Is Renting a good first step?

[mpfett]

I've gotten info from Disney and was wondering if renting was a good first step to try out the whole DVC thing. I'm very curious about DVC and have talked to a couple people who own and it sounds great, especially with a one year old. To those who have rented, is it an easy process?

 

[Sandisw]

I did not rent before becoming an owner, but we were 100% sure we wanted the program and the resort we bought, BLT.

If you are still in the research stage, renting and staying in a DVC villa is a great way to find out what you may or may not like. I have read many posts of people who did just that!

Good luck!!

 

[chalee94]

yes, it's a good first step.

here's a good place to start:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1669863

 

[yekcoh_99]

We bought a year ago in July. We had never rented and had only stayed at Value resorts and once at a moderate. We never took a tour. We had however visited several of the Deluxe resorts and fell in love with them. Personally, I don't know if you really need to "rent and try before you by". I undestand the logic behind the advice. However, we LOVE Disney and the idea of a Disney Deluxe Villa not being appealing or satisfying to us was a laugh. We knew we would love the accomodations. We knew we'd be ok without having daily mousekeeping. We viewed the 360 room tours and saw home movies on YouTube that people post up so saw many various resorts and accomodations that way.

We have 2 toddlers and know we want to take trips to Disney annually or every other year (worse case scenario). We bought a 150 point resale at BCV. We've stayed at AKV and are taking our first trip home next May. The upfront cost of $12.600 was steep, but we were able to pay it in full. Annual Maint Fee's are $750 (or thereabouts). Yes, they'll go up over the years, but we know we'll be taking annual trips (or as close to annual as possible) for the next 20+ years. We would never have been able to afford these beautiful accomodations had we not joined. We figure we'll recoup the upfront cost in about 7 years or so. And maint fees will go up, but could you stay in a regular Beach Club room for 7 to 10 nights for $750??? No Way. So worth buying in as far as we're concerned. We had a Savannah View at AKV on our last trip and our children LOVED it! If you LOVE Disney, Love the resorts and think you'll be taking many trips there over the years (atleast one every 2 years or so) then it might be a good thing for your family to buy in to. Definitely do your research first to make sure it's the right choice for your family. We did research for a while before making our decision. We absolutely LOVE our DVC and wish we'd bought in sooner. We already have addonitis!!

Good luck with your decision!!

 

[JWG]

I think renting is a fabulous idea. It's a great way to get deluxe accommodations at moderate (or slightly less) pricing and to experience the DVC experience. If you don't know if you'll be ok with lack mousekeeping or if you're a happy value user it's a good test.

Though really, it will only convince you it's a good idea.

 

[mickey&minniealways]

My sister was a dvc member. She let us use some of her points. Enough to stay at an OKW studio. We need a bigger place since we have kids. So we endend up renting to round it out. We have been hooked ever since. Fell in love with OKW right away. Loved all that space. Her home is VWL. After we went on about how much we liked OKW she decided to try it out on a trip without her DH. She took her kids and our mother. They called me the night they got there and it is now her favorite also. Once you stay at a dvc you may never want to go back to a value or moderate again. Renting was very, very simple.

 

[mdsd8700]

We too like a couple of the other posters didn't rent before we bought, but spent many vacations in Disney and only had stayed at deluxe resorts. Although we had never seen a studio or one bedroom villa we knew that the accomodations would be to our liking. As also stated here with the information you can get on various web sites you can get a good feel of what everything looks like and how it is layed out. For us it was always a matter of when we would buy, not "if" we would buy. Although we became members just a month or so ago. If you know that Disney is for you and you will continue to want to vacation there for a long time then I think just researching here as much as you can is fine. However if you really have the need to try it out, then go ahead and rent some points. For everyone it is different. Good luck and enjoy your research!

 

[mpfett]

Thanks everyone for their great points. A lot of people have referenced their previous stays at Values or Moderates. I guess I'm at a disadvantage for comparrison sake, we've never stayed on property. We've talked about it and we're pretty sure it's something we're going to do, but I think renting would be the final point to really put us over the top. Keep the info coming and thanks already.

