In Plain and Simple Terms, Part C - We made to decision to...

Frist, I want to say Thanks so much for all the advice and wisdom that I was given on the boards here.

After doing a lot of homework, and reading and rereading the advice, checking out resale and direct options and talking to several other friends that own a DVC and/or other timeshares offering. We decided that its not right for us.

With that said, I think that it is a great opportunity for some families, and I can see the value of DVC. But for us it was more about how we like to vacation, how often and we needed more flexibility. I really think that it boils down to just that flexibility. After much homework and conversation.. it seems that you are lucky to get the home resort that you buy into most of the time. In talking to some friends who have 2 home resorts one at WLV and the other is Bay lake, they have only stay at each one a few times, and have had to resort hop on a couple of visit to get the nights needed and this was booking at 11 months out. Most of the time she said she feel like the are pushing whatever DVC is not full. While she says that her family loves the DVC, for her this is becoming an issue.

We normally like to take 2 week long vacations at different times of the year with one week being a cruise( Disney), and weekend getaways thrown, or just the wake up on Saturday morning and decide go spend the night at WDW, or the beach or whatever. With being pass holder and living so close it makes it all the more tempting and easy to do.

Maybe one day they will have some options for vacationers like us.

First of all, congratulations on making a very sound decision considering how your family really vacations!

Second, Disney does have a lot of options for you -- the Florida Resident AP and 3/4 day passes, the waterparks pass, TiW, Epcot after 4 PM, and lots of deals at the hotels. Unfortunately, DVC doesn't seem to fit.

But you did your homework and made the right decision, which is far better than getting blinded by pixie dust or doing no research at all and making the wrong decision.

Congrats on your decision. DVC doesn't work for everyone.

LovesTimone said:

Frist, I want to say Thanks so much for all the advice and wisdom that I was given on the boards here.

After doing a lot of homework, and reading and rereading the advice, checking out resale and direct options and talking to several other friends that own a DVC and/or other timeshares offering. We decided that its not right for us.

With that said, I think that it is a great opportunity for some families, and I can see the value of DVC. But for us it was more about how we like to vacation, how often and we needed more flexibility. I really think that it boils down to just that flexibility. After much homework and conversation.. it seems that you are lucky to get the home resort that you buy into most of the time. In talking to some friends who have 2 home resorts one at WLV and the other is Bay lake, they have only stay at each one a few times, and have had to resort hop on a couple of visit to get the nights needed and this was booking at 11 months out. Most of the time she said she feel like the are pushing whatever DVC is not full. While she says that her family loves the DVC, for her this is becoming an issue.

We normally like to take 2 week long vacations at different times of the year with one week being a cruise( Disney), and weekend getaways thrown, or just the wake up on Saturday morning and decide go spend the night at WDW, or the beach or whatever. With being pass holder and living so close it makes it all the more tempting and easy to do.

Maybe one day they will have some options for vacationers like us.

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At some point you may reconsider. As you've posted, DVC would work well for the full week trips planned in advance but not at all for the spontaneous trips or the cruise. There isn't a time when one couldn't count on getting something a full 11 months out using the waitlist assuming not a specialty room. And there really isn't a time when one can't get something somewhere at WDW at 7 months out using the wait list again assuming a normal reservation in a non specialty room option. Maybe using DVC for part of your plans might be a great option as well. DVC isn't for everyone and it's better to miss out on some of the options than make a bad purchase. Good luck going forward.

I am surprised your friend hd trouble with WLV at 11 months out. From the charts I have seen, this should not be a problem especially at WLV except maybe around Christmas. We are wanting a WLV DVC and this would be a major problem for us if we cannot get our home resort at 11 months out.

Congrats on making an informed decision, as you already know not everyone does.

I agree with you that making last minute trips is a problem. That's my biggest issue with DVC. The way our jobs work, we can't always plan 11 months or even 7 months out or even 1 month for that matter. I don't think I realized how far out things get full until after I purchased. But that's why we started with only 50 points, not sure how this will work for us in the long run.

You can always rent points to get a better price than cash rates (usually) or but a small 25-50 point contract and then transfer in points to your account.

Savagekids said:

I agree with you that making last minute trips is a problem. That's my biggest issue with DVC. The way our jobs work, we can't always plan 11 months or even 7 months out or even 1 month for that matter. I don't think I realized how far out things get full until after I purchased. But that's why we started with only 50 points, not sure how this will work for us in the long run.

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This is one of the main drawbacks in any timeshare system, and one that many prospective buyers don't evaluate carefully enough. Timeshares simply are not set up to accommodate spontaneous vacations.

Timeshares are structured for very high occupancy levels most of the time, and that requires owners to reserve FAR in advance, especially during peak periods for that particular resort. With DVC, there are both difficult time periods and difficult types of accommodations that require 11 month booking, and even calling the day your 11 month window opens does not guarantee success 100% of the time...or even 90% of the time.

There are many, many families who simply cannot book vacations 11 months in advance -- or even six months in advance. Sometimes work restrictions prevent early booking; other times family activities make things difficult. And sometimes things change as kids grow up and get involved in school extracurricular activities or sports.

