Ownership vs. Non-ownership?

[alwaysready]

We have been vacationing at Disney World every year since 2001. We have mostly stayed in one of the value resorts. We plan to continue vacationing at Disney every year.
Last year we puuchased vacation points from a co-worker and stayed at the Beach Club. Needless to say we loved the resort and all of the amenities that came with the Beach Club. After returning home we purchased at Saratoga Springs. With all of that being said, has anyone in a similar situation felt like they bought on impulse and therfor regreting their purchase. I guess the question is do you feel as if your getting your money's worth?

 

[global_mom]

We only regret that we did not buy DVC much sooner than we did. We only stayed in a value resort one time and knew from then on that it would not be for us. At the time we only took 2 of our children to WDW but once the 3rd child was old enough to go with us the values were not even an option for us to consider.

We prefer Deluxe resorts even though we have stayed at POR 4x and loved it.

Buyer's remorse can be a powerful emotion if that is in fact what is happening to you. We had a touch of that after doing our 2nd add-on only b/c we knew that things were going to get a little tight for us as the economy was turning (DH is a Realtor ). However, we weathered the storm and all is well and we are very glad that we did our add-on.

So my answer to your question is.....YES we feel that we get our money's worth plus alot of intangible "warm fuzzies" that make our whole family happy! We love owning a piece of the magic.

 

[Laxmom]

If you haven't made your first trip "home" yet, you will feel better after you do.

 

[Dean]

We have been vacationing at Disney World every year since 2001. We have mostly stayed in one of the value resorts. We plan to continue vacationing at Disney every year.
Last year we puuchased vacation points from a co-worker and stayed at the Beach Club. Needless to say we loved the resort and all of the amenities that came with the Beach Club. After returning home we purchased at Saratoga Springs. With all of that being said, has anyone in a similar situation felt like they bought on impulse and therfor regreting their purchase. I guess the question is do you feel as if your getting your money's worth?

If you go most years, use your points at DVC resorts an don't go heavy on weekends you will do fine and get a fair value compared to staying on property otherwise. If you vary from the formula buying in may not have been a good choice for you.

 

[Mike©]

We have been vacationing at Disney World every year since 2001. We have mostly stayed in one of the value resorts. We plan to continue vacationing at Disney every year.
Last year we puuchased vacation points from a co-worker and stayed at the Beach Club. Needless to say we loved the resort and all of the amenities that came with the Beach Club. After returning home we purchased at Saratoga Springs. With all of that being said, has anyone in a similar situation felt like they bought on impulse and therfor regreting their purchase. I guess the question is do you feel as if your getting your money's worth?

It depends.

How many in the family, how many points, how long do you stay each trip.

It's a real balance between points cost, dues and the experience. Smaller contract owners seem to get more personal value over the long run as owners.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We have owned for 11 years, and each year we comment on what a good deal DVC has been for us. We are just the two of us with grown children who occationally come with us, but we love that we are basically taking several WDW trips a year, staying in 1 and 2 bedroom deluxe accommodations for the prices of 11 years ago. I figure the longer we own, the better the deal gets. We have 449 points that we purchased up front without a loan. Our dues are just under $2000 a year, but we normally get 1-3 WDW trips a year with that. No way we would be able to have those kind of trips in these kind of accommodations for that amount ONCE a year, let alone multiple times. I guess what I am saying is, NO, we do not ever have second thoughts about purchasing.

 

[DVC Mike]

After returning home we purchased at Saratoga Springs. With all of that being said, has anyone in a similar situation felt like they bought on impulse and therfor regreting their purchase. I guess the question is do you feel as if your getting your money's worth?

No regrets for me. I've added on more points several times. It's worth it for me. However, everyone is in different situations. Is this just buyer's remorse (a common feeling with a big purchase) or do you really think that you made the wrong decision for you?

 

[JimC]

If you prefer value resort pricing then DVC may not work well for you. As Dean pointed out DVC's best value is a weekday stay in DVC resorts on property.