 

[NewDCLGuy]

We rented before buying in. I think it the very best way to know if DVC is right for you, and gives a lot of insight on what to buy.

 

[joandegennaro]

We did 3 stays at CBR, 1-7 days and 2-14 days. This gave us a smiple hotel room with 2 double beds, fridge large enough to store a few drinks, left over dessert. While we were "doing the parks" trying to get the most of our expiring tickets the moderate rooms were fine. This past year we stayed in a studio at OKW and that is what finally tipped the scales for DH. I have wanted to buy in for a few years. Having the upgraded accomodations, 2 queen beds, large enough bathroom for 2 or 3 to be getting ready (teenage girls and their hair)
the larger fridge, micro, coffee maker and toaster allowed us to have breakfast, simple lunch and dinners in the room. Much more of a relaxing trip with DVC as you know you will be back!

 

[yekcoh_99]

Thanks everyone for their great points. A lot of people have referenced their previous stays at Values or Moderates. I guess I'm at a disadvantage for comparrison sake, we've never stayed on property. We've talked about it and we're pretty sure it's something we're going to do, but I think renting would be the final point to really put us over the top. Keep the info coming and thanks already.

I've stayed off site on one other occasion. NEVER AGAIN. Nothing against the other hotels or accommodations, but I personally found that when you stay on site at a Disney resort it creates a completely different and more magical vacation. When you leave the property to go back to a hotel, IMO, you leave the magic behind. When you stay on site at a Disney resort you're immersed in the magic 24/7 for your entire trip. It's like you never leave. It's so magical and wonderful. Once I experienced what it was like to be immersed in Disney I never considered staying off site again. Perhaps you will discover there's even more magic than you dreamed of once you sample staying on site.

Best of luck!!

 

[kim532]

I rented twice before buying. I don't think I would have bought in otherwise. I know this sounds petty, but I was concerned that not having housekeeping would bug me. We knew we would be going to Disney and that we would stay on-property in Mods or deluxes, but the thought of not coming in from the park to the clean room made me nervous. That is would make my vacation not as special.

After renting twice and understanding what the complete experience was at DVC, it is laughable that I was so concerned over housekeeping.

Now I am 100% satisfied with my purchase and hoping to add-on in a couple of years.

Kim

 

[MinnieGi]

We had already been to WDW several times staying at mods and deluxes b/4 we found out about DVC. We researched, talked it over, but DH still wasn't sure it was a good idea. So for that next trip I rented DVC points instead of booking through CRO - well that trip totally sold DH!!! He loved the one bedroom villa!! We just had DD back then and she was just a toddler but we knew we'd be vacationing at WDW and probably adding to our family so after we came back home we waited for a great resale contract on BWV and we bought in. That was about eight years ago!

 

[adminjedi]

was wondering if renting was a good first step to try out the whole DVC thing.

Here is an analogy for you:
It is like buying a house.
Step 1: talk to a mortgage broker and understand what you can afford.
Study the boards and the DVC literature to understand the numbers and decide if it is the right financial and vacation commitment for your family. That is the biggest part of the decision.

Step 2: use a realtor to view homes.
You can walk thru the resorts to get a feel for location and style. Tour the models to get a feel for the size and amenities of the villas compared to the regular resort rooms.

Step 3: choose the house that fits your budget, in the right school district, with the yard you like.
Buy the contract you can afford, for location and style/amenities you like.

I personally do not believe you need to stay in a room to figure that out. I mean, did you sleep in your house before you bought it or just walk thru the neighborhood and the open house? And, more importantly, you can stay in the room with cash, you do not have to rent points to understand DVC.

 

[jpolak]

For us it was only because DW was on the fence and I knew that once she went DVC there would be no going back.

 

[ercrbc]

It was for us! I grew up coming to Disney regularly but we had family in town and stayed OP. When DH and I decided to plan a trip last year I could not wait to stay onsite! I read about DVC and the villas and thought renting sounded like a great way to get the best room for the best price.

We were SO impressed with our trip, the room, AKV, everything. I came home and researched DVC and a few months later we started the resale process.

I highly recommend renting to see what you are buying into! I went through DVCrequest.com and it was easy, secure and WOW, what a room