Did you buy on impulse or planned

[craigkerstiens]

I'm not talking about whether you thought threw it vs. buying immediately after a tour of DVC. More from the financial perspective. Did you get a big bonus and decide, okay we're gonna do it... or was it something you saved up for a long time over years?

 

[CraigInPA]

My wife and I purchased without taking the tour. Instead, we rented points for three stays in two resorts we were interested in over two years while we saved enough to buy a contract outright. We then waited for about nine months for the "Cinderella resale contract". So, we deliberately went about the acquisition. There was no buy on impulse for us!

 

[chepic]

We bought long ago in 1996 and we took the tour, got the packet, talked on the plane, and called the next day. We did finance for 2 years and paid it off early.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We were on our first trip to WDW and Bill spent a lot of time watching the DVC channel on television. We signed up for a tour, they brought us over to OKW, Commodore House, and we talked to Pattie Douglas. We bought 175 points. We had talked about it before we actually talked to Pattie, but we just learned about it on that trip. We paid $50 a point for OKW points and got to use our hotel stay as our down payment.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Definitely impulse. Even taking the tour was impulse. I was on a solo trip, without DH, cold weather left me with not much to do, so I scheduled the tour. The DVC guide was very nice, loaded me up with stuff to share with DH, gave me a nice tour, including a description of Disney's Hilton Head Island resort (I think I'd mentioned DH was a golfer), and when I got home, DH saw my huge smile, The smart man said "I think it sounds like a GREAT idea!" (the promise of a trip to HHI helped, and I might have said "Oh, but only DVC members can go there) and we bought. I think he still believes that we can go to DHHI ONLY because we're DVC members.

 

[Disneypapa]

Bought in about 15 years ago. Studied and read a lot about how it works and if it made financial sense. Had son and his family take a tour, I was not on trip. Waited until I found a loaded contract and bought resale. No regrets, we have used points for about 10 trips, more than covering the cost of buying in. While I have opted to travel the world since retirement, son and family still go every other year.

 

[jodifla]

We got a flier to stay at Vero Beach for $99 when it opened. I talked my DH into doing the tour so we could see the beach cottages. Once we saw the one bedrooms I knew I could convince him. Next weekend we went to Orlando and toured Old Key West and Boardwalk. Crunched through the numbers and decided it made sense.

We financed and are glad we didn't hesitate. We had it paid off quickly, all the while vacationing at WDW,and didn't have to watch as the price climbed out of reach.

I don't get people who buy and only use it 10 years. We have had it 23 years and use it almost every year.

 

[aoconnor]

Started with a small resale contract after doing a few weeks of research, paid cash and was 26 at the time. Since then I’ve added on twice, basically as you said “got a big bonus and decide, okay we're gonna do it”

Loved every minute so far and looking forward to the 38 years that are left!

 

[hakepb]

Yes, before our trip, we listed an empty lot.

After the DVC presentation, it seemed like a good idea, but we needed the lot sold.

2 days after leaving WDW (still on vacation) we got an e-mail from our realtor with an offer. So we called our guide and said if the deal is still the same, send the paperwork to sign at home.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Waited until we had everything fully covered financially and had real excess money. Took about 20 years to get there. Lol

 

[finchy3]

I researched for around 6 months mostly on this site, then purchased resale @VGC in 2014.

 

[Chuck S]

Well, Mom and I were staying at the Contemporary in 1992, for 2 weeks. We had gotten a post card inviting us to the DVC presentation, and thought "a timeshare? No way!" Then we were on the monorail heading for EPCOT one morning and overheard a young couple talking about the wonderful condos. Since we had plenty of time, we stopped at the DVC kiosk, which at that time was in the exit area of Spaceship Earth, and made arrangements for a DVC tour the next day. I was still quite skeptical, given the reputation of timeshares at the time. Mom on the other hand, was sold on the idea, and decided to purchase then and there...and while usually quite conservative in spending, she would be known to make a sizable impulse purchase every few years. Her impulse purchases ALWAYS worked out well, as did our DVC purchase. We got the minimum of 230 points at the time, and had a 3 year mortgage through Disney. During those first years, we added on 3 small contracts, bringing the total to 345 points, which I still have today.

