Owners: would you recommend DVC right now?

[Disneygirlie93]

My husband and I have been crunching the numbers and saving up for months and we're finally ready to jump in and buy our first contract! But, with some research on this site, we came across the thread about points discrepancies for the 2022 chart and how they had added points without taking them from others (I believe it was a 0.22% increase across all WDW resorts). We were told that our points would never be devalued and that points changes had to even out somewhere else, but after reading through that thread, it doesn't appear to be that way at all. And now, we're extremely worried about the future of our DVC purchase if our points end up being devalued over the life of the contract.

For current members, knowing about this mess (and thinking back to a few years ago when they tried to screw owners over in a similar way but were called out on it), would you still recommend buying DVC now?

 

[cgodzyk]

I personally would. We always regretted not buying BCV in 2002. We waited until 2018 to finally buy 600 points in CCV (while always staying at Deluxe resorts (for 16 years and always booking 2 rooms or suites!). This year we added another 400 points and are waiting for either a BWV or BCV to complete our portfolio.

The money spent on all the trips in between would have paid for at least the 1000 points we bought in 3 years!

 

[DougEMG]

I think if you are the kind of person that gets very annoyed when Disney tries to push the boundaries of what is in your contract, then buying DVC isn't a good idea. Disney is going to keep pushing to see just how far they can get without being challenged.

Now I expect companies to try and maximize their profits by squeezing every dime they can out of their customers, but as long as there is still an advantage for me I will deal with it. Disney has done a number of things with DVC that I'm not happy about, but none of them are enough to make me want to sell or would stop me from buying. The only thing that would stop me from buying would be that the prices got so high that it took too long to break even.

 

[Sandisw]

When you buy, there is no guarantee that the exact dates you travel now will be the same for the life of the contract. However, there will always be times during the year that the points will be able to book exactly what they can today, just different dares . I know that’s a simple explanation but charts have always varied with changes in the calendar. The concern for 2022 was that variation was out of the norm and some believe against the rules and a violation.

I would not hesitate to buy and am still buying. I also don’t subscribe to the notation they are out to mess with owners. Have they made mistakes? Maybe.

But what they did for owners during the past year in terms of making exceptions to many rules for the pandemic….something they did not need to do…doesn’t support that for me.

So, I am still as happy as ever with my DVC and still recommend it to many as a great way to do Disney for years to come.

 

[chalee94]

For current members, knowing about this mess (and thinking back to a few years ago when they tried to screw owners over in a similar way but were called out on it), would you still recommend buying DVC now?

Supposedly, they are going to address 2022 point charts in August - I am curious if that comes to pass.

Generally speaking, if you are a hard-core WDW fan and are definitely coming to WDW at least once every year and are committed to staying onsite at moderates or deluxe resorts, then it's probably still worth it for you.

But I don't recommend it as broadly as I used to. I am still an owner but I am getting tired of the shenanigans. If you have reservations about Disney's changes and are concerned at the increases in tickets costs, etc. and are not opposed to staying at values onsite or even grabbing a sweet 2BR villa offsite for much less money, then just rent a few times if you are interested but don't make the commitment.

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

One way to negate the point chart shifting concern is to purchase a guaranteed week.

 

[ngchiro]

too much buyers remorse for me for that designated week option.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I bought in March and do not regret buying. I'm annoyed about certain things (looking at you APs), but I am overall thrilled we decided to finally purchase and am looking forward to many years with our contract.

If you know you want to buy and are certain of that and the finances work out, I would do it.

