Cons of dvc?

[jmassey1samchi]

Not looking for anyone to bash dvc, but I am wondering what potential cons there may be that I am overlooking while in my dvc resale search. I know all the rules and how all the points work. I find myself so excited about the idea of buying an interest, but fear there may be some things that I couldn't know about dvc ownership prior to being an owner.
How are the rooms compared to the regular resort rooms? Do the villas also get used for non owner guests? Do they get updated when the resort rooms do?
Just some input here would be great so I know what to expect.
Thanks

 

[DebbieB]

Not looking for anyone to bash dvc, but I am wondering what potential cons there may be that I am overlooking while in my dvc resale search. I know all the rules and how all the points work. I find myself so excited about the idea of buying an interest, but fear there may be some things that I couldn't know about dvc ownership prior to being an owner.
How are the rooms compared to the regular resort rooms? Do the villas also get used for non owner guests? Do they get updated when the resort rooms do?
Just some input here would be great so I know what to expect.
Thanks

The villas are not as opulent as the regular deluxe rooms.

The villas can be booked through CRO for cash guests.

They do not get updated as often, renovations come from member dues.

You do not get daily housekeeping.

That being said, I've been a member for 15 years and have no regrets. It's great knowing you have the room and don't have to worry about how you are going to pay for it, you don't come home to a bill like after a room only stay. Once the original purchase is paid off, you are just paying dues. I have 250 points at BWV and it's about $125 a month. I had 4 nights in a studio at VGF in May and I have 6 nights in a BWV studio in October. Plus points to bank.

 

[Msmithmd]

Agree with DebbieB on most everything. Two exceptions- in my opinion, the DVC rooms at both VGF and VGC are each respectively much nicer and more opulent than the hotel room options.

It will remain to be seen whether this continues to be true 20-30 years down the road. She is spot-on that the renovation schedule for DVC is less frequent.

 

[lovin'fl]

One big negative is the annual dues bill that arrives every January (right after Christmas) . In all seriousness, the annual dues is something you need to count on having to pay every year you own your DVC...if something comes up for one's family financially, that dues bill may be an issue.

The other things mentioned are true...the no daily mousekeeping (which we actually like that we don't get that as we prefer to not have folks in our room) and renovations are not frequent (we are also fine with that and haven't noticed, even at the much discussed BCV, anything in major need of reno...we aren't super picky though).

We love our DVC...and careful it's addicting (we went from 200 points in 2006 to 505 now and I aim to add 80 more). We like to have a separate bedroom for DH and I (from the kids, now teens) and the washer/dryer as well as the jetted tub...and the kitchen is nice but we don't use it too much (coffee and quick breakfasts and keeping drinks cold). We could never pay cash for a villa/suite at WDW and would NEVER go as frequently if we didn't own DVC. With being a family of 5, we couldn't do the regular rooms either (we did POR and CR once each when the kids were little and it worked then but would NOT work now with 3 teens). And if we had to sell we could get some $$ for our DVC timeshare, which most other timeshares are not as good for that. So, for us, DVC is all good.

Good luck in your pursuit of DVC ownership!!!

 

[HokieGCC]

- It locks up quite a bit of money. Yes you can sell but not overnight.

- DVC is a plus regarding saving money but not as big as they make it out to be. You really have to know a lot about it to prevent it from being a bad financial deal.

 

[Dean]

Not looking for anyone to bash dvc, but I am wondering what potential cons there may be that I am overlooking while in my dvc resale search. I know all the rules and how all the points work. I find myself so excited about the idea of buying an interest, but fear there may be some things that I couldn't know about dvc ownership prior to being an owner.
How are the rooms compared to the regular resort rooms? Do the villas also get used for non owner guests? Do they get updated when the resort rooms do?
Just some input here would be great so I know what to expect.
Thanks

I would be concerned that you really don't know all the rules about how things work, basically the you don't know what you don't know idea. I generally recommend people spend a good 6 months of active investigation before considering buying, even then they should consider renting and staying with DVC at least once unless they have a ton of non DVC Disney experience at moderate AND deluxe resorts. DVC only makes sense for those that will ONLY use the points for DVC options, can pay OOP in cash, have no other consumer debt, value staying on property enough to pay a ton extra and are comfortable with the limitations of a timeshare. These include no housekeeping, tied to the option for many years, yearly costs, might only be able to stay at the home resort, might not get the reservation or time wanted and the like. Even then it only makes sense resale almost all of the time, esp for new buyers.

