Opinions...Point reallocations: Would you buy DVC based on what you know now?

[nunzia]

Yes, we'd buy again. The allocations haven't been that bad...small comparison. We usually stay 3 nights (used to be staying at DGC, now since they are villas will do the same. We generally travel off season so night time entertainment is only on weekeds, so stay on Friday. We take the train and arrive super early on a Wednesday, and leave late on a Saturday.)Adventure season 2010 points, studio, is 57, 2011 points is 56. Choice season 2010 is 63, 2011 is 64. A 1 bedroom goes down 3 points for Adventure season and down 2 points for Choice. The thing that puzzles me is that VGC just opened and I would have thought they'd have figured out the point usage from the start better. I only own 125 points because that's all I could afford. After looking closer at what we want to do with the points, having a large family with 2 of our kids having a spouse and 3 kids, puts them in the required 1 br category for them and studio for us, or 2 br for us all, and we just need more points if we want to do a yearly thing. So...hoping it doesn't sell out before I can get together the budget for more points. But to return to your real question, the reallocation still works fine for us..although I can see that just S-T people would be upset. But, of course, Disney must have seen a trend toward that and empty rooms on weekends, so can't blame them for shuffling it around.

 

[Dean]

I love everyone who says "buy a cushion" umm, hello DVC is NOT cheap.

IT is not cheap but DVC is a luxury item that is not for everyone. I can see taking the chance in certain situations but there are risks.

 

[jamstew]

I think Dean mentioned a few pages ago that the imbalance had existed for several years. If they had made the adjustment back then, I would have known when I purchased in 2008 that I needed more points and would have purchased them at the outset. Now, prices have gone up and my only options are to change my travel habits, pay cash for extra days, or buy a minimum of 25, which is more than I need.

 

[littlestar]

I would have still bought. But, I would really like to see DVC give better notice on the point charts (like in the past), as I like to plan ahead. We own multiple timeshares and I figure out all of our trips at least 10 to 12 months ahead of time.

 

[AirGoofy]

IT is not cheap but DVC is a luxury item that is not for everyone. I can see taking the chance in certain situations but there are risks.

I agree, but feel slighted by not being told about the re-allocation. I did the Disney tour but purchased resale through TSS. All I heard was the re-allocation was rare or did not have that great of an effect. So, after saving and purchasing the contract (no financing), the very 1st year of membership the points changed to where we could no longer have 2 vacations a year without borrowing. Eventually, it will catch up. Then, there is the reallocation again this year. I am not mad enough to sell my DVC - more like disappointed - kinda like the first ding on your new car.

Right now we do studio stays twice a year as we have young children and do theme parks and character dining most every day. I guess if the points are not re-allocated into our favor, when the children are older, we will just move up to a 1 bedroom for 1 stay a year. Then, we can take the money that we would have spent on the 2nd Disney trip to go on a (non-Disney) cruise.

 

[AirGoofy]

IT is not cheap but DVC is a luxury item that is not for everyone. I can see taking the chance in certain situations but there are risks.

I agree, but feel slighted by not being told about the re-allocation. I did the Disney tour but purchased resale through TSS. All I heard was the re-allocation was rare or did not have that great of an effect. So, after saving and purchasing the contract (no financing), the very 1st year of membership the points changed to where we could no longer have 2 vacations a year without borrowing. Eventually, it will catch up. Then, there is the reallocation again this year. I am not mad enough to sell my DVC - more like disappointed - kinda like the first ding on your new car.

Right now we do studio stays twice a year as we have young children and do theme parks and character dining most every day. I guess if the points are not re-allocated into our favor, when the children are older, we will just move up to a 1 bedroom for 1 stay a year. Then, we can take the money that we would have spent on the 2nd Disney trip to go on a (non-Disney) cruise.

So, would I still buy? Yes - but would have lowered my expectations.

 

[missy2217]

Yes, I would. I still wish I'd have purchased sooner than we did. We bought our first points in 2005 UY (We're October.)

I never intended to stay only Sun to Thurs nights. I bought enough points for us to vacation on the weekends as well as weekdays. The recent point reallocations don't materially affect me either way.

