Feeling overwhelmed looking at DVC options

[intamin]

What do you mean by the diminishing returns? I know there are discounts the more points you buy, but is there something else involved?

It is not necessarily cheaper per point just because you're buying more.

The cause for this is for lets say the first 150 points they give you a Welcome home credit worth 1000, Dream it Forward 500 and then lets just make up Developer Credit worth 2,000.

Those amounts are worth the same whether you buy the 150 or the 300. So you may end up paying 170 per point for the 150, and then actually 173 per point for the 300 because those promotions aren't proportional to the amount you buy.

All of these numbers are just made up for example sake.

 

[Ohmymonty]

Unfortunately you guys missed one of the best VGF sales that ended last week, the current incentives don't end until near the end of October so don't rush it like @aceshigh73 said.

In general I don't recommend buying in anything with someone you're not married yet but also I'm a hypocrite and bought DVC with my now fiancee about a week before we got engaged. It seems like you two already own a house together so at this point a separation would already be sticky but anyways onto your main questions.

1. I would buy the amount that YOU and your partner need. Don't take into account family or friends needing to stay. For one, people are unreliable and cancel last minute. If they really plan to join you that often, they'll consider buying their own contract. For the times when you want to do a big group trip, you can always skip one year and bank for that trip. If you find yourself borrowing way more than you should be, you can always add on down the road. Having that occasional skip year might be good for your BF who doesn't seem like he's as big of a Disney fan

2. This has already been answered but avoid using Interval or using your points really for anything other than a DVC stay including Disney Cruises or Adventures by Disney. You're better off renting the points and paying cash if you decide to use them for anything but a DVC stay.

3. As has already been answered, the good thing about DVC is the number of points in a resort cannot change. They can't magically add points to the resort and dilute the value of your points. They're allowed to change the cost of a room during different seasons but if they increase the cost somewhere, they must reduce the cost of another room. Equal exchange. This is why the older resorts are so dirt cheap. Resorts like Old Key West have point charts that were made in the 90s.

So, when we were at Disney doing the tours, it was still when GF was priced at something like 215 a point (trying to do this off the top of my head, so not 1000% sure). We were on our way to a Disney Cruise, and the DVC guide herself was off to a trip. There was no way we were going to be able to commit before the jump, so we hemmed and hawwed and then they offered to us to put down some cash to lock in the rates and then don't sign anything. That way when everyone was back from vacation (this week!) We could get back to the decision making. So, blessed in that way ...and it sounds like the current deals are not as good?

Are the conversions for cruises really that bad? When looking over point charts, I was thinking in my head "okay well cruises are some entertainment, plus food, and accomodation" thinking that's why it was more points. But I guess I could sit down and just math out the point cost vs cash. Bummer that the conversions aren't great....cruises are my preferred Disney escape lol

 

[lilsonicfan]

We bought resale, it made sense for so many reasons. I got a really good price (IMO) and so the upfront cost was significantly lower. I don't care about discounts or an annual pass, those aren't particularly useful to me. My plan is something like WDW/DL every year, Aulani every other year or every 3 years, and my spouse is cool with that.

It's also important to consider the dues. Let's say you go with 400 points - that's something like $3,200 in annual dues that you must pay every year until the end of the contract, regardless of whether you use the points (dues will go up over time too).

 

[lilsonicfan]

Are the conversions for cruises really that bad? When looking over point charts, I was thinking in my head "okay well cruises are some entertainment, plus food, and accomodation" thinking that's why it was more points. But I guess I could sit down and just math out the point cost vs cash. Bummer that the conversions aren't great....cruises are my preferred Disney escape lol

I love cruising! Here is a post I made about the cruise point cost vs cash:

As an example I looked at the points chart for the 15 night Sydney to Honolulu cruise in 2024, and compared to the DCL website cost.

The DCL website has the pricing right now for that cruise at $6,148.22 USD for 2 guests.
The points chart says 314-321 points per person based on double occupancy, for a standard inside room, so let's say 317 points x 2 = 634 points.

If you had 634 points and rented them to, say, the board sponsor, you're looking at around $15 per point, maybe a little more. That is $9,510 you could get for those 634 points, and of course, if you rented them yourself, you could potentially get a lot more. Effectively 1.5x the cost of paying cash, if you were to exchange points.

