Feeling overwhelmed looking at DVC options

[Ohmymonty]

Hey all!

My boyfriend and I were looking into purchasing DVC, taking advantage of the promotions at the Grand Floridian. We had been talking about it as a possibility for a while now, so we did a tour of the resorts last time we were down in Orlando. We've loved working with our guide but are now getting into the nitty gritty of things and I'm feeling very overwhelmed. Hoping some of the bigger questions you guys might be able to help with...

- Part of our incentive for taking the leap was to encourage our families to travel again. I know you can't guarantee that people will join on your adventures, which had us going back and forth on how many points we wanted. Do we go high and say "we'll rent out what we don't use" or go low and just borrow points from other years to do the bigger trips we have in mind?

- My boyfriend has been known to say "I need a break from the mouse" every now and again. The DVC guide told us about interval international, which sounds great, but I can't seem to find an easy way to look at Interval Resorts options. I've been on their website for an hour, but clicking and searching by area has been a huge hassle. I don't see things in specific areas I'm interested in going (nothing in Tokyo??? or anywhere in Japan that isn't Hokkaido?) and it has me thinking I'm either looking in the wrong place or its just not a good perk.

- How do you see your points value after you've been in your contract for a few years (or more?). I recognize Disney can change how many points they require for a stay at any resort, so I've gotten concerned that if we go ahead with say, 400 points, that 2 years from now, that won't go nearly as far as it does today.

- Really open to any other advice anyone has....we're trying to lock in a decision this week and it has got me all out of whack.

Thanks in advance

 

[Stargazer65]

- How do you see your points value after you've been in your contract for a few years (or more?). I recognize Disney can change how many points they require for a stay at any resort, so I've gotten concerned that if we go ahead with say, 400 points, that 2 years from now, that won't go nearly as far as it does today.

For the most part that can't change. The points chart at a resort can be shuffled so that some rooms or times may go up a few points...but then others have to go down by the same amount, so the number of total points at the resort can't go up. What you can book now should be what you can book for the future.

 

[pianomanzano]

Hey all!

My boyfriend and I were looking into purchasing DVC, taking advantage of the promotions at the Grand Floridian. We had been talking about it as a possibility for a while now, so we did a tour of the resorts last time we were down in Orlando. We've loved working with our guide but are now getting into the nitty gritty of things and I'm feeling very overwhelmed. Hoping some of the bigger questions you guys might be able to help with...

- Part of our incentive for taking the leap was to encourage our families to travel again. I know you can't guarantee that people will join on your adventures, which had us going back and forth on how many points we wanted. Do we go high and say "we'll rent out what we don't use" or go low and just borrow points from other years to do the bigger trips we have in mind?

- My boyfriend has been known to say "I need a break from the mouse" every now and again. The DVC guide told us about interval international, which sounds great, but I can't seem to find an easy way to look at Interval Resorts options. I've been on their website for an hour, but clicking and searching by area has been a huge hassle. I don't see things in specific areas I'm interested in going (nothing in Tokyo??? or anywhere in Japan that isn't Hokkaido?) and it has me thinking I'm either looking in the wrong place or its just not a good perk.

- How do you see your points value after you've been in your contract for a few years (or more?). I recognize Disney can change how many points they require for a stay at any resort, so I've gotten concerned that if we go ahead with say, 400 points, that 2 years from now, that won't go nearly as far as it does today.

- Really open to any other advice anyone has....we're trying to lock in a decision this week and it has got me all out of whack.

Thanks in advance

Some quick advice:

- Not sure what your financial arrangements is with your bf, but I wouldn't go into a DVC membership with a partner if I wouldn't buy real estate with them. See lots of posts and stories on FB and other groups of messy divorces and being forced to sell DVC as a result.
- Using points outside of their intended use at DVC resorts is generally poor value because Disney values the points well under what you could rent them out for.
- In general, price per point rises but the point cost for rooms stay largely the same. There's limits to how much they can increase/decrease point costs for rooms and they generally reallocate points to meet changing demands in travel.
- Look into whether buying direct or resale makes sense for you. There's significant savings that can be had buying resale and you can always add on direct (particularly when they have good deals like they did this past summer).

 

[Stargazer65]

- Part of our incentive for taking the leap was to encourage our families to travel again. I know you can't guarantee that people will join on your adventures, which had us going back and forth on how many points we wanted. Do we go high and say "we'll rent out what we don't use" or go low and just borrow points from other years to do the bigger trips we have in mind?

