Is DVC worth it for us?

[GrandmaPooh]

We usually go to WDW once a year or every 18mths. We have gone on a cruise and are planning another one. We have family who are members and have been trying to talk us into it. It is me and DH, our kids are grown and we have one grandaughter....
any input?

 

[CMOORE185]

Do you like to stay in Deluxe resorts when you go?
Do you plan on using DVC primarily for WDW or DL?
As long as you answer yes to these two questions and intend on continuing to go to Disney for years to come it may benefit you to buy. Remember that if you like to go to value resorts or you may stop going to Disney in the future, it may not be worth it to buy.

 

[juncker]

You're going to find most people that hang out in these boards love Disney and DVC and are going to say that it's the greatest thing since Velcro. I'm one of them, and from what you describe, I think that you are probably a good match.

In my opinion, the ideal family for DVC would start with a love for visiting Disneyworld (and Disneyland). They like to stay on property and enjoy larger rooms with no problem committing to vacations to Disney at least every 2-3 years. The more you want to visit, the better fit, but also the higher number of points needed. Money in the bank to purchase the initial points is certainly the best way to go. Paying the annual maint. fees is expensive without having a loan payment to go along with it as well. Occasionally, the ideal family may want to use their points for DCL or other RCI trade outs, but the primary use is to stay at DVC properties. Their travel party size may vary at times requiring only a Studio, while other times they need the added space of a 2-bedroom or Grand Villa.

A bad match for DVC in my eyes would be a family that has very little money saved up to purchase the initial contract and needs to finance the bulk of it. Their plans are to use the Cruise Line options and RCI tradeouts for the majority of their points and plan to rent out other points and they have no desire to commit to regular Disney vacations. When they do like to visit, they prefer the onsite value properties, or even off Disney property.

Only you can decide which is right for your family though. If you do think that you're a match, make sure that you research Direct vs. Resale. You can save a ton of money going resale, but will add some limitations to your options. Resale does allow you to purchase any DVC property as your home. Direct will try and drive you towards the currently offered properties, but you can get on a wait list to get the right resort for you. Regardless, you won't go wrong if you purchase your home resort to be a place that you like to stay at. Good Luck!

 

[crisi]

In addition to CMoore's questions, a few more.

Do you "need" to stay onsite? There are great deals on offsite timeshares

Are your vacations planned seven or more months out? DVC works best for planners

Are you fine with a "timeshare" rather than a hotel? Know and understand the differences.

Do you like getting deals? Deals (like free dining) aren't offered to guests staying on points

Are you willing to make a lengthy commitment to the vacation patterns of your past? Even if Disney changes? This is a long term thing and some people who loved the Adventurer's Club still really haven't gotten over its loss. (Some of us still mourn Mr. Toad's Wild Ride).

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you like cruising more than going to the parks or you like to cruise frequently, DVC is a very expensive way to cruise.

 

[GrandmaPooh]

Thanks for all the info. You guys are great.
Well, to answer some of the questions:
Yes, we must stay onsite and prefer a moderate or deluxe. We cannot see going to WDW and NOT staying on property.
I loved the cruise, but that seems like maybe a thing we would do every 3 to 5 years or so.
We will probably go to WDW a lot since our granddaughter is not even 3 yet, so years to come

Thanks again!!!

 

[BobH]

We are grandparents as well. Our grand daughter is 2 years old and we have ben owners at Old Key West for 11 years. It works out for us because it allows us to take our grown son & daughter and their families along on what would otherwise be expensive vacations that they (and we) would probably choose not to take. We have 240 points that we paid cash for and have taken a Christmas time trip to WDW in 2009 that would have cost about $7000 if we had paid the standard rack rate of the rooms. That year our maintenance dues were about $1100 so our out of pocket costs were very manageable vs the cost of taking the whole family and paying out of pocket. Last summer we took everyone to Hilton Head for a vacation that would have cost us about 4 times what we paid in maintenance dues. That being said you have to be somewhat committed to the Disney experience and realize that the current timeshare market like all real estate markets is declining and you have to be committed to paying the maintenance dues and to vacationing primarily on Disney properties.. We feel we are getting a good value for the money. Good luck with your decision.

 

[dmoore22]

In our situation we have to agree with BobH 100%. We are now grandparents with a 4 year old granddaughter and 1 year old grandson. We have been in DVC for nearly a decade and can sing the mantra of other DVCer's "I wish we had joined sooner." Obviously every family's situation is different which could impact the appropriateness of DVC for them. I can only speak from our situation. When we first joined DVC we were not grandparents. Five of our six of our children were still at home. We had quite a spread (still do) in ages ranging from 7 years old to 29 years at that time. We are a pretty close knit family so we still vacationed with all the kids, or rather they vacationed with us. If we weren't camping we found ourselves renting two rooms. Even at an AS resort it was still pretty pricey. We became aware of DVC when we overheard another family talking about their DVC tour experience. I asked a few questions and then arranged for us to take the tour. Even after that I wasn't totally sold. Realize that, with the size of our family, extravagant vacations were few and far between. When I began pricing a future vacation, and found the best deals were always offseason, times we couldn't take off or pull the kids out of school, I began to research DVC more seriously. I explored the resale market and found a resale within our budget and followed up with an add-on. Again, I must qualify by stating in our situation we found that we were now spending what we did pre-DVC but our stays were twice as long. Some of our expenses actually decreased because we could prepare meals in our villa. No more renting two rooms! Little things like packing lighter because we had a laundry also made a big difference. Packing lighter meant more room for souvenirs for the trip home.

Fast forward to the present. Now we are grandparents. Not all of the kids travel us like they did in the past. However, now that I'm retired, and my DW is close to retirement, we have the flexibility of traveling during the off peak times and bringing along those kids/grandkids that can make it at that time. Being able to travel during off-peak means we are using fewer points. That has allowed us to increase our number of trips per year. We initially had buyer's remorse thinking that going to DVC/WDW would be boring. That has not been the case. We always experience something we have not experienced before when we visit our DVC home and WDW. After nearly ten years it stills works for us.

 

[OhioDVC]

If you vacation at WDW every year or so DVC is fantastic. You get better accommodations at a lower price. Just remember DVC is not perfect and there no such thing as pixie dust.

I've been a member for about 19 years and it has been the best thing I have ever purchased