Giving up the DVC dream...

[bigredbeta]

Had been thinking about DVC for nearly 18 months now, but over the last week finally reaching the conclusion that it's probably not the answer for our family going forward. My wife is pregnant with twins and we're going from a family of 4 to 6. Obviously, that means we'd need 2 bedroom villas once the twins over 3 (don't even know how Disney treats 2 cribs).

My previous plan as a family of 5 was one bedrooms, with trips 2 out of every 3 years for a week. My wife is enamored by GF and so that would have been our main home resort, with sleeping around points most likely at AKL. We can drive readily and have the Visa Disney Rewards card and planned to pay for meals with our rewards dollars. It seemed like a great set up, with the major expense being theme park tickets, souveniers, and annual dues. I'm a physician and was perfectly aware how very fortunate we are to be able to afford frequent trips WDW in addition to all the other places we want to travel with our kids.

With our growing family though, it's now a nanny, 4 college funds, 4 sets of private school tuition, 4 sets of activities and lessons and things to save for and plan around. So thinking about travel in the future, and the extra costs of needing a 2 bedroom villa, along with associated extra expense of being a party of 6, it only seems to make sense that we space out our trips to some degree. We have so many places we want to go, it seems that best case scenario WDW is going to be an every 3 year plan instead. And with that, the DVC math starts to fall apart. I've never been one to consider DVC an investment or felt a need to break even on a vacation spending, DVC simply made sense as a tool to make the process of a planning a trip easier. I tried a lot different scenarios with the every 3 year plan but in the end I couldn't reach a number of points that built in flexibility (of travel dates, of rate increases, etc) that didn't ultimately end up with left over point totals too small to do anything with (eg smaller trips or renting points). And for those that are going to say it: both sets of grandparents have said that watching 4 little kids is too much for them so it's not like my wife and I could get away with using studios for getaways.

It's a bizarre sense of ennui though to admit this (hence this post and feeling the need to talk about it with others who understand DVC). I had not been excited about a project in a while, and DVC gave me an outlet to research, map out different options, and plan for untold future vacations. My family didn't travel much growing up and we only went to WDW once. We totally came in with that siege mentality, and I was really excited to be a "regular" visitor who could take a more relaxed approach to the parks and the resorts.

In the end, it'll be fine, it always is. We'll rent out points, enjoy our 2 bedroom villa, and make the most of our time, and I'm sure my kids excitement will remove any bittersweetness their dad has.

 

[travelplanningnerd]

First off - congratulations on the upcoming additions to your family.

I'm not an owner but went down the rabbit hole recently trying to figure out a way that it would make sense for us. We do DL more than WDW just because it's a faster flight and as much as the WDW math is a stretch for us, buying resale for VGC definitely doesn't work out. We can afford it, but the numbers just don't add up for many of the same reasons you point out - mainly the college funds for our two. Plus we like traveling to other places a well and spending such a crazy amount for VGC just didn't work for our long-term finances, and reconciling that in my head and heart was harder than I expected, so I understand your disappointment.

 

[sethschroeder]

The only thing that you could always look at in the future is getting a tiny 25 point contract and just finding transfer points for your trips. You are not locked in for much but could control your own reservation (even though you can't book online).

Probably doesn't make sense though. Kids are fairly expensive but twins are going to be a crazy life adventure of their own moving forward so its going to be worth it.

 

[bigredbeta]

First off - congratulations on the upcoming additions to your family.

I'm not an owner but went down the rabbit hole recently trying to figure out a way that it would make sense for us. We do DL more than WDW just because it's a faster flight and as much as the WDW math is a stretch for us, buying resale for VGC definitely doesn't work out. We can afford it, but the numbers just don't add up for many of the same reasons you point out - mainly the college funds for our two. Plus we like traveling to other places a well and spending such a crazy amount for VGC just didn't work for our long-term finances, and reconciling that in my head and heart was harder than I expected, so I understand your disappointment.

Yep, that's totally it, that reconciliation is challenging

 

[travelplanningnerd]

Yep, that's totally it, that reconciliation is challenging

Hopefully knowing others feel the same brings some sense of consolation. It sucks. I know. But the memories you have there will still be amazing with or without your own points.

 

[cmrdgrs]

Honestly, at today's prices, it's hard to justify given your family situation. If I could do it all over again, I'm not sure I would be holding all the points I'm holding today. I don't regret my purchases -- DH and I feel it was a one of the best purchases we ever made for our family. But, if you can find a good owner to rent from, even if you pay a bit of a premium, it's worth not making that "investment"

Congratulations on your family's additions! Twins! How exciting!