Renting out points is an option, but I would not buy more than I could use. I would borrow for bigger trips, and if it becomes consistent then buy some more points later.

 

[Stargazer65]

I agree with this:

- Using points outside of their intended use at DVC resorts is generally poor value because Disney values the points well under what you could rent them out for.

Exchange is not a good value, if you can't use points, you are better off renting them out, and using the cash to do something else.

 

[Ohmymonty]

Some quick advice:

- Not sure what your financial arrangements is with your bf, but I wouldn't go into a DVC membership with a partner if I wouldn't buy real estate with them. See lots of posts and stories on FB and other groups of messy divorces and being forced to sell DVC as a result.
- Using points outside of their intended use at DVC resorts is generally poor value because Disney values the points well under what you could rent them out for.
- In general, price per point rises but the point cost for rooms stay largely the same. There's limits to how much they can increase/decrease point costs for rooms and they generally reallocate points to meet changing demands in travel.
- Look into whether buying direct or resale makes sense for you. There's significant savings that can be had buying resale and you can always add on direct (particularly when they have good deals like they did this past summer).

Lol thankfully he's only still a boyfriend because decided to buy a house before getting hitched. But always a good point to make.

Nice to hear the points per night don't fluctuate like I was expecting.

My understanding was that resale contracts didn't come with any discounts or early booking perks like purchasing direct did. Is that correct? I looked at a few resale contracts and they seemed to be near comparable in price, but resales had shorter durations and no benefits? I feel like I must be missing something here.

 

[gmi3804]

*** Judge Judy Alert ***

NEVER buy property/cars/loans/etc., with someone you're not married to. Neither will have any protections. Courts will NOT help you if/when the relationship goes south.

 

[Genie+]

Do we go high and say "we'll rent out what we don't use" or go low and just borrow points from other years to do the bigger trips we have in mind?

You can always add on. Sometimes there is a better incentive for buying a larger group of points at once, but not always. I’d say start with the number of points you are likely to use per year on average. 150pts covers most studios for a week each year. Say you splurge in year for Poly Lakeview 165pts/week, you could borrow 15 pts to complete that trip and have 135pts left next year, which is still plenty of points to do a week Savannah View AKL or 5 days in OKW 1BR, etc.

If you plan to skip the occasional year, you could use that 150pts to pad the other yearly visits. If you’re skipping a yearly trip every 3-4 years, the other years you could use between 175-200pts.

DVC is very flexible. There’s many ways to move and use points.

- My boyfriend has been known to say "I need a break from the mouse" every now and again.

Aulani is very popular as a break from the parks. While Hawaii isn’t inexpensive, it skips needing expensive park tickets. Vero Beach and Hilton Head make great relaxing getaways too, and can also really stretch those points depending when you go. Beside the actual DVC properties, points can be used on other things like a Tokyo Disney hotel but are often much higher than typical point cost and I think Japan can only be booked less than 6 months out(?).

I've gotten concerned that if we go ahead with say, 400 points, that 2 years from now, that won't go nearly as far as it does today.

It’s nice to have a little cushion in case point chart changes are made or you decide taking a trip in a more point expensive season. Keep in mind however, that any increase made to the chart needs an equal decrease. For example, say they wanted to increase points for fall in WDW since there’s still high demand. Then they would need to remove a similar amount of points elsewhere, like maybe summer.

 

[Genie+]

My understanding was that resale contracts didn't come with any discounts or early booking perks like purchasing direct did. Is that correct? I looked at a few resale contracts and they seemed to be near comparable in price, but resales had shorter durations and no benefits? I feel like I must be missing something here.

It is the resorts themselves that have different contract lengths (expiration dates). Resale/direct doesn’t change this. If you buy Boardwalk or Beach Club, those expire 2042. If you buy Grand Floridian, that expires 2064.

 

[Stargazer65]

My understanding was that resale contracts didn't come with any discounts or early booking perks like purchasing direct did. Is that correct? I looked at a few resale contracts and they seemed to be near comparable in price, but resales had shorter durations and no benefits? I feel like I must be missing something here.

There are generally no special discounts or perks offered by the resale broker, but sometimes they may advertise special deals on certain contracts. The thing is, resales are negotiable. You can try to negotiate any price you want.

Currently though if you are looking at Grand Floridian, there are not many decent resale deals, so most people are buying direct. I think folks that are trying to sell GF are holding out for the resort to sell out and direct prices to get jacked way up, then they figure they can get a decent price if they wait to sell.

 

[CarolynFH]

My understanding was that resale contracts didn't come with any discounts or early booking perks like purchasing direct did. Is that correct?

