Feeling overwhelmed looking at DVC options

[intamin]

I have some more questions to add on to my original queries.... a few of you have mentioned the DVC day in Magic Kingdom. I'm aware there was just a DVC only cruise.

How do you DVCers feel about these events? Are they enticing? Do they feel more special as a DVCer than they did pre-DVC? Were the experiences comparable?

Are these sold at an extra premium? Or do you need to redeem points to gain access?

I guess I'll offer the opposing view from the above. When we go in for extended evening hours, it is a nice perk to have. It's nice knowing after dinner I have an extra 2 hours on certain nights where I don't have to fight with as many of the masses to get in line for rides.

Regarding Moonlight Magic when we went last Wednesday, the longest we waited was 20 minutes for slinky dog dash. Everything else was 10 minutes or less. It was nice taking friends and family in free of charge and being able to give them each some free snacks.

Do I think the above perks are worth the thousands of dollar difference in resale vs direct? No. I think they're nice to haves if you're already planning to buy direct for unrestricted resort access which should be the real reason for buying direct as everything else is not guaranteed.

Edit: Also the first perk you get regardless of if you buy resale or direct because you get that as long as you’re staying in a deluxe resort so it really shouldn’t contribute to the resale vs direct discussion but it definitely is a perk of buying DVC vs. continuing to stay in moderate/values @Ohmymonty

Regarding the member cruises, they’re still very expensive and are not something I’d purchase a membership for just to do but the swag does look pretty nice but again definitely not worth the price of direct and if anything are more expensive than standard DCL cruises because of all the stuff you get.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

A lot of people on here have the answers you are looking for…..
some of the answers you are looking for are subjective…… the direct resale question being a big one ….
maybe make a list of questions ask the guide, ask a resale broker,…..

‘Disney, can move points around in the calendar year, however the totals points for a year can’t change…..
meaning if Disney figures out that Jan 6,7,8 are a busy race weekend, they can increase the points value on those nights….. they then have to lower the points for three nights somewhere else in the calendar….

disney got a little lose with that policy once and the membership slapped them back into compliance….

IMHO, DVC points get the best value at DVC resorts….
you are most likely, to get what you want at your home resort…. During the home resort window…
don’t plan on booking last minute…. SSR & OKW maybe you can book 3 or 4 months in advance, sometimes closure to travel…..sometimes not….
AKL maybe 5 or 6 months in advance
most of the resorts have become hard to book longer stays, in the busy time, after 7 months….

studios goes first, the two bedrooms tend to go next, one bedrooms fill last….

if your BF needs a Disney break you can bank points, take a year off without renting….
renting is not hard just time consuming.

take everything you read with a grain of salt, and do your own due diligence

good luck

 

[AstroBlasters]

I guess I'll offer the opposing view from the above. When we go in for extended evening hours, it is a nice perk to have. It's nice knowing after dinner I have an extra 2 hours on certain nights where I don't have to fight with as many of the masses to get in line for rides.

Regarding Moonlight Magic when we went last Wednesday, the longest we waited was 20 minutes for slinky dog dash. Everything else was 10 minutes or less. It was nice taking friends and family in free of charge and being able to give them each some free snacks.

Do I think the above perks are worth the thousands of dollar difference in resale vs direct? No. I think they're nice to haves if you're already planning to buy direct for unrestricted resort access which should be the real reason for buying direct as everything else is not guaranteed.

For member perks, I enjoyed stopping by the new DVC member lounge at Disneyland and getting some time in the AC while sitting in a comfortable chair and drinking unlimited Powerade. I know EPCOT has a lounge as well.

Access to Top of The World Lounge at Bay Lake Tower looks fun as well and that’s something my family will check out for drinks and fireworks if we go back to WDW.

While at Aulani, they have special events for direct members and unlimited refills on the popcorn bucket… that is a valuable perk to my 9 and 14 year old!

 

[emchen]

I'm aware there was just a DVC only cruise.

I came back from that one 10 days ago. Our first. These are one a year, different itineraries most years. Sells out in a day. Must be DVC Y members (direct contract). I waited hours on the phone (cuz you can only book on the phone through Member Svcs) and snagged 2 of the adjoining leftover oceanview cabins. And was it worth it? A resounding yes! A thousand times YES!!

