DVC Owners: What made you decide to buy?

[roliepolieoliefan]

My family and I will be renting for the 1st time this September. We've looked into other timeshares such as Marriott and Sheraton and just didn't think it was for us. ( We ALWAYS stay "in" WDW and when we don't go to WDW, DH and I visit the Sandals resorts, )

Since we began the renting process, I've been reading alot of what you owners are saying.

What made you decide to buy, vs just renting or staying in a resort room? Do you think you're actually saving money by owning, even though you had to pay an initial amount to purchase, closing costs and annual fees?
I seen a couple resales with low points (one had 50 another 60). The initial buying cost is low, but if you wanted to add points later, is it difficult? I talked to someone from The Timeshare Store, since we would want BCV or BWV, and she put me on a waitlist.

We do go to WDW at least once a year and I can't see that ending anytime soon, since we all love it.

Do any of you ever regret buying?

When I brought the subject up to DH, he began to talk about bad investment, CD's mutual funds. But I did tell him this is like a pre-paid vacation every year. Not really an investment , per say. What was your deciding factor to buy? Thanks!

 

[boatboatboat]

DVC Owners: What made you decide to buy?

We took the tour, my wife LOVED DVC, I was sorta so so. I said no.........

we went out to eat, I drank the better part of a bottle of wine at the yachtsman. when we got back to the room at the beach club, my wife got me to say yes, by taking advantage of the situation.

she does this stuff all the time..........

 

[nucpharm29]

We are vacationers--that's what we do--we've been to WDW 3 times in the past year plus a trip to Hilton Head and can't wait to go backto WDW again in September. That's the main reason we decided to buy into DVC. We really like the idea of a points based system instead of buying a specific week of the year. That way right now when the kids are little we can travel during the off season, but can change to summer/spring break when they reach school age. We also love Hilton Head, so being able to use our points there was also a huge selling point. We definitely did not join b/c it's a good "investment"--and we'll probably not see the cost savings for a few years. But we love disney and with disney you know the kind of quality you're going to get year after year--and now we are "required" to take a vacation at least every other year as a family! Growing up I never had that, so it's time I really treasure now!

 

[Boston5602]

My decision was based on how much money I have spent the last 6 years at Disney for hotels (mix of DVC/nonDVC resorts in disney). I literally could have bought 300 points and have paid it off with the money we spent . My family and I are booking next summer boardwalk 2 bedroom and the cost of that is about 1/3 the price to buy so I told myself I'm not " wasting " any more money renting hotel rooms anymore!So for less than a week I've been a BWV owner

 

[Maistre Gracey]

We walked into the 2br model of VWL (it was at the BW sales center).

SOLD!

That's why I stay far away from car show rooms. If I get within 100 yards, I walk out with a new car.

MG

 

[mark&sue]

The price we paid to stay at Grand Floridian!!!

The room was awful and we couldn't believe what great value DVC was Compared to what we paid at Grand Floridian we would break even after a few years.

We have already used points to stay at Disneyland Paris and do an exchange and love every minute we have been a member since October 2004. The only downside for us is the cost of flights from the UK during our school holidays.



Susan

 

[crisi]

I took my husband to WDW on our honeymoon - his first trip - about five years later we took our toddlers. We realized we'd want to go back regularly with the kids (we both enjoyed it, and it was a great kid vacation). We'd gotten to the point where we wanted to stay in Deluxe rooms - the kids in a different room seemed like luxury defined - and renting multiple rooms on site was cost prohibitive. Now that I'm a member, I'd rent points to be transferred into my account, but I'd never rent points from a stranger here - for me its far too risky (though LOTS of people do and few people have problems).

 

[tomandrobin]

We are in the process of buying into DVC. We currently own a Starwood timeshare also. We love Disney and plan to go often. We looked at the cost of DVC compared to staying in a moderate or deluxe resort for the next 10 trips to Disney. It was a no brainer for us.

By the way, we think the our Starwood membership is a great compliment to the DVC membership. Are they investments, no. Investment for future vacations and time with family, yes.

 

[utahkennedys]

Paying $467/night at the Poly last April tipped me over the edge. Plus, although I have very fond memories of the Poly b/c as a kid that is where my family stayed every year, I have to say it was kind of disappointing. The room was a nice size, but the bath was so small. We love the location and love staying on-site.

