Regrets?

[paults]

Bought in 2002 and have no regrets. BUT no way would (WE) buy at the prices today and all the changes Disney has done.

 

[Jwaire]

The only regret I have is we didn't buy in 2003 when I first learned about DVC. We would have more than paid for it with our stays at the Polynesian alone. I also regret I didn't find out about DVC resale until December of 2019.

I honestly don't think I could stomach paying rack rate for the Poly at this point. I'd probably stay off property before I paid rack rate for the Poly.

 

[havoc315]

So I have mixed feelings, but I wouldn't quite say regrets:

First considered buying DVC around 2002-2003. Pre-kids, recently married. Kids were in our future. My wife was interested in buying -- I talked her out of it. It wasn't in our budget at the time, would have been a big investment, and didn't know how often we would have used it. PART of me regrets not buying at that time. In retrospect, points were so cheap at that time compared to today...

Purchased in 2020, with me now talking my wife into it. Have 2 teenage kids. Have already missed the prime Disney years, but plan on using it every couple of years. Also for winter weekend getaways. At this point, the purchase fit our budget -- able to buy it in cash, without making any other significant sacrifices. Still have money to send the kids to college, still have money to take other vacations. Already have taken/booked 3 trips. Now, I don't regret it -- But, for example, my wife realized she doesn't love not having regular housekeeping (which isn't regular anyway right now, but never will be on DVC). And as I've booked and used, I realize it's going to take me much longer to "break even" than originally thought (once you account for the time value of money, etc).
So I don't regret it -- Not at all. But I'm also not toasting myself about it being the best thing ever.

 

[nuhusky123]

im curious what break even is for most people

if I were to stay on Disney property in hotel rooms vs book my points for studios breakeven for me is about 8 years

if I stayed off property at the swan and dolphin double that to 16 years

 

[bobbiwoz]

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.

Yes, it’s a very serious challenge! For VWL and BWV standard as well!

 

[limace]

I think it’s easy to justify the break even point early but I need to be realistic about what we would do if we didn’t have DVC. We’d probably stay at bonnet creek and rent sometimes to stay DVC on our infrequent WDW trips. At DL, our favorite, we’d stay in one of the nearby suites when we travel with over 4, maybe an occasional DLH trips-so comparing to cash rates for two bedroom at VGC-our favorite way to use our points-isn’t a true comparison as we’d never pay for them without DVC.

 

[davidl81]

im curious what break even is for most people

if I were to stay on Disney property in hotel rooms vs book my points for studios breakeven for me is about 8 years

if I stayed off property at the swan and dolphin double that to 16 years

We will never "break even", but it's because we would never take the type of vacations we take now without DVC. If we didn't buy DVC I doubt we would have gone to Disney 50% of the times we did, nor do I think we would have gone to Hawaii (AUL) as much as we have. The times we would have gone we would have had inferior rooms. Now the real question does that even matter? We have had awesome vacations, taken family with us on trips that we never would have before. It's hard to put a tangible dollar value on those trips.

 

[havoc315]

im curious what break even is for most people

When I first ran the numbers, it was about 7-9 years for me. Then I added a calculation for the time value of money, which stretched it to about 15 years. Then compared it to renting points as opposed to buying DVC...
Long story short -- Compared to cash rooms at rack rate, with no time value discount -- 8 years
Compared to renting points, with a time value of money discount -- About 20-25 years.

 

[Brian Noble]

...and that's very close to what MouseSavers came up with.
https://www.mousesavers.com/other-disney-vacations/disney-vacation-club/#dvc
The relevant bits:

In the following scenarios, a 160-point direct DVC purchase at $185/point beats investing the money (buy-in amount plus annual fees) and paying cash for your annual vacations:

• You vacation for 10 nights every year in a Deluxe resort or DVC Studio unit at full “rack rates.” In this scenario, you’ll start saving money after 10 years or less of DVC ownership.
• You stay 10 nights at a Deluxe resort each year, with a 25% discount (approx. 12 years to break even).
• You stay 7 nights at a Deluxe resort each year at full “rack rates” (approx. 14 years to break even).
• You rent 160 points from a DVC owner each year, starting at $19 a point every year (approx. 23 years to break even).

