Buying into Disney property...

[Amirah95]

DH inquired about buying time into Disney with Disney Vacation Club and we thought it a bit expensive compared to other timeshares. For the amount of points we can buy now, we can only spend a week in a value resort in the peak season or three nights in a moderate or above in the off-peak season. Then most of the resorts there are hotels and not actual villas. If I'm not mistaken, most villas there only have one bedroom or come as a studio.

Anybody here own a timeshare on Disney and if so, is it worth it? Hoiw many points do you think we should by in order to have a good stay during the peak season?

 

[swilphil]

I heavily researched buying a Disney timeshare and decided against it, mainly because it wasn't an investment you can make money on down the road. The consensus is that it is a prepayment on your annual Disney vacation, even the Disney timeshare rep said as much when I stopped in the DVC office last summer.

I do think renting points from DVC members is a worthwhile venture, and I will do that in the future.

 

[RayJay]

Originally posted by Amirah95
DH inquired about buying time into Disney with Disney Vacation Club and we thought it a bit expensive compared to other timeshares. For the amount of points we can buy now, we can only spend a week in a value resort in the peak season or three nights in a moderate or above in the off-peak season. Then most of the resorts there are hotels and not actual villas. If I'm not mistaken, most villas there only have one bedroom or come as a studio.

Anybody here own a timeshare on Disney and if so, is it worth it? Hoiw many points do you think we should by in order to have a good stay during the peak season?

There is a DVC board here on the Disboards, check it out and post this over there, you'll get a great response and many good opinions


RayJay

 

[MinnieGi]

Go over to the DVC board and you will be able to learn lots of info on how DVC works. There are also point calculators on the DVC page here that can show you how many points you would need during peak season at a DVC resort.

The DVC resorts - OKW, BWV, VWL, BCV & SSR have studios, one and two bedroom villas. OKW, BWV & SSR also have three bedroom Grand villas. While using DVC points you can also stay in the other resorts it is by far a much better use of your points to stay in the actual villas at the DVC resorts.

Start reading the DVC area of this site and you'll start to gain a better understanding of how it works. And feel free to post questions on the DVC board.

 

[phillybeth]

DVC is not really designed for those who want to stay at the resorts, it is a poor use of your points- with all the discounts out there it is much cheaper to book rooms separately than use points.
As to the villas, studios and 1 bedrooms sleep 4 (plus a child under 3), 2 bedrooms sleep 8 (plus 1 under three), and a 3 bedroom Grand Villa sleeps 12. How many points depends on where you want to stay, what room type, for how long, and in what season. I've researched DVC, and 150 points would be fine for DH and I, as we prefer to travel at off-times, and we would stay in a studio or 1 bedroom.

 

[OneMoreTry]

Phillybeth is right.

DVC is for saving money if you plan on staying at the DVC resorts alot. Old key West, boardwalk villas, Beach club villas, Villas at Wilderness Lodge, Saratoga Springs Resort, Hilton Head and Vero Beach.

It will not save you money unless you spend at least 7 to 10 years of vacations (over the 40 to 50 of the contract) at these resorts.

For the remainder of your 30 to40 years -- do what you will. It is icing on the cake. You will save evenmore if you stay DVC.


Don't buy DVC if you want to stay at values, moderates or deluxes only. I'm not sure if it's a good deal for trading with other timeshares. I haven't looked into that

 

[flyinglizard]

Amirah95- If you and DH have investigated the DVC, and found some thing else to be a better value, then I don't think DVC is for you.

If location within WDW is not that important to you, there are plenty of options out there that are less expensive.

After all is said and done, you have to be satisfied with your potential purchase of a time share.

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by swilphil
I heavily researched buying a Disney timeshare and decided against it, mainly because it wasn't an investment you can make money on down the road. The consensus is that it is a prepayment on your annual Disney vacation, even the Disney timeshare rep said as much when I stopped in the DVC office last summer.

Two comments:

1. Tell that to people who bought-into DVC in the early 90s and paid less than $50 per point. Those points could now be sold fpr $70+ per point, and that's after using the points for a decade's worth of vacations.

2. Obviously DVC is not an investment. What timeshare IS an investment?

Anyone who pays cash to stay at a WDW Deluxe resort at least once every two years (and plans to continue this pattern indefinitely) is a fool to not buy into DVC. When compared with the Rack Rates at WDW Deluxe resorts, a 150-pt purchase at Saratoga Springs has a break-even point of as little as FIVE years. After that you get another 45 years' worth of vacations for pennies on the dollar.

You can get as many as 13 nights per year in a Studio at Saratoga Springs for 150 points. Once the intial investment is covered, the only ongoing fees are Annual Dues which amount to $570 per year in today's dollars. Anyone here getting a Deluxe room for less than $43.86 per night (including tax)???

Not to mention that as long as there is demand for Disney resort rooms, there will be a demand for DVC points. That means the resale market will be alive and well for years to come. Even better, if Disney continues to build and sell new DVC properties, they will continue to exercise Right of First Refusal to keep resale prices within a stone's throw of their prices for new points.

