DVC Points

[kristenrice]

For us, the problem was that because of school and work schedules, we are limited to the peak seasons, when a reservation costs the most points. So we would have to buy a ridiculous number of points to be able to use them when we are be able to go. If your vacation schedules are more flexible, and you can use your points during the value seasons, it might be a good deal.

I want to throw my spin on this...

We, too, have 2 children who were just starting school when we bought DVC. I had no intention of pulling them out for vacation so we were looking at Spring Break (first full week of April) for our vacation time. Our entire family loved the AKL so we bought 100 points at AKV via resale with the intention of going 2 years in a row and then taking a year off. There was a point reallocation right after we purchased which really hurt, but I just adjusted our plans. (In 2009, we could have stayed Su-Th in a 1BR value for 135 points. Now, the same stay is 160.) Instead of all 5 nights in a 1BR, we now do the first 2 in a studio and the last 3 in a 1BR. A std studio for 2 nights followed by a value 1BR for 3 nights will run us 136 points for that 5-night trip.

Ok, back to my point...

Since we do travel in peak season (Easter), there are generally NO discounts available because those two weeks around Easter are blacked out. That means we would be forced to pay rack rate for our room. So, even at Pop Century (our preferred value resort) we would be looking at paying $1000 ($1013 exactly for 2013) for a STANDARD room at Pop Century.

If we opted to rent points for the same time, we could get a standard studio at AKV for 100 points...$1000 if we could rent for $10/pt. Now, compare the accommodations at Pop vs. AKV....which would you rather pay $1000 for?

I had rented twice before buying and while everything went smoothly, I still did not like the feeling of not "owning" my reservation. Now that we're owners, we can make and change our own reservations and we don't have to hope or search for discounts.

Of course, in 2011, we tried HHI for a change of pace and loved it so much, we bought a 50-pt contract there. Now, we have a place to go in our "off" year. 5 nights in a 1BR over Easter is 135 points so we have a little cushion. The family likes it so much, we may even skip a WDW trip and do HHI.
That's just my $0.02...

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm a regular on the DVC board and although many, many love their DVC there are plenty who will glady tell you all the reasons NOT to buy in, to ONLY buy resale, NEVER finance, that DVC has gone down the tubes, that you'll get sick of Disney, that the exchange company for non Disney vacations suck..etc.

I completely agree. I don't see it as biased for DVC, but rather, as a group of people that doesn't want to hear it later on, if you don't research it and know what you're getting into. It's like leasing a car...you want to KNOW what you're getting (and what you're not) so 3 or 4 years down the road you're not surprised.


We've only owned for 3 years (and we, oh no, financed!), but I feel like I've gotten a HUGE amount from it already. If I'd owned for 15 years and had paid cash and didn't want it anymore, I'd sell in a heartbeat and *whatever it sold for* I'd be ecstatic. But I put a lot of stock in the value of my enjoyment of something.



We were going to rent before thinking of buying, but ultimately didn't. The risk, while small if we did our homework, was there, and we didn't like that risk. We ultimately bought at a WDW resort, for WDW use, without ever having been to WDW. Talk about a leap of faith! But it's paid off; we don't like the Grand Californian enough to use points there, but liked the looks of a couple resorts at WDW and figured we'd be happy. Only regret is not insisting on buying OKW, and instead buying Bay Lake, but meh, I'm OK with it. We have, so far, been able to use points at DLH (when you could get concierge with points), two long vacations at WDW including extended family for part of each trip, and we have another extended family vacation coming up in Feb. Could NEVER, *would* never, have done this without DVC.

 

[calypso726]

We have been DVC members since 2006 and developed a bad case of addonitis We started with a direct sale for 180 points at SSR. DH & I do not even have kids and we live in Florida to boot. We now have 5 contracts, both direct and resale purchases, SSR & AKV totalling 780 points and fully intend to buy more when Villas at Grand Floridian is available. None have been financed and neither will the next add on.

