Having second thoughts already...

[Jaaron2]

The only problem I have with DVC is someone didnt shake me sooner so I could have bought 10 years before I did! We love our DVC, so much so that I dont even mind paying the duesHow bout that!

We have owned working on three year now and have added on six times. We took two ten day vacations in 09 and are heading back (just the wife and I) in March and are counting down the days!!!!!

We actually looked into buying a vacation home on the beach years ago. We couldnt stomach the 400K up front investiment along with flood insurance, monthly association fees etc. Instead we have 550 points with DVC, no worries about Hurricanes, flood insurance, up keep etc.

For that reason we absolutely love the investment we made. It gave us a great "summer home" with many more perks than we would have ever had if we just bought a beach condo. As with anything....beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[edk35]

We joined DVC the end of Jan. 07 and purchased three 100 pt. contracts at SSR. We added on 100 pts at AKV in Sept. of 2008. We always stay in a 2 br because we are a family of 5. The only time I called at the exact 7 month window was just a few weeks ago when we planned our first HHI trip this coming July. Even then...it was hours after MS opened and we had no problems getting our 2 br. for 6 nights. We have stayed at SSR 3 times, BWV, BCV 2 times, OKW 2 times and AKV. We had no big problems booking these resorts. I don't sweat the booking windows too much because I am pretty much happy staying wherever when it comes to DVC.

NOW.....do I have regrets buying into DVC....No. HOWEVER, I do wish we had NOT gone as much as we did the first 2 years. When you have AP's and DVC it makes you want to go A LOT. Looking back....we spent a lot of money on these trips and now I REALIZE JUST HOW MUCH. I kinda wish we had not gone 3 times each year two years in a row. Our older son completely burned out. He is 16 and says he is DISNEY DONE. He has been 14 times in his life. He does not even want to go this year at all. So we are trying HHI. I think we got so caught up in the NEW DVC experience we went a lot. BUT we needed to realize that DVC was always gong to be there for us for a long time.

So you need to make sure that you really really really want to spend time at WDW every year. I love it and wish I could go every season, but reality is........ IT DOES COST money for park passes, food, travel there and back and yes it is nice to have our accomodations all paid for with DVC.....BUT you are spending big bucks for everything else. Plus MF.....we pay a lot each year for 400 points worth of MF. Just gotta keep everything into perspective when you take the plunge.......

I think our biggest regret was not buying in back in 93 time frame. We almost did and have regretted that for years.

 

[waltfan1957]

3. Expect the DVC rules and perks to change to benefit Disney more that the Members.

4. Expect Disney to care more about selling points than servicing the existing Membership.

5. Expect the DVC resorts to look pretty worn before Disney decides to refurbish the resort.

Bill

3 & 4 I agree with, 5 dont our dues pay for this so why should we expect them to look worn?

 

[disneynutz]

3 & 4 I agree with, 5 dont our dues pay for this so why should we expect them to look worn?

If Disney refurbished rooms like they should, or took additional rooms off line to do repairs, it would negatively affect Disney and granted the Members.

Refurbishing on a more realistic schedule would increase our dues and Disney doesn't want to hurt sales or have higher dues than other timeshares in the industry.

Taking additional rooms off line for maintenance reduces the number of rooms that Disney can make available to CRO Guests. Disney will say that the money goes back to the membership, but you know that it's a token amount.

We should never have rooms with a status as available with wet carpet, plumbing problems, broken cabinets or furniture, and it seems to happen more than it should.

Bill

 

[Slakk]

You'll also probably need another stiff adult beverage or two over the next few years as the MFs keep rising and special assessments keep rolling in on the roof problems and the hurricane damage to Aruba Ocean Club!

$2,000 for a 2 BR in Aruba? Ouch.

Well I guess if I purchased at the Ocean Club I would be worried but I own at the Surf Club so no worries.

And the OC issue is a bit more complicated than that - OC was not built by MVCI as the Surf Club was.

Still very happy with my MVCI.

 

[hematite153]

Most of what I'd say has already been said:

- I find that owning DVC is a greater savings than always traveling during promotions
- DVC is about the long-haul, not the next vacation.

