Who SHOULDN’T buy DVC?

[skippytx]

A close family member actually is interested in buying into DVC like we did, and I find myself dissuading them from doing so. We only bought less than 2 years ago but the changes and recent price increases has changed the equation a bit. Everything I would say has already been said. It works for some folks, but not for others and you really have to take a few steps back and shake the pixie dust off and look at what you're getting into.

 

[Ben E N]

A close family member actually is interested in buying into DVC like we did, and I find myself dissuading them from doing so. We only bought less than 2 years ago but the changes and recent price increases has changed the equation a bit. Everything I would say has already been said. It works for some folks, but not for others and you really have to take a few steps back and shake the pixie dust off and look at what you're getting into.

I ended up doing the same with two close family friends myself.
I am sure there are many who will buy in, be thrilled, and will have made a good decision for themselves. I couldn't be the one to suggest it, though, because I know how much they have already restricted and how much the price has gone up, and can only see things getting worse in the short term, not better, for new buyers.

 

[skippytx]

I ended up doing the same with two close family friends myself.
I am sure there are many who will buy in, be thrilled, and will have made a good decision for themselves. I couldn't be the one to suggest it, though, because I know how much they have already restricted and how much the price has gone up, and can only see things getting worse in the short term, not better, for new buyers.

What's funny is it still works great for me and my family, and I'll probably add on (via resale) another 160 to 200 BLT points in the next 2 years or so.

 

[Ben E N]

What's funny is it still works great for me and my family, and I'll probably add on (via resale) another 160 to 200 BLT points in the next 2 years or so.

I would too, but I am already grandfathered in with less than 75 points direct, am able to book outside the original 14 resorts with my initially resale purchased points, and if I add on extra, then it would only pull my average buy in point higher, but not up to the point that it is today, considering how low I bought in the past.
Those are the three factors that have me shying away from encouraging my friends from buying in. If they showed interest in doing so, I would do nothing to stop them, but feel like I have gone from "It's great!" to "Know what you're signing up for before committing your money".

 

[kboo]

I ended up doing the same with two close family friends myself.
I am sure there are many who will buy in, be thrilled, and will have made a good decision for themselves. I couldn't be the one to suggest it, though, because I know how much they have already restricted and how much the price has gone up, and can only see things getting worse in the short term, not better, for new buyers.

What's funny is it still works great for me and my family, and I'll probably add on (via resale) another 160 to 200 BLT points in the next 2 years or so.

I would too, but I am already grandfathered in with less than 75 points direct, am able to book outside the original 14 resorts with my initially resale purchased points, and if I add on extra, then it would only pull my average buy in point higher, but not up to the point that it is today, considering how low I bought in the past.
Those are the three factors that have me shying away from encouraging my friends from buying in. If they showed interest in doing so, I would do nothing to stop them, but feel like I have gone from "It's great!" to "Know what you're signing up for before committing your money".

Same here. I have a few friends with kids our kids' age, one is a family of 5 who loves Disney cruises. They've thought about DVC but didn't buy in ... and now I am not sure I would recommend it for them. They still might be a decent candidate for DVC1 resale if they continue their pattern of cruising, as they would likely stay at WDW for only a few days in the summer before their cruise, and plan 11 months in advance.

 

[duttonpartyof6]

Not to put words in her mouth, but likely because the studios are competitive and you may be disappointed.

I know. I did a no-no. We financed a small contract. I'm happy with it. With our large family size and desire to stay on property, we would have been renting the points each trip every other year. Buying the contract made more sense for us. Why pay $2-3000 a trip just in renting points when we bought our 100 point contract for $8,800? Sure we have a couple more trips til it "balances out", but our kids are young and DH & I love Disney and are content repeating vacations there. Maybe we should have waited until we could have afforded it outright, but we put a hefty down payment down and are almost done paying on it and now the prices (at least the last time I checked) have sky rocketed.

I think you should rent points and stay where you think you want to buy before you commit. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to finance but I don't want to give anyone financial advice. I know most say "don't finance a luxury!" but people finance BMWs instead of buying Kia's, right? Perhaps that's a poor example, but financing has allowed me to take my kids on 3 Disney trips with 2 more in the works, so it works for us.

