Considering DVC !?

[Klib624]

Help! We are annual Disney vacationers. We have been to Disney every year for the past 6 years. We spend a lot of money every year. My husband suggested we consider the vacation club.

I'm looking for positive and negative feedback from this board. You guys have never let me down in the past.

 

[DebbieB]

Help! We are annual Disney vacationers. We have been to Disney every year for the past 6 years. We spend a lot of money every year. My husband suggested we consider the vacation club.

I'm looking for positive and negative feedback from this board. You guys have never let me down in the past.

It's a big financial step. Not only the original price, but also the annual dues. If you go often and like deluxe accommodations, it's nice to not have to worry about getting discounts or coming up with the money each time. I usually did room only before and hated coming home to a big room bill. I've owned at Boardwalk for 14 years and never regretted it. My original price is long paid off and I pay $120 a month for dues on 250 points.

I especially like the larger rooms (1 bedrooms and up). I don't know if I would buy planning to stay in a studio all the time if you have more than 2 people.

 

[Lynne M]

I'm going to move this to the Purchasing DVC board.

 

[Deb & Bill]

You have your first reseration in a deluxe resort. The others were value or moderate. If you continue to book deluxe resorts, DVC would be about the same cost. If you look for bargains, bounce back deals, free dining, etc, you won't get those with DVC. Dues go up each year. Some resorts have higher dues than others, so those will go up faster.

You'll still pay to eat. You'll still pay for park admission. You'll still pay for transportation to WDW.

 

[jillgunter]

We are under contract currently for a BWV.

Here is what pushed us:

We go every year or at least every other

We like to stay deluxe

Prices are going up, so we wanted to get in now when we can still afford it.

Eventually our dc will want to bring a friend, so being able to get a 1 or 2 bedroom will really be ideal for us.

 

[disneynutz]

It's all about the numbers and benefits. Take some time to read through the hundreds of posts that discuss your very question.

Have fun and remember, knowledge is power!

Bill

 

[bakerworld]

Help! We are annual Disney vacationers. We have been to Disney every year for the past 6 years. We spend a lot of money every year. My husband suggested we consider the vacation club.

I'm looking for positive and negative feedback from this board. You guys have never let me down in the past.

Remember the saved $$ is on the room - if you usually take 10-day vacations each year the AP might save you $. It does look like your venue quality increase every year. Why don't you pick a venue, rent pts and see if you like the quality of what your paying vs. the hotel room, after you stay at WL which so far looks like your only deluxe rm stay? Remember part of the DVC is annual dues and limited housekeeping service.

 

[eliza61]

So some of the reasons why we purchased.

1) we felt pretty sure we would be visiting wdw in some form for the rest of our lives.
2) We did values 1 time and 1 time only. I will never do one again.
3) 3 people in the family over 6 ft tall and 250 lbs. lol my sons stopped being little at 12. we absolutely need the extra space.
4) I love having a full kitchen and no I am not a cooker on vacation. I love having the fridge filled with drinks and snacks. Now as we've gotten older we love not having to go out for breakfast and we are not the "pop tarts/granola bars" for breakfast type of people.

Now for us having limited house keeping was not a major issue. I do order the extra towels and washclothes.
So for us it was an excellent choice. I have enough points to do my home resort BCV's for one week each year (based on August -October point rates) in a one bedroom. My annual dues would still be cheaper than what it would cost if I had to pay oop for it.

 

[Minniesgal]

We bought primarily because we wanted two bedroomed units with more than one bathroom, a full kitchen and laundry facilities and we wanted to stay on site. For our requirements DVC rooms were pretty much our only option. If we are going to stay DVC we might as well own DVC. Had we been happy to stay in hotel rooms we probably wouldn't have bothered but with three kids we outgrew them years ago.

 

[NHTikiBeckie]

Hi!

A DVC purchase is different for everyone...some do it because they love Deluxes, some because they have large families, some because they go several times a year, etc. For us, we did it because we like to visit 1-2 times a year, and after doing some number crunching (I highlight suggest lots of number crunching!), we realized it would save us money. DVC is NOT a money saver for a lot of people though. We have a 100 point contract at AKV...we only stay in the value studios and our trips are usually Sunday-Thursday, and we usually go October-January. That 100 point contract gets us 11 nights. We love AKV and buying DVC was a cheaper option for us than paying full price or even with a room discount. That is what works for us, but it really is different for everybody. Do lots of reading on here and feel free to ask questions

 

[mmdisneylover]

Help! We are annual Disney vacationers. We have been to Disney every year for the past 6 years. We spend a lot of money every year. My husband suggested we consider the vacation club.

I'm looking for positive and negative feedback from this board. You guys have never let me down in the past.

Love dvc and would recommend it if you go every year.

 

[mpusateri]

It is a long term committment. If you intend to go every year or every other year for the next 30 years, then this is the way to go. If not, the better way to go is to buy reservations from someone through this site and buy their points and have them make the reservation for you. I help people I know do this all the time and it can save them half price from what disney would charge for a similiar room. This way, you can use the DVC when you want it and are not stuck with it when you do not want it. If you decide to buy, I recomend the resale route and not through Disney as you can save 25% that way.

 

[DougEMG]

Some negatives that I can think of are:
1) owning DVC is a long term financial commitment. Lots of money up front to buy and on going annual maintenance fees that always go up.
2) not as flexible as booking rooms with cash, you need to plan out a lot further ahead with DVC. So spur of the moment trips don't work that we'll with DVC.
3) commits you to going to Disney a lot.
4) discounts like free dining do no apply to DVC

The real positive is that eventually it will save you a lot of money on your room. How long it takes before those savings happen is all dependent on your purchase price and what you normally would have spent on a room.