My husband has been taken over by the pod people - DVC

I’ve not stayed on the DVC side… only walked down the corridors but it was close and next to the regular resort area. The place is beautiful… better than WL I think. We especially appreciated the entrance into CA. We stayed in a regular room

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My family is weird so I don’t have much to contribute that is “normal”. I second Randall’s points though.

I wish I had bought more. It is never enough. Ever. I now have to sacrifice space, for length of stay or vice versa even though I had already added on points once before.

I love my resort. But it does fill up fast and if I’m not on it right at 11 months, I miss out on “good” rooms (standard view 1 beds so I can do two weeks instead of one).

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Is this a feature or a bug? :joy: I love to be plan vacations! Maybe I’ll get tired of it? Nah!

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What makes you think I’m normal?!?! :crazy_face:
If you don’t mind answering, can I ask where your home resort is?
I say a studio should be plenty, but I also understand the “never enough” thing. So I’m wondering where 1 bd standard rooms are hard to book at 11 mo.

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Oh I agree… I think I’m realizing that I need to have some kind of trip on the burner at all times.

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Yes. I haven’t slept in the villas, but have visited friends there and they definitely feel like part of the hotel.

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Thanks, Karen! I’m super excited about staying there! I’ve never stayed on property at DLR.

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Glad you are finally getting the chance! I would always stay onsite…if only the pricing matched the hotels on Harbor! :rofl:

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Buying DVC will definitely help with that :joy:
To see how hard it is to book a particular accommodation at a specific hotel, during a particular week, check out these charts https://www.dvchelp.com/page/how-do-the-charts-work. This is an example from AK Jambo for a studio. The linked website has a chart for every resort. So for example, at the 7 month window, you could easily get a studio the first 2 weeks in Feb, but prob not at all in Nov

https://www.dvchelp.com/uploads/avail-charts/Samplechart.jpg

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Most important thing is working out the type of property you want to stay in - if it’s a value studio, then I’d say yes, you need to book at 11mths and at your home resort. But if you want to stay in a 1 bed (which is proportionately more expensive than a 2bed) then you’re much more likely to be able to book at 7mths - time of year, exact resort does make a difference of course.

For what it’s worth we own at SSR, but bought with the intention of staying elsewhere - I looked at the charts and decided for a 1 bed it would be fine, particularly when we go (August). SSR is a lot cheaper in terms of purchase, dues and length of lease! You may even find that by buying SSR you can get more points to enable you to upgrade the accommodation - though dues do mount up…

I also bought most points resale as it’s so much cheaper - it’s more hassle but it’s worth it. But I did buy the minimum (100pts) direct so I get the blue discount card. I agree with others that most of the discounts aren’t worth the extra cost per point - but the one that’s worth it for us is the car parking. You get free car parking at the resorts (and at the parks since you’re staying on site). After some years that will pay for the extra cost per point! Of course, this perk could be withdrawn at any time and if you don’t have a car at the World that doesn’t apply!

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I thought all DVC got free parking, even resale? At least when we were planning to rent a car for our rented DVC stay that was my understanding. (Moot for us now since we aren’t renting a car.)

I think everyone gets free park parking, if you’re staying on site, but you only get free resort parking if you’re a DVC owner who’s bought direct. But maybe that’s not true and I’ve bought direct for no reason :rofl:

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Check out Jen Lefforge’s Youtube channel. She provides lots of information on DVC; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

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I actually think this is a great New Member Series:
https://mydvcpoints.com/resources/new-member-education-series-playlist/

The whole website is filled with valuable info for members and those thinking about owning.

Free parking for DVC applies to all owners and renters staying on points. It is also not a benefit, it is part of your ownership so it cannot be taken away.

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Also we never ever have a car at wdw ever, so another “perk” that really doesn’t matter to me.

Ok thanks - mis-sold by the rep! :slight_smile: Oh well!

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My standard DVC advice: research til your eyes bleed. Make sure you really understand use year. If you contemplate buying direct, make sure you understand what benefits you get and calculate if they are worth it. For instance, you now must own 125 direct points for benefits, and since they aren’t offering APs right now the major financial benefit is gone. We bought 100 points at GCV resale in 2017 for $140 a point-those would probably cost at least $220 now. It’s insanity. We did buy a 25 point direct contact at AKV when that was the minimum for benefits. We are West Coasters, who normally mainly do DL, so the direct benefits wouldn’t have been worth it for us if we’d had to buy a larger contract.

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“Home” is BLT for us. I usually have to be up early PST day of release and even then a few times I’ve been waitlisted. I usually go in December now, but was also booking for March/April/May-ish when I first got my points.

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Yes, they do feel like part of the hotel, but more spacious.

In December, the last 2 times we went, I would see that someone put up a full size Christmas tree that was visible walking up to the hotel. They had it in one of the 3 bedrooms which is 2 story at BLT. Others put lighted garland on their balconies.

The sense of pride and community is great in DVC. In the decade we’ve owned, never once have we walked away going “gosh, I regret doing this”. If anything we always want to do more.

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