From One Club to the Other (Club Level to Disney Vacation Club)--A PTR - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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From One Club to the Other (Club Level to Disney Vacation Club)--A PTR
As a number of you are aware, we've been hugely fond of Club Level stays for going on seven years. While we've tossed around the prospect of buying into DVC every so often, we never before took it any further than my ordering the promo DVD about three years ago.
We talked it over then and concluded, "Nope, not for us. Costs waaaay too much to buy in. And then, everybody says your initial points are never enough, so you'll buy a bunch more. Even worse, no club lounge with all those yummy munchies."
That was that, we thought, and continued happily luxuriating at Club Level.
The most dangerous thing you can do Disneywise, I'm convinced, is to start returning annually as we did from '13-'15. Once we totaled up how much those three decadent CL stays had cost us, we realized we'd spent a DVC buy-in and then some. Which led us to think far more seriously about becoming DVC owners.
Next, Drew watched the DVC dvd and got ALL excited. I'd already seen it but too long ago to recall the particulars. We watched it again and quickly decided to rethink DVC.
A check of the DVC site revealed that only Aulani and the Poly were currently available. Aulani as our home resort was hardly practical. Strange as we are, we weren't the least thrilled by Hawaii when there about six years ago. Kona Cafe and its fabulous coffee are the only reasons we'll set foot in the Poly. Thus, we had a quandary until Drew did a search on one of the resale sites for our much-loved Grand Floridian.
Looked immediately promising as many GF listings as there were. Except, one and another and another were all waaaaay too expensive for too few points or justifiably costly for more points than we could afford. What initially seemed a likely one had only a few points remaining for next year because the current owner had borrowed most of them. A really plummy one had a similar problem--trip coming up soon that would use the 2017 points with a big chunk of 2018's borrowed.
Gawrsh! There was no workable means of buying into this thing without postponing our October trip, it began to appear. We were determined not to do that since it will be Drew's dream celebration of his 50th birthday. We decided to call it a night. Off to DVC dreamland we went.
Things always look better when you've had at least a fairly decent night's sleep. Unfortunately, we'd gotten so excited about maybe being able to do this that neither of us had gotten much sleep or was terribly bright-eyed when Drew began scanning the resales again.
He soon decided to look for ANY potential home resort. Nothing...nothing...and then, the Disney magic lit up our world with a Mary Poppins resale "practically perfect in every way."
Many of you have guessed by now, I expect, that our home resort will be our beloved Grand Floridian. We have enough points to cover our previously planned 1-br GF stay and a dozen left over that we think we'll use for just one night in a Saratoga Springs studio upon arriving. That will give us experience in both a 1-br and a studio at two different resorts.
And, Disney made it all work by rebooking our cash stay on points with the add-ons we had. Does the Disney magic still love us or what?
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Last edited by Her Dotness; 12-29-2016 at 09:53 PM..
I too have been kicking the idea around about buying onto DVC. I agree with you on the two offerings DVC has right now are not very good. Aulani doesn't make much sense since we would not travel to Hawaii enough to make good use of it as a home resort. I like the Poly but they only have studios and bungalows. The points for the Bungalows are way too unreasonable and sometimes we would like something a little bigger than a studio.
Buying a resale isn't an optimal way to get into DVC anymore as you may be aware what with being ineligible for various member extras, but it does at least get your foot in the DVC door.
It's rumored, we learned, that DVC may be adding villas to the Moderates, starting with Caribbean Beach. Sounds reasonable to me since they're hardly likely to continue for long, I'd think, with only Aulani and the Poly available. As you pointed out, Bruce, neither will appeal to some people.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
It is a bit unnerving to decide to plunge, isn't it?
We're finding that we both feel like we did after our 4-day "going commando" trip a few years ago. We needed a whole week afterward to begin to feel rested again!
Trying to determine if you're making a financially sound decision is definitely unsettling when you're enraptured by thoughts of owning a bit of Disney, so to speak. Particularly when we were confident just a few years ago that DVC wasn't for us. (Eating your words with "never-say-never" sauce is actually tastier than I anticipated. )
We have tickets for the botanical garden's Christmas light display which we must use either tonight or tomorrow night. It's quite a spectacle, but I'm not at all certain I'm up to the 45-minute drive to get there. :::::: huge YAWN :::::: Oh, well, we were given the tickets by a coworker of Drew's so aren't out any money if we don't feel up to going.
I'm telling you guys that making a big decision like this one takes more out of a person than you think it will!
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Last edited by Her Dotness; 12-30-2016 at 02:21 PM..
Update: Enough celebrating, back to our regular program
Now that we're getting past some of the thrill of becoming DVC members, I'll get on with making this an actual PTR.
So, here are the particulars of our now-points stay--
When: October 2-7, 2017 with Oct. 1 to be added later.
We hadn't quite enough points to cover the Sunday-to-Saturday stay booked originally. Disney helped us rebook for Monday to Saturday (which might not have been possible at nearly 9 mos. out). We'll add SSR on Sunday 10/1 at our 7-month window, using the rest of our points. Who: Me, Dot, and DH His Drewness, aka Drew Where: Villas at the Grand Floridian, a 1-bedroom Why: Drew's 50th birthday
As some of you will know, Drew indulged me beyond my wilder imaginings with birthday week trips in 2013 (GF) and again in 2014 (WL). That man REALLY loves me, because even though I kept saying the next trip should be in October for his birthday, he took me to Disney for Christmas in '15, another dream-come-true of mine.
