I know, I know... OFF TOPIC. HELP!!

[RBennett]

Ok, before anyone says anything... I KNOW this is off topic for here but DW is posting questions in her thread area and you all are so helpful on everything else I have I thought I would get opions here. DW and I are considering purchasing into DVC and wondered how many of you are DVC members and would you do it again??? We are trying to figure out if it is worth it because since 2007 we have been to Disney every year and we don't anticipate letting up. Next year Disneyland and 2011 either new ship or WDW or who knows! Does anyone have any insight or thoughts??

 

[zackiedawg]

I've been in since 1996...and certainly have been using it well. I have 440pts, and tend to take 4 to 6 trips a year to Disney, each being 4 to 5 days long on average. That gives me a good 20 or so days on property conservatively, or 30 in a good year. Dues run around $1,600 annually, which means aside from the initial investment, I'm getting from studios to 2-bedroom condos for less than $80 a day average - as low as $53 or so a day. I conservatively figure it would cost me in the vicinity of $250 a day to stay in similar accomodations...so I'm figuring by about the 9th year or so, I had covered my initial investment. If you go often, I think it was definitely worth it. If I didn't go as often, I guess it would depend on how many points I purchased and how well they fit into my schedule.

That said, I think the costs have gone up a bit since I purchased, so if you're looking at buying points anew, the cost is higher and therefore the break-even point may be farther down the road. Don't underestimate the maintenance dues - I think you tend to get your money's worth much more if you get a 1-bedroom or 2-bedroom villa versus a studio - despite the higher points they require - because getting the same space with cash at Disney is hugely expensive.

I also haven't ever used my DVC outside of Disney, nor likely ever will. It was purchased basically as a way to 'own' a property in Disney World for the frequent visits I make up there. When I cruise, or travel to a foreign country, I tend to book elsewhere and don't like to use up my DVC points for that.

All in all, very very worth it for me, and especially the past 4 years or so when I've been past the initial investment and 'in the money' whenever I book more than $1,600 worth of stays a year!

 

[GrillMouster]

Since the DIS is full of WDW fanatics, I wouldn't count on getting the most logical, impartial answers. (edit- I started typing this before anyone else responded to the original post, so I wanted to make clear that I didn't mean to imply that anyone else who posts is illogical in their response)

Generally, I think that DVC and any time share is not a wise investment for me, even though we've been to WDW several times each year for decades and don't foresee stopping. We'd be commiting ourselves to spending money for the next XX years without knowing for certain whether our finances, health, or other circumstances would alllow us to support that commitment. It's like having another mortgage, except that at the end of XX years we wouldn't have any equity...the company retains ownership! What DVC offers in terms of benefits doesn't make up for the risk, IMHO.

For the same amount of money, if not less, than I would spend for each year of DVC membership, I could stay at a Disney resort, or rent DVC points. This way, I can continue to enjoy WDW without being financially committed. I don't like spending money before I've earned it.

 

[annnewjerz]

For the same amount of money, if not less, than I would spend for each year of DVC membership, I could stay at a Disney resort, or rent DVC points. This way, I can continue to enjoy WDW without being financially committed. I don't like spending money before I've earned it.

I'm not a member of DVC and while I think it would be really nice, besides the fact that I ::gasp:: won't be traveling to WDW every year, at this point in time it just doesn't make financial sense for us.

Between 40% off codes, 4 for 3 deals and renting DVC points like we did this year, we are able to stay at some of the nicer resorts without having to break the bank. For example, this December we will be at BWV in a studio for only $95 per night when renting points---it was an awesome deal for us.

Good luck and I'm excited to see what you guys decide on!

 

[YesDear]

DW and I are members and have been since 1999. We currently own 560 pts and are looking at purchasing more. For us it works very well but it has to work for you for it to be worthwhile. We currently own at OKW, BCV, SSR, and BLT. We like them all for different reasons.

I would be glad to answer any specific questions you may have that I can answer. Just PM me.

 

[GrillMouster]

...We currently own at OKW, BCV, SSR, and BLT.

Mmmmm BLT. Yum.
Wow, YesDear, you guys own a little of everything. Cool. Let me know when you get CC (Cinderella Castle).

 

[AlienBrain]

I wouldn't buy into DVC because my favorite resorts are MK resorts on the monorail. I know, I know, there is one DVC property on the monorail now, but I enjoy switching up. If I am feeling primitive, I go Poly, if I am feeling elegant and beachy, I go GF, and if I am feeling contemporary, I go CR.

