Does anyone have any regrets?

[MickeyMom2Boys]

We're looking into purchasing. I'm pretty much sold. DH still has concerns. I think the 50 year committment is what is holding him back.

Does anyone have any regrets about their purchase? For example, do you dread the monthly MF payments? Do you feel like you spent too much money? Do the yearly increases in maintenance fees bother you? Do you feel like you aren't getting your money's worth out of the purchase? etc, etc.

 

[Mtnman44]

If you "know" you are going to be going to WDW resorts regularly for the next couple decades anyway, then it compares very favorably. After all, won't hotel costs be increasing also?

If that type of vacation schedule is not in your plans anyway, then think thru a DVC purchase very carefully.

 

[kim_d]

Personally, we have no regrets. We love WDW. Our children are still young (5 and 3) we still have many more years of WDW vacations. Also our vacation habits (10 days at a Deluxe annually) make the DVC attract from a potential long term savings prespective, too. I also love the idea of ahving our accomodations paid for and the idea of being able to go more than once a year if we want.

 

[smep013]

NO REGRETS!
Only wish I could get more time off and had more money to go more often!
The 50 year committment is a high point. You can pass on the joys of vacations to your children/friends/relatives for years and years to come!

 

[DVC Mike]

No regrets here! I am verry happy with my decision to buy into DVC.

 

[hakepb]

No regrets here, other than...
Usually, the main regret is not buying earlier. DVC prices have been steadily going up. If, say, DH finally decides to pull the trigger 10 years from now, he'll really regret not locking in the lower (current) price when it existed.

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

No regrets.
I just wish I could afford more points.

 

[kim_d]

I have met so many people that regret not buying DVC when they first had the opportunity and the cost was much lower.

We bought BCV in 2/2002- when BC first became available. At the time we were relatively young (me- 25 and DH 29) only married 6 months with no kids. Surprise- Surprise….by 10/04 we had 2 children and are thrilled we locked into DVC when we did (we paid like $75/point). We close on another 130 pts at AKL tomorrow and can’t wait!

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

NO REGRETS!!

I wish I would have looked at OKW more than I did, but would have still bought BWV.

 

[rlduvall]

It's not that I have regrets [I only have 2 small contracts], BUT here are a few things that I did not anticipate:

1) It appears I bought my initial HH resale right when prices peaked (10/06). Lucky Me. Prices have already gone down $10 a point since then. I know, I know, I didn't buy it for an investment . . . but I did hate to see it happen so quickly after I bought in.

2) DH is not a Disney fan, so I must either beg a friend, go in summer so my DS can go with me or go solo.

3) Never thought airfare would be so expensive. Sucks the joy right out of planning.

4) Monthly Maintenance Fees are no fun [but I do pay it once a year].

5) And the number one thing I did not anticipate: YOU CANNOT BE INDECISIVE WHEN PLANNING A DVC VACATION!! For me, it's hard to plan a vacation 11 months in advance [if you want your home resort always] because of airfare and airline schedules for my area. Seems I need to constantly tweak my plans and it can be difficult at times with DVC.

Now diser's, this is just my experience. Please don't punish me!!

 

[wdwnut]

Only regret not buying in at OKW in '93 and only adding on at BWV later. I agree with PP that BWV would still have gotten a major share of my money, but the free passes should have tempted me more.

 

[magicmommy]

No Regrets. Our Disney vacations have given us wonderful memories and we enjoy planning each and every one.

 

[eva]

No regrets. We have owned for 11 years and have added on a number of times since. Of course like most, I wish we had bought a couple years earlier. There are three things I warn people about when looking onto DVC.

1. In most circumstances you should be a person that has the ability to plan vacations 7 or more months out to use the home resort advantage. You can try to change to other resorts later. But if you wait past the 7 month window to make a reservation, don't be surprised if choices are limited or there is nothing at all available. And for certain times of the year you absolutely need to use the 11 month window.

2. This can be addictive. You will probably be adding more points and/or planning trips all the time. It can be a lot more expensive than just the cost of DVC. Remember, you still have to buy tickets, food, airfare, etc. We used to go every couple of years. Now we go at least once a year, sometimes twice.

3. You better love Disney!

I love it and it is great for us. But each person has to decide if it is right for them. We have referred many people to DVC. And all but one was extremely happy with their purchase. Unfortunately, my sister bought after staying with us in a GV on a trip. I tried to make her wait. But she just loved the accommodations. She ended up selling a couple years later. It just didn't work with their vacation habits. She really didn't want to go to WDW every year. But she kept thinking that trading would work for her in the off years. She also had a tough time planning her trips more than 3 or 4 months out. So she was pretty doomed. Another issue she had was that she really didn't want to learn the ends and outs of DVC. So she lost points once and was stuck with using the Concierge Collections a couple times. So as you can see, it is not for everyone.

 

[dzorn]

The only regret I have is we should have broken up our contract into two parts. We have one for 225 I wish I would have broken it up into 160 and 65. This would allow us to sell part if sometime in the future we are not using it much or with an add on split it and give it to our two kids evenly. Other than than we have not had it long enough for any regret.

Denise in MI

 

[JimC]

No regrets. Not always happy about program changes, but overall still get good value and enjoyment out of it. The vibrant resale market for DVC makes a purchase much less risky then with most timeshares. The now staggered term contracts give you a means to design a longer term exit strategy.

 

[simzac]

Nope, no regrets. Having the MF automatically deducted from our checking acount is great. And when the MF's go up each year, monthly it's only about a dollar or 2.

 

[NEMO93]

We wish we could get more points and go on vacation more often. We love going to VB as break from WDW. There is a lot of places to visit and vacation at thru DVC without always having to go to WDW.

 

[crisi]

No regrets, but I wouldn't buy again and am happy I didn't buy earlier. When we bought, for the price and the time in our lives, its been a good deal. Had we bought earlier, we would have been strained and regretted not having the money for more important things ....later, it wouldn't have been a good decision for us.

 

[Disney_Villain]

No regrets. We bought OKW resale in 2006, and have since extended our OKW contract by 15 years as well as added-on at SSR twice (doubling our initial allocation of DVC points). We are planning to add-on again within a year . . . even if BLT's price per point is high, we will go for it.

We use it, we love it, we book family on it (other than ourselves, from time-to-time), we use it for non-DVC resorts and DCL, and we feel like we have great value for what we pay in annual dues.

 

[Blahnde]

I have only one regret and I have no one but myself to blame!

We bought into DVC back in 2003 on our very first trip to WDW; as left coasters we cannot count the times we have been to Disneyland, but had never been to "the World." We purchased at SSR not knowing anything about the resale market or the ability to buy "sold out" resorts. Our first purchase was for 500 SSR points in one contract for cash. We then added another 120 SSR points a year later and have done 12 more 50 point add-ons at AKV, BCV, and VWL in the last 2-3 years.

Can you see what I learned?

While I do not ever want to sell any of my contracts, I suspect it would be virtually impossible to sell our initial 500 point SSR contract even if I wanted to. Bells and whistles should have gone off in my head when our guide said, "Are you sure you want to buy 500 points all at once?" Again, totally my fault for not completely researching and understanding the system before jumping in, but overall I love being a DVC owner and would not change that for the world!

Blahnde