Dvc.... is it for a lifetime or capped out?

[monica9]

We actually bought into DVC 4 years ago and cancelled it within the week because we got panicked. We were trying to have our second child and decided we needed money put aside to get medical help for that and figured it was a lose lose situation for us if we bought into it. We’d lose since we needed money for help with our second child and we’d lose if we bought into it with just our one child we had as we felt it was a better choice for bigger families.
Now we’ve been there 3 times since and feel we would’ve been close to paying it off with the amount we’ve spent in the past 4 years there! We now have our second child and wish we had kept the dvc.
For some reason I don’t remember if it is a contract for 30 years or a lifetime?
Also, who feels it’s worth it? You still have to pay annual fees, tickets and food and in our case airfare. Just those things aside is a good $3500. We stay deluxe but not super expensive. We usually find a promotion for free dining or 20-30% off and stay standard room.
Is this something we should think about investing in the future? Children our 9 1/2 and 13 months old.

 

[supersnoop]

DVC contracts run for 50 years from when the resort opens, with the exception of some of the early resorts which all expire in 2042. Technically, The Walt Disney Company owns the land and Disney Vacation Development (DVD) holds a 50-year ground lease. They form a condo association which joins an association, DVC, which allows you rights to book at the various resorts.

There’s a whole DVC section here where you can learn a lot.

 

[chalee94]

depends on how long you live... expiration dates are determined by resort. my resort (OKW) expires in Jan 2042 while the newest won't expire till 50 years away in 2068...

it's worth it for me but i paid in the mid-$80s per pt over a decade ago, while it is selling for over $150 per pt now.

take your time and do your homework on the DVC forums (read to understand the program and get a sense of what current owners like or don't like) - it works great for some people but not for everyone.

If you are happy in a value hotel room, DVC will probably not ever save you any money. (But my stays at OKW are much cheaper than a moderate stay these days.)

https://www.disboards.com/threads/dvc-resource-center-updated-july-2017.3514540/

 

[MomToOne]

One thing to consider is whether or not you will still want to be going to Disney once your kids are older. Do you want to tie your vacation dollars up in Disney (initial purchase+annual fees) for all those years to come, or will you maybe want to experience other vacations with that money? Do you want to hassle with renting out your points if you want to give other places a try?

I know right now it seems like you'll love Disney forever. But I can say from personal experience that you can get tired of it and want to step away from it for awhile. Many teens no longer want to do Disney vacations, or at least want to have other experiences sometimes too.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Here's the DVC area for anymore q's you may have! https://www.disboards.com/forums/disney-vacation-club-forums.200/ They know a lot and it's pretty active!

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I've done the math many times over and it never made sense to me. But we are happier in an off site condo or home rental than we would ever be in an onsite room, and those are so inexpensive compared to dvc.

 

[monica9]

One thing to consider is whether or not you will still want to be going to Disney once your kids are older. Do you want to tie your vacation dollars up in Disney (initial purchase+annual fees) for all those years to come, or will you maybe want to experience other vacations with that money? Do you want to hassle with renting out your points if you want to give other places a try?

I know right now it seems like you'll love Disney forever. But I can say from personal experience that you can get tired of it and want to step away from it for awhile. Many teens no longer want to do Disney vacations, or at least want to have other experiences sometimes too.

I completely understand getting tired of it for some people. I’ve gone since I was 5 years old every year with my family and then again once I had our first daughter and can’t get enough of it. I can’t wait to experience it with my grandchildren and love seeing older couples by themselves there enjoying the experience in a different way. But I can tell you right now that my husband isn’t a fan like I am so I’m not sure the investment is worth it if we can’t go other places. I personally have no desire to do a Disney Cruise. We cruise a lot and I’d much rather go on other cruise lines. I thought you could vacation anywhere not just Disney?
It’s super confusing about when the resort opened and how long you have before it expires. So the older dvc’s Could be expiring very soon. Do they still pay the same as the newer ones like the Polynesian villas? And are they going by when the resort opened or villa opened? If resort then contemporary only has about 10-15 more years?