We have never rented out our points until just this past month because a friend asked if we had some to spare otherwise we would not have We have never had our points go unused either. Nor have we felt we HAD to go to WDW to make sure we use our points. We haven't used them to take a cruise, nor traded them through RCI, nor used them for ABD. We go to WDW a LOT!

Sometimes it is a 3 bedroom savanna view grand villa at AKV for a family trip (could never have done that without DVC) sometimes it is a studio for New Year's. We plan most of our vacations 11 months out, especially when treating family but many are also last minute "let's go to Disney World" weekends and take whatever is available. This allows us to take many mini getaway vacations throughout the year besides the big trips.

There are many other places I want to vacation and explore around the world but I don't see how having as many points as we do will hinder us from that. If we find ourselves with excess points we will either use them to go on an ABD trip or rent them out and use the money for a vacation. We are doing Scotland ABD next year but not using our points for the trip.

DVC is not for everybody. I've talked plenty of people out of DVC becasue it wouldn't mesh with their vacation habits or expectations. You will find plenty of people on the DVC boards that talk others out of DVC more than they try to convince them into it It works for us though.

The general rule of thumb is if you go to WDW at least every other year, like to stay in accommodations besides value, can plan your vacation 11 months out, then DVC might be right for you.

 

[delmar411]

I don't really understand those who complain about *having* to use their points. Don't want them? Then sell them! There is a healthy market for resale points and if you've been sitting on them unhappily for years then you have literally thrown your money away as resales were going for a lot more up until recently.

That is the major redeeming quality of DVC. That you can actually resell it for a solid amount.

 

[ValpoCory]

My Husband and I are once again considering buying DVC Points. ugh... we always seem to com ie back to thinking it is a good idea and then feeling like the cost just don't add up in our favor. We have rented DVC Points in the past and love staying at Villas - We rent for $10 a point and usually go at the lower times of year so we don't have to get too many points for a week long stay.

I was curious, this being the budget board...

- What are you thoughts on the DVC resales... have any of your purchased them?

- Have any of you sold back your DVC? If so why? Could you not keep up with payments, didn't fully use it?


Would Really Love to hear from you all!! Thanks

We are habitual DVC point renters. I have a network of 5 trusted owners who rent to my friends and me at $10/point, so there is little risk involved as they aren't strangers anymore. To me, renting is getting the best of the DVC with none of the obligation of owning a timeshare. In fact, if somebody offered me 200 DVC points for free, with the stipulation I had to use the points myself and pay the fees, I would say no, as the costs of Disney vacations are very expensive, even when paying only DVC point fees for lodging.

If I were to buy, it would be resale for as cheap as I could do it. Never direct through Disney.

 

[4HOLIDAYS]

We have had our dvc for 7 yrs, bought when kids were 7 and 9. We have 300 pts at SSr.
We lovd it then, being in florida, we could plan just a few months out and usually get a decent choice or waitlist for where to stay. Now, you had better buy where you want to stay and plan for the 11 monhs out.
The points changing also made it not possible to stay for as many nights as when we used to go-they can do that again ata ny time.
One problem we have now is that with two grown size teenage boys, trying to have 2 (out of the 4 of us)people sleep on a sofabed stinks! They are not good unless you are a child. So this means 2 seperate studios(which don't connect ever) or a 2 br. the other option that was suggested on dvc board was do a 1br and bring an airbed-that's what we'll be doing in Dec.
The money end of it is a toss up. We have done Free dining and stayed at the resorts and that always works out better! I like having the mini fridge but now all have them. We never eat a full meal that we need a kitchen, but the extra room in 1 br is nice, but I would rather have a second bed instead of a pull out sofa.

