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

[lucyem]

We purchased resale with cash. We break even in 6-8 years depending on how you look at it and after that our week at the BCV is the cost of our dues. So far we are very happy with our purchase. We "only" have 150 points but it is enough for our 5 nights in a 1 bedroom at the BCV. Or longer in a studio or we bank, skip a year and get a bigger room. Through DVC we also fell in love with Hilton Head. We buy AP's and get two yearly trips out of them, eg went second week in Oct last year and going 1st week in October this year.

I just wanted to add some thoughts.

-DVC is not for everyone but it can work well for some
-If you are questioning the purchase then do not purchase.
-If you have to cut back on other needs then do not buy, DVC is a luxury and not a need
-There are ways to stay at WDW cheaper (value & moderate resorts)
-The discounts they have been throwing around the past few years were not there 6 years ago and they are publicly announcing they are stopping them

 

[Havana]

We were Value resort guests for 5 years, until last May we stayed at WL for the weekend. We were very impressed by the Deluxe resort, and didn't want to go back to a Value again! We could not justify spending $$$ a night for the deluxe hotel on every trip. So we started looking at DVC.

We ran the numbers and talked over every situation we could think of. We determined that this was our opportunity to give ourselves the Deluxe experience. While the initial buy in and dues are associated with the purchase I love what DVC gives me the freedom to do. We almost always have 3 trips booked at a time, and it's nice knowing I won't receive a hotel bill on my check out day.

I feel you really need to compare the value of DVC to if you want to stay at Deluxes or not. We ran the numbers and it didn't make sense if we wanted to continue to stay at Values or Moderates.

Also since this is on the budget board, my word of caution on DVC.
DVC makes it so easy to go more often, which means more money regarding transportation, food, etc. The DVC AP discount is a great perk!

 

[disneyofcourse]

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!

Good Question! I'm considering that many points since my parents will be going with me once a year or every other year. That would require two studios , a 1 bedroom with the sleeper couch or 2 bedroom unit. I would also like to start vacationing late in the year since that's my slow season for the type of work I do. It would beat staying at home in the cold.

I wanted to ask how it works if you own at two resorts and would like to switch them up every other year. Can you bank and borrow from each contract?( I know you can't mix points until the 7th month mark) Say I would like to stay at BLT one year for two visits but don't spend all my points. Could I bank whats left of that while banking my other resorts points for next year? So at #2 resort I would be banking all those years points to use next year.

 

[disneyofcourse]

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.

Half the price!! Wish I could have bought then but I was a minor who couldn't legally get a job yet

 

[cseca]

Good Question! I'm considering that many points since my parents will be going with me once a year or every other year. That would require two studios , a 1 bedroom with the sleeper couch or 2 bedroom unit. I would also like to start vacationing late in the year since that's my slow season for the type of work I do. It would beat staying at home in the cold.

I wanted to ask how it works if you own at two resorts and would like to switch them up every other year. Can you bank and borrow from each contract?( I know you can't mix points until the 7th month mark) Say I would like to stay at BLT one year for two visits but don't spend all my points. Could I bank whats left of that while banking my other resorts points for next year? So at #2 resort I would be banking all those years points to use next year.

aaahh... ok, that makes sense.

Yes, you can bank/borrow from each contract and use each resort every other year. My only suggestion is to get the same use year. That will also give you the convenience of mixing/matching points and easier to remember the banking/borrowing timeline.

 

[crisi]

Good Question! I'm considering that many points since my parents will be going with me once a year or every other year. That would require two studios , a 1 bedroom with the sleeper couch or 2 bedroom unit. I would also like to start vacationing late in the year since that's my slow season for the type of work I do. It would beat staying at home in the cold.

I wanted to ask how it works if you own at two resorts and would like to switch them up every other year. Can you bank and borrow from each contract?( I know you can't mix points until the 7th month mark) Say I would like to stay at BLT one year for two visits but don't spend all my points. Could I bank whats left of that while banking my other resorts points for next year? So at #2 resort I would be banking all those years points to use next year.

From experience, think this through carefully. Bringing guests can increase your expenses far more than the room. As my in laws have retired, and now my parents, bringing them now involves subsidizing more than just the room. Their circumstances change over time, and what right now seems like a reasonable and generous idea may, over the life of the contract, become burdensome for either you or them. If you are well enough off to commit to this, then its a generous thing to do, but you may be committing to more than you think.

Same thing with the idea of kids one day. They are expensive little things (worthwhile, but not cheap) and DVC may be a burden when you are looking at day care costs or the loss of income staying home. As someone who went from one kid to two extra "Disney Adults" over the length of my DVC membership - Disney trips are great, but we put $1500 alone into tickets every trip. Not to mention the amount of food my 12 year old son can consume on vacation

 

[hollypoast]

DVC (or any timeshare for that matter) didn't make financial sense for us until we became a family of 5. We no longer fit in a standard hotel room anymore so we have to either get two connecting rooms or a suite.

