Confused - Just Signed Up on Cruise

[anonymousegirl]

Thanks for the clarification. I had downplayed the possibility of trade outs when I presented the idea of DVC to my non-Disney DH. It is nice to know that there is some chance of trading out occasionally (he's a big golfer).

 

[CarolA]

I love to travel too.

My advice buy Disney points for your DISNEY trips (I do use mine for cruises every now and then) And look elsewhere if you want a timeshare for other destimations.

Disney's trading is limited and difficult to deal with. It's not near the deal they make it sound. (I have yet to have a trade work out to Europe! I don't even try the tropical desitinations) To do the Disney trade folks often wait up to two years for top destinations. I have NO idea where I want to vacation in two years! (I am considering Marriott if the market EVER recovers LOL!)

 

[RobDoc]

Thanks Webmaster Doc.

1) I am reviewing my contract and our bonus points are indeed the Developer Points restricted to SSR, California, Interval International, or DCL. My apologies - on the cruise we were focused on taking another 7-day cruise with these points and didn't really pay attention to the restrictions. But since the Magic will be in Europe in 2010 for a good while, I'm not sure a cruise will be the best way to go with our available vacation schedule. Still having a hard time figuring out if it's a big deal if we lose these points by canceling and starting from scratch.

There is definitely a value for the Developer Points - especially since you will not even need to pay and maintenance fees on the points. They may be used for reservations at Disneyland or at SSR. You could even rent a reservation made using those points. There is definitely a value in those points!

2) To clarify add-on purchases. Are add-on purchases only available through Disney? What is the minimum add-on purchase for BLT prior to Jan 15, 2009? Are there never any closing costs associated with add-on purchases? Are there incentives with add-on purchases?

Technically and add-on is a contract added to your existing master contract. Add-ons will have the same Use Year as your original contract, but may be at any DVC resort. The points in the add-on may used at that resort 11 months in advance or at any of the other DVC resorts 7 months ahead. They may also be used 11 months ahead for the Disney Collection/Concierge Collection/Adventure Collection 11 months ahead and for DCL up to 2 years in advance. Presently, the minimum add-on at all DVC resorts is 25 points. On January 15, 2009 the minimum will increase to 100 points only at BLT. There have never been closing costs for add-on purchases. Some add-on purchases will have incentives (usually with a point minimum). Presently there are incentives available for both AKV and BLT add-ons (BLT has a minimum of 100 points for the incentive). There are no incentives available for add-ons at any of the other resorts with the exception of HH and VB where the cost is $87 per point for a minimum of 50 points or more.

If you were to purchase a subsequent resale contract with the same Use Year as an existing contract, you could have that contract combined with the original contract and it could be considered an add-on. It would still have closing costs (since it would not be purchased thru Disney).

3) To clarify non-DVC options. Am I understanding that it really isn't cost-effective to use DVC through the Interval International program, Adventures by Disney, or any of the other programs outside of the DVC resorts? We intend to do quite a few other DCL cruises in the future - is it better to pay cash for cruises?

If you will have some points available which might otherwise not be used, it is very cost-effective to use them for any of the non-DVC options rather than allow them to expire unused. However (IMO) purchasing DVC points with the intent of using them for the other options on a regular basis is a very expensive way to use DVC points. There are definitely less costly ways to accomplish the same things. IMO, using DVC points at DVC resorts is a great use of points. Using the same points for the other options will be more costly - partly due to the $95 reservation fee for those options and partly due to the inflated point costs for those options. For example, in most cases you can stay in a 1BR at a DVC resort for about the same number of points as a stay in a regular moderate resort room at WDW and fewer points than a stay in a regular room in a Deluxe resort (and don't forget about the $95 fee in addition). There is no fee for reservations at the DVC options.

We have belonged to DVC for over 15 years now and have used, on occasion, our points for a stay at a Concierge Collection resort. The accommodations were top-notch, we were well treated by the resort and felt that the points used were worth it - but had we used those points at a DVC resort 1BR we could have stayed 6 nights instead of 2 nights. We enjoyed the stay and had the points available to use in that fashion - but we've found ways to avoid needing to use our points in that way whenever possible.

