Thinking about buying.......

[cokegal19]

Hello. I am seriously considering buying into the DVC. It seems wonderful, as I love Disney so much, but my question is, is it really worth the money? How much are the timshares? Can you use them anytime you want? Do you have to stay only at the DVC resorts, or can you stay at like the Grand Floridian or another deluxe resort? Is it only good for Disney, or can you go other places like Colorado, or something? Can you get discounts on disney tickets? How much are the fees/dues? And again, is it really worth it? (We try to have a big vacation every year, and it usually ends up in Disney World!!)

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

If you travel to Disney at least once per year and stay at deluxe resorts, you will find that it's worth it. If you stay at moderate, it might be. If you are happy at the economy resorts, DVC will not save you any money.

Disney timeshares are a little different from others. It is a point system. You purchase points at a home resort and that gives you a priority to make reservations there with those points from 11 months up to 7 months before your trip.

Disney is presently selling Saratoga Springs. The dues for all of the resorts average around $4.00 per point. While some people use their points at places other than DVC in WDW, the best use of points is at the DVC resorts. Yes you can trade Disney timeshares for other places around the world. Some are available on a per night basis and many others through Interval International are available weekly.

Good luck.

HBC

 

[Cora]

Your minimum buy-in through Disney is $90 per point with a 150 point minimum. So your buy-in would be $13,500 (there are programs to bring the cost down, but it won't go below $11,000). Then you need to add in the monthly dues of approximately of approximately $50 per month (using $4 per point).

 

[patelaine1953]

My husband and I purchased our DVC last summer sight unseen. We have been to Disney many times and always stayed at the value resorts. This year I wanted to take my mother to Disney as she has never been. My 25 yr. old daughter has been saying that she wanted to go with us the next time we went because we always seem to have so much fun. Then my sister-in-law and her husband wanted to come to see what the timeshare is like. The little girl that I take care of hasn't been in a couple of years and wanted to come as well. We have grown from 2 to 7 people on our trip next month. This is something that I would never have put the money out on if not for the DVC. I financed our share -- you can pay outright or finance for I think they said 3, 5, 7 or 10 years. We opted for the 10 figuring we could pay off sooner when the money becomes available. I asked to make sure there was no penalty for early payoff. Also, any property taxes and such are deductible on federal taxes as it is a 2nd home with a mortgage. We have booked a two BD villa for 7 days which, if we were paying, would have cost us about $550 per night. We bought our park passes last Nov. with the discount from the Disney Club before that ended in 12/03 and have paid that off. We purchased our airline tickets in January (less than $250 RT per person on JetBlue from Boston to Orlando) and those are paid off as well. I have been saving quarters (I know it doesn't sound like it would be a lot but I have cashed in $1,200 this past year) and that will be our spending money for food and souvenirs. We won't be stuck with large credit card bills from our trip this way. I hate paying those bills when Xmas is just around the corner.

I also have a friend with a share in VWL. For the past 2 yrs. she has used her points for trips other than Disney -- last year at Lake George, NY and this year at Mont Tremblant in Canada. She sayls that the DVC is so worth it to be able to do trips that the family would otherwise not have done because of the expense. She also went to HHI last Nov. for a long weekend.

We both feel that the DVC is so worth it. My only regret is that I did not buy when she did 4 yrs. ago. (By the way, I put her name as recommending me to the DVC and she received $200 that she put toward her yearly dues. I recommended someone else and took my $200 as Disney dollars for my daughter to use on this trip.)

 

[tjkraz]

My suggestion would be to call DVC, speak to a Guide (salesperson), and request their typical sales info. They will send you a stack of printed literature along with a video that explains the entire program in about 20 minutes.

The sales approach is VERY low-key, so don't expect any sort of a hard sell or badgering phone calls. In fact, the first time I spoke to my Guide he closed the call by saying "you know where to find me when you're ready." Never once did he call and try to pressure us into making a commitment.

Anyway, when you buy into DVC you own the right to use the DVC resorts for the next 40-50 years (depending on resort.) Many people who run the numbers will find that their DVC purchase will pay for itself in about 5-7 years. After that, you're getting your WDW accommodations for pennies on the dollar. Your actual experiences will vary depending on factors like resort, room size, month and day of travel, etc.

The materials that DVC sends you will include the resort point charts so that you can calculate how many points you would have to purchase in order to meet your vacation needs. It also has descriptions of each DVC resort, floor plans, info on other non-Disney resorts at which you can use your points, and so on.

"Is it really worth the money?" Well, I think it's safe to say that about 85,000 people (all DVC members) agree it's a great program which allows us to share magical, deluxe vacation experiences with our families for years to come.

Oh, and if you want a referral to a great DVC Guide, drop me a PM.

 

[crisi]

You CAN do both the things you mentioned - stay at the GF and go to Colorado. You can't stay at deluxe resorts with a DVC sister (BC, BWI, WL) on points. Most people here don't think its a "good use" of points to do a lot of travel outside the DVC resorts. We have just enough points to do our DVC trips - if we want a GF stay we will pay cash, and I prefer the flexibility of being able to choose a place to stay in Colorado. If you want to trade around, there are a lot of cheaper timeshares available (but DVC is VERY difficult to trade into, so if what you want is Disney, you are better off buying DVC).

Is it worth the money? Well, only you know. $13,500 is a LOT of money for most people to tie up in something like vacations. If you will spend it anyway on Deluxe resorts at Disney over the next six or eight trips, you'll break even and the rest of your contract will be "gravy." Almost everyone on this board thinks there investment was worth it....but there are certainly some people out there that discover it doesn't suit their vacation needs - often people who would be as happy offsite, or can't make the committment to Disney that a timeshare implies.

 

[patelaine1953]

A brand new car will cost you almost twice the amount of the DVC depending on which car you buy. After that you still have to insure it and pay for upkeep. I think the upkeep (dues) for the DVC are a lot cheaper than that new car. You're the one who has to decide where your priorities lay.

 

[rinkwide]

...is it really worth it?

That's a very personal question. To help you answer it here's an excellent analysis that is both objective and thorough:

Brian Bennett's DVC Overview

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

Here's another link with good basic DVC info:

http://allearsnet.com/acc/dvc.htm

 

[bwvBound]

Judy -

Buying DVC is a luxury purchase and should only be made if it doesn't create pressure on other areas of your finances and family life.

Please consider waiting until after you've bought a home, invested for your young son's future, and settled any outstanding issues.

You are so young. DVC will be still be here when you are ready. For the short term, pray for God's help in setting your priorities, finding paths to meet your goals, and for patience.