Has anyone regretted becoming a DVC member?

[Dean]

We are not DVC owerns and I've been somewhat on the fence re DVC for some time.

In our situation, the reasons to buy include:

1. We like to stay at deluxe resorts

2. We like to go to WDW at least once every 1-2 years

3. Prices just keep going up and up and it would be nice to be able to at least somewhat "lock in" some of that cost upfront

4. We have enough cash to not need to finance the purchase

But we also have some signficant reasons to be hesitant:

1. We strongly prefer going during off-seasons (i.e., when most kids are in school) and our oldest is now two years away from middle school (and when he finishes high school, our youngest will start middle school), so these types of trips may not be practical for much longer

2. While we're currently Disney addicts, we may not always be, especially as the kids get older, family tastes change, etc.

3. We like doing split stays at resorts closest to the parks, which would mean multiple contracts (we could try to book different resorts under the same contract, but I'm not keen on the idea of sweating out availablity at a popular resort at the 7 month mark, I'd want the peace of mind of being able to book at 11 months at each of my favorite resorts)

4. I worry about having difficulty selling the contract(s) if we suffer a signficant financial setback (especially if this occurs in the midst of a national recession)

5. DW already thinks we spend way too much on Disney (of the two of us, I'm the bigger Disney addict) and would not be keen on us dropping big chunks of change for DVC contracts, even if convinced that it may save us money over the long term.

Honestly, if it wasn't for this last point, we'd probably lean towards buying (as I view purchasing DVC as something for which both spouses need to be totally on board).

Ironically, I'd probably be more open to buying DVC (and have better luck convincing DW) if we were financially independent, retired empty nesters with grandkids. We could go anytime we wanted and/or treat our adult children and grandchildren to fantastic vacations.

Making the other appropriate assumptions and assuming you're OK with the compromises involved, you sound like a perfect candidate to buy. Even compared to discounted rack rates DVC will save you money and/or give you a better room (1 BR over studio/hotel room) if you buy resale. Depending on how many points you'd need, 2 contracts might be a good idea or you could just do one and have less investment but less options with many variations.

If I were in your situation as described, but knowing what I know otherwise about DVC and timeshares, I'd likely buy in. I'd plan a full strategy, maybe BWV and BLT given your near park requirement, and decide how many points of each I'd need and if the numbers are larger enough to justify 2 contracts. If I were still convinced it would take 2 contracts to be satisfied, I'd buy one, likely BLT with either 150 min to at least 10% above my calculated numbers, 20% if less than 150 pts. I'd get that done, get a couple of trips under my belt, then reevaluate the choices. Even if you used DVC for part of your stays and cash for other options, you're still likely better off than you are now. And those 2 resorts have options that can save you money over cash or the 7 month window as well since they have the standard view options, assuming you're be OK with those. And you can often get in to BWV with BLT points just not the cheaper standard view routinely. Obviously the devil is in the details, all I can go by is what's in your post and the feel it gives me.

None of your posted concerns would give me pause unless you're simply going to skip the vacations and pile up the cash, assuming you have a rainy day fund and no other consumer debt of course and can do the other savings one need's to do in addition (pay extra on home, college, full retirement, cash for cars, etc). It'd still be a good idea to take any savings and actually save it rather than spend it in another area. That's the reason that DVC often doesn't save people money, they just spend it on other things.

 

[Hendercx]

Excellent points here.

Some are focusing solely on the number of resale contracts available and not considering foreclosures. As a real estate attorney with a fair number of clients who went through foreclosures in the last 5-7 years I saw a number of financed timeshares in the mix. I have also been involved in several scenarios where clients' ability to refinance their homes were restricted due to timeshare ownership. While Disney does not report loans to credit agencies you must still disclose these on a loan application (failure to do so is loan fraud.) Further, with the current regulatory climate lenders often request bank account statements and notice payments made for a timeshare.

On a personal note, I will add that NOT purchasing a Disney timeshare was one of the best decisions we made. Like many here we started regular trips with our young children and in 2003 looked into purchasing. For many reasons we decided against it and though we made regular trips for a few years our young children grew up and became involved other things. Also, it gets more difficult to take them out of school as they reach middle school.

We were able to take many trips and collect the same memories as those with DVC and avoided the rigid planning requirements. While a purchase would not have been a disaster for us the timeshare experience would certainly not have suited our needs.

Hi - are you saying that people are unable to refinance if they have a DVC? We are looking into refinancing soon and don't want this to hinder us.