We LOVE owning DVC.

We too bought enough points to stay Sat to Sun, 8 Nights.

 

[islandtimect]

We bought 160pts at AKV in 2007 and 100 pts at BLT in 2009. I wished we bought sooner, which would have resulted in paying less per point and not having paid cash for previous stays. Another great thing about DVC - you might use more points staying during the big holidays, but it's well worth it compared to the cash price. Example - just booked AKV Kidani 2 bedroom for next Christmas and the cash ressie would have cost over $9,500! To your question about the points - I don't like the point reallocations at all, because for our family's trips, we use more points.

 

[lmshaggard]

We bought last January at BLT (after sitting down with a guide 3 different times) and bought more in Dec. We too love the flexibility and that we can use our points to do whatever we have enough points for - whenever we have time to travel. We have always been weeklong travelers - usually a wed thru thur (8 nights) because of my DH's off days. We took a weekend trip this past Aug and leave again for one tomorrow. We look as we lost some on our weeklong trips but gained some on the weekend getaways. It is all a wash and the reallocation was explained to use in great detail during our purchase - which was direct thru Disney. We do own another timeshare as well, but are overjoyed with having a Disney "home". Good luck! For us is was one of the best decisions we have ever made

 

[Dean]

I agree, but feel slighted by not being told about the re-allocation. I did the Disney tour but purchased resale through TSS. All I heard was the re-allocation was rare or did not have that great of an effect. So, after saving and purchasing the contract (no financing), the very 1st year of membership the points changed to where we could no longer have 2 vacations a year without borrowing. Eventually, it will catch up. Then, there is the reallocation again this year. I am not mad enough to sell my DVC - more like disappointed - kinda like the first ding on your new car.

Right now we do studio stays twice a year as we have young children and do theme parks and character dining most every day. I guess if the points are not re-allocated into our favor, when the children are older, we will just move up to a 1 bedroom for 1 stay a year. Then, we can take the money that we would have spent on the 2nd Disney trip to go on a (non-Disney) cruise.

I doubt the sales staff knew about in in 2008 and are likely as surprised as you are. You admit you were told about the possibility of a reallocation, too bad you assumed it wouldn't affect you. I, for one, have always touted a 10% cushion or more, more is slated to those looking at smaller rooms, avoiding weekends or lower times of the year. I guess what I'm saying is that if you can't afford to buy a cushion, you likely can't afford to buy DVC at all. Now you might decide not to buy a cusion. I'd look at it much like buying a house with a subprime mortgage if things were that tight.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

I would have been more hesitant to buy DVC if I knew about the coming reallocations, but in practice, they have not really effected us.

We always planned to stay at least 7 nights. On our first stays usign DVc points, we avoided more than 2 weekend nights. However, we quickly realized how much more stressful it was to shoehorn our vacation in between weekend nights and our last 2 stays involved 10-12 nights and 4 weekend nights!

But the reallocation continues to make me hesitant about adding on points at another home resort, such as GCV, which is about 4 hours from our home. I really feel like with an new home resort I would need to go big or don't go at all. Since I really don't want to go big (we are actually fine with not staying at a Disney resort at DL), we continue to not go there at all by not adding on.-- Suzanne

 

[Sammie]

We bought in the 90s and have enjoyed it until the last couple of years .

I would not buy now at the current prices for many reasons, the least of which is the reallocation. It does not upset me much.

 

[CanuckPrincess]

I joined last year, have only been on one trip so far, two more planned. Would I have bought if I knew then what I know now? Definitely. I'm too cheap to be able to splurge on a wonderful holiday - would have always chosen the cheaper option. Having DVC makes it easy to justify (is that the right word?) a comfortable easy holiday - and I always get to have a trip in the planning stage now.

 

[bigsmooth]

Yep-, reallocation doesn't impact our decision at all. I can see longer trips in our future to take advantage of lower weekend point requirements.

 

[Anjelica]

Yes I would do it all over again. My only regret is paying cash for several of our Disney Deluxe Resort vacations BEFORE purchasing DVC - I could have used that money to buy DVC sooner - DOH!!