DVC: Good, bad or indifferent?

There is no way on this planet I could stay in places like BLT or Grand Cali at DLR if I didnt have DVC. I cry EVERYTIME someone says "welcome home" they have no idea how much at home I feel when Im at Disney! With or without kids!

As a non-DVC member I'd have to say I'm relatively indifferent. You got tons of new places to stay and eat out of it, but I'm not sure you wouldn't have gotten those places as non-DVC buildings otherwise. I think if it's accurate to say those wouldn't have been built without DVC then I think it's been a good thing overall.

I think it's great. Even though I'm not a DVC member, I can still take advantage of the hotels and dining experiences offered, so its a win win.

However, if that trend of not letting people into the hotel without a DVC room key continues (like they have now at BLT), I will be disappointed.

I'm in agreement that the advent of DVC has given us more restaurants and more hotel rooms to choose from. I'm also glad there's a Disney presence in Hawaii.

PA -- We don't have DVC, but I can absolutely see how that "Welcome Home" could be addicting!

Good.
I've rented DVC points before and I have to say..staying DVC vs. regular rooms (I think) is a big difference. I stayed at OKW..and it's not the nicest DVC resort on property but it really felt more like a "condo" than a hotel room. I liked that there was space to spread out and relax. We napped more, used the pool a lot and generally had a more relaxed trip because of it.

I love staying at a DVC resort. I agree, the rooms feel more like "home". Even with just the two of us we usually stay in a one bedroom villa. I do love being greeted with a "Welcome Home" when we arrive. However, as much as we love the DVC resorts, we still have to do a Poly trip every now and then!

I think those one-bedroom villas are so luxurious as a hotel stay. The jacuzzi tub alone is a huge improvement!

I have never stayed in a villa but ohh how I want too! That hot tub makes me swoon. One day!
I also love to discounts at DTD! We were even given them when we showed our KTTW and we stayed on rented points.

Can't blame you for wanting to stay Poly. Do you have any recent pics from there? I've always wanted to stay there, but never have. It and the GF are my last two resorts I think.

With Fl. resident rates we can stay at Pop Century 6 nights for the cost of 1 night at some of the DVC units. We'd rather have the extra time.
Joe

Great point. With DVC you get Deluxe level accommodations, but that takes away the flexibility to stay somewhere less pricey. It also removes the ability to get AP discounts and resident discounts.

You can use AP discounts for DVC rooms. I do believe they have a very limited number of rooms that they allot for it though. Due to the extra trips we have taken the last two years we are out of DVC points and we do not want to start borrowing so we are paying for both this and our January trip.
I waited to the last minute (four months out) to book for this trip. By then the Poly was already full. So, I booked a one bedroom villa in the Wilderness Lodge. When they released AP discounts I called to see if I could apply it to our room. There were none available in the Wilderness Lodge but if I was willing to change to the Boardwalk I could use it. We have never stayed in either so I changed it. We saved enough on the room to pay for the deluxe meal plan.
I booked the Poly for our January trip using just a discount room rate. I am going to try to change it to an AP discount so we can add a meal plan once they announce the AP discounts for January. However, we are not going to change resorts to get one for that trip.

Boardwalk villa followed by Poly! That sounds great. I've stayed in the Boardwalk Villas once. They were nice, but nothing really stood out about them. I've always had a soft spot for the Wilderness Lodge, but I'm with you. I would definitely go where the AP discounts are.

We got a two bedroom deluxe the last time we went, and holy cow! Did we have room! I remember when I was little when we didnt stay with DVC the rooms felt like hotel rooms. If we didnt have DVC, there is no way we could afford to go every year and get a 2 bedroom deluxe every year. My Dad and I figured... we go 7 years. Once a year, and it will have payed off for what we got. But we will be able to go on these trips for the next 37 years now! I know we highly recommend it, but it pays off more if you save up and buy the points outright rather than pay so much a year or some kind of payment plan. We saved up a long time to be able to do it this way, and now my family, and my parents get to go to Disney every year instead of every 4 years now.

Did you happen to get any pictures of the 2 bedroom? Did you stay Jambo last time?

Yeah... we stay at Jambo. Visited Kidani, and its just not the same. I like walking into the main doors of Jambo, and just that openness of it all... especially when the Christmas tree is up. And let me check to see if I have some pictures of it. I think I have some.

As an external party who hasn't looked too closely I would have probably picked Kidani, but I haven't thought about it very much. I guess I'm always jealous that the Kidani guests get their own savanna. I'd probably much rather be close to the dining in Jambo House though.

Here we go. These are all of the pictures for our room, or rooms.