DVC compared to other timeshares

[Missyrose]

Ok, I see what you are all saying and I appreciate.

My DVC would cost me about $8 a pt for the 46 years I would have it.

To stay at RCI for 160 for the week = $183 a night. I can get a very nice hotel room at any of those places for $183 a night. Maybe not the 5 star hotel but still, $183 would get me a great room.

Now if I do resale can I still use my points at Hawaii or Hilton Head or do I lose those privlages?

But yes, I see that paying $189 a night for a 1 bedroom villa at AKL is worth it when it usually goes for well over $350 a night.

I guess it makes sense to do resale but I know I will be going to Hilton Head and using points. Do I lose that privlage by resale?

Buying a resale contract allows you to stay at any of the DVC resorts, including Hilton Head, Vero Beach and Aulani.

 

[CMOORE185]

If you love Disney and intend on using your points the majority of the time at a DVC resort, buy DVC. Otherwise I wouldn't buy DVC.

 

[Dean]

I have the paperwork at my house as we speak ready to buy at AKL.

But this past weekend my wife and I went on another timeshare tour (Lawrence Welk Resorts) and we did notice a few things that scare me about the Disney timeshare.

1. We are basically spending over $1000 a year for a 1 week hotel. I know its in a deluxe resort, but we use our points and that is it. At many other timeshares they offer getaways. You pay about $50 a night to stay at $350 a night hotels and it does not use up any of your points. Those rooms are based on availability obviously.
Disney offers nothing like this right? Once I use my points (a 2 bedroom at AKL is 185 so over a year of points minimum) then I am done with no further benefit correct?

I guess my question is this. Have any of you ever taken the time to research other timeshares? And if so, how does Disney compare or why did you choose Disney in the end?

Thank you very much!

There are quite a few people her now that are well versed in other timeshares but no one is going to know everything about everything. I feel I have a good overall knowledge and am especially informed on DVC, Marriott, Bluegreen and exchanging including RCI points. I know a little about others including Wyndham and Starwood/Westin. I love many timeshare if they fit in with your usage, you plan ahead and you learn the system. Resale is almost always the only reasonable option though.

I cannot think of an exception where the cash type exchange options are worth buying or worth going retail over resale and that includes DVC and all above I mentioned. Non of the options I've ever seen are a good value though some are better than others. Some that I know were a good option no longer are. For example, when I bought BG I could trade points for dues and end up with points left over, now I'd have to give up all my points and pay extra to cover my dues. I do agree with Chalee that often DVC plus something else is a good option for those where DVC is otherwise a good value. IF one just wants a great resort near Disney, there are better and cheaper options than DVC.

But if you buy resale you lose most of the benefits that come with the DVC program. I understand if you are going to use the points at Disney every year then buy resale, but if you want to use RCI or the cruise or anything then resale is not the way to go.

You only lose low return and high cost options. IMO, DVD did resale buyers a favor with this change because it brought the price down but did not remove reasonable options.

Ok, I see what you are all saying and I appreciate.

My DVC would cost me about $8 a pt for the 46 years I would have it.

To stay at RCI for 160 for the week = $183 a night. I can get a very nice hotel room at any of those places for $183 a night. Maybe not the 5 star hotel but still, $183 would get me a great room.

Now if I do resale can I still use my points at Hawaii or Hilton Head or do I lose those privlages?

But yes, I see that paying $189 a night for a 1 bedroom villa at AKL is worth it when it usually goes for well over $350 a night.

I guess it makes sense to do resale but I know I will be going to Hilton Head and using points. Do I lose that privlage by resale?

I think your numbers are all wrong. I think the cost of DVC goes way beyond and above just taking the dues and dividing the purchase price by the reamining years, not to mention the risks involved. I also think one can do a lot better than the price you quoted for many areas using timeshare. On average my costs for a full week vary but for Orlando and exchanges it's in the range of $300 for a week. When I use what I own it's higher but maybe $1200 for a 2 BR for a high cost high demand area such as HH, units that I routinely rent out for $2500 when I don't use them. If you want to go to HH routinely and decide that DVC is for you, you may want to buy there, esp for use in the summer. IMO there are better options for good trips to HH, esp if you value being on the beach.

 

[JimMIA]

I agree with most of the other posters, but wanted to make a couple of comments.

First of all (and this is a very minor point), ANY timeshare (or any other kind of asset) can be passed on to your children. There is nothing unique about DVC in this regard; just a sales point for any asset with a long life.

Second -- I think the first decision that should be made is often just assumed by prospective timeshare buyers. That is the question of "Should I get involved with ANY timeshare in the first place?"

