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

[wish*i*was*in*the*vi]

We're planning on buying into DVC...but before taking on another monthly payment would really like some feedback from current members...would love to know the good AND the bad. Thanks!

 

[DeeCee735]

Absolutely not, we have no regrets, well.....that's not entirely true . We wish we bought more points earlier on. Original contract is 185 bought in 2000, with a few small add on's over the years, for a total of 285 points. I always need more!

However, we bought when price per point was lower ($65.00 for the original contract), and the highest we paid per point was $96 for our last 25 point contract. We didn't finance. I can't imagine we'd ever regret it, it's one of the best purchases we ever made, but I think we'd feel alittle different about it if it was a monthly payment over a number of years.

As far as the MF's go, I use all my rewards dollars from my Disney Visa card toward my annual MF payment, and then I pay alittle each month on my Disney Visa card - which we pay in full each month (thereby adding to the earning of more rewards dollars each month) and by the time the annual statement comes in, we're all paid up. So we don't really "feel" the monthly maintenance fees that way.

It's an awesome vacation for all of our family, or just some of us, as the case may be trip to trip, and we, again, feel it's one of the best purchases we ever made. Good luck with your decision!

 

[colebread]

I like this question. We purchased 13-ish years ago at the Boardwalk. We had one baby boy and one on the way. During the next decade-plus, we loved having a place in Disney that we knew we were going to every year. The Boardwalk has been an ideal place for the kids with the Clown Slide, the close proximity to Epcot and Universal Studios and the layout of the two bedrooms apartments.

Now, we are contemplating the "value" of this vacation for future years. We have 160 points so our annual dues are nearly $1000. We have three teenagers so the flight for the five of us to Orlando from Detroit is between $1500 to $2500 (the car is too small now to drive down any more). And some of the wonderful attributes of the Boardwalk are now considered too "babyish" for our soon-to-be 18 year old. So I guess, we are all a little "bored" of doing the same thing at the same place each year.

Having said that, we are very happy with DVC and the investment we made. In retrospect, the Yacht Club may have been better for us now but when the kids were younger, all they wanted to do was go down the clown slide so the clown could "throw them up". And talking to the kids, they couldn't imagine a summer without going to Disney and staying at the Boardwalk, swimming in the pool, walking to Epcot, watching the nightly shows, taking a boat ride to Universal, etc.

We envisioned this investment being a place that our family could meet at on an annual basis even after the kids had their own families. We still believe that and are thankful we made the decision to purchase.

 

[MdmMim]

And some of the wonderful attributes of the Boardwalk are now considered too "babyish" for our soon-to-be 18 year old. So I guess, we are all a little "bored" of doing the same thing at the same place each year.

My DS went through a stage at 17 where he wanted no more Disney. Years later, things changed, and now, at age 33, he goes to the BWV every January with us and his friends, and he goes down that clown slide.

We share our points with many people, and we all have a great time. For us, it's ALL good--not bad.

 

[chalee94]

here's a good thread to check out:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2516328

lots of good info around the DIS. take some time to read some old threads and mess around with the search function.

 

[wish*i*was*in*the*vi]

We love Disney. My husband grew up in Clearwater and went there ALOT. I've only been twice, and it wasnt until I had kids, most recent trip was in 2008. My sister in law took my son for his 9th birthday almost 3 years ago and is going to take my 7 year old by herself for her 9th birthday...we've always gone to St Thomas, and I never thought anyone could drag me away from the Virgin Islands, but with the high crime rate there and how expensive it's gotten to take a weeklong trip(we can go to Disney 2.5 times for the cost of a trip to St. Thomas), I think that our trip to St Thomas in October is going to be our last one for quite a few years. Seems like right now that DVC will just be a better option for us. We're 18 hours by car from Disneyworld, but atleast that is an option if airfare is insanely high for whatever reason.

 

[msp2mco]

We have no regrets. We purchased at SSR first and added a resale contract at BWV a few years later. My only regret is that I wished we had the same use years for both contracts.

 

[Sandisw]

We have no regrets and just bought last year, even though we have been going to Disney most years since 1994 and our youngest is now 14.

We didn't buy in prior because of location. We love MK and wanted to be close to that. Prior to them building BLT, that was not possible so while we thought DVC would be a great investment for our vacations, we just couldn't get over the fact that we would have to give up being at the CR location.

Once they announced BLT, we were in and are thrilled with our choice. Matter of fact, we just returned from our first stay in a 1 bedroom (did studios last summer) and will be adding on more points in the very near future.

 

[skelfbsfb]

I have 2 regrets

First one is I never bought when I had the chance all those years ago.

Second regret is if I had taken up the original offer then I would have had BWV as my home resort, but I took up the offer some years later and insisted on OKW as my home resort, oh how I really regret that move. Now hoping I pass ROFR soon for BWV points.

 

[adminjedi]

We don't have DVC regrets, but we regretted buying SSR. We decided to sell it at a loss in order to have home resort priority where we wanted to stay. Now we are thrilled with every trip!

To keep it "fresh" for our older kids, we mix up where we stay. And, shhhh...spend a couple days at Universal for the extreme rides! We also try to stay no less than 9 days so it is a more relaxed pace. The kids love sleeping in and having pool time every day.

 

[Donald's Fan in PHX!]

