Deciding to buy - It's hard!

[TammyAlphabet]

I guess I am slow, because I didn't know what DVC was until I found these boards. As soon as I figured out what it was, I knew that I wanted in. Convincing my DH was a little harder! I think about six months of nagging, he gave in. Ha!

 

[tgan]

Just purchased and were on the fence for over a year ourselves. My husband and I analyzed it every which way there was. We came to this conclusion- Does it make good fianancial sense ?- not really. Does it force us to have a regular vacation schedule and stay in places we might otherwise not?- Yes. Does it create great family memories and allows us to pass it along to our kids (ages 9 & 6) Yes. Let you know how it works out for us but after finally making the decision I feel good about it.

 

[nyfn1]

I think it only makes sense if all you do is stay at the deluxe resorts every year for more than a week, other than that, I think it is hard to justify. You really don't "own"anything, you are simply buying the right to use xyz place. That is how I view it.

 

[bongo59]

How long did it take you to decide?

We've been thinking about it for a few weeks now, but keep going back and forth about it. I'm sure once we sell our travel trailer and free up some cash, it'll make the decision a little easier - I'm hoping!

we were the 27th people to take the initial tour when DVC opened..........we bought in 30 minutes..........................i will tell you this...........if you cant pay for it in cash dont buy it...............financing a luxury is bad business...............and that is great advice................i see way too many people make that mistake and then they go belly up. Dont do that to yourself.

 

[DisneyTarheel]

We are hooked on Disney. It seems we end up going every year or so. In the past, we usually alternated between AK and WL, depending on the pin-code deal we could get. For now at least, those deals appear to be limited.

In addition, once our third child was born, we realized our days of being able to stay at WL and AKL and still keep our sanity were numbered unless we opted for a suite or two rooms -- both options costing serious bucks, especially without pin codes.

We also only live about a 5-hour drive from HH and enjoy that area. When you have small kids like us, it seems that WDW or the beach are the two best vacation options.

DVC made sense to us, especially given the retained value of the membership compared to most other vacation clubs/timeshares. My wife also viewed it as a way to make sure I take a least 2 weeks of vacation a year -- something that my career often makes difficult.

We understood Disney could change its ROFR practices at any time, but felt this risk was relatively low in the near-future. We also realized we could rent a house or stay at one of the offsite suite hotels for a lot less than what we would be paying for DVC.

Did it anyway.

 

[tmt martins]

..........if it is taking you that long than i can tell you it is not for you..................simple as that. I have been in since the beginning and the only universal things i know about DVC..........you never have enough points and you can never go too much.

Some people just have commitment problems .

This doesn't mean that it's not for them.We looked into a few years ago but starting a family and so forth it was not right at the time .Of course looking back now it would have made sence just to jump in BUT.

Now with a little more financial security and knowing our family want to be a DISNEY family we started to rethink about it.With the current discounts we jumped right on it might have done without it but it sealed the deal.

Does this make it NOT FOR US no of course it's for us just had to be at the right time for US.
I'm not FLAMING you I just tend to see this alot the YOU"S and THEM"S.

 

[bongo59]

i know people procrastinate............but when you have to take that much time i think it is obvious that the decision is not cut and dry and for a complete luxury purchase it should be that cut and dry.............it should not hinge on other things............because if it does you probably should not be doing it............and putting yourself in a bind.................JMHO

 

[leslieh]

We bought in 1993 at OKW, its the best thing we ever did, we have been there over 25 times, everytime they have an airfare special we try to make a trip, even if its a long weekend. We did the 7 day cruise family of 4 in a balcony cabin that was valued over $6000 so that would have been half of what we paid to buy. We love it, no regrets, but did have buyers remorse until the first week visit. I highly recommend it. We also said would go every other year, that didnt last long

 

[disworldnum1]

we pretty much knew right away about the purchase.Our only concern was how many points and how much dues were we willing to pay for.So we figured out how many points for a week at the BWV and bought accordingly.We wish we had more but thats good enough for us for now.

 

[minijeanie]

I too, like many have hemmed and hawed over it for the past 5 years. I think what irks me the most is why it is so much more points on the weekends than it is during the week.. Drives me nuts.

So when you hear the initial pitch of only buying 150 points.. That is if you use it in the value season and not weekends.

Other timeshares like Marriotts which I am also considering, gives you a full week, weekend included plus it is transferrable . Disney is not. If I am correct, doesn't it revert back to Disney after a certain year?

 

[BCVOwner2002]

I too, like many have hemmed and hawed over it for the past 5 years. I think what irks me the most is why it is so much more points on the weekends than it is during the week.. Drives me nuts.

So when you hear the initial pitch of only buying 150 points.. That is if you use it in the value season and not weekends.

