Tips for new owners?

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

1. Don't be too quick to invite family and friends. The only people we love after 30 years DVC members are our son and DIL and her Mom.

Tee hee. The only people you love after 30 years? Freudian slip or purposeful jab? I’m here for it either way. And also agree - people who don’t really understand timeshares do crazy things like cancel on you a month/week before the trip.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

1. Not using the Welcome Home offer before booking our first DVC trip. We ended up staying at four different resorts in 10 days bc I just pieced together what I could find. You have to call to use the offer and you can't use it if you've already booked your fist trip.

2. It's not a deal breaker, but I didn't realize how hard it was to book some of the rooms. I think that's why it's so important to "buy where you love to stay" and "buy enough points to get the rooms that you want, without breaking the bank." It wouldn't have changed our decision to purchase; in fact, it kinda caused us to buy more contracts at different resorts to have the home field advantage.

3. Only wish that we would have bought sooner!

 

[MICKIMINI]

You got me LOL!! I love many people - we've just had it with having company join us while on vacation.

Early in our DVC ownership, we were very generous inviting family members to enjoy vacations in 3BR GV's. We quickly realized people don't plan well even if they understand they have to buy their own park tickets and meals when out and about. All parties had been to WDW multiple times without us. It gets old to hear complaints about money... Are they asking us to pay for their trip? I know we all complain in our heads while at Disney, however being bombarded with complaints when you are providing luxury digs gets old really quickly.

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

You got me LOL!! I love many people - we've just had it with having company join us while on vacation.

Early in our DVC ownership, we were very generous inviting family members to enjoy vacations in 3BR GV's. We quickly realized people don't plan well even if they understand they have to buy their own park tickets and meals when out and about. All parties had been to WDW multiple times without us. It gets old to hear complaints about money... Are they asking us to pay for their trip? I know we all complain in our heads while at Disney, however being bombarded with complaints when you are providing luxury digs gets old really quickly.

Oh totally if you were gifting them their stay… what a crazy awesome savings for them (and super generous of you). Ain’t got time for that if they are going to complain.

 

[bk1273]

this is generally good for us, we need to schedule our vacations around kids time off, I'm getting dates on teh calendar for summer 2026 right now, so I've been adding the 11 month booking windows (and a 7 month since we want to go back to aulani)


I think this is going to be especially true for us on the west coast


we need the 1BR anyway for our 5 at most resorts

My family of 5 rented the 1BR once. After that either 2 rooms or 2BR

 

[ehh]

1. What's something you've learned the hard way that you can share?

• Don't chase value over enjoyment.
  • I am an analytical person and arm myself with data, calculations, and spreadsheets, especially when making decisions. DVC is, at its core, an appeal to value so ownership, and the hobby of ownership, resonated.
  • There were times earlier in our ownership where booking decisions were made with the influence of 'value' that weren't aligned with enjoyment but rather some number on a spreadsheet somewhere.
• Reservations booked at 11m then modified to a non-home resort at 7m still inherit some booking limitations about what points get used/prioritized that are different from just booking at 7m outright.
  • Related: get confirmation from member services that they can do the thing you're asking them to do when it comes to moving points around. If they something like "let me try" and they seem remotely unsure, ask to speak to a supervisor before they break something.
• Like others have said, longterm travel plans change, and probably faster than you think.
  • For us, plans changed in the "travel more" direction, so we've kept adding on.
  • Travel timing also changed a bit. We used to be early December travelers and bought a DEC UY for our initial contract. That early Dec trip has shifted by 1-2 weeks to become a Thanksgiving trip, which is terrible for DEC UY.
    • Our DVC evolution has been such that we managed just fine...we bought a JUN UY contract before the early Dec -> Thanksgiving transition happened and then added on to our JUN UY specifically for Thanksgiving travel. But if we weren't already in add-on mode, this would have caused a lot of heartburn each year (and did one year).