People considering timeshares (myself included the first time around) often don't really look at the enormous ranges of options. Timesharing is just one option among hundreds of ways to pay for vacation lodging -- it's great for some people, and a big mistake for many others.

I think folks need to take a clear-eyed look at the concept of signing up for a 30-year to never-ending financial obligation before they start trying to decide whether they like one resort's bedspreads better than another.

Third -- I think it's important to evaluate timeshare systems based almost exclusively on the value offered by the resorts in that system. Any of the other options (exchanges, cruises, etc) rarely offer similar value to the systems internal resorts. And those options are also subject to radical change at any time with little or no notice.

When I was looking at other options, the best single piece of advice I received (from Dean, Brian, Culli, and others) was to really take a close look at the network of available resorts within the systems I was considering -- and do that assessment in terms of where we would like to go on vacation, rather than someone's glowing report on a place we would never want to visit.

The value of available resorts is not the same for everyone. OP is considering Welk, which I believe only has 4 resorts...three of which (Cabo, Branson, and Palm Springs) I don't especially want to visit. Other posters have mentioned Worldmark. That's a great system, part of the Wyndham family and primarily offering resorts in the western US. Great for people who live out west; not for us...although I'm sure we'll try to use our Wyndham points at a Worldmark or two sometime.

We own Wyndham, which has about 80 resorts. Wyndham is strongest in the eastern US, but they have a strong presence in Hawaii (11 resorts there) and they're growing in the west. For us, Wyndham was a good pick, but it would probably not be the right choice for many other families. One of the other systems mentioned above by Dean might work better for others.

DVC is not an exception to the "look at the internal system" rule. You have to consider the use of DVC points within the DVC system, as well. That's where the value is -- nowhere else.

For us, the only place we would use DVC points today would be at WDW. If it's really important for you to stay onsite at WDW, in larger than hotel room accommodations, DVC is the only game in town.

We have used DVC in the past at HHI and Vero, but now with Wyndham we have much more attractive options for those types of vacations.

We also have better options in California (Wyndhams at San Diego, Oceanside, Ventura, and Anaheim + San Francisco and Lake Tahoe in the north, and we have limited access to some Worldmark resorts in CA) and 11 resorts on three islands in Hawaii. So outside WDW, we would use Wyndham, not DVC.

 

[ELMC]

From reading the posts here on the DIS, I'm starting to figure out that there is an inverse relationship between DVC and the other timeshare companies as far as location is concerned. In Orlando, DVC has the prime spots and the other timeshare companies are sort of on the periphery. Outside of Orlando, it seems to be the reverse.

Is this true for Aulani as well?

 

[bwvBound]

Other posters have mentioned Worldmark. That's a great system, part of the Wyndham family and primarily offering resorts in the western US. Great for people who live out west; not for us...

I don't know where the OP is located, and perhaps the tour was at Welk Branson -- but I made a guess that it was likely in the Western states with tour at either Escondido or Cathedral City. Thus the nudge for Worldmark.

 

[JimMIA]

I don't know where the OP is located, and perhaps the tour was at Welk Branson -- but I made a guess that it was likely in the Western states with tour at either Escondido or Cathedral City. Thus the nudge for Worldmark.

Yeah, I assumed they were on the West Coast too. If so, Worldmark might be a great choice for them, but they should still look at the locations of the resorts and be sure a timeshare gives them options they like which provide more value than simple cash reservations.

 

[JimMIA]

From reading the posts here on the DIS, I'm starting to figure out that there is an inverse relationship between DVC and the other timeshare companies as far as location is concerned. In Orlando, DVC has the prime spots and the other timeshare companies are sort of on the periphery. Outside of Orlando, it seems to be the reverse.

Is this true for Aulani as well?

To me, it is...for the following reasons.

1. Oahu is my least-favorite island in Hawaii, and not a place I would visit normally unless I decided to take my daughter to see Pearl Harbor when she's older. I'd much rather visit, Maui, Kauii, or the Big Island
2. If I do go to Oahu, I want to be on Waikiki. Ko Olina is a long way from Waikiki and even further from just about anything else I would visit on Oahu.

I'm sure the resort is spectacular, and there are other lovely resorts next door. But it's a long way out of the way...IMHO

 

[ccgirl]

I have the paperwork at my house as we speak ready to buy at AKL.

But this past weekend my wife and I went on another timeshare tour (Lawrence Welk Resorts) and we did notice a few things that scare me about the Disney timeshare.

1. We are basically spending over $1000 a year for a 1 week hotel. I know its in a deluxe resort, but we use our points and that is it. At many other timeshares they offer getaways. You pay about $50 a night to stay at $350 a night hotels and it does not use up any of your points. Those rooms are based on availability obviously.
Disney offers nothing like this right? Once I use my points (a 2 bedroom at AKL is 185 so over a year of points minimum) then I am done with no further benefit correct?