Also, I don't go to WDW enough to justify buying into DVC. Not to mention, I would be missing out on a lot of the special room rates that Disney always has every year. If you act on the special room rates, you can probably pay less than you would for DVC if you are an infrequent traveler (once or less a year).

So to summarize. I like the freedom of choice and I don't travel enough to choose DVC.

 

[kaffinito]

We were going at least once a year sometimes twice a year so we bought DVC. I bought through Disney and got points at BLT.

I am using our points at Vero Beach this NYE, and will pay far less for the room minus our annual dues than I would be paying for rack rate even if I had a good discount code.

It makes sense to purchase DVC if you can afford it (financing the purchase might not be the wisest idea) or if you plan on staying at a WDW property at least once a year.

That being said, the best deals on DVC are at a resale place such as one of our sponsors, the Timeshare Store. You can buy some good deals on points right now, and with enough points the only things you have to pay OOP for are tickets (unless you get AP's) and food. Travel of course is also OOP.

Good luck with your decision, and don't forget to check out the threads on the DVC board (Mousecellaneous) for similar posts to help you make your decision.

 

[saturndb]

The answer to if you should buy into DVC or not depends on how you see the numbers and how often you want to go to Disney or swap out points to RCI. We belong to DVC and manage to go for 16 days every year ( 2 trips per yr) and we have 160 points. To us it made sense. We now can go to Disney for years to come and just pay the dues of about 700 per year. We stay in a studio, no kids and it is big enough for us.

You just have to see if the numbers make sense for you. It did for us. I say go drink the Kool Aid (do your research, run some numbers, ask yourself do you and your family want to go do a Disney trip every year) and see if it tastes good.

Dave

p.s. feel free to PM me with any questions you have... and as always have a magical day

 

[Groucho]

The funny thing about DVC math is that you can work the numbers to support anything you want. I used to hang out on the DVC board a bit and it was absolutely brutal sometimes, there were some real bullies who would sneer at anyone who dares mortgage their buy-in.

I am very happy with ours; I am not sure that we are necessarily saving money vs the old-fashioned way, but we are staying in DVC-sized studios and one-bedrooms instead of Pop Century, where we'd be staying otherwise. Plus, there are a fair number of other perks.

We got in during a friends & family 15% off deal which was about the best deal they've ever had. There have been a number of deals since then but I'm not sure that they're matched it, but I haven't really been paying attention - we can't afford to add on for a while (much as I'd love to.)

One thing you can do is look at the DVC rental board here; I looked recently and was surprised that points have gone down in price in the last couple years. This is almost certainly because of DVC limiting you to one transfer a year, which I think has effectively kneecapped the bottom-feeders who would buy thousands of points, rent the most desirable rooms, then put them on eBay for a profit. (I'm looking at you, Welschers!) Anyway, the point is that you can rent a good number of points for not a lot of money and get a taste of the DVC resorts.

If you run into financial difficulties in the future, one good thing is that Disney makes sure that the values stay very high - it won't be like one of these other timeshares that is worth about a quarter what you paid for it immediately after you buy.

Next time you're there, you may want to set an appointment with a DVC rep. In the meantime, order the materials. I found our rep to be very low-pressure; in fact there really was no pressure at all, and we got free ice cream. Disney is putting a lot of muscle behind DVC, with lots of new properties going up recently and more on the way, so I expect it will only get better and better.

 

[Steve's Girl]

The funny thing about DVC math is that you can work the numbers to support anything you want.

Ahhh... the beauty of statistics. Personally, I don't think it is a good investment. And I definitely am not in favor of financing this type of a purchase. However, if you view it as a consumption type purchase, it may make sense to pre-pay your vacations. You have to factor in the lost investment opportunity on your money, etc. Blah, blah, blah. The bottom line is can you afford it? Is this something you and your wife both want to do? Is this a higher priority than other things you could or would do with the money?

(disclosure - we do own at BWV. We are a family of 5 so that limits some of our on-site options. Staying at DVC gives us very nice accomodations for less than we would pay out of pocket. But, we view our DVC as a purchase, not an investment. We bought a resale in 2006 and got a pretty good deal. I don't think I would buy direct from WDW now. The price per point has gotten a little steep in my opinion. Or I have just become a bit more of a miser. Not sure which, but either way...)

