Very, Very, expensive. Even the resales fetch about $20000.

Anyone can eat at Spoodles, whether they are a resort guest or not. Anyone can eat at any Disney resort restaurant, whether or not they are staying on property or off property. I highly recommend you make a reservation first, as the security guards at the resort entrances won't let you drive in without a reservation number.

Yes, the points cost money. The last I read the price per point was running close to $100 per point, and there was a minimum point purchase requirement of 150 points. The DVC resorts have different "seasons" just like their hotels. It costs more points to visit Christmas week than it does in September. You don't buy a particular unit or a particular week. You can use your points for several off season studio unit rentals, or use all of them at once for one two bedroom unit on a longer trip. You don't have to visit the same time every year or the same resort every year. The resort you buy into is your home resort, and you can make reservations 11 months in advance at your home resort. If you want to stay in one of the other DVC resorts, you have to wait until 7 months in advance to make a reservation. There are many websites out there with very good information regarding DVC ownership. If you are seriously interested, it would be a good idea to do some research and then contact Disney directly.

It's little wonder why they do not advertise or offer a break down of the price and fees. Aside from them being expensive no one addresses the monthly maintenance fees, taxes, etc. Unless you find paying $500-600 a month no big deal. They make it sound as thought you could live on the property for months when in fact its more like 1 - 3 weeks (the latter being top dollar.) Our local paper has more forelosures on timeshares than anything. Most park restaurants are pricey but there are also many good off park site places to eat.

I recently inquired to Disney for the info on the timeshare, Saratoga Springs is currently available. Although I've thrown the sheet away, they sent a thick book to me also.

The starting price is about $15,000. and that's for about 150 points. You can't do much with the first 150 points, you more less have to wait to the second year to have an enjoyable vacation, you have to save up your points. It seemed from the graph I received, the minimal price was NOT recommended.... the $40 -60K range was more realistic.

However, if you don't use the points, after awhile, you lose them. You can also 'borrow' points.

Don't forget, you are also paying into the program, from my understanding, even after you paid the $15,000. Plus, there's INTEREST on your loan.

There's a lot of hotels on the list that you can stay at, however, although I'm 38, it seems that I can take at least 10 very nice vacations before I'd hit the dollar amount that Disney is expecting from me.

We had been thinking about doing this for a while and when we were there last month we took the plunge.

We paid $101 per point for 320 points which is enough for 2 weeks low season in Saratoga Springs in a one bedroom apartment which is our home resort. Our annual maintence is $1,200 per year, not per month as someone previously quoted, and closing cost $124 as we had our own finance.

The points can be added to but this one off cost of $32,320 means our holiday is paid for for the next 47 years. At the end of the 47 years, the amount is written off and you start again. We'll probably not be around by then!

The reason we bought this resort is that we spend every second or third year's holiday in Orlando area and now we have cheap flights from Glasgow, this makes it a reasonable prospect especially as we can always let our kids use it from time to time. However, as we tend to go to Europe (Portugal, Greece, Italy, Spain etc.) we now have the ability to stay at one of DVC's partner resorts in these countries (Greece excluded). The cost of 2 weeks in a top resort in Portugal for example, will cost us 320 points which is our annual allocation (every year we receive these points to spend on that year's holiday. As mentioned, if you don't use them or bank them, you lose them).

We liked the flexibility of this deal and the fact that we didn't have to rough it with the Proles and the more yobby Brits in Costa del Lager any more.

As a signing on bonus, we also received an extra 320 points for next year which is useful as it means we can take wife's parents away for their Golden Wedding.

Yes, DVC is probably more expensive than other timeshares but having done a lot of homework, I thought they offered exactly what we were looking for.

Hope this helps

Regards

Andy

website for more infor and dvc resales.

http://www.dvc-resales.com/dvclisting.cfm

Think of it this way. How often do you vacation on-site @ Disney and how much do you spend nightly on lodging? We priced a 2 bedroom at BoardWalk and it was mid $500.00 nightly. Not too bad as 2 families would split the price but for one family very expensive. This was only quoted for early spring I think.

Also think about purchasing from a different dvc resort like OKW which currently has the lowest maint fees. I have seen points ranging for BW $80-89 per point.

also remember that disney is currently selling Saratoga Spring Resort and will continue until sold out. Disney does not sell any of the old resorts from what I know of.

I had heard before that if someone wants to resell their DVC points, DVC will give them some sort of "reasonable" offer to buy them back to keep them from going on the resale market. If this is true (or still true), then its possible that sporadic units from the old resorts might come up from time to time, though maybe few and far between.

The figure I was quoted from DVC for buying our points back was around 70% of the value unless we had a buyer who was willing to pay higher. Then they would match the price.

Does the place you have your 2 units enroll you in either RCI or Interval? If so, you can trade out weeks. We recently inherited timeshares from my husband's father when he passed, and our home resorts are in Branson, Mo. However, since we are members of Interval, we were able to trade for Saratoga Springs in December for a transfer fee & resort fee (can't remember exactly how much - little over $200). You have to book well in advance to get on-site, but for us it was worth it. Not sure if this is an option for you or not, but might be better than buying into Disney. Good Luck!

yes do check into what iowamom referenced. dvc is really for us disney fanatics out there who want all the extra add benefits of being dvc member. it all comes down to what fits you best. i know i really want to purchase a dvc but i am waiting for the right re-sale closer the new year.

also if you are interested in the boardwalk try renting points from a dvc memeber. www.disboards.com