what is the catch, sounds too good???

[tnhillbilly]

my wife and I have been looking at the paperwork for DVC. We have only been to WDW twice and DL once. We have been reading on the boards for about 6m. and just don't get it. After the initial buy-in of 150 points the maint. fees are less than a weeks stay at one of the value resorts with points left over. Have we overlooked something or not understanding some of it?? To sum up what I understand is that we can use our points at any location the DVC has and any of the other sites listed in the paperwork sent from Disney. The cost of the points has went up and down in the past and should contune to do so for the life of the deed, the points charged can also change, they can go up for dates, but other dates has to go down so the same amout of points are used each year. You book your stay at home resort 11m. before stay, not home resort only 6m. before. If you don't use your points you can rent them out to other people, add points by buying smaller contracts of points only, deed it to someone else upon not needing it anymore. To us this just sounds too good to be true, there has to be a catch somewhere we are not seeing or understanding. Sorry so long. Help me understand?

 

[tamu91]

After the initial buy-in of 150 points the maint. fees are less than a weeks stay at one of the value resorts with points left over. Have we overlooked something or not understanding some of it?? To sum up what I understand is that we can use our points at any location the DVC has and any of the other sites listed in the paperwork sent from Disney. The cost of the points has went up and down in the past and should contune to do so for the life of the deed, the points charged can also change, they can go up for dates, but other dates has to go down so the same amout of points are used each year. You book your stay at home resort 11m. before stay, not home resort only 6m. before. If you don't use your points you can rent them out to other people, add points by buying smaller contracts of points only, deed it to someone else upon not needing it anymore. To us this just sounds too good to be true, there has to be a catch somewhere we are not seeing or understanding. Sorry so long. Help me understand?

You've got it After your initial purchase of 150 points from Disney, resale is an option but that's another subject, you pay the yearly maintenance fee. That's the basic timeshare concept right! DVC is quite flexible in that you can use your points at any of the 7 DVC resorts, your only hinderance is the 11 mos. vs 7 mos. ressie window you've mentioned, bank or borrow your points, trade out if you wish or rent it.
There is a small catch though, the deeds will expire on Jan. 31, 2042(?) except at SSR. I believe SSR deeds will run through 2054.
Other than that, you've basically got it nailed.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Ditto !!!

 

[DebbieB]

Sounds like you have it all down, except it's 7 months for non-home resorts.

I have 250 points and I get 11 nights in a 1 bedroom for about $1,100 in annual dues (5 in May at OKW and 6 in early December at BWV). My initial purchase was $14,750 in 1999, that is paid for.

 

[dianeschlicht]

You seem to have a good handle on it. We have 360 points at OKW and last year were able to stay 29 days in a 2 bedroom and 2 nights in a studio followed by 5 nights in a Grand Villa. This is all for about $1200 in dues. Our initial buy in was not financed, so we figured we had it paid for after about 5-6 years of trips. We have also used our points for an exchange to Hawaii.

 

[jennypenny]

You got it right. It's brilliant, isn't it?!

The only thing you forgot is that ache in your belly telling you that you need to go back to disney, and an add-on isn't really that big of a deal --that part's just a bonus with purchase.

Jenny

 

[disneyholic family]

Sounds like you have it all down, except it's 7 months for non-home resorts.

I have 250 points and I get 11 nights in a 1 bedroom for about $1,100 in annual dues (5 in May at OKW and 6 in early December at BWV). My initial purchase was $14,750 in 1999, that is paid for.

interesting....when we looked at DVC, it didn't seem that it was that cheap....does anyone know how much a minimum investment is today?

 

[mom2rb]

The catch is that DVC is like a drug pusher. You get a little taste, you think you only need 150 points. That's how it starts. You get a raise or a little bonus, you get your car paid off. You think how nice it would be to have enough points to bring the grandparents. Then all of the sudden you're up to 420 points, you spend time on the boards learning the best way to use your points. All the places you could go. You soon realize that you are a DVC junkie.

Or maybe it's just me.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

The catch is that DVC is like a drug pusher. You get a little taste, you think you only need 150 points. That's how it starts. You get a raise or a little bonus, you get your car paid off. You think how nice it would be to have enough points to bring the grandparents. Then all of the sudden you're up to 420 points, you spend time on the boards learning the best way to use your points. All the places you could go. You soon realize that you are a DVC junkie.

Or maybe it's just me.

nope, that's just how it goes, and then you start thinking how nice it would be once you hit retirement to be able to go down and spend the month of January or February in a one-bedroom and the add-on itis just continues.