 

[LSchrow]

we bought our first DVC contract over 14 years ago. since then, we've added on twice, and currently have 400 pts.

when our kids were in school, we would usually go for the last week of august/early sept in a 1 bdrm. plus, we would do a big summer family trip in a 2 bdrm every other year.

i spent a lot of time, figuring out if DVC was worth it. bottom line: we paid significantly less for our vacations than we would have OOP, even with the CM discount i had. AND we can still sell off our contracts, making a nice profit
now that our kids are grown, DD and i go for 10-12 days in may, and DH and i go in oct (studio). we have given vacations to family and dear friends. occassionally, we will rent out some points (not too often, as we tend to always be borrowing).

we happen to prefer deluxe resorts, especially the BWV, and i really doubt we would be able to enjoy our multiple vacations now if we hadn't bought DVC. like PP said, DVC is not for everyone, but we are definitive proof that it certainly is a perfect choice for some

 

[shalom]

I was curious, this being the budget board...
- What are you thoughts on the DVC resales... have any of your purchased them?

I agree with huskies90:

I think you have to go into thinking DVC is a luxury and not a way to save money. Similar to the dining plan. When you crunch the numbers, you almost always can do Disney cheaper.

Not only can you do Disney cheaper -- sometimes you can do DVC cheaper. I own in another TS points system, and when we are most likely to go the next few times, I can trade into a DVC 2 BR for about $200 a night. Which is often less than a DVC owner pays in terms of their yearly fees. Great deal, right? Except I can get into another resort that is just as close to the four parks as the DVC units, with much larger 2 BR units, for about one fourth that. With four teenagers, that extra space matters even more than the lower price.

With rare exceptions, staying onsite at all is a luxury expense -- it's just about always possible to go cheaper by staying offsite, and often it's cheaper to stay off site in a unit of better quality. Since we'd need two rooms if we stayed onsite, I can always get a nice offsite 2 BR for less than it would cost us staying in a Value; usually I'm spending less on the 2 BR than I would on one Value room. But if you want to stay onsite, renting is a great value of the non-Disney kind.

Buying DVC is a long-term commitment. DVC resale prices have dropped considerable; at one time you could be pretty sure you could get back what you put in, even buying direct from Disney. That's no longer the case, or at least it wasn't last I checked. I don't think there's any guarantee that DVC resale prices will stabilize where they're at right now, either. Renting points, you don't have to worry whether the resale price stays high or not.

Renting points, you also don't need to worry about an exit strategy if your family situation changes -- you just quit renting the points. You also aren't committed to going to the Disney resorts year after year. Yeah, it's possible to trade your points to RCI for a vacation elsewhere, but it's not a good trade financially. Other RCI members like me can trade into DVC for less than a DVC owner pays in yearly fees, but the flip side of that is that the DVC member would pay DVC prices for any resort they trade into -- which is why a lot of DVC owners pick up a second TS ownership for trading through RCI.

The DVC RCI membership is also restricted to a small percentage of the RCI resorts, and DVC owners can't use Extra Vacations or Last Call. While admittedly a high quality Last Call resort is pretty rare, there are plenty of nice resorts you can rent at a nice price with Extra Vacations, meaning you can pay renter prices but don't take the risks of renting from an individual. Unless you are an RCI member through DVC, who doesn't have that option.

So the main difference between renting DVC and owning is that DVC ownership is much less flexible, and that inflexibility is on multiple fronts. If someone buys into DVC with cash and uses their points every year, then their yearly cost is less than it would be renting, but you still have to factor in that initial price, meaning someone has to go x-number of years before owning is the cheaper option. But even if someone does go to Disney that long, other factors might make DVC a poor choice for the entire time -- they might prefer offsite as the kids get older, for instance, because the kids want more space or they like to hit other parks some days and would prefer a more central location or they just think some offsite resort sounds interesting and want a change.

For most people's budgets, buying DVC is betting that you know the future accurately enough to be sure it's a good deal. If your current luxury budget is big enough, and it's something you want, I'd say go for it! But if you're going to have to commit your luxury budget from the next however-many years, think twice, is my advice.

