Another 'is DVC right for me?" thread.

[crisi]

You are really young - what are your "non-Disney" life plans.

Kids? If you have kids will you go from two incomes to one? With kids what are your hopes for them - college? Kid get to be expensive.

Career advancement? - will that mean grad school? Or relocation overseas? Will career advancement mean that you might be in the position of cancelling vacations because "I can't take time off, its a crunch, and if I want that promotion...."?

Anything else?

Look at your whole life picture and make sure that the commitment that DVC brings is going to fit. If you can't plan in advance because you might be deployed, or you might be taking a job in Switzerland and using your vacation time to visit family stateside - it can get hard. Or if you can afford DVC now, but its going to be a big stretch with daycare expenses and investing in a 529 and paying ice time for hockey - it might not be the best long term decision.

People's lives change a lot - at at 21 and 23 you'll likely see a lot of change in the next decade or fifteen years.

 

[k3chantal]

You are really young - what are your "non-Disney" life plans.

Kids? If you have kids will you go from two incomes to one? With kids what are your hopes for them - college? Kid get to be expensive.

Career advancement? - will that mean grad school? Or relocation overseas? Will career advancement mean that you might be in the position of cancelling vacations because "I can't take time off, its a crunch, and if I want that promotion...."?

Anything else?

Look at your whole life picture and make sure that the commitment that DVC brings is going to fit. If you can't plan in advance because you might be deployed, or you might be taking a job in Switzerland and using your vacation time to visit family stateside - it can get hard. Or if you can afford DVC now, but its going to be a big stretch with daycare expenses and investing in a 529 and paying ice time for hockey - it might not be the best long term decision.

People's lives change a lot - at at 21 and 23 you'll likely see a lot of change in the next decade or fifteen years.

LOL about the ice time for hockey......so true!

 

[jerseyduke]

My take on whether to finance anything (excluding a house) is simple....can I make or save money by taking out a loan?

Be 100% honest with yourself and do the following:

1. Calculate how much interest you will pay on the loan. (based on principle, time to repay, and rate).

to this number add the maintenance fees based on the number of points.

This is what your "accommodations" cost until your loan is paid off with dvc



2. Calculate how much you will pay for accommodations with cash at the world in that time (based on where you would stay if you DID NOT have a DVC membership)

if #1 < # 2 then financing is not a bad move from the numbers point of view.

Just make sure that the # of points you use gives you the same number of nights that you use for #2


That just leaves the question, is DVC right for you in general? lol

I just bought VGF, and I did finance, however I did not finance through DVC, I got a much more pleasant rate from somewhere else, and it is for a shorter term.

The interest I will pay on the loan is about 1000$ I was already planning on the GF this december (cash), which would have been about 4,000 for the room.
Since my alternative was to buy next year, even at 10 percent over a few years, it would have been cheaper for me to finance.

 

[ELMC]

You are really young - what are your "non-Disney" life plans.

Kids? If you have kids will you go from two incomes to one? With kids what are your hopes for them - college? Kid get to be expensive.

Career advancement? - will that mean grad school? Or relocation overseas? Will career advancement mean that you might be in the position of cancelling vacations because "I can't take time off, its a crunch, and if I want that promotion...."?

Anything else?

Look at your whole life picture and make sure that the commitment that DVC brings is going to fit. If you can't plan in advance because you might be deployed, or you might be taking a job in Switzerland and using your vacation time to visit family stateside - it can get hard. Or if you can afford DVC now, but its going to be a big stretch with daycare expenses and investing in a 529 and paying ice time for hockey - it might not be the best long term decision.

People's lives change a lot - at at 21 and 23 you'll likely see a lot of change in the next decade or fifteen years.

These are all great points, which is why I continually advocate for getting in at the lowest price possible. Typically this not only involves buying resale, but negotiating a good price and finding a contract with banked points. Granted, this is harder to do nowadays, but it is still possible. So should the OP's situation change in 5 years, they will most likely be able to get out with most, if not all, if not more money than they originally spent.

 

[Son of Gadsden]

You are really young - what are your "non-Disney" life plans.

Kids? If you have kids will you go from two incomes to one? With kids what are your hopes for them - college? Kid get to be expensive.

