A few questions regarding DVC?

[boscov]

We are a family of 3, me, DW and DD (4) and a little one on the way. We have been contemplating buying a DVC package and wanted to get some opinions on those that have one already.

1) Has anyone ever bought a resell DVC package? What are the main differences in buying a resell vs one from Disney? We certainly like the price break in buying a resell.

2) Seeing as you can book at any Villa in WDW, how does picking your home resort play into your decision where to buy?

3) Is this all worth it?

Thanks!

 

[disneynutz]

I suggest that you take some time to read through the posts here on the DVC DIS. Your questions are common ones and they are asked and answered several times a week.

Buying a DVC interest is a expensive treat and you are locking yourself in to expensive vacations for years to come. Now more than ever owners are selling their contracts and renting reservations instead of using their points for vacation.

Bill

 

[dmoore22]

We are a family of 3, me, DW and DD (4) and a little one on the way. We have been contemplating buying a DVC package and wanted to get some opinions on those that have one already.

1) Has anyone ever bought a resell DVC package? What are the main differences in buying a resell vs one from Disney? We certainly like the price break in buying a resell.

There are closing costs when purchasing a resale.

Members who purchase from anyone other than Disney Vacation Development, Inc., on or after March 21, 2011, will not be eligible to use those Vacation Points to make reservations within the Concierge Collection, the Disney Collection or the Adventurer Collection. Those Vacation Points will instead be valid only for reservations at Disney Vacation Club resorts, as well as for RCI® exchanges, Club Cordial and Club Intrawest.

The affected collections are special Member benefits programs offered by Disney Vacation Development, Inc., and are not part of Members' Ownership Interests. That said, Members who purchased on the secondary market prior to March 21, 2011, may use those Vacation Points for all Member Getaways.

Note that the policy doesn't impact banking, borrowing or transferring Vacation Points. All Members will continue to have the ability make such transactions, regardless of where they purchased their Ownership Interests.

2) Seeing as you can book at any Villa in WDW, how does picking your home resort play into your decision where to buy?

The booking window. Reservations can be made at 11 months at your home resort. It's 7 months at any other DVC resort. Depending upon the time of year, which resort, and events at WDW it can be a challenge at the 7 month window.

3) Is this all worth it?

Thanks!

It depends. Each family's vacation needs are different. For us it has worked out quite well. We did purchase a resale about 10 years back that included a years' worth of banked points. The price was quite right for us at that time. Periodically Disney has had some incentives that are somewhat competitive with the resale option. I'm not aware of any right now since the challenges DVC has been having with Aulani. Perhaps some will be forthcoming when the Aulani situation is resolved.

 

[chalee94]

1) Has anyone ever bought a resell DVC package? What are the main differences in buying a resell vs one from Disney? We certainly like the price break in buying a resell.

yes. the main difference as dmoore said is that you can't use resale points to book disney collection trades outside of DVC...which include disney cruises and disney hotels like the GF and poly. those trades were not really a good deal anyway but some people like to have the option.

resale points can still be used to book within the DVC resorts and traded out for RCI (again, trades out of the DVC system are not generally a good deal.)

(BTW, DVC charges closing costs for direct purchases now so that is no longer a big deal.)

2) Seeing as you can book at any Villa in WDW, how does picking your home resort play into your decision where to buy?

you CANNOT book any villa in wdw until the 7 month window...and by then, some options may no longer be available. if your heart is set on staying at BCV or in a MK view villa at BLT or a concierge villa at AKV, then you would be better off owning there and booking at 11 months out.

your annual dues per point is also based on what home resort you own.

the expiration date of your contract is also based on what home resort you own. many resorts expire in 2042...SSR goes to 2054...AKV expires in 2057 (along with extended OKW contracts, which can be hard to find as a resale)...BLT expires in 2060.

the expiration date does not depend on whether you purchase direct or resale.

3) Is this all worth it?

depends.

you need to be committed to wdw as DVC points are the best deal financially if used at a DVC resort. you need to have a strong preference for deluxe stays. and you need to have the financial ability to pay for tickets, food and travel costs as DVC will only provide a place to stay.

it also helps if you value the extra room provided by 1BRs and up...the full kitchen and w/d and so forth. if a hotel room is all you want, DVC is an iffy choice...

 

[Ed T]

There are many differences in buying resale vs direct through Disney. Of course pricing is going to be better on resale but financing will not be something easily arranged buying resale. Disney has financing. Also if you are interested in booking cruises or doing any of the Disney adventure tours using points that can not be don't with a resale. You would have had to purchase direct from Disney to take advantage of this.

Home resort plays an important part in how far in advance you can book. At your home resort, say it is BLT, you can book at your home resort 11 months in advance. You can only book 7 months in advance at all other non home resorts. This 11 window could be an advantage if your travels are during high peak times of the year. Getting into a resort at Christmas, Spring break, Food and Wine, etc will be better at 11 months.

