Potential first time buyer and I am so lost

[_auroraborealis_]

The other thing I would say about PVB is the direct vs. resale premium is insane there. Just nuts. I am talking $50-90 per point.

 

[Bing Showei]

Buying DVC is inflation protection - and this is Disney, prices WILL go up! I highly suggest you search YouTube for Jen Laforge's videos on DVC (just seach DVC). She has a number of really good videos on plusses, minuses, resale vs. direct, her thought process on purchasing, etc. They are well worth the time to view and super easy to understand.

Not to pile on, but even absent the retracted 2020 reallocation, DVC has never been inflation protection. As inflation is a measure of increasing costs of goods and services over time, when the cost of goods and services go up, your annual dues will as well. As members, we pay to keep the lights on.

Looking at the ADs at OKW, for example, they have outpaced inflation since inception.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Not to pile on, but even absent the retracted 2020 reallocation, DVC has never been inflation protection. As inflation is a measure of increasing costs of goods and services over time, when the cost of goods and services go up, your annual dues will as well. As members, we pay to keep the lights on.

Looking at the ADs at OKW, for example, they have outpaced inflation since inception.

Except for you have no idea how much Disney is going to increase rack rates when, I dunno, some large expansion in DHS opens? I haven't done the research, but I think you'll find rack rate increases have outpaced inflation by a good margin, and that's really what you need to compare it to. Add to that, if you buy today, go on a trip next year, maybe rent out your points the next, you will have gone on a trip and gotten enough through renting to pay for the dues for both years. Yes, you have an initial outlay, but if in year three you decide to sell, you'll get that back (assuming you bought resale of course).

Not saying it's an investment - there are far better places to invest, but if you are going to WDW anyway, it does make sense over time.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Not to pile on, but even absent the retracted 2020 reallocation, DVC has never been inflation protection. As inflation is a measure of increasing costs of goods and services over time, when the cost of goods and services go up, your annual dues will as well. As members, we pay to keep the lights on.

Looking at the ADs at OKW, for example, they have outpaced inflation since inception.

Not against inflation inflation. Against Disney Inflation.

 

[Bing Showei]

Not against inflation inflation. Against Disney Inflation.

Ohhhh. Well, that makes more sense now.

In that case, I agree. If looking at “Disney Inflation,” buying DVC will definitely “save you money.”

 

[Deb & Bill]

The other thing to consider. If you plan on going to DL more than WDW, you don't want to buy a WDW resort. You want GCV because if you don't own there, it can be hard to book there at seven months out. With only one resort at DL and tons of competition at seven months out, you may be disappointed a lot. If you plan to stay at PVB nearly all the time, buy there. But you'll only have studios and bungalows there. No one bedroom villas, two bedroom villas and Grand Villas.

 

[bumbershoot]

am starting to feel like maybe this might not work for us with my I'm-not-anti-Disney-just-going-along-because-my-wife-loves-it hubby who only wants to go every 3 years...

Crazy question. How often does she want to go? Could Dvc allow her to go on solo trips that she might want?

The other thing to consider. If you plan on going to DL more than WDW, you don't want to buy a WDW resort. You want GCV because if you don't own there, it can be hard to book there at seven months out. With only one resort at DL and tons of competition at seven months out, you may be disappointed a lot. If you plan to stay at PVB nearly all the time, buy there. But you'll only have studios and bungalows there. No one bedroom villas, two bedroom villas and Grand Villas.

Good point IF one wants to stay at the Grand. I personally don’t, so buying GCV wasn’t a temptation for us despite being in the same area as the OP’s username suggests.

 

[ELMC]

We checked out DVC finally on a recent, short trip to Aulani. It seems like it *might* be the right choice for our little family of 3, but the hubby is more interested in the world travel, with possibly only every other year visits to Disney. It seems like it's hard to book DVC. The sales people don't tell you that, but after reading several threads here, it appears that things book up very quickly. We were going to purchase 175 points directly for CCV, but it almost sounds like studios will be very hard to come by.
I had thoughts of using points to go Marathon weekend, but it seems like those book up at 11 months out.
The resellers market seems plausible, but at the same time, are there new restrictions with that?
I was all gung ho about this last week, but now after reading some threads on these boards, I am really starting to second guess investing $30K into it...
What am I missing?

You're not missing anything. You were gung ho on it last week because you were in Aulani, experiencing the Disney magic, and your salesperson presented you a scenario in which you could have that feeling all the time. Now you're home, in reality, and you're starting to look at things a little more objectively.

There's a lot of good advice on this thread so I'll try not to be repetitive, but I will say that the purchase you are considering is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. If you're looking at staying in studios, but only going once every two years, then 175 points is WAY too many. Plus, if you're looking at staying in studios, CCV is not the place for you to buy because the competition for studios at that resort is much higher than others. Finally, I want to caution you that you are not "investing" $30,000, you are spending $30,000. It's a subtle but huge difference.

Here's what I would suggest. You can still go to Disney even if you don't own DVC. I would take your time, read a lot on these boards, figure out what your likely usage would be, figure out what the real and comparative costs would be, figure out where you would like to own if you did buy, and then go from there. Right now you're looking at making an emotional decision and that may feel good, but you'll likely feel a lot better when you make a logical decision instead.

Good luck!