Are you happy with your DVC Purchase? Thinking of purchasing.

[minniemous]

Personally, I agree with you about DME. However, there are a few things to keep in mind that people may or may not be aware of.

BAGS A.K.A. BagsToGo was the company that handled taking the bags from the airport to the rooms and more critically from the hotel to the airport. The company went out of business as part of COVID. It's not something that Disney can just take over - BAGS worked for years with the TSA (I know, since I was part of it) to get special permission to do off-airport baggage scanning (it's a very, very rare exception and required a lot of working with TSA to set specific rules and regulations). So already DME was stripped of the ability to handle bags. There are FEW options there for Disney to get that service back. Even if the company wanted to take it on personally, that would be challenging at best.

Also, the contract with Mears was running up. This was perhaps a far easier problem to solve. However, DME was getting a bad rap. For as much good as it did, it caused a lot of grief and was generally considered an unpleasant experience. Disney has put a lot of thought (again, speaking from inside knowledge) about how far they like extending into the airport. Their brand gains a lot of tarnish based on services which they have little control over.

Having said that, I HATE IT. As a Disney shareholder, I think it's a terrible idea. I prefer to keep guests (myself included) in the bubble.

But there are extraneous circumstances at work here. I am tending to give them some leeway to figure out a better way to do it.

Such interesting insight! I did not know any of that and this puts an entirely different spin on things. Very interesting. Thank you!!!

 

[Meglen]

I don't wanna hijack op thread but we are in the same boat thinking about buying. But doing the math has hit some road blocks. I'm ok with a smaller contract to start 150pts. I estimated that would be about 15-17k depending on the resale price and place. Than you add the fees every year so +1500-1700 a year in dues. Than annual passes or just buy tickets + 2-3k. So after buying in (say we payed in full) every year we would spend 1500+3k for 3 annual passes. 4500 for a 7-8 day stay.

If we did this for 30 years not even taking into account price hikes in tickets and fees we would spend 135k +15k minimum over the life of the contract. That's a huge number.. I legit told my husband this and just said we might as well just move and buy a condo . How does everyone handle the fees on such high amount of points?

 

[PurdueTodd]

Personally, I agree with you about DME. However, there are a few things to keep in mind that people may or may not be aware of.

BAGS A.K.A. BagsToGo was the company that handled taking the bags from the airport to the rooms and more critically from the hotel to the airport. The company went out of business as part of COVID. It's not something that Disney can just take over - BAGS worked for years with the TSA (I know, since I was part of it) to get special permission to do off-airport baggage scanning (it's a very, very rare exception and required a lot of working with TSA to set specific rules and regulations). So already DME was stripped of the ability to handle bags. There are FEW options there for Disney to get that service back. Even if the company wanted to take it on personally, that would be challenging at best.

Also, the contract with Mears was running up. This was perhaps a far easier problem to solve. However, DME was getting a bad rap. For as much good as it did, it caused a lot of grief and was generally considered an unpleasant experience. Disney has put a lot of thought (again, speaking from inside knowledge) about how far they like extending into the airport. Their brand gains a lot of tarnish based on services which they have little control over.

Having said that, I HATE IT. As a Disney shareholder, I think it's a terrible idea. I prefer to keep guests (myself included) in the bubble.

But there are extraneous circumstances at work here. I am tending to give them some leeway to figure out a better way to do it.

We plan on using DME for the rest of the year. I do, however, like the options that other vendors supply. The fact that some of them will do a grocery stop on the way is appealing.
I do believe that Disney will work on something to provide their guest for airport travel again. It may take a few years, but I feel it will happen again.

 

[quandrea]

Our story sounds like yours! Planning on gifting honeymoons to our sons. We couldn’t afford today’s pricing but we have 2 direct contracts from 1998 and 2005 totaling 300 points. DVC is one of the best decisions we ever made!

Such a good idea! Hadn’t thought of this!

 

[quandrea]

I found my thread regarding the extremely bad unit at BVW ...
Link: https://www.disboards.com/threads/bwv-truly-feels-like-home.3229039/

I remember this thread. I too had a nightmare room at Kidani back in 2018. No heat when it was at freezing temps due to a Polar Vortex, no hot water the following morning and lastly no electricity upon my return from the parks that same day. I was uncomplaining until the electricity went out. At that point, I politely spoke to the manager and asked for my points returned for the first two days of my trip. They obliged. I thought that more than fair.

