What is 1 thing that you wish you knew about the DVC before

[anotherdisneygal]

you bought?

Thanks!

 

[bookwormde]

That the limited number of “changes” that DVC had been making before I bought was not indicative of what was going to happen after I bought.

bookwormde

 

[hope3702]

That I would have the urge to add on constantly...

 

[lah3hh]

I never imagined the growth DVC was going to go through. I mean this from a DVC resort perspective as well as options open to us that are not DVC ran (such as DCL, II/RCI, Conceirge Collection etc.). I think if I new about the things opening up down the horizon I probably would have bought more points on my initial contract.

But the great thing is something called Add Ons which have taken care of this in a big way....

 

[thepowellslovedisney]

When we bought last summer, it would have been nice to have known they were building Bay Lake Tower. We probably would have bought our initial contract there instead. Oh well.

 

[Dizny Dad]

. . . that Addonitus never goes away (as stated by hope3702), and how much fun DW and I have had in our private conversations concerning our fun in "The World".

The fun part is great - the addonitus keeps one from being satisfied.

 

[Anal Annie]

All of the above PLUS...
I wish we'd known that trading out to other destinations was not as easy as they make it sound or that they could / would switch from Interval International to RCI. We were naive about timeshares in general I guess. We just assumed that if we wanted to go somewhere else we simply could, just as easily as we could go to Florida. We didn't realize how the request system would work and that you had to start thinking about it like 2 years out because DVC has poor trading power and then you have to hope you were having a lucky day etc. Now that they've switched to RCI it has eliminated many of the properties & some destinations that we wanted to go to. We also thought using it for DCL would be a better bargain than it is. However the point charts for the cruises go up A LOT from year to year & have become unreasonable IMO. We like the point system but thought it would be more flexible to use as a "real" timeshare but with a Disney edge.

 

[DeeCee735]

That I would have the urge to add on constantly...

agreed! this is my number one

number two....wish I knew cost would go up so much, we'd have bought more the first, second, third or fourth time around!

 

[MrsG]

That DVC would become a big part of our lives. We have made fabulous DIS friends that we meet and vacation with. And that we would absolutely love our DVC as much as we do. We have peace of mind that we can have a "paid for" vacation for the rest of our lives. And we can share that with our children and their families. And yes, add-on-itis, but only because we use our points for cruises, Adventures by Disney, as well as WDW trips. Now we can trade out to RCI if we want. How great is all this!!!! We are truly blessed to be able to be members. For many years when our children were growing up, we only wished we could afford to own DVC. To be able to own as many points as we have is a dream come true.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

We already knew about it...but,

we didn't consider the cost of theme park tickets, food, souvenirs, transportation, etc.

We also didn't realize that we would want to go to Walt Disney World all the time.

Go ahead and get twice as many points as you think you will need. Its not because there is anything wrong with the points charts, you'll just need them for your 4th or 5th trip that you make in a year.

 

[Nikisha421]

that the number of points that i owned (160) was not nearly enough to go as many times as I wanted to go. I am teacher and that usually equals higher point seasons...I did not calcute my weeks.

 

[mikron]

We would have bought into BWV & BCV, they are the most requested resorts.

 

[casper]

I wish I had gathered more information concerning resale. I probably could have saved a lot of money doing it that way as opposed to buying direct.

 

[JimMIA]

That the limited number of “changes” that DVC had been making before I bought was not indicative of what was going to happen after I bought.

bookwormde

Absolutely. The DVC I own today has changed considerably from what I bought five years ago...and not for the better.

That's not to say there haven't also been some positive changes, but there has been a tremendous shift from owner satisfaction to maximizing profit under the guise of "streamlining" and "enhancing the membership experience."

If I were considering DVC today - knowing what I know now - I think I would have chosen another timeshare.

 

[drusba]

When we first purchased many years ago (at BWV shortly after it opened), I actually did a lot of research and read every document line by line so I had a good idea what it was about before actually signing. However, here are some things which I became more familiuar with afterwards and which I consider of importance, and actually some did not even exist until after I purchased:

1. There are several times of year, such as Christmas and Easter and other holidays and even other times such as first two weeks of December where you really need to reserve with the 11 month window and should not count on getting anything at 7 months except possibly SSR or OKW (and you may not even get your home resort if you wait much beyond 11 months out).

