Great Thread!
After 5 great years of trading via RCI for DVC (1X 2BR July, 2X 1BR Easter, 2X 1BR Aug), we have given up relying on RCI and bought enough (resale) DVC points to stay in a 1BR for a week during holiday seasons. Purchase price was more than all our other 4 TS resale purchases combined! But, after also staying offsite for a number of years (OLCC, Marriott, Starwood, HGVC), we know for our family that the convenience and other amenities offered by DVC was what worked for us. So, we sold our smaller DVC contract (for a nice profit after 8 years), and bought a larger DVC contract. Still hope to supplement with August RCI trades, but no longer have to roll the dice for Easter, Christmas, etc.
The Mouse got us! Elaine
Congrats and Welcome Home! We are in the same boat as you -- we've traded into DVC via RCI 5 years; bought into DVC about 3 years ago. Booking what we want when we want and knowing we have a backup ressie for the 1 week the kids have off is important. We still have a OGS search for the same week, and have
no problem cancelling BLT or AKV through DVC for a RCI SSR ressie - love SSR and displacing the DVC points allows us to rent them @ $13/pt. -- more than pays
all our DVC MFs.
Congrats Elaine.
I agree, the uncertainty of getting mouse time on site traps a lot of us.
I'm still trying to get exchanges but now if one comes thru I can cancel my DVC reservation and rent my points. It's a win-win.
And don't feel bad, the mouse got me for a new Poly contract too.
I three bought resale DVC
and PVB direct and exchange into DVC with RCI -- it's the trifecta!
I keep going back and forth on this. But, every time, I end up thinking that I'd rather stay offsite than pay the piper. If I didn't have two kids that I have to send to college in the next several years, perhaps I'd feel differently.
Heck, we even have a
non-Disney vacation planned for next year's Spring Break at Vistana Beach Club. I have a well-aged OGS looking for a DVC 2BR for that week. If it hits, we'll switch. But, if it doesn't, we'll still have a great time. That's my oldest's senior year of HS---we are also hoping to do a "last hurrah" with two weeks in Hawaii that summer.
This whole timesharing thing is rough!
I completely understand your wise financial choices. DVC
is a luxury. But like buying a luxury car, it's
totally worth it. I figure I only have 18 years to spend with my kids on family vacations, so I'm going to invest in that -- they can go to state school and work through college :-D
I enjoy staying offsite more than staying at the DVC resorts. We don't eat at Disney every meal (hardly any meals, really)
I am a huge Disney fan, but staying onsite is so much more expensive than staying at the Marriott we love. It's nice to have a second bedroom, now that we are older, because we can offer that room to any family member who wants to go. This past November, we took my aunt to Disneyworld. She is only two-and-a-half years older than the two of us, and she lost her husband last January. It was fun to have her with us, and if I had gotten Disney 1 bedrooms, we couldn't have done it.
We are nearly 60 and have kids and grandkids who love Disney and often go at the last minute. Sometimes it's airfare drops, and sometimes it last-minute time off, or just a whim.
I notice the entire TUG sightings section is becoming overwhelmed by Disney sightings. I say keep it to yourself and don't spout the inventory all over the TUG sightings board. It's a new revelation for me but it's getting old, all of the same old questions about trading power and such. It's almost like we need a sticky about DVC exchanges and how much trading power is necessary to get the various seasons. We should include how much more likely it is to get SSR than most of the other resorts, too If you leave SSR off the search because you would never take it, prepare to stay offsite because SSR is the resort Disney drops into RCI more often, probably 30X more, as far as I can tell.
Two bedrooms are also very difficult, so you might have to put the kids on the sleep sofa and share a bathroom. When people ask for information about trading power, we can say, "here is the sticky, knock yourself out reading all about it."
Staying in the park for a week is a completely different experience than staying offsite. Everytime we leave after getting lost in wonderland for a week it is completely jarring -- which is a good sign of a relaxing and enjoyable vacation. We are at a different stage in our/kids lives, for sure, so understand it may be different for you. Pre-kids we went to Hawaii every year, and after they are 18 will continue to do so (or move there), but now that we've built such a family tradition with Disney, I'm sure we'll continue to do so even when our girls are in college, and hopefully with grandkids. I get it's over amplified on Sightings board -- I agree a separate forum or sticky for DVC posts would be a good idea, but I don't personally find it annoying (I know I'm the source for many of the posts, so I am biased). Honestly, TUG is rather stagnant compared to most other Disney forums (MO and DIS) so without the Disney posts I wouldn't frequent here as much if at all.