 

[crisi]

I think the "catch" is that Disney has you tied to them. This isn't a bad thing for Disney fans. Your points are worth more at a DVC resort than anywhere else. And you are tied to them in a way that doesn't easily let you take advantage of promotions.

For many Disney fans, its a win win....Disney has a pretty sure bet you'll be down again to spend money on passes and tickets, you have a pretty sure bet that you will always have nice and reasonablly priced accomodations.

For people who don't want to be tied to Disney, or who want to be able to take advantage of deals (i.e. Disney this year on the "eat free", last year we got a great deal on Beaches in Jamaica), who can't tie up cash in the initial purchase, who can't depend on being able to take an annual (semi-annual) vacation because of unpredicatible or tight income, who are happy offsite or in value resorts, who use Disney for long weekends with more Friday and Saturday night says than average, for people who can't plan more than a few months in advance.....it isn't a good deal

 

[robinb]

Or maybe it's just me.

Nope. Not just you. Except we have 430 points .

 

[DebbieB]

interesting....when we looked at DVC, it didn't seem that it was that cheap....does anyone know how much a minimum investment is today?

It has increased dramatically since I bought. I bought in 1999 @ $65 per point, minus a $1,500 "magical beginnings" credit for selling back 150 of my first year 250 points. I believe it's now $98 per point for SSR. I'm not sure what the current incentive credit is. SSR has a longer contract length, it expires in 2054 rather than 2042 like the rest. You can get resales for about $80 per point.

 

[JenniferCassidy]

Wow.. my jaw is dropped in awe because of dianeschlicht vacation! 29+2+5=36 days of vacation. Gosh! I'd love to be in WDW that much, that'd be heaven.

And that idea of buying more points and when you retire to stay months at Disney.. yeah, it sounds real good.

I swear, if they ever open a DVC resort in Disneyland people will definitely think we were insane!

 

[disneyholic family]

It has increased dramatically since I bought. I bought in 1999 @ $65 per point, minus a $1,500 "magical beginnings" credit for selling back 150 of my first year 250 points. I believe it's now $98 per point for SSR. I'm not sure what the current incentive credit is. SSR has a longer contract length, it expires in 2054 rather than 2042 like the rest. You can get resales for about $80 per point.

you certainly did get a bargain....yes we looked at it when the tours were at Boardwalk, so that was probably several years after it started....

 

[MStepelton]

Please let me correct a few points first.

1. The cost of points has never gone down, only up.

This is a good thing from a equity pint of view

2. The points needed to book a room will never change ( inflation Protection ).

Only the dates that each season ( Off, Peak, etc. ) start and end change ( and only slightly each year ).

In general DVC is as good as it sounds. After 6 years as members ( BWV ), we have had no complaints or regrets and have stayed in accomodations that we couldn't have afforded for the 20 days a year we go.

Hope this helps

 

[MikeScott8]

Please let me correct a few points first.

1. The cost of points has never gone down, only up.

This is a good thing from a equity pint of view

2. The points needed to book a room will never change ( inflation Protection ).

Only the dates that each season ( Off, Peak, etc. ) start and end change ( and only slightly each year ).

In general DVC is as good as it sounds. After 6 years as members ( BWV ), we have had no complaints or regrets and have stayed in accomodations that we couldn't have afforded for the 20 days a year we go.

Hope this helps

For #2:

The TOTAL points for a resort for the year is fixed. They could increase points in a "season" but then would have to lower in another timeframe to keep the total points the same.

for #1:
I never heard of the points cost going down. I know the FEES went down at some resorts once or twice.

Mike

 

[disneyholic family]

Can you stay in non-Disney time-sharing properties? Is there a way to do that?

 

[tamu91]

Can you stay in non-Disney time-sharing properties? Is there a way to do that?

You can trade out of Disney properties using II, and there are several 'collections' that Disney offers including DCL. It's not the most economic way to use your points but those options are available to you.

 

[lllovell]

Also, the value of your points will not indefinately go up. There will probably come a point when they will start to decrease as the end of the contracts approach. However, if you get 37 - 48 years of vacations out of it, then you will more than get your money's worth and will have recooped your investment. The maintenance fees will go up over the contract, but so will the cost of hotels rooms at WDW.

 

[NJOYURLIFE]

One thing I want to point out is that you do NOT need to buy the 150 minimum from Disney before adding on small resale contracts. You can start out by purchasing smaller contracts on the resale market if you chose to do so.

There are both advantages and disadvantages of buying direct from Disney and from buying on the resale market.

The other thing was the 7 month window at non-home resorts vs 6 months.

Lisa