Is it worth purchasing DVC if you tour like this or is renting points more practical?

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

To me its all a bit confusing how it works as to if its worth it.

It seems like when you join you end up being restricted to certain dates or certain amount of days, or having to book x amount of months in advance...
I feel like you have to be a creature of habit.

But when it comes to Disney vacations we are not creatures of habit and don't want to "conform".
We never know when we are going to go until we know if that makes sense lol.
Like we don't go from May 15th-21st every single year.
We might go for 1 week in August this year and then 3 days in April next year and again in December for 4 days and the next year 6 days in October...etc.
We also don't ALWAYS plan months and months in advance.

With that type of pattern does it make sense to spend the base of $17,500 (No way would we pay any more to get more points/perks) plus yearly dues and any other costs to join?

Or based on how we like to just go when we want and not be restricted would it be a better option to just rent DVC points if we want to experience it? (I hear renting points is a good way to stay deluxe without the deluxe price too?)

 

[disneynutz]

DVC reservations fill up fast, doesn't matter if you use your points or rent, booking at 11 months will get you what you want where you want it. If you buy, you will need to buy points for that resort, if you rent, you need to find an owner who owns that resort.

You can book later, at 7 months everyone can book everywhere so it's a run for the best resorts.

Bill

 

[_auroraborealis_]

As stated above: Owning or renting, if you're not booking 7-11 months out, it's a bit of a gamble. I certainly wouldn't buy retail points (looks like your $17,500 number is based on 100 points at Copper Creek) if home resort isn't in play 90%+ of the time.

In low season, you might find yourself getting Saratoga or OKW on the regular, but buying retail points for that is ridiculous.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

DVC reservations fill up fast, doesn't matter if you use your points or rent, booking at 11 months will get you what you want where you want it. If you buy, you will need to buy points for that resort, if you rent, you need to find an owner who owns that resort.

You can book later, at 7 months everyone can book everywhere so it's a run for the best resorts.

Bill

If I were to rent I'd go through the popular website that I am not sure if we are supposed to discuss on here but I've been able to put in whatever date I want and have no problem finding availability so I feel like it would be a non issue to suddenly decide I want to go in 1 month.... Of course I could be way off base there since I don't know much about the subject.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

If I were to rent I'd go through the popular website that I am not sure if we are supposed to discuss on here but I've been able to put in whatever date I want and have no problem finding availability so I feel like it would be a non issue to suddenly decide I want to go in 1 month.... Of course I could be way off base there since I don't know much about the subject.

No, you are not seeing availability. You are seeing pricing. To actually find out if there is availability, you have to contact them and commit and send a deposit. You could try phoning them. I know they are very helpful.
It definately sounds like buying DVC is not for you. You really need to be able to plan more than 7 months out. It runs at 95% capacity, and there just are generally not open rooms for you to grab when the whim hits you.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Oh ok I see. Well that is disappointing to me all the way around.

 

[disneynutz]

The popularity of the DVC rooms makes short dated reservations difficult. There are just X amount of rooms, some more popular than others, they start filling up at 11 months. At 60 days prior to check in DVC can give room to Disney for cash reservations so the availability list gets even shorter, at this time you will be booking based on luck or getting a rooms that others didn't want. The early bird gets the worm.

Bill

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

So I guess I should just stick to what I've been doing as it sounds like neither buying or renting is practical for me.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The calculators on every DVC rental agency's site have disclaimers that they only show point values, not availability.

It's very common we see people price out, say, AKV Value, 3 months out, and ask if they should switch from Pop, then find out that the calculator has no relationship to bookable inventory and those AKV Value Studios were gone 8 months back.

 

[CarolMN]

If you can't or won't plan more than 7 months in advance most of the time, don't buy DVC. You will end up disappointed more often than not.

I would not discourage renting as an option. There is no long-term financial commitment. If what you want isn't available when you are ready to book, you always have the option to book for cash as yo do now. All you lose is a little time and you may get what you want for a better price. It will mostly depend on the type of unit and the dates you want to stay.

 

[crisi]

Oh ok I see. Well that is disappointing to me all the way around.

Nope. It isn't for you one way or the other.

DVC is a timeshare. To economically work for Disney they had to sell enough points to book the timeshare year round - timeshares that don't sell out have financial problems. That means that by the time I check into my room next March, the resort will be full - there might be a room or two not occupied due to maintenance, there might be someone who cancels last minute - but its going to be full.

As an owner, I'm in competition with all the other owners for the in demand rooms at the in demand times. So some rooms, for some times of year, will fill up right when the eleven month window opens - if you don't own there, you don't have a chance (with a few rooms even owning there they can be difficult to book at eleven months). Other rooms and other times of year, rooms might take longer to fill up - but generally by three or four months out, you have to be pretty lucky to string together an entire week in a single resort in a studio - and during the last quarter of the year, that point of occupancy happens much earlier.

There are just enough rooms to go around for members, and not many members want to be at Hilton Head in Feburary - so its a little like a game of musical chairs where you need to move fast.

 

[Dean]

So I guess I should just stick to what I've been doing as it sounds like neither buying or renting is practical for me.

No, unless you can plan at least 7 months out, owning is a very poor choice. Renting can still be a reasonable choice if there's availability.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

DVC is a timeshare.

As an owner, I'm in competition with all the other owners for the in demand rooms at the in demand times. So some rooms, for some times of year, will fill up right when the eleven month window opens - if you don't own there, you don't have a chance (with a few rooms even owning there they can be difficult to book at eleven months).