We've been on 5 other Disney Cruises and this was by far the best. It exceeded our already high expectations. If I were in your shoes, the fact that the 2024 DVC Member Cruise is in the Mediterranean 7-nights, might be the deciding factor for me. Yes it is sold out, but people cancel all the time (especially by the 120 day mark when many members make a final decision). I know this because I went to member services while on this year's cruise to specifically add ourselves to the waitlist and the cast member urged us to keep checking through that period (Jan 18 or 19, 2024). BTW, we paid all cash for my immediate family of 5, and our +2 (my cousin and my wife's close friend) paid for themselves. I rented out a bunch of points this year for the first time, enough to fully fund the cruise and cover the annual dues.

But I have cool-aid stained lips (take a look at my signatures), so take caution...

 

[PolyRob]

I think most Disboarders get addonitis. Hanging here is a great advertisement for "oh, I need to get in on the Grand Floridian deal!" and "If I want to stay at BWV over Food and Wine, I'd better get myself 50 points." I don't know if most DVC members every buy anything but their home resort. All of the people I know who own DVC outside of THIS board only bought points once, and only own them at a single resort.

I actually know a lot of DVC members in real life. A bunch keep buying more points, but I have to say not one contract is ever resale. One person was waiting for BLT direct pre 4/4/16 when the distinction between resale and direct was minimal. She already owned OKW and SSR. She got the BLT points and also added CCV when it went on sale.

 

[PolyRob]

I have some more questions to add on to my original queries.... a few of you have mentioned the DVC day in Magic Kingdom. I'm aware there was just a DVC only cruise.

How do you DVCers feel about these events? Are they enticing? Do they feel more special as a DVCer than they did pre-DVC? Were the experiences comparable?

Are these sold at an extra premium? Or do you need to redeem points to gain access?

Moonlight Magic events are a nice perk, but I wouldn't buy direct solely to attend them. Sometimes the registration is a mess and it may not be feasible to plan a last minute trip to coincide with the dates when they are finally announced.

The Extended Evening Hours replaced Extra Magic Hours and are offered for all deluxe and deluxe villa guests.

DVC sometimes does additional extras like the Halloween event at the Atlantic Dance Hall: https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program-men...alloween-event-returns-to-atlantic-dance-hall

Or vague freebies at Jollywood Night and MVMCP: https://dvcfan.com/2023/06/28/extra-dvc-membership-magic-this-holiday-season/

I wouldn't personally plan my entire trip around these, but if you are there without membership extra eligible points there may be some FOMO.

I read the entire thread and something I don't believe I saw mentioned was how many points did you put the down payment on with your guide? What UY did you get? Do you like Grand Floridian? And when do you typically travel to WDW or see yourself traveling there? That would potentially influence my decision.

 

[mamaofsix]

I'll posit a contrarian view: "Addonitis" is a Peter Werner (and Pete Werner-type) FOMO way of thinking, i.e., those who just want to keep buying more and not consider the financial consequences. For those who don't understand, it's a long, sad story, and you should really treat this as a major long-term investment which only gets more expensive (in the form of increased dues, the largest component of DVC expense) as the years go by.

I'll shout again to the OP's question, because this thread has gone off track into the financial realities of DVC exploration and purchasing, that you should NEVER purchase real estate/cars/loans/etc., with someone other than your legal spouse. Courts have no way of protecting you if/when that relationship dissolves.

It's interesting reading all of the admonishments on this thread against buying property together when unmarried. I guess the U.S. is different than other countries in this regard? In Canada, once you've lived together for 2 years, you're considered 'common-law,' which is very similar to married in the eyes of the law. If you split up, your properties purchased while common law (if both of your names are on the contract) are treated the same in court as if you were married. Even 50-50 split usually. Taxes, property, child custody, etc. are all treated much the same as if you're legally married.

Is that different in the U.S.?

I see it as no big deal if the OP and her BF want to buy property together.

 

[DeeBee3]

I wouldn't buy into DVC to encourage family to travel - that is not cost effective. If you were planning on paying for them, then it's better to pay cash elsewhere. My family originally thought this was a traditional timeshare where they could pop in for a week and it was a house or condo. It took many times to explain it is not really a timeshare in the traditional sense.

