Does anyone regret buying DVC? Or wish they'd chosen a different home resort?

[Sandisw]

But, if this does indeed become the prevailing trend, don't you agree it should be of no surprise?

It is clear when buying that all booking is based upon availability, even at the 11 month window. I have no expectation that I am guaranteed to get what I want, where I want, when I want....especially if at or after the 7 month window. When we are buying or adding on, we do so after analyzing how we will use those points (time or year most likely to travel, size of accommodation based on who will travel with us) and where we want to stay. We need fewer points at Aulauni, as we plan to use those just for the two of us and keep our family vacations at DW. We are even considering VGC for long weekend getaways. We realize that if we want to go there during holidays, we will need home resort booking advantage.

You are right, it should be no surprise, but there are plenty of members out there who are buying now at home resorts that are not their favorites because they are being told that booking at 7 months is not much of an issue.

Every time someone asks, there are plenty of members on here who state that they have never had any problem booking at 7 months, which is great---for now.

But, in 5 years from now, if there is, people will feel they were mislead. Look at what is happening with the cruises. Things have changed in terms of availability and there are people upset who feel that DVC mislead them when they bought.

My feeling is and always has been, people should only buy resorts in which they are happy staying as nothing else is guaranteed.

 

[adminjedi]

My feeling is and always has been, people should only buy resorts in which they are happy staying as nothing else is guaranteed.

Agreed...and we have!

 

[gerrym51]

all I can say is this. I joined in 1993 for 230 points at 56 dollars a point.

what does a point cost today?. yes there are maintenance feesand taxes.

If you love disney world and go every year to 18 months it is an excellent value.

after using our points at most of the resorts in various ways we find that our home resort(okw) is the best.

I do agree that you should try to buy points at your favorite resort =whichever it is.

gerry

 

[skelfbsfb]

Dont regret my newest addition BWV

 

[MarshallMoore6]

I don't regret buying. We had 4 young children when we bought our first contract (150 pts at BWV). A few years later we bought another 100 BWV points and then 125 at SSR. I'm not so happy about the SSR purchase but only 'had' to stay there once.

Now that the kids are getting older we are not going to Disney every year. They will want to when their babies get older.

Just consider the annual fees. You can pay off your loan for the points but the fees go on and on.

good luck

 

[Mgeris]

No regrets and nothing I would have done differently, but as previously stated, it's all about expectations. I am a CPA, so I can (and have) run the financial numbers a lot of different ways, but ultimately this is how I look at DVC's value:

1) are you going to vacation at a DVC property at least every other year (maybe every third year)?
2) do you really want or need to stay on property?
3) do you need accommodations larger than a studio?

IMO those are the three defining factors of DVC. The more of them you answer yes and the greater your degree of affirmation the more value you find in DVC.

The greatest strength of this board is all the different perspectives and experiences. The board always provides sound objective information from a lot of difference perspectives. Unfortunately, sometimes people will hear (read) what they want to hear and they can develop unreasonable expectations about what DVC is.

 

[disneynutz]

No regrets and nothing I would have done differently, but as previously stated, it's all about expectations. I am a CPA, so I can (and have) run the financial numbers a lot of different ways, but ultimately this is how I look at DVC's value:

1) are you going to vacation at a DVC property at least every other year (maybe every third year)?
2) do you really want or need to stay on property?
3) do you need accommodations larger than a studio?

IMO those are the three defining factors of DVC. The more of them you answer yes and the greater your degree of affirmation the more value you find in DVC.

The greatest strength of this board is all the different perspectives and experiences. The board always provides sound objective information from a lot of difference perspectives. Unfortunately, sometimes people will hear (read) what they want to hear and they can develop unreasonable expectations about what DVC is.

The numbers do make sense but what doesn't, is Disney changing the rules and policies unchecked and always to their advantage. Most of the promises that have been made like a better reservation system has yet to happen but SSR gets a new pool that the SSR owners have to pay for.

Another issue is Disney not exercising their ROFR. Resale prices are falling because of their change in policy. Was this a deliberate move to lower resale prices or is Disney having cash flow issues because they over built and sales have been slow. Bottom line is, many Members are now selling their contracts for much less then they bought them for. These numbers need to be added to the purchase equation.

Bill

 

[Mgeris]

Bill,

I knew something like this might come up when I was writing my response, the fact that some individuals who have owned for a while and have(had) realistic expectations but DVC has changed some since they purchased. You make a valid point and each person has to decide for themselves if DVC still meets their needs. My comments were directed to a new purchaser.

