Received A Post Card

[susan137]

We just returned from a WDW vacation in April. In yesterday's mail I received a post card inviting us to join DVC. It offered a free vacation for buying into DVC and said that units would start to 14,000 something (don't have the card in from of me).

My questions for those of you that own....

What would 14,000 really get us?
Is it right for us? (we typically travel to WDW about every 1 1/2 - 2 yrs, spending about 5,000/trip and we have no real interest in vacationing elsewhere)
If we looked into buying from home (PA), we wouldn't get a tour, but we hate to wait as I'm sure prices go up. How would we handle that - sight unseen?

Thanks for any feedback. We are just now throwing this idea around and I have found all the posts here very helpful.

Susan

 

[dianeschlicht]

I am assuming that is the lowest buy in at 150 points at SSR. That will get you access to 150 points to use any time of the year at any DVC resort, but you will have a booking advatage at your home resort (you can book 11 months out). Check out the frequently asked questions at the top of this forum as well as the points calculator to figure out how many points you are likely to use every 2 years.

Before we purchased DVC, we were going to WDW about every other year and staying in a deluxe resort on-site. It didn't take us long to figure out that DVC could have been paid for in a few short trips at the rate we were spending on Disney vacations. It just made total sense to us. There are a couple of things that I think make it a better deal. One is to maybe finance your purchase with a home equity loan. This way, you aren't adding another payment and increasing the cost. Of course, if you can pay for it all up front, that is even better! Talk to a sales guide and get the full video and information packet. Things will make a lot more sense to you then. I would caution you to know limit yourself to just the minimum buy in level if you think you would use more points than that in a year. We originally purchased 230 points thinking it would be adequate for us, but in just one year, we figured out it wasn't enough, and added on another 150 points. We too love to vacation at WDW, and found that we increased our WDW travel once we joined DVC.

One other word...you might try looking at resales (like the Timshare Store at the top of the page that is a sponsor of this site) to maybe save a little money. You also need to know which resort is the one you would likely want to book most of your trips at. If it's SSR, then go for that. If it is one of the other resorts, ask your guide about them, or look into the resale market.

 

[wdwstar]

matter of fact the prices are going up in june, dont know the corroct date i want to say by the second week.

 

[FanOfStitch]

I believe the date was June 19 when prices go up. I have to make a decision soon!!

 

[MagikMom]

If you go to WDW at least every 2 years and know that you are going to keep going back for years to come, you should seriously consider DVC. Even more so if you like staying in Deluxe Resorts!!

 

[JimMIA]

I am assuming that is the lowest buy in at 150 points at SSR. That will get you access to 150 points to use any time of the year at any DVC resort, but you will have a booking advatage at your home resort (you can book 11 months out). Check out the frequently asked questions at the top of this forum as well as the points calculator to figure out how many points you are likely to use every 2 years.

Also keep in mind that you can bank and borrow points. Using the maximum banking and borrowing, for example, you can have double the points every other year or triple the points every third year...so you can make your points go much further.

Here's a thread that discusses some aspects of buying DVC. Browse through the whole thread, because although it wanders off occasionally, there is some good information throughout the thread.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=778634

 

[JimMIA]

I believe the date was June 19 when prices go up. I have to make a decision soon!!

Yes, the price is going up $3 on June 19. On a minimum contract, that's $450.

While that is not small change, I'd focus more on doing my research carefully and being confident that my decision was the best of the many alternatives available for my family. Compared to the overall cost of ownership over a long period of time, $450 is not very important.

Don't rush yourself. Take whatever time you need to do your homework. There is no one answer that is right for everyone, and finding the best answer for you long-term is more important than a minor one-time saving.

 

[susan137]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. We are surely going to take our time and research.

Sight unseen, I'm not sure if SSR is right for us. We never cook on vacation (ugh!), so a kitchen is not anything I'm really interested in. We absolutely love Epcot so that leads me to think we would be happier at BWV or BCV. Would resale be the only way to purchase at one of these resorts?

Also, we can travel anytime as we run a business from home and I homeschool our son. Does this mean we would probably need less points and would the 7 mo window be okay for us?

So many questions! I am going to contact a salesperson tomorrow for all the information they can offer. Thanks again!!

Susan

 

[winjos]

Just my two cents on the "no cooking on vacation". We rarely cook while on vacation. Actually, I have made Mac N Cheese once out of 4 vacations. With that said, it is hard to beat having a kitchen! We love the full size refrigerator, microwave, and kitchen gadgets!! We do stock the frig with snacky type foods (fruit, juices, water, sodas, cheese, beer, etc.). It is nice to have glasses, plates, bowls, toaster, a dining room table, etc.

We have stayed in a studio (nice), however, once you stay in a 1br or bigger, it is REALLY HARD to go back to a studio!! We love the extra room, kitchen and all!! Oh yeah, can't forget the beautiful washer and dryer at your disposal!!

One other thing, there will be vacations that you may not visit a park everyday. The glory of a 1br + really shines on those days (my dd was sick one day and we lounged on the couch all day!!)

Since we have two kids under 4, we always go off season (January). We love it! Every year we bank points. This year we had enough points to book three 2 br and invite the whole family -- both sides and we still banked points!

Another thing to watch out for is addonitis!! Even though we have been able to bank points every year, we added on 120 points this year!! Hubby wanted to stay 7 days at DVC instead of 5 days. He was tired of moving to other places in order to save points.

Good luck in your decision!

 

[JimMIA]

We absolutely love Epcot so that leads me to think we would be happier at BWV or BCV. Would resale be the only way to purchase at one of these resorts?

Resale is not the only way, but it may be the best way if you can pay cash or arrange your own financing. You can also buy BCV or BWV from Disney for $89 per point with a minimum purchase of 150 points. There are no incentives, but Disney pays the closing costs and their financing is available. You would have to find a specific resale contract you like and compare that to DVC to see which works best for you. The resale process is slow and unreliable because Disney has right of first refusal (ROFR) on all resales. BCV and BWV are two resorts where they ROFR pretty aggressively, so you could go through weeks of effort and have Disney snatch the contract away from you. The upside is resale will probably save you some money.

Also, we can travel anytime as we run a business from home and I homeschool our son. Does this mean we would probably need less points and would the 7 mo window be okay for us?

HA! NO! Actually, since you can get high-speed Internet access at all the Disney resorts, it may mean you need MORE points because you have the flexibility to go more often!

Check the link I gave you above for a discussion of the 11 and 7 month windows.