Anyone regret buying DVC?

[laura12581]

I guess that they are the ones reselling but, I was just wondering what your experiences have been. My Husband and I are considering buying, we got the vidoe and watched it today. I LOVE Disney and have been at least 11 times over the last several years. He likes it, but not as much as me, but he is willing to consider it, since I want to go to Disney at least every other year. THanks for your input, it is appreciated.
Laura

 

[DVCconvert]

If you've gone 11 times over 2-3 years and stayed in a deluxe, your DH should LOVE DVC as it will save him $$$.

As the classic quote goes; "I only regret not buying in sooner" applies to me!

 

[sgtpet]

The non rosy answer.

I think you need to love Disney but more importantly Walt Disney World. I mean really love it because you are making a commitment to vacation there for many years to come. I have a young family and with my history of going to WDW as a child led me to making this somewhat significant dollars for vacations.

I can tell you that I am happy I have made DVC my families vacation choice but make no bones about one thing, it is not perfect.

Good luck in your decision making.

 

[Lasrnw]

I Only regret that it's a constant battle of how many more points to buy!

 

[RayJay]

The non rosy answer.

I think you need to love Disney but more importantly Walt Disney World. I mean really love it because you are making a commitment to vacation there for many years to come. I have a young family and with my history of going to WDW as a child led me to making this somewhat significant dollars for vacations.

I can tell you that I am happy I have made DVC my families vacation choice but make no bones about one thing, it is not perfect.

Good luck in your decision making.

Ditto, I think you really have to be a Disney Nut, most people here are. People at my job can't believe we are going to florida during July this next week coming up, but we are because we are Disney Nuts.

Regret, yeah I had some when I bought my 210 pt BCV 3 years ago so I sold it, I think I was the first to sell a BCV resale, people on the boards couldn't believe BCV had a resale so early, but ask me now if I regretted the decision to sell, well let's just say I blew it, but now we are back with 200 pts at BWV.

And we spent some bucks to stay at other resorts, in the end DVC will give us what we need, bigger room (1 bedroom) and great in room amenities you can't get at regular room resort, plus it will save us some cash in the long run, but that's not really why we bought. We bought because of Disney, and that is hard to explain to people, even with all its quirks, Disney has always been the best vacation for us even before we had kids, with kids its even that much more priceless.

Good luck with your decision
RayJay

 

[SCDizneyDawn]

I always say it is the third best decision I have ever made in my life, after my choice of Husband and my career choice (because it gives me the ability to own DVC )

I LOVE my DVC. I was raised going to Disney every year and then DH and I were going at least two times a year, typically staying in a moderate prior to our purchase. Now, we mostly tend to stay in one and two bedroom units and love to bring along friends and family.

Have fun making the decision, and if you purchase from Disney and get 300 or more points, split them into two contracts in case you would ever need to sell part of them or something. I originally purchased 375 points at BWV and really wish I had gotten that in two contracts so I could own more points at BCV and sell part of the BWV.

Good luck!

 

[JimC]

I guess that they are the ones reselling...

Laura,

I don't think sellers necessarily regret their purchases. We have sold but only because our needs and use changed. We have also bought more at different resorts. We do not regret buying or owning and wish we would have made the decision to buy 10 years earlier than we did.

Others have said it is not perfect. I wonder why anyone would have that expectation. Disney is made up of great people, but all of us have bad days, make mistakes and err in judgement at times. And decisions that are made for the many may not always work for a few. Expecting perfection in this world is a sure bet for constant disappointment

WDW is an excellent vacation destination. There is lots to do for young and old. And there are great non-Disney diversions close enough for an easy day trip.

Is DVC the cheapest way to enjoy the timeshare experience in Orlando -- No. There are other fine timeshares in Orlando that cost less and provide great resorts and service. But they are not on property and don't have the Disney theming.

So DVC is great for those of us who like timeshares for vacationing and want to be close to the Disney action. It is not for everyone, but that is okay too.

 

[justloveit]

We have no regrets. We average around 2 trips a year, and look forward to our vacations now as eagerly as when we first joined 3 1/2 years ago. Staying at the Vacation Club Villas has made our vacations much more relaxing and the Disney experience is as magical as ever. It really does feel like our second home. Good Luck with your decision.

 

[off to neverland]

I have no regrets. In one year of ownership, we've stayed at three of the DVC resorts, and have loved each one for its own theming. We look forward to going back to all of them over the years.

 

[Laurajean1014]

Not buying 2000 points off the bat. If I bought 2000 points in '95! Sweet mama, I would be a very, very happy lady.

Instead, I am a happy lady!

