Is DVC for me?

[Sammie]

DVC is a good fit for those that will go to Disney at least every other year, for many, many years and need to stay in a one bedroom or two bedroom or grand Villa.

If you are happy with value or moderate resorts or even a deluxe resort room with a discount, DVC is not going to save you any money and will actually cost more.

We bought DVC in the 90s and paid less than $60 for our points. Now with all the discounts offered, the many members willing to rent for much less than what it costs to be a member, the dues that keep rising, I would not do it today.

Lately, honestly like Clarabelle we are getting tired of Disney. And we financially are locked into either using it or renting our points and then paying cash to travel elsewhere. It has become harder and harder due to everyone's job, to schedule a trip 11 months out, even 7 months out is hard.

Disney will lead you to believe it so easy to use your DVC elsewhere but that is not very accuarate.

It is easier and less expensive to use it elsewhere by paying cash than trading out.

I would recommend a small resale until you use it for a a few years to see how it fits your family.

As someone said even though our resort is provided for us through DVC, the dues are expensive, and it is expensive to get to Disney and then purchase food and tickets.

There are other places that would be less expensive to vacation.

If you truly want BCV or even BWV, buy there. I am sure BLT's dues will go up. For one thing BLT is not aging well. The couches are already showing major wear and tears.

 

[lrichardson]

I too held off buying into DVC but DH wanted to become a member in 1994 and now I can kick myself. We finally did buy in 2003 after going 6 years in a row and paying big bucks for rooms. It is the best thing we ever did. It is so nice to have a villa, washer/dryer and kitchen. Just love the home feeling. We did finance and we purchase 210 points which is enough to work with and our dues are $90 per month but it really hasn't been a hassle at all. We could not go last year due to work and our budget so I sold the points and that paid for all of the DVC expenses for last year. We bought at BCV and the reason was because they were just about sold out. So glad we got in because it is a great location and I never have trouble selling the points. Realistically you could sell 100 points a year and have your dues paid for. If you can't go one year due to budget then sell them and it will help pay for next year's trip. I say do it especially since you go each year. You will not regret it.

 

[lmshaggard]

It is so funny that you are looking for answers to this question as 8 years into our marriage and 2 children later and 3 trips to meet with a DVC guide, we finally did it. And since then, have purchased to contracts (260 pts). If you can afford to do it before children, by all means, DO IT!! I think it is funny that people worry about maintenance fees - even on 260, they are 85ish a month (we own at BLT and VGC). If I am worried about 85 a month, I shouldn't be planning Disney vacations to begin with. At 3%, they will go up 2.55 a month per year and so on and so forth. Our only regret was not doing it 8 years ago - would have saved us a TON of money in actual point cost, but I was also a cast member and would have gotten a huge discount It all goes back to the saying that hindsight is 20/20. PS - I have to clarify that I would live at Disney (Golden Oaks are calling my name) if I could - the fact that my little guys love it is just icing on the cake!!!

 

[RysMomma]

It's funny-DH and I are in the same boat as OP. I am a Disney nut and have gone several times. DH isn't as big of a fan as I am but he does enjoy it. He has only gone a few times. We have been married for seven years and now have two children-DS 2.5 and DD 3 months. We took a DVC tour last summer and we really did fall in love with it. And we talk about it A LOT. BUT, we also know that right now in our lives, we are just not ready for it. We live in NJ and our daycare costs are crazy. We are hoping though, that in a few years, we can reanalyze our situation and see where we are and perhaps buy in then. Whenever I went when I was younger, we always stayed at the value resorts and I know that we never had a problem there. But, I would love to take my family to a villa. I think that would be great and to do laundry and cook for them while we are there seems perfect. We'd love to be able to pay cash, so we're trying to save up. We knew last year when we went on the tour that we would be trying for baby number 2 a few months later (it happened 2 months later) so we knew we couldn't take the plunge then. But we are hoping that in a few years, we will be able to do it! For right now, we're just going to save up for a trip every few years, and hopefully, when we're ready to do it, we won't have any major concerns about it!

 

[high meadows]

We figured and re-figured, then bought 600 points when our youngest was 15. He has always loved Disney -- and then along came the other children's kids. Now, we take a grand trip every other year for all 11 of us.(sometime cousins and friends) Everyone counts on it, plans for it, enjoys it fully. The golfers golf and poke the alligators; the moms get some spa time; we have large laughing meals together. We have saved money on lodgings for years, made wonderful memories for all of us, and grown closer together. In my experience, those benefits are hard to find at most other resorts.

 

[lah3hh]

I wanted to add my few thoughts to this subject:

With DVC ownership there will be a break-even point. How long it takes you to reach your break-even point will vary from others based on how you travel and the accommodations you use. However if you keep renting....there will NEVER be a break-even point!

Yes you pay maintenance fees for items such as insurance, taxes and overal resort maintenance issues. But once your initial investment is paid for, you are then vacationing at a rate that no GOOD offer can touch. For example, the dues on BLT right now for 1 year on 160 points is a little over $600.00. Once your initial investment is paid for you will be going to Disney or other RCI locations for a week or longer or even a couple times a year for $600.00...in just a few years tell me rooms at a good deal will never match that amount!!!

Your DVC ownership (depending on which home resort you choose) can give you 50 years of vacations...what a wonderful 'gift' to pass along to others and share with others as children come along into your lives and grow up. Imagine the children you don't even have now will have their own children before your DVC ownership ends...what a wonderful legacy to pass onto future generations!!

