About to buy into DVC

[Lmkelly679]

My husband and I are planning on buying direct (250 pts) and having the Polynesian as our home. We've been to disney twice with our 2 kids (expecting our 3rd in a week!) And planning on taking advantage of disney and other cities and someday Hawaii when the kids are older. Any advice about the purchasing process, planning etc? Any advice is welcome!!

 

[CraigInPA]

Consider looking for a resale contract in your desired use year, and save yourself 30-40% over direct pricing. If you really think you jeed to be direct owners, buy the 75 point minimum to make that happen.

Read the stickies in the purchasing board before purchasing.

 

[meekey7197]

Are you sure you want to buy all 250 points direct? Have you considered resale?

 

[Ben E N]

You really would save tens of thousands going resale plus 75 direct. Don't let the thought of not being able to book at the new resorts scare you. If you invest that extra money, you can just book them using cash in the future.

Oh, and do not borrow money to buy DVC. If you can afford it all now, good for you. If not, buy less points resale with cash now, then add on more as you can afford it later.
Keep dues in mind. With that many points, you are looking at a $2000+ annual commitment on top of purchase price.

 

[ElizabethG]

My advice is to make sure you do your research on use year, annual dues, booking rules, etc.

For what it's worth, I bought my points direct and I don't regret it. I made two purchases with incentives for the resort offered at the time. Now, the amount I paid is less than the current resale price. That can't be guaranteed. It is very easy to purchase direct. The second purchase was an impulse buy on a cruise (that I don't regret). The points were in my account in a couple of days.

 

[zavandor]

Before purchasing be sure to look at the 2020 charts and understand the implications. They have increased the studios cost all seasons all views, while decreasing the bungalows. Many think this is only the first step (there is a yearly limit on the increase they can do) and more reallocations like this will happen in the future.

 

[D-Trick]

My husband and I are planning on buying direct (250 pts) and having the Polynesian as our home. We've been to disney twice with our 2 kids (expecting our 3rd in a week!) And planning on taking advantage of disney and other cities and someday Hawaii when the kids are older. Any advice about the purchasing process, planning etc? Any advice is welcome!!

Congrats on your 3rd!

It hasn't been brought up yet, so just a reminder that Poly does not have 1 or 2 bedroom villas. Especially with a family of your size, I don't think it's wise to be committing your 11 month booking window to studios/bungalows for the next 40+ years, unless you're absolutely sure. Like all others in this thread please PLEASE do some research first. Cheers!

 

[jerseygal]

Congrats in advance! Do thorough research choosing your home as it is becoming more and more difficult at 7 months to book reservations at other resorts. We have been fortunate to get reservations at 7 months at most other resorts other than our home, Animal Kingdom, BUT when I speak about being a DVC member I always make the comment that if you are not an advance planner for vacations, imo, owning a timeshare is not for you. We have always been advance planners, so DVC works for us. When we purchased in 2008, it was much easier to book at BC, BWV than it is now as we love both of those resorts. Up until about 2 years ago, we were successful at getting a studio during F&W in October at both of these when DH and I go to F&W. Now it is becoming more difficult with the demand for those resorts coupled with Toy Story at HS and going forward it will be that much more difficult. With that said, we absolutely loved our 2014 Aulani trip for our two adults sons and us in a gorgeous 2 BR, an incredible vaca that we otherwise would not have done .

 

[vacationer1954]

Definitely do your research, and be especially sure to understand what advantages you may have to start that can be unilaterally taken away by Disney. There are many people who are frustrated by recent changes to the rules; in a nutshell it is always best to buy DVC when you're satisfied buying just the ability to use your points to book your own resort 11 months prior to your trip (viewing anything beyond that as a bonus).

 

[Deb & Bill]

Be aware that you will not be able to stay in some of the studios with a family of five. And at CC, you'd need a two bedroom villa with five. You may have a difficult time buying Polynesian direct since it is officially sold out. You may have to wait to get those points.

 

[Madame]

If you are NOT the type of person to buy into any other timeshare, don’t do it. Seriously, DVC has become just another slick timeshare. I am a Disney person, but not a timeshare person and am not happy with the current DVC direction. I also didn’t pay retail prices.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I need to repeat: Poly has only studios. Yes, they work for 5. However, as your kids get older, they become like a Japanese subway car with 5. Booking at 7 months will get more difficult each year as time passes - we have already seen this occurring.

Anything your guides say about ease of switching at 7 months is an exaggeration or outright lie, depending on the target resort at 7 months.

And, as others have said: you can save $10k or more buying Poly resale, even if you then backtrack and buy 75 direct.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

My husband and I are planning on buying direct (250 pts) and having the Polynesian as our home. We've been to disney twice with our 2 kids (expecting our 3rd in a week!) And planning on taking advantage of disney and other cities and someday Hawaii when the kids are older. Any advice about the purchasing process, planning etc? Any advice is welcome!!