Other timeshares like Marriotts which I am also considering, gives you a full week, weekend included plus it is transferrable . Disney is not. If I am correct, doesn't it revert back to Disney after a certain year?

All DVC resorts except SSR expire in 2042. SSR expires in 2054. When we purchased our points, we did so with the intent to spend at least an entire week (without moving) during the time of year we usually travel. We also looked into other time shares in FL but we prefer not to rent a vehicle (most of our trips) and use WDW transportation to get around the resorts and parks.

Annmarie

 

[bongo59]

if youre considering Marriott...........buy a resale and save a ton of cash.............right now there is three of them for sale at bid4assets.com

 

[sjdisneywedding]

..........if it is taking you that long than i can tell you it is not for you..................simple as that. QUOTE]

That was my exact thought when I read the original post.

 

[rsinj]

.

 

[littlestar]

What pushed us over the hump was the end date. I'm guess I'm too scared to own a timeshare for life. I figure after it gets so old, they would make me or my heirs rebuild it if it's for a lifetime. I don't think lifetime timeshares are old enough for people to know what happens for sure after the buildings get old and need to be rebuilt. I'm scared of large special assessments.

I know in 2042 the DVC resorts wil be older, but look at the Contemporary, it's gotta be over 30 years old and Disney has taken good care of it. So I'm not too worried about DVC resorts.

A lifetime timeshare, yes, I would worry.

 

[disney-super-mom]

Well, we put in an ad to sell our '06 travel trailer for this Fri, Sat, Sun. I sure hope we can sell it fairly quickly so we can free up some $$ to buy into DVC. We don't really want to finance it, so selling the trailer is the thing to do. Wish we had known about DVC before buying the trailer. Oh well, whatcha gonna do?! I'm already excited, and all we've done is place the ad!

I still can't decide between buying an OKW resale or a new SSR using the current incentive. OKW really appeals to us because of the size of the units and the history of low annual dues. SSR has low annual dues right now too, but we're afraid how high they could be in a year or two. However, the extra years of membership buying SSR is certainly something to consider as well. Hmmmmm...there's also this one BWV resale that looks good too. How does one decide?

 

[BCVOwner2002]

Well, we put in an ad to sell our '06 travel trailer for this Fri, Sat, Sun. I sure hope we can sell it fairly quickly so we can free up some $$ to buy into DVC. We don't really want to finance it, so selling the trailer is the thing to do. Wish we had known about DVC before buying the trailer. Oh well, whatcha gonna do?! I'm already excited, and all we've done is place the ad!

I still can't decide between buying an OKW resale or a new SSR using the current incentive. OKW really appeals to us because of the size of the units and the history of low annual dues. SSR has low annual dues right now too, but we're afraid how high they could be in a year or two. However, the extra years of membership buying SSR is certainly something to consider as well. Hmmmmm...there's also this one BWV resale that looks good too. How does one decide?

Is the extra 12 years of membership important to you? Remember that you can pass this on to your children. If the extra years are important then go for the referral discount and purchase SSR. I have read that OKW is one of the easier properties to get into at the 7 month window so that may help with your decision too. Many people say buy where you want to stay but I have not had a problem staying at other DVC properties. I have even made reservations 2 months out during summer months and got a studio at VWL!

It's also important to note that resales don't always last long for the sold-out properties so you will need to keep this in mind too. Best of luck with your decision. Don't hesitate to ask other questions. It may help you in your decision process. Annmarie

 

[hallie615]

My DH and I put money down on DVC in 2003. Two days after we came home from our trip we bought a house. Decision, owning our own home or DVC AND LIVING WITH MY MOM . At that time we ended up cancelling our DVC . We just started thinking about it again and the rep. from DVC told me with the 15% it comes out to be cheaper now than it was in 2003.

my main question for you guys is- My DH is hooked on WL how hard is it to stay there if it is not your home base? SSR would be our home. I did ask about buying at WL and they said you could buy there but would not get the 15% OFF. We have been to WDW 3 time and it has always been in Sept.-Oct.. I would like to go at other times during the year but usually after we pay about 2,500 for our 1 trip we don't have the money to back sooner than the next year. My DH gets 3 weeks off for vacation maybe this will make us take more vacations. Please send me some pixy dust to help with these decisions.

 

[crcormier]

I just thought, this is AWESOME, I get an excuse to go to Disney once or twice a year! I didn't really consider the costs involved and whether or not it was going to be substantial savings. I just took it as a "here's a way to put aside for nice hotel rooms every year and force myself to go away on vacation".

 

[dvcmomdeh]

I think the decision to buy was easy. After 12 years the decision is HARD trying to decide if we should sell to pay for son to go away to college since he doesn't want to attend where I work (Purdue).