Anyone on the forum have regrets about buying DVC?

[abner1776]

We bought DVC back in March, 2006 and we are still waiting for our first trip to WDW as a DVC member, but I do not regret the purchase at all. Our daughters and friends have used our points and if all goes as planned we will finally get to use our points in Sept 08 for our 30th WA.

DVC has been great fun and the DISBOARDS have been a great sourse of information...and entertainment !!!!

 

[Goofy DVC]

Members since 93 with no regets. Probably the toughest thing to deal with for us, is when we stay in a non DVC hotel or resort. We are used to the large OKW suites making hotel rooms unbearable.One mistake we did make after becoming members was touring and vacationing like one and done tourist.We should have hurried up and slowed down and enjoyed the simpler things of DVC.

 

[SamSam]

Only 2 regrets here...that we didn't buy sooner (dh was the hold out) and that we didn't buy more points during our original purchase. Purchased BCV in 2002, added on BCV in 03. Purchased AKV as soon as it became available and added on within the year. I think we may be close to having enough points. It seems the older we get the more time we want to spend at our 'favorite' place.

 

[JimMIA]

Upkeep - parks, resorts, villas all show signs that the historic fanaticism with picking up trash, spotless cleanliness and the "Opening Day" maintenance of facilities has largely gone away.

*DDP - a disaster to the quality and diversity of food offerings on property

Check-in times - inability to meet the check-in times of the resorts or even competitive timeshares in the area. Probably a combination of housekeeping staff shortages and unwillingness to evict people who remain in their villas past check-out time

Marketing - barrage of offerings aimed at getting new members has become tiresome; which is a tangible example of a perceived shift in attitude from emphasis on member satisfaction to emphasis on sales growth

Disney Files - don't like it or have any use for it, more marketing and less member communication


In fairness there have been positive changes as well:

AP discount
*Free transportation to/from resorts from airport
*Airline check-in at resorts
Improvements to web site (they still have a very long way to go)

I also agree with Jim, although some of the items listed (*Bold above) are WDW pros/cons that are not directly related to DVC. They enhance/diminish the DVC experience, but the changes did not come from DVC.

To Jim's list, I would add the following:

Pro's:

• The availability of DDP for DVC points stays (and without having to buy park tickets), although I would agree that DDP has decreased the quality and variety of menu offerings greatly.
• The addition of AKV, GCV, and Hawaii...and hopefully, the addition of CRV. (The devil in the details with some of these offerings will be the cost and points structure, IMHO.)
• The addition of the HH booking category at OKW
• The pending addition of free high-speed internet access on point stays.
• The expansion of MS hours, first to Saturday, and the pending change to 7 days a week.

Con's:

• The extension of OKW to 2057, which is no value to our family, but will cost us time and money to decline.
• The change in waitlist procedure to all-automatic.
• The incredibly sloppy implementation of the new waitlist procedure, which resulted in fulfilling waitlists, but canceling base ressies for some members.
• The "streamlining" of the banking deadline, which adversely affects our ability to visit during the latter stages of our UY. (We'll figure it out, but it's lessened the value of our membership.)
• The expansion of the blackout period for booking non-DVC stays to four months that went along with the banking change.
• The implementation of the $95 fee for ALL non-DVC stays.
• The "improvement" of the member website from 1980's level competence to 1990's competence. Still 20 years behind the times.
• The seemingly near-total focus on sales, with the corresponding lack of interest in current members, except to the degree that they can sell us something. This is most evident in the recurring cleanliness complaints at the resorts.
• The Chinese Water Torture of frequent arbitrary changes, most of which seem to be negative for our family. I find myself constantly waiting for the next shoe to drop. This has stopped me from recommending DVC to people, and cautioning those who are buying to consider only the benefits which are guaranteed in writing in the POS (which is very, very little), because everything else could change.
• *Non-DVC - the changes in DDP 2008 which make it no longer of value to our family. (With the plus being that we will eat better and less expensively offsite.)

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) We bought OKW in 1992 and sold in 2002.
2) There were not any true "regrets", but a couple of disappointments.
3) The one big disappointment is little to do for non-park vacations.
4) We would have liked more activities than a pool, game room, boat rental.
5) We bought elsewhere, so for non-park vacations we have lots of activities.
6) So, over all, we were pleased with our purchase.

NOTE: Buying DVC all depends upon your likes and activities. If you go to the parks every vacation and have just one-or-two "down" (non-park) days, then DVC fits the bill nicely.

 

[Donna]

I also agree with Jim, although some of the items listed (*Bold above) are WDW pros/cons that are not directly related to DVC. They enhance/diminish the DVC experience, but the changes did not come from DVC.

