Is the DVC Worth It

[danste]

Hi everyone,

We were just in DisneyWorld last week for the first time and had a great time. We went to DVC sales center and sat through the presentation. It sounds good, but we aren't sure if it is for us or not. From reading through the archives it sounds like people are pretty happy with the DVC.

Is there any bargaining on the price of the DVC? We were told that we have three days to decide and take advantage of a $750.00 discount. Is that really the way that it works?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
First time in Disney and loved it

 

[bobbiwoz]

Am glad you had a nice time and are considering DVC. We just bought this year, at BWV, and I'm sure you need some answers from someone who bought at SSR, and they'll be coming.

I just wanted to welcome you to these boards!

Bobbi

 

[PamOKW]

Even during the downturn in the economy and travel, DVC has been selling. There is no negotiating on the price with Disney. Everyone is offered the same deal. There was a recent report that they are very stringent about enforcing the "3 day" policy on the discount they offer at WDW. You can also purchase the resorts that are already open from individuals on a resale basis. Here, you will find room to negotiate. Of course, SSR is not yet available on the resale market. SSR also has a longer timespan than the other resorts.

Right now, I haven't got time to go into depth but I'm sure you'll soon be getting lots of posts here with valuable information to help make your decision. I've owned DVC for over 10 years and it has been the best purchase I've ever made. If you think you will be returning to Disney once every year or two (or more) and would be staying in a moderate or better resort, your costs will probably be about the same and your accomodations will be spectacular.

 

[Battleship Bob]

Welcome danste!!!

You came to the right place for answers.....unfortunately, I'm probably not the one to answer most of them ......I'll leave that to the experts.

 

[dianeschlicht]

WE have been VERY happy with DVC. We have owned for 7 years, and only traded out once (to Hawaii), so you can see we never tire of going to WDW! Think of it as a prepaid annual vacation. IT is, after all a timeshare. Most timeshares operate in a similar way, but DVC is a lot easier than most. For a discounted price, you would have to do the resale market.

 

[Disney Enthusiast]

My husband and I have been on the fence for 8 yrs and we finally took the plunge and are thrilled. I can't tell you much about the resorts themselves because we haven't had our first trip home yet, but I can tell you it was a good investment for us in terms of money and memories. The rule of thumb on the boards is: If you think you will be visiting at least every 2 yrs and will be staying at a Deluxe Resort (in the case of my husband and I),then it is a good investment and a great savings. We used to enjoy the concierge hotels, and ate out a lot, but now that we have kids, a washer/dryer, fridge, and microwave are extremely important to us. So if you have children, or if you plan to eat in a lot, the DVC is an excellent idea. There are some links to the actual financial reports on the DVC which my husband found helpful in making his final decision. Our children are very young and we look forward to many years w/ the family in our "home". And when they are grown, as empty nesters, I am sure we will still find the DVC a wonderful place to visit. So if I can answer any questions for you regarding our decision making process just let me know.

As far as making the deal w/ Disney, I am pretty sure that pricing is final. They don't dicker w/ you or anything, you either want to buy thru them or not. The 3 day time limit is a consequence of the tour you went on. I don't know why they do it that way, but anyone who goes on a tour, has 3 days to make a decision. A phone call would not have the same result. The rebate has been lowered a bit I think since the Oct 31 deadline of $10, which you might have just missed. I don't know how long they'll have the one you are getting, but you might want to check.

You can also buy resale from another owner. The prices are lower but there are closing costs involved, approx $500 to $700. There are pros and cons for buying thru both a resale and Disney and I am sure the DIS boards can give them to you. If you are looking at SSR though, you get a 50 yr timeshare.... more than any other resort, so that is a plus for buying there.

I just bought thru Disney at SSR 200 pts and I was very pleased w/ the transaction. There are no hidden costs. The price is the price and what I owed in the balance was exactly what they told me. Any extra closing costs or taxes or services are handled by Disney.

Hope this helps get you started on making a decision. I know many of the people on the boards are pleased w/ their timeshare and there is a thread asking if anyone regrets their purchase, and the answers were a resounding, "No Way!" I think most people on these boards are very pleased they took the plunge. Let me know if I can answer any other questions for you. Good luck!!!

