Regrets?

[JasonMak2000]

I'd echo the option to rent points to cover MFs. If you had 100 points and were paying $7/pt. annually ($700) but can rent them out now for $14-15/pt. then you can cover your MFs and even make a little money as well. All this to say that you aren't as "locked in" as you might think.

 

[GoofyDad1970]

I regret I didn't buy 750 points instead of 250

 

[sethschroeder]

What made me okay was realizing Disney could never price gouge you like their hotel rooms. You paid their profit and now you are paying for the basic costs of running the property. Meaning it will always be less than hotel stays.

Disney also has a stake and they are not going to make these resorts a money pit. So they will act in a manner to keep them profitable for the cash side.

So while fees go up the cash side will increase dramatically more keeping some value in place so you are not stuck with a contract if life gets bad.

 

[jarestel]

If you're already uncomfortable with the concept of annual dues (fees) then that will likely just get worse each year when the bill arrives, since your out of pocket will pretty much always be more than the year before. As with any ongoing expense, it all depends whether you can justify the costs versus the benefits you receive.

I don't have any regrets but the cost of park tickets, dining, airfare, and maintenance fees have increased astronomically over the 20 years I've been a member. I'm still willing to convince myself it's worth it but I could also very easily make a good case for returning to the pre-DVC model of taking a Disney trip every 3-5 years and pocketing the extra cash for other vacations.

 

[luckygirl0100]

400 SSR points and NO regrets! Purchased resale, and have never missed the 'extras' that aren't included.

We adore Disney and from the minute we leave, can't wait to go back.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

We owned for about 13 years. During those years we truly loved our DVC.
That said, I’m also very happy we sold.

 

[TinkB278]

We owned for about 13 years. During those years we truly loved our DVC.
That said, I’m also very happy we sold.

What made you want to sell and what makes you happy about having sold?

 

[Maistre Gracey]

What made you want to sell and what makes you happy about having sold?

Selling was initially prompted by a looming job loss. That said, if we were motivated to keep it we certainly could have done so.
Mostly the decline of Disney in general caused us to throw in the towel on DVC. Closing Pleasure Island, cleanliness of parks, park cutbacks, extremely poor housekeeping, and declining food quality, are some of the reasons.
Again, we truly enjoyed owning, but that was a different chapter in our lives now.
We still visit WDW and enjoy it (we are now local), but now we don’t feel tied to it as our only vacation option.

 

[Spork24]

We have absolutely no regrets!

We bought 400 BLT points in 2012 or so and thought that would surely be enough for our travel needs and we would rent out whatever was left......

we’ve never rented out a single point......

We bought 360 more BLT points in 2017.

We live about 10 hours away and usually drive. And we often will by annual passes so that lowers the cost per trip significantly even if the yearly cost goes up.

One creative thing my wife has figured out about paying our dues Is: we started putting them on our capital one venture card to get the points, but the dues show up in the travel category so most years she uses points from the card to “pay for” at least one contracts worth of dues. (Some years we’ve been able to cover all the dues on points)

One of the reasons we utilize so many points is that we love to travel with friends and family. We enjoy being able to treat others by letting them stay in our 2br (or grand villa) with us which makes the trip a lot more reasonable for them.

All in all I think Its been a great decision for our family.

 

[fgaini]

320 AKL and 75 BCV. Happy to own. When I do not visit I am able to rent at good price and full recover MF+ opportunity costs. Should have bought earlier when prices where more affordable

 

[xWilliam]

I never got why annual dues hold people up.

1. Are you at least going to visit wdw every 3 years?
2. Would you normally stay in a deluxe property?

If you say yes to both of those, dvc would very likely save you money, even when accounting for annual dues. If dvc didn't save money, nobody would buy, and worst case you can always sell your contract for a similar price that you bought it for.