2. Keep your contracts fairly small (200 or under) if you contemplate the possibility of any resale later.

3. If you stay in a 1BR or 2BR, you will never want to stay in a studio again. If you stay in a GV, you will return to a 2BR with great reluctance.

4. Whenever Disney begins an announcement with "In order to enhance the members' experience ..." reach down and grab for your wallet to assure it is still there.

5. When you call Member Services, never assume the person on the other end actually knows what he is doing. For example, it takes any DVC member at least 3 months to figure out what the transfer rules actually are and that MS person on the other end may have been hired only a week ago.

6. When you get to your room there will likely be something minor that is wrong with it such as a lightbulb is out or even missing. Apparently no one who was staying in the room immediately before you arrived ever notices such things or reports them.

7. An actual transfer of points, which you can do only once per use year, is not the same as a rental which you can do multiple times per year by making a reservation in another's name using your points.

8. When buying points you must hedge by buying more than you need for a regular annual trip because Disney can shift points around to make your desired time and room cost more points.

9. Despite what anyone says about the rules, Disney does allow 5 in a 1BR.

10. If you leave your room for five minutes when no one else is in it, you will return and discover that you left your card key in the room.

 

[hakepb]

Possibly knew more about resales to the non-current DVC resorts
Knew if buying through Disney you could have your contract split into smaller contracts for future will or resale.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I'll second JimMIA and drusba. Right on target.

And the rules aren't always the rules. It just depends on who you talk to. That isn't just DVC; it's Disney as well.

 

[disneynutz]

For us we never realized that Member Services and it's Management is in such poor shape.

The people are nice and I know that they mean well, but sometimes it's like talking to someone from another planet. The more contracts and points that a Member has, the worse it gets.

Their training is lacking and their computer system and website is an embarrassment. It's a sad situation when Members have to call more than once to verify that MS did their job correctly.

I feel like telling them to get out of my way and I will do it myself. At least then I will know that it's done correctly.

 

[ckg]

All of the above PLUS...
I wish we'd known that trading out to other destinations was not as easy as they make it sound or that they could / would switch from Interval International to RCI. We were naive about timeshares in general I guess. We just assumed that if we wanted to go somewhere else we simply could, just as easily as we could go to Florida. We didn't realize how the request system would work and that you had to start thinking about it like 2 years out because DVC has poor trading power and then you have to hope you were having a lucky day etc. Now that they've switched to RCI it has eliminated many of the properties & some destinations that we wanted to go to. We also thought using it for DCL would be a better bargain than it is. However the point charts for the cruises go up A LOT from year to year & have become unreasonable IMO. We like the point system but thought it would be more flexible to use as a "real" timeshare but with a Disney edge.

Yup to all this. We live in FL and I was looking recently for stacations in the southeast. Especially in FL what a horrendous selection. Not that DVC resorts are the Taj Mahal but to look what you can trade into some real dumps there or even if not dumps not among the better properties. It use to be with RCI you could "potentially" trade into a Marriot or a Starwood property now you have brand x timeshares, Bluegreen or Hilton as your top tier. Very dissapointed.

The sales presentation makes it appear like you can go anywhere and stay in "equivalent" accomodations. Equivalent to what ... the Knights Inn! Give me a break. The funny thing is that DVC is well sought after to trade into but DVC gives up such limited inventory for that. It would be nice if we could trade for resorts that are a fair value instead of the junk we get.

We own 320 points which is great while the kids are young but I doubt our next timeshare will be with Disney as I would like something with a broader location base for when we travel that can actually trade legitimately.

 

[Amy5000]

Well, my first item is somewhat of a joke, but the second one is serious:

1. I wish I knew the price would go down so much w/i 2 years after purchase. (Mostly a joke, my first contract 100 pts @ SSR @$82 ppt was rofr'd back in 2007. Now things are passing rofr at more than $10 per pt below). Of course, I have had one great vacation by purchasing when I did and I can't really blame the tanking economy on DVC.

2. I wish I had more thoroughly understood the valuation difference between present points and points 40 + years down the road. I wasn't terrible picky about where I stayed and thought I would like just about any DVC resort. I figured SSR was the least amt for the most years, even though OKW was less expensive, it was for fewer yrs. In retrospect, I think it would have made more sense to get more pts for fewer years. I have 2 contracts (resale ssr and small direct okw) and it would have been better had I taken the $$ from both and purchased an okw resale. That said, it's not a big regret, just something I probably would have done differently.

Amy