 

[crisi]

We are very happy, but it is important to know if you are a "Disney" person or not. I'm glad you had a great time - will you get burned out on it? (it happens) Do you want to go back for kids, or for yourself? How often? How old are your children? What will your travel patterns be? What vacations will you give up to spend your vacations at Disney? Will the parks be as enchanting when you've ridden the attractions dozens of times apiece? Are you the type to take advantage of Disney's other recreation activities if and when you don't want to spend as much time in the parks?

I think DVC is a great deal for people who go to Disney a lot - and am slightly dismayed at Disneyphiles who don't own DVC. But at the same time, newbies who buy in after their first vacation also slightly dismay me. I know people who have burned out on it. But it isn't getting any cheaper to buy DVC - and the resale I bought eighteen months ago for $63 a point would now sell for a minimum of $68 (which wouldn't cover a resale commission, but I'd come at least close to a break even). Not that you should buy DVC as an investment, but it is nice to know that if it isn't for you, reselling it is pretty easy and you won't have to fire sale it to get rid of it.

There are trading opportunities with DVC, but the best "deal" on your points is using them within the DVC system. So I would recommend buying DVC to spend your points at DVC resorts - not to go to Doral or cruise.

 

[MAC3]

The only time I'm disappointed is when I run out of points.

We Love it!

Welcome to the Dis!

 

[Lexxiefern]

I think it is definately worth it (my DH thinks it is a rip-off but who cares what he thinks). I bought in for these reasons:

-so I can go to disney every year without having to beg my DH to go. Now we pick our dates and go.

-we locked in on today's rates for our vacations for the next 38 years.

-we get to stay in better accomodations (sp?) Everyone on this board warned me about how wonderful the 1 bedrooms are and WOW were they right! I now feel like I am on vacation when I stay in one.

-no more looking for discount codes for the disney hotels.

Those are the main reasons we joined. We have been "home" twice so far and have at least 3 trips planned for 2004. If you plan on going to disney annually, the vacation club is for you. Good luck with your decision!!

 

[Merilyn]

DVC is worth every penny of the money. It is certainly not the cheapest timeshare, but it is the best. We have traded to several Marriott's and they are very nice, but they too are expensive. We used to take a trip every year and spend a whole lot of money renting homes, etc. We now take 2 trips a year and stay at very nice places, OKW, BWV, several Marriotts and hotels in Washington and NYC. We have traveled to CA also. The cost is not nearly as much as we were already spending for 1 trip, now we can take two. You don't have to go to the parks to have fun at WDW, but we usually do. It is a resort that has everything in one place. We love the HH and VB locations and haved stayed at both. We even bought more point to VB. We own at OKW and have been members since 1994. We love DVC!!!! We have added points 5 times, so try and decide what you want when you buy the first time. Think ahead to family size and needs. You can always bank into next year if you don't need the points one year or borrow into this year if you do. Good luck with you decision and maybe soon we can WELCOME YOU HOME!

 

[n2mm]

Thanks for the info also as we too are thinking of becoming part of the family. But there has to be downsides. Could anyone out there let us know the downsides.....

We go to WDW 4-6 times a year so are big Disney fans and are tire of people asking us why we don't belong. Mostly because DH is a CM and we get a great rate, but we know he won't always be a CM so need to start looking towards the future. I do know that there is a small discount for CMs too, so maybe it's time--or at least it was time about 5 years ago.

 

[crisi]

Downsides:

The upfront costs are pretty steep.

Points are "use 'em or lose 'em." You can bank and borrow but there are rules surrounding them.

You will be tied to Disney for the length of the contract (unless you choose to resell it). If Disney makes really stupid management decisions, you are stuck.

Canceling a reservation on short notice puts the points into holding. Holding is a pretty restrictive situation.

Dues are reasonable (in my opinion) but must be paid yearly. Don't think its the upfront costs and you are done. Dues may go up.

There are some pretty complex rules regarding banking and borrowing and use year and holding. They really aren't too hard to understand once you get the hang of them, but this isn't a program for someone who doesn't want to do some of their own account management and take time to understand the rules.

DVC works best if you are a pre planner. Rooms are best booked 11-8 months out at your home resort and as soon as the seven month window opens if you want a different resort. If you are flexible, something can usually be found on shorter notice, but its possible to try and book a month out and have all the resorts completely at capacity. The pre-planning also helps because you will soon discover you need to do it to bank and borrow appropriate - sometimes planning years in advance in order to have three years worth of points available.

