Actual DVC Benefits

[colten.c]

My wife and I just had our first baby and are considering a 200 point Riviera purchase. I have been reading on here for awhile, so fully understand what DVC benefits are available out there. I just wanted to hear from some people who have owned which ones you actually use and get value out of. The ability to stay at nicer resorts with kitchens and washers/dryers would be a big one to us. We both love Disney but it is a huge commitment to the mouse to dive in on a DVC contract!

 

[Sandisw]

When we bought in 2009, we were going as a family of 5 staying at the CR. Buying allowed us to upgrade to 1 bedrooms for our 5 night yearly stay for a similar amount of money…or, if we did studios, then Might even save.

We just love the flexibility of it all. The perks we currently get are a nice bonus…things like discounts, etc…since they are not guaranteed…but that always helps.

Of course, we own a lot more now, but i love that it just feels as though I can jump down for a quick trip and not worry. Don’t regret it at all.

But the biggest benefit for us is the easy going pace we now have when visiting. Parks are secondary and we don’t feel the need to do it all because we will be back…we even have done resort only stays.

Good luck

 

[Sunnyore]

Are you asking DVC benefits in general or direct versus resale benefits?

For me, I wouldn’t pay the price of a deluxe resort so I would never get to stay at one without DVC. I LOVE the extra hours a MK and Epcot that comes with staying at a deluxe and I take advantage of them each trip. The included parking I see as perk because those can add up quickly if paying out of pocket for a regular booking.

If asking about direct contract benefits (blue card) I got to save a bit of money with the DVC Gold Pass when it was available and that was nice. I take advantage of the DVC lounge at Epcot each trip for a nice mid day break and am excited about the Disneyland lounge coming soon. While minimal, I got a DVC discount for my Magic Key pass for dland. I’m looking forward to a Moonlight Magic event on the West Coast.

As many people have pointed out, direct benefits are minimal, but I bought in (I have mix of direct and resale) mainly because I plan to keep DVC for many years and I wanted to make sure I have unrestricted points to use at future built resort.

 

[CarolynFH]

We bought when our kids were 9 and 13 because we wanted/needed more space than a hotel room! It's just so much better on vacation to have privacy for sleeping (when that baby gets to be a child, you'll appreciate paying what @crisi calls "nookie tax") and a 2nd bathroom, especially when the kids are teens. Having the full kitchen allowed DH to cook a full breakfast while the rest of us got ready - convenience and $$ saved right there - and in-room laundry meant we could pack half as many clothes. And now that we're empty nesters, DH and I still mostly get 1 BR villas because we just don't like the breakfasts we're limited to in studios. And in-room laundry is still a benefit, even for adults - this past July, we'd come in so hot and sticky from the parks that we'd take our clothes off, put them straight into the washer, and wash them that night! With a baby, laundry could be an essential!

So those are the "actual DVC benefits" you can count on getting with your purchase (whether direct or resale). If you need to start small, a studio might serve fine for the first few years, then you could add on to expand to a 1 or 2 BR villa as your family grows in size and/or age.

The perks of DVC ownership come and go. Over the years we've enjoyed discounts on merchandise and on APs and being able to purchase the Tables in Wonderland card for dining discounts. However, you can't count on those, they're simply perks that might be benefits for some period of time and then go away. We just take advantage of them when we can.

 

[Her Dotness]

The DVC discount at Basin White has certainly enabled me to spend more money there than I otherwise would.
And buy a few Disney Dooney & Bourke bags, too.

So, much though prospective owners get reminded that the discounts aren't that big a deal, they're still pretty doggone sweet.

 

[Brian Noble]

There's a lot in your question!

For me, the main advantage of timeshares in general is twofold. First, because they are pre-paid and expire, they make taking vacations a priority that you plan around, rather than a thing you fit in around other priorities. I can guarantee you that timeshare ownership has not saved me money! That's because I take many many more vacations than I would have if were not an owner.

Second, the model of a "home away from home", with a kitchen, washer/dryer, separate bedrooms for the parents and the kids, and space to stretch out in a living room is a great fit for our style. When we are at WDW, we are not in the theme parks all the time. We spend a lot of time at the resort, and having that space is very helpful.