I think that is a great response! But I am right there with you. We financed our purchases of DVC and I don't regret it at all. We bought in as a family of four and were spending about $3k each trip, it made more sense to put that towards our points to use each year as opposed to paying for one trip. I would rather be making payments to Disney to get something out of it, as opposed to paying my credit card and not getting anything out of it.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We have been owners since 1998 when we bought boardwalk direct because we got a $ for $ reduction for the room I had at the Contemporary for a week when I was there for a work conference. And then we started adding on, direct at bay lake, animal kingdom and aulani at opening day prices and through incentives on cruise ships. We also bought resale and have accumulated over 1400 points at 7 resorts. We never go for less than s week and go for two weeks in March every year. We go to aulani once a year in May for at least 10 days.

We usually go to the parks once during a trip. And we only do the big rides. We do a Disney Cruise once a year so my kids and grandkids can see characters there.

My adult disabled daughter brings her best friend and they enjoy all the services from the staff in the activity centers at all the resorts. My husband and I play tennis, lay around the pool and we go to table service restaurants every night. We also get the tables in wonderland card which pays for itself very quickly for us.

We paid cash. I’m retired and my husband is an attorney who can make his own schedule so planning is not an issue. We can always go off season so we usually get what we want 7 months out if we don’t have enough points at a specific resort 11 months out. We always stay in at least one bedrooms.

For all those reasons it made perfect sense to buy. And we are very lucky that we could pay for them in cash and can use them the way we want. After we’re gone we’ve made provisions that the dvc points will be used solely for our daughters benefit.

I feel very blessed that we purchased points the way we did. We would never pay the prices dvc charges today. And we are grandfathered in for all benefits because of when we bought resale.

For us it was an emotional decision. We never did a financial analysis. We just aren’t numbers people. We pay s lot of maintenance fees every year but we get that value back when I look at the value of the rooms. I figured out once that in an 2 years period we stayed at Disney resorts over 80 days. A one bedroom ocean view at aulani is 500 points for 10 nights. But if we paid cash for that room we would pay at least 1200 a night. That trip alone covers all of our maintenance fees. Any accountant would tell you that’s not the way to look at but that’s our justification. We’ve also pretty much earned out the initial cost to us too.

None of this makes sense at today’s direct sale prices though. Even for us. So we are glad for what we have and enjoy the hell out of it!

 

[kniquy]

We only bought less than 2 years ago but the changes and recent price increases has changed the equation a bit.

I think buying in resale with access to the 14 resorts is still a better value for someone who visits yearly compared to the rental market or direct from Disney rooms. When you just factor what you are actually buying (the room) it still make financial sense for this type of person. The perks that some of us still have provide some limited benefits but someone who visits annually and may buy an AP can have access to many of the same discounts.

It really is a factor of someone doing their homework to see if the purchase makes financial sense for their travel habits. If someone is wishy washy with their WDW travels then buying probably isn't the best choice, but the other end of the spectrum, someone who travels yearly + to WDW it could be a great financial benefit for them.

The big warning should come with buying in at Rivera either direct or an eventual resale. This will need to be approached with a bit more caution and education.

In the end anyone who would be considering a DVC purchase should be directed to this forum to do their homework, learn the ins/outs, pros/cons of the system. Then at that point they can decide for themselves if buying in resale or direct is right for themselves and their family.

 

[sndral]

I think it’s important that although many plan to save money long term via purchasing DVC, in fact WDW vacations are expensive - ticket prices go up, food prices go up, children become more expensive as they age into Disney adults, MFs go up. A WDW vacation is an expensive vacation, DVC enables you to lock in part of your price for your accommodations, but it will still be an expensive vacation even with DVC.
DVC is a long term relationship - you’ve decided you’ve had enough dating & it’s time to commit to WDW every year or at most every other year. You’ve decided you’ll be going to WDW through the good times and the bad times, through economic booms and through recessions. If you decide you need to get a divorce from DVC the financial hit has in the past been cushioned by the unusually high resale values of DVC contracts, although during recessions resale contract prices have dipped pretty low. That could disappear w/ Riviera because of the new restriction limiting Riviera resale owners to staying only at Riviera, thus there’s a chance Riviera resale could behave like many other timeshares and be worth far less than what the direct purchaser paid. In stock market terms, it’s a long term investment you’ll be holding through bull and bear markets, and w/ Riviera it’s an initial public offering which may have little value long term if you need to sell it.
There are differences between villas & rooms. For studios & 1 br.s generally that means only 1 real bed. That means you will be in the DVC section of your deluxe resort — which may be less ideally located than regular rooms. Also no daily housekeeping. And no CL stays (AKV CL villas are rare even for AKV owners.)
DVC works best for uber planners - ideally those who can plan 11 months ahead.
DVC villas are booked solid, thus those who are used to asking at check in for a different location will be disappointed as there isn’t the flexibility to change rooms as there is w/ cash stays, nor is the incentive to do so there - w/ cash stays they want you back, w/ DVC stays they know you’ll be back.