 

[crisi]

I don't really understand those who complain about *having* to use their points. Don't want them? Then sell them! There is a healthy market for resale points and if you've been sitting on them unhappily for years then you have literally thrown your money away as resales were going for a lot more up until recently.

That is the major redeeming quality of DVC. That you can actually resell it for a solid amount.

We may. We were holding on for friends of ours to have a baby and take the baby as a toddler. The baby - after a seven year wait - arrived at long last! So we probably have one more trip to take in two years when the baby is two and a half. Although then my son will be going into tenth grade, my daughter ninth, and they may want to take "senior trips" - and we may have it through college for the kids to use.

We took our last "really wanted" trip the week the stock market crashed in 2008. We wouldn't have gotten our points listed before the bottom dropped out of the resale market. It recovered just in time for that baby to arrive.

 

[queenbetsey]

I have stayed in the one bedroom and studio at VGC and they are amazing. We too are on the fence about purchase. We live in southern ca and love the Grand Cal/ and they now have rules about buying resale. You will only be able to stay in DVC units. No more exchanges for other properties or even other disney resorts. The problem with that for us is that there are only 65 or so DVC units out here in California. So trading points to stay at Disneyland hotel or regular room at the Grand Cal would not be an option if the villas are booked up. And they do book up rather quickly.

 

[vicki_c]

I have stayed in the one bedroom and studio at VGC and they are amazing. We too are on the fence about purchase. We live in southern ca and love the Grand Cal/ and they now have rules about buying resale. You will only be able to stay in DVC units. No more exchanges for other properties or even other disney resorts. The problem with that for us is that there are only 65 or so DVC units out here in California. So trading points to stay at Disneyland hotel or regular room at the Grand Cal would not be an option if the villas are booked up. And they do book up rather quickly.

That is not exactly accurate regarding resales that you can only stay in DVC. You can still trade out through RCI. But I agree it's a bit more of a concern to buy resale if you plan to use at GCV most of the time.

 

[ValpoCory]

I have stayed in the one bedroom and studio at VGC and they are amazing. We too are on the fence about purchase. We live in southern ca and love the Grand Cal/ and they now have rules about buying resale. You will only be able to stay in DVC units. No more exchanges for other properties or even other disney resorts. The problem with that for us is that there are only 65 or so DVC units out here in California. So trading points to stay at Disneyland hotel or regular room at the Grand Cal would not be an option if the villas are booked up. And they do book up rather quickly.

Beware of using DVC points for non-VGC DLR stays. The point costs are ridiculously high. I'd never go that route. I'd either stay at a good neighbor hotel or watch for the occasional acceptable cash special through expedia or some other event, like gay days.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

We have owned our DVC since 2003 and we are about ready to sell. We are now at the point that we don't want to do Disney every year so we try to use the points to make a RCI reservations and those are hard to come by.

We have tryed to make RCI reservations in Washington DC & Nashville and there has never been good availability at either one.

When we first bought, DVC had partnered with another time share company and the choices of destinations were better than the current one.

So now we would rather rent points than to own and pay a maintence fee every month.

Even if we rent out our points we are still left with paying the month maintence fee.

 

[nunzia]

I don't really understand those who complain about *having* to use their points. Don't want them? Then sell them! There is a healthy market for resale points and if you've been sitting on them unhappily for years then you have literally thrown your money away as resales were going for a lot more up until recently.

That is the major redeeming quality of DVC. That you can actually resell it for a solid amount.