I think you've already identified the important question about DVC in particular: Do you want to visit WDW at least once every two years for the foreseeable future? That doesn't mean you will only vacation with Disney, but it does mean you will be spending a good chunk of your vacation time and attention with the Mouse.

I think prior posters have it right: it's probably wise to ignore everything else. Ignore the dining and merchandise discounts, access to less expensive APs, the infrequent "free" evening in a park, a theme park lounge, etc. etc. etc. Those are all nice things if you are in a position to take advantage of them, but using them as a reason to buy is the tail wagging the dog.

 

[crisi]

And on the DIS I will be forever known as the person who bought DVC to have sex while on vacation.....

Its a biggie. As is the washer/dryer and kitchen. I wouldn't have bought DVC to stay in studios.

Another one is the "enforced vacations" - we only bought enough points for every other year, but because of eleven months planning and the points, no matter how busy we were with kids, we had to decide how to use the points every other year. Which also meant we just got into the habit of vacation.

 

[CarolynFH]

And on the DIS I will be forever known as the person who bought DVC to have sex while on vacation.....

Its a biggie. As is the washer/dryer and kitchen. I wouldn't have bought DVC to stay in studios.

Another one is the "enforced vacations" - we only bought enough points for every other year, but because of eleven months planning and the points, no matter how busy we were with kids, we had to decide how to use the points every other year. Which also meant we just got into the habit of vacation.

I just wanted to give you credit for a very useful term!

 

[jscottnc]

Lots of good points brought up. Whether it is right for you depends on one key question: Can you plan your vacation at least 7 months in advance (11 months is better)? Another almost as important, are you willing to go to Walt Disney World at least every other year (we go AT LEAST twice a year)?

If you said no to the first question, walk away. DVC will not work for you.

If you said no to the second question, you can still make this work by renting out your points in years when you are not going to WDW.

 

[colten.c]

And on the DIS I will be forever known as the person who bought DVC to have sex while on vacation.....

Its a biggie. As is the washer/dryer and kitchen. I wouldn't have bought DVC to stay in studios.

Another one is the "enforced vacations" - we only bought enough points for every other year, but because of eleven months planning and the points, no matter how busy we were with kids, we had to decide how to use the points every other year. Which also meant we just got into the habit of vacation.

Very underrated benefit right there

 

[Ruttangel]

To get the washer dryer in the room would be a 1BR and there isn’t a single week of the year where you get a 1BR for the full week at RIV For less than 200pts.

How often do you want to stay and for how long?

 

[colten.c]

Are you asking DVC benefits in general or direct versus resale benefits?

For me, I wouldn’t pay the price of a deluxe resort so I would never get to stay at one without DVC. I LOVE the extra hours a MK and Epcot that comes with staying at a deluxe and I take advantage of them each trip. The included parking I see as perk because those can add up quickly if paying out of pocket for a regular booking.

If asking about direct contract benefits (blue card) I got to save a bit of money with the DVC Gold Pass when it was available and that was nice. I take advantage of the DVC lounge at Epcot each trip for a nice mid day break and am excited about the Disneyland lounge coming soon. While minimal, I got a DVC discount for my Magic Key pass for dland. I’m looking forward to a Moonlight Magic event on the West Coast.

As many people have pointed out, direct benefits are minimal, but I bought in (I have mix of direct and resale) mainly because I plan to keep DVC for many years and I wanted to make sure I have unrestricted points to use at future built resort.

I think we are pretty set on direct because we want Riviera and current incentives make it worth going direct vs resale, especially with restrictions

 

[colten.c]

To get the washer dryer in the room would be a 1BR and there isn’t a single week of the year where you get a 1BR for the full week at RIV For less than 200pts.

