Has anyone regretted becoming a DVC member?

[CampbellzSoup]

Just wondering as my finger is itching on the pulse of it.

 

[DVCcurious]

A ton of people have regretted it. That's why there's such an active and healthy resale market.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Ugh not good for the pending owner feeling lol

 

[disneynutz]

Disney since day one has created an experience of magic and memories and most assume that DVC would be the same.

Sadly IMO DVC is a wake up call. DVD/DVC is all about selling DVC contracts and service after the sale isn't a priority. Disney has DVC owners under contract to vacation at Disney often so they aren't on equal status as cash guests.

Long telephone hold times, website issues, rooms that could use additional attention, room availability, no control over what DVC does and when they do it including room color and how often rooms are refurbished, and of course the ever increasing prices are negatives.

Saving some money on pre-paid rooms could be a positive depending on your vacation habits.

Bill

 

[Missyrose]

Just wondering as my finger is itching on the pulse of it.

There is a ton of research to do before buying, it will give you much better info than whether current owners enjoy their ownership. It sounds harsh, but you should start by figuring out if DVC ownership fits your vacation habits. Figure out what's right for you before worrying about how everyone else enjoys their points.

 

[crisi]

There is a ton of research to do before buying, it will give you much better info than whether current owners enjoy their ownership. It sounds harsh, but you should start by figuring out if DVC ownership fits your vacation habits. Figure out what's right for you before worrying about how everyone else enjoys their points.

Yep.

Know what you are buying. Really buying, not what you think you are buying.

Know if that is what you want, not what you think you want, but what you want.

Make sure you can afford it - a financial burden is easily regretted.

DVC is a timeshare. People are most disappointed when they don't understand that - when they go into either believing a timeshare and a hotel are similar enough that they don't need to understand the differences or when they think that they are "buying a piece of the magic" "joining a club" or that DVC is some sort of loyalty program.

Understand words like "subject to availability" - its the details that will get you. You can certain stay at GCV with your WDW DVC points - "subject to availability" - which will be much tighter than you probably think. Understand room configurations - just because you think that DVC should have two queen beds in a studio doesn't mean they will have two queen beds in a studio. Or bunkbeds. DVC members using their points don't get deals like "free dining" - thats a marketing technique to sell rooms, as a DVC member, you've bought yours.

Most people here have not regretted their DVC.

 

[supersnoop]

A ton of people have regretted it. That's why there's such an active and healthy resale market.

There are about 200,000 DVC owners and around 500 contracts on the market. That's a very, very small percentage; much less than the single-family real estate market. 5x-10x as many people sell their house than sell their DVC contracts each year, proportionately.

 

[rcbarker]

Every contract for sale does not equal someone unhappy with with their purchase decision. Surely, many are quite happy with their purchase, but their habits or life situation has changed such that they won't get the same use out of it. I suspect many sellers would say that purchasing was a good decision.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Ugh not good for the pending owner feeling lol

You're in the midst of buying? And you are just wanting to torture yourself?

 

[cyndiloveswalt]

My DH and I have never regretted buying DVC and actually feel like it is one of the best investments in our family we've ever made! These days lives are busy, with work and school and meetings and sports but there is ALWAYS a Disney vacation planned in our future because of DVC.

 

[Islamom]

I do not regret buying. One thing that we didn't learn from our salesperson was the monthly charge. A friend who already owned DVC told us about it. When I asked the sales person about it she said it was such a small amount of money I wouldn't even miss it. In 2007 it was about $50/mo now it is almost $100/ mo. With DVC you don't have the service in the hotels that you have with private pay. This may matter to you or may not . As I said, I don't regret it. We have stretched our points to two trips/year...1 family 6 night & 1 couples 3 night. You just have to be savvy with your points.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I do not regret buying. One thing that we didn't learn from our salesperson was the monthly charge. A friend who already owned DVC told us about it. When I asked the sales person about it she said it was such a small amount of money I wouldn't even miss it. In 2007 it was about $50/mo now it is almost $100/ mo. With DVC you don't have the service in the hotels that you have with private pay. This may matter to you or may not . As I said, I don't regret it. We have stretched our points to two trips/year...1 family 6 night & 1 couples 3 night. You just have to be savvy with your points.

You mean they didn't tell you about paying the annual MF's? Yikes!

 

[Islamom]

No! I learned from our friend! Our salesperson is no longer there!

 

[summabreeze85]

I don't regret buying dvc but I do regret buying directly from disney. Wish I would've know about resales! DVC has allowed us a lot more disney trips in nicer accommodations than I would've been able to afford if we weren't dvc members.

 

[loveglobe]

This seems to be a subjective topic because a major factor - in addition to the financials - is if you'd be taking these trips if not for DVC. I've seen many posts on other threads from people who regret it because they would've stayed at a moderate resort otherwise or wouldn't have gone to wdw so frequently without DVC. Personally, we intend to visit wdw every other year and always stay at deluxe resorts, so for us DVC represents a cost savings. And so far I've enjoyed getting to know the world of the points system. It just depends on what type of vacation you plan to have.

 

[suebeelin]

We knew we only liked deluxe resorts. We don't want to pay the rack or even the discount rate (we did once and that's why we bought dvc! Even the discount rate is on the high side for us!). We also knew we wouldn't force ourselves to go on a family vacation if we didn't have the incentive.

Does dvc save us money? Probably not bc we wouldn't do Disney every year but if not for dvc.

Does dvc give is what we want? Yes. A resounding yes.

We now do a family trip every year to a deluxe hotel in walking distance to 3 parks (BWV and BLT). Memories!!!

We stay in much nicer accommodations than we would have allowed ourselves if we had to shell out the cash (we are thrifty to a degree) and are more comfortable as a result (1bd for 2 adults, a preschooler and a baby-- someday we will do 2bds).

We have also invited friends and family and treated them to a Disney vacation (10 rooms for 3-5 days each) for the BEST group friends and family trip ever (30 adults, 10 kids). That was last year. Again, memories are an intangible that is priceless.

So dvc works for us.

Ps our next door neighbors just sold beach club and vero beach not bc they were unhappy--- their kids are 16-24. They didn't need it anymore. They looooved their dvc... But they have outgrown it!

 

[disneyhutson]

From someone in the middle of a resale contract..I thank you this was a very interesting thread!

 

[Disney LOVE Travel]

I think it seems more common that people are selling their contracts not because they didn't enjoy them but because their life situation has changed (financial, family size, empty nesters, etc). I know for me, my plan right now is to stick with our smaller BLT contract and once my kids get a bit older and we outgrow a studio or MK as our home, I will entertain selling and rebuying a different contract instead of dealing with an add-on. I definitely hear more people say the only thing they regret is either not buying enough points or not buying into DVC sooner.

 

[Minniesgal]

Me no! Never my only regret is not doing it sooner.

However, there must be many that do. Have a look at how many VGF resale contracts are available and imagine how long they have owned.

We bought resale VGC points. Seller had three identical contracts of which we bought 1. We bought in very early 2013, DVC contract was created in 2011. I think we got all 2012 points and forward.

Must be a good few people really regret buying.

As long as you are sure what you want, sure what you can afford and know what you are buying you should be done.

 

[rmcildw2m]

Just wondering as my finger is itching on the pulse of it.

I love my DVC and the many choices you in where you can stay on property .BUT the cost of everything else seems to have no end . I love going to the parks and shows and the rides but the overall cost of getting to do those things make DVC not enough for me to come as often as I would like .