Buying PVB Direct

[VAMickeyFan]

Good morning everyone,

My wife and I just left a cruise and we are very, very interested in buying into DVC. I have read all about the Club for years now, and I know the ins and outs well Id say. I always figured Id buy a small resale and keep adding on (still probably the plan).

We are a small family, and we only plan on one child so studio is all we really ever wanted. Our main travel will be Food and Wine for now, plus foreign weekly trips once a year and then a week at most during Sept when we start going with a child.

Again, I always planned resale but direct PVB seemed enticing. From what I see, VGF and BLT have strong resale values and Poly is my favorite by far of the lagoon resorts. Id also get 100 points up front to bank and 100 more in April. We're also 28 and 26 so we don't want a contract expiring in 2042. 2066 sounds much more appealing.

Does my logic make sense? Or am I swept up in the magic? I want to buy something I love but also at sort of its actual value. Should I wait for a promotion? Should I wait for Poly resale?

Finally, how easy is it to trade through RCI? We have a lot of travel flexibility so travel dates and even foreign locations are flexible to us. Is it seamless and effective? Would having a monorail resort help us to trade?

 

[JWG]

Don't get sucked into points up front. I assume you'd have an April use year. Because you are in your 2015 use year you are owed those points now at purchase. The additional points in April would be your 2016 points.

That being said, I firmly believe you should buy where you want to stay and only you know what's best for you. We are BLT fans and choose to pay more to know we can stay there vs OKW or SSR. We paid more upfront so I know we can stay BLT standard view.

 

[rlovew]

If you plan on staying at the PVB on a regular basis when you go and you are happy with staying there for food and wine then buy the points for your Disney trips. Do not buy into DVC with plans to use it for your foreign trips- you will find it frustrating as well as not necessarily a good value- if you can buy in for Disney only then buy what you need for that and find other ways to finance you foreign trips.

If you want to buy in the next 2-3 years and buy Poly then buy it from Disney now- you might be able to save up to $1000 on a 100 point purchase if you wait for resales to come up but is it worth the constant looking for that. If you want to own DVC in the future and possibly sometimes stay at the Poly then continue looking and thinking about what you really want.

All DVC is equal in the eyes of RCI- it doesn't matter which resort you own. Again trying to do regular foreign travel in DVC is not a good purchase.

 

[disneynutz]

Take a few months or more to really read about the DVC here on the DIS, that will give you time to get the pixie dust out of your eyes.

Disney tends to inflate the benefits of DVC ownership to make the sale. All they seem to care about is selling and not so much running the DVC or maintaining the resorts and rooms.

If you would be vacationing at Disney every 2 years or more at a deluxe resort than DVC might save you some money. The reality for most owners is that we tend to vacation more and once spoiled, we like larger rooms. The extra vacations and larger rooms actually ends up costing us more compared to the pre-DVC days.

DVC has room maintenance issues and cleaning issues, more than they should. The DVC website has some major issues and the phone hold times can be as long as 40 minutes. Owning at your favorite resort and booking at 11 months is becoming the required norm if you want a certain room during popular times which is growing.

Bill

 

[VAMickeyFan]

The guide told us 100-150 points for a week long villa (1 br) for foreign travel. Having traveled abroad before, that would be good value for us.

Is it THAT frustrating to use? No one has real success doing it? Id have sworn a disney property would be attractive.

Is the maintenance issues that bad? You all feel the customer service is lacking too?

Anything you can share helps!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I also say don't buy to trade consistently. There is a booking fee of $95 also and limited resorts. DVC members also do not have individual membership in RCI so it lacks some of the benefits that you could get with other timeshares that trade. There may be specific situations that one might be happy with but the general reality is that if anything it s better to rent your points out and pay cash if traveling outside of the DVC resorts. And really it would still be better to just buy what you need for your DVC stays only-that's where the value is. Guides will consistently talk up the trade aspect but there may not be availability, they might switch trade companies etc etc.

And give it a little time. The excitement that they generate while you are there is what they count on to get the sale. Have you stayed at the Poly? Or any other DVC to really know what you prefer? Poly will be there for awhile for you to buy so don't feel any pressure to rush in.

 

[BillPA]

I think there will be many poly resale points soon. After those that purchased without seeing the place finally go. I was less than impressed and am very glad we did a stay before buying there. And you need to learn more about DVC, you should not buy DVC expecting to trade out every year, just not a good financial plan.

 

[disneynutz]

Booking outside DVC is not guaranteed, there are restrictions and not all inventory is available to DVC. DVC has changed the trading companies twice. If you want to buy to stay outside DVC there are better timeshares that you should consider.

Bill

 

[ziravan]

If you're planning to go routinely in the Fall, and that is DVC's busy season, consider buying a guaranteed (also called fixed) week.

I bought a week 44 Lake view for 168 points. It automatically books at 12 months out; the week is guaranteed.