 

[chalee94]

Hi - are you saying that people are unable to refinance if they have a DVC? We are looking into refinancing soon and don't want this to hinder us.

i think she is saying if you have a loan related to DVC (or even the annual dues), you are expected to disclose that when pursuing financing (or refinancing). your lender would consider those payments when considering whether you have the cash flow to pay the loan.

you would not be unable to finance just because you own a timeshare. but if you are borderline over-extended anyway, the timeshare payments could move your debt payments ratio into a bad number.

 

[zavandor]

But what is the true cost of that vacation, that's what I'm asking?

This is my biggest peeve with time shares. You can never get a straight answer. How much did you pay for your DVC divided by number of years you have vacationed there plus annual dues = your annual cost. What will it really cost the OP?

I've bough my contracts 4 years ago. Since then I've rented enough points to cover all Maintenance Fees I paid over time. And now my contracts are worth around 25% more than I paid them. So i could sell and the result would be that I vacationed 2 weeks at AKL, 15 nights at OKW, 8 nights at VGC over 4 years for free.
But I'll keep the contracts and continue to get a great value. In 40 years my contracts will be worth nothing but who cares.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[skier_pete]

Obviously they go up whether you stay in a room or own DVC. But my point was that if you're not an owner, you have the option to skip Disney or take a different vacation that better fits your budget that year. If you own points, you will inevitably feel compelled to use them and may be paying exorbitant prices in the ancillary costs that you're not comfortable with. You have more flexibility outside of ownership, which is just a point I was making for OP to consider. It's been a big consideration for us when thinking about pulling the DVC trigger.

While I will agree that if you don't want to go to Disney on a regular basis, it doesn't make sense to buy into DVC, And of course NOT buying DVC is more FLEXIBLE than buying DVC. I would argue against the fact that you don't have the option to "skip Disney" for any year. Unlike other timeshares, with DVC it is quite easy to rent out your timeshare points for double what your maintenance fees are annually. Admittedly this could be affected if the economy takes a drastic downturn, but as general rule, even in a down economy, the timeshare points will likely rent as people are trying to save money on their Disney vacation.

We are not DVC owerns and I've been somewhat on the fence re DVC for some time.

In our situation, the reasons to buy include:

1. We like to stay at deluxe resorts

2. We like to go to WDW at least once every 1-2 years

3. Prices just keep going up and up and it would be nice to be able to at least somewhat "lock in" some of that cost upfront

4. We have enough cash to not need to finance the purchase

Agree with what Dean said - these items do make you an really ideal candidate for DVC (resale - always resale) While I would re-iterate a lot of what he recommends, I would instead comment on your reasons NOT to buy:

But we also have some signficant reasons to be hesitant:

1. We strongly prefer going during off-seasons (i.e., when most kids are in school) and our oldest is now two years away from middle school (and when he finishes high school, our youngest will start middle school), so these types of trips may not be practical for much longer

2. While we're currently Disney addicts, we may not always be, especially as the kids get older, family tastes change, etc.

This is a very personal question of course, you need to look inside and decide if this is something you want to keep doing long-term. We only decided to buy when we basically decided that we loved going enough that we weren't going to stop even should our daughter out-grow it. If you really think you are going to stop going in the next 2-3 years, than would agree it's probably not for you. But being as you already stay deluxes, the break-even point (looking at resale) is only 5-7 years,

3. We like doing split stays at resorts closest to the parks, which would mean multiple contracts (we could try to book different resorts under the same contract, but I'm not keen on the idea of sweating out availablity at a popular resort at the 7 month mark, I'd want the peace of mind of being able to book at 11 months at each of my favorite resorts)

Well, that's a tough call. As Dean said, if you are set on that, two smaller contracts may be necessary. Smaller contracts have a higher upfront cost, but also retain their value stronger.

4. I worry about having difficulty selling the contract(s) if we suffer a signficant financial setback (especially if this occurs in the midst of a national recession)

Another "what if" scenario that's hard to predict. Again, this is where buying resale makes sense. You are letting someone else get the main hit on the depreciation. Could the vales drop if the economy goes sour, quite possibly, but the downside is maybe retaining 60-80 % of the value. The fact is that it's just as likely the value of the contract rises.

5. DW already thinks we spend way too much on Disney (of the two of us, I'm the bigger Disney addict) and would not be keen on us dropping big chunks of change for DVC contracts, even if convinced that it may save us money over the long term.

Honestly, if it wasn't for this last point, we'd probably lean towards buying (as I view purchasing DVC as something for which both spouses need to be totally on board).

Ironically, I'd probably be more open to buying DVC (and have better luck convincing DW) if we were financially independent, retired empty nesters with grandkids. We could go anytime we wanted and/or treat our adult children and grandchildren to fantastic vacations.

