Why have you NOT bought DVC?

[jodifla]

Come on folks, this thread is destined to be locked at this pace. Can't we just all agree that DVC works for some and not for others. Then we can all go to WDW and fun together!!

I can certainly agree to that. What I cannot agree to is that DVC is universally a bad choice that no one should choose.

 

[jodifla]

I am not real happy with the way that Disney Corporation is replacing magic with money, therefore I am not so sure I want to commit to a relationship with them long-term.

When I see the magic come back into Disney Corporation as it once was I will certainly be doing DVC, but not until then.

This is a good point. I've not liked a lot of the decisions Disney has made either lately. I say, make MAGIC, and the MONEY will follow.

We committed back when things were different. We are still getting a lot of room for the money, so we're satisfied. And we bought in at $62 a point, not $100 a point.

If I were buying today, I'd likely do a smallish resale, to make sure I really liked it.

 

[supersuperwendy]

I was hoping some people could help me see it different ways...for obvious reason I didn't post this on the DVC board. But honestly, my question goes to those who got to WDW every year, especially those who pay to stay in Deluxes, and have chosen not to buy DVC? I'm torn...i mean...it seems like a good deal...they say it pays for itself in about 7 vacations...i just don't see us ever have the $$$$ to pay for that big chunk, and DH would not want to finance it...so?? Just lookinf for some opinions on Disney experts! Thanks!

Wow this turned out to be a long thread! I see there's been a lot of debate since you first asked the question! Here's our story...

I would really love to buy into the DVC. My hubby and I have looked into it and talked about it a lot, but we just don't think it makes financial sense at this stage of our lives. We are a family of five so we would have to purchase a decent amount of points to stay in two bedroom villas. Also, we would finance the whole thing which makes me nervous. So we have decided to pass on it for now.

 

[Ka-chow!]

wow! i know this is off topic but, were in the tax law did you find that you can write off trip/meals/travel for your vacation if you attend a confr. while on your vacation? you can write the whole thing off?

Schedule C

 

[Ka-chow!]

So enjoy your hotel rooms at WDW.

Me, I'll be in my two-bedroom suite, sipping champagne on the balcony after a nice long soak in my hot tub!

And a last word before I leave this post: Please, when you are looking down upon us from your DVC balcony high in the sky, throw a few crumbs or scraps down to us, the little people who stay at the lowly hotels. Your scraps would be a nice change from rummaging through garbage cans.

 

[Ratpack]

We are a family of five so we would have to purchase a decent amount of points to stay in two bedroom villas. Also, we would finance the whole thing which makes me nervous. So we have decided to pass on it for now.

Just FYI, you can stay in a 2BR at AKV for 5 nights with only the minimum 160 point buy. Not trying to sway you in any way, just letting you know it doesn't take a lot of points.

 

[dvczerfs]

Schedule C

thats funny, i checked with my nephew, (an auditor for the inter. rev service harrisburg pa.) he wasnt aware of any write off for family vacations. maybe you can point him the proper direction. he would love to hear from you.

 

[Clotho]

For me, I go to Disney when I can afford to go to Disney, and I stay at whatever level of accommodation I can afford at the time. When I can't, I don't want to be tied to a contract that I may not be able to get out of. I don't want to have to worry about trying to rent points, or trying to sell. If the only Disney trip I can afford is a day trip with my AP, I'm OK with that. But I'm fortunate in that I live here and that is possible.

This is exactly our reasoning as well. We go when we can/when we want. Don't when we don't. No risk. No ties.

And for us NOW, also because hubby works for the Mouse and we get deep discounts on the hotels. So still no ties and no risk, and plus great rates.

 

[kgc07]

The real estate taxes that are charged to DVC members are a tax right off. You can also write off portions of travel that is business related. It's similar to writing off meals that are business related (eg. you take a customer out to lunch to discuss business). I don't think the whole trip is a write off. For example, I don't think you are able to write off the meals your children ate while they were with you during the trip, unless they are part of a family business.

 

[shelly3girls]

Wow this turned out to be a long thread! I see there's been a lot of debate since you first asked the question! Here's our story...

I would really love to buy into the DVC. My hubby and I have looked into it and talked about it a lot, but we just don't think it makes financial sense at this stage of our lives. We are a family of five so we would have to purchase a decent amount of points to stay in two bedroom villas. Also, we would finance the whole thing which makes me nervous. So we have decided to pass on it for now.

