Do you avoid telling some people about a DVC purchase?

[Cfabar1]

I especially avoid talking about our vacations and travel at the office. We are frugal in many ways - both of our cars are over a decade old and are quite modest. We live in a nice, but not lavish home, etc.

I think it is really no one's business that despite all that frugality in many ways, we love to travel, and when we are able to do, we want to do it in the most enjoyable way possible. Some people buy boats, nice cars, find ways to retire by 40, etc. I don't want judgement or feelings from other people that I have it better than they do to factor into office politics, where invariably there is the person who would say "I would love to go to disney but just could never afford the cost", etc. I have shared with some colleagues that we are AP holders, but that's about all, and given that we live in Florida, it isn't that special...

 

[DonMacGregor]

I don't walk around carrying a sign announcing the fact that I own DVC, but if the topic comes up and I think it adds to the conversation, then I'll say I own DVC without reservation. If someone doesn't like it (and by that I mean ANYONE), I absolutely don't care. That's their problem, not mine.

People are only judgmental towards you if you empower them to be so. If you don't allow someone to sit in judgement of you, then they can't judge you and are just another voice with an opinion that doesn't matter. If it's a family member trying to pass judgement, then the issue really has nothing to do with the timeshare, and everything to do with that person.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

My brother tried to get me to sell my DVC for over 10 years,
Basically, every time I ended a contract......
Then one year he wanted to rent points rather than stay at SoG....

Yeah, haven't heard much pushback from him since,

 

[TheDailyMoo]

We purchased in 93 and I was terrified to tell our accountant. To my surprise he thought it was fantastic based on how DVC works. He bought and sold multiple contracts.

Wow that's the DVC version of buying Apple stock when it first came out lol. Was this still when the minimum point purchase was 230 points?

 

[davidhr]

I’m a very private person so I don’t share a lot about me with others. Friends and coworkers know that I like going to WDW. If the conversation is around WDW and they ask about how I do it, I have no problem telling them about it. But I’m not like “Hey! Guess what? I just bought DVC!” with people.

I’m also a person who doesn’t care about what others think/say. So if they’re the type of person that think “all timeshares are a scam” I just tell them “then you should stay away from DVC because it’s just a glorified timeshare” lol.

 

[MommaKetch]

Interesting post and responses! I've often wondered the same thing: What do people say and who do they tell?

I told my family (Mom and Sister), and even though they don't understand the ins and outs of DVC, they think it's great. They are Disney people. We have not told my husband's family and probably never will. They will be judgemental, and they already have a whole mess of issues. We don't want to add fuel to any fire. They are not Disney people.

 

[Halle]

Wow that's the DVC version of buying Apple stock when it first came out lol. Was this still when the minimum point purchase was 230 points?

I think so. We bought 309 points which was one week in a 2 bedroom villa in February. We also received tickets until the year 2000. You received one ticket per day for 1/2 the number of people the villa slept. We received 4 tickets because the villa slept up to 8.

 

[jodifla]

I tell everyone. Some people have this vague idea that I have "a timeshare" and ask me where I own. When I reply at Disney people are often a mixture of impressed and jealous.

 

[Ashlotte]

I don’t care about the timeshare stigma. We’ve had a different timeshare since 2006 that has been one of the best decisions we’ve made, allowing us to go on lots of great vacations as our kids were growing. We bought it resale for a fraction of the regular cost. I’ll gladly have a conversation with anyone who insists that timeshares are a bad deal and educate them on my particular timeshare and how great and affordable it’s been.

We’ve only had DVC for a year and a half. I only told 1) my friends who also love Disney, 2) my friends who also have timeshares, and 3) friends who are in a similar or higher income bracket than I am. Usually all three of those groups overlapped. I have a lot of friends who could never afford one Disney vacation, let alone a timeshare there, so with DVC, as with any other luxury I feel guilty about enjoying while other people are “have nots,” I keep my trap shut. I’m also not one to post all my vacation photos on Facebook because I don’t want to make others feel bad.

IRL we are known for being excessively frugal, so a DVC membership is definitely an incongruent splurge, even though we did it in the most frugal way possible, paying cash and buying resale.

 

[maui22]

When we initially bought in 2009, we let immediate family know. Heck, part of our initial buy required our guide to secure a room for us in early Dec. Brought my mother and stayed at Kidani and BLT (home resort).

We have gifted family stays. They pay for travel, tickets, food, and souvenirs.

That being said, not sure we will tell family about resale purchase (still waiting for sellers to sign/return closing docs 11 days later). Some in family have become extremely judge mental over the last 2 years since they retired.

 

[pianomanzano]

We tell friends/family (if asked why we go so often) that we have DVC but we don’t share how many points we have as it just leads to the same conversations about costs, timeshares, etc.

 

[BamaGuy44]

Personally, this question sounds like someone needs approval of their peers to justify personal life chooses.

One of my former co workers and friend use to tease me about my Dvc contracts….
When his wife found out he had to find out if I would rent them points, then on the trip, she bought points….

If you are happy with your purchase be happy.
if as a grown adult you need someone else to approve your purchase for you, maybe that wasn’t the right purchase for you….

Just my two cents

There’s a difference between needing someone’s approval vs just not wanting to hear their smug ignorant comments. The very fact that I DONT care what certain people think about it is why I don’t want to hear their commentary on it.

 

[sheilafri]

Most of my family is too discreet to ask. Most people I know don’t get my attraction to WDW so I try to avoid the topic in general. They think I’m ridiculous to go no matter the circumstances. I’ll talk Disney on the Disboards.

