FAQ's about the Disney Vacation Club About This Page:

[DVC Mike]

Originally Posted by KatnS2

Quick question, I see that some people list more than one resort as their home resort. How is this accomplished and if you have several home resorts do you get the choice to book 11 months out at any of these "home resorts"?
DH and I are going to WDW in Jan 08 and are thinking about buying into this club.

Yes, you can have more than one home resort, and you get the 11-month booking advantage at each of them, using the points you own at each of them.

[hutchie]

How dose Disney finance this?

Ed.

[patclairesmom]

Originally Posted by DVC Mike

Yes, you can have more than one home resort, and you get the 11-month booking advantage at each of them, using the points you own at each of them.

I just wanted to clarify. If you have 200 pts at VWL and 160 at OKW, could I book VWL 11 months and use all 360 points there?

[chezp]

Originally Posted by patclairesmom

I just wanted to clarify. If you have 200 pts at VWL and 160 at OKW, could I book VWL 11 months and use all 360 points there?

In that case, you would be able to use 200 of your 360 points at the eleven month window at VWL and you could use the other 160 points at the eleven month mark at OKW. Does that help?

[sblackmiller]

We just got back from Disney and took the main tour for the Vacation Club. We were given 3 special Fast Passes each (4 in our party) for our time. The Fast Passes were instant, you inserted the card and got a Fast Pass to return immediately....since we were at Disney during Spring Break, it was worth it!

[chezp]

Welcome to the boards!

How great to receive those special Fastpasses.

[wns528]

I feel like I am missing something here, so forgive me if this seems dumb. I get that you have an initial investment. Just to use round numbers based on what I've read so far. You are required to initially buy 150 point at $100 (I know it is not exact but it makes the math easier). So the initial investment is $15,000 and you get 150 points for the first year. Do you have to buy points every year after that at the $100/point plus annual dues or do you only pay the price of the annual dues (about $5/point)? You get 150 points every year, so at year 2, do you pay another $15000 or do you pay $750 (150 points at $5/point)?

I hope I have made this as clear as mud. Is there some place that you can look up how many points certain things cost? Thanks.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by wns528

I feel like I am missing something here, so forgive me if this seems dumb. I get that you have an initial investment. Just to use round numbers based on what I've read so far. You are required to initially buy 150 point at $100 (I know it is not exact but it makes the math easier). So the initial investment is $15,000 and you get 150 points for the first year. Do you have to buy points every year after that at the $100/point plus annual dues or do you only pay the price of the annual dues (about $5/point)? You get 150 points every year, so at year 2, do you pay another $15000 or do you pay $750 (150 points at $5/point)?

I hope I have made this as clear as mud. Is there some place that you can look up how many points certain things cost? Thanks.

The $15,000 buys your points which are good until they expire - 2054 (from memory) for Saratoga Springs and 2057 for Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas. If you buy through resale, points are all the other resorts are good until 2042. That's it for your purchase. You pay the $15,000 once and you have those points to use until those dates.

The only other real payment you need to make are your annual dues, which pay for things like maintenance and housekeeping. These are around $3 - $4 per point, which means you'd be looking at annual dues, payable each year, of say $450 - $600 on 150 points.

Does that help?

[wns528]

Originally Posted by chezp

The $15,000 buys your points which are good until they expire - 2054 (from memory) for Saratoga Springs and 2057 for Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas. If you buy through resale, points are all the other resorts are good until 2042. That's it for your purchase. You pay the $15,000 once and you have those points to use until those dates.

The only other real payment you need to make are your annual dues, which pay for things like maintenance and housekeeping. These are around $3 - $4 per point, which means you'd be looking at annual dues, payable each year, of say $450 - $600 on 150 points.

Does that help?

Yes it does, thanks. That sounds like a pretty sweet deal for my family of 6. Does this include park tickets or do you have to purchase those seperately? How about a dinning plan?

[chezp]

Originally Posted by wns528

Yes it does, thanks. That sounds like a pretty sweet deal for my family of 6. Does this include park tickets or do you have to purchase those seperately? How about a dinning plan?

Park tickets have to be purchased separately. However, DVC members get a very nice $100 off the price of an adult Annual Pass and $125 off the price of an adult Premium Annual Pass, which is a nice discount to have and makes them much more affordable. There are also discounts on water park tickets.

As for the dining plans, yes, DVC members can purchase those for the duration of their stay at the same price as everyone else.

[tjkraz]

Just want to add that the AP discount and the ability to book the dining plan are perks which are not contractually guaranteed. DVC has been around for about 17 years now and the AP discount is just going into its fourth year. Figure it WILL end or be adjusted at some point in the future.

The dining plan is also relatively new to members. There's no guarantee that we'll be able to book it under the current terms for the duration of our DVC ownership.

I'm certainly among those who hope we keep those perks for many years to come, but if DVC decided to end them tomorrow we would have zero recourse. If you're considering a purchase, make the decision based upon the DVC concept itself (prepaying for future vacations) and give little consideration to any of the perks currently offered.

[Lesley Perschky]

If myself and my DH bought into DVC is it allowable to share the cost with a friend? So he could share the DVC with us. I dont mean to have his own points just to share the accomadation with us, as we could afford to buy into it then.

[spiceypj]

Originally Posted by Lesley Perschky

If myself and my DH bought into DVC is it allowable to share the cost with a friend? So he could share the DVC with us. I dont mean to have his own points just to share the accomadation with us, as we could afford to buy into it then.

they have a group membership - you have to buy more points than a regular membership and pick one person to decide - who gets to go when.

now sharing with a friend without having him own it. well don't know who would do that.

disney doesn't care as long as they get their money.

[tjkraz]

Originally Posted by Lesley Perschky

If myself and my DH bought into DVC is it allowable to share the cost with a friend? So he could share the DVC with us. I dont mean to have his own points just to share the accomadation with us, as we could afford to buy into it then.

Legally you could do that. Logically there's absolutely no way you should consider it.

DVC is a deeded piece of real estate. Putting another person's name on the deed would be like buying a house with someone else. If you would be financing the purchase, it's like co-signing someone else's mortgage. Among the things to consider are:

1. Regardless of what sort of agreements the parties reach, DVC is expecting SOMEONE to make the monthly payments and annual dues. That may be "no problem" today, but what happens when someone runs into financial problems?
2. If any one of the parties on the deed files for bankruptcy, the DVC contract will be included among that individual's assets.
3. Same for divorce--the property gets included as community property.
4. According to Florida law, upon the death of one owner of a piece of real property, the remaining owners automatically inherit the asset. If you start with three owners and two of them pass-away, the remaining owner will have 100% ownership with no rights granted to the heirs of those who passed.

And then there's the whole issue of who plays gatekeeper with the points. All would have access to make/change/cancel reservations. Regardless of what verbal agreements are reached in advance, what happens if one party uses more points than the others expected?

I think co-ownership among friends and family members is just an invitation to destroy the relationship. It's one thing you shouldn't have to worry about stressing over.

[Lesley Perschky]

I totally trust the friend who is involved, and know full well that he would not scam us in any way. Also we would be holidaying together so the problem of who has the points is not an issue.