slo’s MONDAY 3/24 poll - Traditional Timeshares or Disney DVC

[jimmymc]

Just Google "law firms that specialize in canceling DVC contracts". There are pages and pages of law firms.

I did. I found two firms who specifically mentioned Disney, and those were general timeshare specialists. The rest either specialized in all timeshare cancellations or consumer protection law who could help cancel a timeshare.

It's important to make a distinction between DVC and most other timeshares. DVC contracts hold value like no other timeshare I've ever seen. People sell other chains' contracts for $1 just to get out of paying dues. I can sell my Copper Creek contract for a little bit more than I paid for it 3 years ago. And yes, I realize that sounds like a sales pitch, but I don't think we should lump DVC in with other chains.

 

[tvguy]

I did. I found two firms who specifically mentioned Disney, and those were general timeshare specialists. The rest either specialized in all timeshare cancellations or consumer protection law who could help cancel a timeshare.

It's important to make a distinction between DVC and most other timeshares. DVC contracts hold value like no other timeshare I've ever seen. People sell other chains' contracts for $1 just to get out of paying dues. I can sell my Copper Creek contract for a little bit more than I paid for it 3 years ago. And yes, I realize that sounds like a sales pitch, but I don't think we should lump DVC in with other chains.

I didn't. I just mentioned that Consumer Reports said DVC was the best but they still did not recommend them. And that there ARE law firms the specialize in getting you out of a DVC contract.

 

[Genie+]

Apparently. I would post a link but it might violate the DIS rules on advertising, but a Google search will find you pages and page and pages of law firms that advertise they specialize in ending DVC contracts.

Today the lowest resale price DVC per point is Vero Beach, selling between $40-70pp. There’s basically 3 reasons that resale price suffers: highest annual dues for DVC, non-park home priority location, expires 2042. So far nobody has ever needed to ‘pay someone else’ to take DVC off their hands. Most of these owners either bought a long time ago and thus have gotten alot of value out of it already, or bought resale at a low cost, if they ‘only’ got $50pp it still would not be a bad position if they bought 7 years ago at $70pp. If they bought it during active sales in the late 90s probably paid somewhere between $60-65pp. Even with inflation, they used it for 30 years and still hold something they can sell for over $40pp. Considering this is one of the worst case scenarios? Not too bad.

The way to lose at DVC is financing and then end up needing to sell it in the short term.

That’s probably what people ‘need’ lawyers for with DVC.

Nobody needs to pay someone else to take their DVC contract. Has not happened yet. So far there has always been value left to sell.

Heck, we bought direct 2 years ago and the resale price today is around the price we paid, after we’ve already taken 3 trips on it. May not be typical but also isn’t rare - especially over the history of DVC. People who bought Grand Californian for under $100pp direct 15 years ago get well over $200pp today if they sold it resale (even hit $300pp resale during the travel surge).

 

[pinkxray]

I LOVE our dvc membership. We purchased points in 2020, after renting multiple times since 2011. Wish we bought back then but it never worked out.

I love that we get to go every year, sometimes a few times twice a year. We went to Aulani twice already We probably wouldn’t have gone to Hawaii if we hadn’t purchased dvc. Dh is not a Disney person, does not love going. He has been enjoying trips more now that we have a one bedroom with our 2 little kids or a 2 bedroom if all 3 come. Gives everyone plenty of space.

We purchased 3 small contracts at VGF. That way I could leave one to each kid. No idea if they would want it, but hopefully they can sell it for a little bit one day.

While we do go to Disney a lot we also travel other places. On the off chance we have some points we aren’t going to use we have rented out a few easily. For instance, this summer we have some points for a trip we had to cancel in Jan due to medical issues. We are using half for a resort only stay at Fort Wilderness and rented out the other half to use towards the cost of our Universal portion.

DD20 has one more year of college and after that I hope to start saving to add another 150 points or so.

I love knowing we will be back. It allows us to slow down. Slow down at the parks, maybe skip something that is busy because I know we will be back soon. I also love the resorts themselves. We did week at BLT last spring break and only did 2 park days. Will spend 5 days at Fort Wilderness this summer but only 1 day at MK. I would never do that if we were only coming down every few years. We would be in the parks everyday, all day.

 

[Turn the Page]

I LOVE our dvc membership. We purchased points in 2020, after renting multiple times since 2011. Wish we bought back then but it never worked out.

I love that we get to go every year, sometimes a few times twice a year. We went to Aulani twice already We probably wouldn’t have gone to Hawaii if we hadn’t purchased dvc. Dh is not a Disney person, does not love going. He has been enjoying trips more now that we have a one bedroom with our 2 little kids or a 2 bedroom if all 3 come. Gives everyone plenty of space.

We purchased 3 small contracts at VGF. That way I could leave one to each kid. No idea if they would want it, but hopefully they can sell it for a little bit one day.

While we do go to Disney a lot we also travel other places. On the off chance we have some points we aren’t going to use we have rented out a few easily. For instance, this summer we have some points for a trip we had to cancel in Jan due to medical issues. We are using half for a resort only stay at Fort Wilderness and rented out the other half to use towards the cost of our Universal portion.

DD20 has one more year of college and after that I hope to start saving to add another 150 points or so.

I love knowing we will be back. It allows us to slow down. Slow down at the parks, maybe skip something that is busy because I know we will be back soon. I also love the resorts themselves. We did week at BLT last spring break and only did 2 park days. Will spend 5 days at Fort Wilderness this summer but only 1 day at MK. I would never do that if we were only coming down every few years. We would be in the parks everyday, all day.

