Looking for advice from DVC owners and experts!

[ChicaSonne]

Hello! This is a really general and broad question, but I am looking for help as to whether our family should consider DVC/ where we should go to buy/ and which location would be ideal. My husband and I just planned our 3rd WDW trip in 3 years, and it occurred to us that we are paying a lot out of pocket and DVC may be worth considering. As for our family, we have 3 young children. A 5 year old, almost 3 year old, and an infant. (Thats it.. no more coming.. lol) So we are a family of 5. We've stayed at the Wilderness Lodge when down there, and loved it. This year we are headed to the Poly and trying out the Club Level Service. We definitely lean towards the higher end deluxe resorts, and having the kids club available as well as the perks of the Club Level lounge really appeal to us. We are willing to spend a little for convenience on vacation. I guess my question is; should we just stick with the extravagant expense of once a year club level resort stays? Would DVC make more sense.. and if so, what point range should we be looking at? We ideally would take 1 weeks vacation per year.
Also- when you buy points, are you buying them only for a certain resort? IE: If we bought Poly points, that is the only place we could use them? Im quite knowledgeable of Disney planning in general, but a little "green" when it comes to how the whole DVC thing works.

 

[disneynutz]

DVC really doesn't have club level so that will be an issue. Renting reservations from DVC owners will allow you an inside look at the DVC units and yes you should buy where you love to stay.

Bill

 

[ChicaSonne]

Oh yes, I do understand about no club level- other than it appears AKL. Where does one go to look at renting from a DVC owner?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

If you want to stay Club Level regularly, DVC is not a good fit. Only one resort has any DVC Club Level at this time, and the number of units available is extremely limited and highly competitive to book.

I recommend doing a lot of reading. Poly points can be used places other than Poly, but won't be allowed to book those places until people who own points at those places get 4 months' head start. Poly DVC does not offer a Club Level.

 

[chalee94]

Where does one go to look at renting from a DVC owner?

http://www.dvcrequest.com/

plan to do a lot of research before you commit to buying in. look at the point charts for the different resorts for the different times of year to get a sense of how many pts you would need. be aware that there is both an upfront cost for DVC (like buying a house) and an ongoing annual dues commitment (like HOA fees, landscaping service, plumbing repairs, etc.).

DVC also typically requires a lot of planning in advance to get what you want, so it can be very different from the hotel experience. Also true of the sofabeds and make-your-own-beds and take-out-your-own-trash mindset for the villas.

It can be a great way to do WDW but you need to understand the tradeoffs.

 

[Deb & Bill]

You can also check the DVC Rent/Trade Board on the DIS for owners who are renting their points. You can respond to their message and ask them to book for you and you pay them their asking price. They own the reservation until you check in, but they should be able to provide a reservation number that you can enter into My Disney Experience. Once you have logged into the DIS, you can see the Rent/Trade Board.

 

[gr8tdame]

My advice is if you plan to go to WDW annually buy or rent DVC. We made the big mistake of thinking we would"t go every year but it became a tradition. If we had bought Dvc in the beginning it would have paid for itself 4X over.
We just finally bought Dvc this year and we figure it will have paid for itself after 5 trips.
Buy where you want to stay..

 

[Dream big]

We just recently bought (in the process of buying) resale and I can say that these boards have been so helpful in deciding if this was a good fit or not. I also called Disney and spoke with a dvc salesperson who explained the ins and outs. Basically you can book your home resort 11 months out and any other resort 7 months out. So if you prefer a certain hard to book resort, it's best to buy there. Check out the points sheets to determine how many points you will need for where when and how long you want to stay for the different room options. To calculate your savings, take the price per point divided by the number of years left on the contract. Add the maintenance fee (around $6 per point). That is how much you are really paying per point. Multiply that by the number on the point chart to find the price per night you are paying at DVC. A studio at Animal Kimgdom is like $150 per night instead of $400+ rack rate. With a family of 5 you will be limited in where you can do studios and one bedrooms so just look at that. Although, as they get older you'll be limited in what hotels allow 5 people!

