Why choose DVC over other timeshares?

[tchrrx]

Uh-oh! We were planning on buying into a DVC this week, but now my DH is convinced that other timeshares may be a better option for us. (Mainly b/c they are cheaper.) Help me put together a list of reasons why DVC is the best! Thanks!

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Well, I can't help you with an extensive list, but if you search these forums or even browse this one, you'll find many reasons!

I chose DVC because it had all the features I was looking for. Mostly, the extreme flexibility and the high quality accomodations.

 

[Mom B]

Because the others are NOT DISNEY! And you won't be able to stay on property, which, as far as we are concerned, is the ONLY way to go. And I daresay, though I haven't shopped around, that you'll get better resale value if you ever want to sell your DVC. And there's nothing like Disney for that incomparable MAGIC!

 

[Cruelladeville]

Will you ever want/need to sell your timeshare? Well, why do you think those timeshares are cheaper?? Because the owners can't find anyone to buy them at a higher price! My friend and I both bought a timeshare at the same time(1997), and we both paid $16,000. My timeshare(DVC) is worth double what I paid for it, and hers? Well, she can't give it away,even for $2000. That's why you want DVC, so that you can sell it quickly if you need to. I also own 3 Marriott weeks, and I love it there, but I didn't pay over $5000 for a week in a two bedroom villa. If you buy cheap,you have to think of those timeshares as throw-aways, in the sense that if you ever can't afford the dues, you will throw them away, or let the company repossess them, because you probably couldn't get anyone to buy them. DVC is valuable, because everyone wants to stay on-property. Now, if you want to travel, Marriott is wonderful, it has resorts all over the world, and they are well kept up and lovely. But if you want to get all your money back that you paid for your timeshare, go with DVC.

 

[gjw007]

But if you want to get all your money back that you paid for your timeshare, go with DVC.

\
This would be a poor reason to buy a timeshare. At some point, DVC resorts will be worth $00.00 (years 2043 and 2055 depending on resort) while the other timeshare will have some residual value. Don't buy a timeshare with the thought of it being an investment property as you will ultimately be disappointed. While it's true at the moment that you are likely to get your money back with DVC, there will come a point where it will start to decrease in value as well. Think of the resale value of DVC currently as a bonus to DVC ownership.

 

[Cruelladeville]

I was referring to selling within the next few years, due to a change in circumstances. We all buy with the thought that we will own our DVC until the end, but for many of us, there will be reasons that may come up after 3 or 4 years that force us to sell, divorce and death immediately come to mind. The other resorts probably won't have any residual value after 30 years, because their dues will be greater than the cost to buy. My marriott weeks now have dues of nearly $800 per year each. In another 30 years, the dues will be higher than what it would cost to buy them, essentially you would pay your dues to stay a week, but they probably wouldn't have any other value.

 

[Lisa P.]

I strongly disagree with the statement that it's hard to resell another, cheaper priced timeshare and get your money back quickly - as long as it's a properly priced resale. If you buy DVC, you would need to keep it for at least a little while to wait for the price to increase enough to cover your selling costs - usually $1,500+ if you use a resale broker (higher commission than with a lower priced timeshare). This is reasonable. If you buy a very well-priced resale timeshare elsewhere, like on Ebay, it's quite easy to resell it later for a similar price. We've bought and sold Marriott and non-branded timeshares without any loss at all! Just buy really well - do your homework before you buy.

To the OP, the reason to buy DVC is pretty simple, really. If you would pay extra to stay onsite in Disney-owned deluxe hotels or suites anyway (or perhaps moderates?) and you plan to visit at least every other year for more than just long weekends, then DVC may truly be the best choice for you.

If you plan to vacation in very nice resorts while visiting WDW and you enjoy more than just Disney, look into timeshare rentals or resales at other area resorts. For $5,000 or less, with maint fees of $600-$700 or less, you could be vacationing in 2BR Gold Crown or 5 Star timeshare resorts (on resale) in the area with much more flexibility to use it elsewhere. Some of them are points programs with nearly the same flexibility in time, unit size and length of stay as DVC offers but with alternate destinations in many more places than DVC. And this can be a huge savings - a lot of cash for nice restaurants, park tix, airfare and more frequent travel. Timeshare rentals in the region commonly range from $300 (skyauction.com) to $1,500 per week for 1-3 BRs at top resorts.

DVC is really for the onsite WDW enthusiast and you pay for that. If it's what you want and none other will be the same to you, buying something else will probably lead to disappointment later. If you would not use it for DVC resort stays at least every other year, then you're overpaying if you buy, IMHO. Visit TUG (see my sig below) to learn more about how they all compare. HTH!