 

[zavandor]

My family has stopped asking, wondering ot being surprised about anything I do related to them parks (in general and Disney in particular).
I sometimes share I have DVC when I talk about my vacations, but WDW is usually too remote that my friends aren't really interested in any detail (I'm Italian, living in London).

 

[Jwaire]

I take the "my money, my business" approach, but my immediate family know. They just don't quite understand all the details.

My mother and brother understand it better because they benefit. My brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew travel with us every year to Walt Disney World.

My poor sister-in-law first thought I could just book us a room anywhere I want at anytime.

It was tough getting across what exactly it is and that I'm going to give you a set of dates every 11 months. You can either go or not. No strings attached, but I want a committal before the banking deadline.

The planning is in my hands. I'll take suggestions, but my brother knows to tread lightly.

My niece and nephew are my world. I actually bought extra points specifically for them.

My brother and I were fortunate to grow up with grandparents that took us to Walt Disney World more times than I can count.

Like a lot of young 80's kids, I was obsessed with Mickey Mouse. Room was decked out in red Mickey curtains, bedspread, I had the talking Teddy Ruxpin-like Mickey, the Disneyland castle playset, etc. I'd watch VHS tapes of recorded Disney Channel shows like Mousercise and replay Disney Sing-A-Long's VHS's daily. I even had a record player with Disney albums and books with records.

My grandmother made sure I had the latest Disney VHS the week it came out. Much to my mom's annoyance, Fantasia became my favorite repeat classic.

Once I could read, Walt Disney was my idol. We had a set of old Encyclopedia Brittanica's someone gave us. I would read the entry to Walt Disney and beg my parents to take me to Walt Disney World. They saved up and took me once. Late 80's EPCOT became my world. We saw MGM Studios being cleared. They had just put up the earful tower.

We stayed with family to save money.

My brother came along and I got to go back again once he turned 5. MGM Studios was finished and it was the Disney Decade ( Remember the Magic and the 25th Anniversary Cake Castle).

We were both hooked.

My grandfather encouraged all of this and would tell me stories about his first trip to Walt Disney World and EPCOT Center in the early 80's and how he accidentally got off the monorail at this hotel with a huge fountain and garden called The Polynesian.

It took him 20+ years to get us back there, but once he retired—that's where we always stayed. We went back every year until he couldn't do it anymore.

He passed in 2017. Once I got to the point where I could afford it, I picked up the torch and used DVC as a tool. Who can afford to pay cash at the Poly every year?

It's worked out great. My nephew thinks he has to spend every birthday at the castle. I get reminded about it about 50x every year.

He told my brother last year his favorite ride was the ball (Spaceship Earth). My brother had never been so proud in his life. He was literally in tears of joy.

 

[NVDISFamily]

We purchased in 93 and I was terrified to tell our accountant. To my surprise he thought it was fantastic based on how DVC works. He bought and sold multiple contracts.

I would never tell anyone to buy DVC as an investment. I do work for a large accounting/public services firm and there are quite a few people in this line of work who own timeshares themselves or who travel a fair amount and see the value of it. We have quite the work very hard and play hard lifestyle in this line of work.

It was kind of fun to talk to quite a few CPAs/accountants on the busses to and from SSR about their experiences when we were out visiting to kick the tires and consider adding on at WDW during our 2022 first trip to WDW.

As for me, I'm not shy about how much we like the program but I also don't try and overshare. Most of the family is happy to join us on trips but we do have a few that complain about the expense of going even if the rooms are gifted by us.

 

[Ruttangel]

Not told anyone but they I know I go to WDW every year and must think we are made of money.

BUT…. catch me in a DVC pool spa and we’ll soon be comparing home resorts, booking strategies and what to buy next!

 

[MartyParty]

Interesting thread. Agree with a lot of the comments. I won't go out of my way to talk about DVC unless someone initiates the conversation. In the past, most of the folks who don't get DVC or are combative don't go to Disney to start with. They've typically never been to Disney once as a child or an adult. Like trying to argue with a flat earthier that the world really is round. Disney can be fun for adults. Etc.

 

[RoseGold]

People generally know I'm a Disney nut, and usually a first stop when they want to plan a Disney trip. Much fewer know I own a timeshare.

I don't know anyone in my age group who owns a timeshare, it would result in immediate judgment and everyone thinking I'm an idiot.

I've even booked DVC rooms for people who didn't realize DVC was a timeshare. I guess they just magically thought I had points LOL. I have talked one person IRL out of DVC once. This person is a hotel snob, so it wasn't hard. Disney in general is probably not to their hotel standards. I actually don't know anyone IRL who DVC would be right for.

 

[bakerworld]

I discovered that most of my co-workers, who were the biggest collection of 'again?!' hadn't vacationed like we had so Disney wasn't anything beyond the norm for them. They all just assumed I was a Disney afficionado. Our family vacations were spend in the car, motels/old rental houses, and being stranded on the beach/lake with nothing to do. It wasn't like we never went anywhere, because we did, but it was traveling hours in a car, frugality to the point of 3 people in a bed or camping, and being creative without being destructive (learned distinction ).

The other group of naysayers are the ones that went to Disney, did too much so everyone was irritated by day 2, arrived back home exhausted, with a load of now unwanted sourviers, and a large CC bill. We're not collectors or souv people. When I arrived back from France last year, my neighbor said, "What did you buy?" and I responded, "Nothing." Why do I need something physical when I have pictures and the experience.