Resale owners don’t qualify for discounts or other perks. They do have the same booking windows for reserving DVC villas, though, which is 11 months before checkin for home resort and 7 months prior for non-home resorts.

My boyfriend and I were looking into purchasing DVC, taking advantage of the promotions at the Grand Floridian.

Those promotions have ended and new ones started, so be careful to be sure you know what you’re going to pay if you buy direct.

The DVC guide told us about interval international, which sounds great, but I can't seem to find an easy way to look at Interval Resorts options. I've been on their website for an hour, but clicking and searching by area has been a huge hassle. I don't see things in specific areas I'm interested in going (nothing in Tokyo??? or anywhere in Japan that isn't Hokkaido?) and it has me thinking I'm either looking in the wrong place or its just not a good perk.

Some very nice resorts are available through II. The thing is that most are in the USA. Timeshares in other countries tend to be in recreational areas where residents of that country want to go, instead of in the cities that American tourists want to visit. One exception is the Marriott timeshare outside of Paris, that happens to be next door to Disneyland Paris. A perk of II is the Getaways, which are cash bookings and can be very, very nice. Some DVC owners have stayed at the Marriott timeshares across I-4 from WDW very inexpensively. And BTW, II is a benefit available to both resale and direct owners.

 

[pianomanzano]

Lol thankfully he's only still a boyfriend because decided to buy a house before getting hitched. But always a good point to make.

Nice to hear the points per night don't fluctuate like I was expecting.

My understanding was that resale contracts didn't come with any discounts or early booking perks like purchasing direct did. Is that correct? I looked at a few resale contracts and they seemed to be near comparable in price, but resales had shorter durations and no benefits? I feel like I must be missing something here.

The main difference between direct and resale is that resale points get restricted from the newer resorts (Riviera, Disneyland Hotel, and newer ones they build that will not be apart of existing associations for the original 14 DVC resorts). Resale does not get the food/merch discounts (which are typically the same as AP discounts so you can get those discounts just by having an AP). Resale also isn't eligible for special events like moonlight magic (where they shut down a park just for DVC members, which can be very difficult to get into), nor are they eligible to trade in towards other Disney non-DVC hotels, cruises, or ABD (which we discussed earlier are a poor use of points b/c they value them very low compared to what you can get cash for them as rentals).

That's a lot of negatives, but in terms of booking and using points, you have the same booking windows (7 and 11 month), ability to bank/borrow/transfer, etc. Most importantly, you can save 30-50% off of the prices Disney charges. There's opportunities for significant savings!

 

[sethschroeder]

My boyfriend and I were looking into purchasing DVC

Understand this is essentially buying property. Its never a good choice to buy it with someone who you are not legally connected to.

I would 100% be putting in stipulations on who gets what if you were to separate.

• You buy DVC to stay at Disney World no where else really (you can find more cost effective options elsewhere that are just as nice really)
• You don't need to go every year and can always bank/borrow allowing you to skip a year possibly extending your trip in the future
• You can always buy more points, so if you are in Studios now if you have kids coming in the future you might add-on to afford the 1BR/2BR options
• DVC at WDW really comes down to which park you want to be next to or if you are trying to get by for the cheapest money (break down the cost of buying a contract at each resort you want and compare how much extra it is to go to certain hotel)
• Remember don't plan on standard/cheap point rooms consistently and don't plan on it at all if you are switching at 7 months

First step is figuring out what resorts would you even want to own at.

Finally if you are buying with a BF and plan on splitting the cost (so one of you doesn't own it outright) then I would be 100% buying resale so value doesn't tank in case you separate and now have this connection to someone you need to do deal with.

 

[AstroBlasters]

If going direct, there is usually a diminishing return once you hit certain incentive levels. So buy as much as you need, but be conservative at first.

I am 80% resale and 20% direct. I purchased 200 direct points because that it where the sweet spot was for direct incentives.

We have already rented out some of the prior use year points (i.e. 2022 points that I was able to keep even though I purchased in 2023) to help cover the initial outlay of the purchase.

There are a number of reputable sites that can help with the rental process. I personally used DVCRentalStore.com because it was easy.

 

[crisi]

Don't buy points to "encourage" family unless you'd be willing just to book rooms for them on cash. You are likely to discover your family isn't willing to make the investment in Disney (in terms of vacation time, park tickets, airfare) for multiple trips that you do (or they'd buy their own points or at least be traveling on their own money now). Yes, you could rent out those additional points, but renting is not as good an option as investing your cash (and having that cash available if you wanted to buy a house, redo your kitchen, go to grad school, have a baby, pay for a wedding). If you have plenty of money, do what you want, but I'd go for a smaller contract and bank and borrow for those larger trips - I think they'll happen a lot less often than you imagine.