 

[NJOYURLIFE]

DVC is the timeshare to purchase if staying onsite Disney is the way you want go and you plan on using it at DVC properties at least every other year or annually. Using DVC for any other options is not a good use of your finanacial resources.

Also, saying that you can only get your money back by purchasing DVC is not true. It would only be true if you purchased that other timeshare direct from the developer. I have purchased most if not all of my other timeshares on the resale market and can easily double what I paid for them. Of course, this is because I did my research before purchasing and found great deals. At the very least, by purchasing resale on any timeshare, you should be able to get most, if not all, of your money back in the event you need to sell your timeshare.

DVC is a great system. However, you need to analyze your families vacation needs and determine if it is right for you. As a CPA who has to have a spreadsheet for everything, I ran all of the numbers. Owning a timeshare that would take us offsite was the cheapest option (again assuming resale purchase). However, explain this to my husband, who grew up staying onsite annually. So I had to weigh emotional vs the financial. A combination of both DVC and other timeshares (in our case Fairfield points) works best for us.

I do know there have been a couple good threads with great information on purchasing timeshares other than DVC, so I would recommend also doing a search for those.

Good luck in your decision.

 

[Caskbill]

The biggest advantage to DVC is it's versatility. I don't know of a single other timeshare that compares to DVC in this regard.

For example, we own Marriott, but can only reserve during our 'color' weeks of the year. With DVC you can reserve any time you want, all year long.

With Marriott, it's a full week at a time, except for a fee, we can split it into a 4-day week and a 3-day week. With DVC you can stay as short as 1-day or as long as whatevery you have enough points for.

Our Marriott is a 2-B/R. We can split it, again for a fee, into a 1-B/R and a Studio, thus a week in each. Again, a fee applies. With DVC, you can get any villa you want, and just 'spend' the points for that size villa.

With Marriott, we can exchange into Marriott hotels, again for a fee. DVC has the Disney collection and the Concierge collection exchanges, and also can exchange into II if one wants. There are some fees, but cheaper than the Marriott fees we pay.

With DVC you currently get some perks. Things you won't get if you purchased a timeshare, off property. For example, free parking at the parks, Disney transportation (currently free) to/from the airport., free Valet parking at DVC resorts, discounts on annual passes, on site restaurants, on-site recreational facilities (such as boat rentals, etc).

Yes, DVC expires, but to me that's a good thing. While other Timeshares may not expire, after 50 years what kind of shape will some of them be in. Probably little or no resale value, and the possibility of high assessments to update the property.

Just my .02 why DVC.

 

[bicker]

DVC is the timeshare to purchase if staying onsite Disney is the way you want go

That's it in a nutshell.

 

[John VN]

Will you ever want/need to sell your timeshare? Well, why do you think those timeshares are cheaper?? Because the owners can't find anyone to buy them at a higher price! My friend and I both bought a timeshare at the same time(1997), and we both paid $16,000. My timeshare(DVC) is worth double what I paid for it, and hers? Well, she can't give it away,even for $2000. That's why you want DVC, so that you can sell it quickly if you need to. I also own 3 Marriott weeks, and I love it there, but I didn't pay over $5000 for a week in a two bedroom villa. If you buy cheap,you have to think of those timeshares as throw-aways, in the sense that if you ever can't afford the dues, you will throw them away, or let the company repossess them, because you probably couldn't get anyone to buy them. DVC is valuable, because everyone wants to stay on-property. Now, if you want to travel, Marriott is wonderful, it has resorts all over the world, and they are well kept up and lovely. But if you want to get all your money back that you paid for your timeshare, go with DVC.

1997-$62.50/point

2006-$88.00/point for BW, no where near double

 

[Fitswimmer]

The biggest advantage to DVC is it's versatility. I don't know of a single other timeshare that compares to DVC in this regard.

That was one of the reasons I chose DVC. I don't want to be locked into a particular time of year for vacations. Since I don't have kids, I don't have to work around school schedules so I can be really flexible.

The other reason I joined is because I LOVE going to Disney. I just joined in May and I've already made one visit and have 2 more booked. I'm looking at booking another for May of 2007 to celebrate my first anniversary as a Member! If going to WDW often isn't really your thing, it might not be the best option for you.

 

[crisi]

Don't be fooled by a timeshare that claims you will be able to trade into one of the DVC prioperties. Although trades do happen into DVC, it isn't a "sure thing" and has limited availability on resorts, time of year, and room type.