 

[chalee94]

Do the villas also get used for non owner guests?

of course. DVC owners rent to family, friends and strangers. and DVC owns a small percentage of each resort that they have the right to rent for cash if it's not needed for maintenance purposes...and when DVC owners trade out of the system for disney cruises or hotels, DVC manages those pts to rent out DVC villas for cash to pay for those cruises or stays at POFQ or the poly.

 

[disneynutz]

IMO once Disney locks you into your ownership, they relax and only do what they have to.

Telephone hold time can be a 40 minute wait to talk to member services.

When they do clean the rooms they often don't do a quality job and room maintenance is sometimes lacking.

The resort treatment for cash guests and DVC is different.

DVC can and has changed the rules and policies as they see fit, as owners you have no input.

Bill

 

[JimMIA]

Your thread has a good headline, but if non-owner occupancy and refurb schedules are what you're asking, you are thinking about the wrong things.

Here's a link from a month ago: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3289989

The issues discussed in that thread are much more important, and things that a purchaser of ANYbody's timeshare should consider before buying.

 

[DenLo]

You are committing to go a fairly expensive vacation no less than every three years and often yearly if not more frequently. You still have all if the other expenses related to a Disney vacation, transportation to the destination, park tickets, dining costs, souvenirs, and any additional fun activities that may or may not be Disney related (aka visiting the dark side) or even tours at Disney, La Nouba tickets, visiting lounges, or going to food and wine.

 

[DebbieB]

Agree with DebbieB on most everything. Two exceptions- in my opinion, the DVC rooms at both VGF and VGC are each respectively much nicer and more opulent than the hotel room options.

It will remain to be seen whether this continues to be true 20-30 years down the road. She is spot-on that the renovation schedule for DVC is less frequent.

I was very impressed with VGF. I haven't stayed in a GF room in a long time so I can't compare. Same with VGC. I think those are the nicest DVC rooms I've been in.

One big negative is the annual dues bill that arrives every January (right after Christmas) . In all seriousness, the annual dues is something you need to count on having to pay every year you own your DVC...if something comes up for one's family financially, that dues bill may be an issue.

It's nice that you have the monthly dues option with no fee.

 

[Dean]

It's nice that you have the monthly dues option with no fee.

And that it's paid in arrears so you're paying that Jan bill over the following 12 months.

 

[McCrae]

Another Con relates to using your DVC points for anything else apart from DVC. You don't get good value doing the switch.

I wouldn't buy DVC to have access to other time share programs.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

We're not owners but I have looked into it pretty thoroughly and decided it's not for us, for several reasons. Some of these are things that people use as selling points, but for us they're really not. Take them out of the equation and there's less and less reason to invest.

* We don't vacation at Disney every single time. We like to go other places, do other things too. And as others have said, you really only get full value using your contract at Disney resorts.

* We do like the daily housekeeping. Some don't, but we do!

* We take advantage of free dining every trip. Not for everyone, but for a family of 4 Disney adults it's a HUGE savings for us. We like to do a TS meal every day--it's part of our vacation experience--and the free plan lets us do that and not worry about what we're spending. You're not eligible for any kind of discount--whether it's free dining, stay/play/dine, etc.

* We started off doing Value resorts and now do Moderate. We're not hang around the resort people. We're go to the parks, go back and sleep people. Not worth it to us to spend the extra $$$$ on deluxe accommodations. DVC pricing is really more comparable to deluxe level prices.

* We don't care about a kitchen! Last thing I'm going to do is cook on vacation!

