Please try to convince me NOT to buy DVC. No, really.

[ddgckg]

Honestly, I really do want to own DVC.

I asked for some info from a guide today. He's mailing it to me and it just can't get here fast enough.

I haven't gotten any info other than the DVD that highlights the benefits and what I can glean from these discussion boards.

Heck, I haven't even discussed this with my husband! LOL

But at this moment I'm really needing to hear about the downside to ownership. Even if you are DVC's biggest fan, you must have some bad experience to share. No matter how good something is, there is always a downside.

In our family, I am Positive Patty and hubby is Negative Nick. Once I show hubby all the info I'm being sent and we start discussing it, I want to be ready for all the negative things he's gonna ask me about.

So please, any bad stories, experiences, etc. you were part of that you could share with me?

 

[Tara]

Honestly, I really do want to own DVC.

I asked for some info from a guide today. He's mailing it to me and it just can't get here fast enough.

I haven't gotten any info other than the DVD that highlights the benefits and what I can glean from these discussion boards.

Heck, I haven't even discussed this with my husband! LOL

But at this moment I'm really needing to hear about the downside to ownership. Even if you are DVC's biggest fan, you must have some bad experience to share. No matter how good something is, there is always a downside.

In our family, I am Positive Patty and hubby is Negative Nick. Once I show hubby all the info I'm being sent and we start discussing it, I want to be ready for all the negative things he's gonna ask me about.

So please, any bad stories, experiences, etc. you were part of that you could share with me?

Sorry, no bad stories or experiences to share. I love my DVC, but I am also not starry-eyed about it. It's expensive! It's a big financial commitment and it only saves us money on the way we want to vacation at Disney, not the way we would vacation in reality without it. Meaning that we'll have bigger accommodations with a kitchen and travel 1-2 times per year for at least a week each time versus having smaller room, no kitchen and traveling 1 time per year or maybe 2 if we get a great deal somehow.

My advice is to study the info beforehand, make your own list of pros and cons, then sit hubby down to watch the DVD first (if he hasn't seen it already). Let him come up with his own questions, and answer them to some extent, but set up a call with your guide to get more answers - so he can hear from a different person. (I almost said 3rd party, but it's not like the guide isn't trying to convince him, too! )

When it comes down to it, you are paying a fairly high price now for many decades of very nice accommodations - which will only cost more as the years go by. So you're locking in today's cost to a certain extent. You'll always have travel, admission and food costs - but if you plan to visit WDW, those come with the territory.

Also think about your travel strategy - would your husband be more agreeable to a smaller contract that allows you to travel every other year instead?

 

[doconeill]

Off the top of my head:

Although you can use points to stay at non-DVC WDW resorts, is it a poor trade of points. So if you enjoy staying at the Poly, GF, etc. and want to keep doing that, DVC isn't a good choice. However, several deluxe resorts have DVC components, albeit it separate buildings except - Beach Club, Boardwalk, and now the Contemporary. Animla Kingdom Lodge has an integrated DVC component, but now there is the whole Kidani Village which is 100% DVC. And if rumors are to be believed, even Poly and GF will succumb one day...

Points can be very confusing as to how you can use them. I've got some information on my page linked below if you need a primer on Use Year, banking/borrowing, etc.

Although you can use points at any DVC resort, you can only book at your home resort 7-11 months out. Depending on the popularity of when you want to go, you may not be able to book at a different resort at the 7 month mark - and in some cases it can be difficult to get a room at your home resort.

Point requirements for any given stay can CHANGE. A lot of people misunderstand what the guides tell you in this regard, or in some cases may have been misinformed from the get-go. But they can, and recently for 2010 did, change. If you buy only enough points for a given stay at a given time, there is the possibility that the points requirement for that stay could go up or down.

Don't forget about maintenance fees...

 

[Mtnman44]

If your family is in the habit of vacationing every year or every other year to WDW, then you'll likely see the value.

If not, you should really carefully consider everything. Don't buy on emotion. The Dreams book that is on the way to you is a very powerful marketing tool. You will not be able to resist its powers. You have been warned.