 

[cpbjgc]

We bought a small contract on resale (100 pts at OKW) and have found it really works well for our needs. We do travel a lot, and have experienced all sizes and shape of rooms. We prefer 1 bedrooms when traveling, and like the full kitchen for in room meals (we like to cook, even on vacation), not to mention the in room blender for slushy libations .

We bought 100 pts intending to go every other year to Disney. Instead we have gone pretty much every year, staying a minimum 7 days, splitting our stay at a different resort on a code of some type, and then ending it in our 1 bed room at OKW .

We also don't feel confined to just using our points at the World, and have used them for stays at Keystone, Co, and at the Hong Kong Disneyland resort (at the Hollywood Hotel, which includes theme park tickets for length of stay).

We started looking at DVC because we were saving up for a stay and wanted to stay at the Beach Club. We realized that the amount we would pay either rack rate or even with a deal (given the terrible exchange rate on the Canadian dollar at the time) would buy us a small DVC contract. So we saved up some more, luckily our dollar went up, and we bought our resale contract throught the Timeshare Store.

When making your decision, don't treat it as an investment - it is a purchase. It's prepaid accommodations. The DVC perks are gravy. We bought outright using cash we saved for that purpose. I couldn't see financing it myself, as we only vacation using cash saved for that purpose. Others may approach it differently, but that was our comfort level.

Owning DVC is what you make of it. It has been good for us and has not limited us in our vacationing plans in any way, other than letting us stay in super-spacious accommodations while at the World.

 

[senecabeach]

I would like to share my experience of buying DVC.....

For me: DVC IS an affordable, flexible way to "Lock In" future vacation accomodations...

My DH and I have visited WDW each year, sometimes twice, since the MK opened in 71 and always stayed on property...mostly the Poly, which was $42. per night back then...in what is now the Consierge longhouse!
Yea WOW!!

We just loved the "Magic" and had no problem going to WDW as young adults. We weren't blessed with children but were fortunate to be able to stay @ both deluxe and some moderate resorts.

I think initially..... most of us try to do Disney "commando" style.
We found the older you get..the longer you stayed. We would do a minimum of 10 days. There is soooo much to enjoy. We would visit a park in the AM or PM..spend the mornings/afternoons @ the pool relaxing, nap, resort hop, golf, horseback riding, fish on Bay Lake, take some Disney tours...and plan "wonderful" meals.

With both of us busy with life, family and working, time absolutely flew by and we never had any time to look into owning @ OKW, which was "cheap" back then and also gave "free" park hopper tickets every time you went...nor did we buy the BWV....

Yes...I'm still kicking myself......

All of a sudden...prices soared ...$200+ for a hotel room @ the POLY?? The GF...which we did a few times...outrageous $$$ !! POR nice...still $150.+ Value resorts...never. This past May it cost me $550. per night for the Poly Consierge but the memories it brought back...priceless.

Prices keep rising for these hotels!!! What will they be in 3-5-10 years??

Then came the light...
..........AH..what IS DVC??

Beautiful resorts..My OWN little condo??, full kitchen, seperate LR, washer/dryer, seperate eating area, jacuzzi, king bed, balcony.....
....OH..sometimes a 2 bdrm or GV for family or friends!!

Hummmmm ...DVC ...VS...a "hotel room"?

Yea..OK the initial output is hard $$ to put out...but now its done... and biting the bullit now.. has certainly saved me $$ for my future Disney fixes AND in "superior" accomodations!!

This was a NO brainer for me!!

Well....I paid $74 per pt. for the BCV in 03..and now its value thru Disney is $104. + per pt. and shortly going higher.

Well...DH passed away suddenly shortly thereafter...but ...I still bought DVC and still Love the "Magic" which holds many beautiful memories for me when Im there, either solo or with extended family.

SO.........guess thats my story in a nutshell..

SO...Think about it.... ...see if it works for YOU!

We all buy in our own time..but remember also the longer you wait...the higher the price will be.

 

[RBennett]

Well, I just want to say "THANK YOU" to everyone for their opinons! There wasn't one opinion given that I didn't really think about what they were saying. I really feel that DW and I will purchase into BLT in the near future, but we just want to make sure that it's something we can afford and still be able to save money for the rest of the vacation as well (and I know we can as long as we watch our hobbie spending!) We're going to start putting back the monthly dues into savings for the next 6 months and see if we can still save money for vacation and if it all flows together like we budgeted, we'll buy in! Hopefully by this time next year we will be official DVC members and will have already used our first round of points!!