Disney Vacation Club?

We have it. We own at Bay Lake Tower, which is great. We bought resale, which is much cheaper. We get all the benefits at Disney Resorts in Florida and the one in California, but can't use the points for the world collection or cruises.

If you check out the Dis Boards, there are several threads with pros and cons, and several questions to answer to decide if it's right for you.

We go every other year for 10 nights, which is enough. I enjoy having the points and scheduling the vacation, but it requires you to know and book 11 months out depending on when you want to go and where you want to stay.

Have you looked at renting points?

David's Vacation Rentals

I have several friends who are members. We have looked into this and sat in on a presentation. We have not yet purchased. Here is what I can tell you:

1) You have to check out resale vs new. Resale will save you money, however, there is a contract term on the club - you are not a member forever. The membership expires at some point in the future. So the closer to expiration a contract is, the cheaper the resale is.

2) Price wise, if you like to stay in Deluxe accomodations on site when you visit, it might make sense.

3) You can borrow and bank points, so in reality, you can use 3 years worth of points at once if you time it right.

4) You get better reservations options - as far as time in advance you can book - at your "home" property.

5) The DVC locations outside Disney properties that are Disney owned (like SC and Hawaii) are pretty good deals. You can use them at other timeshare properties, but the trade value isn't as good.

6) The two big financial plusses are the actual price point, and the lock-in of future price. However, if you need to borrow money to pay for hte DVC, it throws off the benefits.

7) Don't forget the annual fees, which can and do rise over the years.

If you are in a financial posistion to do it, especially with cash, and you and your family love Disney, I would do it.

The only reason we have not yet, is that there are some other financial goals that I wish to achieve first.

My wife and I paid cash in Jan for it. We like to always to stay at deluxe resorts when we go to Disney. So it made perfect sense for us. We go to Disney usually ever other year or so and prob will go once a year when we have a kid. We figured it out and the amount we paid for it it will be paid off in about 4-5 visits to Disney and everything after that is just lagniappe. The maintenance fees that are yearly or monthly however you choose to pay them isn't all that bad either.

How many points does a trip usually cost?
say at the polynesian, contemporary, etc...

I'm in it-we usually can get 2 trips a year, if we want to out of my points-I have 100 plus started with a bonus 100(which by the way, if I refer you, you can get too). Dates and locations are what drive up the points-like a night at the Boardwalk might be 10pts on some dates but as high as 22 pts. I bank points every Jan so I have pts to use for when ever or wherever, as I can use them for cruises and Disneyland California or even Hawaii or abroad like Italy-also pts good for other things such as ski trips, golf trips all over-I am financing it and my total per month is 180, but it will be paid off in less than the 10 yr window the program calls for-I have 2 girls, ages 5 and 8 so it made sense for us to do this now-we are banking pts in 2015 for a big trip to Disney Cali as the pts are high to stay there. If interested in more info, email me at dixiechicken75@gmail.com

You can't use points for meal plans. We have been members for about 5 years. It's awesome but as our kids have gotten older we are going less. Will probably sell points until our kids have their own kids

Correct-if you want the cruise option, buy from DVC...and you CANNOT use them for meal plans...that is false and will argue that until the cows come home-I have been a member WAY longer than 5 years-if you know of a way to get said meal plans, speak up big guy-you are incorrect sir.

quote:

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I have been a member WAY longer than 5 years-if you know of a way to get said meal plans, speak up big guy-you are incorrect sir.

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He was asking a question.

I've been a member for about 4 years. Absolutely love it.

In my opinion, using the points for a cruise is a waste. I don't have the numbers in front of me right now but you would need a ton of points to pull off a cruise for a family of 3 or 4. You would be better off saving your points and just paying for the cruise.

My parents are members since 1992. I became a member last year. It's becoming less and less of a good deal due to the expiration dates and how expensive new points are and limited they are now.

I bought resale. 9k for 150 points at Saratoga which is often the best bang for buck and has the lowest maintenance fees. We go once every 2-3 years. Bank and borrow points to stay in the bigger condos. The newer hotels are more like apartments while Old Key West is like a really condo with lots of room. Location is key though. Can't beat staying at Boardwalk and so near to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. But if you love Magic Kingdom and want to spend all your time there, Bay Lake is your best bet.