Missouri Mark
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2004
- Messages
- 5
Interested in DVC...need help!!!
- Thread starter Missouri Mark
- Start date
I'm sure you will get more detailed responses later, but in a nutshell the "real story" most people here will give you is they wished they bought sooner. What I mean by this is they enjoy their DVC so much they are kicking themselves for waiting to purchase.
In our case, we didn't purchase until 2001 - were very leary of the whole timeshare thing. Now after our purchase and multiple trips in fantastic villas we are contemplating "adding on" to our points.
IMHO - Pros: Super accommodations, now forced to take a vacation, no more commando mode when @ Disney as we know we'll be back, ability to share with family.
IMHO - Cons: Initial buy-in $, 2042 expiration.
If you have specific questions, be sure to ask.
In our case, we didn't purchase until 2001 - were very leary of the whole timeshare thing. Now after our purchase and multiple trips in fantastic villas we are contemplating "adding on" to our points.
IMHO - Pros: Super accommodations, now forced to take a vacation, no more commando mode when @ Disney as we know we'll be back, ability to share with family.
IMHO - Cons: Initial buy-in $, 2042 expiration.
If you have specific questions, be sure to ask.
You're right Bojo. Been there since 1994 with 600 points. Don't regret it yet. I will be taking the member cruise with points and am REAL excited. They supposedly butter you up with all sorts of gifts and etcetera. Not to mention all of the DVC-heads that will be there.
We have been going yearly if not more to WDW up until we started cruising on points last year. Man does that eat them up, gulp. Couldn't be happier unless I had more points. However, at this level, Its debatable whether it would come in handy or keep me from going to other places that I would like to visit. i.e. Places that you can't go to on points. My definite plan is to go to Disney of a fashion every one to two years until the end of my contracts, with kids (and or their spouses when older) or not. Doubt that I ever will regret buying into DVC.
Bill
We have been going yearly if not more to WDW up until we started cruising on points last year. Man does that eat them up, gulp. Couldn't be happier unless I had more points. However, at this level, Its debatable whether it would come in handy or keep me from going to other places that I would like to visit. i.e. Places that you can't go to on points. My definite plan is to go to Disney of a fashion every one to two years until the end of my contracts, with kids (and or their spouses when older) or not. Doubt that I ever will regret buying into DVC.
Bill
Hi Mark and welcome to the DIS and the DVC boards.
There are a lot of answers to be found on the FAQ section of these boards.
Each person has a slightly different set of needs and requirements so those FAQ can only do so much. It's only by taking a good look at your own situation,needs and ambitions for future holidays will you be able to work out exactly how best (or if) DVC works for you. The parts in particular you'd need to look at are your vacation habits (i.e. room sizes, times of the year and days of the week) and work out how many points it's likelyto take to fill most of your requirements. Take into account you may not want to vacation EVERY year at WDW and therefore would be able to bank/borrow points. For example if you decide you'd need 225 points to cover your normal needs, but think you'd probably like to make two visits every three years you would probably find 150-170 points is going to be all you need to purchase. Notice the difference between weekday cost and weekends, if you can be flexible in your vacation and manage to avoid the high cost nights, again you can find you actually need to spend less $$ than you'd initially thought. If, like many people you'd fly in late on a Friday/Saturday night then by booking a motel for the night you arrive ( many people just grab something to eat and go to sleep anyway) and checking in early the next day to your DVC resort it can cut down on the points you'd need. Obviously it is more convenient just to check into one accommodation for the whole trip, but convenience has a cost (if you're talking about a DVC unit on a Friday/Saturday night it can be a pretty high cost). If you want to get the best financial deal out of DVC, you need to be a little flexible in your approach and be prepared to think outside the box at times. Many DVC members take this approach and sacrifice a little convenience for a points/$$ saving, many more members either have enough money it's not a consideration or just can't be bothered with what to them is just too much inconvenience. IMHO there's no right and wrong to this aspect, just what works for each individual group/family.
I've been looking for the "con" aspect of DVC for 11 years (since I bought in) and I still can't really find one. That doesn't mean it suits every family, but it has worked really well for mine.
There are a lot of answers to be found on the FAQ section of these boards.