I guess my question is this. Have any of you ever taken the time to research other timeshares? And if so, how does Disney compare or why did you choose Disney in the end?

Thank you very much!

I own two non-DVC timeshares. For me, DVC did not work out to be the best.

I own 1 timeshare in Hawaii that trades thru RCI.

I own 1 timeshare in Gatlinburg that trades thru Inverval International.

Both are weeks resorts and both are deeded (meaning I do not own them for a set # of years).

My Hawaii timeshare cost $8,000 at 0% interest. Although this is a studio, it has great trade power and I was able to trade into BWV for a 2BR. We can often get 3 weeks for trading just this one week due to the significant trading power.

The maintenance/taxes on this resort are $550 a year.

Not sure how much Gatlinburg was, to be honest, but it was more than Hawaii. Maintenance/taxes are $650 a year.

We looked into DVC. IMHO, I thought it was too much money and limited us to WDW. We like to go to other places as well.

Orlando is saturated with timeshares. We never have a problem finding a wonderful 2BR place to stay.

I hope this helps.

 

[ccgirl]

Ok, I see what you are all saying and I appreciate.

My DVC would cost me about $8 a pt for the 46 years I would have it.

To stay at RCI for 160 for the week = $183 a night. I can get a very nice hotel room at any of those places for $183 a night. Maybe not the 5 star hotel but still, $183 would get me a great room.

Now if I do resale can I still use my points at Hawaii or Hilton Head or do I lose those privlages?

But yes, I see that paying $189 a night for a 1 bedroom villa at AKL is worth it when it usually goes for well over $350 a night.

I guess it makes sense to do resale but I know I will be going to Hilton Head and using points. Do I lose that privlage by resale?

Just want to make the point that RCI is not a timeshare itself, it is an exchange company. Not sure how you came up with the $183.

Using my example, my initial investment was $8,000. It is deeded not leased so is not for x number of years. I pay around $135 to trade (x3 for 3 weeks). My dues are $550 a year. That one week is getting me 3 weeks other places this year.

So, just spreading out the 8k for the 13 years I have owned it thus far and adding in the trade and dues, that comes out to roughly $1500. Divide that by the 21 nights I am getting and you get $75 a night for a 2BR villa. I would be hard pressed to find a Holiday Inn for $75 a night.

Also, keep in mind that is using my investment up until now....not for my entire life of the timeshare.

I hope that is a clear explanation.

 

[Missyrose]

From reading the posts here on the DIS, I'm starting to figure out that there is an inverse relationship between DVC and the other timeshare companies as far as location is concerned. In Orlando, DVC has the prime spots and the other timeshare companies are sort of on the periphery. Outside of Orlando, it seems to be the reverse.

Is this true for Aulani as well?

I've stayed in Ko Olina area of Oahu (at the JW Marriott). My family spent a week there and then moved to the Marriott in Maui for another week. What we found was the resorts in Ko Olina we generally more spectacular resorts than the ones in Maui, mainly because there wasn't nearly as much to do on Oahu than the other islands (so people tend to spend more time at their resorts).

 

[Dean]

From reading the posts here on the DIS, I'm starting to figure out that there is an inverse relationship between DVC and the other timeshare companies as far as location is concerned. In Orlando, DVC has the prime spots and the other timeshare companies are sort of on the periphery. Outside of Orlando, it seems to be the reverse.

Is this true for Aulani as well?

The numbers are small, 3 resorts only. For Orlando there are many great resorts, include all DVC resorts in that group. Many prefer on property enough to pay big bucks and many actually prefer off property with a lot of in between. DVC only makes sense if you value staying on property enough to pay Disney prices. Given that we always have a car and don't mind driving, off property is not a major issue for us as long as we're close but we do prefer on property. For VB and HH I would agree that the locations are not ideal, not bad by any means, just that there are better locations in many if not most people's eyes. HI is a little harder to say as it's in a forced location that's becoming pretty in demand. It also depends on where you look. MB is different than HH is different than south FL, etc. One needs to look at where they like to go, what their expectations are, how well they can and will plan and the see what system fits best. Sometimes it's more than one, that's true for me.

 

[Dean]

I've stayed in Ko Olina area of Oahu (at the JW Marriott). My family spent a week there and then moved to the Marriott in Maui for another week. What we found was the resorts in Ko Olina we generally more spectacular resorts than the ones in Maui, mainly because there wasn't nearly as much to do on Oahu than the other islands (so people tend to spend more time at their resorts).

