Diane, we owned DVC points and sold them. A week in a DVC 2-BR (family of 5, all over age 10) when we like to visit WDW is nearly 300 points. The purchase price and annual out-of-pocket (maint) fees would be $20,000+ & $920+.
By contrast, our offsite timeshare exchanges to resorts like Vistana or Cypress Pointe or a Marriott cost us an average purchase price and annual out-of-pocket (maint + exchange) fees of ~$2,000 & $400. No need for a mortgage at those prices.
If you add up what we'd pay in DVC mortgage payments + maint fees and compare that with $400, you can see that it's considerably more with DVC, just as it is with any onsite arrangement. With what we save, we are able to afford another timeshare week at a Gold Crown resort on the beach or elsewhere every year, better restaurants and several camping weekends in our comfy pop-up through the year. Our annual vacation budget simply goes further without DVC.
Also, after a few days onsite (and with so many Disney trips behind us, both onsite and offsite), sometimes the "Disney magic" starts to look more like the "Disney money machine," especially to my DH. When we stay offsite, we all seem to appreciate the Disney difference a little more. To each their own.
