DVC Purchase?

[SwanVT2]

We have rented through DVC Rental Store annually and I am at the point where I wonder if it would be more affordable for us to get a DVC contract but I am totally new to all this. I know timeshares can be a scam and money down the drain, but with Disney it might be more of an investment? We only travel once a year to Disney, so I am curious about any perspectives. Thank you!

 

[Hubalorian]

If you are planning on going yearly, I think DVC would be a great fit for you. I would suggest looking at Direct vs Resale both have pros and cons. It really depends on what resort you would want to have the 11 month booking advantage at.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Going only once per year I would recommend resale over buying direct from Disney. My 1st purchase was a 100 point resale contract. It's already paid for itself 60% and Ive owned it less than 1 year. https://www.dvcforless.com/ shows most of the resale contracts out there available for purchase.

 

[Wedgeout]

Don’t look at it as an investment. It’s a Disney vacation lodging savings plan. Paying most up front with yearly dues payments. Must understand those yearly payments will increase and will be the future unknown item on percentage increase amounts. A plus is DVC is not an eternity purchase. It will expire. Don’t buy with plans to sell. But know if you need to sell, you probably will get some return on your initially vacation savings buy in.
Run the numbers for over the next ten years. If this will save you money compared to renting, buy it. You will not feel scammed.

 

[MartyParty]

Don’t look at it as an investment. It’s a Disney vacation lodging savings plan. Paying most up front with yearly dues payments. Must understand those yearly payments will increase and will be the future unknown item on percentage increase amounts. A plus is DVC is not an eternity purchase. It will expire. Don’t buy with plans to sell. But know if you need to sell, you probably will get some return on your initially vacation savings buy in.
Run the numbers for over the next ten years. If this will save you money compared to renting, buy it. You will not feel scammed.

This. Don't think of it as an investment. Think of it as enjoyment and perhaps cost optimization.

At a high level, if you're going to Disney regularly AND wanting to stay on property in moderate to deluxe resorts, I think it makes a lot of sense. If Disney value or off property stays are more you're thinking then perhaps continue to rent on occasions is the way to go.

Couple of off ramps. You could look at owning for 10 years or so and consider selling your points. That helps with offsetting the long term expense of dues and recoup some of the initial cost. Also ask yourself if you're likely to do this while the kids are young (if you have kids) and then pull back or stop when they are older. For my wife and I, now that the kids are older, we love going by ourselves. Owning works for us long term.

Either way, good luck! Always a happy time to consider if this DVC choice fits or not.

 

[SwanVT2]

Going only once per year I would recommend resale over buying direct from Disney. My 1st purchase was a 100 point resale contract. It's already paid for itself 60% and Ive owned it less than 1 year. https://www.dvcforless.com/ shows most of the resale contracts out there available for purchase.

This. Don't think of it as an investment. Think of it as enjoyment and perhaps cost optimization.

At a high level, if you're going to Disney regularly AND wanting to stay on property in moderate to deluxe resorts, I think it makes a lot of sense. If Disney value or off property stays are more you're thinking then perhaps continue to rent on occasions is the way to go.

Couple of off ramps. You could look at owning for 10 years or so and consider selling your points. That helps with offsetting the long term expense of dues and recoup some of the initial cost. Also ask yourself if you're likely to do this while the kids are young (if you have kids) and then pull back or stop when they are older. For my wife and I, now that the kids are older, we love going by ourselves. Owning works for us long term.

Either way, good luck! Always a happy time to consider if this DVC choice fits or not.

Thank you! Yes, we have always stayed at SSR (our favorite) and DD is almost 13. Is there a website that explains for dummies how DVC resale works? I can definitely see DH and I going to Florida annually later in life, too (I am a teacher).

 

[Hubalorian]

Thank you! Yes, we have always stayed at SSR (our favorite) and DD is almost 13. Is there a website that explains for dummies how DVC resale works? I can definitely see DH and I going to Florida annually later in life, too (I am a teacher).

This has a bunch of valuable information https://www.dvcresalemarket.com/buying/

Plus if you have any questions, just call in and they’ll be happy to answer anything you need clarified

 

[MartyParty]

Thank you! Yes, we have always stayed at SSR (our favorite) and DD is almost 13. Is there a website that explains for dummies how DVC resale works? I can definitely see DH and I going to Florida annually later in life, too (I am a teacher).

