Opinions...Point reallocations: Would you buy DVC based on what you know now?

[alamode]

I may get flamed for this, but I have always found that people on these boards tend to lean towards the negative side..

Welcome to the internet!!! Every board I'm on, whether Disney, tech or parenting related are all filled with negative comments. That's not to say people are negative, it's just that boards like this are a place to vent.

For some people, change is always a negative. For others, it's an opportunity to learn and grow. As for DVC in particular, if you don't like it, sell it and quit your complaining.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We bought in 2003. We've added on. With the point reallocation our Vero Beach contract of 150 points is causing me the most anxiety, but that is only because we stayed in a Beach Cottage in '08 and we all loved it so much that we want to do it again and again. We have a BC stay for an extra night this year, because we found that 3 nights weren't enough, maybe 4 nights won't be either.

Except for the BC, we usually have had weekend nights mixed in with our stays. I don't want to buy more VB points, but I will if future vacations warrant it. It's not only the accomodation, a BC, but the whole family loves the VB resort, so if we stay in a couple of 2 bedrooms, we may be just as happy, I don't know.

I would buy DVC again!

Bobbi

 

[eliza61]

least until I get another 100 pts....I may EVEN (gasp) have to pay cash for a 7 nighter at POP Century at some point if I don't get my extra 100 pts soon enough....but it's still Disney!

I may get flamed for this, but I have always found that people on these boards tend to lean towards the negative side....and it's unfortunate because I am simply happy to be fortunate enough to have what DVC is to me....a guaranteed vacation every year at Disney! As long as I have that I can be flexible on the room type or place that I stay....

I won't flame you but I don't consider it "Negative" to point out "less desirable" qualities.

Whenever I travel or purchase any thing, I like to know the good, the bad or the ugly. If I get on a board and every thing is absolutely "pixie dust and sunshine" how does that help if that's not the truth? If restaurant quality goes down (as an example) saying "well at least I'm at disney" doesn't cut it for me.
For you just the fact that you get to go to DVC is enough, for me I expect a lot more (not saying that you will accept any thing). Actually if I just wanted a guaranteed vacation I probably would not have purchased dvc because it would have been cheaper simply to stay value.

I'd rather know from real live owners about the rate of dues rising, point reallocations or loss of perks and how it affects them, then hearing the glossy version from a salesperson who has a vested interest in getting me to sign (generally). Complaints can be extremely informative, why do you think companies put out surveys?

 

[BWV Dreamin]

I don't know. Since my initial purchase in 2007, there has been a major change or changes to my DVC membership every year that has made a major impact on the way I can vacation. BlueGreen timeshares are looking pretty good right now.

 

[daisygirl902]

I'd rather know from real live owners about the rate of dues rising, point reallocations or loss of perks and how it affects them, then hearing the glossy version from a salesperson who has a vested interest in getting me to sign (generally). Complaints can be extremely informative, why do you think companies put out surveys?

Fair enough - I understand some of your points....I spent a lot of time lurking these boards and reading up in general prior to making a DVC purchase so I was fairly well educated about what I was getting into and I do think that's important....I also would not want to make a huge purchase based on "petals and pixie dust".

However maybe my guide was just exceptional, because 3 of the things he definately covered in our talk was point reallocation, ever changing perks, and the general rate that dues normally increase. So I was very prepared for those things.

I guess I just find that sometimes it sounds like so many people are generally so dissatisfied with every change that DVC makes (and almost borderline of thinking that it's all a conspiracy theory)....I work in business and have always understood that although in a perfect world we'd all want companies to do what is right just for their customers they, in reality, also have to do what is right for the company....and I have to respect and understand that's how the world goes round.

So in general I tend to want to view it all with a little sprinkle of pixie dust and just deal with things in a more positive light. It's just my nature I guess.

 

[eliza61]

I guess I just find that sometimes it sounds like so many people are generally so dissatisfied with every change that DVC makes (and almost borderline of thinking that it's all a conspiracy theory)....I work in business and have always understood that although in a perfect world we'd all want companies to do what is right just for their customers they, in reality, also have to do what is right for the company....and I have to respect and understand that's how the world goes round.