 

[MomOTwins]

I think you have to have some flexibility to buy into DVC these days--it's not like the old days when it sounds like the prices were low and the perks were great and you made your money back in no time. We bought about 25 more points that we calculated we needed because we knew that point charts are going to shift around and Disney is going to try to find a way to make it worthwhile etc.--so we wanted a bit of "cushion" to tide us over on trips when we'd need more points. Plus we fully expect disney will keep raising maintenance dues, so we know we'll have to spend more there over time. But we can afford to add on and don't mind dropping a couple days from our disney trips and paying to stay at universal or a beach place for the rest of the week if we need to down the road. The fact is, if I wasn't buying DVC, I'd be paying for a deluxe resort at WDW on cash, and we all know the prices of those can and do go up too. We're probably better off taking the chance of minor point shenanigans with DVC, than the near certainty of price inflation at the deluxe disney resorts on cash reservations.

I still think over our expected lifetime at DVC we will save money, especially if we sell it with at least 10 years left on the deed, but for me it's not necessarily the only purpose of DVC. It just makes me happy to have it--isn't that the reason for most of the things we buy that we don't really need?

 

[Mike9865]

too much buyers remorse for me for that designated week option.

You can trade in your guaranteed week and receive the points back every year. There is literally no downside to a GW. I took week 51 because we go every Christmas. If we skip a year I can trade in the week, get points back and use them to book a different trip or rent them. Not sure what you would have buyers remorse about.

 

[Deb & Bill]

My husband and I have been crunching the numbers and saving up for months and we're finally ready to jump in and buy our first contract! But, with some research on this site, we came across the thread about points discrepancies for the 2022 chart and how they had added points without taking them from others (I believe it was a 0.22% increase across all WDW resorts). We were told that our points would never be devalued and that points changes had to even out somewhere else, but after reading through that thread, it doesn't appear to be that way at all. And now, we're extremely worried about the future of our DVC purchase if our points end up being devalued over the life of the contract.

For current members, knowing about this mess (and thinking back to a few years ago when they tried to screw owners over in a similar way but were called out on it), would you still recommend buying DVC now?

It is far too expensive now. The direct prices are crazy awful and the resale prices are more affordable, but you don't get any of the perks. We bought 22 years ago and paid $50 a point direct. Now we're trying to decide if we should sell our contracts or keep them for a while.

 

[AdamsMum]

It is very expensive to buy right now, but it will be more expensive to buy later. Points charts, perks, restrictions all come and go and everyone huffs and puffs and says it's the last straw, but there is a large group of us that still hand over our money to Disney every year. If you've done your research, are sure you want to buy, and are ready financially, then I say buy it now. I thought the price was outrageous ($98/pt direct-2007) when I first bought in but I wanted to stay at BWV. My points are now worth more than I paid and I've enjoyed many great vacations. If you think DVC is for you, then buy. My only hesitation would be in Riviera, no one knows how the value of those points will go with the resale restriction. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Pens Fan]

We bought in 2019, added on in 2020 and have a third contract scheduled to close in October. I don't regret it at all. Do I like everything that has happened in the last two years? No, but overall we are very, very happy to be DVC owners. Nothing is perfect, but DVC works for our family. We love being able to spread out in 1 or 2 BR villas vs just a hotel room. Every time I see the cash rates for Disney hotels, I am so relieved that we don't have to worry about those crazy prices anymore. I love having an actual kitchen and washer and dryer in the unit. When I see all the long lines in the parks these days I love knowing that we have enough points to come back in a few months and pick up whatever rides we missed out on.

Yes, the 2022 point chart thing is annoying. But there is still a chance it gets fixed and even if it doesn't it won't outweigh the positives. At least not for us.

But come on Disney - bring back the DVC Gold AP!!!

 

[snappy]

No, I could not recommend DVC at current prices. We bought resale in 2007, and I do not regret buying at the prices back then. We only have 165 points, but it is at the resort where we almost always have wanted to stay, and had good success with booking until fairly recently. It was a major pain to get the room we wanted the last 3 years (early December). I am glad we we were never tempted to buy more points. I have really enjoyed boardwalk views at BWV and lake views at Poly, but the parks are less interesting as time goes on, and the food less appealing.

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

The bottom line is that if it is good for your family long term, then I would recommend buying. It is not likely to get less expensive.