Sounds like you are a candidate for DVC fever! No cure of course.

We've not stayed at SSR but I hear lots of folks love it. Walking distance to Disney Springs. Should be a tone of resale contracts to choose from. You could go direct with Disney but resale likely the better option for you. I did a quick check and the direct SSR price without any promotions is $215/pt. I won't list resale pricing as that tends to get Ka-chowed by the moderators. But If SSR is your preferred stay (and you're not interested in staying at Riveria, Cabins, or Lake Lodge due to owning resale points) you'd be hard press buying direct for SSR.

 

[Sandisw]

Sounds like you are a candidate for DVC fever! No cure of course.

We've not stayed at SSR but I hear lots of folks love it. Walking distance to Disney Springs. Should be a tone of resale contracts to choose from. You could go direct with Disney but resale likely the better option for you. I did a quick check and the direct SSR price without any promotions is $215/pt. I won't list resale pricing as that tends to get Ka-chowed by the moderators. But If SSR is your preferred stay (and you're not interested in staying at Riveria, Cabins, or Lake Lodge due to owning resale points) you'd be hard press buying direct for SSR.

Just to clarify…you can share general information about pricing…you can’t share specific information about listings for sale.

 

[RMDVC24]

DVC does not feel like a timeshare at all. As others have mentioned, you are basically pre-paying for your Disney trips. Youtube was great resource for me before taking the plunge. DVC Fan has great videos that explain everything you need to know about DVC.

These forums are also a great resource. If you decide to purchase the resale, the ROFR & Closing Time threads will give you a good idea on prices and the timeline from putting an offer to having your points loaded.

The best advice I can give is to do your research and fully understand the program before making a decision. Lots of people invest tens of thousands of dollars without knowing how everything works and end up regretting their purchase. Read the blogs, watch the videos and ask lots of questions. The people here are great and LOVE talking DVC!

 

[MartyParty]

Just to clarify…you can share general information about pricing…you can’t share specific information about listings for sale.

Looked at the resale database listing site and there are a ton of 200-point contracts and below for less than $100/pt. Some less than $90/pt. Essentially no rush to make a purchase SwanVT2. Lots of inventory out there. Take your time.

 

[sndral]

Spend some time on this thread https://www.disboards.com/threads/r...ost-for-instructions-formatting-tool.3959590/ the first page has a quarterly running tally of prices paid by disboard members who’re in the process of buying DVC resale, it looks like SSR contracts are selling in the $90s per point. Then jump to the more recent pages to get a sense for what others buying are experiencing & to join in, should you decide to buy.
There are around a dozen legitimate DVC brokers, one is a sponsor of DIS, another is a former sponsor, as long as you stick w/ one of those dozen or so brokers & opt for a reputable title company you aren’t likely to be scammed.
On a resale listings consolidator site I saw some SSR contracts w/ asking prices as low as the high $80s.
As someone who likes to stay at SSR, the buy in price resale is very low compared to most other resorts, the point charts are reasonable - in other words you pay fewer points for your stays compared to say Riviera, VGF, etc., and the annual MFs (dues) are among the cheapest of the DVC resorts, definitely worthwhile to run the numbers in OP’s case.

 

[Pinnochio]

Example: last year i added 107 pts to my BWV contract to use every October for Food & Wine...Total sale cost was $12,200....107 pts gets me a standard room any week in October...Now, If i were to rent that same std room from Disney it would cost $6300 for the week....The captain obvious here is $6300 per week X 2 weeks = $12,600....So, as you can see the purchase price was recouped after only 2 visits...

Of course, there are annual dues to consider here as well but you get the drift...so that's my perspective...hope this helps.

 

[Chili327]

Sounds like a perfect candidate for D.V.C.!!

Do you know how many points you typically use each trip/year?
As posted you will find well over 100 contracts for sale under $100/pp, so you are in good shape to get a good deal. As a teacher, does that mean you travel Summer? Get a Use Year just before your travel window opens., like March, April. (or June if you'll never go in May)

Just adjust settings to your amount of points and select some use years that will work.
https://www.dvcforless.com/listings?resorts=Saratoga+Springs+Resort

Perfect example. https://www.disboards.com/threads/r...formatting-tool.3959590/page-52#post-66049932

 

[SwanVT2]

Sounds like a perfect candidate for D.V.C.!!