*Warning* boring financial descussion follows

As for your comment about the ROFR and resale prices. Remember the ownership of a DVC interest is not perpetual (it ends at a given year).

This leads to an inevitable issue that will have to (or has begun to) arise at some point (I would love input/opinions from other financially savvy individuals on the point). DVC continues to raise the purchase price and has used ROFR to "prop up" the resale price but the value of any contract has to decline over time and equal zero when it expires.

There is a financial concept called the "Dividend discount model." It is usually applied to valuing stock prices but I think the concept can apply here. The model says that the value of a stock (replace with DVC interest) can be approximated by discounting (time value of money) all the future cash flows (in the case of stocks, future cash flow are dividends and future sales price, for DVC it would "value" received annually from your use of points.) If you determine the "resale" price of a DVC property like this you would expect the price to be declining the closer you get to the end of the "stream" of cash flows (for OKW 2042).

A couple of years ago (I must have been bored) I actually did this calculation. To represent value I used the "rental value of the points." So the stream of cash flows was the amount received by renting all the annual points minus the annual maintenance fees and then that "amount" discounted (time value of money) back to the current year. The calculation actually came pretty close to the resale value of the property at that time.

My guess is that Disney is not trying to "prop" up resale prices but is instead looking at every ROFR as an individual business decision. They probably have (I would) an internal algorithm that is adjusted regularly (based on a lot of factors, for example their current inventory) that they plug in the property, points, banked points and it give them an adjusted "price" for that contract. A contract with a lot of unused points is more valuable than a stripped one. If ROFR price is below their computed value they purchase the contract (simple business, net present value decision) if not, they let it pass.

 

[Tiger926]

I am late to this conversation, as I somehow missed this thread!

RE: HOME RESORT - After last July's trip to BWV, we were regretting purchasing at Saratoga. We love BWV, and being able to walk to Epcot or DHS, and taking monorail to MK, or a quick drive over. Despite having great success at getting BWV 1 bedroom standard view the past few years, we were wishing we had a BWV contract, instead of SSR, as there is always availability at SSR. We were also feeling like staying at both SSR and AKV were harder with the kids, as they both required driving to the parks.

Then in March, we stayed at SSR, and fell in love with it all over again! It really is a fabulous resort, and since we have our van, hubby can whip us around WDW way faster than any busses ever could. Last month, we stayed at SSR again for a few nights, before BWV, and we had another great stay, and realized the driving isn't all that bad. SSR is in a nice location, so we are all good!

We no longer wish that we had made a different choice. If we can't get BWV sometime, then we'll stay at SSR or AKV, or elswhere, for that matter, as we've pretty much stayed everywhere. We also just realized what an awesome gem the AKV Value 1 beds are - saving on those points, will allow us to take the kids to HHI for March Break!

So, we are now very content with our SSR and AKV contracts - especially that 11 month window for AKV Value 1 beds, which we feel, along with BWV standard, are the two best deals for DVC resorts!

RE: PURCHASE - We do wish that we wouldn't have added on to 360 points. We find that going 1x/year, for approx. 11-14 days is best for our family as we drive a long way from Canada. We got hit hard with the point reallocations two years in a row, so we added on again last fall. We have had other big purchases the past few years, so we went from 175 points at SSR, to a total of 360 points in less than 3 years time, and it was too much, too fast! We also wished we could have found resales that fit our needs, as we would have saved some money for sure. We searched for months and months, and nothing came up for our Use Year. There is nothing we can do about it now, but we are done adding on for sure! Our dues are $1700.00 USD, and so we have to watch exchange rates, as well. This is our max!

We are at a point now, where we are really happy with just being able to own DVC. We were getting crazy for awhile with extra trips, Deluxe Dining Plan, and going all out. Now, we are at a more simplistic point: eating more meals in our villa, making do with our points (stretching a bit with a few studio nights), and only going 1x per year, with extra trips once in awhile at March Break or Christmas. Doing this, has cut our budget, and saved us money, and guess what? We are still having a great time with DVC!

Tiger

 

[dspade19]

We purchased 170 SSR points via resale last year and have no regrets to date. In the end we might regret not buying into AKV but we will see. We have stayed at Disney timeshare resorts a number of times over the past 5 years (mainly OKW) and loved it.