 

[ldo]

Sounds like some of my "planning," then realizing that we're not going to buy/tavel/do X.
As a family of 5 (also with twins), we always stayed in DVC 1BR and it was cost effective, IMHO. However, for a week in a 2BR, honestly, I'd probably at least try staying (gasp) offsite 1st at a Hilton timeshare (HGVC) or a Marriott. We have stayed in huge 3BR HGVC Seaworld and Tuscany when the kids brought friends, as well as some 2BR Marriotts. You might also consider the HGVC system or a (resale) high demand beach week that you might stay in sometimes and can easily trade into HGVC Orlando via RCI or Marriott Orlando via II--that's what we did. If interested, those on tug2.net/tugbbs.com (timeshare users group) forums have lots of info, including dedicated HGVC and Marriott forums.
also, be careful about renting points. many had issues during Covid with losing $$$. I second buying a small contract and having DVC points transferred in. Being able to control your points is a very underappreciated thing, IMHO. We bought a small contract for that very reason.

 

[travelplanningnerd]

Sounds like some of my "planning," then realizing that we're not going to buy/tavel/do X.
As a family of 5, we always stayed in DVC 1BR and it was cost effective, IMHO. However, for a week in a 2BR, honestly, I'd probably at least try staying (gasp) offsite 1st at a Hilton timeshare (HGVC) or a Marriott. We have stayed in huge 3BR HGVC Seaworld and Tuscany when the kids brought friends, as well as some 2BR Marriotts. You might also consider the HGVC system or a (resale) high demand beach week that you can likely easily trade into HGVC Orlando via RCI or Marriott Orlando via II--that's what we did. If interested, those on tug2.net (timeshare users group) forums have lots of info, including dedicated HGVC and Marriott forums.
also, be careful about renting points. many had issues during Covid with losing $$$. I second buying a small contract and having DVC points transferred in. Being able to control your points is a very underappreciated thing, IMHO. We bought a small contract for that very reason.

Can you give me more info on this? Essentially are you saying buy a small contract and then instead of renting points, you essentially pay someone with the points you need and they transfer them to you instead of them reserving a room for you?

 

[ldo]

yes. as of now (anything can change), DVC allows a transfer in 1X/year of someone else's points into your account. You can find points transfers on dvcstore.com and other brokers or find an owner yourself on the disboards rent/trade. Obviously, there's less risk with a broker, but you likely pay a few dollars more per point. you want to get points that are still bankable to maximize time to use them. When I only had 50 DVC points, I transferred in 2X and it worked great. There are other threads if you search talking about this. It's about the same price as renting, but you then own the points and can change/rebook, etc. online in your account as much as you want.

 

[Cyberc1978]

Another approach could be to look into another timeshare system. Ie Hilton Grand Vacation offers properties all over the US plus a few international ones too.

Hilton is not as expensive as Disney and do offer 2br or larger accommodations in Orlando. You also have the option to exchange into DVC using your Hilton points but that will only be 1Br and given your family size you either need a 2br or two 1Br.

if you are interested take a look at tugbbs.com they have an enormous amount of info on Hilton and other timeshares.

 

[gisele2]

Congratulations, a family of 4 kids is wonderful . I just bought and my 4 kids are old enought to be grateful. We rent for the last 6 trips, and now it made sense to buy. Enjoy your family .

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Congrats. If you can find a contract that allows you to go every other year the banking borrowing is nice. We did a 2 bed blt last March for 5 nights and it was great. The next 3 years you could do a studio. Then you will have to do a 2 bedroom or two studios. We are a family of 5 and had originally planned for a 2 bed every other year when we first purchased. I’m so glad we did and the memories we have are priceless. Walking to mk with the stroller was great. Youngest is 6 now and we can’t wait for our next trip. Hoping things can go back to how they used to be in a year.

 

[Brian Noble]

So thinking about travel in the future, and the extra costs of needing a 2 bedroom villa, along with associated extra expense of being a party of 6, it only seems to make sense that we space out our trips to some degree. We have so many places we want to go, it seems that best case scenario WDW is going to be an every 3 year plan instead. And with that, the DVC math starts to fall apart.

We went through a similar process when our kids were early in grade school, and came to almost the same conclusion. Our circumstances are a little different (two kids, not four) but we had many of the same constraints. We consider a 2BR unit the minimum for the four of us. We were not sure if or when the kids would "age out" of Disney, but we understood that DVC only made sense if we'd be going back at least once a year for most years, until about 7-10 trips were under our belts.