2. What's something you didn't realize until much later?

• Like others have said, how much our park touring would change. We were daily rope droppers, speed walkers, and efficiency maximizers up to and even throughout the first few years of DVC ownership. Not any more. Now we have non-park days, or will just do 1-3 rides in a park, or even just a restaurant in a park.
• 1 Bedrooms are nice, even for just 2 people.
  • On a spreadsheet 1BR are usually not great (see: value over enjoyment above) but you can definitely get used to them and then you need a lot more points.

3. What did you wish you knew starting out?

• About DVC? Probably not much.
  • I've said it before, but I was an uninformed buyer. I knew the 'DVC math' worked, I knew we bought the right number of points for our first few years, I knew we were likely to add on in a few years, but I hadn't read anything here or listened to podcasts or anything. I didn't even have a DVC friend.
  • Despite being an uninformed buyer (compared to the level of knowledge here), I didn't really have any issues.
  • Credit to Disney, I think the information they make available on just their own websites/resources is sufficient to have a positive ownership experience. You don't need to be a DVC power user to enjoy DVC.
  • If I had to pick anything, it would be knowledge about resale. We didn't know about it. I don't think anything would change in our DVC evolution except maybe we would have added on earlier?
• Bigger picture? How much the broader Disney could change.
  • I didn't foresee the WDW nickel-and-diming back when we bought DVC initially. The WDW planning/touring experience had been pretty stable once MDE and MagicBands rolled out in 2012/2013 until the pandemic and now it's totally different, pretty much all for the worse.
  • Now we expect more...unexpected. Or at least just roll with negative changes.
• An impossible thing to know: which resorts would really resonate with us.
  • We bought into Poly and committed to one Poly stay each year, but would try all the other resorts with our 'extra' stays.
  • We've now stayed in all of them (except VB/HHI) and Poly is still our favorite, but the rest of the list filled out differently than I expected.
  • We're very glad we did prioritize trying them all as quickly as was reasonable. And then prioritizing the 'bad' ones for a 2nd stay to see if it was just a one-off or something more lasting.

 

[DisTravels]

In case you have to sell it is a lot easier to sell 4 100 point contracts than 1 400 point contract. You also may want to continue being a DVC owner but no longer need the same number of points so you can downsize from GV to 2BR to 1BR to eventually studios.

I never really looked into this, but expected a contract could be split (for a fee, retitling, etc). For example, if you leave a 400 point DVC to two kids, will Disney not let it be split from 400 points to two 200 point contracts (if you cover the re-titling costs, fees, etc)?

 

[Judique]

I never really looked into this, but expected a contract could be split (for a fee, retitling, etc). For example, if you leave a 400 point DVC to two kids, will Disney not let it be split from 400 points to two 200 point contracts (if you cover the re-titling costs, fees, etc)?

I've never heard of that being done.

edit: the only reason I didn't say outright 'no' is because if I did someone will come along with the extreme exception to almost any situation.

If I were buying direct today the largest I would make any single contract would be 200 points. The smallest would be 100 points. This is me personally after owning for 25 years. Buying as a couple I would do 2 equal contracts.

 

[eticketplease]

I never really looked into this, but expected a contract could be split (for a fee, retitling, etc). For example, if you leave a 400 point DVC to two kids, will Disney not let it be split from 400 points to two 200 point contracts (if you cover the re-titling costs, fees, etc)?

No it can’t be done as it is real estate.
Even if you were to turn your house into a duplex there is still only one deed.

One can certainly leave it to the kids and then it is up to them on managing how gets to use the points pay dues or if wishing to sell it just the same as if you left your residence to them.

 

[Judique]

No it can’t be done as it is real estate.
Even if you were to turn your house into a duplex there is still only one deed.

One can certainly leave it to the kids and then it is up to them on managing how gets to use the points pay dues or if wishing to sell it just the same as if you left your residence to them.

That's not exactly correct. Some real estate properties can be subdivided. I've done it with my own property.

I agree, 'no it can't be done' but it's not just because it falls under the real estate umbrella.

