If you knew then what you know now?

[Disney Spaz]

I would have bought more points. And Make sure you buy where you really want to stay.

As much as I wish we had bought sooner I am happy with the resorts we bought into. I would also tour the area you are considering buying into. DH had always wanted OKW and has begged to add points there someday. But then we went to actually visit the resort and rode the bus through the resort. It gave DH a real sense of the size of the resort and now he has had a change of heart and wants to visit but not own there. I think when you buy make sure it is where you want to actually stay.

[Chuck S]

Originally Posted by CarolA

One thing that I understood when I buy that I think other's don't... DVC is NOT a democracy. It's a dictatorship. Disney has ALL the power. If you can't deal with that and think that this is like a Home Owners Association then you are not going to be happy.

Sounds just like some homeowners associations to me.

[mickeys girl 52]

I wish I bought so many years earlier, when my 2 children were young. I hate to think of all the $$$$ I spent through the years. But I enjoyed every minute so i can't complain. Now I get to enjoy Disney with the grandkids.

[kim_d]

We bought BCV in 2002. I wish I had known that DVC changes the way you vaction at WDW. We thought once a year at a studio (maybe a one bedroom once we had kids) would be ideal.

Now we go more than once a year (usually 2 or even 3 times) and want at least a one bedroom if not 2 bedroom (we have 2 children).

We ended up adding on in 2008.

[DeeCee735]

I'd have bought in split contracts to make it easier to will to my children evenly. I'd have bought more at the time or original purchase, not anticipating the prices to skyrocket, instead of small add-on's every few years at higher prices. I'd NOT have had one add on at AKV, I wish I bought that last add on in our original home resort of BWV because we own most of our points there, and with the new point allocation (as of 2010), 50 points in a different resort doesn't go as far as it would if it had been added to the 235 we own at BWV

That being said, I've become a master at point usage so those 50 points are getting me a savannah view studio for three nights each year with a couple of points left over, so I'm not actually complaining - I'm quite happy about it

Good luck with your decision and happy planning.

[oakmanner]

I wish we purchased ten years ago instead of last year. Spent many thousands of dollars on cash ressies over the years that would have paid for our DVC a couple times over.

[nordkin]

Originally Posted by stopher1

I would have purchased more points from the get go at my initial home resort, instead of not and then adding on later at the same resort. Adding-on at another resort is okay, but I should have just gotten what we wanted at one time.

I agree with you. We have added on twice and wish we had just bought enough points the first time.

[december14disney]

I wish we bought so much earlier. Sigh.

[jodifla]

We are REALLY happy with our purchase back in '96. We just missed the park passes....I would have liked to bought in in '93, but we weren't quite ready.

I'm glad we didn't buy TOO MANY points....We bought in at 150, then added 56 at BCV and have always felt like we had enough points to enjoy ourselves without being overly tied to just DVC vacations.

The rules do change...you can't get too locked in to your perceptions of how things should be. Some have changed for the better (free Internet) others for the worse (Stupid 4 month booking rule!) but we still love our DVC.

Good luck to you!

[dcfromva]

Our first contract was BCV. Like DebbieB, I would have split our BCV contract into smaller amounts. It would have made downsizing possible. As the BCV contract stands now, it is all or nothing.

I would have also picked a later UY. As it turns out, for BCV we have Feb UY and we use the majority of the points in Dec.

[crisi]

Originally Posted by CarolA

I would still buy.

I don't know that I would have bought....and I certainly would not buy at today's prices and with today's bargains on travel.

We do prefer the Deluxe rooms to the DVC rooms. I like daily mousekeeping

Knowing what I know now, I think I'd be as happy offsite in a house for cheaper as I am with DVC. And with the bargains Disney is offering right now, I'd think I'd take my chances on bargains.

We really have ended up becoming "Disney people" - and that's really restricted the other travel I'd like to do, but I have these points......

The only thing that makes me not regret our purchase is that we bought in after 9/11 and bought resale - and bought a pretty small number of points - so we got a pretty good price. I do like having my kids sleep in a different room - and I have enjoyed treating family and friends to rooms.

I'm glad we didn't buy earlier. And I'm glad we didn't buy more points. And I like my home resort just fine.

I don't care for the instability (point switching, changes to how reservations work - and for us, moving back Food and Wine two weeks - that has created a huge hassle for us - an event we don't particularly enjoy now makes our resort and the parks crowded during our typical vacation time). I don't like Disney's lack of communication on these things.

[cheezNE1]

Originally Posted by crisi

...

We really have ended up becoming "Disney people" - and that's really restricted the other travel I'd like to do, but I have these points......

That is so true- I think we have become "Disney People" as well. I want to try other places, but since we already have DVC, why pay for other vacations. I did book a trip to VB this year and try not to go to the themeparks. But the Star Wars week is the week I'm gonna be at VB and I'm so tempted to renew my AP so I can be there. Was gonna wait till my BLT october trip, but.....the
Oh no, we've become Mouses....

[rkwier]

First of all, you came to the right place for information. When we were first looking into DVC, I POURED over this board and was able to answer many of my questions and alleviate most of my fears. The people on the DIS offer a wealth of information and are always willing to help.

Sometimes I think that I wish that we had bought sooner, but in reality we bought at just the right time in our lives. The one thing that I did wish that I had known right away was that you can purchase at sold out resorts and not just the new ones. Of course, I found the answer to that pretty quickly on this board! Also learned about the re-sale market here, which I did not even know existed.

[Deb & Bill]

If I had not bought in 1997, I wouldn't be buying now. Points are just outrageously high. Then you add in the dues which continue to go up, up, up. If I had known about renting from a member, we probably would have done that.

There are very few costs that have more than doubled since 1997 like DVC points and dues.

[Sammie]

I agree with Deb & Bill, crisi and jodifla. I wish I had sold some of my contracts earlier and just kept enough points to use for 5 days, every other year.

We have restricted our travel to only include Disney and I regret that at times. Because we had it and it was paid for, we felt obligated. I thought when we purchased, due to the spill our sales agent gave us, we would use it more outside of Disney, when we tired of Disney vacations. But as we know that usage is truly not the best way to use your points or even travel to other locations.

As Deb & Bill stated dues and point prices have increased at a very high rate while in my opinion, the quality and upkeep of the product has declined in the same time period.

The price of points today, would be a deterent to our purchasing, especially when rentals are so available at a much greater savings with none of the hassle of ownership.