When we added it all up it seemed like too big of a risk.

However, we also discovered that our offsite vacations were still enormously fun, especially at some of the nicer nearby locations: Wyndham Bonnet Creek, Hilton Sea World, Sheraton Vistana, and others. So instead of buying DVC we put together a portfolio of other timeshares that were very inexpensive on the secondary market---think somewhere between pennies and a dime on the dollar.

Using that portfolio, we've had some fantastic vacations, all during school vacations (so prime time). A 3BR penthouse in Hilton's Lagoon Tower in Waikiki. A 2BR condo in Old Town Alexandria for the Cherry Blossom festival and the Grand Tour of Smithsonian museums. A 2BR condo in downtown Sedona with some great hiking. A 3BR within walking distance of the beach on Hilton Head in midsummer. A 4BR condo with a private hot tub that we invited friends to share with us in Williamsburg, VA. Oceanfront 2BR condos on Kauai, and a couple more Hilton 2BRs in Waikoloa on the Big Island. Spring Break in a 2BR at Vistana Beach Club on the Southern FL coast. And many more.

We've supplemented our timeshare stays with some cash Disney vacations: DCL cruises, a stay at Disneyland Paris after a week in Paris proper, and we had planned a week in Tokyo followed by a trip to TDR that the pandemic cancelled. We've also used timeshare exchange to access DVC properties. That's become a lot harder over the years, and it probably wouldn't work for you (2BRs are basically impossible now), but cash certainly will!

My kids are now just about out of the house: One starts her graduate program this fall, the other is halfway through his undergraduate degree. Looking back on it, I don't think I'd change a thing. That's true even though the kids enjoyed Disney a lot longer than I thought they would. In fact, it's still the eldest's Laughing Place, and she and I spent her last undergraduate Spring Break in a 1BR at Saratoga Springs early this past March, just under the pandemic wire.

 

[Lorana]

I know you said your wife loved GF, but how do you feel about Poly? If the 2BR points are too much - and you don't think you'd travel as frequently - there's always the option of 2 Connecting Studios at Poly for your family? Just a thought if you really wanted that DVC dream.

 

[deedubb]

Before we bought DVC, we stayed offsite at a place 1 mile from WDW. 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, full kitchen, in-suite laundry, all for under $200/night. I honestly don't care so much about the Disney bubble. If it weren't for the fact that I could walk to several of the parks by staying at certain resorts, I would probably still be staying off-site. The other advantage of course is that recently, it has been impossible to get FP+ for certain rides at 30 days so staying on-site has been a necessity, but who knows if the FP system will even return.

 

[iflyjetzzz]

I bought into DVC this last winter (Dec and Jan, 2 contracts) and just sold them (above what I paid, believe it or not!).
The problem with DVC is it locks you into the Disney system for your vacations. While we enjoy Disney, we are empty nesters and there are other vacation destinations than Disney World.
I went to tug to start looking at other timeshare systems but have decided against that for several reasons.
1) All timeshare systems are now flooded with unused points. This is going to cause more excess points chasing the same units for the same dates.
2) If I want to travel, I want to travel on specific dates. I don't want to be handcuffed to what's available in any timeshare universe.
3) For the next few years, it will be cheaper, likely much cheaper, to rent than own. I would expect to see timeshare rentals to be going for less than annual maintenance fees.
4) We don't cook on vacation. Heck, we don't really cook at home, so why would we on vacation? For that reason, hotels are just fine for us; we don't need a unit with a kitchen.
5) Prices for all timeshares are going to be under pressure for a while - at least until all of those excess points are eliminated. I expect timeshare prices in all timeshare systems (including DVC) to fall at least through the end of 2021.

When I started looking for off property timeshares, my timeshare of choice was Wyndham Bonnet Creek. It's nice and very close. But I don't want to be handcuffed to any timeshare system because it's not as flexible as simply looking for a place to stay for a getaway. Hotels, airbnb, timeshare rentals, etc, make it easy to find something where you want to stay.
If you really want a timeshare, Tugbbs has some excellent deals on last minute rentals; you might want to stalk that a bit.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Congratulations on your new additions!

Like a car, you don't have to own your DVC forever. We are in ROFR on #9 and #10 (first in 1996) and typically rent excess points after a purchase loaded with points and flip when we can make a decent profit. We bought three last year and sold three last year and made a substantial profit between rentals and sales. Why not buy a resale OKW which has huge villas and reasonable point charts? The WD and kitchen are priceless!