Career advancement? - will that mean grad school? Or relocation overseas? Will career advancement mean that you might be in the position of cancelling vacations because "I can't take time off, its a crunch, and if I want that promotion...."?

Anything else?

Look at your whole life picture and make sure that the commitment that DVC brings is going to fit. If you can't plan in advance because you might be deployed, or you might be taking a job in Switzerland and using your vacation time to visit family stateside - it can get hard. Or if you can afford DVC now, but its going to be a big stretch with daycare expenses and investing in a 529 and paying ice time for hockey - it might not be the best long term decision.

People's lives change a lot - at at 21 and 23 you'll likely see a lot of change in the next decade or fifteen years.

As for non-disney vacations, I was fortunate enough to have traveled a lot with my parents when I was younger. I can't think of anywhere I'd really like to go that DVC would really interfere with going to.

As for a career, I've already gotten my double major in my trade of choice, and have an excellent job as a division supervisor for the most established company in VA in my career of choice. Could that change? Of course it could. The world could also end tomorrow.

With that job, I'm secured in my hometown, and I moved away to California at one point, and I came straight back with no intent to leave again. Especially since our house is halfway paid off. When that's paid off in about 15 years, DVC will look a whole lot better.

I know how much life can change at a young age as well as anyone. 7 years ago I would have said I'd be living in LA racing MX for a living. Now I'm working construction, married, tied down, and trying to stay out of a wheelchair. That's not just young people. Anyone's life can change in a period of time as long as these contracts. Lol. This is why I've come here asking what those who are in DVC have to say about it. Chances are I'll wait, as I said. It doesn't seem like its something for me yet. Might look into getting a small contract at Boardwalk or something in a few years.

 

[crisi]

It sounds like you are doing well. There are lot of young couples who buy in because they want to share their love of Disney with the kids they don't have yet. And when those kids are born its $1600 a month in daycare bills or one lost income. And suddenly the kids aren't lap babies and its airfare for four. And then they are ten and its four adult tickets.

Or they buy in because they love Disney, but they sort of forgot that medical residency was going to eat up time and possibly put them in the other end of the country.

DVC is no fun if Disney becomes a burden you need to meet rather than something you look forward to.

As ELMC said, buying an affordable contract can lower your exposure, but I think the bigger deal is once you are in you have an emotional investment into staying in - even if it no longer makes the most financial sense.

The best DVC advice is "know yourself." Its probably just the best all around advice.

 

[DisneyDenis]

It sounds like you are doing well. There are lot of young couples who buy in because they want to share their love of Disney with the kids they don't have yet. And when those kids are born its $1600 a month in daycare bills or one lost income. And suddenly the kids aren't lap babies and its airfare for four. And then they are ten and its four adult tickets.

Or they buy in because they love Disney, but they sort of forgot that medical residency was going to eat up time and possibly put them in the other end of the country.

DVC is no fun if Disney becomes a burden you need to meet rather than something you look forward to.

As ELMC said, buying an affordable contract can lower your exposure, but I think the bigger deal is once you are in you have an emotional investment into staying in - even if it no longer makes the most financial sense.

The best DVC advice is "know yourself." Its probably just the best all around advice.

All good advice, but there is a DVC safety valve: Renting. If you bought 120 pts SSR, for example, and you are out of a job. (Just being the devil here). Your yearly maintenance would be under $600 and you could rent all the points easily at $11 pp = $1320. Now your maintenance fees are paid and you have a $720 difference to pay for any financing of DVC or put toward the mortgage. Absolute worst case, you sell the points. Not a major risk IMO.

 

[ELMC]

All good advice, but there is a DVC safety valve: Renting. If you bought 120 pts SSR, for example, and you are out of a job. (Just being the devil here). Your yearly maintenance would be under $600 and you could rent all the points easily at $11 pp = $1320. Now your maintenance fees are paid and you have a $720 difference to pay for any financing of DVC or put toward the mortgage. Absolute worst case, you sell the points. Not a major risk IMO.