In the long run, you will pay far more in maintenance fees over the years than in your original purchase price - so saving a few hundred (or a few thousand) on your purchase will eventually be overshadowed by the annual fees. I'd advise purchasing where you will enjoy the points the most for that reason. Many have found that the peace-of-mind of knowing that they can reserve easily at their home resort 11 months in advance has great value over owning someplace where you may have to compete for villas 7 months ahead. (BTW, maintenance fees at BLT will very likely remain lower that at other resorts over the years because of the higher number of points required for stays and staying at BLT will cost more for the same number of points for non-BLT owners than for BLT owners.)

DVC has been a wonderful purchase for our family and we have many great memories of trips with our children and grandchildren to WDW and HH. Those memories alone far outweigh the costs or joining. We reached a "break-even" point in early 1997 and our stays since have essentially cost us just our maintenance fees for the year. We tracked what each trip would have cost had we no used DVC points, tracked interest expenses and lost use of money and compared that to the purchase price, annual fees and discounts used as DVC members (in those days we received free-park admission for all of our trips thru 1999 as a purchase incentive) and found we were money ahead in just under 4 years.


Good luck with the decision!

 

[Family-of-4]

Thanks again, WebmasterDoc. I didn't realize add-ons could be purchased through Disney at any resort. On the cruise, they were only selling AKL and BLT at 160 point minimums. I can't get my mind around the add-ons since there is a maximum amount of interest Disney can sell in a resort - would the source of the add-ons for the other resorts be coming from resales that Disney exercises ROFR on?

After spending all day reading these boards, I believe what we are more comfortable in is having smaller than 160 point interests in BLT and BCV. Is the best way to accomplish this to:
1) Cancel our 320 point AKL purchase and forego all developer points and the $1,000 per 160 point discount
2) Purchase a small resale through The Timeshare Store for a less desirable resort for a good price
3) Then purchase add-ons through Disney for BCV and BLT (still need to do some math to determine how many points to buy, but basically would like enough to have the 11-month priority for 3 nights in early December)

Less confused and learning fast thanks to everyone on the boards!
Jeff and family

 

[JulieWent]

If you don't mind my asking, why the second option (purchasing a less desirable contract at resale)? Why not just purchase your BCV contract resale and then purchase your BLT contract from Disney?

Julie

 

[RobDoc]

Thanks again, WebmasterDoc. I didn't realize add-ons could be purchased through Disney at any resort. On the cruise, they were only selling AKL and BLT at 160 point minimums. I can't get my mind around the add-ons since there is a maximum amount of interest Disney can sell in a resort - would the source of the add-ons for the other resorts be coming from resales that Disney exercises ROFR on?

After spending all day reading these boards, I believe what we are more comfortable in is having smaller than 160 point interests in BLT and BCV. Is the best way to accomplish this to:
1) Cancel our 320 point AKL purchase and forego all developer points and the $1,000 per 160 point discount
2) Purchase a small resale through The Timeshare Store for a less desirable resort for a good price
3) Then purchase add-ons through Disney for BCV and BLT (still need to do some math to determine how many points to buy, but basically would like enough to have the 11-month priority for 3 nights in early December)

Less confused and learning fast thanks to everyone on the boards!
Jeff and family

Yes, the majority of contracts for sale by DVC at the "sold-out" resorts do come ffrom ROFR purchases. Others come from reclaiming contracts via foreclosure and abandonment. DVC currently has points available for sale at all DVC resorts. Not all Use Years may be readily available at all times, so there are situations where there may be a waitlist for some Use Years at some resorts.

As for your other thoughts - I would carefully consider how many points you really will use and plan your purchase accordingly. If your primary interest is to stay at BCV and BLT - figure out how many points you would need for those stays. Be aware that BLT does have higher point needs than any other resort so you may find that you will need 160 points there anyway. If that is the case, why not make your initial purchase at BLT? If you purchase a resale, it is unlikely you would be closed and in the system before the BLT minimum goes up to 100 points - so I'd suggest just purchasing the 160 points at BLT instead of buying 100 plus a resale and then add-on at BCV after the BLT purchase. I don't see any reason to purchase a resale at another resort unless you want to stay at that resort too (like a BCV or BWV resale).