Just for an example the "older" OKW purchases are in the 210-230 range and there is a good chance those resales are original owners who bought in the $60 range. I just went to one resale website and found two that fit this scenario:

There is an OKW listed fully loaded with banked 2019, 2020 and 2021 and 2022 points (total 840 points). 210 points asking $98 for under 23K and a similar 230 point contract (likely same owner) for $96. I look for clues when buying and guess this is an older, original owner trying to unload contracts. Those 2019 points are "free" as you are not expected to pay MF's (worth $3000 if you rent them out). That $15 PP rental would offset full price down to $83 PP and I'm betting you can get it down to $75 PP with $8 (or more) off. That net price is $15,900 plus closing and MF's for 2020. Enjoy it every other year during the lower point times while the kids are small and flip it in about 6 years. You might get your original price back (assuming $75 net PP) and your only real cost will be MF's and you might even decide to ride it out to 2042. We've done this repeatedly and my friends don't even think I'm crazy anymore!

Education is huge (our son went to prep school and earned a doctorate), but so is family time. DVC gave (and gives) us the ability to control our own vacations and we've stayed at most DVC's and even stayed in London with an exchange. You have four kids to educate but that is a ways out. You need vacations and there is nothing more family oriented than Disney and each vacation can be a totally new experience, so don't give up on this dream. Our son is now in his early 30's, married, 3000 miles away and we spend time together at WDW and they love it as much as we do. We have two contracts in ROFR so we can be Disney snowbirds soon. Good luck and don't give up!

 

[sethschroeder]

Can you give me more info on this? Essentially are you saying buy a small contract and then instead of renting points, you essentially pay someone with the points you need and they transfer them to you instead of them reserving a room for you?

So I made the original comment.

Correct what you would do is buy the cheaper/smallest contract there is (you could do it at a home resort where you want to stay but doesn't matter and you will see why).

• Buy 25 point contract (smallest I know of)
• Pay tiny little MFs on an annual basis so if you can't bank points and lose them you are out $150-$175
• When you figure out what your next trip will be start looking for point transfers (or post that you want one in a different forum)
• You can only get 1 point transfer per UY but you can also bank those points
• When you find someone who meets your requirement to transfer points you strike a deal
• If needed you can bank the transferred points so that way you could get a transfer this year/bank them, get a transfer next year, and then use both years of transfer points to make a reservation (if you can't get a transfer for the full amount you need
• Instead of renting from someone you instead have the points transferred to YOUR membership and under YOUR control

Downsides:
Since you can only do 1 transfer per year normally people want to transfer all points to you (so you might have more points than you want)
Finding someone to rent is much easier although I see transfer posts on and off
Transfer points have to be booked by calling in to member services so you can't make changes to your reservation online (meaning NO ability to get those hard to get reservations)

Upside:
Transfers retain their UY and Home Resort so essentially its a great way to get a 11 month booking window at various resorts

 

[crisi]

Adulting is hard, but it sounds like this is a good decision. I have two in college - and having the foresight to understand how expensive that will be and the willingness to make those sacrifices makes you a good parent. Vacations with your kids are wonderful, but they don't have to involve regular Disney trips - a trip to the shore or the mountains or a nearby different city can be as rewarding.... and leaving your adult children with as little student loan debt as possible will have a much bigger impact on their lives than regular Disney trips.

 

[lsutigers03]

So I made the original comment.

Correct what you would do is buy the cheaper/smallest contract there is (you could do it at a home resort where you want to stay but doesn't matter and you will see why).

• Buy 25 point contract (smallest I know of)
• Pay tiny little MFs on an annual basis so if you can't bank points and lose them you are out $150-$175
• When you figure out what your next trip will be start looking for point transfers (or post that you want one in a different forum)
• You can only get 1 point transfer per UY but you can also bank those points
• When you find someone who meets your requirement to transfer points you strike a deal
• If needed you can bank the transferred points so that way you could get a transfer this year/bank them, get a transfer next year, and then use both years of transfer points to make a reservation (if you can't get a transfer for the full amount you need
• Instead of renting from someone you instead have the points transferred to YOUR membership and under YOUR control

Downsides:
Since you can only do 1 transfer per year normally people want to transfer all points to you (so you might have more points than you want)
Finding someone to rent is much easier although I see transfer posts on and off
Transfer points have to be booked by calling in to member services so you can't make changes to your reservation online (meaning NO ability to get those hard to get reservations)

Upside:
Transfers retain their UY and Home Resort so essentially its a great way to get a 11 month booking window at various resorts

This sounds like a great idea but when using transferred points don’t you have to call MS instead of handling things online? Would that be annoying if you needed to make multiple adjustments?