What would longtime DVC members do?

[RonaldBravo]

If you had to buy into it today? Would you do it? Assume all of the circumstances are the same when you bought into originally.

 

[crisi]

absolutely not.

We've owned for twelve years now. And the best I can say is that I've been content. DVC has never delighted me, and Disney has been getting more disappointing.

We've had some nice family vacations, and it was awesome when the kids were little. And it forced my husband to take vacations at a time when he was prone to workaholism - and me to spend on vacations at a time when I was prone to frugalism.

But it hasn't been flexible for us. Renting points would have - in hindsight - been a better deal. Or staying at Bonnett Creek - I started as an onsite snob when we bought, and Bonnett Creek didn't exist yet - but both those things changed quickly.

 

[OKW Lover]

Assuming everything was the same? Yes, absolutely. We've been members since 1995 and have enjoyed years of DVC stays.

 

[Chuck S]

I'd buy today, but would likely go the resale route rather than buying direct, except for small add-on contracts.

It really was a no-lose situation when we purchased in 1992, with those free park passes until the year 2000. I still consider DVC to be a good value, but based upon my usage, I would not need the current "perks" they are offering for direct over resale. I've only stayed on points at my home resort (though I'm considering a stay at AKV next year) and have never traded to any of the collections or RCI/II. Thus resale would fill my needs vs. direct in today's market.

 

[RonaldBravo]

I know you lose out on the adventures by disney stuff when you by resale, but what about the other perks? Would I retain any of those or not?

 

[PacoDF]

absolutely not.

We've owned for twelve years now. And the best I can say is that I've been content. DVC has never delighted me, and Disney has been getting more disappointing.

We've had some nice family vacations, and it was awesome when the kids were little. And it forced my husband to take vacations at a time when he was prone to workaholism - and me to spend on vacations at a time when I was prone to frugalism.

But it hasn't been flexible for us. Renting points would have - in hindsight - been a better deal. Or staying at Bonnett Creek - I started as an onsite snob when we bought, and Bonnett Creek didn't exist yet - but both those things changed quickly.

Are you considering the remaining value of your contract? If you sell now, you can recover a good part of your initial investment making your vacations cost, even cheapier.

I'm evaluating purchasing DVC, and the remaining value of a contract after 10 years is almost the most important variable of all my projections.

I've seen than most people make their evaluations considering the full life of the contracts (until expiration, so remaining value = 0). I understand doing that, but if instead you do a 8, 10 or 15 years projection considering a final sale of your contract at an estimated remaining value, your results can be very different.

Even making that kind of projection, you can decide you want to keep your contract until expiration. But that decision hasnt to be made today, you can decide that anytime.

A timeframe of 8, 10 or 15 years is easier to foresee in terms of your family vacation requirements/plans. Most families can see they are wanting to go yearly/often when their kids are younger but are not sure what will happen after that. So, adding the remaining value of their contract at the "end" of that period makes a lot of sense when you are considering the purchase.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I paid $50 a point for my OKW points on my first contract, roughly $65-70 for my other contracts. I'd never pay $100+ for any points at all. My annual fees for the first five years were slightly more than $3 a point. They have gone up over $2 a point since then (like 70% since I bought). So in 2014 I'm paying $5.34 for OKW which has lower fees than nine others. Only BLT, SSR, GCF and Aulani (subsidised) are lower.

I'd rent from others. And take other vacations. Disney is getting very expensive, even with occasional discounts and perks. We first went in 1997 and, though it was expensive then to us, nothing like it is now. We also bought another timeshare at the beach with annual fees around $1050 per year. No other costs there like park admission. I can just go to the beach, enjoy the beach and eat in. And use the sailboat, the paddleboards, etc for no extra cost.

There was just a post the other day about a new member, bought on the DCL a few months ago and now she has lost her job. Got her 2014 dues bill and was freaking out because she didn't think she could pay her dues and pay the financed amount of her purchase. Sometimes life happens when you are not expecting it.

 

[Lynne M]

I know you lose out on the adventures by disney stuff when you by resale, but what about the other perks? Would I retain any of those or not?

Unless you buy hundreds of points, you wouldn't be able to use ABD anyway. The point costs are outrageously high. DCL point costs are very high as well.

As a resale owner, you can't use points for ABD, DCL, the Concierge Collection (assorted other non-DVC resorts is various locations), and the Disney Collection (non-DVC Disney resorts at WDW, DL, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong and Tokyo).

Those are the only restrictions on resale purchases. All other perks that are currently offered to members are available to resale purchasers as well.

But do understand that all of the things I mentioned can be taken away from direct purchasers just as easily. DCL, ABD, Concierge and Disney Collection are all third parties who renegotiate their participation with DVC every year. They can put restrictions on point use, dramatically increase point costs, or end their participation with DVC at any time.