If I get tired of Disney in 20 years, there is absolutely no reason to believe that I won't be able to sell my points and recoup a substantial portion of my intial investment--if not more, as is the case with folks who bought into DVC a decade ago.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

This is another case in which the OP has a general misunderstanding of how DVC works and I'm glad to see that other members here have made gentle attempts in guiding the OP towards a proper understanding of the system. I find it difficult to understand that there remains so much confusion about how DVC works after so many years -- yet I expect there are many DVC members who have never fully understood banking, borrowing and the economy of the DVC point system.
As for our 150 points -- we can stay 8 nights in a studio at SSR over Christmas for the next 50 years, if we wanted to. (YMMV) I can't imagine spending those 150 points on 3 nights in a Yacht Club standard view room -- but that's why DVC exists. Different strokes for different folks. Your cup of tea isn't mine.

 

[crisi]

Originally posted by Amirah95
DH inquired about buying time into Disney with Disney Vacation Club and we thought it a bit expensive compared to other timeshares.

Yep, if you are happy staying offsite, other timeshares will be significantly cheaper. DVC is a timeshare for onsite snobs. Disney onsite hotel rooms are more expensive than similarly classed offsite rooms, too.

For the amount of points we can buy now, we can only spend a week in a value resort in the peak season or three nights in a moderate or above in the off-peak season.

As has been noted, you buy DVC to stay in the DVC resorts. Check out the point value there. You'll discover that what happens is that you can generally stay in a studio on the DVC side of a Deluxe resort (BWV/BWI, BCV/BC, or VWL/WL) for about the same "cost" as a moderate.

Then most of the resorts there are hotels and not actual villas. If I'm not mistaken, most villas there only have one bedroom or come as a studio.

Most resorts don't have Villas. Some people find that limiting. A lot of folks don't join DVC because they love the Poly or want to continue to stay at POR or want to be able to stay in a different resort each trip - with the flexibility of including the AKL, GF and CR. That's fine, DVC isn't for everyone.

Anybody here own a timeshare on Disney and if so, is it worth it? Hoiw many points do you think we should by in order to have a good stay during the peak season?

Most people over here on the DVC board own Disney timeshares and belive it to be worth it for them. But it really isn't for everyone and you'll need to decide if the pros outweigh the cons for you. Check out the point calculator and define what a good stay is for yourselves. We consider a "great" stay to be ten days in a two bedroom (which would put our kids in a different bedroom and keep the pullout tucked in). A good stay to be seven days in a one bedroom every other year. But other people wouldn't dream of pulling out the pullout, staying less than ten days. Others just want to be at Disney and choose an OKW studio for great point value.

 

[av8tor]

If you plan to stay at non-DVC resorts at WDW, DVC if probably not best for you. We just bought DVC and it will allow my family to stay at much nicer (and larger) accomodations for about the price of staying at a moderate resort.

 

[Amirah95]

The only way we can stay on Disney is if we can stay for 7 nights in a two bedroom villa. And the point cost to do this in the peak season is well beyond what we can afford now. We want to have another child (I must be crazy at my age) and we also will like to start taking my DH parents with us on vacation in the near future. So we will need the extra room. The quote the rep gave us was like another car note per month. We simply cannot do it, so we will definitely just rent time on Disney as a temporary solution. Maybe next year we will be able to afford it. You never know what the future may bring. Thanks to all.

 

[chainkid]

Well I would suggest alittle more research is in order if you think this is not a great investment. I could sell my points now for much more than I paid for them and have free vacations for the past few years. I don't know how much longer this trend will continue but show me another timeshare that holds or increases its value. Plus its a much safer investment because Disney own it and maintains it to Disney standards. I started small and now have with a recent add on 752 pts. I would sell my mutual funds before my DVC because if I get in a jam financially I could either rent my points to pay maintenance costs or in worse case sell my contracts and make a profit. I would recommend buying for the investment value but for the wonderful resorts open to you. Not many people regret buying into DVC, BUT DO REGRET not buying sooner when the free park passes were part of the deal. Now that was a real bargain.

 

[TinksDH]

Something not always recognized by someone just evaluating DVC is how many points Friday and Saturday will cost you, particularly in a 2 bedroom. We have 3 kids, so we play the 'offsite weekend' or 'smaller unit weekend' game. We also split time between WDW & VB, and WDW & HH to take advantage of the different seasons and point values. That way, we can still do a 10 day vacation but get maximum point value.

These boards are invaluable for getting advice on how to stretch points!

 

[offtheice]

Originally posted by OneMoreTry
Phillybeth is right.

DVC is for saving money if you plan on staying at the DVC resorts alot. Old key West, boardwalk villas, Beach club villas, Villas at Wilderness Lodge, Saratoga Springs Resort, Hilton Head and Vero Beach.

It will not save you money unless you spend at least 7 to 10 years of vacations (over the 40 to 50 of the contract) at these resorts.

For the remainder of your 30 to40 years -- do what you will. It is icing on the cake. You will save evenmore if you stay DVC.


Don't buy DVC if you want to stay at values, moderates or deluxes only. I'm not sure if it's a good deal for trading with other timeshares. I haven't looked into that

Once you stay on property, you will never go off. Yes you can save money off property ,but you no where get the beni from staying on property. This is the main reason why I got on DVC. I will never stay off.. just not worth it..