I said Yes....to the DVC

[DisneyDahling]

Good, bad or indifferent, I completely followed my DH's "jump with both feet, ask questions later" mentality and we bought into the DVC on Sunday. Our home resort is SSR.

While we couldn't afford a lot of points, we purchased what we could afford that offered us the most amount of nights possible.

I am usually the planner and researcher. I research everything to the death before any major purchase but this time, I just said, YES. In reading some threads on here today, I'm slightly worried that we may have made the wrong decision in only going with what we could afford (low points) and not waiting until we could afford a larger bank of points. We toured DVC 8 years ago on our honeymoon, when points were half of what they were now but they min to purchase was 150 I believe...and as newlyweds, we just couldn't swing it. So I guess my thought was, buy now before the points double in price again!

As far as the Home Resort goes... I actually don't mind SSR as our home resort, but we are hoping for BLT next year as we will have our 4 year old with us and just being on the Monorail will be easier with one so little.

So yay! We are DVC members now and hopefully will have at least 10 more years of vacationing with our Son before he tells us that he is "too big" for Disney.
Actually, fingers crossed that never happens!

 

[weswife]

Awesome!!!! Congrats!!!!

We just became members in Sept! It is the best thing ever for us! We are the proud new owners of 150 points at the BWV. We plan to purchase more points. We are long time renters so this is great!

We are going in Sept using our points. My older DD plans to come this tear, she has not went in 2 years. Her friend is coming too! Now we will try a 2 bedroom!

 

[Micca]

Congrats & welcome to the neighborhood!

 

[WilsonFlyer]

You can ALWAYS "add-on" and there's the resale market also. Don't sweat it! Read here and learn.

You said you had questions and concerns but didn't outline them. May we ask what they are? We can probably help but we need to know what concerns you.

4 YODD? You did the right thing. Been there. Done that. Still doing it (9 now).

Welcome home!

 

[rmcildw2m]

congrats and welcome home. SSR is a very nice resorts you will have no worries there .

 

[Bellecruiser]

Welcome home neighbor! You are going to love SSR, and the whole of DVC.

 

[AnnaS]

Congratulations and Welcome Home!! Happy Planning

 

[brelyt]

My DW and I love SSR. We have a four year old and the variety of polls at SSR is perfect for her. Welcome home!

 

[DenLo]

Welcome Home! SSR is a wonderful resort. We always enjoy our stays there.

We added on in less than 30 days from purchase when we realized that the number of points we bought wouldn't work for us.

We also have done split stays at a Disney value or moderate resort before our stay our our DVC resort to lengthen our vacation(s). Then we saved money to buy more points. So now we rarely stay at other Disney Resorts.

 

[DisneyDahling]

You can ALWAYS "add-on" and there's the resale market also. Don't sweat it! Read here and learn.

You said you had questions and concerns but didn't outline them. May we ask what they are? We can probably help but we need to know what concerns you.

4 YODD? You did the right thing. Been there. Done that. Still doing it (9 now).

Welcome home!

Hi WilsonFlyer!
I guess my main concern is that we only purchased 50 points. We can stay at BLT or AKV for 5 days for that amount, or BWV for 3 days I think, during the Fall, which is when we usually like to vacation. In reading some threads yesterday, a lot of DVCDiser's were saying that trying to book your non-home resort at the 7 month window is near impossible, which really made me stress out that we didn't do the right thing.....
Especially since in looking at the point chart for SSR, we don't even have enough to stay there for a week. I really didn't like our Sales Person and after reviewing that the point bank he sold us can't even get us our home resort for 5 days really made me mad.
I realize he was trying to get us the most points with the lowest dues, which I understand to be SSR. I suppose he was trying to work with us to make it happen...

Our plan of attack right now is for the next 5 years to go every other year (so 3 trips in the next 5 years) and borrow from the next year to have 100 points to play with. I think this is a good plan as we also have some extensive house renovations to do within that time frame as well, so honestly, we probably couldn't go every year even if we had the points.
We are going to also try our very best to pay off the loan in the following 5-6 years and then add on.