Owning DVC pretty much means regular vacations to WDW. These cost our family somewhere around $3,000 per trip not to mention dues every year and the upfront cost of the purchase which is signficant. It is a lot of commitment. If you vacation at WDW resorts regularly anyway, then it makes sense most of the time. However, there are plenty of other ways to enjoy regular WDW vacations that are not as costly, including some very nice "off property" resorts that you could own a timeshare at or simply pay cash for.

 

[jonw]

It's sort of like signing up for a really long term family contract with a wireless phone company. Getting benefits like a subsidized phone and free calls to your loved ones sound great but after a while it settles in on you that you're locking up a significant amount of your money to one purpose. If things in your life change (like you or your sig. other) lose their jobs you have to take a serious hit to get out of the contract.

Honestly, I really do want to own DVC.

I asked for some info from a guide today. He's mailing it to me and it just can't get here fast enough.

I haven't gotten any info other than the DVD that highlights the benefits and what I can glean from these discussion boards.

Heck, I haven't even discussed this with my husband! LOL

But at this moment I'm really needing to hear about the downside to ownership. Even if you are DVC's biggest fan, you must have some bad experience to share. No matter how good something is, there is always a downside.

In our family, I am Positive Patty and hubby is Negative Nick. Once I show hubby all the info I'm being sent and we start discussing it, I want to be ready for all the negative things he's gonna ask me about.

So please, any bad stories, experiences, etc. you were part of that you could share with me?

 

[DisneyWalker44]

There's a chance the world is going to end on December 21, 2012. If it does, you're going to have wasted a lot of money on vacations you'll never get to take.

 

[doconeill]

There's a chance the world is going to end on December 21, 2012. If it does, you're going to have wasted a lot of money on vacations you'll never get to take.

If it does, I won't really care, will I?

 

[ddgckg]

There's a chance the world is going to end on December 21, 2012. If it does, you're going to have wasted a lot of money on vacations you'll never get to take.

This is the best bad scenario I've heard yet!!

 

[Crystal_27]

There's a chance the world is going to end on December 21, 2012. If it does, you're going to have wasted a lot of money on vacations you'll never get to take.

Well, I guess I know when and where I'm vacationing in 2012. If you gotta go....

To the OP, besides the financial aspect of DVC (the buy-in and the annual costs), I guess the only downside would be that if you got tired of vacationing at Disney (blasphemy), then you're sort of stuck either trying to sell your contract or transferring through RCI. I am a relatively new member and am still seeing stars and doing the happy dance, so I'm obviously not a good authority on any negative DVC aspects, so I'm probably not able to really help you here other than to advise to learn as much as you can about DVC before making your decision. Either way, best of luck!!

 

[5forDiz]

Upside : it's a nice way to pre-pay your accommodations if you plan to

primarily vacation at WDW ( or at least do so every other year ). Haven't ever

traded out to non-DVC resorts or RCI, etc. - if that's what you'd want to do

often, then search the threads here because there are some really good ones

that advise other timeshares are better suited and less expensive to own.

Downside : MORE $ for travel to/from WDW, $ for tickets, $ for restaurants,

$ for miscellaneous because you will probably make more trips to WDW

than you anticipate

 

[Deb & Bill]

Points continue to go up. Members continue to complain that they can't get the reservation that they want if they don't book at 11 months out (yes, some get to switch at 7 months, but sometimes nothing is available at 7 months). If you can't figure out when and where you want to vacation at least a year ahead of time, prepare to be disappointed often. Unless staying at your home resort will be just fine. Never buy DVC for the perks; they change all the time. Never buy DVC to use points for non-DVC Disney because the points needed are negotiated every year and they continue to go up each year. Sometimes they will not even be available. Don't buy because you want to trade for RCI because it could change back to II.

Buy DVC to use your points at DVC for partially prepaid vacations. You will tend to spend a lot more money at Disney when you buy DVC unless you have already been doing Disney a lot before you bought in.

 

[SSRFred]

If you have $20,000 burning a hole in your pocket, plus can part with another $400 a month for the next 50 years - there's no downside.
It's worth it to me, but for some not so.