We bought a small resale contract at OKW and could add on at OKW probably today if we wanted to by calling the guide. I did a spreadsheet and figured out how much it would cost us each trip, with maintenance fees and the initial purchase spread over the rest of the contract, and it was so cheap (can't remember the details now).

Having said that, we don't have debt so I wouldn't have done it if we couldn't pay cash for the small contract. I personally wouldn't want to pay 10% interest on top of the 150 point contracts now Disney is offering. We have enough points to go every other year and that is great for us.

 

[Nennie]

I rented points for a trip in October. Although I didn't know I was "renting points" as I bought the trip off of ebay and just paid a flat rate. While wandering around over at the BW, we saw the DVC model and decided to go see what a 2-BR looked like. Next thing you know were were signing up to take the tour at SSR, and the rest is history!!!

We took our first trip as "owners" in January, and have booked (2) 2BR villas at BCV to take our parents and siblings for this September. We can't wait to share the magic!

Once you rent...you will buy!

 

[PinkTink63]

Basically, we LOVE WDW! We always stayed in Moderates before. Last year I rented pts. from a member and we stayed at OKW & BWV's. Well, let me just tell you, DVC is the way to go! We decided that we wanted to stay in those accomodations every time we go, so we bought after our trip. We would or could not pay for the deluxe resorts normally. Yes, it is a initial chunk of change, but it will pay off for us in the long run. We figured that Disney gets our money every year anyway, so it really is a down payment on future vacations
We also liked the flexibility about it:
1. pts. versus weeks
2. Able to rent out pts. if need be
3. Perks that come with membership-although not garanteed
4. Several DVC resorts to choose from and we plan to stay at all the resorts

We bought through Disney, so there was no closing costs.

We are new owners, so no regrets, so far!

Good Luck in your decision!

 

[rinkwide]

...What made you decide to buy, vs just renting...

Financially, I'd say it's a push. If you're not comfortable with someone else being in control of your reservation, then buy in. Otherwise just keep renting.

 

[TinkGirl]

We are vacationers--that's what we do--we've been to WDW 3 times in the past year plus a trip to Hilton Head and can't wait to go backto WDW again in September. That's the main reason we decided to buy into DVC. We really like the idea of a points based system instead of buying a specific week of the year. That way right now when the kids are little we can travel during the off season, but can change to summer/spring break when they reach school age. We also love Hilton Head, so being able to use our points there was also a huge selling point. We definitely did not join b/c it's a good "investment"--and we'll probably not see the cost savings for a few years. But we love disney and with disney you know the kind of quality you're going to get year after year--and now we are "required" to take a vacation at least every other year as a family! Growing up I never had that, so it's time I really treasure now!

Great reply! My husband grew up in Hilton Head, so we visit his parents there at least once a year. We threw around the idea of buying a resale timeshare there, but we didn't like being locked into a specific unit/week. Our kids are young, so we don't know what lies ahead as far as scheduling annual vacations. Meanwhile, we also visited Disney four times in the last five years (now 5x in 6). We stayed at POR and enjoyed it very much. Last year we noticed that as our kids have grown, the room seems smaller. Anyway, we did the SSR tour for details and haven't looked back! It didn't hurt that there is a DVC resort on Hilton Head, too. There is nothing like a Disney vacation for our family. I don't think of it as a financial investment--it's a family investment.

 

[NYMomof4]

Many, many reasons that I bought DVC but I think above all I like the idea that we have a place to go and plan for The second best thing is that it is one place that the whole extended family can enjoy together. I no longer have to save for this to happen and rationalize the spending for a vacation.

 

[vascubaguy]

hrmm... for me I think it was a bit of crazy mixed with having too much expendible cash on hand...

Actually, for me I just had to crunch a few numbers. Based on my calculations, it was cheaper to go with DVC than to keep staying at values... plus I wanted to improve on the accomodations (I just wasn't feeling ASmo). We have started going at least once per year and have 3 trips planned this year! Owning DVC forces me to plan vacations and not just hang out around here.

I didn't really consider being a renter, I wanted to be able to make my own ressies when I wanted and also have access to the perks and discounts (esp the AP discount).

I think reading all the rave reviews of happy DVC members here on the DIS is what really pushed me over the edge though.

 

[cobbler]

What made you decide to buy, vs just renting or staying in a resort room?

Well we are finally in a financial situation where we could afford to stay at more than moderates and values. We also knew that once we started staying at deluxes, the chances of us going back down to a value were absolutely ZERO. Nothing against values but we didn't enjoy them. Chances of going back to a moderate were not that great either. So we can afford nice accomodations and we wanted to be able to have more room.