What is the general opinion? Buy new points direct from the Mouse or resale?

Thanks so much!

 

[DisneyDahling]

Welcome Home! SSR is a wonderful resort. We always enjoy our stays there.

We added on in less than 30 days from purchase when we realized that the number of points we bought wouldn't work for us.

We also have done split stays at a Disney value or moderate resort before our stay our our DVC resort to lengthen our vacation(s). Then we saved money to buy more points. So now we rarely stay at other Disney Resorts.

Thank you so much for this DenLo!! I think SSR is beautiful. For later on in life, being that close to DTD will be a HUGE plus for us.

 

[DisneyDahling]

congrats and welcome home. SSR is a very nice resorts you will have no worries there .

Thank you! . I really think that resort is beautiful.

Welcome home neighbor! You are going to love SSR, and the whole of DVC.

Hi!

Congratulations and Welcome Home!! Happy Planning

Aren't we always planning the next trip AnnaS? LOL. Thank you!

My DW and I love SSR. We have a four year old and the variety of polls at SSR is perfect for her. Welcome home!

My (soon to be) 4 year old son loves to swim, so I think this will work out for us too!

 

[Andrew015]

Hi WilsonFlyer!
I guess my main concern is that we only purchased 50 points. We can stay at BLT or AKV for 5 days for that amount, or BWV for 3 days I think, during the Fall, which is when we usually like to vacation. In reading some threads yesterday, a lot of DVCDiser's were saying that trying to book your non-home resort at the 7 month window is near impossible, which really made me stress out that we didn't do the right thing.....
Especially since in looking at the point chart for SSR, we don't even have enough to stay there for a week. I really didn't like our Sales Person and after reviewing that the point bank he sold us can't even get us our home resort for 5 days really made me mad.
I realize he was trying to get us the most points with the lowest dues, which I understand to be SSR. I suppose he was trying to work with us to make it happen...

Our plan of attack right now is for the next 5 years to go every other year (so 3 trips in the next 5 years) and borrow from the next year to have 100 points to play with. I think this is a good plan as we also have some extensive house renovations to do within that time frame as well, so honestly, we probably couldn't go every year even if we had the points.
We are going to also try our very best to pay off the loan in the following 5-6 years and then add on.

What is the general opinion? Buy new points direct from the Mouse or resale?

Thanks so much!

In my opinion, if you meet the following criteria, then DVC is a good fit for you and your family:

• You visit WDW once per year.
• When you visit WDW, you always stay "on property"
• When you visit WDW, You typically stay in Deluxe Disney resort accommodations

If you can say "Yes" to all three of these bullet points, then relax... you made a very good decision. Some folks will even make the argument that even if you visit Disney every other year or stay in moderate resort accommodations, that DVC is still a worthwhile investment. I personally think this to be a bit more of a stretch, but many DVC owners fall into this category and still believe DVC to be a worthwhile investment. Your mileage may vary.

Also, I don't believe you mentioned whether or not you purchased directly from Disney or through a resale broker. If you purchased from Disney, it's not the end of the world. Again (my opinion only), purchasing via Resale is a much better value that helps you to recoup your investment more quickly, provided that you don't ***need*** the additional perks that are offered by purchasing directly from the Mouse (again, my opinion only, but the additional "perks" do nothing for me personally)...

Lastly, so long as you understand that DVC is a long-term financial commitment that extends far beyond the initial buy-in cost, and also, that you understand what the actual total cost is, and MOST IMPORTANT, you are comfortable with this total cost, then you have nothing to worry about. Above and beyond the initial buy-in (X dollars per point times X number of points), closing costs and interest if financed, which you are doing... you also have annual maintenance fees (also called dues). These dues increase each and every year, and typically can range from ~1% to 6% increases per year, depending on your resort. Over the course of your ~50 year ownership, the cost of dues will far exceed your initial buy-in cost.