 

[Chuck S]

I know you lose out on the adventures by disney stuff when you by resale, but what about the other perks? Would I retain any of those or not?

Currently, resale purchasers are restricted from using their points for Adventures by Disney, Cruises, non-DVC Disney resorts and any other Disney Collection usage. They are still able to take advantage of RCI and all DVC Member discounts, such as the AP discount, shopping discounts, dining discounts and so forth.

That could change, as with all true member "perks" but in order to do so, IMO, Disney/DVC would to have some easy way to distinguish between a direct and resale purchaser at the restaurants and cash registers, either by issuing a special DVC Discount Card requiring additional ID or coding that info into your MagicBand profile. I do hope that eventually ALL the discount info, DVC, AP and TiW will be coded into the MagicBand profiles and will communicate that info to the cash registers and hand held devices used at restaurants.

 

[mikeymc1115]

absolutely not. We've owned for twelve years now. And the best I can say is that I've been content. DVC has never delighted me, and Disney has been getting more disappointing. We've had some nice family vacations, and it was awesome when the kids were little. And it forced my husband to take vacations at a time when he was prone to workaholism - and me to spend on vacations at a time when I was prone to frugalism. But it hasn't been flexible for us. Renting points would have - in hindsight - been a better deal. Or staying at Bonnett Creek - I started as an onsite snob when we bought, and Bonnett Creek didn't exist yet - but both those things changed quickly.

So why hold on to the contract?

 

[Deb & Bill]

So why hold on to the contract?

In our case, we still like to go.

 

[robinb]

No, I would not buy today. DVC is geared toward the repeat customer while Disney is concentrating on the "once in a lifetime" customer. The recent changes at WDW are pricing my family out of the parks between jacked up prices for everything from food to park tickets and FP+ which will make touring during Christmas and Spring Break a nightmare once it is implemented 100%. Sadly, Disney is just not into us anymore and I think my days of being a DVC member are numbered.

 

[samfsu]

I am a new owner but have been going to Disney 4+ times a year for the past 10 years (DW loves Disney). That said, I am not sure why there is negativity about costs going up. Of course costs will increase. Costs for goods and services increase every year, EVERYWHERE.

In fact, we just bought into DVC because of the increase in costs. I would love "perks" but I did not buy into DVC for perks. Maybe I see things different since I am a FL resident and can get less expensive annual passes.

Is Disney expensive? Yes but comparatively, it is less expensive that other vacations. For instance. My family and I are going to Colorado next week to ski. The vacation compared to Disney is very expensive. We will likely spend as much if not more for a week in CO than for 2 weeks at Disney.

Consider when thinking Disney is expensive is that when you are in the park, all your entertainment is paid for. There is no time limit with the exception of park hours. Stay for an hour, come back later in the day or be in the park for 12-20 hrs. Your choice.

Also with DVC you have the ability to lessen the next expensive part of the trip, the food. Get a 1 bedroom and cook all your meals. And by cook, you can simply go to whole foods and buy prepared meals and reheat them. Or I read a post where people bring crock pots (or keep them in owner's locker) and make meals in the crock pot.

People will find a way to complain about anything. DVC for us is a great investment for now with two 5 yr olds and then also when they have kids to be able to take them to Disney.

My 2 cents, which with inflation will be worth, 1 cent tomorrow.

 

[disneynutz]

Owning DVC has popped the Disney love bubble that we lived in. Prior to owning we thought that Disney had it all together and that they cared for it's guests. Since owning we learned that it's all about the money. Sure there are some magic moments but overall DVC has opened our eyes and allowed us to see behind the curtain.

Bill

 

[Nancy F]

We've owned since 2010 at BLT. We now own at VGF and I'm still feeling the honeymoon glow I guess. LOL. But we are very pleased with our DVC choices.
Nancy

 

[mikeymc1115]

I am a new owner but have been going to Disney 4+ times a year for the past 10 years (DW loves Disney). That said, I am not sure why there is negativity about costs going up. Of course costs will increase. Costs for goods and services increase every year, EVERYWHERE.

In fact, we just bought into DVC because of the increase in costs. I would love "perks" but I did not buy into DVC for perks. Maybe I see things different since I am a FL resident and can get less expensive annual passes.

Is Disney expensive? Yes but comparatively, it is less expensive that other vacations. For instance. My family and I are going to Colorado next week to ski. The vacation compared to Disney is very expensive. We will likely spend as much if not more for a week in CO than for 2 weeks at Disney.

Consider when thinking Disney is expensive is that when you are in the park, all your entertainment is paid for. There is no time limit with the exception of park hours. Stay for an hour, come back later in the day or be in the park for 12-20 hrs. Your choice.

Also with DVC you have the ability to lessen the next expensive part of the trip, the food. Get a 1 bedroom and cook all your meals. And by cook, you can simply go to whole foods and buy prepared meals and reheat them. Or I read a post where people bring crock pots (or keep them in owner's locker) and make meals in the crock pot.