DVC isn't a great timeshare for doing things other than going to Disney. Trading is apparently pretty good, but the "collections" Disney offers aren't the best use of points and are negotiated yearly. So if you are buying to cruise, or to stay at Stowe, this may not be your best choice.

Disney often seems to "forget" about DVC members. We don't get great discounts.

On the discount front, your room is paid for. So if Disney releases a great deal (like the FTP), you can certainly take advantage of it, but you'll still have those points.

Weekend nights cost a lot of points. So do holidays. (And lets not go into holiday weekends....)

Many of us feel like we are getting a great deal. Many of us also feel we spend far more money at Disney post DVC than pre-DVC.

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by n2mm
I do know that there is a small discount for CMs too, so maybe it's time--or at least it was time about 5 years ago.

Actually there's a fairly substantial CM discount--something on the order of 15-20% if memory serves. If you're vacationing at WDW that frequently, I'd strongly suggest you consider DVC. Even if you don't purchase enough points to cover your typical yearly traveling plans, at least get your foot in the door while that sort of a discount is available. There's absolutely no reason why you couldn't take 2-3 DVC trips per year, along with another 2-3 under your CM discounts.

 

[PamOKW]

For someone who is going to WDW 4-5 times per year and expects to continue to visit WDW regularly, I don't see a downside. Throw in that (I think) 15% CM discount on purchase and it's almost a "no brainer". With so many different DVCs now at Disney the thought of being tied to any one resort is also out the window --- length of time is back to 50 years with a purchase at SSR --- downside? downside? can't think of one yet. Sarcasm aside, if you haven't yet stayed at one of the DVC resorts I think you should at least experience a stay in a 1 or 2 bedroom and then come to a decision.

 

[Bill K]

Simply put YES!!!

 

[belle3]

We too, struggled with the decision and I think analyzed it to death in the 72 hrs. after the tour...we were facing the phase out of the 10.00 discount, as well, so it was a lot of internet searching and reading up before we took the plunge. We visit about 2-3 times a year and I have gotten some great accomodations (houses, condos, Disney properties), but I am constantly searching for them and I was getting pretty tired of it.. I think the reason we went for it was the financing (need the tax break, didn't want an equity loan), the 50 year lease, and it seems we are all Disneyholics at heart ( of course DH absolutely denies this!). I know I just wanted to be a part of it all and the timing was right for us now. We looked at resale, but the term difference of 12 years- or price per point per term was much better with SSR! We did hedge our bets and went with two 150 point contracts instead of one 300 point contract-gives us a little flexibility later on.
Just sent the contract in yesterday, and so far, no regrets!
Think about the points you want carefully now though, as the discount may not be there in the future if you decide you need additional points!

 

[bobbiwoz]

belle3, WELCOME HOME!!

Bobbi

 

[d-r]

One happy surprise for us, looking back, with the cm discount is that they took the 15% off the $84, before they took the $10 off, then took off the $10. We didn't know that until afterwords, but it worked out to something like 61.40 a point irrc, and that is a great deal. If you are planning to go to wdw once a year or every other year, it would be hard to pass that up. That is brand new 50 year points for a good deal less than most re-sell points -

 

[n2mm]

Thank you for all of the great information you guys are providing us newbies. As I read each post, you continue to answer more and more questions, and even questions I hadn't even though of.

One more question. What type of financing do you recommend. I did hear that Disney's (or the company they use) is a high finance charge, and have heard others going with equity loans....any thoughts on these financial type questions?? Interest tax deductible?

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by n2mm
One more question. What type of financing do you recommend. I did hear that Disney's (or the company they use) is a high finance charge, and have heard others going with equity loans....any thoughts on these financial type questions?? Interest tax deductible?

Home equity will probably get you the most competitive interest rate. I've heard of rates under 4% recently. Some people prefer not to go that route because you are truly putting your home at risk, but that's a decision for your family to make.

The lowest rate you will get through DVC for 10 yrs is 9.75%. I understand that rate is very competitive in the timeshare world, but still quite a bit higher than home equity.

If you only own one home (this would be your 2nd), the interest on your purchase is most likely tax deductible, as is the property tax component of your annual dues. But you should always consult with your tax advisor before making any assumptions.