We booked our first vacation with our points and we were able to get a 1 BR BWV with Standard View in November. Even if we had to stay at SSR, we would be happy since it is still Disney.

 

[Lil' Grumpy]

in reality, we can't say either way since we haven't stayed yet.

however, i think there some good points being made here.

i don't quite get bill saying there will be alot unhappy owners if
they can't booked outside their home resorts. why? [ if one
buys where ever , that's what they were promised.] we brought
@ blt to stay there, if i can't booked @ another location ,
we still be happy with blt. when it comes to blt, i see owners' points
are best for std. & mk rooms.

it seem to me, the resales market [ buying cheaper ], is where this
scramble @ 7mos is going to begin.

now, i am no dvc expert, but it isn't hard to figure the things disney
can do to even the "playing field". for example, limiting renters to
3 @ the same home address unless your a member. [ helps control
those renting points outside the lines. & bring in newer guests that
can get a feel for dvc that are frustrated with those renting all the time.
then they could also limit how often owner could stay outside the
home resorts, like q 3 years. that would give others a shot @ the
harder to get resorts @ 7mos. [ outside their homes]

some @ dvc have indicated they do read some of the boards.
often they warned don't believe everything you read here. [ which
is good advice unless one can verified the data]. however, i have
seen certain trends/patterns that i think would be very useful
in keeping on the pulse. for example, reading where one owner is
doing /using dvc where all the rest isn't able. i think an indicator
of doing things that was not intended. in some instances ,
[based on their postings], they are using the unintended loopholes,
to create "benefits" for themselves.



but i got to say, it is postings like this, that has helped me to understand
some of dynamics an average owner needs to learn.

as for the value , i think it is what we do @ wdw that will determined
most how we feel about our investment, not the dollar amounts.
hopefully, we will make each dvc trip count.

 

[PolynesianAlex]

I don't regret buying. We had 4 young children when we bought our first contract (150 pts at BWV). A few years later we bought another 100 BWV points and then 125 at SSR. I'm not so happy about the SSR purchase but only 'had' to stay there once.

Now that the kids are getting older we are not going to Disney every year. They will want to when their babies get older.

Just consider the annual fees. You can pay off your loan for the points but the fees go on and on.

good luck

Wouldn't say that. you'd be surprised on how many teens like to go to Disneyworld. and im talking 14-16

 

[adminjedi]

Wouldn't say that. you'd be surprised on how many teens like to go to Disneyworld. and im talking 14-16

I agree!
Our kids are aged 17, 19, 22, 25, 27 and they all LOVE our yearly trip to DW. This year, due to issues out of our control, we ended up going to DL instead. We had a great time thanks to VGC, but they are really excited about our trip next July!!

 

[homercrispy]

no regrets here. i don't understand why most people are concerned with their home resorts. we have stayed in almost every resort over the years regardless of our home resort. we never plan any vacation over 6 months from now so our home resort does not matter.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

I LOVE my DVC. My regrets…not buying sooner & not buying more pts when I only pd $65 per pt. I bought what I could afford at the time so I did the right thing for that point in my life.

We started w/150 pts at BW and a few yrs later I convinced my dear hubby that we need 50 more pts again at BW. I’m currently working on convincing him we need another 100 or so pts, looking on the resale market. We will see how that goes. I was thinking of BLT but dear hubby says if we are going to add on we should add on at BW, sounds like he might be seeing things my way!

When we go to DW in Jan we will be doing a split stay between BW & BLT so I will have my opportunity to see if I like BLT before I buy which I think is a very good idea. I’m trying to remain calm & not just jump in & buy where I haven’t stayed. I can see the logic of buying additional pts at BW. We take others with us fairly often & need multiple rooms so to have the 11 mth-booking window all at the same resort is a definite advantage.

I think if you love Disney & you like nice accommodations you can’t go wrong with DVC.

 

[eporter66]

No regrets (bought in 2004)

We love our home resort - SSR, and have also stayed at OKW, BWV, AKV. We plan to try them all. I still dont get how anyone could be disappointed where they stay when they are on Disney Property and in such wonderful accomodations. Perspective people...we are all very lucky to be able to have these types of vacations, never forget that. It will never make sense to me.

My current issue is as my DD gets older and we cannot take her out of school, when will we go to WDW. I have no desire to go in the summer, and just cant see going at peak times (school breaks). I will have to figure something out.