* And one thing when people talk about the money you save and how cheap DVC is. Many (not all, but many) only take into account the annual dues. They conveniently neglect to mention the huge initial investment. Or they'll say something like "Oh, we paid that off right away." Or, "We recouped that price in the first X number of visits." Well, if you did, then you drastically overpaid for those first visits. And if you finance that, it's even more! If you're really thinking about it, be sure you include every penny you'll be spending over the course of your ownership.

 

[Kidanifan08]

One con I can think of is that DVC is something that works best for people who can plan a vacation far in advance. You can often find something at short notice, but you won't have a wide range of resort options and you may need to change resorts or rooms a few times during your stay. There are certain times of the year that even the home resort advantage at 11 months may not get you what you want, particularly the first 2 weeks of December. If you know you generally cannot plan at least 7 months in advance, there is no advantage to owning as a specific resort, as a point is a point at the 7 month mark.

 

[disneynutz]

We're not owners but I have looked into it pretty thoroughly and decided it's not for us, for several reasons. Some of these are things that people use as selling points, but for us they're really not. Take them out of the equation and there's less and less reason to invest.

* We don't vacation at Disney every single time. We like to go other places, do other things too. And as others have said, you really only get full value using your contract at Disney resorts.

* We do like the daily housekeeping. Some don't, but we do!

* We take advantage of free dining every trip. Not for everyone, but for a family of 4 Disney adults it's a HUGE savings for us. We like to do a TS meal every day--it's part of our vacation experience--and the free plan lets us do that and not worry about what we're spending. You're not eligible for any kind of discount--whether it's free dining, stay/play/dine, etc.

* We started off doing Value resorts and now do Moderate. We're not hang around the resort people. We're go to the parks, go back and sleep people. Not worth it to us to spend the extra $$$$ on deluxe accommodations. DVC pricing is really more comparable to deluxe level prices.

* We don't care about a kitchen! Last thing I'm going to do is cook on vacation!

* And one thing when people talk about the money you save and how cheap DVC is. Many (not all, but many) only take into account the annual dues. They conveniently neglect to mention the huge initial investment. Or they'll say something like "Oh, we paid that off right away." Or, "We recouped that price in the first X number of visits." Well, if you did, then you drastically overpaid for those first visits. And if you finance that, it's even more! If you're really thinking about it, be sure you include every penny you'll be spending over the course of your ownership.

Wise decision!

Bill

 

[skier_pete]

We are new to DVC and have rented points but not yet stayed with our own points. I would say the biggest disadvantage that I didn't know about until I really got into it is how necessary it is to be able to book well in advance. Even if you OWN at some resorts, you may have a hard time booking certain room categories and certain times of year.

For example, we own at AKL, but it is still very difficult to get a Conceirge studio room even at the 11-month mark because there are so few of them. Also, value rooms book up it seems 9-10 months out, and sometimes earlier. I would assume if you owned at someplace like BCV, at certain times of year you would need to book at close to 11-months out to get the room you wanted, though of course I don't know this because it.

In the October - December timeframe, you almost need to be able to book at 7-months out just to get in ANYWHERE - particularly for a studio. Certainly by 5 months out you are SOL. Other times of year this is less of a problem.

The point being - while there are lots of options for DVC, getting what you want, when you want it, can take very advance booking. (I should stress this isn't the case all year round, but again particularly for October-December.)

 

[CMOORE185]

Con.....if you are not committed to the mouse.
Con.....long term financial commitment that always increases.
Con.....large initial layout of money.
Con.....must be able to plan at least 7 months, sometimes 11 months in advance, for the most part.
Pro.....priceless for a lot of owners.

 

[disneynutz]

Con.....if you are not committed to the mouse.
Con.....long term financial commitment that always increases.
Con.....large initial layout of money.
Con.....must be able to plan at least 7 months, sometimes 11 months in advance, for the most part.
Pro.....priceless for a lot of owners.

I've got to ask, is it DVC that is priceless or Disney/WDW and the way that Disney/WDW makes you feel?

Bill

 

[jmassey1samchi]

Thanks to everyone for their comments. This is all good info that I will take into consideration.
Jeremy