 

[backyardponder]

Please make sure you can afford this. If you have kids, then college education is far more important than feeding the Mouse and his wife with expensive tastes. In addition to maintenance fees and interest if you finance, there's admission tickets, souvenirs, food, transportation, etc.

 

[candizfan]

Our guide gave us the best tool to decide if it would work for us.

When you get the points chart, plan out the next 4-5 years of vacations (based on what you can afford). If you have a ton of points that would need to be banked each year or would expire if you didn't give them away, then it is not for you.

Again, don't buy to trade, there are cheaper timeshares out there for that. Don't buy to stay at non DVC resorts. Make sure you can afford the regular maintenance fee payments in your regular budget. Don't borrow from other areas to pay the dues, because you will not be able to afford to use it.

It took us two years to decide it was right for us and I love owning DVC but it just did not fit for us for a while.

Good luck.

 

[Cruelladeville]

I have owned for over 10 years, and I love DVC. However, you do have dues every month that you have to budget for. Do you vacation in Florida every year? Then DVC is a good value for you, but if you would rather vacation in a different place each year, then you will want to buy a different timeshare. I find that after 10 years, we spend most of our time at the resorts, golfing, and seeing other parts of Orlando, and less time at the parks. We love the luxury, too, but if you don't care for luxury and space and being part of the magic, then you might want to save your money.

 

[ACDSNY]

There's also a dreaded disease that seems to affect most of us...Add-on-itis! You alway want more points!

 

[Lynne M]

The best advice I can give is to take emotion out of the decision. Of course for most of us, there's an emotional attachment to WDW, but so many people get caught up in Disney's 'buy a piece of the magic' marketing, with all the happy pictures of perfect families having wonderful vacations, and end up buying something they don't understand, that isn't right for them. I've seen posts from people who desperately want to buy DVC, and barely even understand what it is. That's the power of Disney's marketing.

Look at the advertising material that Disney sends you, and then start doing your research. Make sure you completely understand what it is that you're getting (and what you're not getting).

Make sure it fits the way your family vacations - for example, if your jobs prevent you from planning vacations more than a couple months in advance, you're going to find that booking timeshare vacations is difficult and frustrating. If you want to stay at DVC resorts only occasionally, and spend most of your trips trading out to other resorts, you're going to find that DVC is a very poor value.

Make sure the finances work for you. DVC is a luxury purchase, not a discount program. If you routinely stay at deluxe resorts, DVC stays in a comparable studio will end up costing you significantly less. If you're buying DVC because you want to stay in the larger villas, you're going to be spending more. If you usually stay at values, you're going to be spending a lot more money to own DVC. DVC only covers your resort stay, so you still need to spend money on airfare, meals, etc.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

I have no regrets.

Do remember that you still have to pay for park tickets, transportation, etc.

Since you live in South Georgia...you will be very convenient to both Disney and Hilton Head. We love going to Hilton Head in the Fall.

 

[disneynutz]

We love the DVC and right now for our family it makes sense.

Here is a list of items... remember you asked:

If we were to sell all of our contracts right now, we would get $6,000 less than we paid.

Some of the resort amenities don't make a lot of sense and we are powerless to get them changed. We make suggestions, but few are acted upon.

DVD/DVC can change the rules when ever they want, and they do.

MS makes a lot of mistakes. The more you own, the more mistakes they make. Many Members call repeatedly to verify that MS has done their job correctly.

The MS computer system sucks. Points get lost, reservations get canceled by mistake, room inventory disappears while you are making a reservation.

The DVC resorts are not maintained to a level that we expect from Disney and the DVC. Many resorts and rooms are in need of rehabilitation.

 

[Dean]

Without knowing more about your habits it's hard to address specifics. IF you go at least once every 2 years staying on property in moderates or above, aren't heavy on weekends and won't have to finance it, DVC is likely a good choice. If you lose any of these aspects it rapidly becomes a poor choice. IF you buy in, don't buy planning to use DVC for other options, just buy the points you'd use at DVC and look for other options for the non DVC trips. We can explain further if you need.