I agree..there is nothing wrong with having used and enjoyed DVC for years, feel you've gotten your money's worth, then sell for whatever price you can get in the resale market. I'd MUCH rather do that than feel I HAD to go somewhere I didn't want to. I really don't understand why those who are past enjoying Disney or enjoying their DVC don't sell. Many who no longer like having points found value with them for years, so it isn't really a matter of not liking what DVC offered, but of just not finding use in the product any longer. We had a time in our lives when the kids were teens that Disney was not a priority. Now, with them all grown and married and 9 grandkids, plus liking to go alone, there is plenty of opportunity to use the points and have fun with them.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

My Husband and I are once again considering buying DVC Points. ugh... we always seem to com ie back to thinking it is a good idea and then feeling like the cost just don't add up in our favor. We have rented DVC Points in the past and love staying at Villas - We rent for $10 a point and usually go at the lower times of year so we don't have to get too many points for a week long stay.

I was curious, this being the budget board...

- What are you thoughts on the DVC resales... have any of your purchased them?

- Have any of you sold back your DVC? If so why? Could you not keep up with payments, didn't fully use it?


Would Really Love to hear from you all!! Thanks

I have purchased resale. It's SO much cheaper that it's the way to go BUT Disney has recently put restrictions on the use of them for non DVC. For example I know you can't use them to book a cruise. But for staying at Disney in DVC resort resale is the way to go!

Disney will NOT buy your points back except in very difficult circumstances and then they offer something so low it's

For me the REAL advantage over other timeshares and "trading" in etc. is the flexibility. I rarely go for a week. Generally only for a few days here and there and DVC lets me book that way. If you do travel once a year for a week it may work out much differently for you. And I NEVER have planned 11 months out and only book 1 trip a year about 9-10 months out.(Food and Wine BCV) Folks will tell you the way I do it is "wrong" but so far it works for me. Granted I am not real picky about where I stay. (I actually looked this week for the week of 8/20 Wed- Friday and found options for example. Decided not to go however )

There is NO way I can justify recommending a new purchase via DVC at the current point price. The initial investment is just so high it's hard to see how it makes any sense over just getting a hotel room!

Remember it's a TIMESHARE. It may sound cute etc, but the value is going to drop over time. Disney's timeshare is not ownership but basically rental. For example in 2042 some of my points "expire" and return to Disney. As we get closer and closer to that date I expect the price do DROP and DROP and in the meantime dues will keep going up. I figure I will be lucky to give the thing away! And no it's not "asset" to leave to your family LOL! (Assets can be turned into cash and don't come with liabilities) I went into it with funds I could afford to lose and consider it an investment in "ME" that has no financial value! I have sold some points over the past years and I made money on one trisection several years ago and "broke" even on one last year (Sold 50 HHI points because I really dislike the resort. LOVE Hilton Head, but not the DVC there. Sold SSR because I just had too many points as my lifestyle changed. I don't rent. I didn't buy these points to run a business with them )


There is LOTS of information on the net so read EVERYTHING you can find. Just today I saw a woman who was rather upset to discover she has 1,100 points that are basically worthless due to some decisions she made. They MIGHT be rented but as "distressed" with limited options at best she will get $5 or so a point.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

Buying DVC was one of the best decisions we ever made!

For those that say that you won't save money I feel as though there is no way you are comparing costs of the same accommodations. Will you save money over staying off site or at value resorts? Probably not. Will you save money over paying cash for the villas? Yes. DVC generally offers discounts on AP's as well as a few other discounts. After staying in the villas a regular hotel room feels like we are staying in 3rd class accommodations lol

 

[ValpoCory]

Buying DVC was one of the best decisions we ever made!

For those that say that you won't save money I feel as though there is no way you are comparing costs of the same accommodations. Will you save money over staying off site or at value resorts? Probably not. Will you save money over paying cash for the villas? Yes. DVC generally offers discounts on AP's as well as a few other discounts. After staying in the villas a regular hotel room feels like we are staying in 3rd class accommodations lol

Yep. In general, if you are a family going to WDW every year and paying for Deluxe resorts each time without the DVC, the DVC likely will save you money. There aren't too many of those people though, especially in this economy. The problem is DVC is not marketed at those people, because DVC loses Disney $$ for them. The DVC salespeople, and all salespeople in general, are tasked with getting people to spend more money than they ordinarily would have.

