Looking for Advice - Thinking about taking the DVC plunge

[mermaidmarian]

Hi All -

We have been vacationing at WDW as an extended family group for the past 15 years, always traveling for a week and usually vacationing every other year. When we first started traveling to Disney, we never anticipated that it would be a vacation destination that we would want to return to year after year, even as our children grew older, so our thoughts about buying into DVC were always pushed aside as "not making good sense". Obviously, over the intervening years we realized that we had made a mistake, but instead of remedying that, kept visiting and paying rack room rate, essentially spending several tens of thousands of dollars more than if we had bought into DVC.

Fast forward to 2019. We have a trip this summer on the drawing board which will cost us about 7500 in room charges and another trip on deck for 2021 which will probably also be about 6k. It seems like our enjoyment of a Disney vacation is likely to continue many years into the future, even though our kids are grown.

I am thinking that since I have 2 hard trip commitments coming up, now is the time to invest that money into DVC. I would like to hear from some of you experts about how I should approach this. I know about DVC resale, and I realize that that is a very good value, but I see that some of the resorts don't have as many years left on their contracts and I also understand that with resale, there are some amenities that are not available compared to the DVC amenities that are available when you purchase directly from Disney.

I'd like to purchase into a home resort through Disney at maybe 150-200 points, with the future option to buy additional points, if we want them, from resale. But I realize that there are lots of things/tips to maximizing the value of DVC that I might not be aware of or be fully considering.

Can you share with me your knowledge/insight? Also, if I have a trip already on deck, what is the liklihood that I could get into DVC for those same travel dates, at this time?

Thanks in advance!

Marian

[CanadianWDWFan]

We did it 10 years ago and never looked back. We bought resale at a time where the perks were the same as buying from Disney. You have to look at the cost of buying direct from Disney to get those perks and the savings resale will get you plus the cost of buying the perks that resale will not carry. There are others who will take the opposite view from me and you should listen to them for advice as well. We were like you except we travelled every year, sometimes twice a year. For us it was a good deal. Like you we looked at how much we were paying to go to WDW now and in the future. We have bought where we wanted to stay and have stayed at other resorts but always are glad we chose BWV. We will only stay at Disney resorts since I feel going to other timeshare places or cruising on DCL is not a good value for your points. We have even travelled to Hawaii thanks to DVC.

You can reserve your home resort 11 months in advance and at other DVC resorts 7 months in advance. so if your trip is in the 11-7 month window it would be worth your while to check out the availability of you home resort to see for availability. Remember if you want to go at a popular time your home resort will be your best option for a reservation. We chose BWV so we can get a reservation during the Food and Wine event.

There is also a year maintenance fee associated with your DVC holding. For us right now it is about $7/point at the Boardwalk. The following chart has the prices from 2018 and 2019. So this is an added cost to your membership on top of your purchase price. We had figured our break even point was 8 years after purchase.



Resort
2019 Proposed Dues Per Point
2018 Dues Per Point
*Growth 2018 to 2019


Animal Kingdom
$7.44
$6.76
10.1%


Aulani
$7.86
$7.54
4.3%


Bay Lake Tower
$6.40
$5.92
8.1%


Beach Club
$6.94
$6.44
7.8%


Boardwalk
$7.17
$6.55
9.5%


Grand Californian
$6.27
$5.88
6.6%


Grand Floridian
$6.39
$6.13
4.2%


Hilton Head
$8.56
$7.72
10.9%


Old Key West
$7.23
$6.72
7.6%


Polynesian
$6.76
$6.20
9.0%


Saratoga Springs
$6.40
$5.86
9.2%


Vero Beach
$9.48
$8.53
11.1%


Wilderness Lodge: Boulder Ridge
$7.32
$6.93
5.6%


Wilderness Lodge: Copper Creek
$7.43
$7.26
2.3%



I hope this helps.

[WiltonJohn]

Basically, you need to run a spreadsheet to figure out if this is "worth it" from a solely economic point of view. Run the numbers.

If you typically stay at something other than a Deluxe resort, and typically go for a week a year......... you may find that the annual member dues start to come very close to staying a week at something like a Pop Century or All Stars retail, with the various discounts that Disney gives on those from time to time. So what you are really getting is a Deluxe resort for a Pop Century price. But it probably won't be a massive savings in your overall lodging costs.

I'd suggest buying just enough points direct to still get the 'Blue Membership Card' which gets you the "perks" like purchase discounts and restaurant discounts. (That is 75 points now I think.) Then top off with resale points to the total points level you feel that you need (+10%). Get them all in the same use year. And buy at the place that you REALLY want to stay (so you get the 11 month booking window).

best,

..............john

[MarkC]

Agree with Wilton John that you need to run the numbers. Great advice. I would add if you are going to have to finance this and pay it off over multiple years, you really need to re-consider in my opinion. This is somewhat of a luxury purchase but again, that's my opinion only. Some people will think you are crazy for buying this and others will be insanely jealous. We bought about 15 years ago, and my wife and I are going by ourselves next week as we still love it at age 60. My son and his wife will use our points next year. So plan carefully, but if you are able to make the decision to buy you will probably really enjoy it. And you can always sell it if you don't like it or it doesn't work out. You may lose a little bit but you will have probably got enough out of it in your stays to that date it would not be a horrible decision. Best of luck to you.

[dlpmikki]

I'm going to admit we bought back in 92 when it was a no brainer. Nowdays not quite so sure but one way of looking at it is you are spending money now to ensure you can get great accommodation at a good price in the future. I do think it is a good idea to buy enough direct that you get the DVC 'perks' (which do change over the years) but it may then be a good idea to get the rest of the points you want resale. And ideally the same resort so your 'home' is the same even if different contract numbers.

Getting a room this summer on DVC? Some resorts will be easier than others but it is probably possible. People would still be booking July now at the 7 month mark for non home resorts.