My head is swimming

[brandip22]

doubeltrouble- I just don't agree with not buying if you plan to go every other year. We don't plan to go every year, but still bought and it's still a good deal. When we do go, it will be in a better room and for longer. I'd rather go every other year and stay longer and better than go every year. But that's JMO and how we work it, I know we're all different.

 

[crisi]

We also go every other year and it works great. In the alternate years we take a different vacation. We have a small contract (150 points) and every other year in the fall enables us to stay in a two bedroom. We are a family of four, and the kids are little enough to think the hideabed is a great invention ("Mom! We get to sleep on the couch that turns into a bed!"). So last time we took my mother in law. Next trip we will go solo in a one bedroom, saving enough points to add two studios and use three years of points for my whole family (we will probably have to rent a few). If we need more points, we can rent them. Or (blasphemy!) stay at a non DVC Disney resort for cash. But we aren't such Disney addicts that we think we will take annual vacations there for 40 years.

Jack, I think you have the right idea. Its a lot like a cell phone plan - but on a $12k+ scale. Use the minutes (points) - "save" a bundle. Don't use them, lose a bundle. End up in a tight spot and you still have a contract. To Pa's point, nobody NEEDS cell phones on Disney vacations - you will "save" far more never taking the vacation in the first point. And to my point - those add on minutes as you become addicted to the cell phone are killer. Unlike a cell phone plan though, it isn't too difficult (at least under current conditions) to rent your points (temporarily letting someone else use them and paying your dues plus a little in the process) or sell them.

We bought resale almost exactly two years ago for $63. Today we could resell that same contract for $71. We'd lose some money in commissions, but we'd have stayed for a week in a two bedroom at the Boardwalk for less than $1200 in dues - a room we'd be lucky to have gotten for $500 a night and would have never justified for seven nights. Had we not bought DVC, we'd have stayed at the Poly in a normal room, not taken my mother in law, and spent $1500 or more on the room.

(Pa, you hear about the attack at the shopping center? Some poor woman got malled.)

 

[manning]

Any kind of timeshare purchase, be it Disney or not, should not be considered an investment. The history of timeshares are they don't hold their value. It should be treated as a prepaid vacation.

Although prices for DVC are and have gone up, don't bank on it.

Kind of reminds me of the submariner who quit the navy and joined the Air Force. Asked why, his comment was " What goes down doesn't have to go up, but anything that goes up has to come down".

The prices of DVC will never always go up. And you can't predict when they will go down.

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Originally posted by crisi
It enables us to sleep in a different room than our kids (my husband likes the romance enabling nature of this arrangement). So its worth every penny.

........................

 

[JackThePumpkinKing]

Crissi,

Thanks for all the advice. I really think we are saying the same thing and I value all the help

Originally posted by crisi
We also go every other year and it works great. In the alternate years we take a different vacation.

That's exactly how I plan to use my points and I am considering between 150 and 175 point.

Originally posted by crisi
nobody NEEDS cell phones or Disney vacations - you will "save" far more never taking the vacation in the first point.

I'm with you, what I meant by savings is that I feel vacations are important, I am currently taking vacations every other year or so to Disney ANYWAY and I was asking if the DVC could be a savings over what I am currently spending anyways.

Originally posted by crisi
We bought resale almost exactly two years ago for $63. Today we could resell that same contract for $71. We'd lose some money in commissions, but we'd have stayed for a week in a two bedroom at the Boardwalk for less than $1200 in dues - a room we'd be lucky to have gotten for $500 a night and would have never justified for seven nights. Had we not bought DVC, we'd have stayed at the Poly in a normal room, not taken my mother in law, and spent $1500 or more on the room.

And that is exactly what I meant by saying " am just looking for it to still have some resale value if I decided to sell it in the future."

My question is that if in 20 years I decide I am unable and/or unwilling to continue going to Disney ever other year, could I really sell the remainder of the contract for 30% or 40% of what I bought it for. (I.E. If I use 50% of the contract life, is it possible for me to sell my $70/pt investment for something like $30/pt minus the comissions).

If I can do that, and I am either paying less for my vacations and/or staying in nicer accomodations for the same price, then I consider it a good thing to do.

From what I am hearing, it seems as though I can.

Thanks for all the advice.

Jack

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by JackThePumpkinKing
My question is that if in 20 years I decide I am unable and/or unwilling to continue going to Disney ever other year, could I really sell the remainder of the contract for 30% or 40% of what I bought it for. (I.E. If I use 50% of the contract life, is it possible for me to sell my $70/pt investment for something like $30/pt minus the comissions).

If I can do that, and I am either paying less for my vacations and/or staying in nicer accomodations for the same price, then I consider it a good thing to do.

From wat I am hearing, it seems as though I can.

It's tough to really take a firm stand and say "Yes, you will absolutely be able to sell for some fraction of the purchase price in the future." There are simply too many unknowns.

But let's break this down into components:

1. DVC is popular because people WANT to vacation at WDW.

2. There is nothing in the contract to prohibit you from selling the contract at a later date.

3. The price DVC charges for points continues to rise.

Over the next 4-5 decades, it's impossible to predict what might happen with the ownership / management status of TWDC. It's also impossible to predict what will happen with dues at the resorts.

But all things being equal, there will always be demand for high-quality accommodations at a Disney World resort. Thus, there will be a secondary market for DVC contracts.