 

[chunkygal]

We bought at BWV but very rarely have we gotten to stay there. Unless you ar eintent on making the early window reservation and staying at a particular place, it probably doesn't matter. We have stayed at all resorts and like them all. The important thing is that I am at Disney..not really anything else. IF you intend on using your points for anything other than DVC (concierge,adventure,cruise) you would only want ot buy from DIsney. THe vast majority of members don't do this. It is I think acutally cheaper to buy a cruise unless you have points ot burn.

 

[Magnod]

We just bought a resale at DGC. We haven't used it yet as its still in closing, but here was our thinking.

We live in Hawaii thus will not be staying at WDW too often, but we are looking forward to visiting Disneyland every other year or so. We are also going to use the non-DL years to visit Aulani. We'd expect to make a few trips to WDW during our ownership period, but airfare will limit those experiences.

We wish that it was a perpetual ownership timeshare as it seems of more value if you own it forever, but we see it as pre-paying for hotel vacations. So if you see yourself traveling and vacationing at a Disney resort every year, then I think its worth it.

 

[Sandisw]

It would be really hard to recommend anyone purchase direct through Disney right now given the price difference between direct and resale.

We have done both--direct and resale and both were fairly simple. One of the benefits of direct, of course, is that you have access to points right away while you go through the process.

Resale takes longer--about 6 - 8 weeks but the savings, IMO, is well worth it. We just picked up a BWV contract for only $55/pt. It took about 2 months from start to finish, but the $60/pt savings over direct was well worth it. We do not plan on using the points for anything other than WDW so the limitations were not of consequence for us.

In terms of home resort, we did buy at the two places we know we want to stay when we travel--BLT and BWV. At the end of the day, you really are only guaranteed your home resort. While it is unlikely that Disney would ever remove a resort from the "club", they have the right to and owning someplace you are happy with, if that is the only place you could stay, is a big benefit.

Plus, there are certain times of the year and certain types of rooms that having home resort booking advantage is really important. If you really don't care where you stay when you go and are okay staying at any of the resorts, then go for price.

However, if you would be disappointed in any way if you could not trade in to a resort, then do some research in to them all.

We love MK and walking to/from it is a priority for us. We bought in to DVC when they built BLT because of it. We had almost always stayed at the CR prior to owning as that location was key. We also like the Epcot area so bought there as well.

We did this so we don't ever have to worry about getting those resorts. I teach so booking at 11 months is not a problem for us.

Good luck!

 

[amypetecar]

the folks really answered your questions well, and I will try not to be repetative.

A few things to consider about a home resort:
1. Do you care where you stay? I bought BLT because I knew that I wanted to have the ability to stay on the monorail anytime I wanted to. My wife, however, would have been perfectly happy to save the $$ and stay at OKW or SSR every visit. It's just a personal preference
2. Cost. BLT resales range $90-$100; OKW high $40's - low $50's per point. How much are comfortable spending?

Is it worth it? That's probably a loaded question to ask on the DISBOARDS...
That said, most feedback tends to be positive. 2 good ways to protect yourself from being dissapointed would be to A). Buy in at a lower number of points, perhaps 100, to ensure that you would use them, and B). purchase one of the less expensive properties. 5K-6K to buy in is a little easier to swallow than 10K+ when you're unsure if you'll be happy with the purchase.

 

[Kidanifan08]

As someone who bought direct, I have to echo Sandi's comments. At this time, you would be crazy to buy direct from Disney. There is no added "safety" in buying direct, and what you give up is not really worth it anyways.

Your little one will probably be having little ones of her own by the time any of the DVC resort contracts expire, so you can choose almost any resort if your hope is to have it while you daughter is little. Currently, BLT (2060) and AKV (2057) are the longest contracts, with SSR in a close third at 2054. Look at the ROFR thread under DVC-Operations to get a sense of what different contracts are going for. The smaller the contract, the more it goes for, in general. We bought two small add-ons through TTS, and could have spent less if we would have bought the same number of points as a single contract.

Have fun researching. It is a big purchase and you should be fully aware of what you are getting before buying in.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Another thing to know. No matter what you pay to purchase your points, you will pay a whole lot more in total for the annual member fees by the time you sell your points. DVC dues are not static. They go up every year.

DVC is best used for DVC stays. While Disney advertises using them at hundreds of locations around the world, in actuality, you get your best use of them with DVC stays. Don't fall for using them elsewhere.

Learn a little more about the different resorts. Some of the villas are harder to get at some times during the year. If you ever think you want to stay in a Grand Villa, you'll want to own a home resort that has GVs. Not all do.

If you want a themepark view of the MK, you'll want to own at BLT. No other resort has such a view. Even the possible Grand Floridian Villas won't have such a view because it will probably be blocked for most of the villas.

If you want to be able to visit Epcot during Food & Wine, you'll want to own at one of the Epcot Resorts.

If you want a Beach Cottage at Vero Beach, you'll want to own there.