DVC or WDW Direct?

[ChoppyGirl]

We are looking at our first WDW without our DD in 3 years' time as she will be at uni - never too early to plan though right

I have always wanted to stay at the Grand Floridian after only having visited before and now we only have to pay for the 2 of us it is in our budget.

Last year we stayed at a villa and rented points for a 2 night stay at the Boardwalk Inn Villas from Dave's Vacation Villas. We had no problems and the booking was on MDE the same day we paid the balance.

I was looking at the prices for next year with DVV against Walt Disney World Travel direct and there is about £2000 difference for the 2 weeks. This is based on the room discount at the moment but will be £450 less if there is free dining (room discount is £1150 and ddp is £1600, and paying for the DDP with the DVC booking and adding on tickets etc.

£2000 is a big difference and there are a couple of things I think that are not included in a DVC booking such as the $200 gift card but I have not included that in the figures.

I would prefer a hotel room rather than DCV villa but could live with it and prefer the safety of booking direct plus we can just pay a deposit whereas with DVV we have to pay the whole amount upfront for the accommodation.

Do you still get to use the Disney Express from the airport with DVC bookings?

Can anyone think of any differences which would warrant paying more direct with WDW? If it was a couple of hundred pounds it wouldn't bother me but £2000 does!