dvc or other major time share??

[minniesfriend]

DH and are Disney fanatics. We usually go to WDW 3 or 4 times a year. My in-laws own a time share thru a major hotel chain (not hilton or sheraton) so I tho't I would l look into investing in our future disney vacations at this particular time share. I spoke with Pat this am at the Timeshare Store (great lady, very helpful). I initally told her exactly what I was looking at thru this hotel chain. She got the necessary info and explained it all to me. Later, I told her how often we went to Disney and that we always stayed on site. She really encouraged me to look into the DVC club before I made my decision.

I assume many of you have been in our position. Aside from location, what made you go with DVC?

Why should we purchase something that doesn't last past 2042?

Thanks for your tho'ts. I always receive great help on this forum.

 

[Desperado]

I think you'll find this forum pretty bias towards DVC. A great source for timeshare info is the time share users groups at:
http://www.tug2.net/
Well worth the small $20 or so membership fee given the large investment your considering.

But if you go to Disney as often as you list, DVC is really an option you should seriously consider, you'll save lots of $$$ and have wonderful accomodations.

You may choose to purchase both DVC and the other timeshare your considering. A great option for you might be to rent some DVC points off of the Rent/Trade board and go check out DVC resorts for your next visit, which is probably only a few months away. You can check out the accomodations for yourself. If your unsure about which resort should be your home base, you could stay a couple of days in each and make a really informed decision. Regardless, you'll be saving $$ through the rent trade board over the Disney accomodations you are probably purchasing now for your stays if your staying onsite. We bought into a selection of onsite and offsite resorts we really enjoy, with great activities for kids at all locations.

Why did we purchase? Disney quality, service and the great advantage of being on property and beautiful resorts with an extremely flexible program, that also offerred ofsite options so that we didn't feel locked into WDW for every vacation. The knowledge the Disney resorts are kept up and in great shape. Lifetime contracts sound great, but what will the resorts really look like in 50 years? 40 years with Disney quality, service and ameneties is fine for us.

I think you'll also find you approach the parks differently as a DVC member, knowing you are an owner for the next 40 years takes the edge off of trying to see everything in a given tiem period, you know you'll be back, you can be more relaxed about your park choices and the aggressiveness with which one feels the need to see as much as possible. It's fun to treat family and friends as well to some of the most beautiful resorts they have experienced.

 

[drusba]

If you buy a timeshare in Orlando that is off site from WDW, it is highy likely that it will cost quite a bit less than DVC both in sale price and annual dues. In fact, the rooms you will get, if 1 or 2BR, are likely to be larger than the WDW DVC resorts other than perhaps Old Key West. It may also have indefinite duration (although not all do).

So what are the basic fundamental differences:

1. Location -- you said "other than location" as if it is a minor advantage. But this is DVC's major advantage -- having the ability to stay in deluxe resorts on site. You can get an offsite hotel room for under $80 a night in a lot of places. The regular rate for a hotel room at BoardWalk, our home, is in the $400 per night range. Why do regular hotel guests pay that instead of $80 for an off site hotel? Mainly because of location -- at BW you can walk to Epcot and MGM. If location on site is not a major issue for you and you are fine staying off site when going to WDW then I personally believe you should avoid DVC.

2. Room size. This is really an adjunct to location. We always get at least a 1BR and usually a 2BR. Thus we get to stay on site and get large rooms and aren't just relegated to hotel rooms. The room size you can get in a 2BR is bigger off-site, but having a 2BR right in the BoardWalk beats that any day by a large margin.

3. Point system -- some other timeshares have it or something similar but the majority still have the system of buying a particular week. The point system allows you to reserve any time of year without trying to trade that particular week you bought.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

My first Disney contract was a 1999 Boardwalk Villa contract. I could sell that contract for more today than I originally paid for it. The real "long timers" (notice I didn't say old timers) could sell for considerably more than they paid.

Now the amazing thing. I'm not interested in selling. Imagine a timeshare that has increased in value that the owner could easily sell on the re-sale market, but doesn't want to? That is DVC!

Good luck.

HBC

 

[rccomputers]

Let me add my two cents. Desperado definitely has the right idea. Join the www.tug2.net (timeshare users group) Only $15.00. I did before I bought DVC because I wanted to see what was available and what people thought.

Check out the resort reviews. In my opinion even the highest rated resorts didn’t come close to the Disney Standard. All of the Disney Resorts are in the top 10 in the WORLD! Some of the junk timeshares out there are unbelievable.

