Farewell, DVC

[stewart715]

I would also suggest that rack rate is frequently discounted so I am not sure that’s the correct comparison.

The cash rack rate on deluxe 1/2 bedrooms are almost never discounted meaningfully. And when they are, it is during off peak times and are wildly unpredictable. They are also discounted long after availability has opened up for those rooms. So you are rolling the dice by waiting for a discount to come around. Often times, by the time a 1 bedroom or 2 bedroom is discounted, there are few rooms left and they go quickly. Or they may just be sold out all together and never see a discount.

No one is arguing that staying in a discounted moderate isn't cheaper than DVC. DVC has always strictly been for those who want deluxe accommodations at a discounted rate. If you're okay with the Coronado or Port Orleans promotion that they have running, DVC probably isn't for you.

 

[lovin'fl]

We have similar story, OP. We first bought OKW in 2006 and then added HHI in 2012 as we too fell in love with that resort. Then we bought AKV and then BWV and sold the AKV to buy more BWV and finally added some CCV. But we too got tired of the dues hikes and the restrictions and changes and the shady point realloction they eventually reversed and all the negatives (anytime we find some advantage, the mouse closes it). We listed the HHI points as those dues hiked the most. We didn't sell and had them listed from Nov-Jan. Then, in Jan, we took BIL and SIL there for MLK weekend and were reminded how much we love HHI. The CMs there are fabulous. The whole island is just a wonderful beach town unlike the typical beach towns. So we pulled the HHI contracts (we have 3) off the market and listed our OKW. That is our least fave resort and our largest contract. Plus the going prices these days are more than we paid in 2006 and I expect the prices will start to go down soon. So sell while it's hot. We sold in just a couple days. That takes our points down from 650 to a manageable 450 (more reasonable dues bill). Even the 450 might be more than we need too, as we now just want to do one F&W trip a year and maybe a short HHI trip a year (we booked MLK weekend again next year...in a 3BR GV which we did before and LOVED). Now HHI points chart...I wish they'd lower weekend points and increase weekday points as we like to do 4 day weekends. I feel Fri and Sat nights are too too crazy high. And everyone else must too because fri and sat are always open.

 

[MICKIMINI]

We are getting older and decided to dive back into DVC because it is our happy place... In 1996 we purchased OKW and then added on at WLR in 2000 and SSR in 2008 and Vero in 2017. Our son was young and we had many, happy vacations with our family, extended family (both sides - different trips) and with friends. We sold when our son was in college but continued to vacation at WDW...sometimes on property and sometimes off. It never felt the same for us and we were never happy offsite. Now he has a grad degree and a wonderful wife (a true Disney girl) and we are now looking forward to enjoying spending time with them at OKW this fall and hopefully, for many years to come.

I'm the money manager and love to crunch numbers. Recently we sold Vero and made an excellent profit. We bought a good size OKW with three years of points and used the excess as rentals and offset the very fair price we negotiated. We recently snagged another OKW for a song after an epic wait of 64 days and just put a deposit on a BWV contract for access to F & W. We hope to be around in 23 years and at this stage in life, time is more valuable than money! We agree that Disney has been less than nice to all of us as of late, but it's do or die (literally) at some point. We plan to own enough by the time DH retires that we can spend about two months during the winter and we are halfway there. To each his own, but I strongly agree with Ramblinwreck about "happiness"...WDW is where we are happy. If you can afford it (whatever it may be) and enjoy it, well just go for it!

I'm glad you had many years at HHI and DVC and I wish you happiness in your future endeavors!

 

[Bing Showei]

Prepaid expenses absolutely are an asset. If you were accounting for them on a balance sheet, that’s where you’d have to put them.

I agree, a Disney timeshare is an asset, but it's a depreciating asset that should be assumed to be worth nothing when you assume the risk to buy into one. With Disney moving more and more towards "industry standard" one should only assume that they will be able to buy in and have x years of enjoying that timeshare.

I appreciate the general thrust of your post (that we should encourage people to be thoughtful about buying a timeshare.) But words have meaning and when you start describing something as an investment because...

"You are putting money down in the hopes that it will save you money long term"
"[It will] allow you to take more extravagant vacations for the same amount of money"
"feeling like you own part of Disney has value to you, or any other emotional reasons"
"You’re investing in your happiness"

... you start to dilute the meaning of an investment. It's not unlike the Oxford English Dictionary adding that "literally", when used informally, basically no longer means literally.

All of those things you listed above are wonderful reasons to buy a Disney timeshare, but that does not make them an investment. I agree that one should be thoughtful about approaching what the financial implications are for buying into a timeshare. I especially agree that it should be thought through in terms of what the cost/value is to the individual buyer, but the term "investment" is being bandied about in relation to what the timeshare can be sold for in the future.

Using "investment" in conjunction with "asset" when referring to a Disney timeshare is exactly the slippery slope of buying into a timeshare with the expectation of being able to recoup an initial spending outlay. Sorry if that rubs you the wrong way, but that's why I will refer to a Disney timeshare strictly as a luxury purchase you buy to use and enjoy. Calling it an investment/asset just furthers the dangerous risk-laden perception otherwise.