EDIT: thought i'd add a couple more.

Nov 21, 2024 4 night sailing on Disney Magic leaving from Galveston:
- DCL cost for standard inside room is $2,191.22.
- points chart is 110 points per person for the same room, so 240 points.

Options to use 240 points:
- Rent 240 points to the board sponsor for $15/pt = $3,600
- Rent 240 points yourself on social media or here for $18/pt = $4,320
- stay in a studio at VGF for 9 nights in season 4 (instead of 4 on a cruise)

 

[RoseGold]

I mean this kindly, you have a lot of research to do. This is an intentionally complicated product. It has a lot of very strict rules, and it is still an expensive Disney hotel. Using the points for anything but a WDW hotel (or Aulani or maybe DL) is a terrible value.

I found this chart helpful to show the overall cost. The years remaining are for all points in that resort. It's not because they are resale.
https://www.dvcresalemarket.com/blog/best-economical-dvc-resorts-to-purchase-spring-2023/

Pricing has fluctuated wildly, even this chart seems wildly out of date.

If you aren't dead set on going to WDW, this isn't the product for you. Even if you are, there are a whole lot of other choices that might be better. DVC isn't right for most people, direct is right for even fewer.

 

[intamin]

So, when we were at Disney doing the tours, it was still when GF was priced at something like 215 a point (trying to do this off the top of my head, so not 1000% sure). We were on our way to a Disney Cruise, and the DVC guide herself was off to a trip. There was no way we were going to be able to commit before the jump, so we hemmed and hawwed and then they offered to us to put down some cash to lock in the rates and then don't sign anything. That way when everyone was back from vacation (this week!) We could get back to the decision making. So, blessed in that way ...and it sounds like the current deals are not as good?

Are the conversions for cruises really that bad? When looking over point charts, I was thinking in my head "okay well cruises are some entertainment, plus food, and accomodation" thinking that's why it was more points. But I guess I could sit down and just math out the point cost vs cash. Bummer that the conversions aren't great....cruises are my preferred Disney escape lol

The summer incentives are far superior to the current incentives they have currently. Just verify with your guide when you have to make a decision by. I'll refer to @lilsonicfan's post about why using the points for cruises is not a good idea.

 

[aceshigh73]

I mean this kindly, you have a lot of research to do. This is an intentionally complicated product. It has a lot of very strict rules, and it is still an expensive Disney hotel. Using the points for anything but a WDW hotel (or Aulani or maybe DL) is a terrible value.

I found this chart helpful to show the overall cost. The years remaining are for all points in that resort. It's not because they are resale.
https://www.dvcresalemarket.com/blog/best-economical-dvc-resorts-to-purchase-spring-2023/

Pricing has fluctuated wildly, even this chart seems wildly out of date.

If you aren't dead set on going to WDW, this isn't the product for you. Even if you are, there are a whole lot of other choices that might be better. DVC isn't right for most people, direct is right for even fewer.

I cant stress the first sentence enough. It is very very involved (if you want it to be and to take advantage of the membership.)
Please do your due diligence. Read, read, and read some more. Every night, until you think you got it, and then read some more and ask some questions. Our journey started about 3 months ago, and then got fully in the swing of it in July.
I still to this day make mistakes or have to rethink stuff. And we now have 2 resale contracts, 2 direct, and 2 different Use Years, 2 resorts. LOL! It can drive you crazy in the beginning.

TAKE YOUR TIME.

 

[crisi]

I mean this kindly, you have a lot of research to do. This is an intentionally complicated product. It has a lot of very strict rules, and it is still an expensive Disney hotel. Using the points for anything but a WDW hotel (or Aulani or maybe DL) is a terrible value.

We bought with little research - but we bought 20 years ago with cash we had on hand (an unexpected bonus at work that wasn't earmarked for anything), resale points back when there were no restrictions, and twenty years ago BCV hadn't opened - the system was simplier. And although its worked well for us with no regrets - even with our every other year trips and not being the HUGE Disney fans most Disboarders are, there are a lot of things that I've "accepted" about DVC over the years that might have made me think twice had I done research (one of those things is what a terrible value using points anywhere other than WDW is and how limited that option is. Thank god we bought a small amount of points. Another is that Disney has gotten so much more expensive than it was - our salaries have increased but Disney has outpaced that by a lot - and its so much cheaper to take non-Disney vacations comparatively).