Not being able to make short leadtime reservations is a dealbreaker for many families. And families who NEED to be able to book only a short time in advance is a dealbreaker for DVC. Spontaneity and timeshares don't play well together.

JimMIA said:

Not being able to make short leadtime reservations is a dealbreaker for many families. And families who NEED to be able to book only a short time in advance is a dealbreaker for DVC. Spontaneity and timeshares don't play well together.

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I totally agree. DVC is tough for under 30 day notice spontaneous trips. I know other timeshares that members can actually book cheaper for last minute travelers, but DVC is not one of them. This also speaks to the strength of the DVC brand that so many people are able to book in advance and there is very little availability for short terms bookings.

LovesTimone said:

it seems that you are lucky to get the home resort that you buy into most of the time.

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Did you do a poll a couple weeks ago? I remember seeing one and from what I was reading it's actually opposite.

In my case getting my home resort is 100%. The one time we tried for it we got it lol. All other times we didn't try for it, tried for other things, and got those. The problem with you using actual friends is that you don't know if they actually know how to use their membership, and there aren't 50 of us ready to jump in with helpful hints to help them.

LovesTimone said:

Most of the time she said she feel like the are pushing whatever DVC is not full.

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You say this while talking about booking at 11 months out. Something has gone awry with communication or understanding, and I don't know which or by whom.

If you're booking at 11 months out there is only one option of you own at one resort. You have one of two outcomes. You can book it or you can't. There is no pushing of another resort, because there is nothing else you can book at that point. Wait kid or don't wait lost it. COme back every day to try again.

At 7 months out, the world opens up. It's by availability. Again there's no pushing, unless she's booking on the phone and dithering about what resort to book? And of course it would be based on what's open. There's no other way to do it.


The comment feels more like something the friend experienced while buying in, but that's not the I text in which you've mentioned it. So I feel that there's some misunderstanding somewhere.

Do what you want to do. Buy or don't buy. I've never felt that these decisions need to be made out loud lol. But if you are going by a certain set of criteria and conversations, and if I see some heavy confusion in the availability and "can I book my home resort" criteria, I want you to make sure that your info is rock solid. And from what you're saying of friends' experiences and their descriptions of usage of their points, I'm not sure you're getting solid info.

bumbershoot said:

Did you do a poll a couple weeks ago? I remember seeing one and from what I was reading it's actually opposite.

In my case getting my home resort is 100%. The one time we tried for it we got it lol. All other times we didn't try for it, tried for other things, and got those. The problem with you using actual friends is that you don't know if they actually know how to use their membership, and there aren't 50 of us ready to jump in with helpful hints to help them.



You say this while talking about booking at 11 months out. Something has gone awry with communication or understanding, and I don't know which or by whom.

If you're booking at 11 months out there is only one option of you own at one resort. You have one of two outcomes. You can book it or you can't. There is no pushing of another resort, because there is nothing else you can book at that point. Wait kid or don't wait lost it. COme back every day to try again.

At 7 months out, the world opens up. It's by availability. Again there's no pushing, unless she's booking on the phone and dithering about what resort to book? And of course it would be based on what's open. There's no other way to do it.


The comment feels more like something the friend experienced while buying in, but that's not the I text in which you've mentioned it. So I feel that there's some misunderstanding somewhere.

Do what you want to do. Buy or don't buy. I've never felt that these decisions need to be made out loud lol. But if you are going by a certain set of criteria and conversations, and if I see some heavy confusion in the availability and "can I book my home resort" criteria, I want you to make sure that your info is rock solid. And from what you're saying of friends' experiences and their descriptions of usage of their points, I'm not sure you're getting solid info.

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Did you do a poll a couple weeks ago? No it wasn't me

My friends want the week right before or after Christmas, and either Easter or Mothers day week, this is the time they vacation due to family and work structures. So maybe this is why she has so much trouble. She did says that even on the wait list they have gotten a few nights at one home resort but them had to change resorts mid trip which she does not want to do as she likes to decorate the windows and such. While they love DVC, she said it is increasingly hard to those weeks that they need, to the point they are thinking about selling and maybe just going with SSR on a resale. That way she won't be disappointed when she can't get the week she wants at the home resorts they have now.

For us choosing not to buy in, really boiled down to the flexibility. I guess our vacation style is not for timeshare market. Maybe someone will read this and realize there is a market for this type of vacationing.

Good for you for doing the homework and coming to a sound decision. More people should do this!

And yes, I agree the lack of being able to spontaneously plan a trip is the biggest issue with DVC for me. Of course, with all the ADR/FP+ stuff, its becoming not only a DVC problem but a Disney vacation problem. If I was going to plan a spontaneous trip, I'd probably do Universal instead. That said, I think I did all right this year. We decided to book for an early August vacation in late May, which is last minute for us, and I was able to get the resort I wanted (Grand Floridian villas) with the help of a wait list for a whole week. I would have easily been able to book at my home resort (BWV) at that time and basically everywhere else except maybe Beach Club. That one was well booked the whole month of August. But then again, August isn't a hopping time for most DVCers. If I was planning a spontaneous trip for say, October, I would be in a lot more trouble.