 

[goofy kc]

I think it’s important that although many plan to save money long term via purchasing DVC, in fact WDW vacations are expensive - ticket prices go up, food prices go up, children become more expensive as they age into Disney adults, MFs go up. A WDW vacation is an expensive vacation, DVC enables you to lock in part of your price for your accommodations, but it will still be an expensive vacation even with DVC.
DVC is a long term relationship....

This! If someone asks me about buying in I emphasize the sticker price is NOT the price. If you have even a smallish amount of points you could be looking at a grand+ in MFs. On a contract that will most likely expire before you do (knock wood!!). And if you have kids, consider the cost of 4 years of tuition compared to DVC.

The decision to buy sight unseen, direct, and financed worked for us - luckily. The initial contract was paid off in less than a year AND we have even added on direct. I know, crazy! But I don't always have the patience to wait for another resale contract to come through.

 

[skippytx]

DVC has got me spending so much more money on WDW trips than I thought it's not even funny.

"We'll never go often enough to justify buying annual passes" - Guess who has an AP now?
"We'll just go every other year" - Has been on 2 WDW trips in the last 6 months and have 2 more planned in the next 9. Can't waste those APs!

 

[mustinjourney]

DVC has got me spending so much more money on WDW trips than I thought it's not even funny.

"We'll never go often enough to justify buying annual passes" - Guess who has an AP now?
"We'll just go every other year" - Has been on 2 WDW trips in the last 6 months and have 2 more planned in the next 9. Can't waste those APs!

this is so true.

"Man. 7 day park hoppers are like $500. The gold pass is only $100 more and it comes with memory maker -- it'd be stupid NOT to get the AP!"

[a few months later]

"Might as well sneak in a quick trip here and there. I mean, we don't have to pay for tix and we can use airline miles."

[log into DVC account and book trip...using OTU points]

"Honey...we're gonna need more points!"

 

[Ben E N]

this is so true.

"Man. 7 day park hoppers are like $500. The gold pass is only $100 more and it comes with memory maker -- it'd be stupid NOT to get the AP!"

[a few months later]

"Might as well sneak in a quick trip here and there. I mean, we don't have to pay for tix and we can use airline miles."

"We're gonna need more points!"

I have had that "need to have more points" conversation with my wife 3 times, and we've only owned for a year and a half. And this is with my coworkers already saying "You're going to Disney again!?"

 

[mustinjourney]

I have had that "need to have more points" conversation with my wife 3 times, and we've only owned for a year and a half. And this is with my coworkers already saying "You're going to Disney again!?"

I'm officially the crazy Disney guy at work and with friends.

But then I'm also the first person they email/text when they want info on Disney.

 

[MB_01]

I'm officially the crazy Disney guy at work and with friends.

But then I'm also the first person they email/text when they want info on Disney.

That’s me too! But they only say it because they are crazy jealous. I can see it in their eyes. A deep dark sadness that they aren’t me.

 

[Ben E N]

I'm officially the crazy Disney guy at work and with friends.

But then I'm also the first person they email/text when they want info on Disney.

I am as well. Just yesterday, after having just taken one trip to Disney World this past winter break with his family, and spending $11k on it, my boss asked me "Hey, you do that DVC thing, right?" I was terrified for him when I told him yes. He said that his parents were looking to buy a membership to split between he and his brothers, so that they could go during different years. I will be using information from this page, as well as my own experience, to make sure they know full well what they are getting into before it's too late.

