Which resort is best for us to buy?

[Meglen]

Your right. I should word it better. But enabling a really poor decision is no better. A one time windfall of money should not be used for capex if the opex is not seriously considered. If an organization stretches for the capex and the opex is a significant part of the cost, then the organization will have a high percentage chance of financial difficulties in the future.

If they go with riv thats 48 years of dues and at 200pts that end ups being about 76k on top of the cost. if the math works out and they use it breaking even is pretty far down the line. with riv resale being so unknown I would pick somewhere else to buy in. Atleast I would.

 

[Sandisw]

IMO, DVC is too much money to buy at a resort you may not enjoy as much as another one, if there is one topping the list. Yes, RIV has resale restrictions to it. But, if it is where you know you would enjoy staying, does your concern outweigh spending this money to then find out that staying there is difficult? How disappointed will you be? Resale locks you out of it completely.

As already mentioned, it is holding up fairly well given they are so restricted. We own both direct and resale RIV because we love it. TBH, we have never used the resale value as part of the equation because in the end, we wanted to have points at resorts that made us happy when we used them.

Regardless of the resort you buy, there is no telling what the resale market will do. Right now, Poly and VGF are doing okay, but if the new Poly tower comes out as the 17th DVC resort that is restricted via resale, any current Poly points could go down in price.

If it were me, I'd go VGF or RIV direct and call it a day. With RIV, you will get 2021 UY points if you buy a June, Aug, Sept, Oct, or Dec UY but all points with VGF start with 2022 UY points.

In the end, what is the worst case situation? You have to sell the contract sooner than you planned...life does happen...and you end up with less than you bought it for. Since dues are not the issue, if the worst case happens, chances are you will have more important things to be worried about than the potential loss you may...or may not...get with owning RIV.

Buy where you will be happy...if there is more than one resort and the only drawback for RIV is resale restrictions, but the others pull your heartstrings just as strongly, then I agree you may want to hedge your bets.

Personally, I think as more DVC come into play, and if DVD continues resale restrictions, it will become the norm and not the exception, which could keep the floor from falling out.

ETA: And, what if the unthinkable happens....DVD decides to change course with resale restrictions, doesn't put them in place anymore, and removes them from RIV. How would that make you feel?

 

[J-Dog]

That is the reason I asked in my second post. Can you think of any reason why buying a DVC would be a "once in a lifetime opportunity"? I am going to leave this thread now.

I agree that DVC shouldn't be a "once in a lifetime" opportunity, and that was not the case for us. Seems weird. But again, the OP's situation may be unique for him/her, and we don't know what that is specifically.

 

[RamblinWreck]

Wow, condescend much? The OP's question wasn't whether they should buy, but rather which resort they should buy.

This

I don't know this person's exact financial situation.

I'm well aware that a lot of people aren't responsible with their money but I don't feel the need to assume people are.

 

[mamaofsix]

Have you toured each resort you are considering? This spring we went in thinking for sure we would want to purchase at RIV. But, after touring a few spots, VGF won out by a long shot. Just way more restaurant options, we liked the rooms better - and the proximity to Magic Kingdom sold us. RIV wasn't as nice as we were expecting - and the skyliner was very time-consuming. It made emergency stops constantly the two times we rode. So, transportation wise it was not as appealing.

Points wise, I believe you need to buy 150 points currently to get direct benefits. So, I would simply get 150 points - that should cover you for a week in nearly any season / resort.

 

[RoseGold]

In the end, what is the worst case situation? You have to sell the contract sooner than you planned...life does happen...and you end up with less than you bought it for. Since dues are not the issue, if the worst case happens, chances are you will have more important things to be worried about than the potential loss you may...or may not...get with owning RIV.

The worst case scenario buying direct is worse than that. You have an asset that isn't worth what you paid and it has hefty ongoing dues obligations. DVC can and does foreclose for dues. You have could have to bring a lot of money to the table to even sell, or it gets foreclosed and you lose all of it. There are plenty of timeshare buyers in this exact situation right now, including with DVC.

Timeshares and "once in lifetime" don't go together IMO. I would run, not walk, from whatever salesman is saying that.

