Poll: For those of you who have owned DVC greater than 5 years, do you plan to stay long term or sell?

[skippytx]

We're right about at the 5 year mark. No plans to sell anytime soon. I will say that any plans to buy additional DVC points is out the window. We'll keep what we have, but we no longer are even considering buying more points right now. We have 185 BLT points and were at one point considering getting to around 370-400 points.

There's a couple reasons for that. One is the kids are older now and we're dialing back the WDW vacations to every other year or so, there's a lot more places we want to visit with our vacation time and money. Our 185 points gets us 8 nights or so in a standard 2 bedroom every other year, which is about perfect for our current needs.

Like many others we are also not happy with how much has changed in the last 5+ years at WDW and how expensive it has become. Our first trip was in 2015 at AoA on cash, and I think everything has almost doubled in price since then. Our next trip is in June, and even using our DVC points the trip is going to be very expensive. Like I could fly my family to Europe for less than the cost of just the WDW tickets we bought for the trip.


A big reason we won't sell is just how expensive DVC has gotten in the last 5 years. We bought 160 BLT resale points at 125 a point almost 5 years ago, and then added on 25 direct for the blue card benefits. BLT has reasonable dues, so worst case scenario we'll just rent the points out if we're not going to use them. Barring any sort of major financial issues, it makes no sense to get rid of them. Now we have no plans on leaving the points to our kids or anything, maybe if they want them down the road we'll figure something out, but hopefully I'll still be around in 2060 when the points expire.

We haven't been to WDW since March 2020, so we'll see how this next trip goes, but worst case scenario I can rent my points out for a decent premium.

 

[RoseGold]

If you just look at the resale prices and how strong they are, it gives a better indication of how people feel about DVC. The vast majority are very happy.

The board sponsor alone has over 600 contracts for sale right now. Plenty of those people are underwater, especially if they financed. Those people aren't on these boards, but I can think of many reasons they may be selling that were controlled by Disney.

This is a big decision, and it isn't right for everyone. Since I started going to Disney, it has cost as much as a trip to Europe.

 

[DVC92]

Having been original members from year 1 of the Club, we owned at OKW, BLT, and VGF. During the pandemic, we sold OKW. We returned to WDW last July and the trip was fine. There was no FP+, but Genie+ had yet to start. Our November trip was the worst ever because of the absence of FP+ and our refusal to buy Genie+. The standby lines were ridiculous. We have a spring trip coming up. Between the absence of FP+, park reservation requirement which requires AP renewal immediately, lines for everything, and everyone staring at their smartphones while walking into you, the World is no longer fun. Selling our remaining contracts may be sooner rather than later.

 

[Bjaiken77]

I didn’t vote because I’ve only been in DVC a couple years (didn’t want to skew your results), but we will stay barring crazy, unforeseen circumstances.

I grew up less than 10 miles from DL; my fiancé did graduate school and was an AP holder at WDW. We now live in MD, and we love visiting all the beachy, warm DVC locations. We are hardcore fans, and so I feel vested when I vent. I care about the direction. However, there is still no place, or environment, my fiancé and I would rather be.

 

[McCrae]

The board sponsor alone has over 600 contracts for sale right now. Plenty of those people are underwater, especially if they financed. Those people aren't on these boards, but I can think of many reasons they may be selling that were controlled by Disney.

This is a big decision, and it isn't right for everyone. Since I started going to Disney, it has cost as much as a trip to Europe.

The numbers of contracts on the market remain a very small proportion of the overall deeds sold. Disney always has been and will be expensive. The price of direct points has more than doubled since BLT first went on sale yet this hasn’t impacted Disney’s ability to sell more points. DVC remains one of the very few times shares available where longer term owners can sell at a profit. You will always have some people who want to sell, for a number of reasons but this group is small in proportion to the number of owners that are happy to keep their points. Nothing to suggest the popularity of DVC is declining.

 

[RoseGold]

You will always have some people who want to sell, for a number of reasons but this group is small in proportion to the number of owners that are happy to keep their points. Nothing to suggest the popularity of DVC is declining.

And you'll always have some people who keep getting foreclosed. I saw some math for BLT that was staggering, and that resort was timed in the ridiculous jump in value, so it would be hard to be underwater without financing. Just because a board of superfans is happy, doesn't mean it's the right choice for OP.

