Giving up the DVC dream...

[starry_solo]

With your growing family, I wouldn’t buy DVC or any other timeshare. You can rent at Wyndham Bonnet Creek Every three years or a nearby hotel suite when you go.

 

[Leahc117]

I am currently looking for a contract for my family of 5. We will likely not plan to stay in studios and will look for 1-2 bedrooms. My youngest is 2. My logic is that even if we only plan to go to Disney 2-3 more times (assuming after our last 2 trips in 2 years we get tired of it?) Aulani once and Vero once- we would still save money over renting points. My idea is to buy resale at OKW, Animal Kingdom, or Sarasota. Prices seem pretty low and there are a lot of contracts on the market. If you want GF can’t cheaper SS or OKW points get you there as well? This is also assuming that I’ll play around with 1 bedroom availability and hopefully get something good. I know that if we don’t buy DVC I will still be interested in staying on site. If we do it and enjoy a few vacations and sell in 10 years I still think it will be worth it. If we keep it and rent out points we will at minimum pay our dues and enjoy a vacation every other year or so.

 

[sethschroeder]

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?

I mean its worse with renting points right? No control to even change things.

So yes you have to call but still better than renting. With transfer points though you could pick the points based on where you wanted to stay possibly.

 

[Marionnette]

I am currently looking for a contract for my family of 5. We will likely not plan to stay in studios and will look for 1-2 bedrooms. My youngest is 2. My logic is that even if we only plan to go to Disney 2-3 more times (assuming after our last 2 trips in 2 years we get tired of it?) Aulani once and Vero once- we would still save money over renting points. My idea is to buy resale at OKW, Animal Kingdom, or Sarasota. Prices seem pretty low and there are a lot of contracts on the market. If you want GF can’t cheaper SS or OKW points get you there as well? This is also assuming that I’ll play around with 1 bedroom availability and hopefully get something good. I know that if we don’t buy DVC I will still be interested in staying on site. If we do it and enjoy a few vacations and sell in 10 years I still think it will be worth it. If we keep it and rent out points we will at minimum pay our dues and enjoy a vacation every other year or so.

Yes. All points are equal at 7 months out. Your only issue will be availability. VGF isn’t a very large resort compared to the others. People who own there tend to use their points there because they paid dearly for those points. There are 47 1BR villas at VGF and you won’t be the only one trying to book any available ones at 7 months. A lot of people have the same idea as you - buy cheaper points and use them to “sleep around”.

Certain resorts and views will just be harder to book at 7 months. You’re not likely to get AKV value or CL rooms unless you own there. BWV std view is a tough get and BCV is another resort where people own there to be able to book there. BLT std view tends to be booked up by people who own there but lake view is often available at 7 months. CCV can be difficult to book, especially at Christmas time. Poly is only studios and high-priced bungalows but tends to have both available at 7 months. RIV is not easy right now because only a fraction of the resort has been declared into DVC inventory. If you purchase a resale contract at another resort, you will not be able to use your points at RIV.

 

[lsutigers03]

I mean its worse with renting points right? No control to even change things.

So yes you have to call but still better than renting. With transfer points though you could pick the points based on where you wanted to stay possibly.

Yeah you would save some money and have full control over the reservation. Also I assume that transferred points can be banked like your owned points if your plans change?

 

[sethschroeder]

Yeah you would save some money and have full control over the reservation. Also I assume that transferred points can be banked like your owned points if your plans change?

Correct which makes it "easier" to find transfer points then because you have 2 years in theory to find points. year 1 you would just bank and year 2 would be when you are wanting to go anyways.

The only obstacle is since people can only do 1 transfer per year you need to get all your points in one swoop or plan on do a banking method to get half your points.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Yeah you would save some money and have full control over the reservation. Also I assume that transferred points can be banked like your owned points if your plans change?

Yes, you can bank transferred points, but just one time, just like your own points and they maintain their UY and resort. You cannot borrow transferred points though. Banked or borrowed points cannot be transferred. But you really don't have full control over the reservation. You need to call MS to make the reservation and if you try to modify it, MS needs to be called again.

If you have two children under the age of three, one will not count towards occupancy and one will. You are technically a family of five plus one under the age of three. So unless you leave one child elsewhere (like with Grandma or someone similar), you would never fit in a studio or one bedroom villa that only sleeps four. Once the twins were three, you would be a family of six.

 

[Disneypapa]

Many great responses with a lot of thought provided. I purchased my DVC contract in 2002 when I had young grandchildren and visited WDW every other year using 2BR villa with 7-9 people. Worked out very well for us. I am now retired and have begun to travel internationally and to national parks in the USA. Disney is not on my radar anymore. Point being, vacation plans change over time. My son and his family use my points for their family vacations to WDW now or I would be renting my points out every year. Just maybe this is a blessing to you to not buy. Perhaps purchasing a small contract and renting points from other DVC owners is a good option for you.