Lots to consider. Just do the math and look at the timing.

 

[MommaX03]

To Jeff, Dane and the kids,
You have had the benefit on this thread of having the Disboards pros give you fantastic advice. DVC is an excellent way to experience Disney once you are fully apprised of its pros and cons. This is the place to learn it!

Do not feel any hesitation to cancel on this DVC contract within the applicable time period if you have any doubts. I did it in 2005 because I had that weird feeling. I eventually did purchase DVC in 2006, fully happy with my purchase. Buy where you want to stay. Do BLT through Disney. Buy BVC or BWV resale. Research your Use Year next!
Good Luck!

 

[Family-of-4]

Thank you all very much for your thoughtful and informative replies. I believe now what we need to do is cancel our 320 point AKL contracts and calculate if DVC is really for us. We love WDW, but really only get down there for about 3 or 4 days twice every 3 years and we generally stay at Shades of Green or at a discount at a moderate resort/Swan/Dolphin. At that rate, we'd probably make up our annual dues with saved hotel costs, but not really catch up much on our purchase price - about $20,000 for 100 BLT points and 75 BCV points I figure we would need. So, is the location, comfort, kitchen/kitchenette, and extra room worth $20,000 - I just don't know. I guess there would be some savings in food with the kitchen. We were really enticed by the opportunity to have enough points to cover a DCL 7-day cruise every few years, but with the feedback that a cruise is not a good value in points I guess we're better off paying cash for the cruise. I know the savings over paying to stay at a DVC villa would more than make up for the initial fee, but we'd probably never do that and just stay in a hotel room. Is there anything else in the savings DVC offers that I'm missing? I have a feeling that there is because I have yet to find anyone on the boards or on our cruise that has said not to join.

Again, thank you all for your input. We're going to cancel the AKL contract, keep reading the boards, and take some time to figure out if DVC is a good value for us.

 

[Family-of-4]

One other note when trying to assess the value. We love WDW, but we also love taking other kinds of trips - to national parks, etc. We want to be able to continue to do that as well.

 

[Caskbill]

One other note when trying to assess the value. We love WDW, but we also love taking other kinds of trips - to national parks, etc. We want to be able to continue to do that as well.

If you don't think you'll be going to WDW every year, consider getting a smaller contract. You can bank the points one year and thus have double (2-years) worth of points for the year you do go to WDW. In the off-years do your other vacations.

In fact some people use both banking and borrowing to have 3x points every 3rd year. If you look at point charts and think you'd need to have 300 points to use every 3rd year, then you really only need a 100 point contract and only use DVC once every 3 years, doing your other vacations the other years.

 

[CarolA]

You say you are buying with the plan to leave these to your girls.

I am not sure a timeshare is a good "inheritance" It comes with FEES and costs that your girls may or may not want to pay. They may not want to go to Disney. This is not really an "asset" but to some extent a liablity you are leaving them. And really by the time you pass on there could be so few years left on the thing that they can't even get rid of it.

Yes, prices are good right now, but......I can't see folks paying these prices for a timeshare with five years left.

I have been mointoring other timeshare sales for a while and I can't tell you how many are family members who inhertited this "white elephant" and want to dump it. As a matter of fact my first purchase was a family member who inherited DVC and had NO desire to own it!

 

[Family-of-4]

You say you are buying with the plan to leave these to your girls.

I am not sure a timeshare is a good "inheritance" It comes with FEES and costs that your girls may or may not want to pay. They may not want to go to Disney. This is not really an "asset" but to some extent a liablity you are leaving them. And really by the time you pass on there could be so few years left on the thing that they can't even get rid of it.

Yes, prices are good right now, but......I can't see folks paying these prices for a timeshare with five years left.

I have been mointoring other timeshare sales for a while and I can't tell you how many are family members who inhertited this "white elephant" and want to dump it. As a matter of fact my first purchase was a family member who inherited DVC and had NO desire to own it!

