Has anyone bought into DVC and NOT changed they way they do Disney (besides the obvious DVC change)?

[MamaBear12]

I keep reading that "DVC will change the way you vacation at Disney" and you'll end up going more often and spending more money at Disney. Has anyone bought into DVC and not had this happen?

Hubby and I LOVE to travel. Since we've been married (5 years), we've traveled internationally 3x, WDW 2x, non-WDW FL trips 2x, NYC, Washington D.C., 1-2 week road trips 2x... lets just say we use ALL our vacation time! We like variety and want to continue exploring new places (and returning to the places we love), but the one recurring trip that we seem to do every couple years is WDW and I definitely see that continuing, especially as our kids get older and can appreciate it more (age 4 and 1 currently).

I don't want to go to WDW more frequently, but I would like to upgrade how we do Disney (without forking out a ton more money). It seems like buying into DVC would let us stay deluxe onsite without the deluxe price. I would also love to do a stay at Aluani, HH, Vero, and VGF (challenging so I've read, but our travel times are pretty flexible and we would probably only do a couple nights during a longer California trip). And with young children and extended family who occasionally vacation with us, having the 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom options is very, very appealing.

Renting points seems like a good options, but the lack of flexibility and need to book 11-months out concerns me (A LOT). I like having control over my reservation.

If we bought, it would be a smaller (100-150 points) resale contract with the intention of banking and borrowing to go to WDW every 2-3 years and a trip to one of the other non-WDW resorts every once in a while.

I would appreciate hearing from those who have not gone WDW crazy (no offense) after buying into DVC, and have been able to take "upgraded" WDW vacations thanks to DVC while still ragularly taking non-DVC trips as well. Thanks!

 

[DisneyFansInLINY]

If booking 11 months out concerns you a lot then you might not like DVC. I would rent points from an owner before you buy into DVC. You can still get your "upgraded" Disney vacation for cheaper than Disney's price but without the commitment of owning.

 

[MamaBear12]

If booking 11 months out concerns you a lot then you might not like DVC. I would rent points from an owner before you buy into DVC. You can still get your "upgraded" Disney vacation for cheaper than Disney's price but without the commitment of owning.

Booking 11 months out only really concerns me if I have no control over canceling/changing the reservation if need be (which it sounds like that's the case with renting points vs. buying). We would most likely use our points to travel late may or early June (though we could travel anytime mid-May through mid-August most years, which to my understanding is the low to moderate DVC season and easier to book at the 7-month mark). I'm fine with making the 11-month reservation (which we definitely would do if we were planning to travel during high season), but should something come up, it would be nice to be able to move that reservation to later in the summer if need be.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Booking 11 months out only really concerns me if I have no control over canceling/changing the reservation if need be

The problem is that depending on when you try to change or cancel, changes are based on availability and certainly not guaranteed that you can make them work. If you cancel, there are rules around timing in your Use Year that can be awkward. This is why there are no changes in most rentals -- not just because it's a rental, but because you're dealing with a timeshare.

 

[MamaBear12]

The problem is that depending on when you try to change or cancel, changes are based on availability and certainly not guaranteed that you can make them work. If you cancel, there are rules around timing in your Use Year that can be awkward. This is why there are no changes in most rentals -- not just because it's a rental, but because you're dealing with a timeshare.

Right. But if we own I would pick a Dec use year giving us a decent amount of time to cancel and bank our points or move points to a different resort at a different time. We've never had to change a vacation last minute. I'm thinking more like a wedding or some other event coming up after we've made our 11-month reservation (but still a good 4+ months before our trip) and needing to move our vacation back a week or so. Unlikely, but still nice to have the option. That's my thought process anyway...

 

[Julylady]

I would not buy DVC points unless I was able to make firm travel plans at least 7 months out. To answer your first question, Yes, we do Disney different since becoming DVC members. We spend a lot less time in the parks and a lot more time enjoying the resort. We have also found that staying in a 1-bedroom villa has spoiled us for other vacations. A plain hotel room with two queen beds and maybe a refrigerator just has no appeal anymore. We love the separated living and sleeping area and having a real couch to sit on rather than sitting on a bed.

 

[disneynutz]

Only you know id owning will change the frequency of your vacations and only you can control it. Only you will know if not always getting the resort/room that you want will make you unhappy. Many book at 7 months or less and say that they don't care where they stay. Until you buy and experience the pros and cons of DVC for yourself, it's difficult to fully understand what's written here. Worse comes to worse, sell and move on.

Bill

 

[cedricandsophie]

We have over 1400 points at 7 resorts including aulani. We have owned since 1998. We used to stay in a hotel room and do parks every day. And go once a year. Now we go to DW at least twice a year, only stay in a minimum of a one bedroom and sometimes a two bedroom, go to vero beach once a year and aulani once a year in an ocean view one bedroom. We rarely do parks and just stay at the resort.

 

[MamaBear12]

I would not buy DVC points unless I was able to make firm travel plans at least 7 months out. To answer your first question, Yes, we do Disney different since becoming DVC members. We spend a lot less time in the parks and a lot more time enjoying the resort. We have also found that staying in a 1-bedroom villa has spoiled us for other vacations. A plain hotel room with two queen beds and maybe a refrigerator just has no appeal anymore. We love the separated living and sleeping area and having a real couch to sit on rather than sitting on a bed.

Thanks! We would certainly make firm plans at least 7 months out. It would just be nice to have a little wiggle room, even if it means staying at a different resort or what not. I'm 99% sure we won't ever need to change vacation plans, but that 1% chance that some other event comes up that we want to accommodate makes me want the ability to do so (which renting wouldn't allow us to do).