The last few years have been 6 day trips and we usually do 2 days in the parks, 2 at the water parks, and 2 just hanging around the resort pool, taking laps on the Skyliner, etc. It is SO nice not feeling that pressure to get everything done.

DH and I try to get away for an adult only trip (not necessarily Disney, just a getaway somewhere) each fall for our anniversary. Due to other circumstances we may not be able to go anywhere this year. Even our annual Disney trip. The absolute cheapest trip for DH and I to do now is a DVC trip. Airfare to MCO is fairly cheap, the room is already paid for, and we would be perfectly happy with just one park day and a couple days at the water park. Now to just tell the kids we're going to Disney without them.....

I mean it's our 10th anniversary. It's not like we don't have a good reason.

 

[Skywalker3]

I'd heard So many times how bad timeshares were, and I didn't grow up taking regular family vacations (we took 4 total, although did grow up close to New Orleans, so visiting it was always great.. All other vacations were to visit family in Alabama.) I'd never wanted to get involved in a timeshare, but.....DH did talk me into buying DVC in 2011. It's not like others, and we bought at a great time. Our home away from home is Disney's Boardwalk. Don't love those annual dues, and didn't want to be tied into just Disney parks, but we did just use our points (a whole year's worth) to stay at Aulani. which was fabulous.

 

[longboard55]

We own DVC at Both California resorts. We do short staycations. Love it. If we were to pay for these rooms once you add parking and taxes they get close to $1000 a night. Thats one of the big benefits. Saving on parking taxes and in most non disney hotels the dreaded resort fees.

 

[nene0182]

We own two DVC contracts- Aulani & Riviera. This allows us to go to Hawaii every other year and WDW on the opposite years. We have zero regrets. Our son was older when we first bought in (11) but we still use it often since my husband and I enjoy going and hopefully one day will be able to bring grandchildren.

 

[kdonnel]

I owned a BCV contract and feel like I got great use of it while I owned it.

We made the decision to sell it a couple years ago.

I would not own any other timeshare. There are two things that make owning DVC ok.

1. Disney propping up the resale value.
2. A definite end date.

I think it is hard to prove the value purely on money. You can stay off property really cheap in condo style accommodations so you have to add in whatever value you see in being on property to rationalize owning DVC.

Since selling we have stayed several times at Vistana for less that $200 a night for a two bedroom condo. Our week long trips are cheaper than the yearly maintenance fees we paid to DVC. The resort accommodations are as nice or better. But we have to get in a car to get to WDW. I guess that can be seen as a positive or a negative. A car can be much faster than Disney transportation but sometimes it is nice to not have to be the driver.

We had reached a point in our life where using the points was difficult because of wanting to do other things and the "kids" ages.

It made sense to capitalize on the ability to actually sell for a profit and revisit ownership in the future if our needs change.

 

[Meriweather]

We own DVC. Love it!!
We have 5 contracts.
Preparing for old age changes, we have added our children to the contracts.
We just got back from 3 nights at OKW before going on a cruise. I was great.

 

[_19disnA]

If a Disney timeshare has a defined 'end date', does that mean you only own it for a set period of time and after that ownership reverts back to Disney?

 

[John VN]

If a Disney timeshare has a defined 'end date', does that mean you only own it for a set period of time and after that ownership reverts back to Disney?

That's true from remembering when we bought 1996.

p.s. - We sold BOTH DVC contracts for a nice profit, no lawyer needed.

 

[GAN]

If a Disney timeshare has a defined 'end date', does that mean you only own it for a set period of time and after that ownership reverts back to Disney?

Yes. Actually, no one really knows what happens after those dates. The owners of the original OKW Villas were offered extensions -I don’t think they had many owners bite on the offers. From what I recall the offers weren’t very reasonable. If you go to the DVC Forum you can probably find some more accurate info on all that.

 

[CarolynFH]

If a Disney timeshare has a defined 'end date', does that mean you only own it for a set period of time and after that ownership reverts back to Disney?

Yes. Almost all of the D.V.C. resorts are legally condominium associations that lease the ground from Disney. We own the building but not the land. The condominium associations end on specific dates, the land lease terminates, and ownership of the building reverts to Disney.

Our ownership of our home resort BWV expires on January 31, 2042. After that date, we no longer own any part of the resort, and we won’t be liable for any more dues, either. The first five D.V.C. resorts - OKW*, HHI, VB, BWV, BRV, and BCV - all expire that same day. D.V.C. resorts established later have different expiration dates.

*Some years ago D.V.C. offered (actually required) OKW owners to extend their ownership to 1/31/2057 by paying a certain amount per point. Not everyone took advantage of it, and legal issues were raised contesting D.V.C.’s right to require owners to either pay for the extension or sign a quit claim deed. As of now, some ownership contracts expire in 2042 and some in 2057.

The newest D.V.C., the Cabins at Ft. Wilderness, are part of a trust, not a condominium association, but that ownership also expires.

 

[slo]

Since I posted this poll, we made the decision to not buy DVC right now, but I haven’t given up on the idea of it. With all the tariffs that are going to be happening, it makes me nervous about where our economy is going and how it will affect our family. If we go into DVC nervous, then it’s not the right time. Hopefully that changes - only time will tell. I have enjoyed reading how so many love their DVC. We definitely enjoyed pretending we were DVC a few weeks ago due to us renting points from Dave’s DVC Rentals