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[badger1518]

Hi all

Myself,wife and 2 children (8+9) have just returned from Orlando and this is the first time the children went. We loved everthing about disney and we went to the welcome meeting at the Boardwalk and allthough there was a lot to take in we were quite impressed in becoming members. We took all the info with us to view at home. Is there any advice you could give us (good or bad,good places for flights etc). We can be quite choosy on the times of year we can go.

Thanks


Steve Gale

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[MickeyMcMouse]

Hi Steve,

It's a bit quieter over here but probably a better place to start with.

We've been going to wdw for about 10 years now and bought into dvc about 2 or 3 years ago, wish we had done it earlier !

For about 12 of the 14 odd times we've been we have used virgin. There are alot of good reports about them and a few bad ones, but if you have 3 747's flying every day of the year, i am sure there will be some problems

We use the Virgin Atlantic Site , sometimes very cheap, Virgin Holidays site ( 10% disc after 3 flydrives) and other iinternet sites like Expedia

Bad times or should i say expensive times for flights are peak season, which seems to be extending ever year - july thro to sept, easter, christmas and this year october seems to be getting very busy and very expensive

There are times when there are superb bargins and I believe good deals with charter flights which depart from local destinations. (virgin only use gatwick and manchester).
Most of the charters fly into Sanford, about another 30mins north of Orlando and have very small baggage allowance compared to the scheduled operators.

DVC for us is a great deal with only this time of year being the bad time - you get your dues bill which has to be paid in jan - not the best of timing.

David

ps any other questions , ask away.

pps ment to say, if you stick to one airline ie virgin or ba, join their frequent flyer club. we have enough miles for about 3 upper class flights between us - waiting for the new suites to appear

 

[GaryCrook]

We are a family of 2 adults and 2 children (12+15) and have been DVC members for 4 years now. Whilst we love Disney and still believe that DVC is a good deal, it is far more difficult to justify from the UK.

You really need to be honest about how often you will travel to the States. We bought enough points for a 10-12 day trip every two years. We got a discount for the first trip as we bought whilst on a regular holiday and have visted WDW (with Vero Beach), Hilton Head and will be doing the cruise and WDW next year.

We have also stayed at Disney Paris on points plus 1 night in the Dorchester.

However, US flights in school holidays are very expensive and remeber that they pay adult fares from 12.

In our experiance, swapping to other European timeshares in the summer is not an option. (We waited for 9mths for anything in Spain or Portugal and got nothing!)

In the long run, DVC will be a good investment (we bought @ $58 per point and now the price is $89) but other European timeshares may suit your lifestyle better.

If you are still keen then consider a resale as most of existing DVC properties are sold out.