But, since the OP was talking about food and the DxDP, I thought I'd mention one other piece of information. With CRO reservations there is a minimum night stay before you can book dining plans, but, with DVC you can book a dining plan for a single night stay. (You can't book for one night of a multi-night stay.) That means that if you book a split stay you can get the DxDP for only part of your visit and we've found that that is generally more than enough food.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Yes I'm happy with my DVC purchase, it's continues to meet the realistic expectations that I had when I first purchased it in 2000. I had used a friends before that, determined I would love to buy in, saved (I didn't want to finance). DVC/Disney enhances my vacation experiences and we've had wonderful trips over the years. Even with the reallocation of points (2010) and a few few of the perks disapearing, my expectations are the same. I've never had a shabby villa the likes of which I've read on some of these threads. I've enjoyed each and every stay and hope to continue for many years ahead!

 

[lark]

Well I guess if I purchased at the Ocean Club I would be worried but I own at the Surf Club so no worries.

And the OC issue is a bit more complicated than that - OC was not built by MVCI as the Surf Club was.

Still very happy with my MVCI.

Surf Club is nice if you don't pay developer prices. I think generally Marriott is a good timeshare option. I don't care for the gamesmanship you have to play to get the jump on making reservations. When I read about people buying bronze seasons in Branson or something consecutive to the weeks they want in platinum resorts and paying the MFs every year to get up at 6:00 a.m., I start to see the advantages of DVC's simple 11/7 system. But overall there are several Marriott resorts that I think are great -- not sure there's much reason for me ever to buy since rentals at the places I like can usually be had for not much more than maintenance fees unless you have to have a particular week. If I were to buy, it would probably be summitwatch -- still, it's tough to pony up $20k for a platinum week when you can rent a week during the Sundance film fesitival for $2k.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

An earlier poster said that DVC was a good value for 1 & 2 bedroom stays.

Dh and I almost always stay in studios.

We can stay 10 nights in a studio for less than $600 dues / year.


We've owned since '06 and still really love DVC. We've gone a lot lately and are feeling a little burned out. Plus, there can be a lot of expense in tickets, food, and transportation.

I think the KEY is to only buy as many points as you need!

 

[Slakk]

Surf Club is nice if you don't pay developer prices. I think generally Marriott is a good timeshare option. I don't care for the gamesmanship you have to play to get the jump on making reservations. When I read about people buying bronze seasons in Branson or something consecutive to the weeks they want in platinum resorts and paying the MFs every year to get up at 6:00 a.m., I start to see the advantages of DVC's simple 11/7 system. But overall there are several Marriott resorts that I think are great -- not sure there's much reason for me ever to buy since rentals at the places I like can usually be had for not much more than maintenance fees unless you have to have a particular week. If I were to buy, it would probably be summitwatch -- still, it's tough to pony up $20k for a platinum week when you can rent a week during the Sundance film fesitival for $2k.

I have not had any of those issues - I own Gold at Surf Club and St Kitts so I don't worry about the Platinum games. And honestly getting a platinum with Bronze would be a stroke of great luck - not going to happen often. I think the renting is no different than DVC - why buy if you can rent as cheap as some people allow other than to get when you want where you want. For me I won DVC and MVCI because I want control of my reservation or else I could buy cheap traders and try my luck - look at RCI people are trading and getting 2 BR at BCV with some cheap traders - it happens in all of the timeshares

Dean assisted me with Surf Club and we are VERY happy with our choice, while we were down there we took the tour to get $100 and they offered us St Kitts EOY Gold, I told them I needed to check some things, went on TUG and the price they offered for an Oceanside EOY Gold was better than resale (there are only a few EOY St Kitts that are Ocean facing). We bought it and will use it in July then after that will probably trade it out for Spain or France.

And I don't get up at 6 am - and MVCI has ONLINE RESERVATIONS lol. But I think both systems are fine - for us now MVCI fits us better than DVC but I will continue to own both.

 

[Lawshark]

Dean assisted me with Surf Club and we are VERY happy with our choice, while we were down there we took the tour to get $100 and they offered us St Kitts EOY Gold, I told them I needed to check some things, went on TUG and the price they offered for an Oceanside EOY Gold was better than resale (there are only a few EOY St Kitts that are Ocean facing). We bought it and will use it in July then after that will probably trade it out for Spain or France.

Have you been to St. Kitts yet? We just stayed at the Marriott there for a week during Thanksgiving...absolutely loved the island. Definitely make sure you spend some time on the southern peninsula...nearly undeveloped still at this point. Reggae Beach is worth a day or two down there.

 

[Dopey13]

We used to own 350pts at the Beach Club. My wife and I loved it. The only thing we did not like was the fact that it was going to expire and we would both still be relativley young. We found that Wyndham had a time share on the property. We sold DVC and purchase Wyndham Bonnet Creek. We own it forever and can pass it down to our kids. Somthing to think about.

 

[lark]

I have not had any of those issues - I own Gold at Surf Club and St Kitts so I don't worry about the Platinum games. And honestly getting a platinum with Bronze would be a stroke of great luck - not going to happen often.

Hi -- I feel I’m coming dangerously close to thread hijacking, but you don’t seem to have PM (or I can’t find it), so I’ll spell out a bit more what I was talking about with respect to owning a bronze week in Marriott in order to get a jump on platinum weeks.

Apparently, you can call 13 months in advance (instead of 12) if you are reserving 2 consecutive weeks at Marriott, but the two weeks don’t need to be at the same resort. Some people who own floating weeks at resorts with certain very highly desirable weeks (Sundance in Park City; Christmas in Hawaii, etc.), thus purchase weeks that they never intend to use solely to take advantage of the 13 month window. So, for example, if you own a floating week at Marriott Mountainside that you want to use every year for week 7 (President’s week), you look for another Marriott resort for which week 6 is bronze. You buy that week, and then you can call 13 months plus one week before the Presidents week you want, make consecutive reservations, and get the jump on everyone else holding a floating platinum Mountainside week. Some people even own up 3 weeks (and are paying yearly maintenance fees) to be able to stretch this window further. The problem is that for all the people who own just a single week at Mountainside and need to call or go online first thing at the 12 month mark, they never really had a chance.

If you own a fixed week at Marriott or during a season when any one of several weeks are fine, it’s not a problem. But in my view, Marriott really should sell the prime weeks as fixed instead of encouraging this kind of gamesmanship.

 

[littlestar]

We used to own 350pts at the Beach Club. My wife and I loved it. The only thing we did not like was the fact that it was going to expire and we would both still be relativley young. We found that Wyndham had a time share on the property. We sold DVC and purchase Wyndham Bonnet Creek. We own it forever and can pass it down to our kids. Somthing to think about.

We sold off a good bunch of our DVC points and instead bought a resale Marriott lock-off 2 bedroom (EOY - every other year) and some Wyndham points resale (plan on using those at Wyndham's Bonnet Creek and home resort Smoky Mts). The Wyndham points were only $26.00 on Ebay!

I wouldn't say we regretted the 550 DVC points we've owned over the years at DVC resorts (now own 155 at SSR), but we changed over the years on feeling that we had to stay at a DVC property every trip to Orlando. I enjoy the other brands in Orlando because they actually offer some things that DVC doesn't have. We were able to easily downsize our points - it helped that we had quite a few small packages of 50 to 55 points when we downsized. Smaller packages are easier to sell. If you know you want to stay deluxe level on Disney property, I think DVC points are worth it. But it's easy to get carried away with going a lot in the beginning and getting burn out.

 

[Slakk]

Have you been to St. Kitts yet? We just stayed at the Marriott there for a week during Thanksgiving...absolutely loved the island. Definitely make sure you spend some time on the southern peninsula...nearly undeveloped still at this point. Reggae Beach is worth a day or two down there.

I was in St Kitts about 20 years agoon a cruise but our first to the resort! We actually bought it to trade probably half the time but cannot wait to try it out. We love Aruba and have been told it is like Aruba was 20 years ago....

I will check out Reggae Beach - I know we are doing the train around the island too - We are so excited!

 

[Slakk]

Hi -- I feel I’m coming dangerously close to thread hijacking, but you don’t seem to have PM (or I can’t find it), so I’ll spell out a bit more what I was talking about with respect to owning a bronze week in Marriott in order to get a jump on platinum weeks.

Apparently, you can call 13 months in advance (instead of 12) if you are reserving 2 consecutive weeks at Marriott, but the two weeks don’t need to be at the same resort. Some people who own floating weeks at resorts with certain very highly desirable weeks (Sundance in Park City; Christmas in Hawaii, etc.), thus purchase weeks that they never intend to use solely to take advantage of the 13 month window. So, for example, if you own a floating week at Marriott Mountainside that you want to use every year for week 7 (President’s week), you look for another Marriott resort for which week 6 is bronze. You buy that week, and then you can call 13 months plus one week before the Presidents week you want, make consecutive reservations, and get the jump on everyone else holding a floating platinum Mountainside week. Some people even own up 3 weeks (and are paying yearly maintenance fees) to be able to stretch this window further. The problem is that for all the people who own just a single week at Mountainside and need to call or go online first thing at the 12 month mark, they never really had a chance.

If you own a fixed week at Marriott or during a season when any one of several weeks are fine, it’s not a problem. But in my view, Marriott really should sell the prime weeks as fixed instead of encouraging this kind of gamesmanship.

It is theoretically possible but your week has to have some trade value. Do some cheap Bronze's get great trades? Sometimes, but it they got great trades all the time why would anyone buy the prime weeks. Usually they get them at the last minute.

I own two very good Gold weeks and I can trade into platinum for most anything but I highly doubt a Branson Bronze week is going to get a Platinum on a regular basis... When I thought of depositing my St Kitts week there were a few resorts that did not show up for me (cannot remember which ones) and I have a VERY good gold - there is no way a Bronze at a resort with less trade power is going to even SEE a platinum week at a top resort.

The bait and switch with MVCI is no different then the DVC guides telling you that you can stay ANYWHERE...they forget the pesky issue of availability and the 11/7 window.

 

[Goofy DVC]

We bought in 93. No regrets what so ever. Two points that weren't made
1.) When you talk about other discounts ie. free dining remember, that is an indication of the economy. While members don't get free dining unless we pay rack rate like everyone else, that bad economy makes it easier to book just about anywhere not only at 7 months but at 3 months. I had no problem getting into BCV and BLT with little notice.
2.)Other recession perks. Back in the mid 90s during some mini recession we went to WDW in May. We stayed at a Marriot for the weekend and were sceduled to move to a Grand Villa at OKW on Sunday. You know to save all those weekend points. We got up early 7:00 AM, and I called OKW to ask if we could drop off our luggage before heading to the park. They responded come on over your GV, that was near the hospitality house, is ready. That's not going to happen during good economic times. We'll see higher rack rates but it will be harder for us to get the reservations we want.
There's pluses and minuses with every situation. DVC is about the long haul. Over time it pays off if you like going to Disney. Just try to capitalize over different situations. Make lemonade when handed lemons. Instead of we don't get free dining how bout let's try some other resorts.

 

[lark]

It is theoretically possible but your week has to have some trade value. Do some cheap Bronze's get great trades? Sometimes, but it they got great trades all the time why would anyone buy the prime weeks. Usually they get them at the last minute.

I think many people own the bronze weeks with no intention of even attempting to trade them or use them. They essentially sit empty or are given away on tug's 45 day board. You can get bronze weeks very cheaply, so the initial outlay is not great. But you do end up paying the maintenance fees every year to get your 13 month + 1 week window.

 

[AirGoofy]

Its a big commitment and a lot of money, especially now, but don't worry so much about saving money. DVC is really about enhancing your Disney experience.

I think you have it exactly. It is the experience. I do not believe you spend money to save money.

While there are these and other threads out there, it is not about saving money. If I want to save money, then I invest the money and do a staycation or camp at a state park. We like our DVC and go to WDW every year because we like the WDW experience. As for perks, as a newbie, I guess we never really had that many to lose. We have two DDs (8,5) and do theme parks and character dining every time we go. Thus, we are not saving money. When they are older and no longer go with us, DW and I will still enjoy the WDW resorts and dining experience and we will still spend money, maybe not as much, but still spend.

The bottom line: If you plan to visit WDW frequently for the experience and can afford DVC (no financing), then do it and catch the perks that fall your way.