Sorry, but this is terrible advice. A 120 point SSR purchase carries a monthly payment of approximately $185. So that $720 rental income is nice, but still leaves the owner with $1,500 in mortgage payments they have to make over the course of that year. If they were to sell the contract they would have to come up with money at the closing to make up for the 50% loss of value in the contract, or simply give it back to Disney and lose all the money they spent thus far. How is that not a major risk? That situation is the dictionary definition of a major risk. The bottom line is that the cost of direct points and/or the cost of interest eliminate just about any legitimate exit strategy from DVC. I can't see why anyone would knowingly put themselves in such a precarious position.

 

[k3chantal]

It sounds like you are doing well. There are lot of young couples who buy in because they want to share their love of Disney with the kids they don't have yet. And when those kids are born its $1600 a month in daycare bills or one lost income. And suddenly the kids aren't lap babies and its airfare for four. And then they are ten and its four adult tickets.

Or they buy in because they love Disney, but they sort of forgot that medical residency was going to eat up time and possibly put them in the other end of the country.

DVC is no fun if Disney becomes a burden you need to meet rather than something you look forward to.

As ELMC said, buying an affordable contract can lower your exposure, but I think the bigger deal is once you are in you have an emotional investment into staying in - even if it no longer makes the most financial sense.

The best DVC advice is "know yourself." Its probably just the best all around advice.

Better than 'know yourself', I would say 'Be honest with yourself.' A person really needs to be honest with themselves about their long term ability to commit to this timeshare. It is not an inexpensive endeavor.

 

[Dean]

Better than 'know yourself', I would say 'Be honest with yourself.' A person really needs to be honest with themselves about their long term ability to commit to this timeshare. It is not an inexpensive endeavor.

I'd venture to guess that even for most informed of us currently weren't nearly so at the time of our original purchase and that emotions did play a role in the purchase decision. I'd also bet that many of us talked ourselves into buying with at best, fuzzy logic such as we often see posted. Of course many of us bought before the internet was up and running such that we could investigate like is possible now.

 

[New England Eeyore]

I'm not a DVC owner (yet!) but I wanted to throw my 2 cents in.

I'm sort of you in about 10 years. I started going back to Disney as an adult when I was 21. I'm 34 now, and have gone every year (sometimes twice a year) for all those years in between. We stayed wherever the budget could afford for each particular trip - from offsite at a Comfort Inn to the Poly and everything in between. DVC was always a fantasy, but I could never justify the price, especially because the maintenance fees would be more than the cost of continuing to stay at values.

Now, after 13 years of WDW travel, we're at the point where we can pay for DVC without financing and we've pretty much decided we would absolutely love to never have to stay at a value resort again. We just put in our first offer for a resale at BWV. I think it is the right thing for us now, but it probably wasn't before.

On another note re: your knees - don't discount the benefits of an ECV. My DH has some physical issues and has always hated the toll that all the walking in the parks takes on him. Last trip he was in worse shape than usual so we rented an ECV for him in the parks a few days - one of the best trips we ever had!

 

[Son of Gadsden]

I'm not a DVC owner (yet!) but I wanted to throw my 2 cents in.

I'm sort of you in about 10 years. I started going back to Disney as an adult when I was 21. I'm 34 now, and have gone every year (sometimes twice a year) for all those years in between. We stayed wherever the budget could afford for each particular trip - from offsite at a Comfort Inn to the Poly and everything in between. DVC was always a fantasy, but I could never justify the price, especially because the maintenance fees would be more than the cost of continuing to stay at values.

Now, after 13 years of WDW travel, we're at the point where we can pay for DVC without financing and we've pretty much decided we would absolutely love to never have to stay at a value resort again. We just put in our first offer for a resale at BWV. I think it is the right thing for us now, but it probably wasn't before.

On another note re: your knees - don't discount the benefits of an ECV. My DH has some physical issues and has always hated the toll that all the walking in the parks takes on him. Last trip he was in worse shape than usual so we rented an ECV for him in the parks a few days - one of the best trips we ever had!

Wow, I didn't do the math on that one. The maintenance fees alone are more than the cost of a value!? Glad you told me that. Another reason to hold off.