 

[Dean]

Hello! This is a really general and broad question, but I am looking for help as to whether our family should consider DVC/ where we should go to buy/ and which location would be ideal. My husband and I just planned our 3rd WDW trip in 3 years, and it occurred to us that we are paying a lot out of pocket and DVC may be worth considering. As for our family, we have 3 young children. A 5 year old, almost 3 year old, and an infant. (Thats it.. no more coming.. lol) So we are a family of 5. We've stayed at the Wilderness Lodge when down there, and loved it. This year we are headed to the Poly and trying out the Club Level Service. We definitely lean towards the higher end deluxe resorts, and having the kids club available as well as the perks of the Club Level lounge really appeal to us. We are willing to spend a little for convenience on vacation. I guess my question is; should we just stick with the extravagant expense of once a year club level resort stays? Would DVC make more sense.. and if so, what point range should we be looking at? We ideally would take 1 weeks vacation per year.
Also- when you buy points, are you buying them only for a certain resort? IE: If we bought Poly points, that is the only place we could use them? Im quite knowledgeable of Disney planning in general, but a little "green" when it comes to how the whole DVC thing works.

In general terms it sounds like it might be a good choice if you can afford it (pay cash), plan at least 7 months out (better 11 mo), plan to only use the points at DVC resorts (not for cruises, non DVC trips, etc), don't have a large chance of late cancelations due to health/job and you're OK with the compromises of a timeshare. You may not feel the same level of service/quality in terms of deluxe compared to what you describe.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

and you're OK with the compromises of a timeshare. You may not feel the same level of service/quality in terms of deluxe compared to what you describe.

Very important point here worth calling out twice.

A few examples I can think of include the bed situation in most units (most studios and all 1BRs only have 1 real bed), housekeeping (not done daily save as a paid upgrade), no Club Level (save for a literal handful of rooms at AKV that book up before 11 months).

 

[kniquy]

It sounds like DVC might be a good fit for your family if you travel every year. Even if you go every other year it can make sense. AKV is the only place w/ club level rooms (to my knowledge), but the points are much higher for those rooms. if you go on the DVC website you can look at the point charts. If you travel at the same time every year this would be good place to start to see how many points you need to buy in order to go every year. If you want club level at AKV they MUST be booked at 11 months so you must own there. Resale will save you a ton of money and is a good way to get in and check out the system. Probably what you have spent on the past few vacations could pay for a resale contract. Search DVC resale on google and you will see a number of different resale sites. Note that every resort has a different contract end date so BCV, BWV, OKW (some) VWL have an end date of 2042 while others are 2057 and beyond. This may make a difference if you are a younger couple and plan on using DVC beyond the next 20 years. Besides the initial buy in there is increasing annual dues so that is a factor to consider. If you buy resale i believe the breakeven point is somewhere around 7 years. So by the sounds of it your family could save some money by purchasing a resale contract. Direct seems very over priced but has some perks that people like. Some people will purchase a main contract resale and add on a small 25 point direct contract in order to get the perks of TIW and annual passes. that might be worth it for the savings on the annual passes for your family as they get older and costs increase.

We recently purchase an AKV contract w/ the intent on going every other year. We want to try club level at some point even for a few days, but don't really think it is worth the additional points.

Good luck w/ your decision. Keep us updated

 

[viper17d]

I'll echo what everyone else here has said - it sounds like it could make sense for you, with some caveats.

I'm not an owner (yet - I have a contract in ROFR right now) and I'm not an expert. With that being said, I've done a ton of reading on these boards and across the internet, and having recently gone through the decision-making process, hopefully I can add something here.

You clearly like Disney after going three years in a row, but the real question is: will you still go once your kids are less interested or off doing their own thing? DVC is a long-term commitment, so looking past that ten year horizon is important (even before they're off in college, they could lose interest). If both you and your husband will still love going just the two of you, I'd say DVC could make a lot of sense given your resort preferences.

The best "investment" (DVC should never be truly considered an investment) would be to purchase points via resale - you will save up to 50% up front - on 100 points, that could be $8,000. You won't get some of the "perks" (as of 4/4/16), but those will never make up the difference in up front cost. The caveat to this is - buy points where you want to stay. If you like Poly, the difference between direct and resale is negligible (buy direct). If you like Wilderness Lodge, rather than paying $160/pt direct (through a waitlist), buy through resale for $90/pt.

You are not locked into your home resort (you can use your points at any resort), but the benefit of picking a home resort you like is having access to its 11-month booking window. If you're a planner (like myself), you'd hate having to wait until 7 months out to book the resort you really want to stay in (and thereby running the risk of not having availability). The availability thing is really only an issue in peak times of year, but it can also vary based on resort and room preference.