The pandemic was (is) a huge test. People had a bunch of points they were not able to use. There was no guarantee that parks would open again. Resale prices took a slight dip, but quickly recovered and have even increased. People are looking past the current issues to the long term value.

Disney bent over backwards to help people preserve their points until they were able to open again, but they accomplished it by restricting borrowing from the future to 50% for a time. This is inconvenient for some, but it saved a lot of people from taking huge losses by having their points expire. .

The point chart shenanigans from a couple of years ago had me very upset, but Disney backed down on them. The current point chart controversy hasn’t reached my radar yet, so I can’t comment on that.

We still love Disney, but even more, we love that our adult kids and their kids love to come here with us. I keep the Disney shenanigans away from them. They just get the magic.

 

[DL1WDW2]

I am concerned because of the manipulation of points. Creating 7 seasons to tighten the popular dates with higher points .Also having no control over maintenance fees that keep going up .
I would probably not recommend buying in currently.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

We still like it, but we liked it more two years ago. If you are worried I would hold back and think about it some more. We did this for years. When we were ready to buy, we had no hesitation. If you have hesitation, I’d put it on the back burner. We have considered selling some of our contracts lately but haven’t done it yet. Disney has made a lot of changes recently that we do not agree with— not just within dvc but in the parks, movies, etc. There is an extend to which Disney is bonkers and doing a lot of stupid things lately.

 

[808blessing]

I wouldn’t. Unstable future. Escalating prices. I am glad I got in when I did an where I did but no I’m not recommending. I am excited about being a new owner tho.

 

[fumanchu2488]

Two key questions I would consider to buy or not buy.

1. Do you love Disney? The reason I ask is because there is an intangible joy of knowing you own DVC. Seeing that you are here I can assume the answer is yes and DVC will bring that sense of ownership. Now the hard question.

2. Are you planning on going to Disney every year or other year regardless of this purchase? As DVC members we are prepaying for our vacations. So we essentially get deluxe accommodations for the price of moderate or less than moderate pricing. But, you are locking in to years of Disney vacations. And DVC will be the least of your expense.

You can see the trajectory of WDW pricing and how they are going to come out of COVID and by that I mean ticket prices, AP, paid FP, no Magical Express, etc…. With DVC you really can’t take more than a year off or you lose points. So if you are going to go to Disney often regardless DVC is a great option.

For us, we have owned for a little over 2 years. When we bought our points we were so excited. We are still excited and think some of this change is for the good as crowds were getting ridiculous. But I am a bit more worried about what Disney is going to cost in 5 or 10 years and with DVC it is harder to stop going.

 

[AnnaS]

We bought our first contract direct/cash a little over 20 years ago. We had three young kids. I remember thinking it was a splurge, expensive but doable. We also added three more times (direct/cash) not long after almost back to back.

Today, we are empty nesters. We are way more comfortable than we were back then. I wonder sometimes if we were to buy today as empty nesters or with kids, 200 points cash, would I do it? I am really not so sure. I doubt I would give up $40,000 or almost $40,000 cash as easily. I ask myself sometimes, did it feel as crazy expensive back then as it does now?

I would probably buy resale and not have as many points as we have now. I might not miss everything taken away - can't miss something you did not have. I would also still wish I had before sooner.

We are very happy with our purchase and enjoy it now more than ever. Sometimes I also wonder if we could have or would have bought a condo if we did not have so many points. We can still get a condo (not in Orlando) but we don't have the freedom to pick up and go when we want as long as we want since we are committed to babysitting our grandchildren. If we did someday, I would sell off some points. I would not need or want to maintain 460 points.

Right now, it's perfect. It allows us to vacation a few weeks a year - WDW, HH & Vero (we add other non-Disney vacations too here and there).

It is such a personal decision. One's love of Disney, vacation pattern, family size, finances, looking to do other non-disney vacations, home location (not DVC resort), etc. etc. All these answers will also change over time.