To Jim's list, I would add the following:

Pro's:

• The availability of DDP for DVC points stays (and without having to buy park tickets), although I would agree that DDP has decreased the quality and variety of menu offerings greatly.
• The addition of AKV, GCV, and Hawaii...and hopefully, the addition of CRV. (The devil in the details with some of these offerings will be the cost and points structure, IMHO.)
• The addition of the HH booking category at OKW
• The pending addition of free high-speed internet access on point stays.
• The expansion of MS hours, first to Saturday, and the pending change to 7 days a week.

Con's:

• The extension of OKW to 2057, which is no value to our family, but will cost us time and money to decline.
• The change in waitlist procedure to all-automatic.
• The incredibly sloppy implementation of the new waitlist procedure, which resulted in fulfilling waitlists, but canceling base ressies for some members.
• The "streamlining" of the banking deadline, which adversely affects our ability to visit during the latter stages of our UY. (We'll figure it out, but it's lessened the value of our membership.)
• The expansion of the blackout period for booking non-DVC stays to four months that went along with the banking change.
• The implementation of the $95 fee for ALL non-DVC stays.
• The "improvement" of the member website from 1980's level competence to 1990's competence. Still 20 years behind the times.
• The seemingly near-total focus on sales, with the corresponding lack of interest in current members, except to the degree that they can sell us something. This is most evident in the recurring cleanliness complaints at the resorts.
• The Chinese Water Torture of frequent arbitrary changes, most of which seem to be negative for our family. I find myself constantly waiting for the next shoe to drop. This has stopped me from recommending DVC to people, and cautioning those who are buying to consider only the benefits which are guaranteed in writing in the POS (which is very, very little), because everything else could change.
• *Non-DVC - the changes in DDP 2008 which make it no longer of value to our family. (With the plus being that we will eat better and less expensively offsite.)

I feel this way also, 100% ditto for me. I sold off 3/4 of my DVC membership for other reasons (bought motorhome) but have become somewhat dissatisfied with DVC for the above reasons. STILL, despite it all, I think DVC is/was a good value and we are still glad we bought it and could never have afforded the past 10+ years of vacations w/o it. That said, I can't echo enough the part about "waiting for the next show to drop" and i truly believe it will drop. I have not ruled out selling it off completely if that happens. I also do not recommend DVC to people any longer. It is simply too big at this point. I'm glad i bought when i did. I would never consider buying it at this ponit, knowing what i know now.

 

[dallasdisneymommy]

We don't have any regrets about buying into DVC. It has afforded us the opportunity to take our kids (and several times, our extended family) to visit our favorite place at least once per year. We never would have been able to do this, stay where we've stayed, and had the experiences we've had without DVC.

Little things like the antiquated website, changes in banking, member services hours, and the like don't bother me enough to make me regret our decision. There are perhaps small annoyances and inefficiencies built into membership, but nothing is perfect.

For us, we did our homework, bought when we could afford it, and love everything about it. No regrets. Not here!

 

[tink4ever]

I understand everything said here and I agree with most. But honestly we bought in 2001 and have been to WDW atleast 15 times which would not be possible without the DVC. Our stays are very comfortable and that is well worth some of the negatives. I am a little concerned with how Big the DVC has gotten and continues to get. But we bought where we want to stay so we don't worry about not getting the resort we want. So there are NO Regrets here!

 

[cc1075]

My daughter was the impetus for buying - she wanted DVC from the day they opened - but college and DVC didn't mix for us - at least in the area of our check book. So for her graduation from college we bought one week at Disney - OKW. Well, we went for our first week - and on day six - I knew I wasn't going home. The hospitality house was at OKW in those days - so I jumped on my bike - explained I wasn't leaving and bought another week. Day 13 - same problem - bike - bought another week. Well today we go to OKW for six weeks - and love every minute. Our family has grown - we now have babies - kids - husbands - friends - a full house and everyone has a grand time. Without our points we couldn't afford to do this every year.

Yes - - we love OKW and have no regrets!!:

Only three more months and OKW - - - -

 

[Donna]

My daughter was the impetus for buying - she wanted DVC from the day they opened - but college and DVC didn't mix for us - at least in the area of our check book. So for her graduation from college we bought one week at Disney - OKW. Well, we went for our first week - and on day six - I knew I wasn't going home. The hospitality house was at OKW in those days - so I jumped on my bike - explained I wasn't leaving and bought another week. Day 13 - same problem - bike - bought another week. Well today we go to OKW for six weeks - and love every minute. Our family has grown - we now have babies - kids - husbands - friends - a full house and everyone has a grand time. Without our points we couldn't afford to do this every year.