OK, I better stop now because I am sounding too much like a DVC guide!!! LOL...

 

[DCLbrideSept2009]

DVC is a good fit for those that will go to Disney at least every other year, for many, many years and need to stay in a one bedroom or two bedroom or grand Villa.

This is exactly why we bought DVC. DH and I have 4 kids and the oldest always brings a friend. We did the first trip (since he and I have been together) in August 2009 and stayed in 2 rooms at Pop. Doable but not great and a little crowded! Then we went back for our honeymoon in September 2009, did the DVC tour and decided it was definitely for us! 2-bedroom villa with full kitchen... YES!! So our next trip with kids was March 2010 in a 2-bedroom villa at Kidani... AWESOME!! MUCH more room to spread out and the kitchen was really nice... usually did at least 2 meals a day in the villa.

 

[nolanboys]

This is exactly why we bought DVC. DH and I have 4 kids and the oldest always brings a friend. We did the first trip (since he and I have been together) in August 2009 and stayed in 2 rooms at Pop. Doable but not great and a little crowded! Then we went back for our honeymoon in September 2009, did the DVC tour and decided it was definitely for us! 2-bedroom villa with full kitchen... YES!! So our next trip with kids was March 2010 in a 2-bedroom villa at Kidani... AWESOME!! MUCH more room to spread out and the kitchen was really nice... usually did at least 2 meals a day in the villa.

Exactly! We are a family of 6 and stayed in 2 rooms at POFQ. It was fine, but we did not want to spend much time in the room. Our previous stay and next stay after that were in a 2 bdrm at OKW. We loved to relax there and really enjoyed the room - so we decided to take the plunge. We only bought 200 from resale for every other year trips and it helps keep the dues down as well. DH and I just returned from our first trip as owners - 3 nights is a 1 bdrm at AKV and 2 nights in a studio at BWV. We are not going to add on yet, but I could see adding on at AKV - we loved it. That and we learned that even when it's the 2 of us, we want the 1 bdrm. To us that's what sets DVC apart from a regular hotel stay. We are no longer park commandos - a coule of hours in the morning and then later afternoon/early evening. We love relaxing at the resorts in the afternoon.

 

[SabresFan]

Some random thoughts from somebody that will soon be a DVC owner (waiting to close on our 150 point SSR contract).

One thing about very young children is that in most cases, they don't much appreciate Disney World, can be easily overwhelmed by it, can be frightened by the characters (with huge plastic heads whose expresssions never change and they never speak), etc. So don't go in expecting your little tykes (when they are very little) will love it. Now, that doesn't mean YOU won't love having your little princess take a picture with Cinderella, but the princess won't care much one way or the other until she is at least 2 or 3, maybe even older.

Now, you also say you have gone every year for several years, and sound like you'd love to keep going. Compared to a Deluxe resort with a 25% discount, I think you can break even staying at a 1 BR suite versus the room at the Polynesian in 6 trips. If you stay in Studios, you can probably reach break even in 3 trips. (Yes, I know some times they offer 40% discounts, but it's not that easy to get that big of a discount, even if you have a PIN code, and once the economy improves, those discounts are likely to go away).

If you are comparing to a Moderate resort, it takes a lot more trips to break even. And compared to a Value resort, I don't think it is possible to break even.

Having DVC does take a lot of pressure off the "once in a lifetime" trips of Disney World. If you can go every year for a moderate investment, and you have lousy weather this year, or somebody gets sick, or you chicken out of Space Mountain at the last minute - no problem, we'll just come back next year like we always do.

Based on everything you've said, you certainly sound like good candidates for DVC. As for financing, I wouldn't even think of less than 25% down, and would greatly prefer to pay cash.

Also, even after you buy, you can supplement your points from rentals. And you are less at the mercy of the person renting you the points, since you can do a transfer of the points into your account - that way, you have the points to control and can do what you want with them (although I think you are limited to one transfer per year per contract). So that might be one way to minimize the initial investment while still moving you closer to ownership.

 

[westcoastsunshine]

Don't forget that the Hawaiian resort is being
offered now and it sounds incredible. I hope
to add on my membership with this one.

 

[dsneygirl]

Some random thoughts from somebody that will soon be a DVC owner (waiting to close on our 150 point SSR contract).

One thing about very young children is that in most cases, they don't much appreciate Disney World, can be easily overwhelmed by it, can be frightened by the characters (with huge plastic heads whose expresssions never change and they never speak), etc. So don't go in expecting your little tykes (when they are very little) will love it. Now, that doesn't mean YOU won't love having your little princess take a picture with Cinderella, but the princess won't care much one way or the other until she is at least 2 or 3, maybe even older.

I have to disagree. We bought DVC in the spring of 2005 right before I got pg with my son. I have lost track but I think he has gone 15 or 16 times since then (and 2 Disney cruises) he loves it and sharing it with him has been a joy. Even as a 10month old we had a ball with him.

At his kindergarten open house we found his painting because he had done a picture of himself and the caption was "...loves riding Goofy's Barnstormer"

We were about your age when we bought, knew we would be having a family and wanted to bring the grandparents along. I would never consider paying cash for a 2 bedroom but for the cost of dues we have done it many times and are again in Dec.