Regrets?

[Adedis]

So I toured the floridian and I'm currently staying at the Marriott next to Aulani and toured there. It's beautiful.

I've read the forums and scoured the resale sites. I just can not decide where to buy.

What regrets or I would have done this differently stories does everyone have?

 

[DVC Mike]

I don't have any regrets.

The thread below shows what others worried about before buying:

What were your concerns about becoming a DVC member, and how did you overcome them?

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[disneynutz]

So I toured the floridian and I'm currently staying at the Marriott next to Aulani and toured there. It's beautiful.

I've read the forums and scoured the resale sites. I just can not decide where to buy.

What regrets or I would have done this differently stories does everyone have?

Why do you want to buy?

Bill

 

[lovin'fl]

We started with 200 OKW resale points in 2006. Then added 50 and 25 HHI points in 2012, 100 AKV and 50 HHI in 2013 and finally 55 and 25 BWV (direct) in 2014. However, we just resold our 100 AKV for a profit.

First regret was buying a 200 pointer. Wish we bought smaller and all add ons after that were small. Smaller is easier and quicker to resell plus makes downsizing easier.
Second regret was having 2 UY. It is not impossible to deal with but does make it harder. We should have stuck with just one UY.

I'd probably also change out OKW for a resort we prefer and that is tougher to book at 7 months out. But AKV is our fave resort and we can use the OKW at 7 months out to stay there (it's usually not a problem to book at 7 months out which is why we sold the AKV). But we also like BCV and VWL and they can be tough to book. DH disagrees, though, and his regret would be not buying all cheaper points (all at OKW or HHI to get the most points for the $$).

 

[bwvBound]

So I toured the floridian and I'm currently staying at the Marriott next to Aulani and toured there. It's beautiful.
I've read the forums and scoured the resale sites. I just can not decide where to buy.
What regrets or I would have done this differently stories does everyone have?

Welcome and take your time! We started our, "Oh, DVC?" journey in 1998 and made our first purchase in 2004, six years later. We have no regrets. During that long window of exploring ... we took time to research both DVC and other timeshare systems of interest to us. Key things I felt it was important to understand regarding DVC:

• Home Resort -- what does this mean to me regarding reservation windows, dues, etc.
• Use Year (UY) -- what are my best options based on my intended travel to DVC locations?
• Intended Unit Size -- we planned on 1BR units as our "go to unit size" and that works well for us as these are, generally, easier to book.
• How do I intend to use the points? While we started with no timeshares in 1998 ... we made a series of "portfolio" purchases in the years following to give us a nice mix of "just what we want, where/when we want it." Key lesson here: Mix'n'match! Don't put all your vacation eggs in one timeshare basket.
  No one timeshare product does it "all." Don't confuse "Can Do" with "Should Do."
  Our DVC points are used mostly (95%) for staying w/in the DVC system ... although we do roam the system: Vero, WDW, California and Aulani. Our other timeshares give us western states (drive-to locations from our home), day use features, direct access to RCI/II, bonus time, etc.
• Contract size -- we purchased multiple small'ish contracts. This will allow us to sell off chunks later if we choose.

So, no regrets -- but I've thought of *one thing* I'd have done differently: In early 2011, I turned down a resale contract on a small block of Grand Cal points as they were a different UY than my main SSR points. I should have bought those Grand Cal points and relished the different UY. As it turns out, our travel windows to Florida are completely different than our travel dates to our nearby Disneyland. Having different UYs wouldn't have been a problem. Oh, well

 

[Adedis]

Why do you want to buy?

Bill

Bill,

I think I want to buy at Sarasota springs for what I perceive as value. The wife wants to buy at either the Floridian or Alunai because she doesn't think we will ever be able to book at those two in a prime window.

 

[disneynutz]

Bill,

I think I want to buy at Sarasota springs for what I perceive as value. The wife wants to buy at either the Floridian or Alunai because she doesn't think we will ever be able to book at those two in a prime window.

In the beginning of our DVC ownership, we were just happy to be at Disney, our first ownership was BCV. As time went on we had difficulty booking some other resorts at 7 months. We also didn't have much luck with waitlists and we developed a sense of which resorts we wanted to stay at during different times of the year. Spending thousands of dollars and having to settle for a resort or room category that we didn't really care for caused us to buy at additional resorts.

Six resorts later, we have now identified our three favorites, VGF, VWL, and BWV. We bought a fixed week at VGF so we always get what we want, VWL and BWV we get our desired reservations 99.99% of the time.

Bill

 

[crisi]

You won't find many people here with regrets - this tends to be a site where people like their DVC. Occasionally we get people who aren't happy....