Yes - - we love OKW and have no regrets!!:

Only three more months and OKW - - - -

This is a great story! i miss those days of the commodore house.
Where OKW is involved, DVC could NEVER be regretted!

 

[JimMIA]

Little things like the antiquated website, changes in banking, member services hours, and the like don't bother me enough to make me regret our decision. There are perhaps small annoyances and inefficiencies built into membership, but nothing is perfect.

My comments above were not meant as regret for purchasing DVC. We still enjoy DVC. If I regretted the purchase, I'd be on the phone to Tom at TTS to sell. My post above was just following on with both positives and negatives posted by Jim C a little earlier in the thread.

There is, however, so much uncertainty in my mind about the direction DVC is going that I am no longer a cheerleader for buying DVC...and I'm certainly not alone. As I said above, I think it's important to research carefully (as you did) and really understand what you're actually getting, as opposed to what you think you might be getting, because most aspects of DVC could change overnight with the stroke of a pen.

Another negative that I forgot above was the recent change to only one transfer in or out per year. That was applied to all members, rather than dealing directly with a few who abused the system or updating the DVC computer system beyond the Atari Age. They could have fixed that problem without affecting members at all, but they chose not to. It is changes like that which make me reluctant to recommend a purchase.

 

[crisi]

People who still own presumably still get the value out of it. But not all of us believe DVC or Disney is perfect and ideal for everyone - or even ideal for us - the pluses for us simply make up for the negatives for us.

For us, there is only one big plus - multiple rooms for our family at an affordable price. However, that is HUGE. There is a minor plus in enforced vacations.

Negatives - I don't think rooms are kept up to the same standard as the Deluxe resorts. I like daily housekeeping, I don't like being tied to Disney (but we don't own very many points, so we still vacation other places), I don't like the lack of flexibility.

If I have one regret its that when I found this site pre-buying, everyone was DVC cheerleaders - and no one was willing to say "some people LIKE daily housekeeping" or "sometimes my room is more worn than ideal." It was commonly said that DVC resorts were the same as or better than the Deluxe resorts. That set up expectations DVC has never met for me. Not that I regret the decision, but I've been disappointed, where if I would have understood what I was actually getting, instead of what I thought I might be getting, I'd never have been disappointed in what I got.

 

[dallasdisneymommy]

These are all valid points. It really only makes sense to buy in if (1) you would otherwise be going to Disney quite a lot and (2) if you like staying in the type of villas the DVC offers.

For us, with three small children, we like the flexibility the kitchen and multiple bedrooms offer -- it's not possible or desirable for us to eat all of our meals in a restaurant, so having the option to make a quick breakfast in the morning or some pb&j for the kids at night without sitting, ordering, and paying a fortune for it really makes sense. Even when we vacation places other than Disney, we choose to rent a house or condo so that we have space to spread out and options for food.

My husband and I both grew up going to Disney almost every year, so multiple trips to Disney with the kids were always in our future. This way, we can take along the grandparents, or other friends/family if we'd like. We've stayed someplace different every time and enjoyed each resort we've discovered. I know some people have experienced wear and tear in the units, we just haven't had that particular experience. Although we do miss daily housekeeping!

We don't own any other timeshares, so I don't know how DVC compares to other programs. The limitations are workable for us and at the end of the day, it makes sense for our family.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

Love my DVC. We had stayed at OKW prior to purchasing many times, so we had an idea of what we were getting.

As for things I wished I had researched/considered/knew prior to purchasing...

1) Other timeshares. I generally research the living daylights out of stuff before I buy. My SIL/BIL owned DVC so we decided to join. I wished I had just understood how DVC compared to other timeshares (i.e., cost to buy in, MFs, quality, ease of trading, flexibility in travel time, how it retains value, etc.)
2) You can't just trade out/stay anywhere you want, any time you want. While I won't say that the DVC sales CM told us we could, we focussed more on the options and less about the possible challenges.
3) As with others, purchased sooner. We stayed many times at OKW paying anywhere from $1800 - $2000 for a one bedroom. All of this money could have been applied to our intitial purchase price. We did get a great deal on our points, though, so I felt good about that.

Best of luck in your decision. For us, DVC made sense, as our kids are young and we go there often. Others will say that trading out is not a good value, but I know my BIL/SIL have traded out many times and have been extremely pleased with their accommodations.