For anyone looking at this purchase thinking "that's a lot of money" (because, frankly, there are people who can afford to buy this on a lark and if it doesn't work, it doesn't work, and those people should just do their thing and provide resale contracts for the rest of us), spending a few months reading this board and understanding what members don't like and can't change or work around - both in the system and in the human behavior around timeshare ownership (because the "the people I invited to do Disney with us are driving me crazy" threads are some of the most instructive) - without snorting pixie dust before reading is important.

 

[AstroBlasters]

So, when we were at Disney doing the tours, it was still when GF was priced at something like 215 a point (trying to do this off the top of my head, so not 1000% sure). We were on our way to a Disney Cruise, and the DVC guide herself was off to a trip. There was no way we were going to be able to commit before the jump, so we hemmed and hawwed and then they offered to us to put down some cash to lock in the rates and then don't sign anything. That way when everyone was back from vacation (this week!) We could get back to the decision making. So, blessed in that way ...and it sounds like the current deals are not as good?

Are the conversions for cruises really that bad? When looking over point charts, I was thinking in my head "okay well cruises are some entertainment, plus food, and accomodation" thinking that's why it was more points. But I guess I could sit down and just math out the point cost vs cash. Bummer that the conversions aren't great....cruises are my preferred Disney escape lol

I want to clarify that you believe you still have access to the Grand Floridian summer incentives + some cruise incentives. If so, those were/are a smoking hot deal for direct points.

 

[Stargazer65]

While I am not saying anyone should just buy, I think it doesn't have to be that big of a deal. I had a 100 point contract at Bay Lake Tower for 10 years, I didn't do any research up front. Essentially it cost the price of a nice used car up front and 500-600 dollars in dues each year. We banked/borrowed and went once every three years to Disney, and thought very little of it in between that time. It had very little impact on my life or finances during that time. If you do it up small, it can be just an occasional nice Disney trip every few years for a reasonable price (compared to rack rates).

Now, 14 years later from that initial buy-in we have 560 points between four resorts. Yes, it is a very big deal now. I have a chunk of money tied up in DVC, and my dues are significant. We pretty much need to go every year. I need to strategically plan point usage or I often will have orphan points. I need to rotate banking/borrowing contracts to be able to use the home resort advantage for longer stays. I may need to combine points in a 7 month booking window, or split stay, or go more than once a year to use all the points. I end up thinking about it whole lot more, we could do a lot more other things if we weren't as tied up in DVC. It's not for everyone.

 

[Genie+]

DVC can be alot of fun and a good value but it is expensive to actually use.

If you pull the trigger on Summer Incentives, with closing cost you can get $165pp, so about $4pp to use each year (before considering time value of money or alternative use for that money). VGF dues are under $8pp. Together it is about $12pp to use each point as they come yearly. Not bad to get Poly or VGF for ~$240/nt, or more economical rooms like OKW, AKV and SSR for ~$150. Personally we chose to include some tvm and thus estimate points cost us between $15-18 each, putting more point expensive studios ~$300-350/nt and economical ones closer to $200/nt. To me those room prices are still a great deal.

But it’s going to cost alot more to use those rooms when you budget for park tickets, transportation, food, etc. This is what kept us from buying DVC sooner. It costs our family $5-$10k to go on these trips so I really wanted to be sure this was something we’d be choosing regularly whether or not we were tied to DVC points.

A common budget breakdown for us is (average per person per day) roughly $100 for DVC room, $100 food, $100 park ticket/event. It adds up quick! Plus airfare, airport parking &/or ubers, souvenirs, etc and that $2k/yr commitment to DVC means $5-$10k/yr commitment towards WDW.