So far I've only ended up in a wheelchair in MK once. During wishes, had a tweak in my ACL. And Epcot I typically need one, because it's just so much shear walking, so as someone said, a resort close to Epcot honestly might be something we have underrated. I've thought about renting a wheelchair/ECV for the week. I know it would make for so much of a better trip. Hell, DW gets mad at me for giving up my seat on the bus, but I just can't help it lol. Eventually I probably need to just bite the bullet and get one. I think the main thing holding me back (other than my pride) is boarding the thing on the bus. Seems like a hastle, and all the staring I get, seeing as I'm 23, with no visual injury. I suppose just picking one up at the park could work.

 

[RSWA2]

Wow, I didn't do the math on that one. The maintenance fees alone are more than the cost of a value!? Glad you told me that. Another reason to hold off.

The DVC Resource Center sticky has the MF for all the resorts (historical as well). 100 BWV points can get you 6-8 nights studio, standard view, about most of the year and would have cost $584 in MF for the 2013 calendar year. There is a sale pending for a 100 pt BWV contract going for $88/pt.




Quick question, I don't know the details of your injury, but you are young enough that you will want to have these WDW vacations for a few decades. It will always involved some walking. Is there any type of surgery that can fix it? I'm far from being a dr and if this offends you or any other DIS'er I'm sorry. But I hear about older people getting knee replacements etc and the recovery is a year or so. But OP, maybe with youth, that will speed it up? I do realize that the injuries from the sport you participated in and accelerated the wear and tear. Maybe you can add the cost of knee replacement into the cost of a DVC and purchase SSR or something cheaper, so you'll have good knees + SSR as opposed to bad knees + BWV?

 

[Son of Gadsden]

Quick question, I don't know the details of your injury, but you are young enough that you will want to have these WDW vacations for a few decades. It will always involved some walking. Is there any type of surgery that can fix it? I'm far from being a dr and if this offends you or any other DIS'er I'm sorry. But I hear about older people getting knee replacements etc and the recovery is a year or so. But OP, maybe with youth, that will speed it up? I do realize that the injuries from the sport you participated in and accelerated the wear and tear. Maybe you can add the cost of knee replacement into the cost of a DVC and purchase SSR or something cheaper, so you'll have good knees + SSR as opposed to bad knees + BWV?

No problem. I wish it worked that way, and I was kind of shocked to hear it didn't as well. I tore my ACL/meniscus and sustained heavy damage to my IT band, and plenty of other muscle/tendon/ligaments as well. I'm not a doctor, so I'm not sure on all the specifications. I sustained that injury when I was about 13. From what my trainers told me, once an ACL sustained damage, you typically have about 6 weeks to have surgical repairs done, after that it's chronic. I had myself checked out when I turned 18. By that point, i had not only not had the surgery, but reinjured it multiple times as well, and the damage had been done. I thought it was like a bone, just retear it and fix it how it should be. I was told that the technology just isn't there yet, and the best they could tell me was to keep track of stem cell. A trip to Duke gave me the same answers. No one at Duke could even identify the extent of the injuries by multiple MRIs and Xrays. My left leg is (in every single system in that leg) 42% weaker than my right leg. Because my right leg then has to work twice as hard, it virtually is always inflamed and is steadily continuing to take damage until (the doctor's estimate) I'll need assistance walking in my 30s. What I experience is sharp pains in my knee cap area, and dislocation/muscle failure can easily occur.

So, it seems these are the cards I've been dealt. I've already been forced to give up the sport I've known and loved since as long as I can remember, and by God I'm not giving up on Disney! lol.

 

[RSWA2]

My left leg is (in every single system in that leg) 42% weaker than my right leg. Because my right leg then has to work twice as hard, it virtually is always inflamed and is steadily continuing to take damage until (the doctor's estimate) I'll need assistance walking in my 30s. What I experience is sharp pains in my knee cap area, and dislocation/muscle failure can easily occur.

So, it seems these are the cards I've been dealt. I've already been forced to give up the sport I've known and loved since as long as I can remember, and by God I'm not giving up on Disney! lol.

I can't post on DIS what I want to say, so I'll say, that freaking sucks.

I'm sure you've tried it all, wraps, bands, walking canes, etc. I'm glad you get to enjoy Disney though. Maybe in 10 years, they'll have affordable exo skeletons to help strengthen your legs.