On the cost/benefit side of things, assuming you'd stay at a deluxe resort anyway, DVC can eventually make sense financially. The simplest way I can explain the cost benefit is this:
- Let's assume you want to buy 100 points at BLT for $120/pt through resale - $12,000 before closing costs.
- Let's say annual dues there are $6/pt.
- The BEST alternative to owning DVC is renting points. If you want to rent points 11 months out, let's assume it costs you $15/pt ($1,500 per trip at 100 points).
- Essentially, then, you'd be saving $9/pt ($900) each year you used all of your points.
- At that rate ($900/year) - which assumes annual dues and rental cost track proportionately - it would take you 13.33 years to make back your initial investment. Once I add in closing costs, you're probably looking at 14 years in this example.

The question is: would you elect to go to Disney World 14 times if you didn't purchase DVC?
- This example assumes you can't sell your membership, which is conservative and we know isn't true but appropriate given the size of this decision.

Summary: do your research, think it through - it can make sense financially, but don't do it solely for that reason. Good luck!!

 

[stratus]

So I'll offer a small alternative to what some have suggested because it may make sense for you.

What we did was bought a small 50 pt SSR contract direct from disney to get in on some of the perks. While there is a big difference between what we paid direct and what you can get at resale, for such a small number of points the ~$1500 we paid over the resale (at the time) was justifiable over the lifetime of the SSR contract

Now as PP mentioned its kind of a long-game evaulation. In the end, we have a contract in ROFR right now (hope to hear back soon!) and we are glad we did it this way. While matching your use year (which is not required but we are trying to do it for ease-of-use) is a bit of a waiting game on the resale market, I still think we are following the correct path.

As for where to buy, for us its a cost/benefit scenario. We would really love to buy at Boardwalk, though that is unlikely unless the prices dip a bit because of the shorter contract life span (15 years less than SSR). We went with the approach of buy where you wouldn't mind staying each time.

For us SSR has the treehouse, close proximity to Downtown Disney and some other things we like. We couldn't justify the cost for Poly and other contracts didn't fit us correctly. AKV would definitely be a runner up for me as I love it there.

Some math to consider (meant to be very rough numbers):

Total cost per point assuming the same dues over the life of the contract (since we cannot know what dues will be)

total contract length = end of contract - current year
lifetime_cost_of_point = (cost_per_point + (total_contract_lenghth * dues)) / total_contract_length

So for example take 150 points at BLT @ 115/pt and dues of $5.44/pt

total_contract_lenth = 2060-2016 = 44

lifetime_cost_of_point = (115 + (44 * 5.44)) / 44 = $8.05/year

In this scenario is staying at a deluxe resort (lets assume 14pt/night) is worth $112.70/night?

Of course you could get more complicated and attempt to estimate a dues increase over time it would break down like this (assuming a steep 2% increase every year in dues)

total_contract_lenth = 2060-2016 = 44

lifetime_cost_of_point = (115 + (379) / 44 = $11.23/year

So then ask yourself, is staying at a deluxe resort (lets assume 14pt/night) is worth $157.18/night?

 

[suebeelin]

How do you feel about the following compromises of a dvc room:
1. Booking 11/7 months ahead of time
2. No daily housekeeping
3. Studios/1bds/2bds. Note the studios have a queen pull out.
4. No club level
5. Commitment to a Disney vacation

If you're ok with the above, then you need to figure out your priorities. What is more important to you? Saving money or having flexibility in booking (not having to book 7-11mo in advance)?

If saving money is your goal over flexibility, then dvc will give you that. If you buy resale, you'll break even within 5-10 years/trips, depending on price paid vs how much you normally spend.

One more question: Are you committed to a yearly Disney vacation for the next 5-10yrs?

If yes, then go for it. You're next task will be to choose whether to buy resale or direct, as well as your preferred resort and use year. The only resort that's worth buying directly from Disney is the Poly. However, I prefer and recommend resales, particularly if you don't expect to stay primarily at the poly or want 1 or 2bds regularly.

Hope this helps!

 

[Dean]

How do you feel about the following compromises of a dvc room:
1. Booking 11/7 months ahead of time
2. No daily housekeeping
3. Studios/1bds/2bds. Note the studios have a queen pull out.
4. No club level
5. Commitment to a Disney vacation

If you're ok with the above, then you need to figure out your priorities. What is more important to you? Saving money or having flexibility in booking (not having to book 7-11mo in advance)?