It's a tradition in his family to throw a BIG party for the 50th birthday. We tossed around various ideas but couldn't decide on a satisfying plan. Finally, I said, "Well, what about going to WDW? You've said you'd like to do that some year for your birthday and want to do MNSSHP, so what about for this birthday?"
Didn't take much for him to decide that was what he wanted to do.
He loves the GF as much as I do and wanted to stay there as we typically have. However, we couldn't get our usual CL in the RPC (club level, main building) but could book a villa stay for cash, not being DVC members. Yes, it's pricey to book that way, but when it's a matter of no place like , you just gotta.
Ultimately, we decided we are so hooked on vacationing regularly at WDW that it was nonsensical to keep paying bundles o' bucks for CL or DVC-for-cash either one. It simply made more sense to buy into DVC.
Yes, we'll be going only every few years for a while if we insist upon staying in a GF 1-br instead of a studio, but that's how you suffer until you can afford to add on points. Much though I hate housework, I even think I can stand cleaning up after ourselves instead of having daily mousekeeping.
All we can say is never underestimate the power of Disney magic!
A Magical and Disneyful New Year to all!
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Congrats on the DVC and buying in at your favorite resort! Sounds like the making of a great trip, but too bad you'll miss me by one day as I arrive in WDW on the 8th as we mentioned previously here!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
So I am confused? Are you & Drew buying into the DVC? I know it is pricey so much so I was floored a few years ago when I got a booklet from DVC and saw the prices...
I knew then it was not for me. Plus the fact I don't have that in my budget. As much as I love Disney and visiting, I know I will probably do a trip every other year.
And also I am not understanding the whole DVC.... if you buy into it like you & Drew, is it a base and then you buy more points to extend your vacation? I know there are dues as well. Maybe it is better that I don't know! LOL.
But I certainly have HAPPINESS for both of you! Big Decision to plunk your hard earned money down! I truly hope it works for you!
And regardless how you get there... Best place to Celebrate a Birthday even one who is turning the Big 5-0! I celebrated my 50 in Disney too!
Do me proud, Drew!
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Kate in PA All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them- Walt Disney
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So I am confused? Are you & Drew buying into the DVC?
Yup. We are indeedy.
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And also I am not understanding the whole DVC.... if you buy into it like you & Drew, is it a base and then you buy more points to extend your vacation?
Yes, that's one way to get your mind around the idea.
It's kind of like buying a house with annual homeowner's association dues (like your DVC dues which you can pay in full each year or have deducted each month). Some manage to pay for a house outright; others make monthly payments. Either way, you still must pay property taxes and upkeep, which are what the membership dues cover.
You can buy into DVC similarly, paying in full for a "starter house" if you've the cash or make a down payment and then monthly mortgage payments. (Disney's interest rate is roughly THREE TIMES the current one for a home mortgage!! That's Disney for ya, huh?)
As you can, you build on to your starter house until it's as big as you need/want. That would be adding more points to be able to extend your stay, stay in a more expensive resort or stay at a busier time like Thanksgiving or Christmas. You can do more than just stay at Disney, but that gets veeery complicated. (I haven't a clue how all that works and likely won't ever. )
Just as with regular rooms, some resorts cost more points per night than others, some times of year cost more, and Fri.-Sat. are more. We simply hadn't quite enough points to cover Sun.-Sat. at GF. but found that we could do Mon.-Sat. there and have exactly enough points left to add Sunday at SSR. That's how you juggle when you have a starter house worth of points.
However, since SSR isn't our home resort, we have to wait till March to book the Sunday there. You can book your home resort at 11 months out from your planned arrival date but must wait until 7 mos. out to book any other (if available).
In short, it's all sort of like saying we've paid for our room at Disney for the rest of our lives or until we sell our DVC contract if need be. (Not exactly, since we still must pay the dues yearly.) We only have to buy food, tickets and all those other nice bits like PH and MM you tack onto your ressie. In that sense, it seems like we saved a bundle of money immediately.
There, does that clear it all up a bit?
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Best place to Celebrate a Birthday even one who is turning the Big 5-0! I celebrated my 50 in Disney too!
Do me proud, Drew!
Thanks much! I somehow suspect you needn't worry that he'll fail at having a fabulous time. Like most PPers, we're very skilled at Disney playtime. He may get a birthday dinner elsewhere than V&A, but we hope we can even swing that. (Can you hear those pinched pennies screeching? )
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Last edited by Her Dotness; 12-31-2016 at 03:55 AM..
After reading your TR for several years, I've thought that DVC would be a good choice for you. Not surprised that you came to that conclusion.
As previously mentioned, by buying resale now you won't be eligible for member perks. There is a solution, though, if you do want access to those perks. Once you are members, you can add on as few as 25 points direct. This direct purchase would give you access to those perks should you decide you wanted that. However, you might find that the perks don't matter to you much at all.
Thanks, Holly. Studying up on what we could/couldn't do with a resale was part of our decision-making, so we're aware of the restrictions.
As usual, you explained clearly. And, you're right. As yet, we don't care about the additional member benes. There's plenty to get used to with the basics and then we've our usual WDW fun stuff..
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
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We have enough points to cover our previously planned 1-br GF stay and a dozen left over that we think we'll use for just one night in a Saratoga Springs studio upon arriving. That will give us experience in both a 1-br and a studio at two different resorts. 
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Sounds like the making of a great trip, but too bad you'll miss me by one day as I arrive in WDW on the 8th as we mentioned previously here! 
I celebrated my 50 in Disney too!
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