Although I agree that if you have to finance the whole thing then DVC is probably not for you, I thought I would mention that many of the 1 bedroom villas at AKV sleep 5. During off-season a 5 night stay starts at 80 point in a value one bedroom. More realistic for us would be a 5 night stay including a Saturday night stay (Sat-Thurs) in a Savannah View room costing 137 points. If I was considering DVC but could not afford a large purchase I would look for a lower point resale (100 pts) which would get us to WDW 4 out of 5 years. We bought 270 points with the intention of staying in a 2 bedroom for a week during value season. Instead we have chosen to make shorter stays and now get two vacation out of our points.

 

[Ka-chow!]

thats funny, i checked with my nephew, (an auditor for the inter. rev service harrisburg pa.) he wasnt aware of any write off for family vacations. maybe you can point him the proper direction. he would love to hear from you.

DVCZEFFS: Wow, talk about twisting a guy's words, because I never said I "write off for family vacations". But one who is able to file a Schedule C is absolutely legally allowed to deduct travel/lodging/hotel/meals for trips whose purpose is primarily business related or for same-profession education/skill development. So the business stuff, like hotels, meal, travel, etc. are, but not tickets.
See U.S. Treasury Reg. 1.162-5
And under Schedule C, it is clearly on line 24 under expenses.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sc.pdf
I'll be quite safe from your nephew. I'm used to just facing logical fallacies on this thread, but the implied threat was a different spin. Thanks!
back at ya!

 

[Ka-chow!]

The real estate taxes that are charged to DVC members are a tax right off. You can also write off portions of travel that is business related. It's similar to writing off meals that are business related (eg. you take a customer out to lunch to discuss business). I don't think the whole trip is a write off. For example, I don't think you are able to write off the meals your children ate while they were with you during the trip, unless they are part of a family business.

 

[Ka-chow!]

Just a correction on this, Welcome Home is not DVC, that is the term used to welcome guests at the resorts. Every stay I have had, the guard would always say "Welcome Home" and that was even before I bought into DVC. Also, the quote "If you can dream it, you can do it" came from Walt himself, not sure why you are aligning it with multi-level marketers. Maybe some have adopted it, but that was one of many quotes from Walt.

I just wish all the arguements over DVC or not would end. I would never try to convince someone to buy DVC unless it fit their travel habits and needs / wants. It did for us and will save us a lot of money over the course that we have it, but others it may not and may even cost more. Really all everyone is doing is trying to justify their decision to everyone else, but if you are happy with the decision on DVC you have made, that is all that counts.

"Welcome Home" is used DVC'ers all over the forums to congratulate someone on their purchase. CM's speak it when guests arrive. Just observing there is alot of warm and fuzzy feelings around the slogan.

Walt did you that phrase and probably coined it. I did not think of Walt when I cited it. Rather, I thought of it Amway has been using it for decades to get their people to sell their overpriced stuff and recruit more members. No offense to the MLM'ers out there.

To your last paragraph, I agree with your message and tone if it were in another thread. But the thread is titled "Why have you NOT bought DVC?"

I came into this pretty open and interested in buying into DVC. But I was going to throw out my potential concerns/arguments and see what arguments pro and con came, to let the better arguments win. It helped me come to a much better understanding of DVC and its community and helped me understand the dynamics and make a wiser choice, so this this will be my last post on this thread.

Rat, you've been a voice of reason on the thread. PM me anytime.

 

[MiaSRN62]

But the thread is titled "Why have you NOT bought DVC?"

Ka chow ~
.....and it sure would be nice to see more TRUTHS and less embelisments and misconceptions about "NOT buying into DVC".

If this thread didn't keep swaying off the deep end with false statements maybe some of us wouldn't feel the need to post (since it seems to bother you so much). Because, personally, I can understand many of the reasons people do not want to buy. But let's make it for legit reasons and not made-up ones ?
So perhaps, SOME (not all) of the people making statements against DVC and stating reasons why they don't want to buy DVC should do a wee bit more homework on the matter. Now there's an idea

 

[dvczerfs]

DVCZEFFS: Wow, talk about twisting a guy's words, because I never said I "write off for family vacations". But one who is able to file a Schedule C is absolutely legally allowed to deduct travel/lodging/hotel/meals for trips whose purpose is primarily business related or for same-profession education/skill development. So the business stuff, like hotels, meal, travel, etc. are, but not tickets.
See U.S. Treasury Reg. 1.162-5
And under Schedule C, it is clearly on line 24 under expenses.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sc.pdf
I'll be quite safe from your nephew. I'm used to just facing logical fallacies on this thread, but the implied threat was a different spin. Thanks!
back at ya![/QUOTE wow, thanks for clearing that up for me. im sorry i twisted your "bargin" statement.i just misunder stood how you write your trips off and how vacation and business came into the mix? can you write off the family and there meals and lodging or just the person going for the prof. education? and can you help me w/ the phantom kid angle for meal plans, i dont seem to understand that either. thanks for any help you can give me. im not threating you, i just want to get in on some of this stuff!!