Well, what I would say here is that if you are already staying Deluxe on a regular basis, you will be dropping less money on Disney. What do you currently spend on a week at Deluxe resorts - $4000? $5000? Instead you end up spending $1000 a year. Sure the upfront is a big penny to spend, but again, look to the long-term benefit. Look to the rate at which room prices are increasing -> If you were paying $300 a night 10 years ago you are paying $500 a night now, and you will be paying $800 a night in 10 years. Maintenance fees will go up by a similar %, but the actual amounts won't be so steep, go from $1000 to $2000 in 10 years, instead of from $4000 to $6400 for the hotel room for eight nights.

You mention retirement, but that's one of the main reasons we bought into DVC NOW - i was looking at the numbers, and NOW is when I have the money to pay those up-front costs. In 15 years when I am (hopefully) retired, I won't be able to afford a week at Disney with current room inflation rates, but having put that money in now, I WILL be able to afford my maitenance fees. (I want to know what jobs you have that make you feel you will be better off financially in retirement than you are while working!)

 

[nkereina]

While I will agree that if you don't want to go to Disney on a regular basis, it doesn't make sense to buy into DVC, And of course NOT buying DVC is more FLEXIBLE than buying DVC. I would argue against the fact that you don't have the option to "skip Disney" for any year. Unlike other timeshares, with DVC it is quite easy to rent out your timeshare points for double what your maintenance fees are annually. Admittedly this could be affected if the economy takes a drastic downturn, but as general rule, even in a down economy, the timeshare points will likely rent as people are trying to save money on their Disney vacation.

My point about skipping Disney was that if flights are too high for one year, you have the option to skip it or take a vacation closer to home if you don't own DVC. If you own and have the points, you may feel like you need to make it work to use the points. Yes you can rent them or bank them, but if you're going to encounter this as a potential issue with any regularity, then it really does call into question buying DVC in the first place.

If you're budget is large enough where the minimal increases year after year don't impact you much, then it's a moot point.

 

[KingRichard]

I do not regret buying. One thing that we didn't learn from our salesperson was the monthly charge. A friend who already owned DVC told us about it. When I asked the sales person about it she said it was such a small amount of money I wouldn't even miss it. In 2007 it was about $50/mo now it is almost $100/ mo. With DVC you don't have the service in the hotels that you have with private pay. This may matter to you or may not . As I said, I don't regret it. We have stretched our points to two trips/year...1 family 6 night & 1 couples 3 night. You just have to be savvy with your points.

So you signed a blank piece of paper and gave Disney a fat check?

 

[crisi]

Well, what I would say here is that if you are already staying Deluxe on a regular basis, you will be dropping less money on Disney. What do you currently spend on a week at Deluxe resorts - $4000? $5000? Instead you end up spending $1000 a year. Sure the upfront is a big penny to spend, but again, look to the long-term benefit. Look to the rate at which room prices are increasing -> If you were paying $300 a night 10 years ago you are paying $500 a night now, and you will be paying $800 a night in 10 years. Maintenance fees will go up by a similar %, but the actual amounts won't be so steep, go from $1000 to $2000 in 10 years, instead of from $4000 to $6400 for the hotel room for eight nights.

But if what you have now is four or maybe five people in a single Deluxe room, with DVC you'll end up with a Queen bed, a full pullout and maybe a Murphy bed for #5. I'd never buy DVC if what I was staying in was Deluxe studios - they are way nicer for a family than a DVC studio (in my opinion). My take - and it gets echo'd a lot here - is that DVC shines when you start looking at having a washer dryer in room and the kids sleeping in a different place - I wouldn't buy for studios. And when you start comparing Deluxes to one or two bedrooms, the savings drops considerably.

 

[tasha99]

We spend more rather than less with DVC, but it's to get the accommodations we prefer. We recently had our first stay at VGC and got a taste of walking to the parks from our hotel room--it was amazing. Our next trip is a BWV/BLT split stay to get that walking advantage.

To me, the reason for DVC isn't to spend less money but rather to get enough space and privacy for all three of us, have a kitchen (as I am generally not a fan of the table service restaurants), have a washer/dryer, and most importantly, have more than one bathroom. You can do that offsite for much cheaper, but then you're driving. For us, that would mean taxis and cabs in addition to a car rental, because we don't always stick together. Even with the cabs it would probably be cheaper, but I like being able to walk or take Disney transportation. It makes "Mom, I wan't to sleep in and meet you in the park later" no big deal.

