Regrets?

[RoseGold]

When I bought SSR, I could have gotten AKL for a little more. I don't really like AKL, so I passed. I got a truly great SSR contract with a bunch of points, so that makes the difference mathematically, but it's still a decision I regret. There have been many trips where a bookend night at 1BR club would have been so great.

Now that I see the value in the value and club booking, I wish I had just done it. With a few extra years, and pretty much the same price, I would say the same thing in the current resale market.

 

[davidl81]

With rack rates increasing fast, absolutely no regrets buying. Just wish we bought more when prices weee lower.

We were point short for Food and Wine marathon weekend and it was a hit on just how expensive regular Boardwalk rooms cost. I want to say it was $650 a night if not more. It was only 3 nights so it was manageable, but that was a sticker shock. Also didn't help that I paid extra at check in to go club level, lol. I figured a trip without the kids was worth the extra money. But spoiler alert, BW club level was not worth the extra cost (at least compared to club levels at a Ritz etc)

 

[CarolynFH]

OT but am I the only one who hears Frank Sinatra singing "Regrets, I've had a few..." every time they see this thread?

No, and my DH is the one who has to put up with my singing it out loud….

 

[Disneybuckeye]

Until this year, no. Did not enjoy the G+ and LL money we had to spend on the last trip (hated paying for what we used to get for free). Also, with no more ME, we have an extra $500 fee for a rental car for our next trip. May do Mears connect, but that will still be an extra $200.

I was ready to buy 150 points at VGF, but now, absolutely not.

I love staying at BWV when we do, but not happy with all the changes Disney has made recently. Even the new AP prices went up dramatically when we could buy them.

It is not all sunshine and unicorns.

 

[HappyThoughtsTees]

We purchased VGC in 2020, and Aulani in 2021. No regrets whatsoever. VGC is an incredible resort, but there is no way I'd pay rack rate for a 2 bedroom there. We priced out our early December trip and it was around $11K for 5 nights. Our first Aulani trip is scheduled for November this year, very much looking forward to it.

Another perk- we've been able to bring Grandparents with us for a few trips already, which is lovely to be able to foot the bill for them without totally breaking the bank.

 

[sun_seekin]

No regrets! I wish I had bought Riviera direct instead of Saratoga Springs direct though. Now I'm looking at adding on at Riviera direct which would be our third contract. We own at Hilton Head also. We are taking good friends in June and staying in grand villas and hope to be able to continue to treat friends and family to many more trips over the years. That's what makes it all worth it! It's about making memories!

 

[RoseGold]

No regrets. When we bought in I ran #s comparing to an AoA suite. That has gone from $400/night in 2018 to over $600/night now = Definition of regret had I not done it.

So did I! That room has really surprised me sometimes! It's like $500 in super off peak!

 

[Lumpy1106]

Don't get me wrong - the AoA suites are SUPER nice and I like the QS at AoA WAY better than anything I've found DVC (maybe the best on property). We moved to an AoA suite after being really disappointed in a CBR studio. That did it though - we simply couldn't go back to a studio (3 kids; college, HS and 2nd grade) - BUT we were also really happy staying there - really didn't need to move up to a Deluxe. The guides will try and convince you based on the comparison to Deluxe, but let's face it; MOST of us really don't feel the "need" to upgrade, certainly not at the rack-rate difference in price.
Edit to add: DVC also has in-room laundry and a real kitchen. That often gets overlooked, but it makes a big difference.

If there is one thing we are "giving up" with DVC it's the flexibility. You book your home resort at 11 months - don't know about you, but I am barely unpacked from my last trip 11 months out. I love that though - it means we ARE going on vacation - it becomes a priority, not a wait-and-see.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I regret not buying AKV as my first home resort. I really do like all of the DVC properties, and I'm happy to use my Saratoga points to stay wherever is available, including Saratoga itself, but access to the AKV Value rooms at the 11 month booking window is something that really stretches your points out when booking long stays or planning for a large group of people.

One thing I DO NOT regret is having multiple use years. I like that I can travel any month of the year using points that will still be bankable if I have to cancel for some reason.

 

[Louis morrell]

Only that I didn't purchase much earlier.

 

[thegash35]

Not really. We bought 250 animal kingdom points reasale in 2012 for $65 per point. At that time the only resale restrictions were not booking cruises or disney collection vacations with points (which we didn't care about). So we are blue card members and get whatever benefits are offered today aside from the aforementioned benefits.

