots of storage space. Lastly was the porch. HUGE. It was as long as the dinning room & living room, but not as deep. Table that seats at least 4 and a lounge chair all on the balcony. For an addition $40 a week we used the air conditioner, you needed a key to turn it on and there are units in the living/dinning room and in the bedroom. We thought we wouldn't need it but we are from Seattle, and that only lasted about 45 minutes before we were back at the check-in desk with our credit card.
The resort has a store, restaurant (which looks over the pool and beyond to the ocean), 2 pools with hot tubs, fitness center, and lots of activities. Including into to snorkeling or scuba diving, how to tie a wrap skirt (I forgot the Hawaiian name for this), silk painting, basket weaving, Ice cream social, and lots of others. Initially it was our plan to go to a few of these but we ended up not being around for them way too much to see on this island. All on-site activities were free to guests or small fee was listed.
We had maid service once in the middle of our trip, and additional cleanings were available for a fee.
Check in was at 4 and check out at 10, with no late check out options. We arrived early for both and are so glad, the line in that little building was out the door for check out. Ugh.
There was a small Hawaiian State tax for lodging that was applied daily to our bill, and we had free local calls (which means anything on that island). We checked out with a bill totaling $68 and some change, and $40 of that was the air conditioner (Saturday to Saturday stay). So, we were pretty pleased.
I enjoyed my stay at the Kona Coast. While I say that I must tell you I am ecstatic that we are DVC members. I can say that even though KC was really nice, OKW is better. We will (I am sure) return to the Kona Coast resort at some point (we had a wonderful time and the location was great), and we might even trade out of DVC to do it. But if anyone was doubting the quality they bought into don't.
We are hoping to spilt our next visit to WDW between OKW and BWV (or WLV) so we can see the other sites. And I am sure we will love wherever we end up. So glad to have and timeshare and even more that it's DVC!
We just returned from the Kona Coast Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii. How we ended up there is a crazy story. But here goes (I will try to keep it short)
We joined DVC in 99 and our first trip "Home" was last December.
My hubby's family has a great tradition of having family portraits every 5 years and last Dec. was the date for the next installment of photos. Well the last 5 years have brought 2 new family members, my brother in-law (Hubby's sisters husband J) and myself. The family decided to meet at WDW for a week and take the portraits on site, instead of meeting a in-laws house and taking it in a studio. So since we are DVC members it made the most sense to use our points for the family trip. In exchange my in-laws gave us their timeshare for use this year. So the 6 of us stayed in a GV at OKW last December (wonderful) and hubby and I spent last week in Hawaii, which we have wanted to do for a while. I think we made out really well.
So we traded with Interval International and landed at the Kona Coast Resort - Phase I (which is listed in our DVC books). I have had limited exposure to timeshares in my 25 years of life. This was to be my 4th stay in a timeshare. The first I don't remember (to young), second was with hubby's family a few years before we were married (Orlando), third was our GV last year and 1 night in 1-bed (WOW!), and this was the fourth.
The Kona Coast (KC) was great. It is a large spread-out resort set up in 2 phases. Phase one rooms are older, larger and have garages. Phase two rooms are more modern in décor, and seemed to be closer to the water. The décor in our room was tropical and only seemed dated (1980's) in the kitchen, bathroom and dinning area. We stayed in a 1 bedroom, which was a standard size room, not as big as the bedroom (in the 1 bedroom) at OKW but had lots of closet space and a easy to use safe. Our room had one bathroom with a large tub (which reminded me of the tubs in the Honeymoon suites at the WL but w/out jets). 2 sinks and lots of counter and storage space. Kitchen was standard size but dimly lit and the most dated of all the rooms. Full washer and dryer, ample dishes and utensils, dishwasher. Large dinning room and living room with TV oversized couches and again lots of storage space. Lastly was the porch. HUGE. It was as long as the dinning room & living room, but not as deep. Table that seats at least 4 and a lounge chair all on the balcony. For an addition $40 a week we used the air conditioner, you needed a key to turn it on and there are units in the living/dinning room and in the bedroom. We thought we wouldn't need it but we are from Seattle, and that only lasted about 45 minutes before we were back at the check-in desk with our credit card.
The resort has a store, restaurant (which looks over the pool and beyond to the ocean), 2 pools with hot tubs, fitness center, and lots of activities. Including into to snorkeling or scuba diving, how to tie a wrap skirt (I forgot the Hawaiian name for this), silk painting, basket weaving, Ice cream social, and lots of others. Initially it was our plan to go to a few of these but we ended up not being around for them way too much to see on this island. All on-site activities were free to guests or small fee was listed.
We had maid service once in the middle of our trip, and additional cleanings were available for a fee.
Check in was at 4 and check out at 10, with no late check out options. We arrived early for both and are so glad, the line in that little building was out the door for check out. Ugh.
There was a small Hawaiian State tax for lodging that was applied daily to our bill, and we had free local calls (which means anything on that island). We checked out with a bill totaling $68 and some change, and $40 of that was the air conditioner (Saturday to Saturday stay). So, we were pretty pleased.
I enjoyed my stay at the Kona Coast. While I say that I must tell you I am ecstatic that we are DVC members. I can say that even though KC was really nice, OKW is better. We will (I am sure) return to the Kona Coast resort at some point (we had a wonderful time and the location was great), and we might even trade out of DVC to do it. But if anyone was doubting the quality they bought into don't.
We are hoping to spilt our next visit to WDW between OKW and BWV (or WLV) so we can see the other sites. And I am sure we will love wherever we end up. So glad to have and timeshare and even more that it's DVC!