 

[pilferk]

Wow this turned out to be a long thread! I see there's been a lot of debate since you first asked the question! Here's our story...

I would really love to buy into the DVC. My hubby and I have looked into it and talked about it a lot, but we just don't think it makes financial sense at this stage of our lives. We are a family of five so we would have to purchase a decent amount of points to stay in two bedroom villas. Also, we would finance the whole thing which makes me nervous. So we have decided to pass on it for now.

Just FYI:

The new AKV's sleep 5 in a 1 BR. 2 in the Master, 3 in the LR. Likewise, the 2BR's sleep 9, rather than the stated occupancy of 8 at the other DVC's.

We're a family of 5, as well.

I agree, 100%, on financing the deal. Especially if you have to finance long term. It REALLY reduces the overall value.

 

[VanessasMom]

We stay at DVC's everytime we visit (with the exception of this year because we are trying free dining). We find that renting the points is cheaper and more flexible than buying. That's just how it works out for us.

 

[pilferk]

I came into this pretty open and interested in buying into DVC. But I was going to throw out my potential concerns/arguments and see what arguments pro and con came, to let the better arguments win. It helped me come to a much better understanding of DVC and its community and helped me understand the dynamics and make a wiser choice, so this this will be my last post on this thread.

Rat, you've been a voice of reason on the thread. PM me anytime.

Just be clear that any conclusions you've come to should also be tempered with the "tone" of your own posts that people were responding to.

I have to say...when I started out on researching DVC on the DIS boards...I found the DIS DVC community to be open minded, helpful, kind, and incredibly loyal (both to the DIS, other posters, and the product they were "consuming").

You also need to understand they (well, I guess now it's "we") can be a bit "gunshy" because the negative stigma that surrounds a LOT of timeshares carries over to DVC simply by relation (rather than being judged on it's own merits). It's like having a distant cousin with the same last name commit some sort of heinous crime...and having to deal with the fallout even when you're a fine upstanding citizen. "Guilty by association", I guess. But it means when owners see LOTS of misinformation, assumptions, or false arguements...they understandably get defensive.

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

A new post-script for this thread......

DH and I have just returned from a fabulous 1-week driving vacation and watched fuel jump from $3.72 to $3.99 in one week alone. Now we have all the news about the troubles ahead with the airlines.

I think we all know that air travel will be much different going forward.....even the eternal optimist, Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines, is saying that the future of air travel may be similar to 30 years ago.....only the wealthy and business travelers will be sitting in the seats. Certanly there is some truth with crude nearly twice what the major airlines budgeted in 2008 ($70 p/barrel budget - current price 5/27 -- $132 p/barrel).

I for one and very happy I am not locked into travel but have the freedom to go or not go based on my personal economy.

Yes, we have wonderful discounts because my DH is a castmember....but last week we decided to forgo a Disney trip and instead choose a driving trip to Sharpsburg/Gettysburg, Skyline Drive to Charlottesville/Monticello, Williamsburg, Eastern Shore/Delmarva.

Want to know something.......it was nice to be away from the "theme park crowd"........no ill-behaved children squirming in line, no pushy guests. It was a refreshing break - and free hotels with Holiday Inn Reward points!

No thanks to DVC.

 

[MiaSRN62]

It was a refreshing break - and free hotels with Holiday Inn Reward points!

No thanks to DVC.

well there are many places you can go with DVC points---all over the world actually. And the main DVC resorts even offer a lower key relaxing trip options to Vero Beach, FL and Hilton Head, SC. There are places locally to me that I could use my DVC points if I so chose to. As a DVC Member I am not "locked" into travel as you state ? I think this is yet another misconception on this thread. They just keep going on.

So I guess I'm not getting your argument of "no thanks to DVC" ? If I missed something, I apologize, but you'll have to explain your side a bit more for me to even come close to agreeing with you.