 

[Brian Noble]

It can't be done because the deed forbids it. Here's the relevant language (emphasis added):

With respect to the sale of Ownership Interests in any Unit of the Condominium, DVD shall have the exclusive right to create undivided percentage interests in each Unit. Once DVD has created a particular undivided percentage interest in a Unit by conveying same to an owner, that owner and that owner's successors in title are expressly prohibited from further dividing that undivided percentage interest, except in a conveyance back to DVD with DVD's consent, although title to the undivided percentage may be held by more than one person from time to time in undivided shares.

 

[Disney Spaz]

1. What's something you've learned the hard way that you can share?
For us it would be less about DVC and more about family. First follow what you want and can afford. When VGF started selling again DH and DD told me to add the 125pts to get the luggage. I faltered because my stepdaughter was getting married and I wanted to make sure we had extra funds freed up just in case. I should have bought the points. Less than a year later we added on more points at VGF and would have been at the 125 if I had just followed my heart and DH and DD's advice. You can have dreams of wanting to share DVC with people and try to build around that, but as kids grow and families change prepare for those thoughts/dreams to change. We were lucky as we were able to recover and save our points but we almost got burned by my stepdaughter who bailed on our trip for boyfriends family. DH and I had been so excited as it was his first trip so we had gotten them their own studio. Luckily, when they bailed we were able to adjust our trip with our other children to a bigger room. It ended up being part of what pushed us to a 1bdrm as the extra space made it such a wonderful trip. Of course that then caused add-onitis to hit hard.

2.What's something you didn't realize until much later?
Add-onitis is real! We bought for a week every fall in a studio for F&WF. Then we had to move the trip to the summer due to a change in my boss and leave process along with DD's school schedule. Then we added on for a 1bdrm in the summer. After that DD said she wanted to go for a quick weekend for to see the Xmas decorations in early December. Well we loved that and decided to add on for both the longer summer trip and a quick 3 night trip for Xmas in a studio. DD wanted CCV for the Xmas trip, another add on. College finals forced us to move to Thaksgiving and we just spent our first one at CCV in a studio and quickly realized even with just the three of us a studio no longer worked. So we planned to add on at CCV for a 1 bdrm each year but then we toured PIT and fell in love. We added on at PIT and now our Thanksgiving trips will rotate every year between CCV and PIT in a 1bdrm. I am already thinking about a 50pt CCV add on to move to a 2bdrm since the CCV rooms are smaller than what we prefer.

3.What did you wish you knew starting out?
You will never really save money. It is about enjoying your family and making you take a vacation. While we spend significantly less on our accomodations we spend way more as we consistently got to WDW twice a year. We buy AP's now and even with the kitchen we spend a lot of money on food in WDW.

We knew this starting out and waited until VGF was sold, but I really believe in buy where you want to stay. We would be happy if every trip was at VGF even our Xmas trip. It is really our home away from home and has a special feel about it when we check in. We really like CCV and are excited about PIT but VGF is a step above for us and for anyone who has a resort they really love I would say buy there if you know that is your happy place. You will not regret it.

 

[DisTravels]

It can't be done because the deed forbids it. Here's the relevant language (emphasis added):

With respect to the sale of Ownership Interests in any Unit of the Condominium, DVD shall have the exclusive right to create undivided percentage interests in each Unit. Once DVD has created a particular undivided percentage interest in a Unit by conveying same to an owner, that owner and that owner's successors in title are expressly prohibited from further dividing that undivided percentage interest, except in a conveyance back to DVD with DVD's consent, although title to the undivided percentage may be held by more than one person from time to time in undivided shares.

Kudos for puling out the legalese.

