Trying To Decide

[PrincessSuzanne]

Whether to take the leap into DVC. Please help me decide. Is it a great investment. There are only myself and my husband, and sometimes we "borrow" a child from family to take with us. Don;t knwo if we will ever have any of our own, but love to take my cousin. We are averaging 3 trips to WDW a year and we stay anywhere from Value to Deluxe, depending on my mood and length of stay. We are at the current time AP holders and already have 2 trips booked for 2009 with a 3rd and possibly 4th in the thinking stages.

I have been lightly thinking about it for a while now, but I have really looked more at is since my mom passed away, she LOVED WDW very much and this was the only place she felt comfortable vacationing. I feel a sense of comfort when I am at WDW that I don't feel anywhere else. I always feel like I am at home.

Is it pretty easy to turn around and sell those points if we change our minds in a few years?

Looking at the incentives at AKV, they look like they are a great place to start. Any advice would be wonderful.

Suzanne

 

[FuzzyMelton]

We recently bought (oct) at AKV. We already have a timeshare in Orlando but we love Disney so much and the benefits and accomadations are fantastic at DVC. We looked 10 years ago when BWV was brand new and should have bought then, but who knew we would move to South Florida in the future.

If you truly come 3 times a year and love Disney so much it only makes sense. This will lock in your vacation costs for the next 50 years (depends on where you buy). We looked at BLT and found AKV to be more out style. Just figure out how much you want and then jump in. The incentives are starting to disappear for BLT and AKV. You may consider another resale account, that is what we will do when we want to add on (and we will be adding on, 200 points is not enough for our large family). Plus the current although not promised discounts on annual passes and you can cook and live in your villa not just sleep.

 

[CarolAnnC]

You know, although my DVC contracts have increased in value over the years, I would not recommend purchasing as an "investment". It may be a great investment in your future vacations, but I would not expect a huge turnaround on selling down the road.

That being said, you would be spending dollars at WDW resorts anyway, given your travel habits. So why not be good to yourselves and enjoy a stay in a DVC Villa rather than a moderate or value resort? It was a no brainer when we bought...we all felt the "magic" and knew it would provide years of enjoyment for our family. In fact my DH purchased when he was still a single guy, and I made several add on purchases after being widowed some years ago. Now in this marriage, we find ourselves always gravitating towards WDW, DL or even DCL. Whether you are adults only traveling (as we sometimes are now) or taking children with, DVC can't be beat IMHO. Good luck in your decision!

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Thank you both for taking the time to respond. Carol, I was certainly thinking of this as more of an investment in our future, not necessarily as in a monetary view. Since 2005, we have made 7, three in 2007 and getting ready for our third in 2008, with trips already booked for June and Sept 2009. This is one reason I really feel that it would be a better investment than value or deluxe. Most of the time, we would like a studio, but would also like the option of bringing the whole family

Do I have the options of letting family use some of my points if I can't go with them? I have a very close friend and would love to also have to options of letting her use some of my points, can I do this without alot of problems?

We have probably spent close to $10,000 (possibly more) on our past trips, so this is why I was thinking of purchasing.

I think I have at least decided to go do a tour in December and weigh our options and look at costs. With my mom gone, I have a hard time making these tough decisions and Dh is just like jump on in and I tend to be more cautious, but thinking about the mone I have already spent probably is pushing me more in the direction of commiting.

Any more advice will really be appreciated

Suzanne

 

[ILIKEWDW]

As my guide said me you can let your family and/or friends make use of your points any time, as you can also rent your points instead of loosing it a year that you can´t go to Disney.

I think that is so good!! and if you (like me) want to make a travel with more family and stay all together (using your points) you can do it banking the points from one year to another, so you can have more points to stay in a bigger room with a bigger occupancy.

Isn´t that so GREAT???

 

[dr&momto2boys]

It sounds like you would enjoy DVC. If for some reason you wanted to sell in a few years, I don't think you'd have a hard time selling, or that you would lose value. We own DVC and we also own another timeshare we use to exchange. Our other timeshare has such low resale value that we wouldn't bother selling it. That's not going to happen with DVC. I doubt you'll end up wanting to sell it anyway. Not unless you stop going to WDW. Don't see that happening do you?

 

[5forDiz]

Sounds like DVC could be a good fit. It is a significant purchase, maybe give it a try renting before buying if you're uncertain it's for you.

Research buying direct from Disney and buying on the resale market. Also take a look at points charts for each DVC resort to get a better idea of how many points you may need based on the type of villa you'd need and times of year you'd like to reserve. And also MFs charged per point each year (cost per point depends on Home Resort your points are from)

Resale will give you ability to buy into DVC with less points then the minimum initial buy-in required by Disney had you made the first purchase directly through them.

You can start with a smaller contract and do add-on contract(s) if you find you would want to add more points as time goes on.

At present time, minimum purchase for an add-on contract through Disney would be 25 pts; 50 pts if you wanted Disney's financing; but note that an add-on contract at BLT will have to be 100 pt minimum purchase beginning in January 2009. You can also purchase additional contracts via resale too.

And with banking you can have two years of your points allotment to utilize every 2nd year and with banking & borrowing you can have three years of your points allotment to utilized every 3rd year.

Best wishes