Each person has a slightly different set of needs and requirements so those FAQ can only do so much. It's only by taking a good look at your own situation,needs and ambitions for future holidays will you be able to work out exactly how best (or if) DVC works for you. The parts in particular you'd need to look at are your vacation habits (i.e. room sizes, times of the year and days of the week) and work out how many points it's likelyto take to fill most of your requirements. Take into account you may not want to vacation EVERY year at WDW and therefore would be able to bank/borrow points. For example if you decide you'd need 225 points to cover your normal needs, but think you'd probably like to make two visits every three years you would probably find 150-170 points is going to be all you need to purchase. Notice the difference between weekday cost and weekends, if you can be flexible in your vacation and manage to avoid the high cost nights, again you can find you actually need to spend less $$ than you'd initially thought. If, like many people you'd fly in late on a Friday/Saturday night then by booking a motel for the night you arrive ( many people just grab something to eat and go to sleep anyway) and checking in early the next day to your DVC resort it can cut down on the points you'd need. Obviously it is more convenient just to check into one accommodation for the whole trip, but convenience has a cost (if you're talking about a DVC unit on a Friday/Saturday night it can be a pretty high cost). If you want to get the best financial deal out of DVC, you need to be a little flexible in your approach and be prepared to think outside the box at times. Many DVC members take this approach and sacrifice a little convenience for a points/$$ saving, many more members either have enough money it's not a consideration or just can't be bothered with what to them is just too much inconvenience. IMHO there's no right and wrong to this aspect, just what works for each individual group/family.
I've been looking for the "con" aspect of DVC for 11 years (since I bought in) and I still can't really find one. That doesn't mean it suits every family, but it has worked really well for mine.
DeeCee735
"How Do You Know of the Key?"
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2001
- Messages
- 3,891
The last post was a good example of trying to figure out what your needs will be and how to approach your purchase.
In short, each unit size and each night of the year has a specific points "cost". So taking a look at when you'd vacation and then looking at the points allotment charts will tell you how much you need for your vacation.
When we initially purchased we figured out how many points it would take for the time we like to go the most and the size of accommodation we would at least require and went with those amount of points. We bought in May with an October use year. Your Use Year is the month that your points renew each year (the 1st of that month). We also purchased directly from Disney, we didn't want to go thru resale, as this was our first ever timeshare purchase, but resales are an option - there is a link on top of these board pages for a resale company.
Anyway, banking and borrowing, which works much like other timeshares, (can bank points into one year ahead, can borrow points from one year ahead - thereby you can accumulate up to 3 years in points if you want to) contributes to the already flexible points based time share.
If you haven't already contacted a vacation guide at Disney, it would be a good way to get lots and lots of info on the specifics. They are very low key, won't be to pushy, ultimately the decision is yours and they respect that.
Good luck - it's certainly nothing we've ever had any regrets about! No second thoughts here! We love it, bought when we could afford it, so no wishing we could have bought sooner, got the home resort we still love the most, (even though at the time it was only the 2nd resort there and the only one available), and go whenever we want! Nothing bad about that
In short, each unit size and each night of the year has a specific points "cost". So taking a look at when you'd vacation and then looking at the points allotment charts will tell you how much you need for your vacation.
When we initially purchased we figured out how many points it would take for the time we like to go the most and the size of accommodation we would at least require and went with those amount of points. We bought in May with an October use year. Your Use Year is the month that your points renew each year (the 1st of that month). We also purchased directly from Disney, we didn't want to go thru resale, as this was our first ever timeshare purchase, but resales are an option - there is a link on top of these board pages for a resale company.
Anyway, banking and borrowing, which works much like other timeshares, (can bank points into one year ahead, can borrow points from one year ahead - thereby you can accumulate up to 3 years in points if you want to) contributes to the already flexible points based time share.
If you haven't already contacted a vacation guide at Disney, it would be a good way to get lots and lots of info on the specifics. They are very low key, won't be to pushy, ultimately the decision is yours and they respect that.
Good luck - it's certainly nothing we've ever had any regrets about! No second thoughts here! We love it, bought when we could afford it, so no wishing we could have bought sooner, got the home resort we still love the most, (even though at the time it was only the 2nd resort there and the only one available), and go whenever we want! Nothing bad about that
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