I actually am surprised to hear this. Timeshares have such notoriously bad reputations because most don’t know what kind of commitment they’re setting themselves up for and my understanding has always been that they’re also not maintained well because there are so many hotels to take care of in respective systems so there just isn't always the budget for the necessary maintenance. Not to mention that so many that exist by beaches which are naturally more destructive, equaling more necessary maintenance than can’t be kept up with.
So, yes, Disney has and deserves its reputation as being the least slimy timeshare
sales company.
Maintenance is a different animal. Because technically, maintenance is the responsibility of the various timeshare owners and their condo association, not the original developer.
So You have to kind of break the various products into groups. Disney maintains full control over refurbishment because they control all the condo boards. Marriott, Hilton, Vistana, these companies keep a half a hand in their timeshare properties as well. This prevents properties in these networks from becoming dilapidated shells.
Then you have the Westgates and Wyndhams and other large operations whose properties generally are well maintained but there’s exceptions.
Then you have the just a mosh mash of smaller operations whose maintenance is admittedly all over the map, but I don’t think that’s what the original poster was intending to compare to. Nor were I think they intending to compare to the true horror stories, where owners either die off or can’t pay anymore, and suddenly 20%, 30%, 50% of dues are unpaid, and the remaining owners can’t support the maintenance of the building. BUT those horror stories make the fact that DVC expires after ~50 years add to its value, not subtract from it.
The size of DVC villas being smaller than other timeshares, while maybe a bit unfortunate, makes sense. It’s a lot of one company’s timeshares in a very concentrated area, seems a bit wasteful of precious Disney land to have so many sprawling villas. But even if DVC isn’t much better than other systems at keeping up with maintenance, I never realized they were that bad. DVC has a 7yr/14yr refurbishment cycle and I just assumed the pandemic set them on a slightly delayed course for the past few years.
DVC’s 7/14 is a fairly recent change. It’s a huge improvement vs “eh, whenever” which seemed to be their prior policy. In general I think 14 is fine but personally I would pay a little more so that the mattresses and couches could be intentionally replaced more often.
So you’re saying the only reason it holds value is because of its proximity to a couple of theme parks? I guess I could see that to be a true with a small margin, but then I just don’t understand why other timeshares are worth so little and practically need to be given away for free and DVC has even turned out to be a profitable investment for many. Are we all making a mistake turning to DVC when there are other cheaper and nicer timeshares in the Orlando area?
I don’t think that’s the only reason! Disney resorts have a lot of charm! There are very few timeshares as charming as Wilderness lodge or inside a zoo like Animal Kingdom Lodge or with treehouses like Saratoga Springs. The dining at Disney is very good (by hotel standards). The end dates add value. The characters visiting add value. The on site perks add value (and I’d argue a lot of value). And the fact that it has resale value adds value (including, ironically, adding resale value!)
But yeah, there’s some much nicer and roomier timeshares in the LBV area. They won’t come with EMH or free parking at the parks or reliable-ish transportation. We looked at it all and decided DVC was the best set of traders for our family. You might not!
I just don’t want people to think DVC is a perfect product. It’s not! But all of the others aren’t either.