DVC is a poor deal for timeshare trading - it works well for vacations you are going to spend at Disney. Its II listings are limited and its a really expensive timeshare for that. The vast majority of II timeshares you have access to will be beaches in Cancun and Hawaii, units in Vegas or Branson, that sort of thing. Very little in Europe and almost nothing in Asia. Likewise, although you can use DVC points for Disney cruises and Adventures by Disney, it isn't economical and you are usually (though not always) better off just paying cash.

You can buy more points in the future (the price will be higher) or buy two smaller contracts that would allow you to sell one. Buying more points later lets you try it for a few years - a boyfriend who needs a Disney break now might burn out on Disney and DVC in a few years.

We bought enough points for every other year in a two bedroom. With some creativity we could get more room to take family or friends. We used cash for our other vacations to travel the world - so we weren't limited by where we could get a timeshare unit. While the every other thing worked really well for us for almost twenty years - a lot of people think that DVC works best for people who are going to go to Disney at least once a year every year. The every other year thing is working less well for us now, since we aren't THAT interested in WDW now that our kids are adults - and much more interested in international travel.

 

[kboo]

Saw your points about why your bf is still a bf - makes sense!

Don't buy points to "encourage" family unless you'd be willing just to book rooms for them on cash. You are likely to discover your family isn't willing to make the investment in Disney (in terms of vacation time, park tickets, airfare) for multiple trips that you do (or they'd buy their own points or at least be traveling on their own money now). Yes, you could rent out those additional points, but renting is not as good an option as investing your cash (and having that cash available if you wanted to buy a house, redo your kitchen, go to grad school, have a baby, pay for a wedding). If you have plenty of money, do what you want, but I'd go for a smaller contract and bank and borrow for those larger trips - I think they'll happen a lot less often than you imagine.

^^ I second this - we started out with a point rental with some extended family, and I got an up close look at how differently my sister and I vacation. Because of COVID we had a lot of points saved up that we "had" to use, so I was able to put together another extended family trip last year. They're not clamoring to go again yet, so I think this will be a once every 4-5 years thing - hopefully we will get one bigger trip in before my oldest goes to college (!) but in the meantime we will do our trips.

While the every other thing worked really well for us for almost twenty years - a lot of people think that DVC works best for people who are going to go to Disney at least once a year every year. The every other year thing is working less well for us now, since we aren't THAT interested in WDW now that our kids are adults - and much more interested in international travel.

We started smaller too - annual trips in a studio/1br for the 4 of us. Then the kids wanted to go more than 1x/year, and now that the kids are older and my dad is a widower, we added on to be in 2br regularly. This last trip my dad couldn't make it because of a last minute health issue (he's ok) and we had a 2br for 4 people and ... let's just say we really enjoyed having more than 1 bathroom and not having the kids sleep on a sofa bed! They're still happy with a murphy bed but the murphy beds have spoiled them over the sofa beds.

It's always pretty easy to add on - whether direct or resale - if you decide you "need" more points, and we did buy transfer points this past year before concluding we would probably need this higher # of points going forward for a while. Hopefully my dad can continue joining us at least once a year. Also we realized we really liked Christmas week at WDW...

All to say, while everyone jokes here that we wish we bought more points in the beginning when we first started out, the reality of it is that you're mostly hearing from people who have been happy and have added on over time. And there are always good resale contracts out there! Even though we now have a lot more points than we started with, I am glad we took it (sort of) slowly.

As for needing a break from Disney, we stayed at Aulani our first time this year and it won't be our last visit. We almost started looking for an Aulani contract!

ETA: we have never used DVC points for anything except DVC - and don't plan to.

 

[aceshigh73]

Hey all!

My boyfriend and I were looking into purchasing DVC, taking advantage of the promotions at the Grand Floridian. We had been talking about it as a possibility for a while now, so we did a tour of the resorts last time we were down in Orlando. We've loved working with our guide but are now getting into the nitty gritty of things and I'm feeling very overwhelmed. Hoping some of the bigger questions you guys might be able to help with...

- Part of our incentive for taking the leap was to encourage our families to travel again. I know you can't guarantee that people will join on your adventures, which had us going back and forth on how many points we wanted. Do we go high and say "we'll rent out what we don't use" or go low and just borrow points from other years to do the bigger trips we have in mind?