I do think DVC saves money over buying 2BR suites, but realistically, we probably wouldn't do that. We'd get 2 moderate hotel rooms onsite and visit less often. I don't want to rent points, even though I have done so successfully in the past. I like being in control of my own booking (don't care to use travel agents for the same reason.)

 

[cmrdgrs]

Another way to look at the question is "how can I lower the probability I will regret my DVC purchase"? I think there are a few things you can and should do.

buy at a resort you want to stay at
buy fewer points than you think you'll need (200 instead of 250 for example)
buy resale
buy a loaded contract (contract with all 2015 points and 2016 points at a minimum, and preferably some banked 2014 points)

I love this... and may I add? Research and get comfortable with renting your unneeded points. I personally recommend doing this privately, because it isn't that hard and more money is put in your pocket. But, worst case scenario, you can use a broker. Renting gives you flexibility to use or not use your membership and helps offset some of the costs of your MFs. Never let a point go to waste - points = money.

 

[Islamom]

So you signed a blank piece of paper and gave Disney a fat check?

1. no 2. Yes

 

[Missyrose]

While this is a good discussion for anyone who is thinking of buying DVC, does anyone find it a little odd that the OP never came back?

 

[Dave2425]

Another way to look at the question is "how can I lower the probability I will regret my DVC purchase"? I think there are a few things you can and should do.

buy at a resort you want to stay at
buy fewer points than you think you'll need (200 instead of 250 for example)
buy resale
buy a loaded contract (contract with all 2015 points and 2016 points at a minimum, and preferably some banked 2014 points)

We are currently waiting to pass ROFR on our first contract and this post pretty much sums up how we looked at our purchase. We put in an offer on a 160 point contract with 100 banked 2014 points at the resort where we intend to stay the most. We are also paying cash. If we had to finance, we wouldn't have even thought about buying. Only time will tell if we regret our decision.

 

[bakerworld]

We love the DVC however, altho we looked into it since it's inception, it wasn't until the kids were grown that we finally bought. We could've bought when the kids were 'around' but there were a few things to get past. Every third year we go on a 'park-less' vacation - don't know if we could've accomplished that when the kids were with us. When we did vacation at WDW I have to say that I enjoyed housekeeping which now is at a minimum that I enjoy but when the kids were around making a mess it was nice to arrive at a 'clean' room at days end.

End of the day, no regrets to buy DVC and no regrets to when we bought DVC.

 

[disneynutz]

People post how they love the DVC as if it's a person. DVC is nothing more than your ability to prepay for a discounted hotel room. You pay for that right up front and you are billed annually in order to continue using it. DVC has it's own way of doing business, it has rules, policies, restrictions, and some benefits or perks. All of these can and do change from time to time. DVC usually causes you to increase your time spent at Disney which in turn increases your vacation costs.

You don't have to own a DVC interest to enjoy the DVC resorts, you can rent a room from Disney or you can rent from an owner.

Ownership may fit your needs, wants and desires or it may not. You may save some money as an owner or you may not, only after doing the numbers will you know for sure.

Bill

 

[Minniesgal]

I haven't been able to find the benefit in it. Even if you just pay the monthly $100 fee mentioned earlier and nothing else, that's $1200 a year. I can get a week's hotel for that off site at a nice place. Tack on the actual purchase price and it becomes a waste of money.

My vacations are planned every year too. And I'm not tied down. To disney, in the event my priorities change.

Timeshares are a bad idea. Timeshares where you don't actually own anything are an even worse idea.

True...if you are happy to sat offsite, many aren't

For those that are not happy offsite DVC is a cost effective alternative

 

[finchy3]

We have always been offsite and DVC gives us that opportunity to be able to stay onsite in deluxe accommodation, something we would never be able to afford otherwise.
We're thrilled to be DVC owner's who not in it for the profit, just glad to be part of it.

 

[DVCcurious]

We are not owners but have been researching and pondering it for over a year now. One thing I see frequently mentioned that has truly given me pause are the ancillary costs associated with DVC. Not just the membership itself or the monthly dues, but the ticket costs, food costs, airfare, etc.

A very good point. My family goes twice per year at Spring Break and late August before school starts up again. We own 250 at BLT and 200 at WL and only stay 1 BRs. Our dues are about $2500 per year.

But for the "true cost" you have to factor in airfare for four of us (350 X 4 X 2 trips) ; taxis to/from the airport from our house ($120 X 2 trips); cat sitter ($150 X 2 trips); and annual passes ($500 X 4 X 2/3) which we use for 3 trips so we buy two passes for every three years. That's like $7,000 per year we spend on our vacations. And that doesn't even include things like character dining for like $150 per meal (which we do 2 or 3 times per trip because the kids are 5 and 3 and love it) or just the general fact that a hamburger and french fries is like $20 at WDW.

