If you knew then what you know now?

[xmas16]

As I contemplate a DVC membership I'm also wondering if any of you current DVC owners would change anything about your purchase experience ? Any tips that you can offer a prospective buyer that you didn't get when you went through the process?

Steve

 

[DebbieB]

I wish I would have split my 250 points into 2 contracts of 150 and 100 (150 was the min at the tim). I would like to buy at GCV but I really don't need more points. If I would have split it, I could sell the 100 and buy 100 at GCV.

 

[stopher1]

As I contemplate a DVC membership I'm also wondering if any of you current DVC owners would change anything about your purchase experience ? Any tips that you can offer a prospective buyer that you didn't get when you went through the process?

Steve

I would have purchased more points from the get go at my initial home resort, instead of not and then adding on later at the same resort. Adding-on at another resort is okay, but I should have just gotten what we wanted at one time.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

I would have bought in YEARS earlier.

 

[stopher1]

I would have bought in YEARS earlier.

yeah, that too...

 

[wdwnut]

Me too! I would have bought OKW in 93 (instead of waiting for BWV) and had 7 years of free passes. Then I would have just done an add-on or two at BWV.

 

[AnnaS]

I would have liked to have bought a few years earlier and more points the first time (and split them - which I know I would not have known even then).

We have added on once at our first home resort, then we bought at BCV and then added on again at BCV.

 

[kaffinito]

I wish I had known that with a little bit of pressure I could have purchased my first resort choice of OKW. I'm not unhappy with BLT mind you, but I check every day for the right resale for OKW so I can add on there.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I would have purchased at least 5 years earlier and I would have purchased more points to begin with. We started out with a 230 point contract, and quickly discovered it was not enough, so we added a 150 point contract the next year. The good thing about doing it that way is that we ended up with smaller contracts instead of large ones. We also kept all of our points at one resort to make use more flexible. Now that we have the number of points we need, a small add on at another resort was possible.

 

[lisah0711]

I would have bought earlier and split my initial purchase of VWL into two smaller contracts.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[cheezNE1]

I would have split up into 2 different resort and not purchase the resort I have now.

 

[My5Mouseketeers]

I wish I had realized that Disney sales people are still "sales people" and will lead you to believe certain things are true when they are not. I had these "Disney would not mislead " blinders on and I shouldn't have.

My Sales Rep (who is gone now) knew we had 9 people in our party (my 7 plus my parents). Legal said to me "we won't tell you that you can have 9 people in a room, but I will say that Disney does not do head counts". After we bought we learned that you can not have 9 people in a room.

We have always been able to make it work by having friends at Disney at the same time where we put one person on their reservation and then had everyone sleep with.

I am still happy we bought and the THVs/AKV/ and BLT will all work for us even better.

 

[CarolA]

As I contemplate a DVC membership I'm also wondering if any of you current DVC owners would change anything about your purchase experience ? Any tips that you can offer a prospective buyer that you didn't get when you went through the process?

Steve

I would still buy.

One thing that I understood when I buy that I think other's don't... DVC is NOT a democracy. It's a dictatorship. Disney has ALL the power. If you can't deal with that and think that this is like a Home Owners Association then you are not going to be happy.

My other MAIN piece of advice. Take the "complaints, whining" on here and divide by 50% and then take with a grain of salt. Remember that most folks who don't have a problem don't bother to post "my room was fine, my stay was great etc" And once again we are back to "unrealistic" expectations, for example, the word "request" means just that. It does not mean "I asked for room X and Disney should throw the other guests out to make me happy"

I did do a lot of research and knew that I could do better resale and bought via a broker for the resort I wanted....

 

[JasonDVC]

Aside from knowing about it and buying earlier, or finding this site before we bought, I would have used my Developer points immediately. We found out my wife was preganat shortly after buying and decided to rent our DP's uinstead of using them. My advice, get the DP's (or now they are offering a cruise) and USE THEM.

 

[MikeNY]

We would have bought sooner and split our points between SSR and BWV.

 

[Disney Spaz]

I would have bought more points. And Make sure you buy where you really want to stay.

As much as I wish we had bought sooner I am happy with the resorts we bought into. I would also tour the area you are considering buying into. DH had always wanted OKW and has begged to add points there someday. But then we went to actually visit the resort and rode the bus through the resort. It gave DH a real sense of the size of the resort and now he has had a change of heart and wants to visit but not own there. I think when you buy make sure it is where you want to actually stay.

 

[Chuck S]

One thing that I understood when I buy that I think other's don't... DVC is NOT a democracy. It's a dictatorship. Disney has ALL the power. If you can't deal with that and think that this is like a Home Owners Association then you are not going to be happy.

Sounds just like some homeowners associations to me.

 

[mickeys girl 52]

I wish I bought so many years earlier, when my 2 children were young. I hate to think of all the $$$$ I spent through the years. But I enjoyed every minute so i can't complain. Now I get to enjoy Disney with the grandkids.

 

[kim_d]

We bought BCV in 2002. I wish I had known that DVC changes the way you vaction at WDW. We thought once a year at a studio (maybe a one bedroom once we had kids) would be ideal.

Now we go more than once a year (usually 2 or even 3 times) and want at least a one bedroom if not 2 bedroom (we have 2 children).

We ended up adding on in 2008.

 

[DeeCee735]

I'd have bought in split contracts to make it easier to will to my children evenly. I'd have bought more at the time or original purchase, not anticipating the prices to skyrocket, instead of small add-on's every few years at higher prices. I'd NOT have had one add on at AKV, I wish I bought that last add on in our original home resort of BWV because we own most of our points there, and with the new point allocation (as of 2010), 50 points in a different resort doesn't go as far as it would if it had been added to the 235 we own at BWV

That being said, I've become a master at point usage so those 50 points are getting me a savannah view studio for three nights each year with a couple of points left over, so I'm not actually complaining - I'm quite happy about it

Good luck with your decision and happy planning.