 

[Magical2017]

We considered it, but thankfully this forum led us to do more research and we knew it was not for us. I think if we had purchased DVC 13 years ago when our first child was born, we would probably find a way to make it work. Here are some of the reasons we did not take the DVC plunge:

• We often book only a few months out and don't want to worry about trying to get the resort of our choice 11 months or 7 months out
• We love Disney, but our kids are 13 and 10 and have expressed interest in non-Disney vacations as well. We can do both, but Europe, a Universal Studios-only tour, Costa Rica, a national park tour, and a Southern Caribbean cruise have all been discussed more than WDW in recent months.
• Aulani is in Honolulu and I have been to Honolulu several times. I have no desire to visit there again--we prefer other islands. (Hilton Head and Vero Beach do look lovely, though)
• We have family members who own a beach house about three hours away and let us use it, and family all over the US that want us to visit--sometimes we don't have time for a Disney trip on top of other vacations
  
• We don't want to deal with renting our points out if we skip WDW for a year or two, and don't want to deal with banking points (I know that is not a very good reason for most people but it seems like it would be a pain in the rear for us)
• Kind of an aside, but DH works for a hotel company and sometimes gets comp rooms during slow season and deep discounts during other dates, based on availability. While we usually do not take advantage of this on our Disney trips, we have used this perk at other destinations at different hotels owned by his company. We would most likely not use RCI for other trips.

 

[jodifla]

I'll agree that everyone should assess their own financial situation to determine if DVC makes sense and if a good breeze stands a chance of collapsing the house of cards, then timeshares aren't a good move. Financing though, isn't necessarily the bogeyman many make it out to be. The cost of an average size DVC contract isn't much different than financing a new car, which people do all of the time without the threat and worry of financial ruin. Financing costs more, but as has been mentioned, if you're going to spend the money on Disney trips anyway, it's money already spent.

I've no interest in debating the wisdom of financing vs paying cash, just pointing out that it may not be the road to ruin that many proclaim it to be. But the internet being what it is, I take most internet advice with a grain of salt (this post included). After all "we're not bossy, we're just helpful!"

Yes, we financed when we bought back in '96. We both had good jobs, planned to pay it off early (and did) -- and the points were around 60ish dollars. We took a month or two to decide, but quickly came to the conclusion it was a no brainer. We liked the bigger accommodations, lived only 3 hours from WDW, and knew we would go to WDW and Vero regularly over the course of our lives. So we simply put off a car purchase, focused our vacation dollars on paying off our DVC loan, and had great vacation after great vacation in the meantime.

Hardly the doomsday "lose it all" scenario.

I just shake my head when I hear of people who didn't buy at 60 bucks because they didn't want to finance but are now buying at triple the price! Meanwhile, they paid OOP for Disney hotel rooms.

We suspected the prices would skyrocket for DVC eventually. Of course today, I wouldn't buy in at these prices. I'm just glad we got in early.

 

[skier_pete]

So I wrote a treatise on this - but it's on my home computer - but I'll put in my 2 cents. I will not editorialize on what I think the value of DVC is

People that should buy in should meet all the following criteria:
1) Be able to afford it. I don't have an issue with if you choose to finance it - I financed my first contract with a HELOC and actually am still paying it off, while I bought a second contract on cash. However you do it - cash or finance - make sure you really understand the cost. Remember there is also annual dues on top of the up front cost. The savings don't make sense if you can't afford it in the short term.
2) Be able to plan well in advance. Ideally 11 months in advance - especially if traveling Oct 1 to Jan 15th - and minimum 7 months in advance rest of year. If you can't do this - stay away.
3) Be a fan. Be sure that DISNEY is what you want to do. Not just for a few years but off into the future. Trading DVC for anything else in there system is a EXTREMELY POOR value, and if you are thinking "Oh when I get tired of Disney I'll just go elsewhere..." then you are better off putting your money elsewhere.
4) Be willing to devote some hours to research. Know the difference between direct and resale. Understand the point system. Understand the popular times of year and when it's difficult to get rooms, and when it's more expensive. Know for sure what you want from your home resort. It is complicated and benefits can change. In other words - be an aware consumer. If you aren't willing to understand the product you are buying - you should stay away.

 

[mustinjourney]

I am as well. Just yesterday, after having just taken one trip to Disney World this past winter break with his family, and spending $11k on it, my boss asked me "Hey, you do that DVC thing, right?" I was terrified for him when I told him yes. He said that his parents were looking to buy a membership to split between he and his brothers, so that they could go during different years. I will be using information from this page, as well as my own experience, to make sure they know full well what they are getting into before it's too late.

As much as things scare me with the direction they're going in (really the point reallocation thing with lock-off premium is my primary concern), DVC is still a way better deal than paying cash for deluxe rooms. 2BRs at GF go for like $1500+ a night. They're insanely expensive.