We decided YES! We love to keep going back to WDW and feel like DVC improves our trips. From that perspective Summer Incentives for 150pts VGF was just too fantastic to pass up. It might be a last of its kind deal. Here you have an opportunity to get direct at a low price, qualify for all membership magic perks as long as you own, ability to try new resorts going forward AND own a resort that should hold strong resale value between the great location and still have tradability after selling. There’s nothing else quite like it now, and probably nothing close in the future either. Poly 2 direct has high chance of being resale restricted (affecting resale value should you ever want to exit), and something like Copper Creek that’s a soldout resort won’t likely ever be offered direct at a price like VGF‘s $161 per point.

It’s usually uncomfortable finalizing this decision. Do we really want this - no regrets? It’s hard to give advice on this one because you may also regret not buying this particular deal. You keep returning to WDW and never find resale or direct that has as good bang for the buck this one had. The fish that got away. You never know though, maybe Poly2 has fantastic incentives in 2026 for economic reasons or you find a resale with home priority you love at a magnificent price.

TLDR: DVC will be around. There’s not much harm in waiting. Possibly won’t get quite this good an offer when ready.

 

[RoseGold]

I am very unconvinced by the math FOMO in this thread, when SSR is currently in the 90s.

Historically, direct pricing is best at launch for existing members. If I were set on buying direct now, I'd wait for Poly2 (or I'd buy DLT, but that's a whole different can of west coast worms). VGF is already down to 40 years left, and boy was I disappointed in that aging flip. If I were trying to enter DVC cost-effectively, I'd be buying resale.

The cool thing about buying resale SSR is you have a lot less skin in the game. Maybe it drops to 90 or 80, heck maybe 70. It can only go so badly. I always assumed I'd be able to roughly break even. Direct is a commitment. It's massive upfront cost, and there have been many, many decisions by DVC and the parks I find questionable.

 

[Genie+]

I am very unconvinced by the math FOMO in this thread, when SSR is currently in the 90s.

Historically, direct pricing is best at launch for existing members. If I were buying direct now, I'd wait for Poly2. VGF is already down to 40 years left, and boy was I disappointed in that aging flip. If I were trying to enter DVC cost-effectively, I'd be buying resale.

The cool thing about buying resale SSR is you have a lot less skin in the game. Maybe it drops to 90 or 80. I always assumed I'd be able to roughly break even.

We started with less points resale to have less skin in the game. A great strategy to make sure DVC is a good fit without getting in too deep. But also, DVC is for our fun and excitement. For us SSR did not save enough money to compromise with lackluster. SSR resale could be a great way to get your DVC toes wet. But look around at the many SSR owners who still felt it worthwhile to either upgrade or add-on direct or better home resort priority. That is why the price is so competitive - there’s alot of it and not enough demand to raise the resale price.

 

[RoseGold]

SSR resale could be a great way to get your DVC toes wet. But look around at the many SSR owners who still felt it worthwhile to either upgrade or add-on direct or better home resort priority. That is why the price is so competitive - there’s alot of it and not enough demand to raise the resale price.

I own a whole lot of SSR, and I've never stayed there.

SSR is the largest timeshare in the world. It has a known market value, there's always a lot of it changing hands, a whole whole lot. Plenty of pros use it for rentals. It's easy to unload by shaving a couple dollars off the price. That isn't true for some of the smaller, pricier properties. That's not a bug to me, it's a feature.

 

[intamin]

Now, 14 years later from that initial buy-in we have 560 points between four resorts. Yes, it is a very big deal now. I have a chunk of money tied up in DVC, and my dues are significant. We pretty much need to go every year. I need to strategically plan point usage or I often will have orphan points. I need to rotate banking/borrowing contracts to be able to use the home resort advantage for longer stays. I may need to combine points in a 7 month booking window, or split stay, or go more than once a year to use all the points. I end up thinking about it whole lot more, we could do a lot more other things if we weren't as tied up in DVC. It's not for everyone.

I think this is important to remember that when you do this, you are cutting yourself off from the flexibility to go to other places. Sure you can rent your points but if you don't plan to use your points on your own at least a majority of the time it can be a hassle to try and rent your points out just to get your money back. If you're going a LOT already then it makes sense but do not underestimate not only the financial commitment but also the time commitment. If you're still working which I imagine you are since it seems like you haven't settled down a fair amount of your PTO will be dedicated to be used on these trips.