Do you know how many points you typically use each trip/year?
As posted you will find well over 100 contracts for sale under $100/pp, so you are in good shape to get a good deal. As a teacher, does that mean you travel Summer? Get a Use Year just before your travel window opens., like March, April. (or June if you'll never go in May)

Just adjust settings to your amount of points and select some use years that will work.
https://www.dvcforless.com/listings?resorts=Saratoga+Springs+Resort

Perfect example. https://www.disboards.com/threads/r...formatting-tool.3959590/page-52#post-66049932

I am trying to understand points and how it converts to stays. Is there a way to find an explanation of this online?
I usually don't travel in the summer because of the heat, but we go every February!

 

[xdan0920]

Going only once per year I would recommend resale over buying direct from Disney. My 1st purchase was a 100 point resale contract. It's already paid for itself 60% and Ive owned it less than 1 year. https://www.dvcforless.com/ shows most of the resale contracts out there available for purchase.

Paid for itself 60% based on Rack rates or based on DVC rental cost? Very different math.

 

[lovin'fl]

We have been DVC for 19 years, starting with 200 OKW via resale and adding and reselling many over the years. So not looking at buy in cost (because we could resell all today and get back our buy in plus more) and just looking at annual dues at this point....I recently did the math and with our 301 points, the past 12 months we have 18 nights in stays (we live local and do 1 night here and there and most always a studio). ...it's like $186 a night and you can't even get a Holiday Inn for that anymore. Now I do think some were on borrowes points from next use year so it probably is a bit more than that $186 but it surely isn't anywhere near the cash rate for Disney hotels which is absurd and like, what, $600-800 a night.

I would definitely suggest buying at a resort with longer life. My BWV expires soonest in 2042. SSR has a little longer to 2054, I think. And then AKV goes to 2057. CCR goes to 2068. Just a few for example.

 

[RuntheMouse]

I am trying to understand points and how it converts to stays. Is there a way to find an explanation of this online?
I usually don't travel in the summer because of the heat, but we go every February!

https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/vacation-planning/points-charts

 

[RMDVC24]

I am trying to understand points and how it converts to stays. Is there a way to find an explanation of this online?
I usually don't travel in the summer because of the heat, but we go every February!

You will get an annual allotment points (you determine how many you want to purchase). These points are then used to book your stays. You simply book the same way you would book a cash stay. However, instead of cash prices you will see the number of points required. You can review the point charts in the link sent by RuntheMouse above. This will give you an indication of how many points you will need for your desired stays.

Not to get too in the weeds here, but you can also bank and/borrow points. However, there are rules and deadlines that you need to understand to make sure you're not losing any points.

 

[MartyParty]

I am trying to understand points and how it converts to stays. Is there a way to find an explanation of this online?
I usually don't travel in the summer because of the heat, but we go every February!

Yes, first time it does take a moment to understand the points, charts, etc.

Here's an example for SSR 2026. As you mentioned February, I've highlighted those two times (split for the month of February).

One Bedroom example:

5 nights (Sun-Thur) if between Feb 1-15 in a "P" for Preferred room is (5 nights x 32 points/night) = 160 total points
5 nights (Sun-Thur) if between Feb 16 - March 28 for Preferred room is (5 nights x 38 points/night) = 190 total points
If you stay in a "S' Standard room, it would be less points.

• In this one simple example you should start to get a feel for how many points you might want.
• Are you studio, 1 br, 2 br, etc. folks?
• Standard or Preferred rooms?
• Early February (fewer points) or later February for winter breaks and upcoming spring breaks?
• Occasional Christmas trip would be a different/higher number of points required.

None of the above takes into account staying at a resort other than SSR which will have different points charts. Also, there is the whole banking from one year and borrowing from an upcoming year.

Keeping in simple, thinking about when you like to go and if going every year that will be a good start for the number of points to buy. Most on these boards recommend getting at least 10% more points than you think you'll need just in case plans change or you have more weekend days (Fri-Sat).

Hope this helps.