Not only is Poly a monorail resort, it's a two minute walk to the Epcot monorail, making it a de facto Epcot resort for food and wine.

Plus, you're young and buying for 50 years. Over the decades, as DVC expands, it will be more difficult to book.

Even now, VGF owners have difficulty booking studios in the Fall, even at 11 months out. Poly might have more studios but those studios will be oversold because 25% of Poly points are bungalow points.

Read up here on fixed weeks and give it a consideration.

We will be staying in a Lake View the first week of Nov (F&W, MNSSHP some years, MVMCP other years) every year. Guaranteed. I won't be sweating a call to MS or walking the reservation

If it turns out a guarantee is necessary to secure a F&W reservation, having it will be very valuable. If not, opt out each year and no big deal. Problem is, like VGF, you won't know until Poly is sold out and 4 million point users vie with each other to reserve 3 million points worth of studios (and everybody trying to do it during F&W).

 

[VAMickeyFan]

How hard is it to get VB, HHI and Aulani at the 7 month mark for the Aug-Oct time frame?

Finally, do you think if I pressed for VGF points they'd sell it to us? They said they are sold out with a ten year wait list.

 

[ziravan]

How hard is it to get VB, HHI and Aulani at the 7 month mark for the Aug-Oct time frame?

Finally, do you think if I pressed for VGF points they'd sell it to us? They said they are sold out with a ten year wait list.

1. It's been my experience that all three, Aulani, VB, and HHI can be booked at 7 months if you aren't going in prime summer season or at holiday.

2. The VGF wait list is closed. If you aren't already on it, your only option for VGF is resale.

 

[MsTessP]

Keep in mind that the ability to exchange for RCI can be removed without warning at any time. This is considered a "perk" and is not part of your sales contract. It would not be wise to count on this feature, despite the heavy marketing about RCI exchanges. I have also been told that although there are some comparable resorts on the RCI exchange, many are inferior to DVC. Also, if you search "RCI exchange" here on these boards, you will also find many accounts of the frustration of availability for exchanges, especially for Europe. I'm sure others knowledgeable in this area will chime in.
Even though you are young, keep in mind that there have been thousand of contracts sold on the resale market since DVC came into existence. The vast majority of these previous owners certainly expected to own until the end of the contracts. However, life happens, vacation preferences change, financial situations occur, etc., leading to the sale of the contract. I read once on here that the average DVC owner is a member for 10 years, based on the amount of contracts ending on the resale market. For the time being, I would not consider the remaining years of each resort to be a leading factor when deciding where to buy.
My other advice is to spend some time at the other WDW DVC resorts, even though you currently seem to favor the monorail resorts. I would especially encourage you to spend some time at BC and BWV, especially if you would like to do F&W.

 

[VAMickeyFan]

One thing I've never understood...they told us our point charts or point cost to stay never changes, yet a new point chart is released every year. Why?

 

[supersnoop]

One thing I've never understood...they told us our point charts or point cost to stay never changes, yet a new point chart is released every year. Why?

"Seasons" change. Thanksgiving isn't the same day every year, and Easter moves around. Also, the points can change. The total number of points for the resort cannot change, but they can move from one room type to another, or from one season to another, or from weekdays to weekends. So, if one goes up, something else has to go down. There have been very, very few times that points have changed, but they can.

 

[ziravan]

"Seasons" change. Thanksgiving isn't the same day every year, and Easter moves around. Also, the points can change. The total number of points for the resort cannot change, but they can move from one room type to another, or from one season to another, or from weekdays to weekends. So, if one goes up, something else has to go down. There have been very, very few times that points have changed, but they can.

Especially where PVB is concerned, many many people believe that the bungalows are overpriced and that at some point, they will have to reallocate down. With 360 studios to 20 bungalow, if the cost of every studio were raised by 1 point, then the cost of the bungalows could be reduced by 18 points (18 X 20 = 360). Likely, the reduction would be twice that, or the cost of studios rising 2 points per night (12 points for a 6 night trip).

That's theoretical but certainly a future possible outcome at Poly.

In addition, there is also widespread concern that the first floor Moorea lake views aren't truly lake views and the Pago Pago parking lot views aren't comparable to the "garden/pool" views in a standard. Should DVC decide to add a category in the standard (value rooms for parking lot views) and/or downgrade some of the lake view rooms, they'll have to balance out all those points and categories. That will make for a huge points reallocation across multiple categories.