Also, the trade value of Disney is unbelievable. While you should not use it as a reason to buy, when you want to go somewhere else, you can trade or even sell your points for that year and have plenty of cash to pay for where you want to go. TUG has direct exchanges and people want to trade all over the world for Disney.

Finally, absolutely consider a timeshare. I did and got more points for my dollar. The only issue is you don’t get the Disney financing. I think Pat at the Timeshare Store was my broker. They make it easy. Send them the money and they send you the paperwork. Sign you name a couple of times and it’s done.

 

[Lisa P.]

You've said that you usually visit WDW 3-4 times per year. How many are normally in your travel party? 2, 4, 5, more?

What kind of lodging are you used to renting? Disney value, moderate, deluxe or home-away-from-home resorts?

Have you stayed in your inlaws' offsite timeshare? Did you like it? Have you enjoyed any vacations at nice offsite resorts or does it seem a lesser vacation to you?

When do you normally travel? Mostly long weekends... mostly during major holidays, like Christmas time or Easter break? Or do you take trips that include many more weeknights, apart from the most popular major holidays?

Can you afford it? Any timeshare involves a commitment of money to purchase and to maintain the ownership/membership. Consider the number of DVC points that it would take to vacation at WDW as you hope to continue doing (remember to look at room occupancy - 5-8 people need a 2BR) in years to come. Would the purchase be managable within your family budget? Would the maint fees be reasonable for the number of nights you plan to use it?

For the right people, DVC is a terrific selection. The answers to these above questions will factor significantly in whether DVC is a wise choice for YOU. It's a much more expensive timeshare than most that will get you great offsite stays. But for people who use it the right way, DVC can be the best choice.

For our family, it wasn't, and we sold ours. We enjoy our other timeshares immensely, at much lower cost. It all depends upon the individual situation. Certainly, for the frequent visitor, it's worth seriously considering DVC. Feel free to email me with any questions on comparisons.

 

[vernon]

I would certainly advise you to consider either a "regular timeshare" or a non disney points based system.

There are definate, IMHO, advantages to a points based system like DVC. If your party size is likely to alter ( and over 40 years that is likely to be the case) having a system that allows you longer stays if you only need smaller units is a big plus. It also allows you a relatively free run at changing the time of year that you visit. "Regular timeshares" have become more flexible than previously when you got "unit 298 for the 3rd week in July" for the next 120 years, but they are still less flexible than the points based systems. Once you've decided on points or regular you can look at the different companies offering similar systems.

For most people DVC's biggest plus is it's location, there are companies that are close to Disney property and many run shuttle services, but it isn't quite the same as actualy being on property. Having the choice of the different atmospheres of OKW, Broadwalk, Beach Club and Wilderness Lodge ( with more resorts to come) is to me a major advantage.

In many ways timeshares are like cars. The are less expensive models, but they don't necessarily offer the same comfort and/or quality of ride as the more costly ones. DVC is not the cheapest way to go, but it's , IMHO, the best model on the market if you like top quality accommodation AND you prefer to stay on site with all the extras that offers. Kinda like a 10 year old Pacer/Hyundai Accent will get you from point A to point b ( most of the time ) but it ain't the same as driving a Mustang/Porche over the same journey.

 

[minniesfriend]

We usually go to WDW 5-7 days at a time. There are four in our family. As far as staying onsite, you certainly do not have to sell me. We always stay onsite unless we go down with the in-laws. We really enjoy the front door transportation service, esp. to MK. Our favorite resort is the AKL, although we have stayed from the GF to the WHomes at FW to the AS, depending on occasion and price. We always take advantage of AP discounts. We never pay rack rates.

As far as staying offsite at the in-laws - The space (two bedrooms) is nice. We are able to put the kids down for a nap or at 8 o'clock without having to sit in the dark. It's not Disney. Do I like it? It's ok. Given a choice, would I stay at Disney or there? Disney would win every time.

So why are we considering this? This past June, my 5 yr. old was diagnosed with diabetes. Having a kitchen makes it easier to keep the levels better controlled. I am able to offer him better food choices than what is on the park menus. He is able to get the rest he needs without us having to sit in the dark or in the dressing are of the bathroom.

We are also considering this as an investment. We spend a great deal on lodging there and it would be nice to have soemthing to show for it. I never considered Disney property because of the lease issue. Plus, I didn't think we could afford it. After we look at all we spend at Disney, we come out even renting a hotel or purchasing a timeshare.

When I told the kids we were thinking about doing a time share, they were disappointed because we wouldn't get to stay at the AKL. To be honest, maybe I'm disappointed, too. I just want what is best for our family.