There are just enough rooms to go around for members, and not many members want to be at Hilton Head in Feburary - so its a little like a game of musical chairs where you need to move fast.

The "musical chairs" analogy is a good one.

 

[Disneypapa]

Unless you can plan at least 7 months out, owning is a very poor choice. Renting points from DVC owners may or may not work depending on time of year when you decide you want to go.

 

[WRLeGrand]

Basically, DVC is a chance to stay in moderate to deluxe resorts for a fraction of the cost. It may not seem that way when you simply focus on $17,500 and the yearly maintenance fees as an "upfront" expense, or one large sum. However, it you amortize the cost of the points and fees over a 50 year period (which is what you buy) it quickly makes financial sense for a lot of people, myself included. This is especially the case when my family gets to stay at our home resort, the Polynesian (for instance). We went the week after Thanksgiving in 2016 and had two Theme Park View Studios. We booked at 11 months of course. We immediately looked at the "cash" price of a similar room, same view, and the cost would have been $12000 plus for two rooms for a week. Never in a million years would we have paid that for two rooms and likely would have been staying at a Value Resort instead if we didn't have DVC.

It is not for everyone of course, but there are tremendous "savings" in some people eyes. With that comes trade offs. The most glaring of these is that you really do need to be prepared to book at your "home" resort at the 11-month window. DVC is not really for the spontaneous crowd. As mentioned above, you should buy where you want to stay. Of course it is frustrating to not be able to plan a trip later in the process from time to time, but we knew the rules when signing up.

Good luck and hopefully whatever you decide works out for you and your family!

 

[Deb & Bill]

... However, it you amortize the cost of the points and fees over a 50 year period (which is what you buy) it quickly makes financial sense for a lot of people, myself included. ...

You get 50 years if you buy new now. But all the other resorts have fewer than 50 years left on the contract.

 

[Dean]

Basically, DVC is a chance to stay in moderate to deluxe resorts for a fraction of the cost. It may not seem that way when you simply focus on $17,500 and the yearly maintenance fees as an "upfront" expense, or one large sum. However, it you amortize the cost of the points and fees over a 50 year period (which is what you buy) it quickly makes financial sense for a lot of people, myself included. This is especially the case when my family gets to stay at our home resort, the Polynesian (for instance). We went the week after Thanksgiving in 2016 and had two Theme Park View Studios. We booked at 11 months of course. We immediately looked at the "cash" price of a similar room, same view, and the cost would have been $12000 plus for two rooms for a week. Never in a million years would we have paid that for two rooms and likely would have been staying at a Value Resort instead if we didn't have DVC.

It is not for everyone of course, but there are tremendous "savings" in some people eyes. With that comes trade offs. The most glaring of these is that you really do need to be prepared to book at your "home" resort at the 11-month window. DVC is not really for the spontaneous crowd. As mentioned above, you should buy where you want to stay. Of course it is frustrating to not be able to plan a trip later in the process from time to time, but we knew the rules when signing up.

Good luck and hopefully whatever you decide works out for you and your family!

Because the later years have less value and more risk it often doesn’t make sense for the RTU expiration alone. Certainly just the act of getting the longer contract doesn’t automatically compensate for the higher price. It is a factor in the value but it’s absolutely not something you can take the price and divide by the length and get a true picture. It’s likely only affects the true value at all for the 2042 resorts. Plus I wouldn’t put expiration as the main issue even if it affects value negatively. I think home resort and usage preferences are more important. SSR will be the best $$ value as a balance of buy in, fees and RTU but it’s not for everyone. The one issue related to RTU otherwise is with OKW. Being an owner there past 2042 is a little $$$ risky IMO.

 

[WRLeGrand]

You get 50 years if you buy new now. But all the other resorts have fewer than 50 years left on the contract.

Which is why if you purchase at resale, their price is much less than what it would be to make a similar purchase directly through DVC.

It is an "argument" or "debate" that has no right or wrong answer, it is really what works for each person. Our contract at Poly was purchased from DVC so it has 50 years from the start. We found tremendous value in having 50 years of stays at a Deluxe Resort close to MK. The "math" we did in our heads shows that we will save a great deal of money and know we have accommodations were are happy with for 50 years. Tough to beat that for my family...but for the reasons I mentioned before, I can understand some of the drawbacks as well. Sure, I would love to decide sometimes 4 months in advance and go to ANY DVC resort, but that is just not the way it works...

 

[Dean]

Which is why if you purchase at resale, their price is much less than what it would be to make a similar purchase directly through DVC.

It is an "argument" or "debate" that has no right or wrong answer, it is really what works for each person. Our contract at Poly was purchased from DVC so it has 50 years from the start. We found tremendous value in having 50 years of stays at a Deluxe Resort close to MK. The "math" we did in our heads shows that we will save a great deal of money and know we have accommodations were are happy with for 50 years. Tough to beat that for my family...but for the reasons I mentioned before, I can understand some of the drawbacks as well. Sure, I would love to decide sometimes 4 months in advance and go to ANY DVC resort, but that is just not the way it works...

$$$ wise there are ways to compare, the objective part is all we can reasonably discuss. One’s personal preferences are just that, personal.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

So this thread has dissolved into thing I don't at all get lol.
Anyways... So its possibly a better price/value if I were to purchase a resale vs directly?
Basically I'd just be buying and paying for whatever is left on the contract?