The shine is starting to wear off a little though - especially the parks changes like Genie+ and Chapek and the penny pinchers running the show now.

Our kids are going into high school soon, so there's a lot of other stuff we want to do travel-wise now and I've brought up the idea of selling with my wife. We've already cut down our trips from yearly to every other year (but for more days in bigger rooms), and I can see that being cut further. So I'd be OK with paying cash for a trip every 3 or 4 years instead of holding on to DVC. The hardest part, IMO, is disconnecting from the nostalgia and memories of the trips we have had.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Not really. We bought 250 animal kingdom points reasale in 2012 for $65 per point. At that time the only resale restrictions were not booking cruises or disney collection vacations with points (which we didn't care about). So we are blue card members and get whatever benefits are offered today aside from the aforementioned benefits.

The shine is starting to wear off a little though - especially the parks changes like Genie+ and Chapek and the penny pinchers running the show now.

Our kids are going into high school soon, so there's a lot of other stuff we want to do travel-wise now and I've brought up the idea of selling with my wife. We've already cut down our trips from yearly to every other year (but for more days in bigger rooms), and I can see that being cut further. So I'd be OK with paying cash for a trip every 3 or 4 years instead of holding on to DVC. The hardest part, IMO, is disconnecting from the nostalgia and memories of the trips we have had.

Have you been to Aulani?

 

[AdamsMum]

I regret not buying more points

Easily remedied.

Yeah, not so easy these days. My BW cost $98/point direct when I bought in 2007. Now it's $210 with only 20 ish years to go. That's a hard pill to swallow. Still I find myself perusing the resales, and considering a small direct add on. What's wrong with me?

 

[Brian Noble]

Have you been to Aulani?

...or anywhere else in Hawaii, @thegash35? Oahu is not my favorite island, but there are several great II resorts on the others. You could easily rent points out and pay cash for something else in HI. This might be one place where exchange is a good deal for one of the Marriotts or Westins, as a 2BR maxes out at 260 points through II.

 

[Brian Noble]

Have you been to Aulani?

...or anywhere else in Hawaii, @thegash35? Oahu is not my favorite island, but there are several great II resorts on the others. You could easily rent points out and pay cash for something else in HI. This might be one place where exchange is a good deal for one of the Marriotts or Westins, as a 2BR maxes out at 260 points. The cheapest Aulani 2BR is 329 for the week.

 

[DVCsloth]

I do somewhat regret not buying when CCV first opened to current owners. We now mostly do 1BR but the most challenging thing was trying to book a studio in early December at both of my home resorts. VGF and CCV.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

This might be one place where exchange is a good deal for one of the Marriotts or Westins, as a 2BR maxes out at 260 points.

Wait for real?

 

[CarolynFH]

Wait for real?

Yes, for real. The issue is that Marriott and Westin owners get priority when booking, and it remains to be seen what the II availability for DVC owners will be.

 

[Brian Noble]

Yep. The point chart is here (among other places);

https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program/pol...-international-buyers-guide-released-for-2022
The "Quality tier" is the resort rating: blue is elite, gold is premiere, silver is select. The "TDI" is Interval's estimate of supply and demand for that area (not resort). For example, you can see Hawaii's TDI chart by going to any Hawaiian resort in the directory and clicking on the "Travel Demand Index" link in the upper right hand part of the page. In Hawaii, most weeks will be peak (115 and up) but the fall/rainy season is in mid.

@CarolynFH is right: Marriotts and Westin/Starwoods have internal preference, and the better resorts and more in-demand times probably won't be available. But, there are lots of very nice Hawaiian resorts. I will sometimes use my Wyndham points and exchange rather than booking Hawaii directly, because the point chart can be favorable for doing so in much the same way.

 

[zavandor]

I maybe could have bought BWV instead of SSR, since it was only ~20% more at the time (2012). However I like to visit different resorts and I've stayed twice at BWV already (in a standard room) and I've spent less. It's a very minor regret.
For the future, my latest stay has been far less pleasant than the past, hopefully it's due just to the abnormal circumstances. But the good thing is, if I tire of going to WDW, I can resell my contracts for a profit and I also had many great vacations, so I would regret buying DVC.