DVC Every 3 Years

[sndral]

I’m also on the west coast & own DVC, one of my home resorts is AKV which we stay at in a 1 or 2 bedroom every other year for 11-12 days (we go annually & alternate years w/ our other home resort.) I started w/ a 160 pt. resale contract & added on when we developed a fondness for 2 br.s over 1 br.s
I don’t think I’d buy Aulani, I’ll visit Oahu if I’m going with someone who’s not been to Hawaii before, but I prefer Kauai or even Maui over Oahu. I personally wouldn’t want to commit to only staying at Aulani on Oahu for Hawaii trips. Hawaii is awash in timeshares, it might be worth doing a little research on other options there.

 

[HBDad]

I don’t think I’d buy Aulani, I’ll visit Oahu if I’m going with someone who’s not been to Hawaii before, but I prefer Kauai or even Maui over Oahu. I personally wouldn’t want to commit to only staying at Aulani on Oahu for Hawaii trips. Hawaii is awash in timeshares, it might be worth doing a little research on other options there.

We've been to both Maui and Oahu. I have more fond memories of Maui and am planning to go this year. I'm planning to try a split stay at Aulani in the future. I don't think I can stay there the whole time since it's relatively remote.

We're still traveling a lot of different places so I can't imagine visiting WDW every year or two. Maybe something will change if we end up staying in a 1 or 2 BR for a longer period instead of a normal hotel room or AirBNB. Our next Orlando trip will probably be Universal Studios / Discovery Cove.

 

[RoseGold]

A crazy option might be to buy a low priced small contract (80-100) at VBR. Yes, you'll pay more in MF's and no guarantees on 7 months, but if you are going to book at 7 months anyway, just run out the clock on 2042. Anything under 80-100 now doesn't make much sense due to closing costs (about $550-600).

I just found myself turning up my nose at this math on a $75 VB contract, and then I realized it wasn't far off the exact math I did for my SSR contract in the 90s not so long ago. LOL I have to say with SSR at 130, it's a much tougher sell.

I think the 2042s are going to hold better than some think. There will always be people who want starter contracts for a few years and aren't trying to buy for decades. There will be a point --and it's coming soon -- when the way to do this is to run out the clock on 2042s.

 

[sndral]

We’re a family of 5 with kids between 9-13 in California and plan to visit Aulani or WDW every 3 years. The non Disney/Hawaii years would be more focused on visiting new places...

I have a 1/3 probability of cancelling at < 7 month window...

… I'm planning to try a split stay at Aulani in the future. I don't think I can stay there the whole time since it's relatively remote.

We're still traveling a lot of different places so I can't imagine visiting WDW every year or two...Our next Orlando trip will probably be Universal Studios / Discovery Cove.

There’s no point in investing several thousand dollars for a once every 3 year plan until DVC lifts the 50% borrowing restriction.
DVC works best for those who can plan ahead - canceling a trip booked w/ both borrowed and banked points at less than 7 months is risky. Banking and borrowing are final transactions - once points are banked or borrowed into the current use year they must be used that year or they’ll expire.
In looking at your future plans - next Orlando trip is not to WDW and next Hawaii is only partly to Aulani, DVC doesn’t seem like a good fit.

 

[Unclelude]

I think if you tried to do a once every 3 years and liked it, you might end up buying more points.

As others have noted the every other year math works out way better....

 

[robinb]

We’re a family of 5 with kids between 9-13 in California and plan to visit Aulani or WDW every 3 years. The non Disney/Hawaii years would be more focused on visiting new places. We’re next to Disneyland but had a great time at WDW recently and have been to Hawaii.

I’m planning to purchase a 120 pt resale for Animal Kingdom with a Sept/Oct Use Year. Every 3 years, I plan to use 360 points.. 120 banked, 120 current and 120 borrowed. I’m hoping the 50% borrowing restriction will end in the next year or two. 360 points should be enough for a 1BR SV at AKL for 9 days or 2 BR SV for 7 days.. if we did Aulani, it would be sufficient for a 1 BR for 7 days.

We like to travel during November, May and sometimes end of August during non-peak seasons when flights are cheaper. I planned out the next 3 trips and it looks good… but after the kids are grown up, I’m curious how vacations will go.

I wanted to see if anyone else did this and get any feedback.

