DVC for Central Florida Resident whose wife does not fly

[Donald A]

I have been blessed with the opportunity to get a new job in the Central Florida area this Fall after living up North my whole life. This means that I am literally 30-40 minutes away from one of my favorite places in the country. However, I am a DVC member and concerned about the value of the membership. I did enjoy having it to take care of a place to stay during my interview process, but now I am not sure how beneficial it will be. I mean it is helpful for my parents to get to the airport letting them stay there and use Magical Express and me not having to miss work to get them at certain times. However, that is not that often.

My wife does not fly so that takes trips to Hawaii and Disneyland out of the equation. I found it is better to just pay cash for other trips like transferring points out of DVC and taking a Disney Cruise. The problem with little weekend trips to stay at Disney World is the increased cost of pet sitters when we can just drive home and take care of them with a 8 month old that is not good with long stays anyway.

I don't know if anyone else out there has had a similar experience but I am wondering if it is worth selling the points or keeping them around for out-of-town guests. I also know Vero Beach isn't too far and was thinking about weekend trips there. I have 150 points that are not all paid for.

Does anyone have any thoughts? I am not complaining as obviously I am happy with my move, but just evaluating the membership especially with the recent dues invoice of $700.

[DizneyRox]

Anyone who bought recently will see a huge loss on resale, however paying for something you won't use isn't wise either.

You might want to consider holding them for a few years and renting the points out. They should at least keep you above water until you can see some relief. And who knows, maybe they will work out better than you think.

I know someone who sold without thinking it through. They took a huge hit on the value and still haven't been able to break their habit of visiting. So, they took a loss AND have spent over 7K on trips since. Wasn't a wise choice, and I knew that as soon as they told me they were selling.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I was thinking along the same lines. To sell them now, you'd most likely take a fair-sized loss, so hang onto them for right now.

There is Vero Beach, and Hilton Head, so you can use them for a bit of a different vacation. Also, as you get more settled, depending on what type of pets you have, you might be able to take advantage of some overnight get-a-ways, and there isn't a better place for that than Disney.

You also may be able to rent them, especially to friends and family for a bit of spare cash.

[DonLefNY]

A bit over a year ago we purchased a second home not far from WDW. At the time we owned 4 contracts at OKW & VWL with a total of 585 points. Last January we sold off 3 of the contracts and now only have 210 at OKW for our use. We use it now for a family gathering in Janurary. For example we have a week in a 2 bedroom at OKW coming up next week. That way it still gives us some Disney time with the kids while they on college winter break.

[Christine]

Welcome to Florida, Donald! And congrats on the new job!!!

I can offer another point of view-

We bought dvc the summer AFTER we moved to Celebration in 2009 and have added on twice since.

When we lived in Texas, we had made 19 trips between 2002 and 2009. We never made the jump to DVC though because my husband's job made his time off very sporadic. There was no way I could've used 7&11 month windows, and then coordinated that all with flights.

Then we moved here. We LOVE going to Vero! We are going to HHI next year. We are taking our second cruise on points this year. And sometimes we just have long weekends at wdw. The beauty to me is that if I call DVC and nothing is a available the weekend I ask about, I can say "how about next weekend?" you won't find yourself worrying about the price of flights varying or fighting for vacation time at work.

Yes, if you want to make some extra cash and don't want to stay at wdw, you can rent them out. you may also find (if you haven't already) that living near Mickey makes you VERY popular & can use yiur points to house the barrage of family and friends that come visit.

But do i think IMHO that being a local and having DVC is a waste? No way. Even if you don't fly to other destinations across the world.

[Donald A]

Thanks for all the input everyone. I think we'll hold onto them for now. I mentioned to my wife about selling them and she was against it right away and I am the one who loves Disney the most. I guess that settles it

[MinnieMommie]

I agree that holding on to the pts for now makes sense. As you can see from Christine who lives very close by there is always a reason to stay at one of the DVCs even though you don't live far away (birthdays, anniversaries, extended family stays - the list can be unending). Vero Beach and Hilton Head are also nice vacations within driving distance. I support your wife's decision!!

[iloveokw]

We love (besides OKW) Vero, Hilton Head and DCL. I also agree it might come in useful if you start to have out of state guests....people will love to visit you! Also it might be nice to stay on the grounds once in awhile, especially during Food & Wine and holiday time. You wouldn't believe the lines of traffic we saw driving out of WDW last Friday after the parks closed.

On our recent cruise the DVC salesman told us how we rented a Grand Villa at BLT for his child's bday party.....wouldn't that be fun....and you have a clean house.

[NH Disneyfan]

A wife usually wins....no question. If not, you don't have a wife for long. LOL