So if you are buying a timeshare to stay at Disney regularly - and on your own terms - you need DVC.

If you want a timeshare to vacation, and are fine offsite, and want to do lots of travel to different destinations, DVC is expensive - both in purchase price and maintenance - and you will probably be better off with a different timeshare.

There are people here who own two (or more) - enough DVC points to feed their WDW onsite habit, and another timeshare for trading out and general travel.

 

[gjw007]

I was referring to selling within the next few years, due to a change in circumstances. We all buy with the thought that we will own our DVC until the end, but for many of us, there will be reasons that may come up after 3 or 4 years that force us to sell, divorce and death immediately come to mind. The other resorts probably won't have any residual value after 30 years, because their dues will be greater than the cost to buy. My marriott weeks now have dues of nearly $800 per year each. In another 30 years, the dues will be higher than what it would cost to buy them, essentially you would pay your dues to stay a week, but they probably wouldn't have any other value.

So your argument in 30 years is that the property you own, Marriott, is worth zero. Sorry, but I think you will still be able to sell it for something. A 30 year old home is still worth something and a well maintained timeshare should also have some value. Maintainence fees are irrelevant to residual value except to the point that it maintains the propery. If it doesn't maintain the property, then it will be effectively worthless but that is because it was not maintained. Disney's Contempory is over 30 years and it still has value. True, there is a cost of renovation but it still has value. An RTU has no value at the end of the life. Whether the residual value is much or little is another matter.

 

[helenabear]

I chose DVC because Disney is where I visit the most and stay! It was a cost saver for me in the long run in reality. I also love the flexibility of it all. If I vacationed less at WDW than I do, I wouldn't have bought in.

I like the idea that it holds its value as well. Since we bought two years ago, the average cost of OKW resale seems to be at least $10 more per point! That is a sense of security for me.

 

[NJOYURLIFE]

1997-$62.50/point

2006-$88.00/point for BW, no where near double

I think those who bought back then did very well in terms of their product holding its resale value, no arguements from me on that one. However, I don't think that this will be the future trend for DVC points and someone looking to purchase now shouldn't iassume that they will be able to sell for more than they purchase it for. With ROFR, it should be very close, but not guaranteed to be over.

 

[DVC Grammy]

Have I missed the announcement that Disney has absolutely no intention of building more DVC resorts with later expiration dates? Reading these boards, it sounds as if 2054 is a finite ending to the DVC concept. With all the talk (yes, I know they're just rumors right now) about VAK, VCR, maybe VDL and other locations, if they go ahead with these, why wouldn't DVD extend the expiration dates of those as they did with SSR vs. the earlier DVC resorts?
If DVD did, mightn't it be logical for some DVCers to sell their older holdings while the price is still holding, take their profit and buy into any later-expiring resorts if they're built?

 

[salmoneous]

The #1 reason to buy is that you want to stay at Disney. And, really, you don't need to go past that.

But there is one thing about DVC that *really* impressed me. DVC is very open and upfront about DVC. Pretty much everything a normal* buyer would want to know they will lay out for you. When I was thinking about buying at Marriott or Fairfield, I was stunned with how much information is held back or hidden behind "member's only" websites. Call and ask a simple question, and you will be told they can't give that information to non-members, but would be more than happy to give it to you if you just attend one of their presentation yada yada. Ugh.

When people have a good product, they want to tell you about it. DVC does that. Others don't.

* Member of this forum aren't "normal" So, yes, there are questions on the inner workings of DVC that we've asked and not gotten answers to. But the bulk of the important stuff is given out freely to anyone who asks. About the only thing I can think of where DVC isn't 100% forthright is the reports we get that some guides don't make it clear that Disney still sells the non SSR-resorts

 

[Fitswimmer]

But there is one thing about DVC that *really* impressed me. DVC is very open and upfront about DVC.

The thing that impressed me when I went to the presentation was that there is NO hard sell. They're confident that they have a great product and they really don't push you to buy. They answered every question I had, even showed me how to plan trips based on the amount of points I was thinking of getting and how I like to travel.

 

[utahkennedys]

On Site + Disney = Value

What more can you say? We just stayed at the HGVC Sea World and while it was nice, it was no OKW...I can already see it in decline and it's not that old.

I may buy a Marriott in Park City since it's close to home and I could likely get a bonus week to use in Orlando, but for Orlando trips, it will always be DVC for us. I think it's a tremendous value.