On the Magic Cruise Now...Trying to decide...Need advice

[apanos]

My husband and I are on the Disney Magic right now. We spoke with a DVC sales rep. It all sounds very good. We just barely started looking into this. Should we do it? They offer an incentive if we sign up now. they will let us "sell back" our first years' points. That would be 150 points for about $700.

We live in Utah. Would it be worth us buying into it, since we dont' live here near all the Disney World/Cruse stuff?

Should we start shopping around for a resale? Is there an advantage to buying one here and now?

When I buy one resale, how much is required as a down?

We may ask more questions as we go along.

Thanks for your help,

Kathy

 

[Tokazama]

Just a point of clarification.....

The first post in this thread was from me, Kathy, in Utah. I must have been signed in under someone else's username. I am using the computer at the "Internet Cafe".

 

[Lesley]

First of all, where are you thinking of purchasing points? DVC is currently selling 3 different properties and only one is at WDW. This makes a huge difference as the main piece of advice given here is to buy where you plan to stay.

Secondly (should have been first) do you plan to travel to the location you are thinking of purchasing at least every other year? The true value in DVC only comes from using it at DVC resorts.....trades are available and a nice option....but not the main purpose of DVC (also the trade programs are subject to cancellation, though no one actually forsees that happening).

Perhaps you should take a look at the DVC FAQ for this board too.

Only you can decide if its worth it for you, but if you give some more info about your travel plans for the next several years (where you want to go, what time of year, how often, family size, etc...) you can get plenty of opinions here.

Hope this makes sense....its late!

 

[msdis]

Kathy,

You might also look into applying this years and next years points towards the cruise you just paid for. They not only use the 1st year buy back program but if you were to buy in before the end of your cruise I think they will let you apply purchased points towards your cruise. Also see if you can get a 2000 contract as you will have 3 years worth of points at your disposal. This could really work towards your favor. Not sure what you paid for your cruise but am guessing this could put a good chunk of change back in your pocket.

 

[bernicedea]

The other replies were very informative and on point.

So, my only comment to you is to buy while you are at Disney. I am in California (and I am not sure if this also applies to Utah), the only purchase that can be made from my state is through resale. I greatly regret not buying when I was at Disney World. I recently purchased through resale two months ago. The market is tight, especially for 150 points. There was a waiting list. In addition, there are additional concerns about legitimacy working with a real estate person miles and miles away.

I would however, purchasing a home resort on the WDW property, since resale is at a better value.

Good luck.

 

[Tokazama]

Thanks for the advice. We are not really sure of our vacation plans. We actually would like to travel to a lot of different places. The problem is a limited amount of funds. That is one of the reasons we are looking into the DVC.

I guess I will go find my husband and drag him away from his leisure to come and read these opinions. Please keep the information coming.

Kathy

 

[wahoo]

i thought they always offerred that selling back the points in the first year option. Not sure that selling them back for $700 is such a great deal. I think I've heard that you can rent them for about $10 a point. I believe on the wdwinfo.com website there is a section devoted to point rentals. you might want to check what the market is before you make the decision. Also, if you buy direct from Disney, you may avoid paying closing costs that you would have to pay for a resale.

 

[Mama2sean]

Hi. We purchased into DVC on our Magic cruise in January. We bought 210 pts at VWL and decided not to sell back our incentive, so we have 420 points to start out. We are making our 1st trip on this week to OKW for four days, then another trip to VWL for six nights at Thanksgiving in a 2 bedroom unit, and we still have over 150 points leftover from our original 420! We never would have been able to afford these two upcoming trips without DVC. The selling point to us was with what we spent on our two last cruises ($7,000 - which would have paid for almost half our membership in DVC) we are quaranteed vacations for the next 41 years on a Disney deluxe level with all the Disney magic. The idea of trading out to other resorts appealed to us as well (even though I realize this is not the most cost effective way of using points). DVC is a FLEXIBLE timeshare concept, and just wish we joined sooner. Good luck.

 

[Tokazama]

Thanks.

Bump.

 

[Tom and Jen]

Location is important, what are they selling you and where? Where you purchase your points is your Home resort and gives you an 11 month window out for booking. If you want to stay elsewhere you have lesser time. If funds are an issue realize that you may be traveling a couple times a year or at least every three years based on being able to bank and borrow points.

My recommendation is always to buy on site at WD, which ever property you may like. My wife and I happened to be onsite at Boardwalk when we purchased, making it a lot easier..... but if you can post where you are thinking of buying and you may have some more detailed responses.

Have fun..... and Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Tokazama]

I think the property is Old Key West. I will go double check our literature.

We live in Utah, and we would probably go to Disney Land more than we would go to Disney World. The big expense for us in coming to Florida is the airfare. If we could just drive down to Florida it would be an obvious choice. We would probably trade for a differenct property more often than not.

Thanks,

Kathy

 

[CarolMN]

Kathy,

If you think you will be trading outside the DVC resort family on a regular basis, then DVC is most likely not the best value for your family. There are other timeshare options that will give you very good trading ability for less $$. Recommend that you search the boards for posts made by Dean. He owns several timeshares in addition to DVC and seems to be VERY KNOWLEDGABLE about relative values, and the various trading companies. I have learned a lot just reading his posts. Good Luck with your decision.