We have no regrets with our purchase, however we did not buy on impulse.

 

[alwaysready]

It depends.

How many in the family, how many points, how long do you stay each trip.

It's a real balance between points cost, dues and the experience. Smaller contract owners seem to get more personal value over the long run as owners.

We have two children and every other year we usually take our parents. We purchased 150 points to start with so we could get an idea if it was going to be for us (and we didn't want a monthly payment). We usually stay 5 nights and six days and we avoid the weekends.

I am just trying to weigh the up front cost for the contract and the dues opposed to purchasing as you go. We definately prefer to stay in the DVC resorts, however we do spend most of our time in the parks.

 

[culli]

We have been vacationing at Disney World every year since 2001. We have mostly stayed in one of the value resorts. We plan to continue vacationing at Disney every year.
Last year we puuchased vacation points from a co-worker and stayed at the Beach Club. Needless to say we loved the resort and all of the amenities that came with the Beach Club. After returning home we purchased at Saratoga Springs. With all of that being said, has anyone in a similar situation felt like they bought on impulse and therfor regreting their purchase. I guess the question is do you feel as if your getting your money's worth?

I only wish I heard about DVC sooner. We didn't make it WDW because we have young kids and I thought and often hear they are too young wait until they are older. Well they loved it and I decided I wanted to go every year. Now that I own I wish I would have owned before we had kids and added on 25-50 pts year. We love it think it is a fair deal and will probably add on as some disposible cash builds up (won't go in debt for it).

 

[disfanforlife]

We have two children and every other year we usually take our parents. We purchased 150 points to start with so we could get an idea if it was going to be for us (and we didn't want a monthly payment). We usually stay 5 nights and six days and we avoid the weekends.

I am just trying to weigh the up front cost for the contract and the dues opposed to purchasing as you go. We definately prefer to stay in the DVC resorts, however we do spend most of our time in the parks.

That sounds like us! We are planning to stay 6 nights for our first trip with only one weekend night. I see that already to be what I would plan for. Since we are driving down we will have some flexibility in our dates. In the future when we plan a trip with a flight we will probably stay a little longer and go back and forth that way.

 

[Mike©]

We have two children and every other year we usually take our parents. We purchased 150 points to start with so we could get an idea if it was going to be for us (and we didn't want a monthly payment). We usually stay 5 nights and six days and we avoid the weekends.

I am just trying to weigh the up front cost for the contract and the dues opposed to purchasing as you go. We definately prefer to stay in the DVC resorts, however we do spend most of our time in the parks.

At your current standing, it sounds like you have positioned yourself to get the best value from DVC. Be careful of add-on itis. Adding on points is often what changes DVC from a Value to something you end up spending more money on annually than you were as a cash customer.

 

[dianeschlicht]

At your current standing, it sounds like you have positioned yourself to get the best value from DVC. Be careful of add-on itis. Adding on points is often what changes DVC from a Value to something you end up spending more money on annually than you were as a cash customer.

That really depends on how you prefer to vacation both before and after DVC. Since we preferred the deluxes before, even with 3 contracts and nearly $2000 in dues, there is no way we would get by for that little at even 1 trip in a deluxe for the amount of time we want to spend. Heck, we couldnt' even do that for ONE trip!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

That really depends on how you prefer to vacation both before and after DVC. Since we preferred the deluxes before, even with 3 contracts and nearly $2000 in dues, there is no way we would get by for that little at even 1 trip in a deluxe for the amount of time we want to spend. Heck, we couldnt' even do that for ONE trip!

Ain't that the truth!!

 

[Chellymouse]

Our only regret was not buying in sooner. The long-term value far outweighs the initial purchase price and we are planning to add on once I'm done with school next year.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Our only regret was not buying in sooner. The long-term value far outweighs the initial purchase price and we are planning to add on once I'm done with school next year.

That is definitely true. I think we figured we broke even after 4-5 years, but our buy in was less too. I think most people expect it to take 6-7 years to hit the break even point now, depending on travel habits.