 

[tamu91]

Regrets, heck no. My only regret is I did not buy when I first heard of DVC. What was I thinking

 

[DonnaL]

I agree with tamu91.......I regret not buying earlier.....we first heard of DVC
when we visited in 1994 ....everytime we drove or bussed by the OKW watertower either DH or I would say......"I wonder what that Disney Vacation Club is? Oh, it must be REALLY expensive...we certainly can't afford it." We ended up not buying until 2001!!!!! And, then it was almost an impulse buy!!! I say almost because we kept walking by DVC kiosks and talking to the reps all week long, but, wouldn't commit to a tour and then on our last day happened to be at Boardwalk and just decided to go in.....we bought right on the spot. Will our vacation habits change over the years....sure, but, we find already our twice yearly trips have a different feel when the whole family goes
DH, myself, DS/24, DD/22, DS/16, and DGS/3 and when DH and I make a trip alone. When it's just the two of us we find we do more resort time, more
relaxing lunches/dinners, etc. as compared to the hustle/bustle of a family
vacation.

 

[ellenmiele]

Ditto! We should have done it sooner!

 

[unixadm]

No regrets in purchasing at all!

We purchased our first 200 points at the end of last year. We did our first DVC trip in May to Beach Club Villas and loved it! We ended up adding on an additional 120 points last month with the deal they gave existing club members. We have a Disney Cruise planned for January and are really looking forward to it.

I've been to Disney 18 times....will be back in September again. If you've gone 14 times, then definitely the club is for you. Yhou will get much better vacations for less money for many years to come.

My only regret, as others have said, is that I didn't find out about this earlier.

 

[SonicLogic]

If you've gone 11 times over 2-3 years and stayed in a deluxe, your DH should LOVE DVC as it will save him $$$.

No, you will not save any money by spending money! Obviously, that is just foolish. The DVC is a very expensive prepaid vacation resort. If you have to finance the purchase, then you are really wasting a lot of money! Remember, you own no real estate interest with the DVC. When you buy the DVC, it's not worth much and then it goes down in value every day. It is neither an investment nor a wise place to tie up your money.

 

[mamatojon]

I only wish that there was some way to use points at Disneyland a little more efficiently. I really love Disneyland too, and being in WA state it is really much easier to get down there for us than the day long flight to FL. I just can't see spending my points there though, and sadly at this point it is one vacation a year for us. I'm thinking that on the years that we bring family with us and have to borrow the next years pts we will have an excuse to go to CA the following year and pay cash for our room, but who knows. My husband already has me talking about adding on and we haven't even been on our first DVC trip yet, LOL.

Financially, the only thing stressing me out is that my husband is considering a lateral type job change that will come with a temporary pay decrease for about 18 months. I keep thinking that if we had that 11K to use during that time it would really help. I guess if the worse happens we could always sell... I hate to think about that though.

 

[mamatojon]

never mind.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Of course, you must realize that a DVC purchase is really not intended to be an investment simply designed to make money.
I have never regretted our purchase!!

 

[WDWLVR]

No regrets at all. DH and I love WDW and found ourselves going every year. We've stayed just about everywhere from All Stars to the Grand Floridian. So when we looked into DVC we realized it was for us. In the 5 years that we've owned we have stayed at 5 DVC resorts (BWV (our home), VWL, OKW, BCV, and Vero Beach (or other home)). We've cruised on points a few times (many will tell you not the best use of points but we bought them to vacation). We've also attended a number of DVC Member events and met some great DVC friends. For us it was one of the best decisions we made.

 

[JimC]

No, you will not save any money by spending money! Obviously, that is just foolish. The DVC is a very expensive prepaid vacation resort. If you have to finance the purchase, then you are really wasting a lot of money! Remember, you own no real estate interest with the DVC. When you buy the DVC, it's not worth much and then it goes down in value every day. It is neither an investment nor a wise place to tie up your money.

I disagree with your comments about no savings, not a wise place to tie up your money, and daily declining value.

We have spent less dollars after several years. Our points and maintenance fees cost us less than any discounted rate we could have gotten at the resorts. Same vacationing patterns except now we are in one bedroom villas instead of deulxe and moderate resort rooms. Compare the costs of each. DVC is less money than not. So at least for us, and I suspect for many others it may be a reasonable undertaking.

Eventually the market value of the resorts will decline as you get closer to the end of the contract term. But that has not happened yet. The value has been increasing. Most of what I read says that around 10-12 years left in the contract is the tipping point (although none of us really know for sure).

I do agree that it is an expensive, prepaid vacation and that you should not finance vactions. But Disney is an expensive vacation, certainly on property, and probably even off-property anyway. DVC makes it a little less so.