If saving money is your goal over flexibility, then dvc will give you that. If you buy resale, you'll break even within 5-10 years/trips, depending on price paid vs how much you normally spend.

One more question: Are you committed to a yearly Disney vacation for the next 5-10yrs?

If yes, then go for it. You're next task will be to choose whether to buy resale or direct, as well as your preferred resort and use year. The only resort that's worth buying directly from Disney is the Poly. However, I prefer and recommend resales, particularly if you don't expect to stay primarily at the poly or want 1 or 2bds regularly.

Hope this helps!

One possible minor correction, the studios normally have a love set pullout (full size).

 

[gagirldawg95]

If you're comparing DVC to club level, you should think carefully about what is valuable for your family with club level. We like to stay club level when in regular hotel rooms, mostly because we like using a not terribly crowded lounge for relaxing, and we can have a simple breakfast there. But I love the space in a 1bdrm DVC, so I don't miss the club access when staying DVC. Plus, it's easy (and cheap) to bring our own wine, breakfast and snacks, which further undercuts the benefits of club level.

While DVC won't offer you true concierge service (excluding AKL club level), I suspect that frequent Disney visitors don't get a lot out of that perk anyway. We tend to be very happy with our own planning, and CMs are usually very helpful with requests.

We love having DVC. Our home resort is VGF, but we've stayed in most by now. I wish we had bought sooner, as we booked villas directly through Disney for years before buying. You'll get daily housekeeping that way, but it's far more expensive than renting points (which made me unreasonably nervous).

I'd recommend you spend lots of time studying these boards. There are very knowledgable people posting here who are gracious and honest in their advice. The more you know about the system's pros and cons, the more comfortable you'll be in making a decision.

Good luck!

 

[CarolMN]

If you haven't already, take a look at our DVC Resource Center. There's a lot of good info there for those considering a purchase.

 

[mustinjourney]

On the cost/benefit side of things, assuming you'd stay at a deluxe resort anyway, DVC can eventually make sense financially. The simplest way I can explain the cost benefit is this:
- Let's assume you want to buy 100 points at BLT for $120/pt through resale - $12,000 before closing costs.
- Let's say annual dues there are $6/pt.
- The BEST alternative to owning DVC is renting points. If you want to rent points 11 months out, let's assume it costs you $15/pt ($1,500 per trip at 100 points).
- Essentially, then, you'd be saving $9/pt ($900) each year you used all of your points.
- At that rate ($900/year) - which assumes annual dues and rental cost track proportionately - it would take you 13.33 years to make back your initial investment. Once I add in closing costs, you're probably looking at 14 years in this example.

My only comment with this type of analysis is that it ignores the fact that when you buy, you still own the asset. So unless the resale market goes to zero, you still have something that has real value. Sounds like even during the recent recession, resales were about 50% what they are right now -- so in the example of $12000 initial purchase, you should be able to reasonably expect to receive at least $6000 (minus commissions) if you should decide to sell.

 

[suebeelin]

My only comment with this type of analysis is that it ignores the fact that when you buy, you still own the asset. So unless the resale market goes to zero, you still have something that has real value. Sounds like even during the recent recession, resales were about 50% what they are right now -- so in the example of $12000 initial purchase, you should be able to reasonably expect to receive at least $6000 (minus commissions) if you should decide to sell.

But to be safe, I don't factor the residual value into my purchase.

Which is why I want to sell of half my points, but extended family (my parents, my younger sisters immediate family, and my own) keeps asking for vacations, including one in 2018 in aulani...

So I need more points to bring along ppl outside of my own immediate family. You may find yourself in the same boat...

 

[Dean]

But to be safe, I don't factor the residual value into my purchase.

Which is why I want to sell of half my points, but extended family (my parents, my younger sisters immediate family, and my own) keeps asking for vacations, including one in 2018 in aulani...

So I need more points to bring along ppl outside of my own immediate family. You may find yourself in the same boat...

There's no guarantee there will be one long term and it's very possible that late in the course of the RTU there will be no residual value and possibly negative value. Realistically there will likely be some value up until then but if DVD is successful in pushing things to retail and away from resale, it'll be less than one might otherwise project.