 

[McCrae]

Having been original members from year 1 of the Club, we owned at OKW, BLT, and VGF. During the pandemic, we sold OKW. We returned to WDW last July and the trip was fine. There was no FP+, but Genie+ had yet to start. Our November trip was the worst ever because of the absence of FP+ and our refusal to buy Genie+. The standby lines were ridiculous. We have a spring trip coming up. Between the absence of FP+, park reservation requirement which requires AP renewal immediately, lines for everything, and everyone staring at their smartphones while walking into you, the World is no longer fun. Selling our remaining contracts may be sooner rather than later.

Fully understand the frustrations with Genie +. I share them. I am hopeful Disney will make some changes based on the pretty strong negative feedback they are receiving.

 

[McCrae]

And you'll always have some people who keep getting foreclosed. I saw some math for BLT that was staggering, and that resort was timed in the ridiculous jump in value, so it would be hard to be underwater without financing. Just because a board of superfans is happy, doesn't mean it's the right choice for OP.

Totally agree with you that everyone is different and what may work for one person will not work for another. I think though from reading the OP post they were trying to gauge how popular DVC remains with longer term owners. The evidence would suggest that the vast majority are happy.

 

[DduzDis]

We hope to own long-term, but if they make trips any more painful and expensive we may have to rent our points for a while and go another direction to evaluate.

 

[Sandisw]

Totally agree with you that everyone is different and what may work for one person will not work for another. I think though from reading the OP post they were trying to gauge how popular DVC remains with longer term owners. The evidence would suggest that the vast majority are happy.

I agree and I think we do sometimes forgot we are a very small percentage of DVC owners.

Not that it makes it any less valid in terms of what people think, but I do think we have more owners here who analyze more than the average buyer in terms of it all.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

Bought 2019 at $188 and added at $173 at Riviera. Plan is long term, but not in love with all the changes since we bought in. Our kids are 8 and 9 now, so figured if we sold to have funds to go to college, by then Riviera resale would be where we bought in and our trips would only cost the maintenance fees. (This is my rationalization.). In the meantime, we’ll have been on great vacations 1-2x a year, had a launchpad for UO, Kennedy Space Station, and Hawaii, which we never would have done without DVC. I had plans to take the kids to Europe/Asia and cruising, but between Covid surges, lockdowns, airfare, etc., I am content to travel domestically for a few more years, so WDW and the area have lots to explore. I also will jump on any DL opportunities in the next decade.

IMO, Riviera resale has held up well and will only increase. If DVC decides to get rid of the restrictions, our points just got a 40% bump in value overnight. If they don’t, we love it there and plan to pass the blue cards to the kids anyway.

 

[WildernessMickey]

I plan to keep my contracts.

I agree that the parks experience is suffering. I was there a few weeks ago and the lines were so long! I'm not a fan of Genie+ or ILL, but I am happy that there are no longer any virtual queues and you can at least try standby if you are willing to wait. But wow the waits are long now!

I will say that the DVC resorts seem to be in great shape. We stayed at PVB and CCV and everything looked impressive, from the pools to the rooms to the restaurants. Poly rooms were just refurbished and I liked the new look. They continue to make improvements as they go, refurbishing rooms and lobbies, adding splash pads or whole new pools at times, and they even reconstructed the port cochere and monorail station at the Poly. I love that I can use my points to stay at different resorts with different themes. We often do split stays.

I also am looking forward to the new rides and the new front area of Epcot and I am hopeful that the parks situation will improve.

 

[Shellyred8]

So, we are in a bit of limbo deciding what to do and which route to take. I know there are a lot of different opinions on here as to which is best and there are such good points on both sides of the debate.

They always say "don't buy DVC for the perks because those can change/go away at any time". This was proven true during the past 2 years. They took away a lot of the perks and there is no telling when they will come back. The biggest perk for us was the discounted AP. Currently, you can't buy a new DVC AP and that is really frustrating for many DVC members. Having to pay full price for tickets when you want to use your DVC points can add up fast if you have several trips planned in a year.

We don't plan to sell at this time. We got in when the price per point was still reasonable, so it's still a pretty good deal for us. Our next trip on DVC points will be staying at WDW, but not doing any parks. I'm not sure what that trip will look like, but I still enjoy staying at the WDW resorts and enjoying their amenities. We might do one of the waterparks this time around, as those prices are still reasonable.