Also know full well that you will also be paying for food, park tickets, transportation and merchandise on all of your upcoming trips (no more "free dining"). All of these costs will increase over time. While your DVC membership does offer some perks, such as discounted park tickets, discounts on merchandise, the ability to purchase a TIW card that gives you discounts on dining, etc... these things are still very expensive and must be factored into your total cost of ownership. Also note that these "perks" are not guaranteed for the life of your ownership experience, and could disappear at anytime (although I doubt they will).

At the end of the day, DVC is not a cheap timeshare, but it can provide value if you visit WDW enough and usually stay in their upper-tier resorts. One positive thing as compared to other timeshares is that DVC holds its value much better than most. If you decide 5-10 years down the road that you've had your fill, you will most likely recoup your initial buy-in cost and then some.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Hi WilsonFlyer!
I guess my main concern is that we only purchased 50 points. We can stay at BLT or AKV for 5 days for that amount, or BWV for 3 days I think, during the Fall, which is when we usually like to vacation. In reading some threads yesterday, a lot of DVCDiser's were saying that trying to book your non-home resort at the 7 month window is near impossible, which really made me stress out that we didn't do the right thing.....
Especially since in looking at the point chart for SSR, we don't even have enough to stay there for a week. I really didn't like our Sales Person and after reviewing that the point bank he sold us can't even get us our home resort for 5 days really made me mad.
I realize he was trying to get us the most points with the lowest dues, which I understand to be SSR. I suppose he was trying to work with us to make it happen...

Our plan of attack right now is for the next 5 years to go every other year (so 3 trips in the next 5 years) and borrow from the next year to have 100 points to play with. I think this is a good plan as we also have some extensive house renovations to do within that time frame as well, so honestly, we probably couldn't go every year even if we had the points.
We are going to also try our very best to pay off the loan in the following 5-6 years and then add on.

What is the general opinion? Buy new points direct from the Mouse or resale?

Thanks so much!

There's a LOT to cover there, and I fear much of it you may not even realize. You can bank those 50 points into your next "Use Year" (UY) and you can borrow them from the following year. That give you up to 150 points of spending power every third year.

In your scenario (Assuming you don't go this UY), you can bank those 50, use 75 next year, and bank 25 into the next year. Make sense sort of?

You can stretch 50 points pretty far, provided you don't get hooked on GOING all the time. That's where the rub comes in. A lot of us go 3-4 times per year and that gets spendy, both dollar-wise and points-wise.

I haven't looked up the points for what you're quoting but they are bound to be studios and even then, <50 looks sort of aggressive, especially for BLT, but if they are right and you are happy with those accommodations, you can make this work. If you had 50 more, you'd be standing in high cotton as we say in the south, because it would buy you some buffer both in time and in room size accommodations. The problem with that is, you can ALWAYS use 50 more. Seriously. Everybody here will tell you, if you ever go to a one bedroom, you'll be forever spoiled and never want to go back to a studio again. There's just a ton of POTENTIAL "gotchas." It just depends on how many (if any) of them you fall into.

You've done the right thing, especially as a start, if visiting WDW every other year is what you want to do. Take a deep breath and start reading and learn how all of this works. It's not that complicated, but it can be somewhat daunting until you get your arms around it. The good news is that once you read a little, it will all suddenly just start making sense.

Oh yea. SSR. We don't own there. We own BLT, AK and VGF, but we've stayed at SSR a lot. It's an easy resort to book generally and there have been a lot of incentive (purchase reward) points there when we have bought so that's why we've stayed there a lot. One of the easier resorts to book on somewhat short notice most of the time. Don't let anybody tell you any differently. SSR is a BEAUTIFUL resort with a feel uniquely its own. You'd love SSR even if you never stayed anywhere else.

Oh yea again... Resale is where the value is. Period. Having said that, I have bought everything direct and I don't shy away from it. It was all financed for short periods of time with no difficulty and we got exactly what we wanted right then with no hassle and we were willing to pay a premium for that. In the grand scheme of the 50 year life of the contracts, it doesn't amount to that much. Up front, it matters much more. You have to weigh the value of both to YOU.