We love it -

 

[edk35]

No regrets (bought in 2004)

We love our home resort - SSR, and have also stayed at OKW, BWV, AKV. We plan to try them all. I still dont get how anyone could be disappointed where they stay when they are on Disney Property and in such wonderful accomodations. Perspective people...we are all very lucky to be able to have these types of vacations, never forget that. It will never make sense to me.

My current issue is as my DD gets older and we cannot take her out of school, when will we go to WDW. I have no desire to go in the summer, and just cant see going at peak times (school breaks). I will have to figure something out.

We love it -

We are and have been in that same situation for the past year. Our oldest dd started college last fall. Up until then we could go Thanksgiving week and LOVED that week. Then in late Jan. our school system here has 2 days off that usually fall with a weekend so we have pulled our kids out 1 or 2 days to go with that. LOVED that time too. Well....now of course DD college schedule is NOT in sync with her two brothers in any form or fashion. She gets 6 weeks off at Christmas but she goes back to school the week they get those days off in late Jan. Here our kids only get off about 6 to 7 school days for Christmas. Last year they went to school on Dec. 23rd. She gets out mid Dec. I don't picture us going the week between Christmas and New Year's at all. So we have gone the past 4 summers to WDW. We are taking a break from the summer trips. Not sure what we are going to do. I mean EVENTUALLY we will go with our youngest son who is 11 over a long weekend during the school year. Our oldest son who is almost 17 could take Disney or leave it right now. So..... I don't have any regrets purchasing DVC but it does get harder the older our kids go. Add in sports and work schedules...it isn't as easy as it used to be to go to WDW.

 

[edk35]

no regrets here. i don't understand why most people are concerned with their home resorts. we have stayed in almost every resort over the years regardless of our home resort. we never plan any vacation over 6 months from now so our home resort does not matter.

I agree. We have stayed at all the DVC resorts except BLT and VWL..... I am fine staying anywhere as long as it is WDW.

 

[nolanboys]

No regrets (bought in 2004)

We love our home resort - SSR, and have also stayed at OKW, BWV, AKV. We plan to try them all. I still dont get how anyone could be disappointed where they stay when they are on Disney Property and in such wonderful accomodations. Perspective people...we are all very lucky to be able to have these types of vacations, never forget that. It will never make sense to me.

My current issue is as my DD gets older and we cannot take her out of school, when will we go to WDW. I have no desire to go in the summer, and just cant see going at peak times (school breaks). I will have to figure something out.

We love it -

We just bought DVC this past spring. Part of the reason we bought in was to be able to afford the nicer accommodations during peak times (Christmas, New Year's, Spring Break). We also have pulled the kids from school in years past, but those days are pretty much over. Add to the fact that we have 4 boys in sports, and scheduling a vacation becomes harder. We know with DVC we can go during those peak times if need be. I know the point values are higher, but Disney also doesn't offer discounts during those peak times. We only bought 200 pts and plan to go every other year, so right now we are good. DH and I are actually excited about when the kids get older and we can go whenever we want. That of course is many years down the road, but the 2 of us are going for his 40th in October. We can't wait!

 

[SabresFan]

My guess is that Disney is not trying to "prop" up resale prices but is instead looking at every ROFR as an individual business decision. They probably have (I would) an internal algorithm that is adjusted regularly (based on a lot of factors, for example their current inventory) that they plug in the property, points, banked points and it give them an adjusted "price" for that contract. A contract with a lot of unused points is more valuable than a stripped one. If ROFR price is below their computed value they purchase the contract (simple business, net present value decision) if not, they let it pass.

I agree completely. Disney does not care one way or the other what the resale market goes for, and they have no patricular interest in keeping resale prices high or low or anywhere in between. When Disney exercises their ROFR, it would be for one reason only - to turn around and sell it (fairly quickly) at a profit.

As we all know, Disney has a marketing machine aimed at selling new resorts. Obviously, as the price delta between resale and direct increases, it's harder for Disney to sell their direct contracts, hence the reason for ROFR. But if Disney acquires too many points through ROFR, they have too much inventory that they are stuck paying MF's on. With the economy being slow, they are probably also acquiring points back via foreclosure. Since Disney has been very quiet on ROFR lately, except for BCV, AKV and BLT, I have to assume they have all the points they can handle at the other resorts and have no interest in acquiring them at anything less than Crazy Eddie prices.

For those who complain about Disney always building more resorts - if Disney had no more inventory to sell direct, and they folded up shop, they would never, ever exercise ROFR. So that prop to the resale market would disappear.