Thinking about joining

[Billpowerrock]

Hey everyone I am in the process of getting my wife to agree on the DVC. I just been watching the DVD and reading some posts, I have not talked to the Disney DVC people yet.

We have two boys who are 2yrs and 9 months old and every since they were born i've been planning their first Disney Trip. I think it would be a great thing for us and the kids but had a few questions.

Forgive me if this was discussed before but can the purchase be financed and are the rates reasonable?

And ofcourse i forgot my other question while typing this and doing another project.

Thanks in advance about that first question.

Bill

 

[chalee94]

Forgive me if this was discussed before but can the purchase be financed and are the rates reasonable?

if you buy direct, disney will finance it as a mortgage. i believe rates are around 12-15% so i would not consider them reasonable. (you'd also have to buy at direct prices - much higher than resale.)

if you buy resale, the upfront cost is lower but to get a good rate, you'd generally need to organize your own financing. (timeshare "assets" historically lose value at a high rate of speed so lenders get a little skittish and you'd need to get a personal, unsecured loan which also means a higher rate.)

remember that this is a luxury purchase and you can still go to disney without paying a lot for DVC ownership. if you fit in a studio, you might also think about starting with a small contract (100 pts or less) that you can pay cash for.

 

[Deb & Bill]

It's an expensive timeshare. Not really a club to join.

 

[lville23]

Take some time to read the various threads and learn as much as you can as there is some great info on here. The three items I would stress are;

1) Seriously consider resale rather than direct purchase from Disney. This will save you a significant amount on the upfront purchase. There are some limitations to pts purchased via resale, but does not outweight the benefits in my opinion.

2) If you need to finance the initial purchase, consider a home equity loan. A 100 pt contract depending on the resort could be purchased for around $6K on resale. I personally would not buy if I had to finance.

3) Do the math. Answer honestly, How often do you plan to vacation at Disney, what resort would you stay at, etc and compare costs. For me, DVC was not a option I seriously considered until the third child came along as I knew from then forward I would be spending more of my vacation dollars on hotels.


Good luck!

 

[miprender]

Hey everyone I am in the process of getting my wife to agree on the DVC. I just been watching the DVD and reading some posts, I have not talked to the Disney DVC people yet.

We have two boys who are 2yrs and 9 months old and every since they were born i've been planning their first Disney Trip. I think it would be a great thing for us and the kids but had a few questions.

Forgive me if this was discussed before but can the purchase be financed and are the rates reasonable?

And ofcourse i forgot my other question while typing this and doing another project.

Thanks in advance about that first question.

Bill

I highly recommend renting points for your first DVC vacation. You can test drive and get a feel if it would work for you.

 

[ELMC]

Hey everyone I am in the process of getting my wife to agree on the DVC. I just been watching the DVD and reading some posts, I have not talked to the Disney DVC people yet.

First off, you should consider changing your thinking regarding DVC. You're not joining a club, you are buying a timeshare and in the process committing to 25+ years of annual maintenance fee payments and Disney vacations.

We have two boys who are 2yrs and 9 months old and every since they were born i've been planning their first Disney Trip. I think it would be a great thing for us and the kids but had a few questions.

It probably will be, as I don't really know of many kids who don't like Disney. However, I would suggest that you consider other options for your first few trips until you have some experience travelling to Disney with kids. It will help you make a more informed purchase about where you want to commit to staying for the next 25+ years.

Forgive me if this was discussed before but can the purchase be financed and are the rates reasonable?

Bill

It has been said before on this thread as well as others, but it bears repeating. One of the main benefits of owning DVC is that over the long term, it saves you money vs. renting points from an owner or paying cash for a direct reservation. If you purchase direct (at today's prices) AND finance, you are essentially negating any potential savings both now and in the long term future. Do the research, do the math and you'll see. I would strongly recommend against purchasing direct, purchasing direct and financing and even financing a resale purchase. Paying interest on a vacation is not sound financial practice. Good luck with your decision.

 

[amcnj]

To me the first things to consider are:

Do you plan to be a frequent (at least every third year) traveler to WDW for some years to come?