 

[Deb & Bill]

It sounds like you bought direct from Disney. Did you know you could probably double the number of points you purchased by buying a resale? It takes longer to complete the sale, but it can save you money. And if you are seven days or less from signing your contract directly with Disney, you still could back out. If you wanted to.

 

[DisneyDahling]

In my opinion, if you meet the following criteria, then DVC is a good fit for you and your family:

• You visit WDW once per year.
• When you visit WDW, you always stay "on property"
• When you visit WDW, You typically stay in Deluxe Disney resort accommodations

If you can say "Yes" to all three of these bullet points, then relax... you made a very good decision. Some folks will even make the argument that even if you visit Disney every other year or stay in moderate resort accommodations, that DVC is still a worthwhile investment. I personally think this to be a bit more of a stretch, but many DVC owners fall into this category and still believe DVC to be a worthwhile investment. Your mileage may vary.

Also, I don't believe you mentioned whether or not you purchased directly from Disney or through a resale broker. If you purchased from Disney, it's not the end of the world. Again (my opinion only), purchasing via Resale is a much better value that helps you to recoup your investment more quickly, provided that you don't ***need*** the additional perks that are offered by purchasing directly from the Mouse (again, my opinion only, but the additional "perks" do nothing for me personally)...

Lastly, so long as you understand that DVC is a long-term financial commitment that extends far beyond the initial buy-in cost, and also, that you understand what the actual total cost is, and MOST IMPORTANT, you are comfortable with this total cost, then you have nothing to worry about. Above and beyond the initial buy-in (X dollars per point times X number of points), closing costs and interest if financed, which you are doing... you also have annual maintenance fees (also called dues). These dues increase each and every year, and typically can range from ~1% to 6% increases per year, depending on your resort. Over the course of your ~50 year ownership, the cost of dues will far exceed your initial buy-in cost.

Also know full well that you will also be paying for food, park tickets, transportation and merchandise on all of your upcoming trips (no more "free dining"). All of these costs will increase over time. While your DVC membership does offer some perks, such as discounted park tickets, discounts on merchandise, the ability to purchase a TIW card that gives you discounts on dining, etc... these things are still very expensive and must be factored into your total cost of ownership. Also note that these "perks" are not guaranteed for the life of your ownership experience, and could disappear at anytime (although I doubt they will).

At the end of the day, DVC is not a cheap timeshare, but it can provide value if you visit WDW enough and usually stay in their upper-tier resorts. One positive thing as compared to other timeshares is that DVC holds its value much better than most. If you decide 5-10 years down the road that you've had your fill, you will most likely recoup your initial buy-in cost and then some.

Well no, we don't typically vacation every year. We did BK (before the Kid) but this was our first vacation (disney or otherwise) since our DS was born. However, before he was born, we were here every year.
Yes, we do always stay on property.
No we don't always stay in a moderate. However, this past vacation, we came from a Deluxe Suite at the Hilton BC to Pop Century and man it was a MAJOR culture shock. In looking around the room, I quick realized I could NEVER stay at a value with a husband and child. During our honeymoon, we rented points and stayed in a 1 Bedroom at BWV and fell in love so I do have that taste already, but I think until our son gets bigger, the Studio will be nice.

I completely agree with you in regards to the idea that just because you bought into the DVC does not mean your next Disney Vacation will be cheap. We have never been able to make free dining work, so that doesn't bother us a bit.

Thank you so much for the reply, I really appreciate it!

 

[DisneyDahling]

There's a LOT to cover there, and I fear much of it you may not even realize. You can bank those 50 points into your next "Use Year" (UY) and you can borrow them from the following year. That give you up to 150 points of spending power every third year.

In your scenario (Assuming you don't go this UY), you can bank those 50, use 75 next year, and bank 25 into the next year. Make sense sort of?