I'm going to be another adviser to look at Poly resale. And before that to really consider if DVC is right for you. It's an expensive timeshare to own to trade as it seems like you might be considering doing as you talk about taking advantage of disney and other cities. I'd only buy enough Poly to stay in the DVC resorts - not to trade out. What are your planned trips to WDW? Is it twice a year or are you looking at 250 points because it will be end of year holidays? And will studios be good going foward? Because if not then you'll end up having to book someplace other than PVB and may not want to make it your home resort - or to own at a couple different locations. PVB does have connecting studios but it's unfortunately not a guaranteed option and if that was the plan you'd always run the ever so slight risk of having to split up the family and an adult in each room along with 1 or 2 of the children should they not be able to get you connecting studios. That's really rare but something to keep in mind in case it ever happened.

 

[holden]

Poly doesn't have 1 or 2 bedroom units. Think about then your kids are teens. Will you really want to have one room for all of you?

For our family of 4, BLT fit us best. We can get a 1 bedroom unit that has 2 bathrooms. I can't even tell you how much we appreciate that second bathroom.

As the years have gone by we've gotten to love more space. We now do a 2 bedroom unit (not always at BLT) for a long trip (a week or more). For a shorter trip (3 nights or so), we will do a 1 bedroom at BLT or Kidani (also has the additional bathroom like BLT).

Don't think about your immediate needs. Think about the long term.

I also highly recommend buying resale.

 

[Liv&Leah]

A few years ago, we bought VGF direct and love it! We had no idea about the resell market at that time. If we ever decide to add on any additional points or resorts, we will definitely be using the resell market. It seems like you get more for your money, especially with the increasing direct prices. Our home resort is now $100 more per point compared to just 4 years ago when we purchased. That's crazy! I don't regret purchasing direct, but looking back I don't think we would have purchased as many direct points as we did. I would definitely consider looking at resell as an option. Maybe purchase the minimum direct points from Disney for member benefits and then add on a resell contract? We are also a young family of 4 and a studio works great for our current needs. My girls are only 4 and 1. When the kids get older, everyone will probably want/need a little more privacy, so a 1 or 2 bedroom might be necessary. Just keep that in mind when selecting your home resort. Poly has very limited options.. Good luck with your 3rd baby! We will be trying for number 3 at the end of this year.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Just to emphasize the resale vs. direct...

Poly direct is $235 per point. Poly resale can be had for a lot less. I just saw a loaded 175 point contract for $155pp, and a couple of near-loaded 250 point contracts for $152.

So, let's do some math!

• 250 points direct @ $235pp = $58,750
• 250 points resale @ $152pp = $38,000, for a savings of $20,000 (if we assume a little of the savings gets eaten up by closing).
• 175 points resale @ $155 pp = $27,125 + 75 direct @ $235pp = $17,625, for a total of $44,750. That's $6,750 more than resale alone, but $14k less than direct.

If you look at the economic benefits of direct ownership, we'll be generous and say you can save $150 on annual passes for a couple years. You'd need to be buying more than 100 to make up for the difference between straight direct and straight resale pricing, and that's NOT realistic. Nor are you going to manage sufficient member events in enough bulk to attribute that level of economic value. (Member events are a matter of chance, especially when planning for family travel.)

On the direct+resale hybrid, you only need 45 annual passes or so, which is still maybe not realistic, but if you really want the security blanket of a blue card, it's a better value proposition than the all-direct version.

Beyond being a bad value, 250 points won't even scratch the surface for any kind of DCL exchange. Resale points are fully tradable to RCI, although that is generally a lower-value use than their use for DVC resorts. So neither should be a factor in a direct/resale/hybrid decision.

Maybe money is no object? But I think the people for whom that is most true still see it as an object. (Jack Bogle, Warren Buffet, people like that as examples.)

 

[ManalapanDad]

I agree dvc reg or resale is a bad buy having went to Disney five times in less then the past 12 months for the amount of points I would need to keep up how often we have been going is insane. I also normally book less then thirty days out because I don’t know what my work will look like so many months in advance. Now if you plan on just going once or twice a year and fully taking advantage of it that’s a different story

 

[Matty B13]

We love the Poly, but wouldn't buy Poly DVC because of the lack of 1 bedroom and 2 bedrooms (We are a family of 5). We ended up buying VGF and some AKV.

With the points that were front loaded into the Bungalows during the original direct sales, who know what the future reallocations will be for studios, could be much higher than any other studio in the DVC 1.0 system.

Even with the discounts on Annual Passes and Dining, I would still go resale.

 

[nasmith]

Also keep in mind that if you go the direct + resale route ( if you have the same resort and use year, you could use them as a single contract) then you would have 2 contracts that are smaller points....And smaller points are easier to sell if you change your mind about DVC ownership....

I myself have been an owner since 2000 but have changed resorts and added on points at other resorts as our family grew and it's interests changed. Now that the kids are off to college, I'm thinking of selling some of my smaller contracts as I don't really need them....

I also wanted to reiterate that you should NOT count on getting any resort you want at 7 months because that is becoming harder all the time......There are several room categories at several resorts that are gone within moments of 8am at the 11 month mark......

 

[Lmkelly679]

Thanks for all the advice! I have two questions...
1- are there differences perk wise between buying direct / resale?
2- is there a fee to switch home resorts? I didn't know that this was even an option