Buying DVC for the love of Disney vacationing?

[snyderla]

The year we purchased DVC my husband and I went to an event where they were selling camping vacations. You could stay all over the country in cabins or trailers. We told the salesman we weren't interested and planned to buy DVC. He said we would get tired of going there. That was 8 years ago. He was wrong. We love DVC and made the decision to buy while preparing to rent points for a 2BR at OKW for the 2nd time. I decided to use the money toward our own points instead. It was a good decision for our family.

 

[bwvBound]

Dont take this wrong but why else would someone buy in?

We bought DVC to help manage costs of attending an annual business conference held at the Dolphin, Swan, Yacht/Beach convention centers. We don't particularly like staying in the Dolphin due to the noisy "dorm room" lifestyle that takes over during these events. We can't stay offsite due to parking restrictions. Buying DVC for use of BWV made the best sense.

 

[AmyB2006]

To knowingly pay more simply to be a member of the club would be the definition of insanity.

Well you might consider me insane then. We didn't do it to be a member of the "club", but we certainly didn't need to.

My parents are locals in Longwood. Disney is roughly a 1/2 hour drive, give or take traffic. So we usually would come up and stay at their house.

But now, we can stay on property, spend our whole three or four day weekend there and we are only a 3 hour drive home ourselves.

So if you run financial numbers on that, staying at mom and dad's for free vs paying for DVC, just to stay with the Mouse.... I don't know. Insane? If so, I'll take that label happily.

 

[ELMC]

Well you might consider me insane then. We didn't do it to be a member of the "club", but we certainly didn't need to.

My parents are locals in Longwood. Disney is roughly a 1/2 hour drive, give or take traffic. So we usually would come up and stay at their house.

But now, we can stay on property, spend our whole three or four day weekend there and we are only a 3 hour drive home ourselves.

So if you run financial numbers on that, staying at mom and dad's for free vs paying for DVC, just to stay with the Mouse.... I don't know. Insane? If so, I'll take that label happily.

Sorry, but you don't qualify as insane. You are choosing to pay to stay onsite as opposed to staying offsite for free. That's a personal choice and a lot of us make that very decision. What the other poster was referring to was people who buy because they feel like they become members in some exclusive club. This is a common sales tactic for timeshare companies. The only "club" we are in is the club of people who owe Disney maintenance fees every year.

 

[Dean]

Well you might consider me insane then. We didn't do it to be a member of the "club", but we certainly didn't need to.

My parents are locals in Longwood. Disney is roughly a 1/2 hour drive, give or take traffic. So we usually would come up and stay at their house.

But now, we can stay on property, spend our whole three or four day weekend there and we are only a 3 hour drive home ourselves.

So if you run financial numbers on that, staying at mom and dad's for free vs paying for DVC, just to stay with the Mouse.... I don't know. Insane? If so, I'll take that label happily.

IMO that's an on property vs off property discussion, that is not what I was referring to. Lets say you did the math and for the same or comparable, DVC was obviously more expensive than not AND you did not feel you were getting additional options/value for the extra money but you still joined simply to be in the club. That's the situation I'm referring to. I can only remember a couple that fit that situation over the years for that exact scenario. Buying simply to cruise would be the same answer for different reasons.

 

[AmyB2006]

Sorry, but you don't qualify as insane. You are choosing to pay to stay onsite as opposed to staying offsite for free. That's a personal choice and a lot of us make that very decision. What the other poster was referring to was people who buy because they feel like they become members in some exclusive club. This is a common sales tactic for timeshare companies. The only "club" we are in is the club of people who owe Disney maintenance fees every year.

IMO that's an on property vs off property discussion, that is not what I was referring to. Lets say you did the math and for the same or comparable, DVC was obviously more expensive than not AND you did not feel you were getting additional options/value for the extra money but you still joined simply to be in the club. That's the situation I'm referring to. I can only remember a couple that fit that situation over the years for that exact scenario. Buying simply to cruise would be the same answer for different reasons.

That makes sense I guess. But we drink the Disney Kool Aid too. We didn't run all these numbers to compare this and that. We knew we loved it and loved the idea of being able to stay at the deluxe resorts. This was the third time my parents had sat through the sales pitch since 1992. :/ I WISH they would have bought back then. There's things we'd do different now, but I'm still glad we bought.

 

[Dean]

That makes sense I guess. But we drink the Disney Kool Aid too. We didn't run all these numbers to compare this and that. We knew we loved it and loved the idea of being able to stay at the deluxe resorts. This was the third time my parents had sat through the sales pitch since 1992. :/ I WISH they would have bought back then. There's things we'd do different now, but I'm still glad we bought.

Historically I think most buyers would fit somewhere in your situation, they didn't think it through well and just thought they liked it. Timeshares are normally sold rather than bought and the emotions of a great vacation added to the draw and frill of Disney itself is pretty enticing.

 

[AmyB2006]

Historically I think most buyers would fit somewhere in your situation, they didn't think it through well and just thought they liked it. Timeshares are normally sold rather than bought and the emotions of a great vacation added to the draw and frill of Disney itself is pretty enticing.

Well don't get me wrong, we're happy we bought into DVC. Next time, though, we would probably do a resale instead of buying direct. I mean my parents have had 20 years to "think" about it. LOL She kicks herself every time she thinks about it. How she should have bought back then blah blah blah.

 

[Dean]

Well don't get me wrong, we're happy we bought into DVC. Next time, though, we would probably do a resale instead of buying direct. I mean my parents have had 20 years to "think" about it. LOL She kicks herself every time she thinks about it. How she should have bought back then blah blah blah.

It's easy to second guess any choice. I know there are many decision I wish I'd have made differently over the years. IMO it's better to have missed out than put oneself in jeopardy.