Carol

PS for Dean - Just wanted to say thanks for all the detailed info in your posts re other timeshares. I make sure to read every one! THANKS!

 

[Lisa P.]

Kathy (Tokazama), I strongly agree with CarolMN. Since you anticipate using your vacation ownership more for trading outside of Disney or using near Disneyland California, DVC sounds like something you need to learn a whole lot more about before taking the plunge.

First stop, see Timeshare Users Group at:
http://www.tug2.net

Next, you may not realize that there are limited options to trading DVC through II in your region. A resort that trades through RCI will give you more options, IMHO, for your purposes. DVC points may be used for stays at a California Disney hotel but it's not a great value, IMHO. You may find regular cash discounts a better deal if you really want to stay at the Disney hotels there. RCI has a Gold Crown resort down the street from Disneyland - not available by trading through II with DVC.

Lastly, DVC is a big purchase. There are other great resorts that may be purchased for well under half what you'd pay for a DVC week (equivalent) on resale, with good trading and lower maint fees (important when trading).

DVC is a great program with terrific resorts and lots of flexibility. It's really best suited to people who wish to return to any of the DVC resorts at least every other year and trade out as a rare variation or option. Since the DVC resorts are all in the southeast and you've said you'd want to visit mostly non-DVC places and Disneyland, you would be stuck paying the steep premium of owning DVC while staying elsewhere yourselves much of the time. Not the best use of it - JMHO. Hope that helps! Feel free to write/email me for other suggestions in vacation ownership. potter@a-o.com

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

I know it was mentioned above but . . .
Do not sell your points back to DVC. You will only get $5 per point. You can sell/rent your points elsewhere. If you sell your points for under $10 a point, you're getting ripped off.

 

[Tokazama]

Thanks,

Keep the advice coming. This has really helped.

 

[GB]

First of all let me say I am so envious of you being on the Magic. I will be there in approx. 23 days, and I can't wait. Without DVC, which I joined last year, I can't ever see myself being able to afford to take my six year old on the Magic. For the time of year we are going (high season) it would have cost $2800 for just the cruise. This is in a catagory 11. The reason being so high is because I checked the price about 4 months out when I decided to book.

Because I was in DVC I booked the both of us using 300 points, and only had to pay a $75 transaction fee. Unfortunetly, I have to book my son as an adult because all the rooms are based on two adult fares.

I am waiting for the Beach Club Villas to open next year so I can add on 100 points. I currently own at the Boardwalk and love the area and since I can't add on there I will wait till next year to add on. The reason I'm adding on is because I think I will want to cruise often.

I agree with everything everyone else has stated. For me I love Disneyworld and primarily want to travel there. I've checked into exchanging other places and I can get way more time at Disney than on an exchange. I don't think the exchanges are worth it for the amount of points you have to use. But I can exchange if I want, but I don't think its as easy as through say a Hilton or Mariott?

Another thing is Disney maintenence fees seem to be higher than all my friends timeshares. I know Disney is about $600 a year. I know other people that pay $350-$400 a year.

For me, I love DVC and I bought in because I was vacationing here so much anyway. Last year I spent 17 days there (before DVC). Man, I could of used all that money to put down on DVC and vacationed on points. For me I joined because I figured I would always go on vacation and it is way easier to have a monthly payment deducted than to come up with a couple grand at one time.

What better vacation could there be for a 6 year old than Disney? Sorry so long.

Gina

 

[Tokazama]

As we sat at Palo last night we were discussing this. Being from the west, we see ourselves visiting DisneyWORLD once, maybe twice before our children are grown. We would really like to do the cruise a lot more than Disneyworld. We decided that the main reason we would want the DVC is to be able to do the cruising. Perhaps it is a better deal to just look for good deals on the cruise and not do the DVC.

Is it 300 points for 2 people for the cruise? What about 2 adults and 2 children?

Is it worth it if we primarily do the DVC for cruising?

Thanks,

Kathy

 

[DVCKaren]

Honestly, I don't think that using the points for the cruise primarily is a good use of pionts, but that is just me. Its good as a secondary option for a change of pace, but me personally, I would not buy into DVC just for the cruise aspect.

 

[GB]

I agree with DVCKaren. The problem of buying in DVC for cruising is that the point chart won't be locked in like the DVC resorts are. That means the point value for cruising will just keep increasing every year. That is why I booked now. I had some points left from last year and combined them with 2001 points in order to have enough for the cruise. I booked now because next year I wont have enough points to cruise because it will even take more points. If I sold those points for $10 each and then booked the cruise paying by cash, I would have saved about $250.

Don't buy in to DVC just for the cruising alone. Two more Disney trips isn't enough to buy in. The point values for the California Disney Hotels are ridiculously high. I would think a cash reservation would be far more adventagious.

Good Luck,

Gina

 

[akdisneyfan]

We live in Alaska and have been DVC members since 1993. I understand your concern about being on an opposite coast, but we have found that going every 18 months to 2 years allows us to have a nice long vacation and get very good airfares because we are on the lookout for the best fare. Our original cost has been recouped at least three times over because we are able to take long vacations at a high end resort.
Kim