CONS to joining the Club? About This Page:

[Coreada]

Hi! This may seem like an odd request, but I would very much like to hear the cons involved with joining the Vacation Club. We did the tour at Saratoga Springs a couple of weeks ago while we were on vacation, and my DH is talking seriously about investing in the DVC if we can possibly work it into our budget. Our budget is seriously fractured right now, though, due to noble but ultimately costly choices, and while I want to rush forward and say YESLET'SDOITWECANGOAFEWYEARSWITHOUTEATING, I think it would be healthier and more adulty to weigh the pros and cons more carefully than that. ;D So please, if you have experienced any pitfalls or negatives, would you be willing to share them with me? I'm not looking to be talked out of it, OR talked into it-- I just have a nice list for the "pro" column and not much for the "con" column.



For background, it's just DH and I, no children, and we're interested in getting involved with a time share at some point in the future whether it's Disney or elsewhere. We would be able to travel no more often than once a year, or possibly only every two years.


Thank you!

[chezp]

Honestly? You ask a Disney Vacation Club member and I doubt you're going to find many. The only ones I would honestly say is that you end up buying more points (seriously - it's contagious! ) and you end up traveling more. We said we'd go to Disney once every two or three years when we bought in. Yeah right, we average once a year now...

The dues can be eye watering once you get a lot of points - I should know - but in fairness, we've made our choice and decided to get a lot of points, so that's on us, but that's honestly all I can think of!

[Her Dotness]

You really can’t do much and will have little flexibility as to when you can go when buying into the newest resorts—the ones you can get into most easily—if you can’t afford at least the 125-150 points I suggest as a “starter home.”

Fewer than that amount can also limit your ability to book resorts other than your home one when you decide you want to try out others. Studios tend to go quickly at 11 months out which means that trying to book a non-home resort at the 7-month point can reduce availability to 1brs or larger—for which you haven’t enough points.

Look at points charts carefully for the times of year you’re most likely to go and calculate how many points you’ll need for as long a stay as you wish. We soon found we’d not fully understood how limited we’d be at our home resort with only 100 points to start and quickly bought 25 more. This is why I suggest you get very familiar with how the variations in point costs can affect the way you like to stay.

Current points chart for reference: https://dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-pr...arts-published

Buying resale can be frustrating.

Are as many points as you want available in a single contract? Otherwise, you can end up tinkering with different use years which can make you crazy. It’s doable, of course, but we quickly realized we didn’t want to mess with more than a single use year.

It can be challenging to find a single contract with as many points as you want at a reasonable price. Is it a good price but not such a fantastic one that Disney will buy it out from under you on their right of first refusal? If that should occur, you’re back to searching for a workable contract all over again.

Are the discounts and other perks you get only with direct-buy points important to you?

There are other resale concerns, but those are the major ones, IMO.

ETA: How you describe yourselves and your situation is pretty much identical to us except that we were only interested in DVC.

For background, it's just DH and I, no children, and we're interested in getting involved with a time share at some point in the future whether it's Disney or elsewhere. We would be able to travel no more often than once a year, or possibly only every two years.

[rella]

To be honest......I have been a member since 1999.....my only con is not becoming a member sooner.

[Coreada]

Thank you all for your input! Chezp, you're right; I should probably be asking people who bought in and then decided to sell. Her Dotness, you raise excellent points. We'll be sure to look carefully before we make serious decisions. And rella, we heard similar things while we were down there-- "My only regret is not buying sooner" or "not buying more points." But again, those are people who are still members. Maybe I do need to seek out someone who decided to leave.


This is just a big decision for us and I want to make sure we have covered all the angles. Thank you all for helping!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Coreada

Thank you all for your input! Chezp, you're right; I should probably be asking people who bought in and then decided to sell. Her Dotness, you raise excellent points. We'll be sure to look carefully before we make serious decisions. And rella, we heard similar things while we were down there-- "My only regret is not buying sooner" or "not buying more points." But again, those are people who are still members. Maybe I do need to seek out someone who decided to leave

I have a couple of friends who have either decided to sell or seriously considered it. Their main reason was that they couldn't get into any DVC resort when they wanted to, but as far as I'm aware, they were booking pretty last minute - i.e. just a few weeks before their stay. It's true it does benefit you more if you can plan further ahead. Ideally I like to book our home resort at 11 months out and anywhere else at seven months out, but in fairness, we've made plans at less than that (maybe four months?) and we've never had a problem with availability at least somewhere, albeit perhaps not our first choice of somewhere to stay...

[Coreada]

Originally Posted by chezp

I have a couple of friends who have either decided to sell or seriously considered it. Their main reason was that they couldn't get into any DVC resort when they wanted to, but as far as I'm aware, they were booking pretty last minute - i.e. just a few weeks before their stay. It's true it does benefit you more if you can plan further ahead. Ideally I like to book our home resort at 11 months out and anywhere else at seven months out, but in fairness, we've made plans at less than that (maybe four months?) and we've never had a problem with availability at least somewhere, albeit perhaps not our first choice of somewhere to stay...

Also a good point. While we rarely have less than seven months to plan (this last trip was a one-off exception!), I have a strong interest in staying at the Poly at least occasionally...I need to research how hard it is to get into at the seven month mark. :/

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Coreada

Also a good point. While we rarely have less than seven months to plan (this last trip was a one-off exception!), I have a strong interest in staying at the Poly at least occasionally...I need to research how hard it is to get into at the seven month mark. :/

Ok, I just went to check that out. I couldn't find availability for January - late May for studios (I didn't bother with November/December, as I figured there would be nothing left). However, I could find studios available from 27 May. At present, as I don't own at the Polynesian, I can book up to seven months out, which is up to 2 June. That means that there appears to be availability for about a week after booking opens up to all DVC members, if that makes sense? So if you want to stay there, it is do-able, but you would need to plan and have your dates set about seven months ahead of when you want to stay there...