 

[Mrs. Jane]

My family has had each and every one of these thoughts regarding DVC since we have been members... however, I am most disapointed with not being able to get reservations when I request them. I feel like it is a mad race... who can call first! Also the last two visits to Disney I felt I had been treated better as a non member...staff just seemed to be less helpful, or perhpas the overall feel of disney has changed. EXCEPT for the Disney Cruise... they were absoulutely wonderful to us last summer and made us feel very special. We had a great time and staff welcomed us as DVC members with special treats. We loved the special attention... It felt great!

 

[bblanch]

I'm not sure I understand all the regrets about being tied to Disney. Why did you buy so many points?

For the past 10 years, we have vacationed at Disney every other year. We decided we loved Disney and wanted to keep that 1 trip every other year fixed. We also still love the other trips... whether it be the beach, mountains, city, but we make sure it's somewhere new.
We recently bought just enough points to be able to spend a week at the BCV every other year. We now have 3 young kids, so the kitchen, laundry, and extra room is something we were really looking for. The banking/borrowing flexibility will allow us to occasionally take family members or add a couple of nights @ VB if we choose to do so. We haven't used it yet, next trip is not until 2009, but we have toured more than once and I've been studying this and other boards for over 2 years now. We are super excited and happy about becoming members and I hope that never changes

 

[cc1075]

We own 1,199 points at OKW. We spend six weeks at OKW during March and April with friends and family. The only regret we have is in January when the dues and taxes come due. However, we have the same regret every month when our charge statements come due. The good news, we can charge our dues and taxes from Disney to our charge card - allowing us many more miles on our charge card - which in the end gets us all to Disney!!

Regrets - we have none!!

Happy holidays to all!!

 

[global_mom]

We own 1,199 points at OKW. We spend six weeks at OKW during March and April with friends and family. The only regret we have is in January when the dues and taxes come due. However, we have the same regret every month when our charge statements come due. The good news, we can charge our dues and taxes from Disney to our charge card - allowing us many more miles on our charge card - which in the end gets us all to Disney!!

Regrets - we have none!!

Happy holidays to all!!

Wow, 1199 points! My only regret is that I have not yet been able to afford that many points!! We spent about $26,000 on Disney trips in the 5 years before we bought DVC. We were scared off by the whole idea of a timeshare and it took us awhile to warm to the idea of owning one. Sure wish that we had bought 5-6 years ago!!

It makes me really sad to read so many posts about how "DVC has changed" or how "Disney has gone downhill" etc. We are new to membership so I am sure that there have been plenty of good and bad changes with DVC but it gets so tiresome to always read about the "bad" stuff. Even the "really bad" stuff does not seem so bad to us. Maybe we still have on our rose colored glasses but we are thrilled with our purchase and plan to continue going to Disney at least 2 times a year for many years to come. We own a mountain house so we go there and we vacation at the same beach each year. We dont feel overly tied to Disney and we make time for about 5 vacations each year.

 

[ldo]

global Mom--regarding your post--"It makes me really sad to read so many posts about how "DVC has changed" or how "Disney has gone downhill" etc."--I bet if we started a thread "do you like DVC--top 3 reasons" you would easily pass 100+ posts in a few days. Typically, for every complaint or criticism, there are hundreds of happy people who don't bother to post how great things were--this is the norm in any industry.
I asked one of the "has DVc changed" threads before I bought--and I was actually pretty happy with all the stuff I read--if that's the worst--then count me in! We are (soon) to be new DVC memebers and couldn't be happier--enjoy many fun years to come! Elaine

 

[AKV707]

Wow, 1199 points! My only regret is that I have not yet been able to afford that many points!! We spent about $26,000 on Disney trips in the 5 years before we bought DVC. We were scared off by the whole idea of a timeshare and it took us awhile to warm to the idea of owning one. Sure wish that we had bought 5-6 years ago!!

It makes me really sad to read so many posts about how "DVC has changed" or how "Disney has gone downhill" etc. We are new to membership so I am sure that there have been plenty of good and bad changes with DVC but it gets so tiresome to always read about the "bad" stuff. Even the "really bad" stuff does not seem so bad to us. Maybe we still have on our rose colored glasses but we are thrilled with our purchase and plan to continue going to Disney at least 2 times a year for many years to come. We own a mountain house so we go there and we vacation at the same beach each year. We dont feel overly tied to Disney and we make time for about 5 vacations each year.

Another set of rose colored glasses here. We are new owners and are thrilled to be so! We also like to go to WDW twice a year, and DVC will make those trips even more magical. We have had one trip so far and it was our best WDW trip ever. The only regreat that I will have is if i don't get to enjoy all 50 years of my DVC.