As a DVC owner, we love it and we go more frequently than we anticipated. However, I can see some people getting over Disney'd. Only you and your boyfriend could work that out. As others have stated, that international collection is not a good use of points.

We worked up spreadsheets and all sorts of financial calculations to see if we would be close to making a decent use of our money. You still have to buy park tickets and all the other stuff that involves traveling to Orlando and staying on property.

 

[Ohmymonty]

I read the entire thread and something I don't believe I saw mentioned was how many points did you put the down payment on with your guide? What UY did you get? Do you like Grand Floridian? And when do you typically travel to WDW or see yourself traveling there? That would potentially influence my decision.

We put down a down payment for 200 points and got a use year of April 2023.
We love Grand floridian...especially during christmastime. We wanted to be near magic kingdom and just fell more in love with it during the ro tours. I kept hearing around that the GF was the most in demand, so I thought make that the home resort so that when we Wang to get in during xmas and stuff like that, we'll have the chance. But maybe it's not in demand as I thought...I looked at a few of these websites with availability tracking and it seems like it's pretty okay 7 months out too.

The last question is where things get tricky. All my trips to WDW were in the fall. I personally prefer things like the cruises over park days because parks are soooo crowded. My boyfriend prefers lounging at a resort with options to go into parks if he wants. We live near a major airport hub, so flights to Orlando aren't a problem and can be pretty cheap. We hadn't explored what a new normal would look like. His work is almost impossible to plan around so everything he's done has been "last minute" style. I'm more of a planner. He's a "long weekend" kind of guy and I'm more of a "5 days pto minimum" girl. Soooo some work to do there yet

 

[Lva5]

We put down a down payment for 200 points and got a use year of April 2023.
We love Grand floridian...especially during christmastime. We wanted to be near magic kingdom and just fell more in love with it during the ro tours. I kept hearing around that the GF was the most in demand, so I thought make that the home resort so that when we Wang to get in during xmas and stuff like that, we'll have the chance. But maybe it's not in demand as I thought...I looked at a few of these websites with availability tracking and it seems like it's pretty okay 7 months out too.

The last question is where things get tricky. All my trips to WDW were in the fall. I personally prefer things like the cruises over park days because parks are soooo crowded. My boyfriend prefers lounging at a resort with options to go into parks if he wants. We live near a major airport hub, so flights to Orlando aren't a problem and can be pretty cheap. We hadn't explored what a new normal would look like. His work is almost impossible to plan around so everything he's done has been "last minute" style. I'm more of a planner. He's a "long weekend" kind of guy and I'm more of a "5 days pto minimum" girl. Soooo some work to do there yet

VGF is usually hard to get... not the hardest, but it's up there. If you'd rather stay there than Beach Club, for example, it's definitely a good choice. If you want to stay there during Christmas time, home resort is going to be huge. VGF is a great option all around. Home resort doesn't help for last min trips though..

One of the best things we've found about DVC is that there is less pressure to squeeze too much into park days... we'll be back. So it sounds like it's right up bf's alley. And with DVC unless it's a busy weekend you should be able to book something relatively last minute.

 

[Stargazer65]

It's interesting reading all of the admonishments on this thread against buying property together when unmarried. I guess the U.S. is different than other countries in this regard? In Canada, once you've lived together for 2 years, you're considered 'common-law,' which is very similar to married in the eyes of the law. If you split up, your properties purchased while common law (if both of your names are on the contract) are treated the same in court as if you were married. Even 50-50 split usually. Taxes, property, child custody, etc. are all treated much the same as if you're legally married.

Is that different in the U.S.?

I see it as no big deal if the OP and her BF want to buy property together.

I think that varies by state. IANAL, and don't know specifics.

 

[Sandisw]

It sounds like you have gotten lots of great info regarding pros and cons.

As long as you see yourself visiting at least every other year, or taking a year off here or there, it can still make sense.

While trading points for cruises and even into II might not give you the same value as using for DVC, we would. It hesitate to do it if we wanted to over renting out points

Although renting, via brokers, can make the process pretty simply now and as long as the parks exist, there will be a market for points.