 

[kilik64]

Didnt vote as we are new and just went on our first trip with our DVC points. While the parks were way more crowded then the last two visits we had prior to this one (sept 2018, aug 2019), we still had a great time and got on all the rides we were wanting to do with the longest wait for anything we had the whole time being Les Halles in France for breakfast!

Yup, used g+ and liked it well enough, couple it with early rope drop and makes for a good day with little to no waits. Granted we were with our 3 kids and didnt have to ride the big ticket rides, but for us it was a great time. It hurt paying for it, but I feel like I got my monies worth except for maybe our Epcot day (had to get it for frozen since RD remy, rather pay for frozen and have g+ to use for other rides too vs the one shot on remy, rides we rode there didnt really NEED g+ but we had it so we used it). I get some people hate g+, but it worked fairly well for us. Will definitely use it in the future.

All that said, we loved our trip. Banking borrowing points to go with both sets of grandparents next year, and have no plans to sell any time soon.

 

[rubybutt]

Thank you, yes this is definitely so important! I have the points charts pulled up in different browser windows for the resorts we are considering and have been going back and forth between them a lot. I feel like I have the SSR and RIV charts almost memorized. I know that probably sounds odd as they could not be more different.

Please note that if points went up for certain times of year they went down at other times. For every "loser" there was a "winner" Point charts are a zero sum game.

 

[kanerf]

Staying. Have purchased more points this year. While the Disney Experience has been watered down somewhat by recent changes I still like to go and will probably continue to for a while yet. I could sell down the road a bit and currently see no dropping in price on the horizon.

 

[GGGT]

Long term. Started day one at OKW, now own 5 resorts and 1000's of points.

 

[robinb]

I am a long time owner and I am on the fence. I still use my DVC once or twice a year, but I have been feeling a good dose of Disney Ennui for a while. I am peeved at a number of things: the increase in pass prices, the lack of APs (even though I bought one last fall), the increase in food prices, the increase of resort rates (even though I don't pay them), the failure of Genie+, and most of all the endless feeling that Disney is just one big money-grab.

 

[DeeCee735]

We own at AKV and BWV. Bought the latter in 2000, added on a few times there and then bought AKV. We now have little grand kids so it gives DVC a kind of revival for us.
Disney used to be the "end all/be all" to us. We don't really feel like that about it any more. We have made excellent use out of DVC and the parks for the last 21 years, but we're not really too into the parks anymore, not with all the changes, price gouging, and insane crowds (outside of Covid).

Looking at DVC for just what it is, that's the deciding factor for us in keeping it for as long as we possibly can (and if and when ready, offering it to our children). DVC is great accommodations in a good timeshare program that gets us on Disney property in the way we choose and when we choose. Each of our home resorts offers a very different vacation experience (which is why we chose to add on at AKV), so we can appreciate the value in owning in that alone. I don't see us using the parks too much anymore, except when with the grandchildren. There's so many things to do and places to go that are outside of the parks and, after all these years, we have come to look forward to our trips with or without stepping into a park. The pools, animals, restaurants, BW area, spas, other resorts and bars keep us busy for days, if not an entire week.

It's different and personal for everyone. For us, even when we swore we'd never go back (after one bad trip out of 50), we see the value, love the experience and still love to be there enough to hang on to it for the long run.

Dee

 

[AdamsMum]

15 year owner here. I used to say "they'll have to pry those points from my cold dead hands" when people asked me if I'd sell my DVC. After my last visit, I'm in a bit of a negative place. I've no use for an AP but I feel for those members who bought with that in mind. I know everyone says don't buy for the perks, but lots of people wouldn't have had reason to go to WDW so often without that being part of the sales tactic. For myself, I just wasn't comfortable with everything being on my phone, I didn't have a good experience with mobile order, and I didn't think I should have to pay extra to experience attractions after having paid a very high price for my park pass. Add to that park reservations, and needing to tap into your initial park before being able to use park hopping, it was just a lot harder than it was in the past. I'm about to turn 65, kids have grown and moved. I'm inclined to hold on to points for a trip with a potential grandchild (hope against hope). My answer? I don't know what to do. Maybe you should have included a category for the I don't knows.