So in general I tend to want to view it all with a little sprinkle of pixie dust and just deal with things in a more positive light. It's just my nature I guess.

Also remember many people are looking at the "overall" "cumilative (sp?") effect.
Maybe point reallocation is not enough to drive people out but combine that with high dues, lost perks and for some decrease in quality of offering and then some times it may tip the scale. That's why I do like to hear well thought out criticism. Just like when we lost valet parking. for some it was no big deal but if I was a owner with maybe mobility issues then the perspective may change a little.

I'm generally a "up" person also but I do like to hear how changes effect "real" owners. Gives me concrete information in planning my vacations and allows me to see if DVC is still a good fit for my family. I will fully admit though, I've never brought into the "Well, at least I'm able to go to disney so I'll take any type of treatment they hand me". While I'm extremely grateful for my material blessings and success, I still have expectations that I want met. (LOL. now I have my flame suit on.)

 

[dvcdisney]

We've been members for 8 years (since 2002). And knowing what I know, I would still buy into DVC. Since we joined, DVC has gone through a few changes. Some affect our way of vacationing while others do not. Point Reallocation did not make a significant impact (if any at all) with our vacation plans since we stay during weekends anyways. We prefer not to change rooms or resorts during the whole two weeks.

We know that our DVC membership has allowed us to visit Disney quite often. Currently, we have been going to Disney 2 times a year and with each visit lasting 14 nights. Without our membership, we would most likely visit only once a year. So basically:

DVC - 28 nights per year at Disney
Without DVC -7-10 nights per year at Disney

 

[dcfromva]

If you wouldnt mind telling me how long you've been a DVC owner and if you'd do it again based on what you've been through up to now (and maybe why), it would be greatly appreciated...

First DVC purchase: Feb 2002.

Would we buy if we had it all over again? Yes. In fact, we just added on a bunch of points last year.
(What we would have done differently with our first contract is to buy in smaller increments to make it easier to downsize. )

I tried to research DVC as much as I could, but some things are hard to get a grasp on until you've actually experienced them.

I am not a fan of the point reallocaiton or the banking (rule of 4) changes, but so far these changes have not painted us into a corner with our point usage.

Thave been many other things that are different now than when I first imagined how the program would work for us. Some of these differences are due to how we have changed.

One thing that I thought was going to be a big deal was the lack of daily housekeeping--this has turned out to be not to be an issue for us (we actually like not having to worry about when housekeeping will be making their rounds).

I thought we would do more cooking in the room. Mainly, we make breakfast and heat leftovers and make snacks. This has evolved over the years--it turns out we have our favorite restaurants we like to visit and this is part of the WDW experience that DH enjoys the most.

We never use the jacuzzi. Since we don't use the kitchen much, it turns out a studio works out just fine for long weekend visits with just DH and myself. This really helps to stretch out points out.

 

[DeeCee735]

I've been really considering buying in. But I've seen a lot of negative comments on the point reallocations. Mainly this year, it seems to be centered around the increase in cost for weekday rentals (2010 to 2011) and decrease for weekends. This seems to counter which is typically a trend to get more business during the slower days (which are typically weekdays for Disney based on experience). Maybe these units are always sold out anyway so it doesnt matter? SO here's my question: If you wouldnt mind telling me how long you've been a DVC owner and if you'd do it again based on what you've been through up to now (and maybe why), it would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks,
John

Yes, absolutely, we would buy again. I still want more, I'll always want more.....considering I want to LIVE in a 2 bedroom savannah view at AKV!!

Most posts or discussion tend to lean toward the negative, I guess most people don't bother to post when they're not unhappy.

I'm not at all suggesting you should buy and borrow, but I don't really understand why some people are so opposed to borrowing points from the following year. I mean, to each his own and all, but for us borrowing into the following year has been a constant occurrence since day one. When we bought our first contract in May 2000, since it was the middle of our use year, we received that years points, and then just a few months later the new use year's points (we bought in May and have an October UY), so we had two years of points, then we borrowed a full year of points and did a vacation we'd never spend the money to do for just one vacation.....1/2 sea, 1/2 land and it was SO worth borrowing the points for.

