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jacaluho
06-30-2008, 04:55 PM
Please tell me why or why you don't buy into it! I talked to the nicest lady from DVC on the phone the other day and now we are trying to decide if we should do it or not! TIA

disney_girl
06-30-2008, 05:02 PM
We bought in 2004 before our kids. At the time, we visited WDW once a year on a combined WDW/ Cruise vacation and stayed in deluxe resorts. Our son was born in 2004 and starting that year, we've managed at least 2 WDW or DL vacations every year. One vacation is usually around 4-5 days and the other is at least a week. It makes sense for the way we vacation at WDW (frequent trips and deluxe resorts).

If you do a search on this forum, you should find a good thread on when is DVC worth it- including some of the great perks for members. Here's the thread... http://sunshinerewardsforum.com/showthread.php?t=7847

We have never regretted our purchase...just that we didn't buy more and buy sooner!! Now, I'm just trying to convince DH to ADD ON more points!!!

cglaura
06-30-2008, 05:32 PM
Why I bought: When we bought we lived in AL. We would drive down for long weekends, so used it about 5 or 6 times a year. It was great and a good buy for sure, espcially with an annual pass, no airfare, and cheap gas at that time :p

Why I sold it: Divorced and moved back to NJ. So I would now have airfare and time off work to consider. I figured out for the cost of my annual dues $850ish), I could get almost 2 weeks at POP w/ AAA discount. Since it was just dd and I now, POP suited our needs just fine, and I was able to take the money from the resale and put into a high yield savings account.

That being said, if I ever was in a "financially independent" situation ever again, I'd buy DVC again in a heartbeat. I loved OKW. It will always be my "welcome home" Disney place. I'm hoping to rent some points to go back there sometime.

So it all depends on how much you'd use it, other costs involved etc.

jacaluho
07-02-2008, 01:47 PM
Thanks for all your info. My DH thinks that we can plan our own trips for wherever and whenever and we won't have to pay that annual fee. I'm gonna check out that other thread and see what info I find there. Thanks again!

ligrumpygirl
07-02-2008, 11:08 PM
How did I miss this?! DO IT!!!! Best thing I ever did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

disney_girl
07-02-2008, 11:28 PM
How did I miss this?! DO IT!!!! Best thing I ever did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1


Totally agree with Janet on this one!! And we both also love our home Saratoga Springs!!:sunshine:

ligrumpygirl
07-03-2008, 07:09 AM
Totally agree with Janet on this one!! And we both also love our home Saratoga Springs!!:sunshine:

Sagatoga Springs (as my DD7 pronounces it!) is amazing...ask us questions and we will be glad to tell you everything about it!

MooseBrains
07-03-2008, 12:48 PM
You can use me as a referral and I will be more than happy to split the reward in half with you.

There is incentive to buy! :rotfl:

But truly, I have gone more to Disney, stayed in a huge 1 br villa with a wash machine and dryer, a full patio and kitchen. Free internet, discount passes and shopping discounts.

Yes, it was expensive but I rather have my children say they remember the wonderful times in Disney.

Good luck either way.

PSL1013
07-04-2008, 08:22 AM
Best thing we ever did also because we like to stay in the deluxe resorts. If you are satisfied staying in the value resorts or off site than it probably doesn't make a lot of sense to purchase DVC. We love driving up to the BCV and the guard saying to us "Welcome Home" :love:

ligrumpygirl
07-04-2008, 08:42 AM
Best thing we ever did also because we like to stay in the deluxe resorts. If you are satisfied staying in the value resorts or off site than it probably doesn't make a lot of sense to purchase DVC. We love driving up to the BCV and the guard saying to us "Welcome Home" :love:

WELCOME HOME...still gives me goosebumps 3 years and 7 or 8 trips later!

PSL1013
07-04-2008, 08:48 AM
WELCOME HOME...still gives me goosebumps 3 years and 7 or 8 trips later!

I know, doesn't it? :rotfl: We always reply back "Glad to be Home"! :love:

jacaluho
07-04-2008, 02:42 PM
Ok, so I am not hearing any no's. We have only stayed at POP but my husband doesn't want to do that anymore (rooms too small, hates the buses, etc.) He wants to stay somewhere on the monorail or boat. Do any of the DVC places do that? I guess I still don't really understand how this all works. Basically after the package is paid for, it's like $1000/year? So you are getting a hotel for $1000 a week. We feel like we can stay cheaper than that. Convince us otherwise, tell me what we are missing. I am so confused! :cry:

PSL1013
07-04-2008, 03:06 PM
Ok, so I am not hearing any no's. We have only stayed at POP but my husband doesn't want to do that anymore (rooms too small, hates the buses, etc.) He wants to stay somewhere on the monorail or boat. Do any of the DVC places do that? I guess I still don't really understand how this all works. Basically after the package is paid for, it's like $1000/year? So you are getting a hotel for $1000 a week. We feel like we can stay cheaper than that. Convince us otherwise, tell me what we are missing. I am so confused! :cry:

None of the DVC's are on the monorail at this point. Until they officially announce the very "secret" Contemporary property that is currently being built. :angel: We refuse to stay at the values anymore either for the same reasons and also too many kiddies running around for us. Yes, after you payoff your purchase you still have the dues to pay, which are different amounts depending on where you buy and how many points that you purchase. We go a couple of times per year for 8 nights each stay, so for us to get a deluxe for the 16 nights for what we pay in dues....it works out much cheaper and even though the dues will go up slightly each year the cost of a deluxe room at Disney is going to go up a lot more each year to stay in one. If you only go once per year and find a discount for the deluxe room that you want to stay in...then it might be cheaper that way for you....you have to weigh all the pro's and con's for the way you vacation.

disney_girl
07-04-2008, 04:59 PM
WELCOME HOME...still gives me goosebumps 3 years and 7 or 8 trips later!

ME TOO!! And it has been 4 years and at least 9 trips! I love hearing it when we walk into the lobby!!


It really does come down to how you vacation- # of vacations, length of stay and type of accomodation. If you stay in a value or mod and only go once a year or every other year, it probably isn't going to be worth it for you. You just have to do some number crunching to see what works best for your family. There are also perks such as $100 off of Annual passes and a discount on the special party tickets, etc.

I would recommend buying into a resort you WANT to stay at though. You can book your home resort 11 months out and other resorts 7 months out. If Saratoga is your home, but you really want to stay at the Boardwalk, there are times like the Food and Wine Festival that it may be hard to swing. There are just a lot of things to think about when making the decision!

~Kathie
07-05-2008, 02:10 PM
We bought in 1993 when we were taking 2 trips to WDW a year (from RI) and spending a ton for hotels off property. You can't beat the Disney service and staying right on property.

Best move we ever made. We love our Home Resort of OKW. We've stayed at all of the others except Saratoga Springs.

It's nice to talk to someone on the phone but you really have to take the tour, view the different accomadations and speak to someone in person. Test drive if you will. They will be able to answer all yours and DH's questions and put everything on paper for you. There is no pressure. We did the tour in 1993 and then came home to think about it and discuss it. A few days later, we called and put the sale in motion.

DVC members also get great perks, one of which is now free interent access.
10-20% off some meals. $100 off Annual Passes. Discounts on Behind the Scenes Tours...........and it goes on.

Pretty sure the Contemporary has been announced as a DVC. We were there in April and we went to look at it. That is on the monorail and is going to be gorgeous. I don't think it's for sale yet. I think they want to sell more of AK first. The Contemporary will be a very popular DVC resort.

Allears has a really good snopsis of the DVC. I'll send you the link by PM.

jacaluho
07-05-2008, 03:27 PM
I think we will look into a tour on our next trip. Of course that will take away from our park time but I think we will survive! ;)

wilsonfamily4
07-05-2008, 07:07 PM
I have not bought BUt I looked at it for about a year before deciding not to. We would only go about every other year since it is so far from us. But we love DVC so it was hard for us to say no, this is not for us. We have rented points to stay at DVC and will probably just continue to that.

We may someday buy a different timeshare that is a lot more prevalent in our area, Worldmark, and then maybe once in awhile we could trade into DVC.

m4travels
07-06-2008, 12:07 AM
It really does come into how you vacation. You should NEVER feel pressured into buying anything. Now we, we purchased DVC sight unseen. We know timeshares, we love timeshares, and this was a timeshare within Disney.

Should we have done it without more investigation? No, we shouldn't have. However, we also knew that this would get us to FL (had never been before and couldn't see any charm in it) and we figured that if it wasn't for us we could sell. Yes, we might lose a bit of the "investment," but we understood that going in.

IF you are happy with values and moderates AND you don't vacation at Disney every year, buying into DVC at a full membership may not be the way to go. You should also, IMHO, never base the value on staying in a studio. Yes, you'll spend less in points BUT, once again IMHO, there really is no reason to stay in a studio.

I have absolutely NO desire to spend 4+ days in a studio. I need/want/must have at least a one-bedroom unit. Once again, this is coming from someone who doesn't feel the need to stay in a place for 10+ days at a time (which staying in a studio could happen!!!). I want space. I want the ability to spread out.

Could you stay at a regular hotel for less than $1K? Sure, you probably could, but you said your husband doesn't want to do that anymore. Until BLT is finally announced there isn't a DVC on the monorail. Wilderness Lodge IS on the boat system and we loved our stay there last December.

DO NOT FEEL PRESSURED TO BUY WHERE YOU DON'T THINK YOU'LL BE HAPPY. Go over to one of the other forums and check out the DVC portion. Go and check out the resale stuff. You can definitely get a bargain over there as long as Disney doesn't invoke their right of first refusal.