Other than some bumps in the road, I am thrilled with our purchase. I miss my dvc more than anything else during this pandemic.

I know people have discussed making the numbers work. I think at today’s prices it’s much harder—even via resale. We bought the bulk of our points for $60. I know we spend a lot at Disney, but we need to vacation. The time off is essential to recharge. We have countless memories of amazing family time there. We speak about Disney daily here at home. I refer to dvc as our cottage. It’s the place our family goes for quality time together, where we celebrate life, where we rest and reconnect. Running the numbers is secondary to all that.

 

[bwvBound]

I refer to dvc as our cottage. It’s the place our family goes for quality time together, where we celebrate life, where we rest and reconnect. Running the numbers is secondary to all that.

LOVE THIS! Yes, agreed.

 

[bwvBound]

If we did this for 30 years not even taking into account price hikes in tickets and fees we would spend 135k +15k minimum over the life of the contract. That's a huge number..<snip>.

How does everyone handle the fees on such high amount of points?

Agreed. Glad you are looking at the long-haul picture! To your question, "Monthly ... unless we can get a deal on gift cards."

That is, we allow DVC to pull monthly payments from our checking account for the dues. When we can buy Disney Gift Cards at a discount ... we'll load up and apply them to the dues.

BTW, don't assume that buying a (non-timeshare) vacation home or condo is w/out ongoing expenses or worries! Link to an old thread (2007) on that comparison: https://www.disboards.com/threads/dvc-vs-vacation-home.1374808/

 

[Meglen]

Agreed. Glad you are looking at the long-haul picture! To your question, "Monthly ... unless we can get a deal on gift cards."

That is, we allow DVC to pull monthly payments from our checking account for the dues. When we can buy Disney Gift Cards at a discount ... we'll load up and apply them to the dues.

BTW, don't assume that buying a (non-timeshare) vacation home or condo is w/out ongoing expenses or worries! Link to an old thread (2007) on that comparison: https://www.disboards.com/threads/dvc-vs-vacation-home.1374808/

I meant move, sell current place and retire there. But thank you for the thread link I will be reading it

 

[TiggerBouncy]

I don't wanna hijack op thread but we are in the same boat thinking about buying. But doing the math has hit some road blocks. I'm ok with a smaller contract to start 150pts. I estimated that would be about 15-17k depending on the resale price and place. Than you add the fees every year so +1500-1700 a year in dues. Than annual passes or just buy tickets + 2-3k. So after buying in (say we payed in full) every year we would spend 1500+3k for 3 annual passes. 4500 for a 7-8 day stay.

If we did this for 30 years not even taking into account price hikes in tickets and fees we would spend 135k +15k minimum over the life of the contract. That's a huge number.. I legit told my husband this and just said we might as well just move and buy a condo . How does everyone handle the fees on such high amount of points?

You are absolutely correct. It is expensive. But look at what you are already spending. IF you are already going to Disney once a year for a 7-8 day stay with 3 people at a deluxe resort, you are already spending about $8,000-$10,000 (depending on the resort / time of year). If you did that for 30 years not taking into account price hikes, that's $240,000 over the life of the contract. Almost twice as much as your DVC cost would have been.

And that doesn't take into account that the rooms go up far more per year than our annual dues.

There is absolutely no question that if you are intending to go every 1-2 years and stay in a moderate to deluxe resort that DVC will save you money over time. The only time it comes into question is if you are just as comfortable in value resorts, or if you are not planning on going on a regular basis.

 

[Dvcguy1]

We have been members since 2002. The purchase has allowed us to travel with more space and a sense that if we don't see it this year we will be back.
Wonderful memoirs as the kids have grown up. Now they go without us and more often with us as we foot the bill.

For us this is has been great. We own 150 points and usually go every other year.

 

[Yinn]

We are thinking of purchasing a DVC resale and want to know if there are any regrets people have? I was looking at a resale also. We are a family of 3 and we do currently stay at deluxe hotels Moderate and Values. Any information is appreciated! Thanks. Sorry if there is a separate DVC thread I missed.

We're happy with our DVC. Our regrets aren't around buying DVC, but around what we bought and how we bought.

Another words, if I could turn back time I'd definitely still buy DVC. But I might have bulk purchased certain points direct, bought others resale, or picked up that other resale contract I let get away, etc.