Buying into DVC on DCL

[mlayton14]

I always love it when people tell other people what is a good / bad use of THEIR points.

this will be my 3rd cruise on points. We don't mind at all. We have plenty of points. First cruise we paid cash for my dd. 2 and 3 are covered completely by points. DD age 12 would much rather cruise than go to WDW now, so this is how we choose to use our points - now. When she was younger we went to WDW twice a year and used our points for studios or one bedrooms.

I don't care to join RCI for now, so for us, it's WDW, DLR or DCL. It all works for us. I can't see owning the points but then paying cash for a cruise. yes, I could rent the points out too, I just choose not to.

However someone uses their points is because it works for them. We love the flexibility of the program from 1-2 nights at any level resort up to a 7 day cruise for us, it's been great.

ps. to the OP, there is a whole section on DVC on the Disboards that you can peruse and learn more.

Don't recall telling anyone what to do with their pts. At end of day Dvc is a discount program whose purpose is to save money, really no other reason to be a member. If someone chooses to give back that savings that is completely their choice.

 

[dlhvac]

I always love it when people tell other people what is a good / bad use of THEIR points.

this will be my 3rd cruise on points. We don't mind at all. We have plenty of points. First cruise we paid cash for my dd. 2 and 3 are covered completely by points. DD age 12 would much rather cruise than go to WDW now, so this is how we choose to use our points - now. When she was younger we went to WDW twice a year and used our points for studios or one bedrooms.

I don't care to join RCI for now, so for us, it's WDW, DLR or DCL. It all works for us. I can't see owning the points but then paying cash for a cruise. yes, I could rent the points out too, I just choose not to.

However someone uses their points is because it works for them. We love the flexibility of the program from 1-2 nights at any level resort up to a 7 day cruise for us, it's been great.

ps. to the OP, there is a whole section on DVC on the Disboards that you can peruse and learn more.

It is not a good use but you can do what you want with your points the poster was just saying its not cost effective

 

[lorenni]

I am also interested in any advantages of buying DVC onboard vs on shore.

Any chance we could get back to the OP's original question? Debating the pros and cons of DVC is probably better left to the other boards, no?

 

[su_A_ve]

We go almost yearly to WDW but we stay mod and so far been going during FD promos. I've priced it out... And it's not worth it. Between the initial investment (financed) and the annual fees, it adds up to more than we would spend.

I'll still rethink about it every couple of years though. Though about buying thru the resale market, but I've heard they've reduce some of the benefits from buying directly.

 

[sissy_ib]

I am also interested in any advantages of buying DVC onboard vs on shore.

Any chance we could get back to the OP's original question? Debating the pros and cons of DVC is probably better left to the other boards, no?

The OPs question has been answered. The promos change all the time so do not think any of this is a guarantee. There should be an OBC, I believe $500 was quoted, some ultimate fast passes for your next Disney Parks vacation, a dollar amount off at certain resorts, probably only AKV and Hawaii. Things like getting "last years" points without annual dues are NOT cruise specific. You can get than by buying on land. I believe the 20th anniversary promo is also over now, but that was also offered to everyone not just cruise passengers.

 

[OurDogCisco]

I am also interested in any advantages of buying DVC onboard vs on shore.

Any chance we could get back to the OP's original question? Debating the pros and cons of DVC is probably better left to the other boards, no?

What I would do is right before you go on your cruise figure out what the current land promo is and then, go on the cruise and compare. I don't think you are going to know which one is better until you actually know the deal. Good luck!!!

 

[Tinked]

I would also figure out what I paid per year to go to Disney as a comparison figure too. (That is if you go down regularly.) We bought at a time when we were going down at least once a year and the cost of points and dues at that time was close to the cost of the yearly vacation. Have never regretted the purchase. It has been money well spent.

I would also recommend buy the least number of points allowed, 160 I believe, and adding on especially on cruises. The add-ons are usually fantastic. They make it very easy to buy too.

 

[aymekae]

Just wanted to add another perspective. We bought into DVC Aulani last December on our cruise, since we are on the west coast and can see Hawaii happening as often as WDW. We got very similar incentives as those mentioned, though I may be misremembering a bit... $500 OBC, 18 VIP Fast Passes, a credit of $12 off per point (almost $2,000 off for 160 pts), and while this isn't an incentive, since we bought at the end of December, our annual dues prorated for 2011 was chump change, though our UY began in Aug 2011.

We also got a ton of swag, but honestly, wish they wouldn't have loaded us down, we're just not "stuff" kind of people. I don't consider that an incentive.

And finally, we bought DVC even though we haven't already established a pattern of Disney vacationing where it would save us anything. We bought because we wanted to take these kinds of vacations, but it's difficult to debate them on a case by case basis, so this gives us permission to plan a vacation or two a year without feeling guilty or scrambling to come up with thousands of dollars at one time. I love that we already have our next 3 vacations planned (Aulani, Grand Californian, and an Eastern Caribbean Fantasy cruise, though that's cash, not points), and now that we have a little one on the way (our first) I am happy we made the decision while we were still DINKs so that we can vacation how we imagine from the beginning, instead of kicking ourselves in 10 years.

Not sure how I could have explained that any better, but just trying to get across that we never looked at this purchase as saving us money, we just decided to prepay a good portion of it and feel obligated (yeah, twist my arm, right?) to vacation every so often.