 

[tvguy]

I think Consumer Reports put it best.

DVC is the top time share.

But CR also says, no time share is a good investment.

 

[kydisneyfans]

It's up to each individual family.

We have been visiting Disney yearly since around 2004. We've done the offsite condos/hotels and Disney value resorts.
As we aged, our desires changed and we wanted better accomodations without driving all over the area to get to the parks. We rented points and stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Before we departed, we decided we wanted to buy. We did the tour to get answers knowing that the secondary market existed. We bid on a nice package for AKL at a nice price, it was approved by Disney, and approximately 6 weeks later we were owners.

We have 2 regrets:
-We didn't buy earlier.
-We didn't get more points(we have 160).

We want to add points, but the prices are just too high right now.

As for Disney, our son is in college now. He is engaged. When asked about vacation for 2018, he said he didn't care as long as there is a Disney trip in there somewhere. We own until 2057 and figured it would allow us to see grandkids, and eventually great grandkids at Disney.

 

[chalee94]

I thought you could vacation anywhere not just Disney?

Disney advertises that, and you can trade out of DVC for other locations, but at a large premium that means you are throwing money away. If you love WDW and go back virtually every year (with maybe a year off every once in a while to go to Hilton Head or Hawaii locations within the DVC resort system), DVC can be a great purchase. But trading out is a poor value.

It’s super confusing about when the resort opened and how long you have before it expires. So the older dvc’s Could be expiring very soon. Do they still pay the same as the newer ones like the Polynesian villas? And are they going by when the resort opened or villa opened? If resort then contemporary only has about 10-15 more years?

This is addressed in post #8 of the link I provided. That thread also gives you pricing history, annual dues (current and historical), point charts and relative sizes of the DVC resorts. It's a great place to start learning.

 

[nkereina]

We have mulled over a DVC purchase for a while. For now, we've decided to just rent DVC points when we travel to WDW. We get the benefit of a discounted room because DVC point rentals are usually cheaper than cash reservations, and we get the benefit of a DVC room. We also have more flexibility with resort choice and room types since we aren't bound to a home resort. Of course, we don't get some of the DVC perks such as various discounts and events but we are ok with that. And with them cutting perks for resale contracts, I'm not sure how much value those extras hold anymore.

While you are still thinking about it, it might be good to take a trip or two on rented DVC points. It will allow you to see what a DVC room/vacation is like without the housekeeping, cooking in the room (not that you have to, but one of the benefits/appeals of DVC), and if the whole thing appeals to you.

 

[chalee94]

But CR also says, no time share is a good investment.

Resale prices have increased to the point where I can sell my contract for a profit...that's more than I can say for some of my stock purchases...

But sure, timeshares are not intended to be investments. There is a cost to visiting Disney and moreso for paying extra to stay onsite - worth it for some and not for others, but if that's money you need for retirement or other "needs" then that is a different discussion.

If you have the discretionary income and intend to stay onsite at WDW and plan to visit at least once every year or so (you can bank and borrow pts to stay every other year...but every third year would be extremely risky), and can plan your visits well in advance (home resorts start booking up at 10-11 months out - especially for fall trips nowadays), then DVC can be a less expensive way to accomplish that. But there are trade-offs, so what works great for one family may have some dealbreakers for other families.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

For, me it will be for a lifetime. I'm already in my 50's and I don't see myself vacationing at all in my 80's or 90's.

It would be great if I can, but based on current health problems, it isn't likely.

I also want to say, that it isn't always an investment or even an attempt at an investment.

Part of it for us, is to make sure that my husband is willing to vacation. He tends to want to take days here and there. But loves it when we get to where we are going. So, with DVC, he vacations and enjoys it.

 

[tvguy]

Resale prices have increased to the point where I can sell my contract for a profit...that's more than I can say for some of my stock purchases...

But sure, timeshares are not intended to be investments. There is a cost to visiting Disney and moreso for paying extra to stay onsite - worth it for some and not for others, but if that's money you need for retirement or other "needs" then that is a different discussion.