Do you think you're actually saving money by owning, even though you had to pay an initial amount to purchase, closing costs and annual fees?

Yes we would be saving $$ because we are going to go every year regardless. Now granted I am sure I could stay at WL with an AP or AAA rate for that once a year and still come out ahead for a while but there would be a point where those rates would surpass what I would have paid with DVC. That and we are getting much nicer accomodations with DVC then in just a standard hotel room. My family stays in 1bdrms and not studios.

I seen a couple resales with low points (one had 50 another 60). The initial buying cost is low, but if you wanted to add points later, is it difficult?

No adding on is not difficult at all, just call your guide and tell them. Its a very easy process. Although the point cost would be higher most of the time. NOW with resales that low there is a good chance Disney will exercise ROFR, which means they get to buy the contract and you don't. And also keep in mind that the biggest amount of $$ spent for DVC will be in the annual dues and not the inital purchase price.

Do any of you ever regret buying?

Not even for a second!! We had our first trip home last November and loved every minute of it. It was so wonderful to have the space, the nicer accomodations. I fell in love the second I walked in.

When I brought the subject up to DH, he began to talk about bad investment, CD's mutual funds. But I did tell him this is like a pre-paid vacation every year. Not really an investment , per say. What was your deciding factor to buy? Thanks!

It was something I knew I wanted from the moment I visited a friend in her DVC room. We had planned on buying it for ourselves as a 10 year anniversary present. What pushed us over the edge was the great deal that they were offering last year. And it isn't an investment in the traditional sense but an investment in spending time with your family, being able to not worry about having nice accomodations. Plus we are getting tomorrows vacations at today's prices.

 

[KelNottAt]

I hate hotel rooms and their 3-meal-a-day dine-out requirement. (I like to save time, money, and calories by cooking in for about half our meals.) And with a son and a daughter, we knew we wouldn't be liking 2 double (or queen) beds for much longer.

This led us to realize that a timeshare would be good for us. But which one? Since I refuse to stay off-site on WDW vacations, DVC was the obvious choice.

But, and this is where my opinion goes against the grain of these boards, we also look forward to using our DVC for exchanges. We budget our DVC points for a BWV 2BR week during Magic season - 306 pts. But, when we want a change, we can exchange out to the World Passport for fewer points, and still have some left over for little trip to WDW in a lesser season. Not a popular approach on the boards, but it works great for us...about every third year.

 

[LisaS]

DH and I are fairly new to WDW -- our first trip was in 2003 and we have been going once or twice a year ever since. We always stayed in deluxes but with a great AP rate or a PIN code to keep the cost down. When the AP discounts started getting seriously scaled back we figured we wouldn't be back for a while and we were disappointed about that. But then I had the good fortune to sit next to a DVC member at a Boston area DIS meet who told me all about DVC. I spent a few weeks reading a ton of posts here and crunching the numbers and we decided it was the answer for us -- deluxe accommodations for even less than the AP rate we used to pay!

I also liked the idea of having at least a kitchenette for those days when we just want a quick and simple breakfast of cereal, juice and coffee and be on our way.

Re: buying vs. renting, I prefer to own the points and make the reservations myself. Once I'm ready to book a vacation I don't want to have get a third party involved to book my trip and then worry about whether or not everything will be OK once I get there.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[bdb7607]

Never stayed on site before, last visit in '05 was in a "great deal" rented house - never again - listened to my wife, who apparently is always right, had extra cash, then bought 350 BCV points without ever staying onsite.

That being said, we made our first visit home in January - loved it and are in an addonitis mode....

 

[DISNEYMOMx5]

Having a washer/dryer in the room!! Do you think I'm kidding? With 5 kids, we were cramming into 2 rooms at a value & I was spending 1/2 the vacation in the laundromat!!

Okay, truly, we love Disney for our family & we were throwing out tons of $$ on 2 hotel rooms & not even comfortable & eating out all the time. Now we eat breakfast in almost every day & a late night candy bar craving does not set us back $1.50. We didn't buy right away, but when BCV was selling during construction, we knew it was the right choice for us. We've never regretted it! (Oh, BTW, that happened to be the trip we stayed offsite at another timeshare. That nightmare may have been the deal-sealer, but that's another story! )

Good luck with your decision!