We also like to bring family and friends when we travel and often cook dinners at night. We use Garden Grocer for grocery delivery and love it.

I would much rather have a villa where we can all spread out then two hotel rooms even if it includes free dining. Just my two cents...

 

[homedad]

we have a small 100 pt contract and we go every other year, we vacation alot and I wouldnt be going to Disney without a sperate room for us and kids. Paying the cash rate would be cost prohibitive. If we get sick of Disney proper we can start going to hawaii or vero. I also get some value out owning DVC. Our initial contract cost was $9000 but since I bought a loaded contract, I could sell $1000 worth of points to defer costs, we also paid cash.

 

[My5Mouseketeers]

We have 5 kids and I always want to have a kitchen, not that I cook every meal, but we do always eat breakfast (or a first breakfast) in our room. I don't think that eating 3 meals out a day with 5 kids is a vacation.

Anyway....in 2003 when we had outgrown the Ft. Wilderness Cabins, I was looking to stay at SSR on Cash (we LOVE the location). It was going to cost us something like $3500 for the week. Then I found out that was 1/3 the cost for 150 points. We bought DVC site unseen. We have enough points to go every other year in November (Jersey Week!). We "broke even" by our third trip. Maintenance fees have been $500-600 a year. We love it!

 

[nunzia]

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.

RCI can still be booked..it is the Disney Collection that cannot..like hotels in the parks such as DLH and PP in DLR,and at Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo. All the things they are 'taking away' are considered to be horrible uses of points..maybe Disney is trying to discourage people from buying a zillion cheap points and taking crusies..although I'd think the MF would squash that idea.

 

[sweetdana]

I would consider less points. 200 is a lot of points, esp. if you are planning on a studio, as well there is not requirment you jump in at 110% you can start with a about 125- 135 point loaded contract and see what you need. You can add transfers in (buying a different members) as you run out (cost right now is about 10$ a point). If after a few years you decide you NEED another 60-80 points then do it. I think alot of people over buy and have regrets, you can under buy and use the system to your benefit. Use room only discounts, or rent other peoples points.

I LOVE my DVC, I have 160 points. I rent points from the rent board sometimes 2 times a year. I have transferred in so far every year, except 1st yr. I take advantage of FD, or AP room discounts as well. The thing is when I don't want to go 3-4 times a year, or I can't afford it, or I want to go to DC, or a cruise, or California my MF are only 700$. To me this is reasonable. This is an easy # to use every other or even every 3rd year. I could use them all for a studio and go from prob 8 - 10 days or every other yr and rent out my points to cover 2 yrs of MF if I cannot afford much more. If you under buy you can add on, if you over buy you will miss some of the reason your thinking of buying. I think DVC CAN be a great buy, but it isn't always. For us it was one of the best decisions our family made.

 

[JamesMom]

My husband and I were thisclose to buying into BLT a couple of years ago. I had just gotten back from a trip at Contemporary with my son and saw many, many Disney trips in our future. We put down a deposit and filled out all the paperwork. We got in the car to drive to the notary and signed everything. But right before we mailed it out, we had second thoughts.

I am glad we did. Our youngest is currently undergoing Autism testing and has yet to go to WDW because of his 'issues' (dislike loud noises so no airplane, scared of dark so limited rides, etc). We are planning to visit as a family in 2012. If we bought back in 2008 we would have rented our points for 3 of those 4 years with no guarantee our son will be ready for such a trip in 2012.

If you plan and KNOW you will visit every year (or every other year with limited points) then it is a great deal. We could not answer yes to that question for the next 50 years...

 

[disneyofcourse]

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.I have been checking out resales after only recently finding out about them. With these new rules It means that I wouldn't be able to book at say a regular deluxe or moderate resort with the DVC points , Correct? I know its not the best use of points but it would be nice to be able to try everything out.

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.My current car is just fine and buying a new one is well just a "want". Originally about two years ago I decided to put away money for a new car. Ended up saving the cost of the car instead of a down payment and a few monthly payments. Buying a car later on and doing payments is fine as long as I still get a loan in the 0-2% interest area.

...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.

I want to thank everyone for offering advice and your own personal experiences. I will take a hard look at buying less points to start at. I think that's a very wise decision.

 

[dnoyes]

We are DVC members at AKL.

DVC is a good deal if you like staying at deluxe resorts. 10 nights at AKL cost us over $3000 each time we went. We live 3000 miles from Disney so when we go we stay at least 10 days. When we go on vacation we don't like to budget (sorry budget board ) that's what the other 11 months of the year are for.

It also helps if you have a relative that works for Disney. When we bought in the discount was unreal.