If you have the discretionary income and intend to stay onsite at WDW and plan to visit at least once every year or so (you can bank and borrow pts to stay every other year...but every third year would be extremely risky), and can plan your visits well in advance (home resorts start booking up at 10-11 months out - especially for fall trips nowadays), then DVC can be a less expensive way to accomplish that. But there are trade-offs, so what works great for one family may have some dealbreakers for other families.

Those factors were all considered by Consumer Reports. But, I understand, after 15 years of lurking/,membership on these boards, there are a lot of middle class families that spend A LOT of money on multiple trips to Disney.
My wife and I were considered Disney nuts by co-workers because we went every 2 years to Disneyland. But I actually work with people who have never been to any Disney park.

 

[OhhBother]

We bought a resale at OKW in 1996. Paid $48 a point for 310 points. We also got free park admission for every trip though 1999.

Hands down, buying DVC was one of the best investments we've ever made. It's paid for itself many times over for us.

 

[Sleepy425]

We love our DVC because it allows our family of six to stay in one room. And, since we have to get a 2BR that fits 9 (one bedrooms only fit 4-5), we can bring my parents along and they have a free place to stay. We absolutely want to stay on Disney property because I don't want to deal with renting a car and bringing car seats along (or renting them - we did once when my parents insisted on having a car and they seats were all expired. I had to make them let me go in the back and shuffle through seats to find appropriate ones). The price of buying in (including cost per point and closing costs, divided by the number of years left on the contract) was about $2.50 per point. Dues are another $6.40/point. Our week at a 2BR in AKV was 225ish points (I forget exactly and don't feel like looking it up). So the way I look at it, $2025ish was the cost for 7 nights. We could have stayed in an AOA suite for about that, but with only one bedroom and a smaller kitchen, with no washer and dryer. Also my parents would have needed their own room.
So, for us, it is completely worth it. (and yes, I know my figures are very elementary and other people will factor in inflation and what not, but I like to keep it simple)
For a smaller family that fits into a normal room, it may not be such a great value. Plus, it does limit you to Disney properties (ok not really, but the best use of those expensive points is on property).

 

[tasha99]

We love our DVC points. We don't go every year, but they are easy to rent out, so I don't feel like they tie us down with Disney. They give us the option to stay in the rooms we prefer. We want a 2BR usually (even if we only have 3 people sometimes). Love having a kitchen and washer/dryer. I think dvc makes sense especially for people who want a condo onsite.

 

[rnorwo1]

I researched it for probably two years and made spreadsheets to determine cost effectiveness before we bought. We ultimately bought 100 points resale for about $80/point at Saratoga Springs (lower maintenance fees but never stay there). We are a family of 5 and really like staying onsite and with a kitchen. We recouped our cost easily. For years this was the best vacation spot for us, and we went almost every year. We also stayed at Disneyland and Hilton Head on those points. We would have never been able to pay cash at those rates. If southwest starts flying to HI, we may use them for Aulani.

Now that our kids are older, we are not going as often, we are focusing on the rest of the world. It is possible that we will sell ours by 2020. At today's prices, we will make a tiny profit. I imagine, worst case scenario, we will get our purchase price back, so we will have had all these trips for just the cost of the maintenance fees (between $400-500/yr for us).

So, for us, it was a great deal. But I don't think it would be for everyone, and I certainly would think twice about paying the full fees directly from Disney.

 

[monica9]

So, for us, it was a great deal. But I don't think it would be for everyone, and I certainly would think twice about paying the full fees directly from Disney.[/QUOTE]

Meaning to buy from someone who already has a timeshare?
How do I do that? Is there a website?

 

[Marionnette]

Meaning to buy from someone who already has a timeshare?
How do I do that? Is there a website?

Yes. You purchase the remainder of their contract from someone who has placed their ownership interest up for sale. There are a number of companies that deal specifically in DVC resales. I strongly suggest that you follow a PP's advice and head over to the DVC forums. Read. Ask questions. Read some more. I get the impression that you have a very limited grasp on what DVC is and what it isn't. The DVC forums will be a better resource than the Budget Board.