1) They really couldn't afford it and it becomes burdensome if there are changes for the worse in their finances.
2) They didn't understand availability and are disappointed that they can't get what they want when they want it.
3) They thought they were buying Deluxe Disney resorts. DVC resorts are nice, but they are timeshares with limited housekeeping and limited refreshes.
4) They are shocked by the dues increases, or the price increase in tickets or the increases in dining - DVC will keep your hotel costs manageable - but dues increase, and the other costs of a Disney vacation won't be stagnant.
5) They bought for a reason other than primarily staying at DVC resorts. DVC isn't a good purchase for cruising or trading into other timeshares.

 

[Adedis]

You won't find many people here with regrets - this tends to be a site where people like their DVC. Occasionally we get people who aren't happy....

1) They really couldn't afford it and it becomes burdensome if there are changes for the worse in their finances.
2) They didn't understand availability and are disappointed that they can't get what they want when they want it.
3) They thought they were buying Deluxe Disney resorts. DVC resorts are nice, but they are timeshares with limited housekeeping and limited refreshes.
4) They are shocked by the dues increases, or the price increase in tickets or the increases in dining - DVC will keep your hotel costs manageable - but dues increase, and the other costs of a Disney vacation won't be stagnant.
5) They bought for a reason other than primarily staying at DVC resorts. DVC isn't a good purchase for cruising or trading into other timeshares.

Does everyone think 1-5 are the reasons there are so many resales?

 

[CarolynFH]

Does everyone think 1-5 are the reasons there are so many resales?

Those, but also the fact that families change and don't always want to keep going to WDW. The kids get older, become involved in activities that conflict with travel, etc.

We've been fortunate - bought nearly 18 years ago when kids were young, still enjoy going whether it's just DH and me or our now-adult kids and DGD come too!

 

[purplegirl1818]

We just purchased at Poly last weekend and every single person I asked said their only regret was that they didn't purchase sooner.

We're recently married and no kids yet with 50 years of DVC ahead of us. That means we will be able to take our children, and even their children. I cannot describe how giddy that makes me! I think it really depends on your situation if it's great for you. When we were deciding, I looked at my husband and said that I never wanted to NOT come back. It's my happy place and investing now was our best financial option

 

[MsTessP]

I don't regret it because I spent my time researching what timeshare ownership really entails, DVC ownership in particular, and then which resort we wanted to stay in most of the time. We then spent a couple of trips at moderates and stayed at DVC resorts a couple of trips with cash (My son was a CP at the time so we got a discount). At the same time, we started to save up the cash needed to by a smallish (140 point) resale contract at BWV. I could not comprehend any wisdom in financing a luxury timeshare at the time, and looking back five years later, I would say that not financing has ended up being one of the wisest financial decisions we made. Not only did we save around $10k by buying resale, but we have never had any other payments other than dues (that's enough!)
So no, we have no regrets. But if we had bought a resort we did not care for five years ago and financed it, then I'm sure that I would have regrets today.

 

[a742246]

No regrets here, except should have bought more points in 2011-12.

 

[pmaurer74]

Wishing I had bought a few years ago, wishing I could buy more now but DH would think I was crazy!

 

[DougEMG]

Does everyone think 1-5 are the reasons there are so many resales?

Those 5 are all good reasons for people selling, another one I'd add is that people's vacation preferences change and they are no longer interested in going to WDW.

 

[crisi]

Those 5 are all good reasons for people selling, another one I'd add is that people's vacation preferences change and they are no longer interested in going to WDW.

And few of those people would say they have regrets. They enjoyed it when they needed it, now they don't.

I'll add one more - some people discover that while Disney is wonderful, DVC ties you into Disney. There is a world outside the World, and sometimes you decide you want a beach in Mexico (Hawaii would be great, but the airfare isn't in your budget) or a ski vacation in Colorado or to visit grandparents in Arizona. Or their kids get into traveling sports or something else that uses vacation time in non-Disney ways. Those people might also not regret buying, but they may end up renting out their unused points when they never imagined they would

 

[JimMIA]

Why do you want to buy?

Bill

Best response yet -- but I think the REAL question is, "Why do you want to buy ANY timeshare?"

Do you think it will save you money? Not likely, unless you want to do one of those tortured DVC vs. Disney rack rates comparisons, assuming 50% recovery of your acquisition costs .

 

[JimMIA]

Does everyone think 1-5 are the reasons there are so many resales?

Possibly. But I suspect most resales are simply caused by people outgrowing DVC.

Times change, kids grow up, interests change. Even Disney refurbs once in a blue moon!

 

[Minniesgal]

Initially I regretted not buying when we almost did in 2006 but now I'm glad we didn't as we would have bought SSR then. Don't get me wrong we like SSR and have stayed there but we own at our 3 favourites and can do home resort only trips happily.

We own At VGF, AKL and because we want to do many East and west coast trips VGC. Although so far each time we have California planned life interprets the plans this is still the long term plan.

We now have the points we want at the resorts we want absolutely no regrets.

 

[djohn06]

How could you not like a timeshare that has actually increased in value? That alone puts DVC is an elite class.