People will find a way to complain about anything. DVC for us is a great investment for now with two 5 yr olds and then also when they have kids to be able to take them to Disney.

My 2 cents, which with inflation will be worth, 1 cent tomorrow.

I could not agree more about costs. People are concerned about their MF increasing since they purchased 5, 10, 20 years ago? How about the increased rack rates when paying cash over those time periods? What do you think the rack rates will be like in another 20 years? It needs to be understood that yes DVC is expensive, and yes it will only get more expensive each year as time goes on. But that is the world we live in. You are still receiving a consistent discount vs paying cash over the length of your contract, and you will continue to do so, regardless of an increase in MF or a reduction in "perks".

 

[4 The Love Of Disney]

Owning DVC has popped the Disney love bubble that we lived in. Prior to owning we thought that Disney had it all together and that they cared for it's guests. Since owning we learned that it's all about the money. Sure there are some magic moments but overall DVC has opened our eyes and allowed us to see behind the curtain. Bill

Can you elaborate? We've been on the fence on purchasing DVC for years and are always looking for pros and cons.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Can you elaborate? We've been on the fence on purchasing DVC for years and are always looking for pros and cons.

We bought in 1997 and DVC was a tight little organization with only BWV and OKW at WDW (VB and HHI away from WDW). It wasn't so difficult to make a reservation because we knew we like OKW better than BWV. So we always booked OKW. No dining plan, no fast passes, no squeezing in 70,000 people into one of the two Halloween parties. Yes, there were only two in 1997, Oct 30 and Oct 31. Same with the Very Merry Christmas Party.

Then came the era of Jim Lewis and making a buck for Disney. Attitudes changed and it was more about selling new units and doing little for existing members. When the price for points reached $90 a point, I knew it was looking bad. How could anyone afford that? Now they are paying $150 a point. Crazy.

It seemed like back in the 90's there wasn't as much pushing and shoving at parades. You waited in line for the attractions with every one else. WDW was different back then.

It's all so different now.

 

[tjkraz]

If you had to buy into it today? Would you do it?

Hard to totally divest myself of 10+ years of ownership to answer that question. Kids were 2 and 6 mos when we bought. Today they're 12 and 10. We had only taken 4 or 5 WDW trips before buying. Since then we've spent over 100 days at both WDW and Disneyland.

But if conditions were equal, we would almost certainly do it again. My wife was always the big Disney fan in the household...and she still enjoys it as much as ever. The kids--even as tweens--are still counting down the days until our spring break 2014 trip. We've enjoyed our time spent at Hilton Head and Vero...hope to make it to Aulani in the next few years, too.

Has Disney changed since we became members? Yes.

Have the parks changed since we bought? Yes.

But if you're asking for an opinion as someone who never knew 1990 Walt Disney World or 2000 Walt Disney World, I'm not sure you should be influenced by comments about the parks going downhill over the last 10-20 years. Today's Walt Disney World should be the basis for your decision.

There's an old saying that familiarity breeds contempt. IMO, there are many cases where the cracks always existed in Disney's proverbial armor...you just see them a little more clearly after years of repeat visits.

It's still a high-quality, family-friendly vacation destination. At the end of the day, the only question worth asking is whether you want to visit WDW repeatedly in the coming years. If so, there's no more economical way to stay at Deluxe resorts than DVC.

My wife and I have always viewed the DVC points as something we would continue to use ourselves even after our kids are grown.

But if you think you may grow tired of it after 5 or 10 visits, it's probably not worth the trouble.

Owning DVC has popped the Disney love bubble that we lived in. Prior to owning we thought that Disney had it all together and that they cared for it's guests. Since owning we learned that it's all about the money. Sure there are some magic moments but overall DVC has opened our eyes and allowed us to see behind the curtain.

Bill

Umm...didn't you just buy yourself even more points, Bill?

 

[disneynutz]

Can you elaborate? We've been on the fence on purchasing DVC for years and are always looking for pros and cons.

It's the way that they do business, we just recently got improvements to the website but they still need additional improvements, pain in the butt when you try to pay your dues and at the end of the transaction you get a message telling you to try again later.

In the past it was common for members to get a MS person who didn't know what they were doing, we would call and hang up until we got someone who could help.

Our account would have points disappear, points get added, reservations changed, we even had a Disney employee add their name to our account, later we were told that it was done for test purposes, thanks for letting us know.

You are dealing with different Disney divisions. Sometime I get the feeling that DVC doesn't have much pull. If you have a resort issue and go through DVC, sometimes we were told by DVC that they would call and see it they could find someone to help, not "we will take care of it".

Resorts does their own thing, you are just one guest out of millions and sometimes I get the feeling that cash guests come first.

DVC has gone through several upper management changes, some got fired, another was only in charge for 18 months, and the new guy is just getting started and I am sure that he will make his changes.

Bill