Why is DVC so confusing?

[abdmom]

DVC is not the only timeshare in the WDW area. IMO, it's not even the nicest. The one thing it has going for it is that it's on site. If you are willing to drive off property, there are many, many other timeshares out there. All of them at a tiny fraction of what it costs to buy into DVC. Do some research on tugbbs before you spend thousands on DVC.

 

[baronvonshush]

Are you a family that plan ahead for your vacations? DVC works best for forward planners who can, ideally, book at 11months or at least before 7 months. If you tend to book a month or two before you go you may end up disappointed or with a very disjointed trip with room changes.

Research where you really want to stay as sometimes you may only be able to book at your Home Resort and won't be able to change at the 7month window so you must make sure you will still be happy. We love BLT, you can't beat the proximity to MK. However it is not a resort that I would want to spend my two week vacation at (flying from the UK we do 2 weeks normally) so we added on at SSR whch gives us the contrast of a quiet, relaxing resort for some of our trip too. SSR also had the advantage of cheap points and lowish Dues so I couldnt lose since I love it.

This is an excellent point. We rarely plan our vacations that far out. As a matter of fact, last night I decided I wanted to go back at the end of September with just my husband as an anniversary trip. 4 months is usually the earliest we plan. Another thing I thought about was how much we enjoyed staying at port Orleans riverside this past trip. Maybe this isn't the best deal for us since we are ok in moderate resorts. I'm still going to research everything and make an informed decision, but based on that criteria alone, I'm thinking we might be better off not buying DVC.

 

[staceymay00]

The other thing you said is you are Disney newbies - It isn't at all uncommon for someone to have a wonderful first trip to Disney, a great second trip, a lovely third trip, a good forth trip....and eventually wonder why they always do the same thing - either burned out on Disney or just bored - the opposite of the dreaded "addonitis" - where you buy more points to go more often. Granted, you won't find many of them here, but it happens. My kids would rather spend a week at an all inclusive in Mexico or at a ski resort - they are thirteen and fourteen. Disney isn't a great trading timeshare - its limited, difficult and expensive. And DVC is a commitment, if you sell at a loss after three or four visits, you will loose money.

This is my family...and we probably are in the minority of DVC owners having reduced trips a bit since buying. We still love Disney, but not at the same frequency and length of stay that we used to. And we just bought DVC a few years ago! We started going to WDW regularly a few years before we bought. I don't regret our purchase at all, but I'm really glad we did not buy enough points to to spend a week at WDW twice a year, which is what we did for a couple of years before buying, Sadly, my kids reached a point of no longer being excited about going to Disney for a week. The other issue we've faced is difficulty finding time for a week at WDW due to school and sports schedules along with wanting to other things besides WDW. WDW is a seven hour drive for us, and we go to Florida for reasons other than WDW, so working in a 3-5 night stay at WDW works well for us. If we lived further away and had no other reason to visit WDW, we'd probably go for 5-7 days every other year.

ETA: I should note, though, that even though we are doing less Disney these days, I am still thinking of adding points. Sounds crazy, I know! We only have 150 points and prefer 2BRs for our family of five, so even with shorter and less frequent trips, we could still uses another 50-100.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[Fignewtons]

We just went through the same process. Did a DVC tour in November and then started reading and discovered resale. It is some work to find what you are looking for and then wait to get through the process. It is 60 days typically to get contract executed, but it might be 60 more days finding what you want, as they go quick right now and you should do lots of research on resorts and points, and time of year you want to travel.

We got 150 OKW loaded for $8500 and 4.5% interest rate from our bank, so the cost is minimal compared to Disney. Our first purchase was just to get something affordable and try it. Our second purchase will be more focused on a specific resort.

Quite frankly, OKW is relaxing, as our children are getting older now anyways and its more for us to use and then hand over to them as they get married and settle down. Definitely a huge savings compared to direct.

Good luck.

 

[disneynutz]

This is my family...and we probably are in the minority of DVC owners having reduced trips a bit since buying. We still love Disney, but not at the same frequency and length of stay that we used to. And we just bought DVC a few years ago! We started going to WDW regularly a few years before we bought. I don't regret our purchase at all, but I'm really glad we did not buy enough points to to spend a week at WDW twice a year, which is what we did for a couple of years before buying, Sadly, my kids reached a point of no longer being excited about going to Disney for a week. The other issue we've faced is difficulty finding time for a week at WDW due to school and sports schedules along with wanting to other things besides WDW. WDW is a seven hour drive for us, and we go to Florida for reasons other than WDW, so working in a 3-5 night stay at WDW works well for us. If we lived further away and had no other reason to visit WDW, we'd probably go for 5-7 days every other year.

ETA: I should note, though, that even though we are doing less Disney these days, I am still thinking of adding points. Sounds crazy, I know! We only have 150 points and prefer 2BRs for our family of five, so even with shorter and less frequent trips, we could still uses another 50-100.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

You are not alone. There is a reason for resales and until recently there were a ton of them. More and more owners are renting reservations and the number of renting brokers is increasing.

I think it's only natural, as you see and experience the same rides, attractions, and resorts, the excitement fades a bit. Disney is a very expensive luxury vacation.

Bill

 

[castleri]

The one thing no one has mentioned is that while doing your research it is a good idea to also look at the yearly maintenance fees. These can add up to more than the contract over the course of your ownership. Sometimes the one with the lowest cost has the highest MFs so is really not the best deal - specifically Hilton Head and Vero Beach. Good luck with your decision.

 

[JimMIA]

DVC is not the only timeshare in the WDW area. IMO, it's not even the nicest. The one thing it has going for it is that it's on site. If you are willing to drive off property, there are many, many other timeshares out there. All of them at a tiny fraction of what it costs to buy into DVC. Do some research on tugbbs before you spend thousands on DVC.

Good point, and one that almost no prospective DVC purchasers consider.

For that matter, we seldom consider the even more important question: "Should I get involved in ANY timeshare?"

Most of us got blinded by the pixie dust and decided to buy DVC. The fortunate among us discovered the DIS before we bought, and bought resale.

But very few of us even considered the basic question of whether timesharing was a good fit for our family.