[tjkraz]

Originally Posted by chezp

Ok, I just went to check that out. I couldn't find availability for January - late May for studios (I didn't bother with November/December, as I figured there would be nothing left). However, I could find studios available from 27 May.

I assume you are looking on the Walt Disney World hotel booking site. Cash availability is very different than DVC member inventory.

I'm not going to try explaining availability in detail because it would require 500 words just to touch on the basics. Suffice it to say that people would be very wise to choose a Home resort that they like and don't mind staying at. The recommended procedure is to book one's Home resort as close to 11 months out as possible, then try to switch the reservation to a new destination at 7 months.

If you cannot consistently book 7+ months in advance, DVC is not a wise purchase.

Other than that, it's important to note that DVC only covers the lodging. An entry-level DVC purchase will cost $300-400 per month, if financed, for the loan and annual dues. Then you still have to pay for theme park tickets, transportation to and from Orlando, meals, and all other expenses.

In the long run, DVC will probably enable you to make more frequent *Deluxe* hotel stays, but you will probably end up giving more money to Disney than ever due to the extra costs associated with those visits. If you're accustomed to staying in a Value resort or off-site, DVC probably won't save you anything. Also there are no "free dining" or other promotional offers for DVC points stays.

A hotel guest can schedule their visits when finances allow. DVC owners are locked into paying year-after-year. Renting out points can help recoup some $$$ if there's a period where visits are not practical, but rental revenue will not cover the cost of dues + month payments on a mortgage.

Good luck.

[noreen99]

Originally Posted by chezp

I have a couple of friends who have either decided to sell or seriously considered it. Their main reason was that they couldn't get into any DVC resort when they wanted to, but as far as I'm aware, they were booking pretty last minute - i.e. just a few weeks before their stay. It's true it does benefit you more if you can plan further ahead. Ideally I like to book our home resort at 11 months out and anywhere else at seven months out, but in fairness, we've made plans at less than that (maybe four months?) and we've never had a problem with availability at least somewhere, albeit perhaps not our first choice of somewhere to stay...

This is our first year as owners- and so far we have had excellent luck with quasi-last minute stays all of which have been Holiday weekends. In December we were able to waitlist our 4-day weekend in January in a studio @ OKW stay for Poly. I added on resale and we used those points in February to book a Grand Villa at SSR for 7 nights over Memorial Day. In Agust, I booked another 5 a night stay for Halloween in a studio at AKV and I have just finished piecing together another 5 night stay for Thanksgiving in an OKW 2 bedroom.

It's not easy but it is doable. To be honest we don't care where we stay as long as we are at Disney...although we do prefer some resorts over others.

If finances are stretched now might not be the time. Having the room is just part of the trip -it's the tickets, transportation, and food that adds up pretty quickly. It took me years to finally be in a place that I felt comfortable enough to join. It's a big decision so take your time Disney will be there.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by noreen99

This is our first year as owners- and so far we have had excellent luck with quasi-last minute stays all of which have been Holiday weekends. In December we were able to waitlist our 4-day weekend in January in a studio @ OKW stay for Poly. I added on resale and we used those points in February to book a Grand Villa at SSR for 7 nights over Memorial Day. In Agust, I booked another 5 a night stay for Halloween in a studio at AKV and I have just finished piecing together another 5 night stay for Thanksgiving in an OKW 2 bedroom.

Wow, you've done really well with your stays!

It's not easy but it is doable. To be honest we don't care where we stay as long as we are at Disney...although we do prefer some resorts over others.

That's the thing, isn't it? If you don't mind staying anywhere on property, then you'll be fine. If you have a specific property in mind, as the original poster does, then you may be disappointed if you're booking at the last minute...

[MichaelF]

The only con I can think of is cost. If you buy direct from disney prices are pretty steep these day. It takes more trips to make the purchase worth while. We bought resale a long time ago but even resale points have gone up a lot . I know you asked for cons but when talking about price one pro to consider is DVC is one of few timeshares that hold a decent value or have up to this point.

[Coreada]

Originally Posted by MichaelF

The only con I can think of is cost. If you buy direct from disney prices are pretty steep these day. It takes more trips to make the purchase worth while. We bought resale a long time ago but even resale points have gone up a lot . I know you asked for cons but when talking about price one pro to consider is DVC is one of few timeshares that hold a decent value or have up to this point.

Resale value is a good point, though. If we do realize we made a mistake for whatever reason, there's at least a decent "out"....

[Her Dotness]

We are the opposite of both Cheryl and Noreen. Even though DH keeps talking maybe BCV or BLT, I think that unlikely except perhaps for a single night sometime.

We’re trying out a studio this trip but, having had a gorgeous 1br last year, suspect our future pattern will be every other year in a 1br at our VGF .

As a result, we had no problem carrying through on that DVC mantra, “Buy where you know you’ll most want to stay.”

I’d have less difficulty considering stays elsewhere if we could go more than once yearly, but we can’t. Call me a stick in the mud, but I only wanna stay at my Disney Red Roof Inn!

[Thomhazel]

The only con for me would be while it means you have fabulous vacations (we have done DL, WDW and Aulani more than once) it does keep you coming back to the same place which is good. Looking back we planning on taking the kids to rome and never made it we also meant to go back to Austria.....

The big benefit I see is we hope to continue going once we retire. We are almost parked out. We tend to just go to the parks for 3 FP then done. I cans see us going in the future with our golf clubs and a pile of book spending just a couple fo hours in the parks but mostly golfing, shopping dining and spending afternoons on the balcony with our books. I can see a lot more trips to OKW and SSR than BLT or GFV.