 

[bobbiwoz]

In 1996 we looked, but never took a tour, because we had two sons in college, we decided against it. In 2003 we were empty nesters and my Mom said she would like to have her 85th birthday celebration at WDW. That was the next year. Price was $85, but if you gave up the first years points, the price was $75, and that’s what we did. We bought at BWV started with 150 points. That was when you booked day by day and for the villas we needed, a two bedroom and 3 studios, and I needed them to be standard view and it worked! Her birthday was December 22. We had 13 people all together, and it was very cold! The Boardwalk was my mom’s favorite resort, it was a wonderful experience!

We used money from savings.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

I’ve since sold but when we bought we had been thinking about it awhile. DH got a large bonus and that’s when we bought resale. But I will say we made sure to use the bonus on other things first...like paying off stuff and stocking our new baby’s college fund. Only after that did we use it for DVC.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

We didn't get a bonus or anything and decide that was the time. However, we didn't really sit thorough and plan the finances. We knew how much we had in savings and we knew how much we spend annually on Disney, and it made sense. We had been watching DVC for many years, so knew we would want to do it.

But we never sat down and planned the finances. That was gut.

 

[littlestar]

We did a planned purchase. Looked at DVC in the fall of 2001 and then 911 happened. Then finally bought in February of 2002. I called and asked people we knew who owned DVC about points inflation, etc., before we would pull the trigger on a purchase.

 

[com_op_2000]

When we purchased in '93 we had the cash in savings, plus we had DVC offer to use some of our on-site vacation monies as a down payment. So we planned but we knew we would buy-in as soon as we heard that Disney was building a timeshare.

 

[lovin'fl]

Original buy was in 2006. We took little kids to WDW in 2003 and again in 2005. The 2003 was off site and then 2005 was on site (POR) with dining plan. We fell in love. We lived in NC and our kids were in year round elementary so we planned to go every Sept-Oct and then other times in between (figured about 3 trips over 2 years). We have the 3 kids and it was tight at POR in regular room with trundle bed for DS. We wanted more condo style vacation with master bedroom for us parents (door to close between us and kids). DH had been reading on forums (intercot at first and then here) and learned about DVC. He looked it up after seeing the DVC booths on our 2005 trip. In 2006, I came into an inheritance so we decided to use it on DVC. Went with cheapest selling resale resort at WDW...OKW...to get the most points for our $$$. Have since added a lot more, small contracts so we could pay in full each time.

We planned and did it over several months of research. Though we bought at OKW without ever setting foot there or seeing any DVC villa in person. We didn't take the actual DVC tour until a couple years later (2008 I think). Oh, and when we took the kids to WDW in 2003 we thought it would be a 1 and done. I didn't even want to go. Ha....now here we are about to go for, maybe, the 23rd time and have 3 trips planned this year.

 

[Chirple]

Impulse buy in 2007. We were on a Disney cruise, and half of our tablemates were DVC owners. I went to the presentation with one of the couples, gathered all of the information, made an appointment, and presented it to my husband later. We had been staying in Values and Moderates mostly and loved our WDW trips. He came with me to the appointment, we discussed the value and upfront costs, and decided it was a good fit for us.

Emotional buy in 2008. The following year we were staying at our home resort (SSR), and the DVC center had the BLT models. My mom had just passed away and left me some money. I toured the model alone and met with my guide (who was onsite that day). I told my husband that I was going to buy points at BLT with or without him using my mom's money because when my parents took us on our one and only family trip to WDW in 1976 we stayed at the Contemporary. He took the tour himself and was sold so we were early BLT purchasers.

No regrets on either purchase.

 

[ericar]

I bought after years of thought and my only regret is not buying sooner.