Why I don’t buy dvc…

[Girlstar30]

If you want 11 month access to 3 or more resorts, you can just do what a lot of us here do, including myself

You can buy smaller contracts at multiple resorts that you love and if needed you bank/borrow to use 2 or even 3 years of points at once while rotating resorts, switching out to other resorts at 7 months if something good is available

This is a great idea!

 

[Chili327]

If you want 11 month access to 3 or more resorts, you can just do what a lot of us here do, including myself

You can buy smaller contracts at multiple resorts that you love and if needed you bank/borrow to use 2 or even 3 years of points at once while rotating resorts, switching out to other resorts at 7 months if something good is available

Indeed!!

It’s funny, I was jumping on the board right now to make a post about how DVC is like a roulette game, I have about 9 separate reservations right now for 2 different trips. lol
I got the days I wanted here, then waitlisted another day there, waiting for release dates for Halloween party, so I am booked in multiple places incase i end up wanting to be at one place over another based on after party or EEH dates.
So it’s almost like a game, that makes it fun, I have no idea where I’ll be staying for the entire trip, and may not know all 6-9 nights for a few months, once dates get released than I’ll start releasing a night here or there & waitlisting another elsewhere, i was thinking about it & wondering is this stressful or is this amazingly fun!!??
And I realized there is no stress because worst case I’m gonna have 4 nights at BWV, a couple nights at BLT or OKW depending how it works out. I may even end up adding a couple nights to the beginning at AKV based on how many points I use at the end.

 

[Chili327]

This is a great idea!

Yep, my 4 home resorts only add up to 225 total points. (& 75 are VGC).

 

[Girlstar30]

Indeed!!

It’s funny, I was jumping on the board right now to make a post about how DVC is like a roulette game, I have about 9 separate reservations right now for 2 different trips. lol
I got the days I wanted here, then waitlisted another day there, waiting for release dates for Halloween party, so I am booked in multiple places incase i end up wanting to be at one place over another based on after party or EEH dates.
So it’s almost like a game, that makes it fun, I have no idea where I’ll be staying for the entire trip, and may not know all 6-9 nights for a few months, once dates get released than I’ll start releasing a night here or there & waitlisting another elsewhere, i was thinking about it & wondering is this stressful or is this amazingly fun!!??
And I realized there is no stress because worst case I’m gonna have 4 nights at BWV, a couple nights at BLT or OKW depending how it works out. I may even end up adding a couple nights to the beginning at AKV based on how many points I use at the end.

Disney has trained me to have to do things like this. I'm already used to waking up early to try to get dining reservations, virtual queues, using 8 different devices to try to snag tickets etc. I feel well equipped to take on this reservation system I haven't seen yet. Bring it, Disney!

 

[Brian Noble]

1: Nothing is more flexible than cash. If you do not find the rental process onerous or expensive, then don't change what is working! The advantages of owning are (a) more control over your reservations, and (b) a lower cost given a long-enough time horizon.

2: This only makes sense if (a) your daughter has (or almost certainly will have) the means to go to WDW every other year and (b) that's something she (and any family members) actually want to do. It's really hard to predict those things. Of my kids, one probably qualifies under (b), but neither qualifies under (a). That could change---they are in their mid-20s and just getting started.

 

[lowlight]

I have done a lot of research on dvc and I have come to two sticking points . I wanted to see from the community if my concerns seem legit. For starters I wanted to say I love the dvc hotels and actuslly would want it to work.

1. The home resort concept: I don’t like the idea of having a home resort and being locked out from other resorts. Right now I rent and I feel like that gives me a lot more flexibility. For instance I just booked beach club and Aulani both 7+ months out.

One possible solution that I think could alleviate this concern would to have a product where you have a rotating home resort . I was thinking like you could 3-5 resorts where your home resort rotates . I think this would give me the amount of variability that I need.

2. The main way I see the value of dvc really benefiting me is to pass it down to my daughter. If I am just to use it for the next ten years I think I’ll break even or so but if I pass it down to her then she could go with her kids and possible even my grandkids could bring my great grandkids. I reslly
Like the idea that even if I am gone they will still have a memory of me when they are making memories. I understand money could do the same but the truth is that sometimes we don’t buy things that are good for us and I’d like to force them into taking vacations . But the problem with this is the point cost is unknown and subjected to mgmt and I coukd potebtislly be giving them a huge bill.

One way I was thinking this could be alleviated was by prepaying dues . I would like to prepay all the dues on her contract so she can just focus on fun . Has this ever been offered before ?