DVC purchase is not cost-effective in the following scenarios:

• You vacation 7 nights per year at a Moderate resort.
• You rent 160 points every other year from a DVC owner, starting at $19 a point.

The break-even amount in 2021 dollars seems to be around $2400, when compared to 160 full-price points. If you would normally average less than that per year for your accommodations, DVC is probably not going to save you money. If you spend more than that per year, on average, and you can afford to write a check for the buy-in amount, it’s worth considering a DVC purchase.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

Regret not getting more points at the initial purchase of Riviera, then regret not getting more points when we added on. The bigger contracts bring the prices way down. I have to hold my nose, close my eyes, and just dive in and kind of delude myself on the sticker cost of the outlay to buy -- it's no joke, DVC direct prices nowadays, but it DOES provide what we needed and wanted -- forced family vacations yearly (now twice a year) and slowing down. I'm super Type A, and the plotting and planning suits me divine, but having the creature comforts of home on vacation with a whole smorgasbord of entertainment options and actually getting an option to relax -- or not -- and knowing we need to travel at least every other year, totally worth it. We'd never make the time to go away otherwise, and now we/I want to take other vacations in addition to DVC in light of the new Covid world order. I don't want to have regrets just working like a mindless drone. I want to do things with my husband and kids while we're able to.

 

[DsneyDude1]

We still say it is the best money we ever spent when we bought in 1993. Have added 3 more times for 460 pts. Taking our 2 grandchildren for the first time in March in a GV (5 and 2.5). All our contracts end in 2042. But we are ok with that. I remember when we bought...I said, "won't end until I am 84. So if I die the day after, that is fine". Hmmm, not quite as appealing a thought at 64! I did not extend OKW because I did not want to leave my son with the MFs. But we have had such wonderful times!

 

[bakerworld]

We love DVC. I regret we didn't join sooner however, truthfully, we bought when we could afford. We bought on a fluke. We didn't stay in our original contract home for the first 3 years we joined. We went 3 times a year and stayed at other DVC resorts - usually BC. When the economy recovered and trading into BC in October became impossible we bought there. We also started staying at our original contract home and found that we loved it. Considering the current room rates we're so glad we joined.

 

[kboo]

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.

This was a primary, intangible reason. My DH loves to go on vacation but if I waited for him to give "final approval" and not micromanage every aspect ("can you look for a better deal the following week?" "what if we go [somewhere that was never under discussion in the past year] instead [of this place where we already booked plane tickets'") we would never go anywhere.

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.

Yes - we started with a Feb UY aiming to go once a year in August. Now we find we like Christmas and spring break a lot too. And our second kid was born on Thanksgiving. Hello, August UY. Still good for August trips but also safer for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

...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.

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.

Wow... my parents used to do RCI and something else, and found that trading into Hawaii was always really hard, especially for 2br during school breaks. I hope this is different. That said I just remember I have some friends who have Marriott points - certainly a trade would work ...

it's no joke, DVC direct prices nowadays, but it DOES provide what we needed and wanted -- forced family vacations yearly (now twice a year) and slowing down. I'm super Type A, and the plotting and planning suits me divine, but having the creature comforts of home on vacation with a whole smorgasbord of entertainment options and actually getting an option to relax -- or not -- and knowing we need to travel at least every other year, totally worth it. We'd never make the time to go away otherwise, and now we/I want to take other vacations in addition to DVC in light of the new Covid world order. I don't want to have regrets just working like a mindless drone. I want to do things with my husband and kids while we're able to.

This is me, pretty much. Our kids are younger, so I'm glad we have been in the sweet spot of Disney trips with younger kids, and we look forward to planning our Disney trips as a family. Each kid gets to pick a few things (rides, park days, activities, restaurants) and I'm really enjoying giving my kids a little more autonomy than they get at home or on vacation (i.e. I am going up to the room first, finish playing ___ and then come up - here is the room number ...). I love looking at the options at 7mo even though we rarely switch since we are pretty happy with our home resorts.