What type of accommodations do you desire?

Once you determine you will be a "repeat customer" and what rooms you'll be using, you can determine how many points may work for you. Then you can see what that cost, and what any financing charges might be.

You can also try renting DVC points to test out how it works for you.

 

[disneynutz]

If you currently go to Disney each year and stay at a deluxe resort, DVC can save you some money.

If you don't, DVC will cost you money. Disney is very expensive and you are committing to repeat Disney vacations. I'm talking hundreds of thousands of dollars over a 30 year period.

Bill

 

[JimMIA]

It's an expensive timeshare. Not really a club to join.

This is the first thing I think you should really consider. DVC is a timeshare...which brings up several questions:

• Would a timeshare (think 30-50 year financial obligation) fit into your family's normal vacationing schedule?
• If timesharing is for your family - is DVC the timeshare for you?

On the first question, I would not recommend anybody's timeshare for a family that doesn't take at least one week of vacation every single year. If you don't do that -- every single year -- I doubt that there is a timeshare out there that would really be good for your family. That's partly because of the obligations and limitations of timeshares, and partly because there are SO many non-timeshare options out there.

Is DVC for you? If you are eagerly planning your kids first trip, I would confidently say, "NO...not yet."

If you had gone every year like clockwork, I might think maybe, but in your case...no.

Everyone will tell you DVC works best when used only for stays in DVC resorts. Non-DVC options for DVC points stays are high-cost on their best day. Usually, you would be far ahead to save your points and pay cash for those options.

I will take it several steps further and say that, IMHO (and others will disagree), DVC works best for stays in DVC resorts at WDW for people who really would not be satisfied staying anywhere else but onsite, in a Disney resort, at WDW.

What am I saying there, and more importantly...why?

For starters, at WDW, there are dozens, if not hundreds of very good options offsite. Many people consider many of those options better than DVC. At a minimum, offsite lodging is generally easily available for a fraction of the cost of onsite -- even when comparing to DVC owner costs. If your family's needs would be well-served by one of the offsite options, DVC would be a waste of money.

Destinations other than WDW:
DVC currently has 11 resorts, 7 of which are at WDW. The other 4 are located at Hilton Head Island, SC; Vero Beach, FL; Disneyland, CA; and Ko Olina, Hawaii.

My opinion is that there are better, much less expensive options in each of the four non-WDW destinations. And in some cases, there are better options that unlock a whole world of other possibilities...for those families for whom timesharing makes sense.

 

[JimMIA]

The other thing someone has to bring up at some point is the following -- IF timesharing is for your family, there are at least three categories of options:

• Buying DVC direct for the privilege of paying 12-15% interest to finance.
• Paying 20-50% less to buy DVC resale, either paying cash or arranging your own financing at rates close to Disney's.
• Paying little or nothing (easily <$1,000) to buy another brand of timeshare which might meet your needs better on the resale market. (But still taking on a significant, long-term financial obligation for MF's.)

In your particular case, and knowing nothing about your family's financial status (or much of anything else), I would look at your very young family and say you have many MUCH more important things to spend money on than timeshares.

 

[JimMIA]

One final note.

DVC is pre-paid lodging...nothing more. ANYbody's timeshare is only lodging.

It doesn't pay for airfare. It doesn't pay for park tickets. It doesn't pay for food -- a more significant cost than you may realize. It doesn't pay for the obligatory trinkets. And it doesn't pay for incidental expenses.

Lodging is one component of vacation cost -- and probably NOT the biggest component. NO timeshare pays any of the other vacation costs.

 

[a742246]

I highly recommend renting points for your first DVC vacation. You can test drive and get a feel if it would work for you.

I definately agree with this! Especially if you would have to finance a purchase.

 

[Billpowerrock]

Thank you all for the info. My wife and I have lots to think about.

Thanks again

Bill

 

[Halle]

It's an expensive timeshare. Not really a club to join.

Went on the tour today, the guide pitched it as a club.

 

[ELMC]

Went on the tour today, the guide pitched it as a club.

And by "guide" you mean "salesperson", right?