How often do you want to stay and for how long?

yeah at this point it wouldn't necessarily be a yearly thing for us. every 18-24 months with occasional bank/borrow years to splurge on a 2 bedroom with the grandparents or something

 

[Lumpy1106]

The thing I love is you are committed; you book 11 months out and the trip is going to happen. So often we get wrapped up in the daily life and the struggle of planning non-Disney trips and, more often than I would like, we just cancel. Not with DVC. This was especially apparent in 2020. We had just bought DVC and hadn't even used, it, but had a trip planned for August. We stressed about the parks reopening, but never about the trip happening. If we had instead booked that trip at AoA or POR (where we would have stayed pre-DVC) we would have cancelled FOR SURE. Those resorts didn't even reopen until months later. 8-2020 was our BEST TRIP EVER! That's pretty priceless.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Another great thing about DVC is you come home to almost no CC bill. Yes, for food, tickets (we even buy the tickets well in advance) and random stuff you buy, but not for the room. MFs are paid in January and forgotten about by the time we travel.

 

[Nursemanit]

Benefits that are not always talked about

Note - I am a studio person who would not cook or iron on vacation. I stay for 7 days to make the flight worth it. So 1BR are not important to me but I still see perks.

1. You are not forced into a hotel based on the constant fluctuation in rates. I used to end up in the Dolphin since it was usually the cheapest but it gets boring to stay at the same hotel in the same location. I now have a choice of 11 hotels all with different choices all of them are doable on points.

2. Luggage transfer - you can switch resorts and have your bags moved so you get to " stay where you play" I book a MK resort for my MK days and Epcot for my Epcot days. This is much harder using cash as monorail resorts are $$.

3. Lounge access in Epcot (direct only) - It is great to have a place to go to sit and wait out a rainstorm or a ride downtime in the heat. I spent an hour in the lounge waiting for a Cosmic RW downtime and had a coke. The perk is not guaranteed but has been around a while.

4. Safety - Riveria and BLT have great security - more than any other resort I have seen. I was stopped multiple times in both resorts. Some other hotels offsite seem to let anyone in and let rooms get packed with too many people - WDW does checks to stop this. If your wife and child wanted to do a solo trip I would 100% recommend Riveria to any solo traveler who is not used to traveling alone.

5. Affordable stroller access resorts - You would have to spend 700-1k a night to get into a resort like the contemporary to have easy " don't have to collapse the stroller" access to MK. BLT gets you this for a fraction of the cost.

Edit - One big thing I learned last week - The "DVC attitude" toward WDW. I did not have time to get on FOP in AK - but since I was already booked for my next WDW trip I did not feel I had to " get it all in" I just felt like " I will get to that next time". In the past, I would have stressed to get the ride done since i would not know if i was going to come back soon.

 

[Royal Consort]

And on the DIS I will be forever known as the person who bought DVC to have sex while on vacation.....

This, ladies and gentlemen, is why Big Pine Key needed to soundproof the walls!! The theming is nice but I don't need to hear Mary Poppins go up and down those chimneys.

 

[iuki]

My wife and I just had our first baby and are considering a 200 point Riviera purchase. I have been reading on here for awhile, so fully understand what DVC benefits are available out there. I just wanted to hear from some people who have owned which ones you actually use and get value out of. The ability to stay at nicer resorts with kitchens and washers/dryers would be a big one to us. We both love Disney but it is a huge commitment to the mouse to dive in on a DVC contract!

It’s a choice of lifestyle,like someone investing all that money into an RV and paying less at campgrounds vs hotels. When buying into timeshares, you’re paying for future vacations in advance. Just do the math and then decide if it’s right for you. Aside from your down payment, add your monthly payments and annual maintenance fees, total those funds, and see how much you have spent for a week or a 2 weeks vacation for one year. Total your down payment, plus monthly payments and annual maintenance payments for the loan term, take that total and divide it by the number of years of the loan, and that tells you how much money it has cost you per year for your yearly hotel vacation. Even though your contact is paid in full, you still have yearly maintenance fees. Like I said, it’s a personal choice of lifestyle. Whatever you decide, wishing you much joy and happiness.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

Prior posters have made lots of great points. I would add that DVC allows me to book one night or two night stays whenever I want (as long as I’m booking very far out). No issue with the system not showing availability to avoid “orphaning” rooms, like some have encountered on the hotel side.

 

[DL1WDW2]

A new baby Congrats !
And hope you will soon Celebrate DVC .
Keep us posted.
Of course my first thought is traveling on plane with new baby makes trip travel so much more fun ! Can you drive ?