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

Renting points seems like a good options, but the lack of flexibility and need to book 11-months out concerns me (A LOT). I like having control over my reservation

One sort of hybrid plan you could use to get around this problem is to buy a small contract to start, and if you need extra points on occasion to invite family members or to book a longer stay, you can buy points from another owner and have them transferred into your account. It's more expensive that way, on the other hand, you have complete control of the reservation. Once the points are transferred to you, they are completely yours, and reservations are completely under your name. It adds a bit more cost and complexity, but more flexibility. Maybe you can buy enough points just for a week at WDW every 2 years or so. If you want to take a trip to Aulani, or VGC, you could transfer points in from another owner. In some ways this is better because if you bought points from an Aulani or VGC owner, you would be able to book during the Home Resort Window at 7-11 months at Aulani or VGC (again, just more expensive than using your own points).

I'm not a DVC veteran, but my two cents on your actual question, as long as you buy the appropriate number of points (which is a more difficult issue than it sounds), I don't think it should be a huge issue. Just resist getting swept up in the DVC fever and don't buy too many points until you're really sure you need them.

 

[Sammie]

We bought DVC to stay in an two bedroom for 8 nights once a year. It has not changed since we bought over 16 years ago and we have not added on since our initial purpose. I think many go too often and burn out and become unhappy with DVC and Disney. One week is plenty for us.

We use our other vacation time to do non Disney vacations and stay-cations.

We have stayed at all the DVC properties over the years except Aulani and California.

 

[MamaBear12]

Only you know id owning will change the frequency of your vacations and only you can control it. Only you will know if not always getting the resort/room that you want will make you unhappy. Many book at 7 months or less and say that they don't care where they stay. Until you buy and experience the pros and cons of DVC for yourself, it's difficult to fully understand what's written here. Worse comes to worse, sell and move on.

Bill

Very true! So many posters make it seem like DVC=spending every vacation and all your money at Disney, lol. Just trying to figure out if there are other use models that have worked more similar to how we would want to use it (I'm certain there are, but I've yet to see discussion on them).

 

[MamaBear12]

One sort of hybrid plan you could use to get around this problem is to buy a small contract to start, and if you need extra points on occasion to invite family members or to book a longer stay, you can buy points from another owner and have them transferred into your account. It's more expensive that way, on the other hand, you have complete control of the reservation. Once the points are transferred to you, they are completely yours, and reservations are completely under your name. It adds a bit more cost and complexity, but more flexibility. Maybe you can buy enough points just for a week at WDW every 2 years or so. If you want to take a trip to Aulani, or VGC, you could transfer points in from another owner. In some ways this is better because if you bought points from an Aulani or VGC owner, you would be able to book during the Home Resort Window at 7-11 months at Aulani or VGC (again, just more expensive than using your own points).

I'm not a DVC veteran, but my two cents on your actual question, as long as you buy the appropriate number of points (which is a more difficult issue than it sounds), I don't think it should be a huge issue. Just resist getting swept up in the DVC fever and don't buy too many points until you're really sure you need them.

Great advice! Thank you. I haven't looked into transferring much yet, but it sounds like that might better suite our needs

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

Great advice! Thank you. I haven't looked into transferring much yet, but it sounds like that might better suite our needs

Here's a thread about transferring. It's definitely got it's benefits and it's downsides as well:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/transferring-points-the-basics-and-more.3534571/

Another good thing is that if you're trying to "rent" points as an owner, you will have access to the Resort Availability Tool (the beloved "RAT") so you can look up availability yourself rather than PM'ing the owner over and over again.

 

[Minniesgal]

I'm not sure we have massively changed the way we do disney.

We do rope drop until lunch then chill in the afternoon before heading out for dinner. Often don't go back to the parks. However., I think we were heading that way also pre DVC.

We like to cook some meals in and hate going out every night this hasn't changed.

Truth be told we were never hotel room people, in fact I hate them. Without DVC we would be offsite in a Condo so DVC allowed us to do the same trip but onsite.

Also much as I would like to increase our trips life gets in the way so we haven't

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Our change has been that we have slowed down. We know we will be back. We've already paid for it. So we don't have the feeling that everything has to be done this trip. If we miss something, we can see it next time.

We did extend the trip we are planning for November. But that had to do with the reason we are going and having extra vacation time.

We decided that you only celebrate your 25th wedding anniversary once and we wanted to do it right. And it is better to vacation than to loose the time.

 

[MamaBear12]

Here's a thread about transferring. It's definitely got it's benefits and it's downsides as well:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/transferring-points-the-basics-and-more.3534571/

Another good thing is that if you're trying to "rent" points as an owner, you will have access to the Resort Availability Tool (the beloved "RAT") so you can look up availability yourself rather than PM'ing the owner over and over again.

Thank you!

 

[MamaBear12]

Our change has been that we have slowed down. We know we will be back. We've already paid for it. So we don't have the feeling that everything has to be done this trip. If we miss something, we can see it next time.

We did extend the trip we are planning for November. But that had to do with the reason we are going and having extra vacation time.

We decided that you only celebrate your 25th wedding anniversary once and we wanted to do it right. And it is better to vacation than to loose the time.

Congratulations!

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Congratulations!

Thank you.

 

[AulaniNutz]

We now stay at resorts such as AKV, BCV, BWV, AUL, BLT, when we always stayed at POR before. I would never have payed for these deluxe accommodations before, but now I'm thankful I have them.

We were at BCV this past weekend . I was able to work and go to Epcot for lunch at F&W, come back and work some more. Then go to Flying Fish for dinner..

Would never have done this without being DVC members

And then there is AUL. awesome. I would never have paid for a 1 bedroom. Now it is no problem. We bank and borrow.

DVC has clearly changed my enjoyment factor...