 

[Sandisw]

The worst case scenario buying direct is worse than that. You have an asset that isn't worth what you paid and it has hefty ongoing dues obligations. DVC can and does foreclose for dues. You have could have to bring a lot of money to the table to even sell, or it gets foreclosed and you lose all of it. There are plenty of timeshare buyers in this exact situation right now, including with DVC.

Timeshares and "once in lifetime" don't go together IMO. I would run, not walk, from whatever salesman is saying that.

The OP implied they will be paying for this outright and can afford the dues without an issue. So, the above doesn't appear to come in to play with this particular situation and my advice stands.

Even if someone who financed is forced to sell early then expected, because a crisis in life happens, and it gets foreclosed, again, it probably means its the least of your worries.

IMO you don't buy DVC as an investment that is expected to get you your money back...if you can't live with a loss of resale value, then I am not sure a timeshare product is a good choice to begin with...stick with staying a cash guest.

 

[BeachClub2014]

Timeshares and "once in lifetime" don't go together IMO. I would run, not walk, from whatever salesman is saying that.

Not to sound argumentative, but what salesperson said that? I didn't see the OP referencing a sales pitch as the driver for the purchase? Maybe I missed it?

 

[RoseGold]

Not to sound argumentative, but what salesperson said that? I didn't see the OP referencing a sales pitch as the driver for the purchase? Maybe I missed it?

Why else would DVC be "once in a lifetime"? Sounds like someone is flat out lying to me. DVC isn't and never has been once in a lifetime.

 

[Sandisw]

Why else would DVC be "once in a lifetime"? Sounds like someone is flat out lying to me. DVC isn't and never has been once in a lifetime.

They said "once in a lifetime" ability to purchase but that is here nor there, it is not appropriate to call anyone a liar on these boards. OP shared a background and asked for advice on what to purchase.

 

[Shellyred8]

Hello,

Back story we have a once in a life time ability to buy DVC come later this summer around August. We will probably never be able to purchase another contract either direct or resale. We plan to buy it with no financing. We are a family of 3 (2 adults and 1 child age 5) and live on the west coast. We will probably vacation in Florida every other year. On the odd years we will either bank or we will rent out our points. Occasionally we will do it back to back depending on flights. Knowing this we will probably stay longer and do one trip per year. Ideally 6-8 nights at a time. We will probably only ever need studios. We are stuck on which resort to invest in. Our top choices are GF, Poly, and Riviera. They have the longer contracts. I feel like the monorail resorts hold their value pretty well. The riviera definitely stole my heart during our last trip but I’m hesitant on the resale. While we will never want to sell sometimes life gets in the way. We also don’t know how many points we need to purchase in order to enjoy a studio for at least 7 nights. We *think* 200 is enough but again we are hesitant because we might not ever be able to purchase additional points via resale or direct. Any tips would be appreciated.

Both GF and RIV studios are pretty hard to book if you don't own there. It wasn't until the slower times right after they opened up after Covid that we were finally able to snag a studio at GF. So, if you will want to stay in a studio in either one of those places, I would recommend buying there. The Poly is a little easier to get into at 7 months than GF and RIV.

When we bought our first DVC, we bought enough for a week at a studio. Studios were fine for us, as it's only us 2 adults. But then we stayed in a 1br and man did the add-on-itis kick in! I loved having the extra space and the laundry in the room. Since we fly down for every trip, it's nice to have that in the room so we don't have to pack as many clothes. From the perspective of how many points should you buy, I would vote for getting enough for a week in a 1BR during the time frame that you would normally be traveling there. As others have mentioned, different DVC seasons are more expensive than others. Another thing to think about is if any of your trips might include others in the future. Your daughter's friend, a grandparent, etc... It would be nice to have the ability to get the larger room for those trips.

How exciting to have this once in a lifetime opportunity to buy into DVC! I would buy as many points as this one-time windfall would allow! LOL!!!

 

[BeachClub2014]

Why else would DVC be "once in a lifetime"? Sounds like someone is flat out lying to me. DVC isn't and never has been once in a lifetime.