I absolutely love staying at the dvc resorts! We own two timeshares/vacation clubs and we use them both,but the value and properties with DVC are soooo much better. I love my home resort, but plan over the years to stay at all of them at least once.

 

[cvjw]

I have no regrets about buying into DVC. If I had it to do over again, I think I would change one of our home resorts. We have 4 home resorts - 3 of which expire in 2042, and only one with the longer expiration date. If I knew then what I know now, I would've bought 2 home resorts with the longer expiration dates instead of just one. We could always sell the contract and buy somewhere else, but that seems like too much work.

 

[mecllap]

Judging by the active resale market, it appears that some people have regrets about their purchase, or have gotten tired of it, or something. I just read a thread on a timeshare board from someone who has gotten tired of all the annual maintenances fees they have from DVC and other timeshares; don't know if their financial situation has also changed (the poster also noted problems with finding the exchanges they wanted). Just be sure you only buy what you can easily afford and support over time, with all the additional travel costs and increasing fees. DVC does at least retain some resale value, which most other timeshares do not.

We love our timeshare on Grand Cayman, but with all the other travel costs these days, will not be able to go there every year, but at least it's a good exchanger. If I had to choose to get rid of one, I think it would be that one, and I'd keep DVC, because we can drive to Orlando.

 

[Goin'Again???Yes!!!]

No regrets, when we bought back in 2000 the only resort that Disney was selling was Vero Beach. Boardwalk had just sold out and Wilderness Lodge was not being offered yet. We got a good deal, and a price we could afford on a 200 point contract( Disney bought back first years points and lowered our cost per point to aprox. $50/pt). The home resort has never been an issue, we have never been there. We have never not gotten a reservation time that we wanted, we have had to go with a second choice on a resort though (not that any of the DVC resorts are second rate).

 

[adminjedi]

The home resort has never been an issue, we have never been there. We have never not gotten a reservation time that we wanted, we have had to go with a second choice on a resort though (not that any of the DVC resorts are second rate).

Very Interesting.
I think it is great you have always been able to get a reservation on site. Surprised you haven't once tried VB. I don't think I want to own there, but I do think I want to stay there some time.

 

[castle1]

No regrets at all! We have been members at BWV since 2000, and still love it! DS's are now in their early twenties and still love to go to the Boardwalk. I can't wait until they have families, and we all go together.

 

[kristie03]

I'm new, but the only regret I can ever imagine having is not buying sooner. I remember asking my husband what DVC was over the years when we saw the logo and wish I would have looked into it more and found some way to buy in then.

We did finance, and I really feel that having this payment to make, which I find so much joy in, has made me more focused on paying other debts off (with the secret plan of buying small add ons for cash ) hahhhaaaaa haaaaa

 

[dvcbrad]

No regrets, but in hind sight, probably would have purchased Marriott rather than Disney, or at least a combo. We have 500 points, so maybe should have done half Disney, half Marriott at some point rather than all Disney.

I say this for various reasons, but mostly because of resort selection. Marriott has so many more locations from which to choose for different vacation experiences that it would be nice to have that option rather than just Disney. As the kids get older, they don't want to go to Disney every year. Some years, yes, but not every. That being said, though, we have learned how to rent out our points, which has given us flexibility to rent other timeshares or vacation residences and sail on DCL by using the DVC point rentals to fund that. The DVC exchange program has been totally useless.

It's an interesting question, and time and circumstances change things. Still enjoy Disney, but wish we had a little less Disney and a little more Marriott - or now, Hyatt too.

 

[Nikisha421]

It's only been two years...but still no regrets...I guess if I haven't regretted it yet I should be fine...my DD7 always is in the mood for Disney...but as she gets older who know????

 

[azmommyx2]

I have to say that I do regret buying into DVC. First, let me say that I am a huge Disney fan. Even went on my honeymoon to Disneyworld. As a child I went to Disneyworld every year (lived in Wisconsin) and once I had children and living in Arizona we went to Disneyland at least 2 a year. We also love the Disney Cruises! We bought Saratoga Springs three years ago. We really wanted Grand Californian and were told we would need to buy into DVC to qualify for an early opportunity to purchase there. Of course, we all now know that we did not need to purchase at SSR. When the Grand Californian came available we did purchase there also. We really were never intending to keep both but I had hoped we would for a few years, especially since the price dropped so much from what we paid for SSR. In the end, with 2 maintenence fees and one loan we decided we could not afford to keep both so we sold the SSR contract for a huge loss. The good news is we had a very positive experience with the timeshare store - highly recommend them. We still have our contract at Grand Californian but we may end up selling it too. Here is what I don't like about DVC for us. I think the DVC points are a much better value at Disneyworld than Disneyland. With airfare Disneyworld is just not an option for us at the point. It also seems that Disneyworld has been giving great packages with free dining (which I realize may change). For my family, we are very content staying at a moderate resort - we actually also prefer the housekeeping coming in daily vs the DVC every 4 or 5 days. We also don't plan vacations far in advance, so at times it has been hard to get in our home resort (Grand Cal) if we try at the 6-7 month window. Just my opinion and it looks like one of the few on this board that regret buying DVC. If you do decide to buy I would check out the resale market. The prices have dropped so much, so you would get a great deal. As far as Saratoga Springs as our home resort - we were fine with that and had no problem getting into the Animal Kingdom or Old Key West. Best of luck with your decision.