I know the math when buying direct works out that sometime between year 6-8 you break even on the cash rate on the rooms vs dvc cost + annual dues. I'm sure buying resale would make it even sooner

 

[crisi]

We bought almost twenty years ago. And I'm happy I bought. And happy I haven't sold it yet. BUT....looking back I really could have been just as happy not owning. Owning put limits on where we vacationed. There are several trips to Disney we took to use our points that, in retrospect, I would have liked to use that money to go elsewhere (and we did go elsewhere). It was nice to have a seperate bedroom for the kids and a washer dryer in the room - and I think if I'd waited a few years I'd have discovered renting someone else's timeshare at Bonnet Creek. I used to be an on-site snob, but have moved away from that - there are advantages - but its expensive and you can do much better offsite.

Also, we bought during the 2002 slump after 9/11 - we got a good deal on our points and that worked to our favor. And we bought with a bonus we didn't need - surprise money at a time when our income increases were outpacing our expense increases.

 

[CarolynFH]

Nope, no regrets. We've long since amortized the original cost of the points and now stay for the cost of MFs only. DH and I enjoy our just the two of us trips as well as the every two or three year family trip.

To us the value in DVC is in using it for many years and building memories. We are fortunate in that we've also been able to travel to other places, not just Disney, with our family, so the costs of owning DVC haven't confined us to Disney trips only.

 

[kniquy]

I know there are a huge number of variables but do you know if you typically lose a big amount of money if you sell a resale contract within a couple years of buying? I am curious to know if you have an idea on how the people you bought your contracts from made out?

resale contracts have held or increased in value. Our AK purchased at the very end of 2015 for $80 per point could be sold today for $110-115 per point. The ROFR thread is actually a good resource for seeing the trends of resale values. The only exception to this would be if there was a decline in the market such as what happened in 2008. From what I have read resale contracts we’re going for cheap because as a luxury people needed to sell because of their financial situation.

You could conceivably buy a contract this year, take a trip or two and sell in a couple of year with likely not losing much. There are fees associated with buying and selling contracts so even if you sold for the same price you bought you would lose a little money but if you took trips on that contract you would probably technically come out ahead

 

[crisi]

Nope, no regrets. We've long since amortized the original cost of the points and now stay for the cost of MFs only. DH and I enjoy our just the two of us trips as well as the every two or three year family trip.

To us the value in DVC is in using it for many years and building memories. We are fortunate in that we've also been able to travel to other places, not just Disney, with our family, so the costs of owning DVC haven't confined us to Disney trips only.

It hasn't been the cost - not monetarily. Its the commitment in time. If I had endless vacation days, I wouldn't regret spending any of the time I spent at Disney at Disney. With college age kids, I wish we would have taken the time to travel to different places - and we did travel, my kids have been to Europe, Australia, Hawaii, Mexico, as well as throughout the Continental U.S. There is such a big world,and I wish instead of Disney, we'd have taken the kids on safari for instance. Or Central America.

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

Regrets. I’ve had a few. But then again...too few to mention.

 

[TinkB278]

It hasn't been the cost - not monetarily. Its the commitment in time. If I had endless vacation days, I wouldn't regret spending any of the time I spent at Disney at Disney. With college age kids, I wish we would have taken the time to travel to different places - and we did travel, my kids have been to Europe, Australia, Hawaii, Mexico, as well as throughout the Continental U.S. There is such a big world,and I wish instead of Disney, we'd have taken the kids on safari for instance. Or Central America.

This is one of the biggest things I worry about and I think it’s why the maintenance fees bother me. I don’t mind the upfront costs but then I feel like paying $1000 per year for just “maintenance “ is money I could be putting into other vacation experiences. It almost feels like Disney’s way of tying all my money up into them . I do want to go to Disney at least every other year though so it just has me feeling like I’m in a pickle.

 

[poofyo101]

This is one of the biggest things I worry about and I think it’s why the maintenance fees bother me. I don’t mind the upfront costs but then I feel like paying $1000 per year for just “maintenance “ is money I could be putting into other vacation experiences. It almost feels like Disney’s way of tying all my money up into them . I do want to go to Disney at least every other year though so it just has me feeling like I’m in a pickle.

rent them when you dont want to use it.

 

[Coffee66]

Prepaying for vacation s is something that's hard to swallow.

 

[TinkB278]

Is there any way Disney could ever tank the rental market? I’m not sure there is a reason they would ever want to but the restrictions that are constantly being added on buying resale contracts just makes me wonder what else might change in the course of 30+ years.