Hi CarolA,

Thanks for your post. Upon a couple days reflection, I agree with what you say. Chances are DW and/or I will still be kicking in 2057. The split contract was suggested during the DVC presentation on the ship and sounded good when wrapped up in the bubble of the Disney magic. Upon a couple days reflection, we definitely bought too many points and at a resort we do not prefer. Still trying to figure out if the expense of DVC is really a good value for us at all. Considering buying a low resale at BCV to get started but can't figure out why the resales per point at BCV seems to be a lot more than BWV and others at The Timeshare Store?

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Deb & Bill]

...Considering buying a low resale at BCV to get started but can't figure out why the resales per point at BCV seems to be a lot more than BWV and others at The Timeshare Store?

Thanks,
Jeff

You can only use the themed pool at BC/YC/BCV if you are staying at BCV or BC or YC. No pool hopping to Stormalong Bay. Lots of people love SAB (I'm not a big fan) so they want to stay at BCV. Thus, higher prices for BCV. And it is very close to Epcot (just minutes away by your feet). No long hallways like BWV. Closer parking than BWV.

 

[av8tor]

The poor horse is taking a beating. Decide first where you want to stay and buy there. It sounds like you got a good deal on the cruise but I think Disney almost always offers some form of incentive with any new purchase.

 

[CarolA]

Hi CarolA,

Thanks for your post. Upon a couple days reflection, I agree with what you say. Chances are DW and/or I will still be kicking in 2057. The split contract was suggested during the DVC presentation on the ship and sounded good when wrapped up in the bubble of the Disney magic. Upon a couple days reflection, we definitely bought too many points and at a resort we do not prefer. Still trying to figure out if the expense of DVC is really a good value for us at all. Considering buying a low resale at BCV to get started but can't figure out why the resales per point at BCV seems to be a lot more than BWV and others at The Timeshare Store?

Thanks,
Jeff

Location, pool and size.

It's the closest to Epcot, it has access to a great pool and it's just not very big.

As usual in real estate....location, location, location.

I really think it's a combination of the three factors I listed that drive demand here. I know that I bought at BCV for the location. I LOVE my annual Food& Wine trip where I am 5 minutes from the action. The pool is very nice and while I don't take as much advantage of it as I always "Think" I will I would think that with kids it would be a HUGE hit! When you add that to the fact that it's small it means it's hard to get a 7 month reservation at peak times so people jump on it at resale. I admit the prices I have seen make we think for about 1 minute of selling. LOL!

 

[rkwier]

Hello!

This is my first post also, but I thought that maybe I could offer something helpful. We were in your shoes about a month ago, except no kiddoes. I had been to Orlando for training and stayed at the Yacht Club. We came upon the DVC model at BWV when we were strolling through there. We were actually surprised at the accomodations and how affordable it was, so we agreed to take a closer look at it.

When we got home, I did a lot of research as to what was the best option for us - AKV, BLT or BCV via resale. (I have spreadsheets and everything - Yes, I am a little obsessive, but this is a big investment. ) I also POURED over this forum for information, which was worth its weight in gold. Although AKV was less expensive per point, the annual dues are higher and we ultimately decided that we would probably never want to go there anyways because of the remote location. We went with BLT because of location and length of contract. For the number of points we chose, BCV via resale was about $4,000 cheaper and would have made a difference of about $25 in our payments for comparison.

After deciding where to purchase, we had to decide how many points that we needed. I made another spreadsheet using the point chart listing the locations, times and points required for the units that we would want to stay in. (It helped me to have it all in one place rather than flipping through the book.) Then I compared the point level that we wanted to the chart to see where we could actually stay.

After we decided that we wanted to purchase, where to purchase and how much, I actually started looking for reasons NOT to purchase. (Like I said, this is a big investment so I wanted to be sure.) I poured over this forum again and anything else that I could locate. I even googled things like "disney vacation club nightmare" to see if I could find anything negative about the program. Ultimately, I could not find even one reason for us not to do it.

I hope that this helps a little bit from a newbie perspective. We think DVC is a perfect match for our family.

Best Wishes,
Kimberly