"I wish I knew that before I joined DVC"

[sillyolbear]

I, too, wish we had joined sooner. We stayed in deluxe resorts for a couple of times a year for a number of years before buying our points.

The 160 minimum could definitely be tight for a family that needs more than a studio can hold. The upside of the 160 is for a couple without kids like we are. We'll make four trips this year for a total of 13 nights using our 160 points.

[fanofdisney]

I wish I knew that trying to get a resort outside of your home resort was going to be so difficult. Don't get me wrong, I am very happy to be a DVC member but when speaking to our salesman he made it sound like you just call at the 7 month window and make a reservation. Well, that's not the way it has worked for us and this is only our first time trying to switch, I sure hope it won't happen this way every time

[MinnieMommie]

I am thrilled with my DVC membership and only regret we did not bite the bullit and make the purchase years ago. If you avoid Friday and Saturday nights and peak seasons you will be able to get more milage out of your points. Since you know you will need at least a 1 bedroom then it is important to factor that into your point purchase decision. However if you can only start with a certain amount of points go for it and make it work. That may mean shorter vacations until you are able to add on.

I would also think seriously about where you decide to purchase. Our home resort is SSR and we Love it there! It was the right place for us. We love the resort itself and love being so close to DD. It works for us and the ages of our grown children.

We stayed at BC in January and DH really likes it there as well. What we are finding is that it is getting harder to stay at your non-home resort when trying at the 7 month window. Not impossible but if your heart is set on staying at a particular plave I woudl ourchase there rather than counting on being able to get that 1st choice at the 7 month window.

Sounds as if you understand the needs of your family and know what you want. That is the best way to approach where you will purchase and the number of points you will need.

[FiggyFan]

I always wonder how Disney decides how many contracts to sell, because really, there is a finite number of DVC rooms available, but it seems like they just keep on selling, faster than they are building more.

By law, Disney can't sell any faster than they build. They are required to have enough DVC rooms available at each resort so that every member can use all of this year's points at their home resort. I believe that they sell about 50 weeks worth of usage for each room.

I sort of wish they'd do away with the whole 7 and 11 month booking "windows" and make it the same as their room only reservations (you can reserve 499 days in advance) and just leave it at that.

This will probably never happen. The booking windows are written into the contract as well. DVC is allowed to change the length of the windows, but there is a minimum "home resort priority" period that they can't do away with.

If you are trying to book your home resort within the priority period (between 11 months and 7 months), it should never get harder than it is the day the day DVC finishes selling that resort. During that time, you are competing only with owners at that resort.

What does change (and get harder) is moving to a popular resort once the 7 month window opens. As more DVC resorts are added, more people want to stay, for example, at BCV or BWV during Epcot's Food & Wine festival. This is why so many people recommend "buy where you want to stay."

[BrerGnat]

This is why so many people recommend "buy where you want to stay."

That is our problem. WHERE do we want to stay?

I'm probably totally getting ahead of myself here. We haven't even taken our kids to WDW yet. BUT, I know that I will NEVER stop visiting WDW, and buying into DVC, for me, seems to be a no brainer, financially.

I think what we will do is hold off until our first visit, which will be next May. Perhaps we will go visit the different "potential" home resorts and see which one really speaks to us.

I hate to pass up any really good incentives, but I know there will always be incentives in the future.

We'll see. It's so hard to make a decision on a home resort without acutually having visited any of them. Plus, we don't know what our kids will like. Maybe they will LOVE Epcot and the Studios. Maybe AK will be their favorite. And, since they're so young (only 3 and 2 right now), buying in somewhere close to where we will spend the majority of our time seems to be a good idea.

[DizneyFreak2002]

This year will mark my first trip as a DVC member... I took the DVC tour in May of last year, and I was convinced... The only thing I regret is that I should have bought into it when I wanted to, a few years ago... But, I cannot and will not complain... I am now a member... I want to add on some more points, but, I decided to wait until after my October trip... I want to see how the trip goes first, how the rooms are, and how awesome the experience is... Also, a lot will depend on job status, as my company is hurting just like all the other ones out there... So, I need to see what my employment status is come October...

[10DogMom]

Our purchase was entirely emotional, too, but like others I have never regretted it. BUT, I wish I had known that:

Once I tried a one bedroom, there was no going back to a studio

Location would be more important to me than the style of the resort. Our home resort is VWL because we love nature, log homes, etc. However, after staying at BCV, I realize I LOVE the Epcot Resort location even if I don't actually love the resorts as much. (But we travel in off times and have never had problems getting where we want to be, so not that big of a deal.)

[Queen Stephanie]

I wish I knew how affordable DVC really is many years before we purchased. Buying our DVC at OKW has been a great investment and our most enjoyable one for sure! We always stay in a 2BR villa, and since doing so, we can't stay in studios or hotels any longer. Even when we stay in the mountains, now we must rent cabins because we are so use to our OKW villa. Good luck with your decision!

[Donald A]

I would have to say that I wish I knew how great a deal with points DVC resorts are in the non-peak times of the year. I bought the bare minimum of points available from Disney (150) and these points go a long way in the value season on weekdays. My Beach Club 2-bedroom Villa for 30 points a night during the week in January was awesome. 5 nights would use up a years of points. The cash value of that villa is at least $3000!

[Mackflava99]

I wish i had bought sooner too-
I also wish i had bought more points- i did re-up but i paid more.

Now i think i have the right amount- ( but would always love more )

I dont find many negatives- i do not like the booking process, but i think the recent changes may help.

I find it to be a very very good value for my family

[thumperbug]

I've been a DVC member since 2003. When we first bought in, it was never a problem to get a booking at the 7 month window for a resort other then our home resort. That has changed dramatically in the past 2 years. We go at off peak times and have had a hard time getting anything at the other resorts. We normally have to call back several times and adjust our dates in order to get something. For our trip in April, we had booked at the 11th month mark at our home resort just to make sure we get a reservation. Did the same thing for our Feb 2009 trip with the hopes we can get into another resort. Don't get me wrong, we like our home resort, we just like to stay at other resorts a well. We love our DVC. The first time we used it was for a trip to Lake George. It was so easy to book and we ended up with a 1 bedroom condo with full kitchen and fireplace at the top resort at Lake George. We had added on points a few years ago as well and would love to add more....but financially, now is not the time.

[BubbaBax]

Like everyone else, I wish we had purchased years ago. We did the tour back in 2003(could have purchased BWV), but it was, finacially, not the right time. 4 years later we finally purchased at SSR. We love SSR. Last year we added on at AKL.
Since I live in CA, now I wish I had known how much the price would increase to fly to FL. Oh well, soon we will be able to stay at GCV. But we still think purchasing DVC was the best investment we have ever made.

[dlpmikki]

I bought early on, back in 92. I guess I wish I knew just how dramatically the price would increase as we may have bought more earlier. $51 is a lot better value than $100!

[Sunshine1010]

The thing I wished I had known before?.....

.......The rep told us how even though we had a 'home resort', we could stay at all the others at a 7 month window. But the rep didn't tell us that you usually have a rough time getting that 'other resort'. They made it sound so easy...instead, I have to call every day, hope and pray, etc.....