 

[Missyrose]

No problem. I wish it worked that way, and I was kind of shocked to hear it didn't as well. I tore my ACL/meniscus and sustained heavy damage to my IT band, and plenty of other muscle/tendon/ligaments as well. I'm not a doctor, so I'm not sure on all the specifications. I sustained that injury when I was about 13. From what my trainers told me, once an ACL sustained damage, you typically have about 6 weeks to have surgical repairs done, after that it's chronic. I had myself checked out when I turned 18. By that point, i had not only not had the surgery, but reinjured it multiple times as well, and the damage had been done. I thought it was like a bone, just retear it and fix it how it should be. I was told that the technology just isn't there yet, and the best they could tell me was to keep track of stem cell. A trip to Duke gave me the same answers. No one at Duke could even identify the extent of the injuries by multiple MRIs and Xrays. My left leg is (in every single system in that leg) 42% weaker than my right leg. Because my right leg then has to work twice as hard, it virtually is always inflamed and is steadily continuing to take damage until (the doctor's estimate) I'll need assistance walking in my 30s. What I experience is sharp pains in my knee cap area, and dislocation/muscle failure can easily occur.

So, it seems these are the cards I've been dealt. I've already been forced to give up the sport I've known and loved since as long as I can remember, and by God I'm not giving up on Disney! lol.

I'm so sorry, I have a chronic illness (so I know how frustrating it is to have your body betray you at a very young age). I would recommend you rent an ECV on your next trip. Waiting till you get to the park to rent one is problematic for a few reasons:

* They could run out by the time you get there

*The ones at the park are $50 per day ($20 of that is a refundable deposit). Getting one from offsite means you can use it getting to the parks and will be much, MUCH cheaper than at the parks.

*The ones at the park are slower than molases, annoyingly slow

We rented one for my MIL last year and she loved the one from offsite (which we needed to leave at our rental house to be picked up on our last day). So we rented her one of the park ones on the last day and the lack of speed drove her and us nuts.

Don't be afraid of what people will think of you in the ECV, if it lets you enjoy Disney pain free, don't let idiots stop you!

 

[crisi]

All good advice, but there is a DVC safety valve: Renting. If you bought 120 pts SSR, for example, and you are out of a job. (Just being the devil here). Your yearly maintenance would be under $600 and you could rent all the points easily at $11 pp = $1320. Now your maintenance fees are paid and you have a $720 difference to pay for any financing of DVC or put toward the mortgage. Absolute worst case, you sell the points. Not a major risk IMO.

Yeah, you weren't here in 2009, were you? People lost thousands that they couldn't afford to loose on DVC. People who tried to rent points found a flooded rental market. The unfortunate truth of the economy is that for most people, when you can least afford the risk is when the risk becomes a reality - whether DVC points or the stock market.

 

[Son of Gadsden]

I can't post on DIS what I want to say, so I'll say, that freaking sucks.

I'm sure you've tried it all, wraps, bands, walking canes, etc. I'm glad you get to enjoy Disney though. Maybe in 10 years, they'll have affordable exo skeletons to help strengthen your legs.

Yeah, I'm over it. Gotta make the best of it.

I've got tons of therapy and all that good stuff to walk as long as possible. No regrets, though.

I'm so sorry, I have a chronic illness (so I know how frustrating it is to have your body betray you at a very young age). I would recommend you rent an ECV on your next trip. Waiting till you get to the park to rent one is problematic for a few reasons:

* They could run out by the time you get there

*The ones at the park are $50 per day ($20 of that is a refundable deposit). Getting one from offsite means you can use it getting to the parks and will be much, MUCH cheaper than at the parks.

*The ones at the park are slower than molases, annoyingly slow

We rented one for my MIL last year and she loved the one from offsite (which we needed to leave at our rental house to be picked up on our last day). So we rented her one of the park ones on the last day and the lack of speed drove her and us nuts.

Don't be afraid of what people will think of you in the ECV, if it lets you enjoy Disney pain free, don't let idiots stop you!

I figured that was the case. Funny enough, my dad broke his ankle in a motocross accident a few weeks before our Disney trip when I was younger. He got a wheelchair for one day, which wore him out so the next day he got an ECV off site because I remember them saying it was way cheaper.