Personally for me that's the bigger commitment. I can deal with the 5 figure commitment, that's whatever. 5 figures doesn't mean a lot to everyone in the long term. But the feeling like you need to use the points every year with the PTO you get. It limits the trips back home to see family, road trips or going on more international trips. I mean fortunately we love Disney. Our next trip in November will be trip #7 within a year and we're not tired of it. We just came back on Saturday and are already having post-Disney depression but even so it does take away some of that flexibility from other trips.

 

[Genie+]

I own a whole lot of SSR, and I've never stayed there.

SSR is the largest timeshare in the world. It has a known market value, there's always a lot of it changing hands, a whole whole lot. Plenty of pros use it for rentals. It's easy to unload by shaving a couple dollars off the price. That isn't true for some of the smaller, pricier properties. That's not a bug to me, it's a feature.

I agree with you that SSR can work well economically. It’s a good way to start with a smaller buy-in and get experience using DVC.

In our case, We could’ve gotten SSR resale at $90pp or VGF direct $161, and those contracts have 30 and 41 years respectively. SSRr came out around $3pp/yr and VGFd $4pp/yr. Dues are $.50pp cheaper at VGF, narrowing that $1 gap (at least for now) down to 50 cents per point. Buying 150 point contract, it’s costing $75 extra each year for us to use VGFd instead of SSRr. $75/yr. On a $5-$10k yearly budget feels like not paying for cheese when I don’t prefer a plain hamburger. $75/yr for less work/stress (home resort we’d still love even if it meant staying there 50%+ of the time), access to new properties, enjoy direct perks, etc… over the next 40 years.

The greatest thing imho about SSRr is ability to pay $10k less upfront buying 150pts. SSRr $15k vs VGFd $25k.

Right there can mean the difference in affording without loan and interest. Game changer.

Didn’t move the needle when I thought about everything. If I buy SSR with no intention of staying there that’s likely to require more work and compromise. I wasn’t comfortable devoting the kind of money WDW trips take to buy something with a higher chance of being frustrated or disappointed. I didn’t want to risk repeated years of getting stressed at 7 months trying to string together split stays and waitlists to avoid my home resort. Some enjoy the hunt. I valued having something at 11 months to count on remaining satisfied.

Yes this could be categorized as FOMO. I’m looking at the future of DVC and thinking about differences in potential usage and enjoyment. For my family VGF definitely seemed worth the slight premium. SSRr is not a bad choice. I just disagree that it is hands down the best choice.

 

[RoseGold]

Yes this could be categorized as FOMO. I’m looking at the future of DVC and thinking about differences in potential usage and enjoyment. For my family VGF definitely seemed worth the slight premium. SSRr is not a bad choice. I just disagree that it is hands down the best choice.

I always intended to sell when out of princess dresses, so I'm not a lifer like most here.

If I were buying for life, I would wait for Poly2 and get the full 50 years.

 

[Genie+]

I always intended to sell when out of princess dresses, so I'm not a lifer like most here.

If I were buying for life, I would wait for Poly2 and get the full 50 years.

We won’t use to the end either. In 15-20 years we likely sell or our kids can take it if interested. VGF still seemed strong here when speculating about the DVC landscape and potential salvage values. Hoping we look back and see that our cost to use VGFd was not much different than SSRr and most importantly, we really enjoyed it.

 

[tom1944]

Do most of you own more than 1 resort?

 

[Ohmymonty]

I want to clarify that you believe you still have access to the Grand Floridian summer incentives + some cruise incentives. If so, those were/are a smoking hot deal for direct points.

Yes! Our understanding is that we were locked into the rates that expired Sept 12. We will talk to our DVC guide later and I'm sure she'll start putting the pressure on to male a decision.

There's a lot to think about here, but it's all great advice!!! I'm always wary that the spiel I get from DVC is leaving out all the big important caveats.

I do love international travel, and at first glance, the II partnership seemed like such a win...but without being able to see the quality of resorts we'd get ahead of time (their website is driving me nuts!!!) It's hard to think that's a good plan. Plus combined with the not great point usage...hmmm

Also interesting to see the amount of people who re-upped and got more points! Sounds like when you're in, you're IN