 

[jaredandjessica]

My husband and I just purchased our first contract a few months ago (resale) through Fidelity. It was entirely easy and painless.

We compared between buying direct and buying resale and for us it was a no brainer, considering the price difference. We ended up getting our 200 Saratoga Springs points for 58$/pp resale, instead of twice that through Disney. We do try to get down to Orlando every year and there is simply no contest in terms of our enjoyment factor between staying at one of the Deluxe resorts vs. many of the other choices out there. Plus, this year we had enough points to bring lots of family along in a 2bdrm villa. Next year, my husband and I may just travel down ourselves in December or something for a shorter stay I also love the idea of gifting the points; and appreciate that I could rent them out in the super off chance that we couldn't use them all in time.

If the points were not flexible in this way, I don't think we'd have considered DVC at all. But we are looking forward to years of enjoyment for ourselves and others for years to come.

What I've been telling folks is, if you can save up and afford a purchase like this outright, and if you can manage the yearly dues without too much strain on your future budget, then it may be a go

I've heard of folks buying a timeshare and financing it, and then running into a situation where, because other life issues came up, they couldn't pay it down in time and are now getting nailed with a huge monthly interest payment. Not good.

 

[shalom]

For me the REAL advantage over other timeshares and "trading" in etc. is the flexibility. I rarely go for a week.

Agreed, but this is true of all TS points systems. That's why we bought into Bluegreen (although I think you have to reserve at least two days with all but one of the BG resorts -- doesn't DVC let you have one day reservations?), but there's also Shell, Wyndham, and a bunch of other points systems out there. Weeks still dominate RCI, but they do have some options where you can reserve by the day.

We also find that some of the weeks deals are good enough that even though we can only stay somewhere five days or so, getting that weeks reservation is still the cheapest way to go. So the weeks thing isn't as inflexible as I thought it was when I first bought our Bluegreen TS. To be honest, initially I resented that an RCI membership was part of my yearly dues because I thought I'd never use it due to the weeks thing -- didn't work out that way!

Folks will tell you the way I do it is "wrong" but so far it works for me. Granted I am not real picky about where I stay.

If you can be flexible with either destination or date, it's a lot easier to go later than it is if you need (or definitely want) this date at that resort. Ditto with owning at a particular resort -- if someone is okay with OKW or Saratoga Springs, where they own matters a lot less than it does for someone who really wants to be at one of the Epcot resorts during F&W every year or otherwise wants a reservation best made before the 7 month mark.

It's also not safe to buy into a different system planning to trade into DVC, although again flexibility is pertinent. If someone can only go at busy times (school vacation times), they're going to have a lot harder time trading into DVC than someone who has a lot of flexibility on when they go. And someone who is good with a studio or 1BR is going to have an easier time trading in than someone who needs a 2BR.

There is a sense where renting gives someone the most flexibility, but OTOH it's easier for an owner to call in right at the deadline if they want dates that sell out quickly. The renter has to count on someone else getting on the phone and doing that for them. So the renter has more flexibility, but the owner has more control, at least over that part.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Buying DVC was one of the best decisions we ever made!

For those that say that you won't save money I feel as though there is no way you are comparing costs of the same accommodations. Will you save money over staying off site or at value resorts? Probably not. Will you save money over paying cash for the villas? Yes. DVC generally offers discounts on AP's as well as a few other discounts. After staying in the villas a regular hotel room feels like we are staying in 3rd class accommodations lol

Do NOT buy assuming you will get "Discounts" on ANYTHING. The perks can and will change and the only thing you are guaranteed is a place to sleep! (Hysteria always ensues when folks figure this out!)

Also, if you love the thrill of the chase then walk away from DVC. No you aren't getting free dining, a code etc.... They don't NEED to bribe you to stay, you own there LOL!

In response to an earlier post. With DVC you can book as little as one night and you can book as late as day of (Trust me I have done both )