The deal you locked into is a great once. But, you also want a home resort you are okay staying at if you can trade out elsewhere. If you are going to be studios only, VGF has a lot now and is a great home base. It’s our second favorite to RIV….which is tops for us now!

Good luck!

 

[RoseGold]

It's interesting reading all of the admonishments on this thread against buying property together when unmarried. I guess the U.S. is different than other countries in this regard? In Canada, once you've lived together for 2 years, you're considered 'common-law,' which is very similar to married in the eyes of the law. If you split up, your properties purchased while common law (if both of your names are on the contract) are treated the same in court as if you were married. Even 50-50 split usually. Taxes, property, child custody, etc. are all treated much the same as if you're legally married.

Is that different in the U.S.?

I see it as no big deal if the OP and her BF want to buy property together.

There's a lot more downside than that. This is a shared asset in another state, maybe another country. That person can get sued, go to prison, stop paying the dues, steal all the points, file for bankruptcy, die, go missing for years, I can keep going. You can get tangled up in all of this over a timeshare.

All of those horror stories, and way, way more have happened with DVC. The one where the lady's estranged husband canceled her trip and used the points she paid for on himself the week before comes to mind. When I looked at the foreclosures a few months ago, a lot of them appeared to be estates. Heirs either didn't know about it, or didn't want to mess with probating leaseholds in Florida. It can cost A LOT to untangle this, if you get unlucky.

This is a lot for a few nights in a hotel.

 

[Miffy]

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.

OP, could you explain what you mean by this? Apparently everyone else on this thread understood, but I didn't. Are you saying that you haven't gotten married yet because you spent the money you might've spent on the wedding but instead purchased a house together? Thank you for explaining.

I'm guessing you and your bf have quite a bit of disposable income, since this is a huge purchase you're talking about, somewhere, I'm guessing, between $40K and $80K. Perhaps this isn't a lot of money to you. It seems like it to me, but I realize everyone's financial situation is different.

Aside from all that, you mentioned that your bf isn't a planner. If you're not able to plan your WDW vacations 11 months in advance, DVC may not be a good fit for you. DVC isn't really a "we'll just fly by the seat of our pants and get a room 3 weeks ahead of time" kind of system. It's a "plan 11 months in advance or hope for the best at 7 months" kind of system.

Regarding taking your family: That shouldn't weigh into your considerations at all. Your family may or may not ever want to go, may not enjoy going, may think Disney is only for little kids and, only then, begrudgingly, etc., etc., etc. Also, unless you're used to going on group vacations and enjoy them, you might be asking for a world of trouble thinking that group vacations are great. Hey, maybe for you they are. Everyone is different.

Remember that DVC isn't going to go away. You do not have to make a decision about this great deal. There will be other deals down the line. I go to WDW 2 or 3 times a year, I never bought DVC, and I have zero regrets about not buying in. I have missed out on nothing.

Just another point of view since you're getting viewpoints from DVC owners. I thought you might want to hear from someone who doesn't own.

 

[mamaofsix]

There's a lot more downside than that. This is a shared asset in another state, maybe another country. That person can get sued, go to prison, stop paying the dues, steal all the points, file for bankruptcy, die, go missing for years, I can keep going. You can get tangled up in all of this over a timeshare.

All of those horror stories, and way, way more have happened with DVC. The one where the lady's estranged husband canceled her trip and used the points she paid for on himself the week before comes to mind. When I looked at the foreclosures a few months ago, a lot of them appeared to be estates. Heirs either didn't know about it, or didn't want to mess with probating leaseholds in Florida. It can cost A LOT to untangle this, if you get unlucky.

This is a lot for a few nights in a hotel.

Right - but I guess I wasn't understanding how this is different in a common law partner situation vs. a marriage. Everything you listed could happen with a traditional divorce, too? Including the estranged husband.

I was more just pointing out that I didn't see it as a big deal to sign with a bf if it was a committed, common law relationship. Not much extra risk there compared to a marriage.

 

[RoseGold]

Right - but I guess I wasn't understanding how this is different in a common law partner situation vs. a marriage. Everything you listed could happen with a traditional divorce, too? Including the estranged husband.