Thanks for the cont'd input. I hope this anwered some of your questions.

 

[CaptainMidnight]

When I told the kids we were thinking about doing a time share, they were disappointed because we wouldn't get to stay at the AKL. To be honest, maybe I'm disappointed, too. I just want what is best for our family.

Rent some points off of the Rent/trade board for your next trip and go stay at the Wilderness Lodge Villas and the Beach Club Villas, swim in Storm Along Bay and see how you and your kids feel about the places. While your at the Wilderness Lodge Villas, you might want to try the Family bike/boat plan where for $199 your family will have unlimited use of bikes and the little water boats for your week long stay. You might also want to acquire the point chart for the Disney resorts to see how many points it takes to stay in the AKL resort, it is not as cost effective to use your DVC point to stay in other non DVC Disney resorts, but it is an option if you miss a resort and want to stay there.

I think you'll be really pleased with the quality of the DVC accomodations and the continuation of the Disney feel and service that you like in other Disney resorts. The two I would recommend you checking out first would be Wilderness Lodge villas, and Beach Club Villas. Then you can try the Boardwalk Villas and Old Key West Villas, or even visit them during your stay. If your staying onsite as much as listed above, you really do want to spend some time checking out DVC resorts, I don't think offsite resorts are consistent with the accomodations you mention above, but check them out to feel confident in your purchase. You can also check out the site sponsor the Timeshare Store to see that if you do change your mind down the road, you can sell your DVC purchase.

Visiting Disney as much as you do and desiring kitchen facilities really should make DVC a very attractive option for you. We love it.

 

[vernon]

When I told the kids we were thinking about doing a time share, they were disappointed because we wouldn't get to stay at the AKL. To be honest, maybe I'm disappointed, too. I just want what is best for our family

Have you done the "walk through" tour of DVC resorts. One thing I am 100 % certainof, you wouldn't be dissapointed with ANY of the DVC resorts. I would put them on a par with any of the up scale Disney resorts with the added bonus they can offer much larger rooms as well as a standard room.

Next trip take the 2 hours out to go through the presentation , it will give you a much better idea of what's on offer

 

[minniesfriend]

We stayed at OKW in a 2 bedroom this past fall. My inlaws were able to trade their time share points for a disney property. The size of the room(s) was great. Yes, it was much bigger than the rooms in the other timeshare. I didn't like the transp. service compared to other disney resorts. This was not a Disney fault. We were a first pick-up and the bus took almost 15-20 min. to complete its rounds thru the resort. It's a huge resort!

 

[Dreamfinder2]

Before we made our original purchase in December, 2001, I wrestled for months with the same questions. Marriot's offerings really appealed to me, but the cost wasn't significantly less than DVC. We went to a sales presentation for Fairfield, and while the product may be fine (we'll never know), the ordeal we faced during the presentation was just a notch below root canal surgery, or the death of a favorite pet. It was AWFUL, but maybe others have had fine experiences.

Finally, DW sat me down and said, "OK, pal. Realistically, are you going to be happy with anything less than Disney?"

Well, no, I wouldn't be. So we bought.

As an aside, we used points to stay AKL concierge over New Year's. Talked about it in another thread. Expensive use of points, but I'm sure not sorry we did it.

WLV has much the same feel as AKL, sans animals, but with the plus of lots of waterside/marina/recreational opportunities that AKL didn't have.

Yeah, there's the great unknown apparent with 2042, but that's OK for us. I'm guessing - and this is totally uninformed - that they'll be up for sale again, with current owners or their heirs having first dibs. That's a real debatable topic!

 

[KathyR]

We love our DVC points. They offer us a great deal of flexibilty and wonderful accomodations. However, along w/many of the WDW resorts, we also love AKL! If you take 3-4 trips a year, you could always use DVC for the majority, and maybe pay cash for one trip/year at the resort of your choosing We often pay cash for a few nights here and there just to try different resorts and visit seasoned favorites This fall along with our 16 night DVC stay we are also staying for 4 nights at AKL We don't mind changing resorts a few times during our trip as long as it is at least a few nights at each resort, so this works out well for us! Best of luck w/your decision. If you have any questions at all, just ask!

 

[crisi]

Lots of people here will stay in a regular Disney room paying cash over weekends to save on points and experience another resort, then move to their DVC room. Its an option if you really miss AKL.

