So you don’t actually own DVC?
No, and that turns out to be a long and somewhat accidental story.
We first considered buying in the mid-00s. We were looking to return to WDW one week per year, in a 2BR, during Magic season. That meant we needed in the neighborhood of 300 points. At that point in our lives, even a resale purchase of that size would end up committing the vast majority of our vacation dollars. We passed because (a) we wanted take one or two more vacations each year in addition to an annual Disney trip, (b) we were not sure the kids wouldn't "age out" of Disney before the payoff horizon, and (c) we were willing to consider off-site resorts as well. We ended up buying Wyndham (resale) as our first timeshare purchase. It was
much less expensive than DVC.
Then, a bunch of things happened all at once that weren't really planned, but worked out well, and we ended up well positioned to exchange into DVC. The exchange landscape kept changing, but--mostly due to dumb luck--I had a portfolio that was easy to reposition as that happened. Along the way, our own vacation needs changed in a way that reduced the number of times we'd return to Orlando as a foursome. So, in hindsight, that 300 point purchase would have been overkill, and we were able to get the units we wanted with exchange most years.
We've revisited the idea of buying several times as our financial picture got rosier, but I can't quite convince myself to spend the money given that (a) we aren't Disney-or-nothing vacationers and (b) exchange keeps working well enough to feed our lower-level pixie dust addiction. I just went back to check, and over the years we've made exchanges that, if we'd booked them internally, would have averaged something north of 250 pts/year. So maybe that addiction isn't as low-level as I thought.
I generally discourage people from trying to replicate this because--again--a lot of this was dumb luck and I am not sure I could do it again if I tried. It also takes a fair amount of time to work the various exchange angles, but I view it as a hobby, and the hunt itself is part of the fun. I think most people find exchanging to be at least a little frustrating. And, it remains to be seen whether or not we will be able to ride out the switch back to II with our current portfolio. If not, well, it was fun while it lasted!
I've half a mind to see if I can pick up a resale if the recession I expect comes to pass. But, there's also the problem that we now own enough timeshare that I have to work pretty hard to use it all up before it expires. The covid pause generated a backlog that made all that worse. We've not had anything expire yet, but that's partly because we are inviting family to join us more often, and are extending vacations longer than we might otherwise. But I'm not sure what I'd get rid of to make room for something else.