 

[bakerworld]

Truthfully, the whole 'locking in' aspect of a timeshare is very true. Every 2 or 3 years we'd gather up our extra funds/windfalls and off to WDW we'd go. This suited the kids fine. Our kids felt growing up we went to Disney a lot. The spread gave us lots of time to enjoy other vacations at beaches, historical areas, other theme parks, which not being locked into a TS gave us the freedom to plan and enjoy. We'd traveled and enjoyed the world - nationally and internationally, with and without the kids - and about 12 years ago we, again, looked into DVC. The economy was in a tail spin and the kids were on their own which made DVC finally, for us, affordable. We enjoy the laziness and anapestic environment of DVC.

Enjoy your kids - DVC will be there when their grown and out on their own. Our kids occasionally 'pop off' to DVC for the weekend with no need to enter the parks - just to enjoy the pools and themed lounges of the Springs.

 

[RoseGold]

You don't need DVC to go to Disney, they have plenty of cheap Nemo suites. You don't need Disney to go on vacation, I actually never went as a kid.

Sounds like you made the right decision, financially. And that's being responsible.

 

[Spinster Travel]

Congratulations on the expansion of your family and for also taking the time to realize this is a long term financial decision. As a SINK (single income, no kids), I have taken a long time to make this decision, mainly because its all on me if things in my financial future become unstable. I have been looking at DVC for about 6 years and am just now at the point where I am ready to make a purchase. I am fortunate that I have a career that allows me to work this type of purchase into my budget, but it was not the case until the last 3 years, so my thoughts would be to "put this book on the shelf rather than giving it away". You may find in a few years that all of the important finances (college savings etc.) are working as they should and that this is perhaps a reality. Plus isn't it more fun to dream. 6 years ago I swore this wasn't in the cards and now it is. Best wishes to you!

 

[Elaine's]

I have been going to Disney with my family every year since I was 5. When I had a family of my own I continued to go every year and loved it. I never cared much where we were staying since most of our time was spent in the park..then I experienced DVC with someone who was a member. I fell in love with how convenient the resorts were and how nice they were! Ever since I have been looking at contracts and trying to get as much information on it as I can. As much as I love it though I don’t know if I can justify spending that much money as well as the yearly dues. I would need a larger contact and that all adds up.

However, from what I’ve seen DVC is not just about accommodations. When I experienced it it felt more like the members were a big family. They all knew each other for years and developed real friendships outside of Disney. The children of the member grow up together and become great friends. They have special events and members only lounges where they can meet other Disney lovers. That’s what I think attracts me the most to DVC membership...the people you meet and the relationships you develop over the years. Its hard to put a monetary value that.

 

[Dismrk155]

With this virus and travel restrictions and park and resorts shutdowns it's not safe to put that amount of money at risk. Next year doesn't look good.

 

[North of Mouse]

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.

I agree almost 100% - except I do enjoy cooking about half the time depending on destination - but not Disney! Love the restaurants there.

We've talked about DVC at different times, but like y'all do, we love going to other destinations also. We have a motor home which is a great substitute for a DVC which allows our 'home' to be almost any place we desire to go. It's become a true 'DVC' for us! We all have to accommodate our individual lifestyles. Our dd bought DVC at BW many years ago and loves their two weeks there in Oct. for FW.

 

[Lorana]

We have a motor home which is a great substitute for a DVC which allows our 'home' to be almost any place we desire to go.

DH and I have often talked about buying a motor home when we retire and spend some time just exploring the national parks and the rest of the country.

 

[luckygirl0100]

We are a family of 7, with our twins now being 8 yrs old. We send our kids to Catholic school and let me just say that my oldest graduating this year is awesome in more ways than one! Lol, one less tuition to pay! ($8,900 per year for my high school kid with a whopping $300 discount for being a member of the church, $5,100 per year for each of the 4 younger kids)
We purchased 400 SSR points and go every January, we pull the kids from school for a week as we feel the family time is important. We just keep to a very strict budget for other things. It's all about priorities!
I don't drive an expensive car (Honda Odyssey & my husband drives a Honda CRV). We don't go out to eat often, and obviously don't have a nanny or house cleaning service. I work from home and adjust my hours to fit our family.

If you REALLY want DVC I say go for it and just make budget cuts elsewhere. (Oh and we don't scrimp on the 401k contributions either)

 

[Lorana]

If you REALLY want DVC I say go for it and just make budget cuts elsewhere.