Personally, I think that planning vacations every 3 years with 3 pre-teen to teen aged kids is foolish. Travel gets “iffy” when kids are in high school and even worse when kids are in college and worse yet when kids graduate and start their lives. It’s difficult to nail down young adults to a family vacation. All three of your kids will essentially “age out” of family vacations by your third iteration which will be 10 years from now. I guess if you have a plan B (like going without the kids every other year) then it would be OK, but you’re likely to only get 2 vacations with everyone on board and by the 4th one your kids may want to do something else.

 

[Stargazer65]

So, I'll be the one contrarian here since we did this for 10 years. We managed with only 100 points for a family of 7, going to WDW every three years. It was workable during 100% borrowing. We did two extra short trips just my DW and I to use some leftover points (added on some OTUPs to break even). If they changed back to 100% it is not unreasonable to do what you want. I will also add that we were homeschoolers, which makes vacation planning way easier.

But I will agree that every other year with a larger number of points would be way easier, even with 100% borrowing.

 

[HBDad]

I will also add that we were homeschoolers, which makes vacation planning way easier.

We’re in a similar situation. How are you doing after 10 years? We do 1 to 2 big vacations every year and WDW and Aulani will be part of the mix every 3rd year. Kids don’t need to join us after they grow up but it would be nice.

But if you like both WDW and Aulani, you could do each one of those once every 4 years and still be using points every other year.

Great point on residual points if every 3rd year. If we got a larger contract and sell 160 points every 5-6 years, is it easy? I’m seeing they sell around $16-20 depending on broker or selling by yourself.

 

[HBDad]

Holding DVC is risk. Just looking at all of the threads on these boards about Disney policy changes shows this product is subject to not only its own rule change (banking/borrowing rules) but also the general Disney policy changes. IMO, almost all of them in recent years have been against the interests of DVC owners, even before Covid.

DVC seems like a great way for Disney to finance more properties for steady occupancy. Otherwise, it feels like they don’t get much priority at Disney other than just doing enough to get more sales… As long as sales are strong, they don’t have enough motivation to improve it.

 

[HBDad]

Travel gets “iffy” when kids are in high school and even worse when kids are in college and worse yet when kids graduate and start their lives. It’s difficult to nail down young adults to a family vacation. All three of your kids will essentially “age out” of family vacations by your third iteration which will be 10 years from now.

We travel a lot and I don’t expect the kids to join us every time. One day, it will be only my wife and I again.

 

[sndral]

…
Great point on residual points if every 3rd year. If we got a larger contract and sell 160 points every 5-6 years, is it easy? I’m seeing they sell around $16-20 depending on broker or selling by yourself.

I think you mean renting your points, which a lot of people seem to successfully do. Some resorts are more valuable on the rental market & I believe that some brokers offer more per point for them if booked during home resort prIority.
You can also trade out of DVC to stay at other places through IIL https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program/pol...-international-buyers-guide-released-for-2022 which is not a great value proposition, but you can extend the ‘life’ of points that way.

 

[RamblinWreck]

We’re in a similar situation. How are you doing after 10 years? We do 1 to 2 big vacations every year and WDW and Aulani will be part of the mix every 3rd year. Kids don’t need to join us after they grow up but it would be nice.


Great point on residual points if every 3rd year. If we got a larger contract and sell 160 points every 5-6 years, is it easy? I’m seeing they sell around $16-20 depending on broker or selling by yourself.

It's very easy, especially on these forums and especially if you aren't looking for the highest possible dollar amount per point.

But realize that whatever payment processor you use will generate a tax form and you will need to do some legwork to minimize the tax burden from the renting of those points.

 

[Stargazer65]

We’re in a similar situation. How are you doing after 10 years? We do 1 to 2 big vacations every year and WDW and Aulani will be part of the mix every 3rd year. Kids don’t need to join us after they grow up but it would be nice.

We added on a lot of points in 2020. A lot of transition going on. Three of five kids have moved on, soon a fourth, leaving just one teen still. We are taking a trip with our two kids left at home next month. Next year, we are intending on getting a treehouse for a while and telling everybody to come if they can. Most of them will have to make their own way there and pay their own way. We intend to try to do something like that maybe every other year. Other than that it will soon be just DW and me on trips (we did do a two week trip last year just the two of us).

 

[RoseGold]

DVC seems like a great way for Disney to finance more properties for steady occupancy. Otherwise, it feels like they don’t get much priority at Disney other than just doing enough to get more sales… As long as sales are strong, they don’t have enough motivation to improve it.

I don't mean the actual properties, though the dues certainly are opaque, and I think there are some arguments there.

