Looking to buy??

[Govolz1]

I have been coming to Disney for 30 year's now. I have looked at buying into DVC several times, but never pulled the trigger. I can only go once a year at the most, so this was always my dilemma. Can anyone let me know if its a good idea or just stay at the value or moderate resorts like i have been. More curious now with everything going on and the restrictions from Disney already in place. Thanks in advance.

Bruce

 

[CastAStone]

I have been coming to Disney for 30 year's now. I have looked at buying into DVC several times, but never pulled the trigger. I can only go once a year at the most, so this was always my dilemma. Can anyone let me know if its a good idea or just stay at the value or moderate resorts like i have been. More curious now with everything going on and the restrictions from Disney already in place. Thanks in advance.

Bruce

Are you happy at Value/Moderate resorts? It’s impossible to make the math work comparing DVC ago any of the values (other than the family suites) and the moderates depend greatly on travel schedule and room choice whether you’ll be able to break even, and if you can, it’ll likely take a decade or longer. If you’re staying in Preferred rooms at CBR in May, maybe you can make the math work to save money. Eventually. If you’re staying in the cheapest room at POR in early March, probably not.

DVC makes the most sense for people who would otherwise be staying in Deluxes or who would rather stay in a suite than a hotel room, and are willing to pay for the difference.

 

[Govolz1]

I have been coming to Disney for 30 year's now. I have looked at buying into DVC several times, but never pulled the trigger. I can only go once a year at the most, so this was always my dilemma. Can anyone let me know if its a good idea or just stay at the value or moderate resorts like i have been. More curious now with everything going on and the restrictions from Disney already in place. Thanks in advance. I usually stay around August because of kid's in school..

Bruce

O

 

[cometdad2010]

We just had an accepted offer on our first resale contract. It took me several years to pull the trigger, as well!

For us, the "aha!" moment was when we realized that if we didn't do DVC, we'd want to rent points each time we went. We prefer suites, and like the space provided in the deluxe resorts. For our first time at Disney as a family, we rented points from a friend that was a DVC member. We're planning an October 2021 trip, and realized that if we plan on going every 2-3 years at minimum, it would be smarter to buy than rent points again. We're the kind of people that could spend a day just hanging out at the resort, and don't necessarily need to do the parks each day. We enjoy a larger, more comfortable room. We have two kids, and with DVC, have the flexibility to allow them to bring a friend, etc. knowing we'll all still be comfortable. My wife and I both love Disney and are excited to have an "excuse" to go to Disney each year or so.

My in-laws stay at the value resorts each time they go. For them, DVC didn't really fit their needs, even though they go more frequently than we do.

My parents have a timeshare with RCI and always stay off-site. Being on Disney property isn't worth it for them, so obviously, DVC doesn't fit their needs either.

It all comes down to a) how you like to travel, and b) how you see yourself travelling in the future.

 

[iflyjetzzz]

Are you happy at Value/Moderate resorts? It’s impossible to make the math work comparing DVC ago any of the values (other than the family suites) and the moderates depend greatly on travel schedule and room choice whether you’ll be able to break even, and if you can, it’ll likely take a decade or longer. If you’re staying in Preferred rooms at CBR in May, maybe you can make the math work to save money. Eventually. If you’re staying in the cheapest room at POR in early March, probably not.

DVC makes the most sense for people who would otherwise be staying in Deluxes or who would rather stay in a suite than a hotel room, and are willing to pay for the difference.

Excellent assessment.

 

[becauseimnew]

We’ve done all 3 categories, of course we prefer deluxe but from our last trip I think we’ve decided we would rather do a split stay, start at PC and move to a deluxe resort. Which is why I’m trying to convince DH to buy a small resale contract.

 

[John Purcell]

Mr Castastone is so much smarter than me on this stuff!! But I think you can rent for about the same ( including tax + parking) as a moderate resort if it’s a studio, or 2BR is a slight premium to 2 hotel rooms - but beware, once you go 2BR it’s hard to go back.

Buying probably gets you lower cost vs renting, maybe closer to the value resorts... But it’s an unfair comparison when it’s something SO qualitative as a Disney vacation. Buying only makes sense if you want to go for a while, and can take a principal risk on your investment. DVC generally goes up, but it’s a high end cyclical purchase, so trend-chart for that.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Renting has risks. Those risks have become very evident this year.

Obviously, buying has different risks. But it is good to be familiar with both sets.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

We bought in because we like to have a one bedroom while on vacation. First stay was cash through Disney at BWV and bought DVC resale right after that.

If we didn’t want a one bedroom and some $ savings I’d probably not be a DVC owner. I do miss the flexibility of a cash stay. No need to request vacation a year in advance so I can have approvals in time for my 11 month window.

 

[AdamsMum]

DVC makes the most sense for people who would otherwise be staying in Deluxes or who would rather stay in a suite than a hotel room, and are willing to pay for the difference.

I guess that's true with today's prices. My only stay at a deluxe was 3 nights at the Contemporary with a very large discount, probably around 2004/2005. I couldn't resist adding the nights to my trip. Otherwise I'd never have been able to pay Disney's deluxe prices for a room. DVC for me wasn't a financial decision, it was completely emotional. I fell in love with BWV the first time I saw it. I started small and only have small contracts to make it affordable (at the time minimum direct buy in was 160). I love that I can stay in a better location, with a better room and have the option of increasing to a 1 or 2 bedroom when I have guests. That said, I purchased in 2007 when prices weren't what they are now.