You can stretch 50 points pretty far, provided you don't get hooked on GOING all the time. That's where the rub comes in. A lot of us go 3-4 times per year and that gets spendy, both dollar-wise and points-wise.

I haven't looked up the points for what you're quoting but they are bound to be studios and even then, <50 looks sort of aggressive, especially for BLT, but if they are right and you are happy with those accommodations, you can make this work. If you had 50 more, you'd be standing in high cotton as we say in the south, because it would buy you some buffer both in time and in room size accommodations. The problem with that is, you can ALWAYS use 50 more. Seriously. Everybody here will tell you, if you ever go to a one bedroom, you'll be forever spoiled and never want to go back to a studio again. There's just a ton of POTENTIAL "gotchas." It just depends on how many (if any) of them you fall into.

You've done the right thing, especially as a start, if visiting WDW every other year is what you want to do. Take a deep breath and start reading and learn how all of this works. It's not that complicated, but it can be somewhat daunting until you get your arms around it. The good news is that once you read a little, it will all suddenly just start making sense.

Oh yea. SSR. We don't own there. We own BLT, AK and VGF, but we've stayed at SSR a lot. It's an easy resort to book generally and there have been a lot of incentive (purchase reward) points there when we have bought so that's why we've stayed there a lot. One of the easier resorts to book on somewhat short notice most of the time. Don't let anybody tell you any differently. SSR is a BEAUTIFUL resort with a feel uniquely its own. You'd love SSR even if you never stayed anywhere else.

Oh yea again... Resale is where the value is. Period. Having said that, I have bought everything direct and I don't shy away from it. It was all financed for short periods of time with no difficulty and we got exactly what we wanted right then with no hassle and we were willing to pay a premium for that. In the grand scheme of the 50 year life of the contracts, it doesn't amount to that much. Up front, it matters much more. You have to weigh the value of both to YOU.

I understood about banking and borrowing but not that the every 3rd year scenario you just described. Although I doubt I could wait every 3rd year to go! I understand that a lot of DVCer's go multiple times a year but for us, with our particular jobs, once a year is all we are going to get right now in our career.
We actually had a long talk with a couple infront of us at Peter Pan who bought direct and then added on thru resale. After talking with them, it really made sense for us to do what we could now and then add on more later thru resale. As I mentioned before, we looked into this 8 years ago when the points were half of what we paid for them. Which made us sick. I didn't want to wait even 2 more years for fear of what the increase may be.

I guess since we have been on a 4 year Disney Drought, as long as we know that we are coming back every year, even if it is for a shorter period of time, it definitely makes us happy that we bought into it with what we could afford at the time. It also will help us get through this depressing Ohio Winter which has already hit

 

[DisneyDahling]

It sounds like you bought direct from Disney. Did you know you could probably double the number of points you purchased by buying a resale? It takes longer to complete the sale, but it can save you money. And if you are seven days or less from signing your contract directly with Disney, you still could back out. If you wanted to.

I knew we had that window. I actually haven't even looked at Resale yet. Between this crazy and trying to catch up from being gone the previous week, I'm swamped! But thanks for the idea! I'll have to definitely see what resale looks like...

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Remember that you can cancel the purchase and always resign for direct if you would decide that resale isn't right. This cooling off period is there for a reason and it's the short moment you get and once it's past it's past. You could get much more resale than SSR direct and since you already are not happy with the amount of points that's not sounding real good and possibly like a very expensive spur of the moment mistake until you can evaluate all the options and make a decision based on more information. The guide will still be there to sell in a few weeks or months and you can get a little more piece of mind.

 

[Msmithmd]

...As I mentioned before, we looked into this 8 years ago when the points were half of what we paid for them. Which made us sick. I didn't want to wait even 2 more years for fear of what the increase may be.

SSR resale is going for $70-80 a point. So it's selling for not much more than half of what you paid TODAY, for not very much effort at all.

Even if you just bought 100 points, your savings would be $5000-6000. Agree with other posters that it is at least worth you spending some time considering.