 

[Psymonds]

Yes exactly what @eticketplease said. Our first contract was a single 400 point contract. If we ever wanted to reduce how many points at that resort, we'd have to sell it ALL and buy a new contract rather than just shedding one contract. Plus not everyone is in the market for 400 points at once while many more people are interested in 50-150 point contracts. Smaller contracts sell for more per point usually via resale than larger ones. Some people who have multiple kids like to split points into chunks they can give to each kid. But.. it does cost a little more to do the multiple closing costs when buying.

between this and the addon itis thread I did recently find myself looking at some cheaper Aulani contracts

I'm pretty sure DW has already overbooked my PTO for this summer and next...

 

[Psymonds]

Use year clarification:

Confirming you need the points in the use year the reservation occurs in, not in the year you're making the reservation.

e.g. If I'm making a reservation today, and I've banked all my points to my next use year, I only need the points in next year's use year, correct?

 

[eticketplease]

Use year clarification:

Confirming you need the points in the use year the reservation occurs in, not in the year you're making the reservation.

e.g. If I'm making a reservation today, and I've banked all my points to my next use year, I only need the points in next year's use year, correct?

That is correct you do not want to wait until your use year starts to book as then you lose the 11 month booking advantage.

For example if you have a June use Year you could use the points that get loaded into your account on June 1 2025 to book a January 1, 2026 stay on Feb 1st 2025 for your home resort or June 1st 2025 at 7 months out.

If you are booking today on January 31st that means you could book trips for December 31st at your home resort or other resorts for a trip starting August 31st.

 

[Best Aunt]

Once you buy a contract, start keeping track of the points you received, and how you use them. This is especially important if you have more than one contract. Keep a running list.

For example, maybe I want to go to Disney this fall, but I can't remember if I have any points left. More specifically:
Do I have any points banked from my last use year?
Do I have any points in my current use year?
Do I have any points in my next use year that I can borrow?

I have several contracts.
For my 25 point contract:
Year 2022: 25 points banked and then rented out
Year 2023: 25 points used for October 2023 vacation
Year 2024: 1 point borrowed and used for October 2023 vacation
and 24 points used for September 2024 vacation
Year 2025: 9 points borrowed and used for September 2024 vacation
That leaves 16 points

I actually include more specific details about each trip which helps me remember them (dates, resort, size of unit) but you don't need to see all that.

I do that for each contract. (Those vacations required more than the number of points shown! I used points from other contracts as well.)

 

[Psymonds]

Once you buy a contract, start keeping track of the points you received, and how you use them. This is especially important if you have more than one contract. Keep a running list.

For example, maybe I want to go to Disney this fall, but I can't remember if I have any points left. More specifically:
Do I have any points banked from my last use year?
Do I have any points in my current use year?
Do I have any points in my next use year that I can borrow?

I have several contracts.
For my 25 point contract:
Year 2022: 25 points banked and then rented out
Year 2023: 25 points used for October 2023 vacation
Year 2024: 1 point borrowed and used for October 2023 vacation
and 24 points used for September 2024 vacation
Year 2025: 9 points borrowed and used for September 2024 vacation
That leaves 16 points

I actually include more specific details about each trip which helps me remember them (dates, resort, size of unit) but you don't need to see all that.

I do that for each contract. (Those vacations required more than the number of points shown! I used points from other contracts as well.)

it was interesting as I was booking the welcome home booking the Member Services CM spent a fair amount of time reading back the amount of points and which use year they were originally assigned to and differentiated the points we had banked (with a use year coming up very soon) with the ones that were originally in that year, so that I could understand this concept.


I like spreadsheets.

 

[matt_in_nh]

In case you have to sell it is a lot easier to sell 4 100 point contracts than 1 400 point contract. You also may want to continue being a DVC owner but no longer need the same number of points so you can downsize from GV to 2BR to 1BR to eventually studios.

Also you can have two different resorts to get 11 month booking on.

 

[matt_in_nh]

1) What's something you've learned the hard way that you can share?

If you’re going to buy more than 150, split it into multiple contracts.

I just bought my first contract of 320 points and I understand this point. I figured I am playing a little less per point and only one closing cost.....but I think I would have preferred two resorts with 160 each, same use year.