Not if you give into the pixie dust then it's easy.
I don't have kids so I can appreciate how expensive they are.
All that money I save on kids I can spend on buying from the mouse.
I think you've done better than most of us with the RCI mouse time so if it ain't broke why fix it.
And I think you will enjoy Vistana.
Contrary to what all my friends think, I do vacation at other places than the Mouse. Jensen beach happens to be one of them.
This little resort is really undervalued IMO. But shhhh, don't tell RCI. :ignore:
Pixie dust is a hell of a drug
Strategy you might want to try if you want a 2 bedroom at AKV is to book in Kidani a studio thru the club and then call DVC and ask them to try to coordinate with your 1 bedroom RCI exchange. Many of the 2 bedrooms are lock offs in Kidani.
Room requests for adjacent rooms
is extremely dicey -- Try for it sure, but would not recommend counting on this.
I agree with you on AKV. It's my favorite DVC resort.
Now that Poly is in the mix it's going to be a tough call but split stays will definitely be in my future with a Poly-MK stay and then AK-AK park stay.
Two vacations in one.
We love AKV too, but wouldn't buy there (sorry) -- it's a
huge resort and offsite -- the only thing sells out @ 7 mos. is Value and Concierge rooms. Unless you need those, you don't need to own there. I'd buy SSR for my money (and did). BLT, VGF, and PVB are different stories -- and why I bought PVB -- to own MK resort we wanted to stay at.
Thanks. I know it was a crazy expensive splurge but I can't take this money with me so I'm spending it on the things I love. :whoopie:
Amen
to that!
Awesome.
I'm heading to Aulanai next year too Lord willing.
Haven't been to Hawaii in 30 years.
Can't wait to do Hawaii with the Mouse.
We'll be heading to Aulani next summer as well! I think we are DVC doppelgangers
Curious how much you can buy DVC on resale market? Bought non DVC resorts before but always wondered...
Check out disneydvcresale.com -- it's a meta listing for all DVC resales. Chepeast is VB @ $40/pt, but it has highest MFs, so total cost per point (purchase price/total points on contract --which vary by resort + MF/pt.) is
highest ($10+/pt). Cheapest total cost per point is SSR @ $7/pt. AUL (subsidized)/OKW (extended)/BLT are $7-$8. AKV/AUL/VGC are $8-$9. BWV/BCV/VWL/HHI are $9-$10. Poly direct is $9.30/pt (keep in mind you are buying 50 years of points, so more point = higher upfront cost). Renting same points is $12-$16 (with no upfront purchase cost) but less flexibility to book what you want when you want and rentals are prepaid so use it or lose it. Booking direct from Disney is ~$24/pt. but refundable.
I agree--tickets are $$$. But, we have always "rationed" WDW tickets. We got 2 sets of no-expire tickets in 2005 and used them only for 2 park days and 1 DisneyQuest day for a week-long stay for many years. Then, last year, we got the DVC premium AP deal for $500 and will have gone to WDW 4X in 1 year--including 2 spring breaks. We will get 20+ park days out of them! We did a combo of DVC stays, free Marriott rewards nights and RCI-DVC trades--our mega WDW year. Our next trip, I am getting my teens 5 day base tickets and DH and I will go in with them only 2 days (enough for us) from old tickets to save $.
We really enjoy AKV and other activities at WDW and could spend a week not going into any parks. We plan to use DVC more as a destination than a hotel for the parks in future years.
LOL--I just priced out Disney Paris--way cheaper to let the kids get their Disney fix over the pond than in Orlando!
For us, we went all in and with our DVC APs average around $633/trip for AP cost, plus get 10% off drinks/snacks in merch stores with DVC, plus 20% off sit-down with TiW. DVC and RCI are what make the cash flow affordable to do this 2-3 times a year. Obviously with a big up front investment, but you only have 18 years of family vacations with your kids (lord willing), so it's worth every penny IMO. I'll gladly die broke
and happy. It's doing both that's key. :-D