This, in my opinion, is another positive for guaranteed weeks. Those weeks are guaranteed in their categories regardless of reallocations. It will cost me 15 points more to exercise my guaranteed week than it would to opt out and use the points (168 points for fixed week vs 153 points if I were to book the same trip at the 11 month mark). If DVC reallocated studios by 2 points to lower bungalows, then there would only be a one point difference between fixed and not (2 pts X 7 days or a new total of 167 points). But. Even if that number goes upside down, my guaranteed week is well, guaranteed. Say DVC reallocated 3 points per studio to bring the bungalows down by 52 points... The cost for 7 nights in a studio would go up 21 points, or be 6 points more expensive than my fixed week (153 points now vs 168 points for fixed week vs 174 points if a 3 point reallocation were to happen. If that were to happen my 168 guaranteed would still book the now 174 point week). Now, I don't think a 3 point reallocation is likely, that's just an example.

I will say this about reallocations and fixed weeks. The biggest DVC reallocation to date was across the board to make weekends less expensive because too many DVC members were just booking Sun-Thurs. in other words, the reallocation directly addressed member use patterns. Currently, there is an imbalance in DVC for late Sept to mid Jan. This usage pattern started because those are cheaper seasons and DVC members hoard their points. If DVC decides to reallocate to balance out that usage, then Fall would become a more expensive season. Again, guaranteed would still be guaranteed.

 

[VAMickeyFan]

So looking at these RCI lists, there are some really cool hotels in Greece we'd love to go to (Santorini) but I can pretty much rule out trading DVC for these, huh? Just doesn't work like that?

 

[drusba]

If you are choosing between buying Poly and VGF with the intent of getting studios, then buy Poly. VGF has a serious problem of having too few studios and far too many who purchased there to get only studios with the result that during high DVC demand times, like October during Food & Wine, VGF owners have actually had issues booking a studio even at 11 months out. If my desire were a studio at VGF, I would purchase only a set week contract which guarantees you will get the room. Poly may also face some booking ssues in the future since all of those bungalow points are being sold mostly to those who want studios, but because there are so many studios, the risk of being blocked out before your 11 month window even opens is far less than VGF.

At your age, Poly also makes sense because of its end date. You should likely not consider at all the 2042 resorts regardless of the mantra that you should buy where you want to stay most. The ones with 2050's dates are possibilities with AKV being a possible consideration with a 2057 end date. I also would not consider BLT despite its favorable end date and likely lower resale price. Great resort but its studios are too small (smaller than all DVC studios other than AKV value rooms) and you will be better with Poly which provides more room for three. If you were instead considering buying to get a 1BR or 2BR, BLT would be ideal as an MK resort.


Do not buy based on the belief that Poly will maintain its value; do not buy DVC at all on that basis; it may keep some value but you should not be making assumptions for that when purchasing a timeshsare, even DVC. Some of the resorts have kept their value if you ignore inflation over the years; i.e., BWV, BCV, and BLT actually sell not far from where where most original owners at those resorts purchased, but you should not make assumptions of continuing value in the future as an issue that is important in detemrining whether and where you buy..

 

[lawboy2001]

My advice is that DVC is great, but it isn't as flexible as the salespeople would have you believe. It can be difficult to obtain your preferred full-week/full-vacation reservation at a non-home resort. So, although you can get 2-3-4 nights at a non-home resort fairly easily still (non-peak times), you're not likely (in my admittedly limited experience), to be able to get a booking for your entire vacation. So I think home resort choice is very important.

You're young, and you are likely to only need studios, so PVB seems a pretty good choice for you. You'll appreciate the monorail access to MK and also to Epcot with a short walk to the TTC from the Poly. I think it could be a good buy for you too. Although you can't expect to get your money back, I note that people who bought at BLT when it was first sold, would MORE than get their money out if they sold their contracts today. I'm inclined to think that wouldn't be repeated for PVB, but...who knows!!

Do not buy DVC (at all, but especially buying direct) to trade into RCI. You can get RCI resort stays using RCI points, which are available resale for cents on the dollar. Buy the amount of points you need for your planned Disney stays only.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

My advice is that DVC is great, but it isn't as flexible as the salespeople would have you believe.

I asked this on another DVC thread but thought I'd ask here too ---

Say we close on a 100 point PVB April UY contract direct from Disney at the end of January 2016.
We'd get 100 points for the 2015 UY since we would still be in that UY (4/1/15-3/31/16).
We'd plan to stay in a PVB studio Sun 8/14/16 - Thu 8/18/16.
This would require 109 points according to the 2016 rate chart (23+23+21+21+21).
We would use 100 2015 UY points and 9 2016 UY points.

What are the chances we'd even be able to reserve a PVB studio for August 2016 in January 2016 since it's less than 7 months out? Does DVC MS help new owners with their first reservation?

TIA,
Debbie

 

[VAMickeyFan]

Thanks for everyones advice! The RCI and non-Disney timeshare world makes my head spin...I'd rather never venture into that water. I'd LOVE to buy DVC and make it my hub for all hotel accomodation stays, but it seems like thats not really possible. If the DVC resorts and RCI exchanges were seamless (even if some are hard to get) I'd do it. But from what it sounds like, it looks like I can't just go search European villas and pick an available one.