We love DVC, but we also realize that it is not for everybody. Think about it, ask more questions, and take a tour!

missymouse
07-06-2008, 09:44 AM
Also consider if you think you will only go every other year or every three years the option of buying resale for fewer points. We bought 100 points which allows us a very nice vacation every 3 years or shorter vacations either every year or every other year. If you buy through Disney you will have to buy the minimum of 160 points. There are even contracts with 25, 50, 75 (or any number in between)points that can get your foot in the door with not much invested to really see if it is something for you. Even a 25 point contract will get you 75 points every 3 years which can use for 3 nights in a 1 bedroom during Magic season. That would get you a nice bathroom, King size bed, kitchen, and laundry facilities. 50 points would get you double the number of nights.

hmdelf
07-16-2008, 11:59 AM
I love mine. I agree. It' s worth it if you stay in deluxe resorts. I am staying at Sar. Spr. this time in OCt., but own at Animal Kingdom

FigmentFever
07-29-2008, 01:45 AM
Well, the reason we bought ours was because we were going to Disney every year anyway and staying at the Port Orleans/Dixie Landing type hotels which cost about $129ish + tax per night in the mid-1990's

We did some number crunching and we ended up buying. Our only regret was that we didn't buy at the very beginning when they included free park passes.

We have added on twice since our initial purchase. The first time we did it was so we would have enough points for the Disney Mediterranean
Cruise. The second time we added was because they had great incentives.

We feel pretty lucky to have so many points especially since they are adding two cruise ships and a destination in Hawaii, so we have so much to look forward to!!

:)

eaglesdare
07-29-2008, 08:56 AM
i haven't bought in, because i can't afford it, and hubby so far will not go for it.

but doing my research it will pay itself off in a few years, if you go to disney and stay in deluxe hotels.

one good thing is, if you skip a year, and then borrow on the following year, then go on vacation the year inbetween, you should have lots of points to have a very nice stay or even take a cruise.

our last trip in june cost around 10K total, that included the transportation and pet boarding, food, everything. my trip this past april was around
$4 or 5k and then our dec trip was at least $2k .

as you can see i could have bought into dvc and had it already pay for itself.

however now because of all those trips in a short amount of time, hubby has said no more for a while.

so i do think it depends on how often you go, and where you stay. oh i also told him about the kitchen and laundry being included as a selling point, and he said that isn't a selling point for me, because i wouldn't want that while in disney anyway. he has a point there.

mirandag819
07-29-2008, 09:49 AM
i haven't bought in, because i can't afford it, and hubby so far will not go for it.

but doing my research it will pay itself off in a few years, if you go to disney and stay in deluxe hotels.

one good thing is, if you skip a year, and then borrow on the following year, then go on vacation the year inbetween, you should have lots of points to have a very nice stay or even take a cruise.

our last trip in june cost around 10K total, that included the transportation and pet boarding, food, everything. my trip this past april was around
$4 or 5k and then our dec trip was at least $2k .

as you can see i could have bought into dvc and had it already pay for itself.

however now because of all those trips in a short amount of time, hubby has said no more for a while.

so i do think it depends on how often you go, and where you stay. oh i also told him about the kitchen and laundry being included as a selling point, and he said that isn't a selling point for me, because i wouldn't want that while in disney anyway. he has a point there.


You spent 10K last time ? Where did you stay and for how long ??????

eaglesdare
07-29-2008, 10:25 AM
You spent 10K last time ? Where did you stay and for how long ??????

10K was TOTAL. i mean everything. our transportation was approx $1,700; 4 dogs being kenneled was $800.
we had 3 rooms at the movies. one room's package was approx $1800
our 2 rooms package was around $5,700
the packages included, the ddp, park hoppers/water parks plus for 6 days.
the new clothes, the misting fans, cooling bandana's, the refill mugs, the extra water,soda, cooler, souvenirs etc.

18% tip at all the tables services except the royal table with was included.

adding all that up TOTAL probably comes to more than $10k, the trip was for 10 people also. oh i forgot the photopass cd, rofl so yes i do believe total was over the 10 mark.

remind me not to tell my hubby the truer amount. it doesn't take long to add up.



for aprils trip, i had a lot of add on's, like birthday cakes and celabration wishes cruise with cake, so that trip added up even though we stayed at the sports for 8 days, but the amount of people was only 2 for 8 days and 3 for 4 days.

dec's trip was on a good discount disney had and i only took my gd who was free because she was under 3.

FigmentFever
07-29-2008, 02:55 PM
eaglesdare... I need to teach you my gentle nagging technique :)

eaglesdare
07-29-2008, 08:42 PM
eaglesdare... I need to teach you my gentle nagging technique :)

i kmow i have my own way, which has worked so far.

but, please do share your version, as my way may stop working. rofl i'm open for just about anything!

FigmentFever
07-31-2008, 01:36 PM
Well... (wink, wink).... it may be what you are already doing (wink, wink)... as my husband goes crazy when he doesn't get ..... (bom chica bom bom).

Married almost 18 years. Works (almost) every time!

Weluvdisny
08-03-2008, 06:38 PM
Well... (wink, wink).... it may be what you are already doing (wink, wink)... as my husband goes crazy when he doesn't get ..... (bom chica bom bom).

Married almost 18 years. Works (almost) every time!

OMG! I was eating while reading your post and almost spewed it all over myself!

We just bought DVC resale at BWV and I can't wait to go! :banana: