How did you decide it was "ok" money wise to purchase DVC? Loooong

[disneyofcourse]

I have siblings who own timeshares and they have, in the past, suggested we get one too. For us, it doesn't make financial sense to own a timeshare anywhere. As much as we love WDW, it's not the only place we want to travel. We don't mind staying offsite at WDW. We've rented 3 bedroom condos for $50/night! We can be entering the turnstiles of our favorite theme parks in about 40 minutes from leaving the condo (and that's on the long side of things...if we're early enough we can be at the park, parked the car, and IN the park in 25 minutes). I have no desire to ride Disney buses for an entire vacation. Our cost for a week's lodging at WDW is less than the cost of maintenance fees, and when you figure in the upfront cost to purchase into DVC, it doesn't make financial sense for us at all.

For someone who likes staying onsite and goes every single year to WDW, it might make sense if you look at the 30 year picture. But in 30 years, I hope to have traveled through Europe, seen most of the US, and been to the Caribbean. I can't do those things if I go to WDW every year!

Great points! So true, I do want to visit most of Europe and with being tied to Disney it would be difficult to get that much time for other vacations.

 

[Happy Mom2]

We own DVC and will be selling it in the next couple of years. My advice would be to buy some cheap resale Wyndham points and stay at Bonnet Creek (INSIDE the Disney gates) instead, or buy a cheap timeshare trader that gets a lot of trade point units on RCI and trade into DVC. Our Wyndham contract (bought resale off of Ebay for $700 2 years ago, so much cheaper now) gets us 203K annual points. That is enough for 5 nights in a 2 bedroom over Thanksgiving plus 2 more long weekends during the year. We pay $73.xx a month in dues.

By contrast, our 250 DVC points don't even get us a week in a 2 bedroom and we pay like $1300/year in dues on those. Being that I actually like Bonnet Creek more than I like DVC, I'm ready to sell the DVC points.

Are you able to participate in the Disney Dining Plan when you stay at Bonnet Creek?

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

We bought DVC, then sold it after a few years. We found that our family preferred to stay off-site, in a rental house that was twice the size of a 2BR DVC unit. When we do an Orlando vacation, my gang likes to relax rather than be park commandos, and they prefer eating in to restaurant meals. we also tend to go to Orlando every other year, for 2 weeks.

Obviously, every family is different, I just list these things because they figured into our decision to sell. If you like to stay on-site, and staying deluxe is important to you, and Disney is a common vacation destination, then it might be a good deal. It's stil a luxury purchase, but tht isn't necessarily bad--it is what it is.

I would recommend trying Bonnet Creek or an offsite timeshare, that might be lots cheaper, to see what you think. If you're heart's set on DVC, go the resale route, save yourself some money.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Are you able to participate in the Disney Dining Plan when you stay at Bonnet Creek?

No, but honestly we don't really care for the dining plan. We actually like to cook all of our own food on vacation...we're picky that way, though.

 

[susanv]

We bought DVC in 2005 after 4 years of thinking about it. Would we do it again, absolutely - when we have cash for it we would love to add on as we now have four little add-ons of our own.

We have thought about doing Disney budget. But budget is the way we live our normal life and when we get a break from normal life both DH and I want to enjoy it! Plus all four of our kids are as big a Disney nut as I am so it is no hardship to go to Disney every year. Was just there from January 22 to 30 and whole family is excited to go back, even DS (4) who didn't want to leave the resort to go to the parks.

I guess it is depends on where and how you like to vacation.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

We really looked into it. We thought we were going to buy into BLT. Then we realized just how many points we needed to buy. We need a 2 bdrm because of the size of our family. We like to vacation for at least 10 days or more. Aside from the actual cost of the points, the maintenance would be the cost of a vacation. We like to travel deluxe but also enjoy traveling value. We pick what fits our budget at the time. With all of the deals and the ability to rent points it simply does not pay to purchase. I also spoke to an accountant and they said it was not a good financial decision as well.

 

[stout]

OK, I have not crunched the numbers, but here is what we came up with on our last cruise . . . a non-DVC, savings vacation fund. It would have cost us about $36,000 for an initial buy in (which we would not finance), the dues would have been about $750 per year. If you were to deposit the lump sum of $36,000 into a savings account gaining a guaranteed 4% interest (DH has this account), and then make annual contributions of $750 representing what you would pay in maintenance fees, but using just this fund to spend the $2000 per year that we would typically use on hotel only (since that is really all that DVC covers), how many years would you be able to vacation using that non-dvc, savings vacation fund? I would like to know the answer, but then your money is not locked up with a contract. Anyhow, for us, we have decided that DVC is not a good deal either.

 

[dvcgirl]

I've been going back and forth in trying to decide whether to buy DVC or not. I've always kept myself out of debt and have always looked at timeshares as a waste of money. But... with Disney I already go every year and the timeshare idea seems to make sense. One problem is that the money saved is originally for a new car and buying DVC would leave me with exactly half of my car fund. So here's my story.....

Every year I go during May for 5 nights with a water view room and tickets its under $2000 for the whole trip.(2 people) If I look at buying 160-200 points I'd be looking at appx. $800-1000 in yearly fees at $5 a point. Thing is with that many points I can go twice a year in May and during a value time. Meaning it would make sense to buy annual tickets that already include park hopper for the 10+ days I could book each year. With my math it looks like I could go to Disney for double the time for the same price as one trip. $532 x 2 Adults for tickets and then $1000 in yearly maintenance fees. Total just over $2000 for two trips.

Then I have to figure out my initial buy in cost. Say I buy in at BWV at $65 point and get 200 points. That's $13k without closing costs. With the contract expiring in 30 years. Bringing costs up another almost $500 a year to a total of $2500 a year + however much dues go up. Luckily I won't need to finance so that keeps the cost down.

After thinking and thinking I just don't know if buying in is worth spending money on. 5-7 years ago I would have jumped on it but I'm just getting more and more cautious with money. Part of me thinks this is a great opportunity to basically lock in a vacation each year and forcing me to take time off to enjoy life. I also plan on eventually adopting or having kids one day and I remember what fun it was to take a family trip every year for a week or two. All those great memories make me want to offer my future kids guaranteed vacations each year.

I think I just have issues spending money on myself!! Should I go for this and just do it? I don't think I'd regret it once I stepped foot into "vacation time". But on the other side I wouldn't regret not spending the money.

The other huge issue I have is deciding on a home resort If I buy in but that's a whole other book I could write. Sorry for the long-ness but It really helps me decide if I write things out.

We bought BWV in 1999 for $65 a point....sold it in 2004 for $78 a point. I can't believe that those points are going for $65!! I'll admit that I haven't been watching it.

Still, Disney's Vacation Club has held up much better than other timeshares....most have been completely decimated in this financial crisis. There is absolutely no resale market for most timeshares. Disney appears to still have a relatively active resale market.

We don't go to Disney that often anymore. We went last year and we rented points and had no problem doing so. And the rental price of points has been the same for *years*.

I'm not sure what the price is for new points, but the last time I looked it was over $100 a point...and at those levels I don't think the numbers work.

Buying BWV at $65 a point, that might not be a bad deal if you go every year.

 

[crisi]

For us

1) We had the cash. We got a bonus check that wasn't earmarked for anything and had no debt but our mortgage.

2) We liked staying on site. At this point with Bonnett Creek and the other offsite options, offiste is more tempting. We don't like the dining plan either (which wasn't even available when we bought). However, the kids are now at the "be able to move around a little by themselves age" - and having them be able to get back to the resort by themselves, or head into a park by themselves is nice.

3) We like having a multiroom unit. Not having us plus our kids all in one room for a week makes for a much less stressful vacation.

4) Saving money wasn't really a factor. We don't. We wouldn't go to Disney as often or stay in a two bedroom DVC unit if we wanted to save money. We spent a LOT more with DVC than we would have staying in hotel rooms. One thing points do is it makes it very tempting to invite other people along - particularly if you have "extra" points.

5) We only own enough DVC points to take our two bedroom trip every other year - every three if we splurge and take family. That gives us an off year to do other things - like go to Hawaii and Europe and Mexico not with Disney. (Our Europe trip was ABD, but we paid cash.). Frankly, I knew going in that I didn't want to take just Disney trips and would get bored. So we structured our purchase so that we wouldn't get "stuck" with Disney.

I also wouldn't buy again now. I don't think Disney is declining rapidly, I think its declining steadily, and has been since the mid 1990s. I think resale is a bargain right now, but the decision to treat resale buyers differently doesn't bode well. And our needs as a family have changed.

 

[cseca]

Just curious, is there any reason why you would purchase 160-200pts? Since you said that will get you twice the vacations you usually do?
Why don't you do half as much points? That would cost you much less. Plus you can always bank and borrow.
I assume you're talking about a studio accommodation only. Which you could get away with 100pts/visit (5weeknights/visit).

As for the Annual Pass, you can always buy an annual pass and use it twice in a year (but in 2 different DVC years). Forgo a vacation a year or so, bank the points and then do it again the next year kinda thing. That'll save you points and $ at the same time.

But I think you're looking at it with the right frame of mind.
DVC is NOT for everyone. Just as we looked at other timeshares and just couldn't see ourselves using it 50 years from now.
People have different priorities and vacation habits, timeshare makes you try to look at your crystal ball and try to predict what you might want to do in the next many many years in the future. If you're not comfortable with the idea then it might not be for you.

Good luck!

 

[nunzia]

Guess I'm in the minority here...Love our DVC and NO regrets at all..couldn't really buy in earlier than we did since we are DLR folks and VGC hasn't been open long. What we DID though was buy a 25 point OKW contract to get in the system to bypass the 160 point master contract purchase that was in place with DVC during that time. We have 3 grown kids with spouses and 8 2/3 grandkids so we use DVC to go alone at times and to take family/friends at times. We currently own 225 points in 4 contracts so can sell off a part if our travel needs change. If we want to trade out to other places we can do that, so I don't feel locked in to Disney. I don't look at 'lost money'..the best rate I can find now guaranteed is about 2%..I bought a vehicle once that cost as much as all my DVC points, and I enjoy my DVC much more than that vehicle..I'd rather have a cheaper vehicle and my DVC instead of the other way around (I'm very happy with my Ford Focus) . In about 3-4 more trips we'll be around the 'break even' point and then will just have our MF ($856.00 last year) to deal with. We see a DLR trip as the cheapest we can take..under $250 for the train and then ll we worry about is food..room paid for and APs in hand..
Again, it isn't for everyone..but I love it..oh yeah..I don't see it as lost money as I think DVC will manage to hold onto some sort of resale value, so it isn't as if the initial investment is just money down the drain.

 

[PatsMom]

We have 350 points in three separate contracts. I don't really think we save any money but we like the DVC space and the convenience of having kitchen facilities, etc.

I am a workaholic and before his retirement, my DH was too. We now manage three Disney trips a year. Having the points forces me to take time off. If I didn't have to pay for the vacation whether I took it or not, I would just keep working! So for that alone we think the DVC is worth it. My daughter is also at an age where she wants to go to Orlando for spring break and use some of our points. My stepdaughter and my grandson are also planning a trip with us pretty soon.

 

[DisneyMomJen]

We bought into DVC about 7 years ago and I have always thought it was one of our best purchases. We bought resale to save money. We have 4 kids and stay in a 2 bedroom. Without DVC we would need two rooms which is extremely costly, even with discount codes.
When our kids were young, Disney was the best vacation for everyone. Now that they are getting older (youngest is 8), it is easier for us to be more adventurous. We went on the Disney Med Cruise last summer and paid for it by renting and transferring our DVC points. We will also do Hawaii and Disneyland this year using points. We will still go to Disney at least once every year, but it will not be our 'big' trip every year (maybe some years) My kids LOVE going and the BCV is like a second home to us.
If you are thinking of buying into DVC, than I would look into resale, probably a 100-120 point contract. It will be less expensive this way, you would still get two 5-7 night trips in a studio and will have more money towards a car purchase.

 

[WIDisneyFan]

We looked at DVC for a number of years before we finally took the plunge and we are very happy with our decision. For us it was a combination of factors that made us say yes and money was only one of the them.

We are a family of 5 that loves Disney and have made it one of our annual destinations. As a family of 5 our options are where to stay were becoming a bit limited, but if you take a look at my signature you will see the Polynesian was our choice pretty much from day one so that is what we compared DVC to.

For us two things that had us most interested in DVC were 1) The overall size of a 1 bedroom unit and 2) Having a full kitchen at our disposal. Both of these have proven to be wonderful.Now you could easily make the argument (and rightly so) that we could get those same features at an off-site condo, but for us off-site is not something we want to do (tried it once and for us the savings did not make up for the difference). So with that in mind limiting the comparison to the options WE would consider it makes reasonable financial sense for us.

Another thing to remember is DVC is really a combination of practical component and an emotional component. When viewed in a vacuum of only features for dollars it does not compare well to many of the off-site options. But when you add in the intangible items that for many are what make a Disney vacation special it changes things. For ME and MY Family DVC is absolutely the right place to be - for you it may or may not be.

 

[buckirj1]

It might be helpful for the OP to calculate his/her "break even" point. That was the deciding factor in my NOT buying DVC. It was quite eye-opening in my case.

 

[jodifla]

I bought DVC 15 years ago, when it was selling for less than half the price they want for it now.

We've always been VERY, VERY, VERY happy with our decision. We've gotten great use out of our DVC, and LOVE vacationing with family and friends. I'm also VERY glad I didn't drag my feet while the prices kept rising. We toured OKW, Vero and Boardwalk, and bought immediately. We did finance, but got a great rate and paid it off quickly, since it just wasn't the huge outlay it is now.

Not sure I'd buy in today at these rates. And they've made decisions I don't like. But for more than 10 years we've been staying in fabulous accommodations for just our dues.

 

[CoolDisneyCat]

I do not regret one minute buying DVC. I really only want to stay at deluxe resorts. With DVC, we go once or twice a year. The discount on APs is great!

Last year, we only went once so we rented out points to pay for a trip to the Outer Banks.

 

[simpilotswife]

We bought DVC back in 2000 and have never regretted it. In our case it wasn't a matter of cost saving so much as getting better accommodations for the price of a value resort. When our kids were younger it was important for us to have our space with a kitchen in case we didn't want to bother eating out so we would typically stay in a 2 BR for a week. That would NEVER have happened if we hadn't purchased DVC. Our buy-in paid for itself within a couple of years.

 

[MommaSnowwhite]

We purchased DVC and I couldn't be happier. For us it is about having the space to enjoy vacation. I love being able to close our bedroom door and have privacy! A shower without someone needing the bathroom or some one on one time with DH. I also love the kitchen, washer & dryer as well as the ability to stop and smell the roses while on vacation - we know we will be back!

We also have been blessed to bring my Dsis with us last fall. SHe is a single Mom and would never have been able to afford the vacation we were able to help with - especially since she is now fighting a very serous cancer and may not survive.

We will not go to WDW in 2011 - we used some of the points last year for the big fall trip and the rest we will bank for 2012.

 

[Shleedogg]

First. Are you looking only at resales? If so, wait a month. You might see the prices drop. DVC just announced new rules for resale contract points. They cannot be used to book a Disney cruise, Adventures by Disney vacations and RCI exchanges (I could be wrong about the last part, so don't quote me on it ). I would think this will make prices drop. Although, there are those on the DVC boards that think it will make them rise.

We made our decision because we were on our 2nd trip to Disney in 6 months and had another one planned and booked for 4 months after the one we were on at the time. Our DD was 8 months old and we knew we would continue to vacation at Disney for a long time. We had stayed at a value in Jan. When we bought in July we were staying at POR. We weren't happy with either resort. We knew we wanted to stay deluxe (had AKV booked through rental for our Nov trip).

Also, money of course was a big factor. We liked BLT, so that meant we had to buy through Disney. We felt more comfortable doing it in person than over the phone so the time was July or wait until Nov, but then have to pay for our Nov trip instead of using our points. DH was getting a profit check in Sept. We decided to finance it through Disney for 2 months because we knew we could pay it off come Sept.

This decision also meant no new kitchen and no new car. We thought about it, and DVC was more important to us at the time. Can you go w/out a new car? Or, can you afford a car payment? We went to Disney last week and DH wanted to do a small add-on. I wanted BWV or BCV, DH wanted BLT. In the end we decided that our points were adequate and we'd rather spend that money on a new kitchen than on a contract that would only make one of us happy.

...for us it came down to what our priorities were at the time and the money. It's been a year and a half and we've taken 5 trips on our points. I wouldn't change a thing, it was the right decision for us.