That is so true in so many ways. My family is often like “how could you afford DVC?” And then today in a conversation with my brother and brother-in-law about cars - where they talked about dumping $35k-$45k on new cars (and buying a new car every 4-5 years) - it really hit home to me about priorities and cutting from other areas. They might be appalled at me dropping $35k on my initial direct + resale purchase of DVC, but I was appalled at them dropping all that money into cars (plus insurance + maintenance), lol! Whereas I buy used cars to find the best value for dollar and keep them till I’ve driven them into the ground. ;-). (I just recently had to buy a new-to-me car and my brother is looking to buy a car, which is how this came up).

I do recognize there is the annual MF, but like you said, we looked at other things to cut from the budget: we don’t have cable, used cars mean less insurance and excise taxes, etc

 

[ninafeliz]

We are similar, in that we were a family of 4 and then had twins, so we are now a family of 6. The twins just turned 3 in Feb, so we no longer fit into a regular Disney resort room. We bought into DVC during our February trip, and while we have not yet had a DVC stay we don't regret it at all. I had always been reluctant to buy DVC because I liked staying at different resorts and was reluctant to give up Club level. However, becoming a family of 6 pretty much closed that window so we looked a little closer at DVC and decided to buy. We only considered the points required for a 2BR, since we would primarily be traveling with all 6 of us. One bonus is that 9 also fit into a 2 BR, so we can now have all 3 grandparents come with us and we don't have to get any other rooms. One thing I have noticed while reading about other families DVC trips is how much further points go with a studio!! It feels like I am always reading posters say "I have 175 points and have 8 one week trips planned, and I can't figure out how to use the rest of my points boo hoo" (obvious exaggeration there). While I'm thinking holy cow, that would get us around 3 nights lol (also exaggeration). But it is what it is, when we were blessed with that unexpected 4th child I lost my Disney resort rooms (and the ability to fit into a regular sized vehicle!). So good luck to you, I know you decided not to buy but I wanted to write since we were in the same boat with the twins and needing 2 BRs. FWIW we bought enough to stay around 9 nights every other year figuring if we wanted to we could then add on (probably resale) at another home resort and go in the alternating years with those points. Otherwise we'll pay cash for the alternate years - AOA family suites here we come .

ETA we didn't really crunch numbers to the extent that it seems you did - we just knew I have loved Disney all of my life, we now love it as a family, there didn't seem to be any foreseen circumstances in which we would stop coming to Disney, and while it wasn't necessarily cheaper we would get a 2 BR villa instead of only having limited choices that didn't involve 2 rooms, which we weren't really willing to consider since they don't guarantee connecting rooms. So we did enough math to make sure it wasn't crazy, but didn't worry about making sure it was a "spectacular deal", so to speak.

 

[i<3riviera]

͏

 

[Deb & Bill]

We are similar, in that we were a family of 4 and then had twins, so we are now a family of 6. The twins just turned 3 in Feb, so we no longer fit into a regular Disney resort room. We bought into DVC during our February trip, and while we have not yet had a DVC stay we don't regret it at all. I had always been reluctant to buy DVC because I liked staying at different resorts and was reluctant to give up Club level. However, becoming a family of 6 pretty much closed that window so we looked a little closer at DVC and decided to buy. We only considered the points required for a 2BR, since we would primarily be traveling with all 6 of us. One bonus is that 9 also fit into a 2 BR, so we can now have all 3 grandparents come with us and we don't have to get any other rooms. One thing I have noticed while reading about other families DVC trips is how much further points go with a studio!! It feels like I am always reading posters say "I have 175 points and have 8 one week trips planned, and I can't figure out how to use the rest of my points boo hoo" (obvious exaggeration there). While I'm thinking holy cow, that would get us around 3 nights lol (also exaggeration). But it is what it is, when we were blessed with that unexpected 4th child I lost my Disney resort rooms (and the ability to fit into a regular sized vehicle!). So good luck to you, I know you decided not to buy but I wanted to write since we were in the same boat with the twins and needing 2 BRs. FWIW we bought enough to stay around 9 nights every other year figuring if we wanted to we could then add on (probably resale) at another home resort and go in the alternating years with those points. Otherwise we'll pay cash for the alternate years - AOA family suites here we come .

ETA we didn't really crunch numbers to the extent that it seems you did - we just knew I have loved Disney all of my life, we now love it as a family, there didn't seem to be any foreseen circumstances in which we would stop coming to Disney, and while it wasn't necessarily cheaper we would get a 2 BR villa instead of only having limited choices that didn't involve 2 rooms, which we weren't really willing to consider since they don't guarantee connecting rooms. So we did enough math to make sure it wasn't crazy, but didn't worry about making sure it was a "spectacular deal", so to speak.

Your family of six will need to be split up to fit into two studios. So your spouse with some of the kids and you with the others. Unless one is still under the age of three. But once he or she turns three, you go back to two bedrooms. Which is really nice, but uses a bunch of points.