 

[joepoe]

To the original poster's concern about 2042. True, it reverts back to DVC at that time while Marriott and some others tout that theirs is deeded in perpetuity, BUT...who knows what kind of assessments you could be hit with in 2042 as the "perpetuity" resorts need to upgrade or even re-build?

Therefore, I am not that worried about losing the lease after 2042, I have a feeling DVC will be making some attractive pitch to us (I'll be 91) or our surviving children (they will be 48, 48 and 45!) to stay on. They certainly don't want them all to expire at once.

The only timeshare I have seen that holds a decent value in the re-sale market is DVC.

 

[vernon]

Further to underline Joe's post, Disney will take back the DVC resorts in 2042 it is therefore very much in their interest the resorts are maintained at a level that Disney would like to receive. While it doesn't guarantee they will make every effort to maintain them to the high standards we expect from a Disney hotel, it does IMHO make it reasonably likely. With DVC being on Disney property I also think it certain that Disney will maintain their link with DVC and will be involved in any further DVC's that are put into place after 2042. With other companies that have no particular ties to a particular piece of land you don't have the same level of likelyhood of that outcome. While I may be happy to deal with for example Mariotte at the moment in say Cypress Grove Fl ( I don't even know if they have a development of that name it's a guess) there is no certainty that Mariotte would continue to manage and maintain that property, it would be simply one of many dotted around the world. If for financial reasons they were to sell it to a company I didn't like to deal with or one that wasn't as caring in their maintanance you're left with the choices of keeping a timeshare you don't like or selling a resort that could be going to seed, neither is an attractive proposition.

I didn't like the transp. service compared to other disney resorts

The more important point is, IMHO, how did it compare to the transport offered by a non Disney timeshare. I would think it was a great deal better, JMHO.
A tip for anyone staying on OKW, if you're the first bus stop and you'd rather not go round the OKW property, walk the 3 minutes to the last bus stop and get on there, you have a decent chance you'll catch a bus that you have just missed . Obviously being the first stop on the way home is a major plus

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

I bought a non-DVC timeshare first...and I love it. Except for the oldest units the accomdations have all been OKW size or larger...I'll be staying in a 3 bedroom unit that is a combination of a studio & 2 bedroom in a month. THAT said...if your plan is to mostly do Disney there is another argument for buying DVC...you can subtract off the cost of a rental vehicle. I only rented a car once while staying on property...and it stayed in its space the entire week...I used it to drive over to Tampa at the beginning and to the airport at the end.

Counter-arguments:
1. Discard the notion of a timeshare as an investment...yes the early adopters can actually make money on theirs now...but BWV buyers and later basically can just count on cheaper (significantly) vacations if they sell theirs. I'm a VWL buyer and if I sold now I would probably do better than break even (in the way that I calculate such things)...but flat out get back what I put into it...no.

2. It sounds like you have small kids...when they get bigger they may be more interested in other theme parks.

3. You can buy regular timeshares with lock offs that will get you 2-units to trade for half of the cost of Disney.

Other arguments:
Okay...when all is said and done...if you aren't buying DVC the notion of buy where you want to stay goes out the window. Other than DVC DO NOT BUY A TIMESHARE IN ORLANDO...pick a ski resort (a summer share at smuggler's notch also is one of the few timeshares that appreciated), pick a resort in California or Hawaii...pick some place where people want to go but there aren't a lot of shares. Why? Because there are a huge number of timeshares in Orlando you can always trade into Orlando...no guarentee you can trade into DVC but you will never have a problem getting a nice place to stay. Trading out of Orlando to another location is harder for this same reason lots of people want to trade Orlando timeshares for somewhere else. This is where going to TUG would be a useful thing to do.

Pro-DVC:
I think Disney is going to start moving away from discounts to encourage people to stay on-site...so the cost of your AKL stay is going to start going up...as previously suggested...stay at a hotel you are interested in for Fri & Sat night...maybe even Sunday...then transfer to a DVC unit for the rest of your stay. Disney makes changing rooms/hotels very easy.

Buy resale...it doesn't sound like you have a preference except that you would need to buy one of the 4 (5) onsite units. Buy a resale unit....BWV if the OKW waits were that significantly irksome. Only buy BCV if you just have to have beaches & cream and stormalong bay. Right now the price difference between Disney and resale is big enough to make it something to consider.

If I had to do it over again...I'd buy a resale regular timeshare in a location other than Orlando... But I'm a single skier and sometime beach bum so this would work for me because my vacations vary quite a bit even if I do wind up in Orlando every year.

 

[CaptainMidnight]

Great post and advice, doubletrouble_vb. Thanks for sharing.