I have no idea who is considered married in Canada. I would not buy at all from outside the US, unless I was prepared to handle the probate internationally.

I can tell you that being on the other side of someone else's bankruptcy with shared assets is a nightmare.

This can get very ugly. It can be even uglier if there isn't a divorce court to split assets.

Unmarried people buying leaseholds in Florida are business partners holding assets in the US, and the only courts with power over that asset are in Florida. Maybe that's a great idea for OP, maybe it's not. Maybe they have buttoned up business agreements with years of dues in escrow, and they are ready to enforce them in Orange County.

There are tons of stories here with lawyers in all kinds of situations. Renting a room at Swolphin is much, much simpler.

 

[gmi3804]

All of those horror stories, and way, way more have happened with DVC. The one where the lady's estranged husband canceled her trip and used the points she paid for on himself the week before comes to mind.

To be fair, married people can do that to each other too. When two people marry (in the US), it's a legal procedure which joins two people IN LAW, which means that courts can order assets be divided in a divorce proceeding. Unmarrieds are bound by the sales contract, and how it's titled, and courts cannot intervene or undo that.

 

[crisi]

So.... Fall is high DVC time - you'll want to plan eleven months out (or at least eight) and book your home resort. You may be able to switch to a different resort, but don't count on it. You will want to plan ahead....DVC isn't a "we can get a great deal on airfare for next month" option - there may be ZERO rooms for a month out.

Even at times other than Fall, you want to book your home resort before the seven month window opens (and in some cases earlier than that - in a few cases certain rooms at certain resorts are gone AT eleven months), then see what you can switch to. DVC really doesn't work well if you are booking - oh say - four months out or less - you may get something, you may not, you may need to move around to piece together a stay - and what will be available isn't likely to be your first choice (or second or third) of resorts. Even booking right at seven months to stay somewhere other than home, you likely won't have the full choice of resorts. Over the course of your contract, you are likely to be able to stay everywhere, but for each individual trip you won't be able to say for sure where you will end up until its booked. And all the DVC resorts have fans and a whole lot of DVCers don't really care where they end up or if they move around as long as its Disney - you determine if that's you.

Cruising on points is, as discussed, not a good deal. While the amount of points for rooms doesn't tend to change (reallocations do happen to make popular seasons more expensive, but then less popular seasons become less expensive - but there isn't overall point inflation) - the same cannot be said for cruises. Cruises usually cost more points year over year. Also, DCL has a limited number of staterooms available for cruising on points - and in the past has even suspended cruising on points as an option. Cash guests are better for them and they really only want to do the point cruising if they aren't selling out the ship. Similarly the II options are renegotiated with each contract - those point values can change as well.

 

[crisi]

Right - but I guess I wasn't understanding how this is different in a common law partner situation vs. a marriage. Everything you listed could happen with a traditional divorce, too? Including the estranged husband.

I was more just pointing out that I didn't see it as a big deal to sign with a bf if it was a committed, common law relationship. Not much extra risk there compared to a marriage.

Only in twelve states is such a thing as a common law marriage legally recognized. Marriage laws (like so much of U.S. law) is determined by individual states. So its really hard to generalize about what would happen to assets if a marriage would be dissolved, but there is a process by state for doing so. ETA: In the 38 states that do not recognize common law marriage you are not entitled to the protections of family law, or the proceedings and process of divorce court if you are not married.

Without the paperwork of marriage, the process and laws become much less clear - again, it depends on the state. One thing about buying property without being married is that the courts don't need to get involved at all in the dissolution - so if the parties are amicable, property can just be split (filing a quit claim deed is pretty simple). But if the parties aren't amicable, it can be messier than a divorce.

 

[RoseGold]

To be fair, married people can do that to each other too. When two people marry (in the US), it's a legal procedure which joins two people IN LAW, which means that courts can order assets be divided in a divorce proceeding. Unmarrieds are bound by the sales contract, and how it's titled, and courts cannot intervene or undo that.

Sure, if your estranged husband cancels your trip and steals all the points, the divorce court handles it, just like if he took the car or whatever else.

If you're not married, well, good luck.