Well, I guess your concern over being misled is something for the OP to address. Not for me to do. I was just curious about the salesperson angle as I didn't see where that had been mentioned.

 

[Hhalfacre1991]

Then why is buying in a once in a lifetime opportunity? It will always be there. I don't understand.

We are cashing out stock. The program at our work is ending.

 

[Hhalfacre1991]

My goodness. I didn’t realize by saying “once in a lifetime” if would go over so controversially. My fiancé and I have stock through his employment. The program is ending and his stock is being cashed out in July. It’s a large sum. We are paying off our cars, debt and will have enough money left over to purchase a dvc contract and the rest will go into savings. Not everyone has the ability to drop 30-50k in cash on a dvc contract. Financing was never even a thought to us due to the interest payments. We own our home and the dues are similar to our own property taxes that we handle just fine.

 

[Hhalfacre1991]

If you're going every other year, 200 is WAY more points than you need for one week in a studio.

You probably don't even need 100 points. It kind of depends on when you travel, and what resort you want to stay in.


But if for the different monorail resorts, here is how many points it takes to stay a week in a standard studio in the summer time:
Grand Floridian: 132
Bay Lake Tower: 123
Polynesian: 146

75 points sounds like it would take care of your needs, unless you are traveling during Christmas or Easter.

We will probably travel between October-April and avoid the summer months. Being from Washington we can’t handle the heat. From the looks of it we only need 150 if we buy direct.

 

[redboat45]

Any chance you'd want to hold onto that money and wait for the new Disneyland tower to open since you live on the west coast. Or maybe wait to see what's going to happen with the new Poly tower.

If you really don't want to wait I'd do either GF or even BLT.

 

[rubybutt]

My goodness. I didn’t realize by saying “once in a lifetime” if would go over so controversially. My fiancé and I have stock through his employment. The program is ending and his stock is being cashed out in July. It’s a large sum. We are paying off our cars, debt and will have enough money left over to purchase a dvc contract and the rest will go into savings. Not everyone has the ability to drop 30-50k in cash on a dvc contract. Financing was never even a thought to us due to the interest payments. We own our home and the dues are similar to our own property taxes that we handle just fine.

Then you are good. I will eat crow. Hope you understand that I was coming from a good place. The once in a lifetime thing threw up a ton of red flags.

 

[RamblinWreck]

We will probably travel between October-April and avoid the summer months. Being from Washington we can’t handle the heat. From the looks of it we only need 150 if we buy direct.

If you buy direct, yes you will need 150

But it sounds like you don’t want that many points. You’re talking about a studio for a week every other year.

I would strongly recommend going through the resale market and finding something in the 75-100 point range, as that will take care of you easily.

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

We will probably travel between October-April and avoid the summer months. Being from Washington we can’t handle the heat. From the looks of it we only need 150 if we buy direct.

Yay another Washingtonian!
Since we are West Coast and love Disneyland we split our points between coasts. Some at Riviera and some at Grand Cal. Saving aside now for some at DL Tower hopefully as well. Preemptive welcome home!

 

[DarthDadMan]

........ I had to doublecheck and make sure I was on disboards, and not marketwatch lol. Goodness. Fun fact: people telling me how to spend MY money, especially strangers on the internet, is a pet peeve of mine. The experiences I've shared with my family in just the past few years with my dvc membership far far far far far far outweigh investing it into the market, etc., and with your 5 year old child, OP, this is the absolute BEST time to invest in something you and your fiance find joy in, which in this world, as we know, is of limited supply. I know the advice here was well-intentioned, but, sorry, was incredibly cringeworthy.

All that said, I agree with RamblinWreck, 200 is probably way more than you need. I think you'd do fine with 75-100. I think everyone tends to find they want/need more after the purchase, so I would personally map out what you think you'd need for your typical stay and add 10-20%, but you can always add on, as many here have and continue to do. Smaller 75-100 pt contracts are easier to offload too. I, personally, wouldnt be all that concerned with Riviera restrictions, especially if that's the resort that stole your heart. Riviera lovers will buy those up. All those resorts are fantastic and will hold their value comparatively.