Here are my regrets:
1. First contract(s) were BLT - kids were young, and I regret not buying enough points there to easily get 2BR with regularity.
2. Not looking closely at what a BLT studio was, before buying in. If we had, we might have bought VGF (and more points total there) in the first instance. Because now we are looking at a split stay (BLT-VGF) to use banked points, and thinking about whether to switch out BLT at 7 mo somewhere.
3. Not buying in sooner... happy with 2017, to be sure, but we were thinking about it since 2015, and we would have had a few more trips with the grandparents when they were younger.

 

[sssteele]

im curious what break even is for most people

if I were to stay on Disney property in hotel rooms vs book my points for studios breakeven for me is about 8 years

if I stayed off property at the swan and dolphin double that to 16 years

If "break even" includes lower point costs (2002), lower point charts, and resale value (BCV, BRV, AKV), we are WAY beyond break even. It amazes me every time I do the math, mentally or on paper.

 

[Brian Noble]

my parents used to do RCI and something else, and found that trading into Hawaii was always really hard, especially for 2br during school breaks.

I've been away from II for a while now and am just back so don't have recent experience. But I made several 2BR exchanges into Hilton resorts on the Big Island for June/July over the years via RCI. In fact, I just released one because the kids "have been to Hawaii too often" and want to go somewhere else (!).

We exchanged into a "lesser" 2BR that was in a Maui resort that is on the ocean (though we only had a tiny glimpse through the foliage) using a bonus week we had laying around via GPX. That resort has also shown up on Interval in the May-Aug time frame, but that one probably would not have been a good use of DVC points, even at the lower level of 200.

 

[DonMacGregor]

In fact, I just released one because the kids "have been to Hawaii too often" and want to go somewhere else (!).

Credibility shot...

 

[Brian Noble]

Dude, you're telling me. In his defense, he was there for two out of our three Hawaii weeks last summer, so wanting to go somewhere different this June isn't completely off base. His mother and I, on the other hand, would be happy to just keep going back---and we have two weeks booked, one at Shearwater and one Royal Sea Cliff later in July.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

No true regrets. Do I wish I would’ve bought in sooner (& more cheaply)? Of course. Was that a real option? No.

Do I wish I would’ve purchased more points at BLT with that first contract? Of course… but again, not really in the cards at the time.

The only “regret” I have was a conscious decision to add on at Riviera with a 3rd UY. I really love having 2 UY, so I thought adding another wouldn’t be an issue. I got a great deal on the contract and we’ve enjoyed several trips on those points already… however… I dislike having a 3rd UY enough that I’m considering selling it & buying a replacement RIV contract in my Feb UY. Knowing that there were absolutely zero options for a Feb/Aug UY (resale) contract when we bought certainly makes the regret minimal, bc I would much rather have the points & vacations now than still be waiting for the right UY!! But now that I’ve got the points in the wrong UY, I’m waiting for that perfect contract to show up.

 

[DonMacGregor]

Dude, you're telling me. In his defense, we was there for two out of our three weeks last summer, so wanting to go somewhere different isn't completely off base.

In all honesty, my eldest son sorta burned out a bit as a teenager after we went on about a 7 or 8 year straight stretch of Hawaii trips. When his high school marching band took a trip to compete there when he was a sophomore, while everyone else was stoked, dude was serious meh about the whole thing. Until he realized he could impress the girls with his local knowledge and his friends acted like he was Kama'aina.

He's since come to his senses.

 

[JinxRemoving]

No regrets at all other than not buying more points. We bought Riviera pre-opening in 2019 and we thought 200 points would be fine. We quickly found that studios aren’t for us (they’re fine for a long weekend but no more than 3 nights) and we need a one bedroom for our trips. I sometimes wish we had bought 300 or 350 initially instead of buying 200 and then adding on another 150 at OKW in 2021.

Same boat here. We bought 200 points thinking it was enough for studios and maybe a 1 bedroom every other year but we quickly realized we want the bigger accomodations. In the market now for another 100-150 points. I really think 300-ish is the sweet spot. Easier to pool together points for those big family stays while not totally depleting points for our own stays.