For the Westin and Marriott (new towers) on Maui, I'd say they're about the same to better on Maui.

 

[ELMC]

For Orlando there are many great resorts, include all DVC resorts in that group. Many prefer on property enough to pay big bucks and many actually prefer off property with a lot of in between. DVC only makes sense if you value staying on property enough to pay Disney prices. Given that we always have a car and don't mind driving, off property is not a major issue for us as long as we're close but we do prefer on property.

We used to think this very same way. When it was just my wife and I, we bought and stayed at Grande Vista and loved it. When our daugher was young (2-3ish) we stayed at Harbour Lake and loved that too. Last summer we went back when she was 4 and she commented (and we agreed) that we seemed to spend a lot of time in the car. That was the tipping point for buying into DVC...and we bought at BWV and BLT so that we can walk to 3 out of the 4 parks.

 

[DVCMikey]

DVC is worth it if you plan to goto WDW at least once every few years. We love it. We go every year and have even gone more than once a year and still had enough points. You just have to plant it right. Plus with the annual pass discount you can't go wrong.

There are many options including being able to go on DCL. Next year we are planning on going with our new baby, taking our parents along as well and maybe more.

There are many options, lots to choose from and it is pretty flexible.

 

[Dean]

We used to think this very same way. When it was just my wife and I, we bought and stayed at Grande Vista and loved it. When our daugher was young (2-3ish) we stayed at Harbour Lake and loved that too. Last summer we went back when she was 4 and she commented (and we agreed) that we seemed to spend a lot of time in the car. That was the tipping point for buying into DVC...and we bought at BWV and BLT so that we can walk to 3 out of the 4 parks.

We likely spend as much time in the car on property as off. However, my comments were more general in that there are many who actually prefer staying off property even when WDW is their goal. The nicer resorts, larger rooms, more activities and other dining access are some of the pluses for many. We prefer DVC but it's purely an emotional attachment and we realize that.

 

[ccgirl]

We likely spend as much time in the car on property as off. However, my comments were more general in that there are many who actually prefer staying off property even when WDW is their goal. The nicer resorts, larger rooms, more activities and other dining access are some of the pluses for many. We prefer DVC but it's purely an emotional attachment and we realize that.

Yes, very good summary. Harbour Lake is near SeaWorld so I would not stay there if WDW was my intention. Now, Wyndham Bonnet Creek, Orange Lake, Westgate Vacation Villas...those are all very close.

I actually prefer to stay off site. I feel I am getting more value for my $$.

 

[Dean]

Yes, very good summary. Harbour Lake is near SeaWorld so I would not stay there if WDW was my intention. Now, Wyndham Bonnet Creek, Orange Lake, Westgate Vacation Villas...those are all very close.

I actually prefer to stay off site. I feel I am getting more value for my $$.

I don't find the I drive/Sea World area a deterrent including Harbour Lake or Cypress Harbour. The newer Marriott is a little tougher location and just beyond our comfort level if we're going back and forth. We often stay at either Grande Vista or The Fountains when off site but have also stayed at the Hilton's.

 

[ccgirl]

I don't find the I drive/Sea World area a deterrent including Harbour Lake or Cypress Harbour. The newer Marriott is a little tougher location and just beyond our comfort level if we're going back and forth. We often stay at either Grande Vista or The Fountains when off site but have also stayed at the Hilton's.

That's good to know. I will have to keep it in mind for next time. We are staying at HGVC Seaworld this trip but doing non-Disney so it should be an ideal location. Come to think of it, when we stayed at Marriott Harbour Lake, I don't remember the drive being all that long. I *believe* it was right off the highway???

 

[ELMC]

That's good to know. I will have to keep it in mind for next time. We are staying at HGVC Seaworld this trip but doing non-Disney so it should be an ideal location. Come to think of it, when we stayed at Marriott Harbour Lake, I don't remember the drive being all that long. I *believe* it was right off the highway???

Yes, one of the great things about Harbour Lake is that it's one traffic light away from the highway and then you're right there. I think I timed the door to gate trip to DHS and Epcot to be like 16 minutes, which is just as good as some on property resorts and definitely better than a lot of buses.

The problem we had with staying off property is that with a 3 year old and the stroller and leaving mid day for nap times, etc. it all got to be a bit much. You wouldn't think it would be that big of a deal, but there is a definite difference between a 10 minute walk and rolling your stroller right into your hotel room and having to walk to the car, unloading the child, packing up the stroller, driving, getting to the resort, unpacking everyone and everything and going to take a nap. Well, actually, it does sound like a lot, doesn't it. And it is!

We LOVE Harbour Lake and will probably try to book a trip there centered around Sea World and the water parks...but we're also glad to be owners at BWV.