I mean general Disney policies. Heck, all they'd have to do is remove DVC from the "deluxe" list for the late after hours, and I'm selling. There's no reason it has to be included. I also mean decisions like no APs, escalating ticket prices, constant hard ticket events, the disaster of Genie+, dramatic changes in entertainment and perceived value. No ME, no valet parking. These decisions have nothing to do with DVC, but can still impact the value of the product. If tickets continue in this direction, as they were even before Covid, Disney prices people out.

This is intentional. Chapek was clear he wanted more $/guest. My point is owning DVC is risk because there are many Disney-controlled decisions that can impact DVC's value and its usefulness. I view owning DVC as much more risky than I did a few years ago.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Heck, all they'd have to do is remove DVC from the "deluxe" list for the late after hours, and I'm selling. There's no reason it has to be included.

I mean that's technically true, but it would never happen. With the exception of Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, and Riviera, DVC resorts are part of larger properties that are themselves Deluxe resorts. Bay Lake Tower isn't its own thing, it's "Bay Lake Tower... at Disney's Contemporary Resort." Downgrading Bay Lake Tower would mean downgrading the Contemporary itself.

 

[RoseGold]

Downgrading Bay Lake Tower would mean downgrading the Contemporary itself.

No it wouldn't, they are separate properties, just like Boardwalk Villas and Boardwalk Inn. I'm not saying they are going to do this, but they've done a lot of things I didn't think they would do. My point is there are a lot of risks, and I don't assume things anymore about the (meager) benefits of DVC.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

No it wouldn't, they are separate properties, just like Boardwalk Villas and Boardwalk Inn. I'm not saying they are going to do this, but they've done a lot of things I didn't think they would do. My point is there are a lot of risks, and I don't assume things anymore about the (meager) benefits of DVC.

Boardwalk Villas and Boardwalk Inn are two parts of the single "Disney's BoardWalk Resort."

You're over-thinking it getting into the legal nitty gritty of the condo associations and whatnot. Disney's BoardWalk is one resort.

 

[RoseGold]

DVC is included in the on-site park benefits and the deluxe park benefits right now, but there's no reason it has to be. All we bought was a room, right?

Just like there don't have to be APs. Disney can change things, if they want to.

This is risk.

 

[HBDad]

I don't mean the actual properties, though the dues certainly are opaque, and I think there are some arguments there.

I mean general Disney policies. Heck, all they'd have to do is remove DVC from the "deluxe" list for the late after hours, and I'm selling. There's no reason it has to be included. I also mean decisions like no APs, escalating ticket prices, constant hard ticket events, the disaster of Genie+, dramatic changes in entertainment and perceived value. No ME, no valet parking. These decisions have nothing to do with DVC, but can still impact the value of the product. If tickets continue in this direction, as they were even before Covid, Disney prices people out.

This is intentional. Chapek was clear he wanted more $/guest. My point is owning DVC is risk because there are many Disney-controlled decisions that can impact DVC's value and its usefulness. I view owning DVC as much more risky than I did a few years ago.

Thanks for pointing out the risks.

I’ve only been to WDW this year so I don’t know better. Been to Dland 100+ times. More $/guest will price people out but as long as demand is there, the strategy will work. Wages have been rising quickly and people have more cash flow. Hotel prices have been increasing much faster than inflation. We’ll have to see if the post pandemic travel slows down. Chapek’s contract is up in 11 months so we’ll see whether Disney likes this strategy or not.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Thanks for pointing out the risks.

I’ve only been to WDW this year so I don’t know better. Been to Dland 100+ times. More $/guest will price people out but as long as demand is there, the strategy will work. Wages have been rising quickly and people have more cash flow. Hotel prices have been increasing much faster than inflation. We’ll have to see if the post pandemic travel slows down. Chapek’s contract is up in 11 months so we’ll see whether Disney likes this strategy or not.

We're a little bubble here on disboards...most DVC owners aren't as "into it" as we are or as knowledgeable. Many people are getting priced out of an annual WDW vacation. Off the top of my head, a family of four/one week stay must be 10K or higher for a hotel room, tix, flights, rental car, dining etc. A 100K family dealing with 10% inflation may have to make hard decisions with that extra 10K just to pay for food and gas. DVC owners make it a priority but I can see owners close to the edge selling in the next year or two.

Owning DVC has allowed us to have a 1 BR villa and gift our son and DIL a studio twice a year for 10-12 nights. We've rented and flipped over the years and added to our DVC portfolio (LOL). For us it is a great value and a long term commitment.