I've been borrowing more often than not, some (if not all) of the next years points since, WAY before the points reallocation, and inspite of the fact that we've added on 4 TIMES!

Our philosphy is if we want to get up and go and borrowing let's us to that, then CARPE DIEM! Live for the day!

Again, I'm not suggesting you buy and borrow, and I'm certainly not suggesting that you base your decision on the fact that the points have been reallocated. I think you need to consider your near future needs and also remember that the contracts are for many,many years to come, and then decide how much the points reallocation actually matters in comparison to your vacationing needs and length of time to use your points.

It really doesn't affect us all that much at all. We only own 285 points, 50 at AKV and 235 at BWV, and yet we've managed to travel when we want, stay where we want, in the size accommodations we want and even managed to BANK points from time to time. It's such a flexible system, you just need to sit down and play with points alittle bit. Figure this years trip, next years trip, throw in a long weekend somewhere along the line, etc. and see if its a fit for you and your family.

Keep in mind your vacationing needs will change over the years, for whatever reasons. Ours changed tremendously as our kids grew up.
Keep in mind that the DVC system is very flexible and that works a great deal in the members favor, and don't forget that you've got YEARS of future trips, banking, borrowing, skipping a year, etc, is par for the course!

Good luck with your decision!

 

[RedSonya]

I have been a member since 2001. I would definitely buy again. I generally stay at least 6 nights so I like the adjustments to the point allignment.

 

[DenLo]

Yes, we would buy Disney again and we still wish we had bought it back in 1996 but we waited until 2009. When we originally contacted the DVC via phone our guide, Ron gave us pretty good details over the phone. And then Ron emailed us information which we read completely. And then we talked to him again and he answered all of our questions. Later when we received the contract and other documents, we read everything the DVC sent us before calling Quality Assurance. We asked them dozens of questions and made sure we understood everything there was about the DVC. So far we have had no surprises. And still love the DVC.

 

[nj2mast]

We bought back in 1993 site unseen because back then the Disney name = quality, even usually at a premium price, and in my opinion DVC was a steal back then. We completely enjoyed about 10+ years, however have found the Disney name no longer automatically equals the quality that deserves the premium. One of the biggest factors in that is the cumlative effect of the points reallocation since our stays are normally longer then 1 week, though it is not the only factor. The membership is still worth what we paid, though our stays at Disney will be shorter. Would we buy again today at the current prices? I'm really not sure, but it would require a much deeper analysis of the product and consideration of our long term vacation preferences than we did 16 years ago.

 

[Tiger926]

Yup, we love DVC! But we wish we would have bought a smaller amount at SSR - especially since the CDN exchange was at 30%. We also wish we would have found out about resale sooner, so that we could have done a resale at BWV. Now, we have 175 points at SSR, and although we like SSR, it's harder to work with the kids in the summer when we go for 2 weeks as it's farther away from all parks.

At this point, we love DVC, but we have lost a few points here and there with both point reallocations, but it hasn't made us regret our purchase at all.

Tiger

 

[disneyaggies]

Yes! I only wish I'd bought 10 years ago!!!

 

[Nikisha421]

I still would having points that need to be used before they expire forces me to take a vacation or two...if I didnt have my DVC I would never do anything...I have a great schedule...teacher in downstate new york I literally get every holiday, summer, weekends...on and on...AND a daughter who has the same schedule...so now I make sure I alwasy take a trip in February and a week in the summer....

 

[Sandisw]

I'm so glad this thread popped up...after reading so much negative about the reallocation I was starting to get a bit frustrated.

I would absolutely buy again, although I bought a bit differently than some others...I rounded up slightly from what I "needed" so that I would have a couple more points to play with....now keep in mind I still want more, and am planning to add-on next year on our cruise, however I bought 200 points for the 2 of us knowing it would allow me to be a bit flexible, as long as we weren't super picky about where we stay all the time.