People like to say they "save money" by cooking in their villa rather than paying to eat at a Table Service. Yes, you are saving money that way, but in no way is DVC an investment you make to financially benefit yourself. You buy DVC because, let's face it, you make a lot of money and you can afford to blow $5,000+ every year on a vacation and still have plenty of money left over to fully fund your retirement accounts, have an emergency savings account set up, and make other investments outside of your retirement account.

I don't want to tell other people how to spend their money or how they should run their financial life, but in my opinion DVC is an extravagance that is best suited for people who have $2000+ left over every month after all their bills are paid and their 401ks have been fully funded. The cost of a Disney World vacation is high and goes higher every year. DVC doesn't really change the fact that Disney World is expensive.

If you're budget is large enough where the minimal increases year after year don't impact you much, then it's a moot point.

In my opinion if your budget is so small that small increases impact your decision to vacation then DVC is absolutely NOT for you. There's too much risk involved with the purchase if you aren't sufficiently "wealthy" enough to travel every year without regard to airfare, ticket prices, or anything else.

I guess my view is that you don't HAVE to buy DVC. You can go to WDW every year forever and not buy DVC and be perfectly fine. Buying DVC is taking on a certain amount of risk. DVC isn't a "good enough" deal to mitigate those risks for people who don't not have thousands of extra dollars they can "blow" each year. That is my own personal opinion.

But if what you have now is four or maybe five people in a single Deluxe room, with DVC you'll end up with a Queen bed, a full pullout and maybe a Murphy bed for #5. I'd never buy DVC if what I was staying in was Deluxe studios - they are way nicer for a family than a DVC studio (in my opinion). My take - and it gets echo'd a lot here - is that DVC shines when you start looking at having a washer dryer in room and the kids sleeping in a different place - I wouldn't buy for studios. And when you start comparing Deluxes to one or two bedrooms, the savings drops considerably.

Precisely. You can save money with DVC if you use it to stay in studios. But then you are having a worse experience. So you are paying less for a worse experience (there aren't two queens and a day bed and the rooms are smaller than monorail deluxes) which is just a normal trade off and not "savings". DVC is great if you want a 1 BR or 2 BR and you're willing to PAY MORE for that benefit.

I just think that looking at DVC as a financially wise/responsible decision is the wrong way to look at it. You buy it because you can easily afford it. If you want to save money on WDW vacations stay at a moderate or stay Deluxe during free dining and you'll come out close enough to break even with DVC and you'll have more flexibility.

If you want a 1 BR so the kids sleep somewhere else and you and the spouse can get frisky in the giant whirlpool tub at night then you should buy DVC.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

Just wondering as my finger is itching on the pulse of it.

The only thing I regret is not buying more BLT points when they were so much cheaper in 2010.

 

[joannjoe]

There is a good bit of turnover among DVC owners, although I agree turnover alone doesn't indicate dissatisfaction. Over the years, I've seen three main categories of sellers:

• Probably the largest group is those who simply outgrew DVC. Their kids got older, school and athletic activities interfered with frequent vacations, and the kids interests changed -- for example, preferring a visit to NYC or Washington, DC, national park vacations, skiing, etc. WDW and DVC simply became less relevant to those families. We are in this group to some degree -- last year we were in Orlando for a figure skating competition with our Ice Princess. We had annual passes, but DD didn't want to spend an off day at WDW. She loves WDW, but she preferred to stay and watch other girls skate. We've actually made four Orlando trips in the last three years with no WDW visit, and we're going out West for our big vacation this year. (But DD still wants to go back to WDW this year as well if we can work out the scheduling.)
• The second biggest group, I think, is those who suffered some type of setback -- loss of job, divorce, financial setbacks, etc. We saw a ton of those cases during the recent recession. A LOT of those sellers took huge losses, often because they had financed something they couldn't really afford and ended up in foreclosure.
• The third group, and we see it fairly often, are those who got caught up in the pixie dust and bought a timeshare that really doesn't meet their needs well -- and about which they have little or no understanding. Terms like "joining the club" or "becoming a member" are often tipoffs to those folks. The good news for those owners is that they can learn the ropes here on the DIS, and can make the best of their purchase even though it might not have been their best financial decision ever.

I also think anyone asking "Is anyone dissatisfied?" should expect a resounding chorus of "best thing we've ever done." The DIS DVC boards are the habitat of fervent WDW and DVC fans. Don't expect any dissatisfied buyers to post their issues with DVC -- they don't come here.

Very well said!!