- My boyfriend has been known to say "I need a break from the mouse" every now and again. The DVC guide told us about interval international, which sounds great, but I can't seem to find an easy way to look at Interval Resorts options. I've been on their website for an hour, but clicking and searching by area has been a huge hassle. I don't see things in specific areas I'm interested in going (nothing in Tokyo??? or anywhere in Japan that isn't Hokkaido?) and it has me thinking I'm either looking in the wrong place or its just not a good perk.

- How do you see your points value after you've been in your contract for a few years (or more?). I recognize Disney can change how many points they require for a stay at any resort, so I've gotten concerned that if we go ahead with say, 400 points, that 2 years from now, that won't go nearly as far as it does today.

- Really open to any other advice anyone has....we're trying to lock in a decision this week and it has got me all out of whack.

Thanks in advance

Keep in mind that "taking a break from the mouse" might solve itself with the way you might go to WDW differently once u are a DVC member. If you know you are coming back "next year" or whenever the trip could be, you wont need to be rope dropping and staying until the bitter end every trip.

Also, consider your ages and your financial place at this point as well. Make sure DVC works for YOU before taking the plunge. Take a look at the resale contracts and see what is out there. At this point, the summer VGF deal in over, so dont rush it.

Good luck.

 

[RoseGold]

I would never buy a timeshare with someone I am not married to. Untangling this can be an absolute disaster, many horror stories.

Using DVC for anything but a Disney resort is a waste of money.

I wouldn't buy DVC unless I really was committed to WDW at least every year. Sounds like that may never be your boyfriend. This is a commitment in time and money, as obviously tickets are very expensive also. For a yearly or bi-yearly, I would not mess with all of this and lock down five figures. I'd just stay at Dolphin.

There is no rush for DVC. I actually think it could be better to wait. WDW DVC in particular may be saturated. DVC has two massive projects coming online, the trailers and Poly2. And they're still sitting on millions of unsold points at RIV and Aulani. They haven't even sold through a couple million points of VGF2.

This is going to impact the system and the pricing. I think there are going to be sweet spots, maybe not what you were thinking. Like maybe RIV resale, which only lets you stay a RIV. Overpriced right now, but who knows what the future brings. People are going to want to sell RIV when life happens, DVC isn't going to want to buy more points back, and who knows? The assumption with the resale restrictions was DVC would scoop them up cheap and sell them as direct points, but maybe not. There hasn't been enough RIV sold yet for us to really know.

Current DVC is VERY expensive. The math is razor thin against renting points, or even cash. If you're happy with a $250 Dolphin room, just do that. Or rent points. Heck, AKL was $200 on Priceline in August. DVC will never compete with that, even in ideal conditions of buying cash and getting cheap resale points.

 

[intamin]

Hey all!

My boyfriend and I were looking into purchasing DVC, taking advantage of the promotions at the Grand Floridian. We had been talking about it as a possibility for a while now, so we did a tour of the resorts last time we were down in Orlando. We've loved working with our guide but are now getting into the nitty gritty of things and I'm feeling very overwhelmed. Hoping some of the bigger questions you guys might be able to help with...

- Part of our incentive for taking the leap was to encourage our families to travel again. I know you can't guarantee that people will join on your adventures, which had us going back and forth on how many points we wanted. Do we go high and say "we'll rent out what we don't use" or go low and just borrow points from other years to do the bigger trips we have in mind?

- My boyfriend has been known to say "I need a break from the mouse" every now and again. The DVC guide told us about interval international, which sounds great, but I can't seem to find an easy way to look at Interval Resorts options. I've been on their website for an hour, but clicking and searching by area has been a huge hassle. I don't see things in specific areas I'm interested in going (nothing in Tokyo??? or anywhere in Japan that isn't Hokkaido?) and it has me thinking I'm either looking in the wrong place or its just not a good perk.

- How do you see your points value after you've been in your contract for a few years (or more?). I recognize Disney can change how many points they require for a stay at any resort, so I've gotten concerned that if we go ahead with say, 400 points, that 2 years from now, that won't go nearly as far as it does today.

- Really open to any other advice anyone has....we're trying to lock in a decision this week and it has got me all out of whack.

Thanks in advance

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.

 

[Ohmymonty]

If going direct, there is usually a diminishing return once you hit certain incentive levels. So buy as much as you need, but be conservative at first.

I am 80% resale and 20% direct. I purchased 200 direct points because that it where the sweet spot was for direct incentives.

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