I don't regret my purchase, but don't buy in thinking you'll spend less money on Disney. It will creep up on you.

 

[cruisehopeful]

It will depend on your personal comfort and how you like to vacation. DVC was great for me when I wanted a larger room and I wanted to cook meals in my room. That has changed for me and now I don't want to cook in my room and I don't want to clean up after everyone. I still prefer the larger rooms of the villas, but I'm more of a hotel person at this point.

 

[holden]

We bought at BLT. Our reasons were:

1. Extra space. Our kids were little when we bought, but we knew they'd become teens. They have. They (and us!) need their space. BLT has 2 full bathrooms in the 1BR unit and 3 full baths in the 2BR unit. So does Kidani.
2. We go frequently (at least twice a year)
3. We used to stay at the Poly when we were still paying for a resort room. It's where I stayed as a kid so that was our preferred resort.
4. Flexibility. Grand Villa for a trip with extended family? Yep! Four separate rooms for a trip with other families? Yep!

 

[ldo]

We bought because we planned to go 1X every year or at least EOY, wanted onsite, and didn't want to rent. We're fine for a value for me and the kids, or for 3 nights in a mod like POR, but as a family week-long vacation, we wanted more upscale lodging/pool and we loved the DVC community halls for our kids (it's why we bought--weird reason, but with 3 crafty kids, that CH hooked us).
With owning, I can cancel (within parameters), change and rebook my reservations myself. I've rebooked because of Covid 3 different trips with no issues. I have swapped out from a 1 BR to studio to different resort at least 10X the past year--all online easy peasy. I got a UY that gives me flex to still have a number of months to use my points if a trip doesn't work. During Covid, no DVC system was perfect--whether owner or renter--but I'd much rather be an owner than possibly out 1000s on a rental.
The only other "safer" thing would have been cash reservations. If you're happy with values, no reason to buy. If moderates work fine and you can get a decent deal (free dining, Annual pass rate, % off rack rate), then others on this BB have run the numbers before and mods still usually wins or it is even, in which case, why tie up $1000s in capital. If you want deluxe, or just really like certain DVCs (we love AKV), then I'd consider buying, maybe even only enough points for EOY. That way you can still stay in mods sometimes and are not fully locked into DVC. Plus it's 1/2 the upfront cost. Note: you can only borrow 50% of DVC points now.
Research UY against your travel patterns and make an informed decision. We have been very happy with our DVC.

 

[iflyjetzzz]

Are you happy at Value/Moderate resorts? It’s impossible to make the math work comparing DVC ago any of the values (other than the family suites) and the moderates depend greatly on travel schedule and room choice whether you’ll be able to break even, and if you can, it’ll likely take a decade or longer. If you’re staying in Preferred rooms at CBR in May, maybe you can make the math work to save money. Eventually. If you’re staying in the cheapest room at POR in early March, probably not.

DVC makes the most sense for people who would otherwise be staying in Deluxes or who would rather stay in a suite than a hotel room, and are willing to pay for the difference.

This was a great response that I want to expand upon.

The different resort categories is an important one that you've hit on. Our preference has always been moderate for hotels but we've moved up to nicer properties on our stays over the last few years - not referring to Disney but to hotels in general. Would I ever pay cash for deluxe at Disney? No, which I should have considered a bit before I bought DVC. That alone would have ruled out DVC for us.

Do we vacation at Disney every year? No, which should have ruled out buying a lot of DVC points. Even every other year while we're working is too much vacation time burned on Disneyworld.
When I bought the contracts, I was thinking that I could rent out some of the points but with what's happened in the rental market, I wouldn't want to do that.
And since we live in Las Vegas, Disneyland is more convenient and we do take short trips there. When we do, we stay at Camelot Inn and Suites which is across the street from the DL/CA entrance. It's below value as far as quality of accommodations but the location can't be beat. Or we can burn some of my huge pile of Marriott/Hilton/Hyatt points for nicer hotels a few blocks from the entrance.

Another aspect of DVC that one needs to consider is the tendency to invite others to stay with you at a DVC property. That means you need additional points, something I was guilty of buying. And I've read where others do the same - inviting people to stay for free at their DVC property.

So instead of DVC, what are other better fitting options for my wife and me? Shades of Green (we're both retired military) and good neighbor hotels will give us early fastpass reservations (should those ever return), or plenty of close by hotels for much better pricing than DVC.

Another huge concern for me going forward is all of those unused DVC points that are piling up. I'll be watching what happens at the seven month point once the COVID issue goes away ... given the glut of unused points, I suspect that things will get more complicated for booking less than 7 months out. And having to plan for vacation 11 months away doesn't work for us since we both have jobs that aren't too flexible on time off.

We've owned our two DVC contracts for less than a year and we have them both under contract to sell. I'll monitor the DVC prices and may buy again (small contract) if pricing gets interesting. But it will have to be a huge fire sale because MFs alone are more expensive than what I can find from non-Disney properties.

I find DVC to be golden handcuffs which lock one into regular Disney vacations.

 

[ldo]

concur with above--this is why I advocate starting with enough points for EOY to test the waters and not be too locked into DVC trips. I find DVC very cost effective, IMHO, esp. at older resorts. 10-15 points in a studio (OKW, AKV, BWV, CCV) summer/fall/early winter is a decent price point. 1 BR for our family or 5 at AKV or OKW also work well at a reasonable price point. There is a HUGE difference in a "vacation" with 2-3 kids/teens in a 1 BR vs. a room that sleeps 4-5. The latter is OK for 3 nights, but for a week...not a vacation IMHO.