 

[cseca]

With the new resale rule, you won't be able to use your points at any resorts outside of DVC resorts.
However, keep this in mind.... you are ONLY guaranteed a stay in your Home Resort per the agreement. Currently exchanges are allowed, however they should be considered as perks (even an exchange such as staying at BLT when your Home resort is Vero Beach). And perks are not guaranteed, which means they can decide to take it away tomorrow and us members would not have any recourse other than selling our membership.

So think hard when you choose your home resort, don't fall in the trap of buying a cheap resort to stay at the more expensive one. You never know which perk will be taken away in the future.

 

[crisi]

It isn't that the Deluxe and Mods aren't the best use of points - they are a lousy use of points. Buy a smaller number of points and pay cash for those stays - it will be cheaper.

For instance, the Caribbean Beach Resort in January is a minimum of 18 points per night. 44 points per night on a weekend over the holidays. Plus you'll pay a $95 exchange fee and if you have to cancel, your points are distressed. AND the points required for those options can go up every year.

Compare to an OKW studio, which is a very similar feeling resort. When CBR is 18 points a night, plus a $95 booking fee, OKW is EIGHT points a night.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

With the new resale rule, you won't be able to use your points at any resorts outside of DVC resorts.
However, keep this in mind.... you are ONLY guaranteed a stay in your Home Resort per the agreement. Currently exchanges are allowed, however they should be considered as perks (even an exchange such as staying at BLT when your Home resort is Vero Beach). And perks are not guaranteed, which means they can decide to take it away tomorrow and us members would not have any recourse other than selling our membership.

So think hard when you choose your home resort, don't fall in the trap of buying a cheap resort to stay at the more expensive one. You never know which perk will be taken away in the future.

This is only for new resales after March 20th though, correct? We own at BWV and VBR and like staying at some of the other DVC resorts. We will sell DVC and just trade in through RCI (much more cheaply) if we can't book the other DVC resorts w/our resale points. Granted, we bought this contract like 10 years ago, so I can't imagine that we'd be restricted by the new rules...who knows, though. I can trade a junk timeshare through RCI and get any DVC resort but BLT, so why would I want to pay high DVC dues and be restricted to my home resort That makes no sense.

 

[crisi]

This is only for new resales after March 20th though, correct? We own at BWV and VBR and like staying at some of the other DVC resorts. We will sell DVC and just trade in through RCI (much more cheaply) if we can't book the other DVC resorts w/our resale points. Granted, we bought this contract like 10 years ago, so I can't imagine that we'd be restricted by the new rules...who knows, though. I can trade a junk timeshare through RCI and get any DVC resort but BLT, so why would I want to pay high DVC dues and be restricted to my home resort That makes no sense.

It is not retroactive (at least, not at this point). And it doesn't restrict you to your home resort, you can't use the Disney Collection or ABD. So you can't use your points to overpay for a cruise, or overpay for the Poly.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

It is not retroactive (at least, not at this point). And it doesn't restrict you to your home resort, you can't use the Disney Collection or ABD. So you can't use your points to overpay for a cruise, or overpay for the Poly.

Well, the good news about the changes is that DH is now game to sell our 200 point Boardwalk contract. I have been pressuring him to agree to sell it ever since DVC affiliated with RCI. We could get OK DVC exchanges when they were with Interval, but the DVC exchanges in RCI are awesome. The changes are really aggrivating DH and he sounds semi-serious about selling...FINALLY!! Whoohoo!!

 

[EWL]

Wow-- this thread is fascinating and very helpful. We have been thinking about DVC as well, and as much as I *want* to love it, I am having trouble convincing myself. Our situation is rather odd: my inlaws, who are in a good place financially, know we enjoy Disney, and would like to do something nice for us, have offered to buy into DVC for us as a gift; we'd pick up the annual dues. (We are me, DW, and DD9.)

Even so, here is why I am hesitant:

1) We would not go to WDW every year. Maybe every other at most. Maybe every 3. Playing with a spreadsheet I found here, I am having a hard time seeing how it would be a better deal with DVC (even just considering the dues) than paying cash unless you go every year.

2) There are other places we'd like to go, plus we love cruises. While I understand that DVC can be used for other places and DCL (at least buying direct), the points needed seem outrageously expensive and not a good use of DVC.

3) We've stayed at moderates our past couple trips and been more than happy. Plus we've gone during free dining. We would LOVE to stay at a deluxe but have been unwilling to spend $300+ a night.

4) We don't necessarily care about having a kitchen as cooking for us is not vacation. And DW especially hates the idea of not having daily mousekeeping, which would mean we'd probably shell out extra to buy it.

5) We are deal hunters! And why not with free dining, room discounts, etc. etc. Sure, they may not always be around, but if Disney stopped offering them, we'd either go less or just go somewhere else.

So are we crazy to consider turning down their offer? Am I not thinking this through right?