Does my 200 pts cover 2 vacations a year at BLT? No...however can we do one at BLT and a smaller vacation in a BW studio? Yes....I may have to be creative with how I use my points, and I may have to bank and borrow at least until I get another 100 pts....I may EVEN (gasp) have to pay cash for a 7 nighter at POP Century at some point if I don't get my extra 100 pts soon enough....but it's still Disney!

I may get flamed for this, but I have always found that people on these boards tend to lean towards the negative side....and it's unfortunate because I am simply happy to be fortunate enough to have what DVC is to me....a guaranteed vacation every year at Disney! As long as I have that I can be flexible on the room type or place that I stay....

Well said! I am with you. DVC offers flexibility in its points based system and I am so happy that I can make it fit my needs. And, regardless of what happens over the years, I will adjust to make it work because I love what DVC has to offer me!!!

 

[Dean]

I may get flamed for this, but I have always found that people on these boards tend to lean towards the negative side....and it's unfortunate because I am simply happy to be fortunate enough to have what DVC is to me....a guaranteed vacation every year at Disney! As long as I have that I can be flexible on the room type or place that I stay....

I think DVC members in general are a pretty spoiled lot and most have drank the koolaid for years. I would however agree that pointing out factual information and personal feelings labeled as such are both OK. I think the problems comes where people blend the 2 and can't tell which is which.
I think that also happens on such BBS far too often.

 

[tjhsr]

Yes we would. The reallocation won't changes things for us. When ever we bought more pts we would round up. We have been banking pts the last couple of years.

 

[AirGoofy]

We did not realize how often and dramatic the reallocations were. With that said, we would have bought DVC, just a SMALLer resale. We purchased enough points for 2 vacations a year, which was immediately changed with the reallocation. So, we'll have to do some borrowing each year until it finally catches up. With a smaller contract, we would just have been happy with the one trip.

 

[snoopy5386]

I don't know....maybe but not the way we ended up buying. We are fairly new members - we bought in June of 08 (at AKV with a June 09 use year) and have only used our membership once so far in October 09. Before we bought I did A LOT of research and that research led me to believe that while yes, while points allocations were possible, they were extremely rare and not earth shattering. And that Sunday-Friday stays were a great deal that would work really well for our family for the next 10+ years.
I am SAHM and we are a one income family so buying our 100 pt contract at AKV was a real stretch for us. I love everyone who says "buy a cushion" umm, hello DVC is NOT cheap.
When we bought we could stay in a 1 bd value at AKV for 80 pts for 5 nights in low season - giving us a nice cushion to bank so we could alternate staying at a different, "more expensive" (points wise) resort every other year or every 3rd year. This was perfect for us. Now that same trip in 2011 costs us 95 points - a loss of 15 points per trip. Right now my kids are very young and DH has lots of vacation time so we have 10+ years of being able to pull kids out of school to take Sun-Fri trips. By the time they are too old to be able to do that, I'm betting we'll also not want to do Disney every single year so we'll be able to have 200 pts to spend going every other year when we need to use weekends, go in a more peak season due to school, etc. Sun-Fri trips also work really well for us travel wise - we can leave after work Friday night or early Saturday morning, drive down, get there Sunday morning and then leave Friday night to return home, get there Saturday night and still have a day to relax before heading back to work.
I was really unhappy to see the points reallocation for 2010 and I really can't believe they are doing it again in 2011. I'm also annoyed that I had no idea it had happened until I checked these boards. I also never got to enjoy the valet parking perk as it disappeared right before my first stay - I'm glad I never told the rest of my travel party about it or I would have looked really stupid. So far - not impressed, but I have only taken one trip.
If I knew what I knew now, I would have bought more points via resale vs buying direct from Disney - I would have also bought 1/2 my points at AKV and 1/2 at BCV. That is of course, if I had bought at all. If the 2010 points reallocations had come out before we bought I most likely would have gone into a wait and see approach and chances are I would still be waiting and seeing.