 

[Deb & Bill]

Went on the tour today, the guide pitched it as a club.

Of course, he/she did. Bless his/her little heart.

If they call it a timeshare, it turns people off.

 

[ELMC]

Of course, he/she did. Bless his/her little heart.

If they call it a timeshare, it turns people off.

Well technically it is a club. It's a club that is entirely comprised of people who bought a Disney timeshare.

 

[JimMIA]

Went on the tour today, the guide pitched it as a club.

Well of course he/she did! Did you really expect them to call themselves "timeshare salesmen" and focus on the concept of timeshares???

DVC is not alone in this approach, incidentally. See "Club" Wyndham, Hilton Grand Vacation "Club," Marriott Vacation "Club," etc, etc.

There is nothing unique about DVC timeshares except the location of their WDW resorts.

It's a timeshare.

 

[Jasonkat]

Is DVC for you? If you are eagerly planning your kids first trip, I would confidently say, "NO...not yet."

If you had gone every year like clockwork, I might think maybe, but in your case...no.

I strongly disagree with this sentiment.

This was the response I typically got when I first made a post asking about joining DVC. I mentioned I'd only gone to WDW once in 2010 and once in 2011 and people ragged on me because I hadn't gone consistently enough so I wasn't a good candidate for DVC.

I will be going to WDW 4 times this year and 3 times next year. Why did my vacation habits change? We have an almost 3 year old and an almost 1 year old now. Do the math and you'll figure out why we didn't go often in 2010, 2011 or 2012 (ie: pregnant wife most of those years).

The OP said he has two young kids age 2 and 9 mos. I can relate to his situation. He can plan on going to WDW at least once a year for probably the next 15 years. Just because he didn't go on a regular basis in the past doesn't mean he won't be going on a regular basis in the future. After all, he didn't have two young kids 5 years ago so why compare his vacation habits 5 years ago to his vacation habits today?

As far as the cost savings go. I mean yes he 'could' save money by saving up and buying resale. He 'could' save money by buying another timeshare. He 'could' save money by not financing at 15%.

But he's got two young kids, and the clock is ticking. If he has to wait 5 years to save up the money to pay cash for a resale his kids will be 7 and 6 and he's lost 5 years worth of memories. He'll also have lost the wonderful visits when the kids are toddlers and "believe" that Mickey in the costume is the Mickey they see on the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse every day. They won't believe that when they're 7. The time to make these memories goes away day by day. Tomorrow he'll have one less opportunity to spend time with his kids than he has today. And one day they'll be all grown up and out of the nest and they won't return his phone calls (like in that song "cats in the cradle"). If he's ready to take vacations with his family and build these memories then maybe DVC is worth it. When he's old and his wife is dead from a tragic blimp accident and he's in a nursing home and his kids don't visit anymore then I guarantee the extra $10,000 he could've saved on DVC won't be as important to him as the memory of his cute little three year old hugging Mickey Mouse. Maybe money isn't the most important thing in life.

Like the song says "sha la la la la la live for today, and don't worry 'bout tomorrow, hey"

 

[disneynutz]

I strongly disagree with this sentiment.

This was the crap I got when I first made a post asking about joining DVC. I mentioned I'd only gone to WDW once in 2010 and once in 2011 and people ragged on me because I hadn't gone consistently enough so I wasn't a good candidate for DVC.

I will be going to WDW 4 times this year and 3 times next year. Why did my vacation habits change? We have a 3 year old and a 1 year old now. Do the math and you'll figure out why we didn't go 4 times in 2010, 2011 or 2012 (ie: pregnant wife most of those years).

The OP said he has two young kids age 2 and 9 mos. I can relate to his situation. He can plan on going to WDW at least once a year for probably the next 15 years. Just because he didn't go on a regular basis in the past doesn't mean he won't be going on a regular basis in the future. After all, he didn't have two young kids 5 years ago so why compare his vacation habits 5 years ago to his vacation habits today?

Glad that DVC has worked for you but what if you found out that WDW wasn't what you thought, or you hate the crowds, or cost.

A cautious move would be to find out if you like the ocean before you buy the boat.

Bill