Hey, Bucks County Neighbor!
We, too, are Disney freaks! Typically, we vacationed about 1-2X a year. When they were in the final stages of selling out Boardwalk, we took the tour, but couldn't justify the expense. We wanted to pay cash, to avoid any interest/monthly payments. Plus, it was just the 2 of us, and we had computed that we'd use about 80 points a year. 150 points was more than we wanted to spend, and more than we could use. But, we knew we wanted to join, so we started putting a little away each month.
Then, we found the DISBoards! We had no idea about the resale market. We were VERY lucky to come across a OKW resale (our first choice, due to the point cost and maintenance fees) with 100 points! And, it was about 15-20 points cheaper than buying new direct from Disney!
The negatives to resale, in my opinion, are that at SSR, you get the extra 12 years. That's pretty big. Plus, I think they're giving an extra 100 points to use this year. That's pretty nice, too. Is it worth the extra 15-20 points? Well, that's up to you.
If you're trying ot convince your DH, here are a couple points that won us over...
1. This goes against everything I thought (and probably most other timeshares), but DVC has continued to INCREASE in value! I think, when they first started, points were around $56. Those same owners are able to get in the mid $70's for resale. Logically, at some point, they will probably start to lower in value, since the time left will be decreasing, but as long as Disney continues to exercise ROFR, there's a built in floor.
2. If you vacation at WDW at least every year, it really does pay for itself. These computations are based on our usage, and are estimates (so I don't have to do all the math), but you'll get the idea. We bought 100 points for $73 - with closing costs is came to $77/point. So, $7700 out of pocket plus about $400 a year for maintenance. To make it easy, lets say the average maintenance fees, over the life of my contract, is $650. So, 37 years X $650 = $24k + $7700 = about $32k. Take that total cost of $32k divided by 37 years = $865/year cost to own. With our 100 points, we can stay about 12 nights in a studio (OKW, no weekends, cheap seasons). So, this year, we actually have THREE vacations planned. We have two 5-day (4 night) vacations, and one 4-day (3 night) vacation. (BTW, we purchased AP's - what a great deal THAT turned out to be!). So, we figure, we are paying about $72 a night to stay in a room that has a rack rate of about $250. Another way to look at it is... we're paying about $300 a week to stay IN WDW, and experience 24 hours a day, the Disney magic. And this is in 2005 dollars!!! 10 years from now, when the rack rate is $400 a night (very realistic), we're still paying $72 a night! AND, our points will probably still be worth about what we paid for them (maybe more!).
I'd recommend checking out the Rent Board - you should be able to rent some points for $11-12 each. Try renting some points and vacation there first. We usually stayed in a fair-priced hotel outside of WDW (for cost reasons), before. Last year, when WDW had that special $77 a night for moderates, we stayed at POFQ. BIG DIFFERENCE! If you've never stayed on property before, it's worth it. We just got back from our first trip "home." Honestly, we were BLOWN AWAY! It was even that much nicer at OKW than at POFQ! And this was in a studio! I can only imagine what a 1BR would be like! I'd bet, if your DH got to experience what it's like to stay in a DVC resort, then saw it's actually cheaper in the present and practically a STEAL in the long run, you'd have a pretty convincing arguement to buy.
Good luck in your decision!
I just get so happy when I get there! DH not so much. This is going to be a hard sell for him. I already know there is no way we will be able to buy in this year (looking to pay off our house this year). So my question is should I not even look at talking to the DVC booth this year? If I did the tour do they keep a record of this, so they know you didn't take advantage of an incentives they might have offer, so they won't offer it again? 
scheduled for next month, but I don't even think about it anymore (I've done all the planning I can). So now I'm on my next Disney obsession: DVC! I'm going to go crazy with this knowing I can't do anything this year. Man if this is my biggest worry right now I am the luckiest person out there!
