Considering a DVC resale purchase...help!

[abirkin76]

Hi all,

Firstly, great forum, very informative.

Me and my wife are considering buying a resale DVC for ourselves, and our 2 children (aged 2 and 7) at OKW. We tend to go and stay in Disneyworld every two years anyway, so we've done a lot of research and are convinced the DVC is for us...we just love Disney too much

Anyway, I have a few questions I cannot find answers for, so I'm hoping you very well informed people can help us out.

1) If for whatever reason we cannot/do not want to go a particular year, is it possible to book the holiday, for say, our parents? Does it have to be us (the named owners of the DVC) who take the holiday?

2) Is it possible to use points to rent say 2 studios instead of 1 villa? I.E. We and others wish to go, but not stay together in one larger villa.

3) How 'available' are the 3 bedroom grand villas? (in OKW, AKL etc)? Are these very limited? Have members found it difficult getting hold of and actually booking these?

I'm sure I'll have more questions, but would really appreciate some advice on these.

Thanks everyone!

Ashley, Helen & Family.

 

[zavandor]

1) If for whatever reason we cannot/do not want to go a particular year, is it possible to book the holiday, for say, our parents? Does it have to be us (the named owners of the DVC) who take the holiday?

You can book the rooms for whoever you want. You can even rent your points to complete strangers. Many DVC perks are available only to owners showing the membership cards and not to renters.
However, be aware that you may be considered responsable for damage done by people staying on your points. Disney will try to get money from the renters, but if unsuccessfull DVC will freeze your account until you pay. It does not happen often, but it happens.

2) Is it possible to use points to rent say 2 studios instead of 1 villa? I.E. We and others wish to go, but not stay together in one larger villa.

Yes.
You can use your point as you wish, given room availability and total available points.

3) How 'available' are the 3 bedroom grand villas? (in OKW, AKL etc)? Are these very limited? Have members found it difficult getting hold of and actually booking these?

Gran villas are often booked at 11 months out, above all those at OKW because of the cheap points cost. AKW is a bigger resort, so there may be more availability during slow seasons. BWV grand villas are impossible to book at 7 months.
If you plan to book grand villas often, you should own the resorts you want to stay and book 11 months out.

 

[Samaya]

Hi all,
3) How 'available' are the 3 bedroom grand villas? (in OKW, AKL etc)? Are these very limited? Have members found it difficult getting hold of and actually booking these?

We've only booked a 3-bed once and that was at Saratoga Springs in 2007 as OKW 3-beds were fully booked for some of the days we wanted.

We just done a quick check on availability at an OKW 3-bed for the first 2-weeks in each month from Jan through to Aug 2013.

There's only a few days available in January, mainly because that's the time of the Marathon and also it's only 2-months away. But there's current availability for all 14-nights in Feb, Mar, Apr, May, June, July and Aug at OKW and some of the other resorts.

Members can check up to 11-months out from date of check-in so if you have a particular date and resort in mind post it and I'm sure a member will check to see if those dates are available.

Good luck in your planning and purchase of a DVC membership.

 

[Bonnie151]

I would suggest going onto the main DVC forums on the DIS - there's a TON of information there and very helpful posters!

We bought resale DVC last year (VWL) and it's been wonderful! I got all of the information and advice I needed from the boards here. I know your initial questions have been answered, but get yourself over to the other forums and start reading/asking!

 

[abirkin76]

Thank you so much everyone, very useful feedback. I will also look back through the forum as suggested, very exciting times!

Best,
Ashley

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Keep in mind if you buy resale you can only book rooms at the Disney DVC resorts. You can not use the points to book Disney Cruises, RCI, Disney Collections.

 

[Samaya]

Keep in mind if you buy resale you can only book rooms at the Disney DVC resorts. You can not use the points to book Disney Cruises, RCI, Disney Collections.

That's a good point to bear in mind but resale I believe can be far cheaper when compared to buying directly from Disney.

Possibly many of the families looking to buy into DVC would be planning to take Disney vacations over many, many years to come and those other options such as RCI or the Disney Collections would not even be a consideration.

Although as some point in the future it might prove a more valuable option to a UK family due to the cost of flights to the USA.

But whether one buys directly from Disney or not, it will still result in an amazing saving and experience.

Our next stay will be for 7-nights in a lake view studio at Bay Lake Towers followed by 14-nights in a studio at Animal Kingdom Lodge, the current price on the USA web site to book similar accommodation is over $9,000.

We've used 335 points for our 21-day vacation, which cost us about $1,850 in annual dues for this year, so that works out at $88.00 per night and therefore far less than a room at Art of Animation or the All Stars.

It's therefore saving us over $7,150 when compared to Disney's current room cost at Bay Lake and Animal Kingdom and to us that's a great return on our initial investment and possibly much higher when compared to some of the other investments that we could have made at the time of purchase

Question to abirkin76, how are you getting on with a DVC purchase, any closer, any other questions?

 

[fitnessmouse]

With resale you CAN exchange into RCI and Club Cordial etc. Just not the Disney collection, meaning non DVC-resorts at WDW, Disneyland hotels, adventures by Disney and Disney Cruises