Just my thoughts

As someone who is on the tail end of selling two of their contracts-

1) The reason I purchased is because I envisioned my family going to Disney about every 8 months, and I calculated my break even point at about 8 years. I had a big spreadsheet made up that compared rack rates, average rental rates from DVC members, and ownership rates, factored out until contract expiration. The reality has been that while being an owner, I have been locked out of my home resort at 11 months on many occasions now due to walking and commercial renting. That isn't something that you can put into a spreadsheet. As an owner, I've also rented from other owners. I've gotten rentals for as low as $11 a point now. I recently rented a week that encompasses Christmas and NYE for under $13 a point at a very hard to get resort. None of that was factored into my spreadsheet, and granted, they aren't the average rental prices, but they happen frequently enough that they aren't unicorns.

Renting gives you home resort priority at every resort, you don't have to walk or wish and hope for your week, and you can often get it for well under the market average.

2) This was one of the main reasons I waited so long to sell. I wanted to hand down a contract to each of my children. What I realized is that is making a lot of assumptions- that they will be able to afford dues until contract end, that they will want to go, that they will be happy with the resort I chose for them, etc. I'd rather give them money and let them decide what they need. Maybe they would rather a down payment on a house, a car, etc.

Owning works for a lot of people- there are a lot of happy owners, more happy than unhappy it's safe to say. However, in many circumstances renting is the way to go. For me, even with all the research I did, I didn't know I was one of them until I owned myself. It's not all it's cracked up to be for some.

 

[mamaofsix]

Our main reasons for owning vs. renting:

-Owning is a better financial decision. It costs more to rent.
-Owning gives me direct control over every aspect of our booking
-Direct ownership gets us discounts on food & merchandise, access to lounges and moonlight magic

 

[zackiedawg]

Thanks . I guess maybe I’m biased because the first time I tried to rent was at beach club in September this January and I wasn’t able to get anything . I wasn’t trying for the food festival. If your saying those are the only two resorts where that issue happens does it make sense to make either one of your home resorts , even if you might prefer another resort ?

I picked my home resort without really considering others because it was when Boardwalk opened in 1996, and being a huge Epcot fan, having walking access into that park was an instant selling point. At the time, I wasn't really aware of DVC other than OKW and even if it hadn't expanded to all the other resorts, I still would have happily just stayed at Boardwalk.

But since there are all the other options, I've enjoyed trying out different spots over the decades. In general, there are only really a few times of year in peak seasons and holidays when it can be difficult to book other resorts at the 7 month mark. But if you have some flexibility in your planning, ie: choosing the prior or next week vs the one you originally planned - or accepting any of 2-3 different resorts instead of just aiming for one, you can often book non-home resorts.

Boardwalk is my home resort, but I often end up booking at between 4-8 months out, rather than the full 11 months (except December trips - I'll usually try to snag those at Boardwalk at the 11 month mark). I actually enjoy staying at different resorts sometimes - there have been years I've stayed 4-5 trips all at Boardwalk, and other years I've stayed at 5 different resorts on 5 different trips. Over the years, I've stayed at non-home DVCs at Grand Floridian, Polynesian, Bay Lake Tower, AK Lodge, Wilderness Lodge, Cabins at Fort Wilderness, Beach Club, Saratoga Springs, and Old Key West. Haven't stayed at a Riviera. A few of these took a few times to book there - it was a busier time of year or I waited until only 3-4 months out to book, so I would try a few different resorts and two out of 3 wouldn't be available. But eventually after a few tries, i got into all of them, even on the short notice.

 

[AdamsMum]

My biggest problem with DVC since joining is that we are not saving any money. We are just going more! Stayed at 8 different DVC resorts since 2020. Now we are headed to Aulan in June. Home resort isn’t an issue, but my bank account may be.

And spending more money when I'm there...signature restaurants, merchandise, special experiences...last year with my adult kids and son in law I booked Wild Africa Trek. I'd never have done that if I was paying for my room at the Boardwalk, even with a discount. It was amazing, by the way.

 

[tjkraz]

If you rent points 5 or 6 times at irregular intervals over your lifetime, being a renter will make you look like a genius.

If you take 5 or 6 trips on rented points before deciding to buy--or continue visiting regularly while never buying--you'll probably feel like an idiot if you ever add up what you spent which could have gone toward the purchase.

For me, the decision to buy was 99% financial. When planning ahead and having reasonable expectations, I've never been disappointed in the resort options available to book at 11 or 7 months. (Really this is true of renting as well--not going to get a Beach Club studio at 3 months unless the rate is far higher than standard.)

 

[Tatebeck]

If you know you want to go a bunch of times over years and years it definitely makes sense to buy in.

We went 5 times last year and the cost for our dues was less than the cash cost of our first and only 2 cash WDW trips. But that doesn't factor in the initial purchase prices which we paid in full, paying no interest and earning rewards. We are treating the purchase price as a sunk cost even though we should probably be able to recoup a bunch of the initial purchase price if we wanted to sell.