Considering DVC Membership

[Mike K]

Hi everyone, my wife and I are headed back to WDW at the end of the month and we're prepared to take a meeting with a DVC rep. In the last few days, we've been doing extensive research here and on DVC's official site, crunching numbers and what not. For those that are far more experienced in this area, are there certain things we should know or inquire about as we continue our research? As it stands, we're considering anywhere between 100-200 points and making the Boardwalk our home resort. Thanks in advance for any help that can be offered, as you all know, this is a very detailed process so we really welcome any insight you can provide. Thanks again!

 

[Tom]

The most important decision is whether it works for you, financially. Ideally you want to pay cash, and avoid a loan. If it requires a full loan, you're most likely not in a financial position to justify a luxury expense like this.

Also, make sure your budget can accommodate annual dues for the next 50 years. Even if you pay off the points. Dues are forever, and they increase every year.

Otherwise, if you know you'll take a Disney vacation at least every other year, for 50 years....and you want to stay at deluxe resorts.....there's not much else to base your decision on.

Since you've read this site and DVC, you know how points, banking, borrowing and Use Years work.

 

[lostpro9het]

The only thing I would add to the above is if you feel you will only ever intend to use your points for WDW and DL stays then buy resale. IMO, the "benefits" of direct purchase falls WAY short of the savings to be had in a resale purchase.

 

[Mike K]

The most important decision is whether it works for you, financially. Ideally you want to pay cash, and avoid a loan. If it requires a full loan, you're most likely not in a financial position to justify a luxury expense like this.

Also, make sure your budget can accommodate annual dues for the next 50 years. Even if you pay off the points. Dues are forever, and they increase every year.

Otherwise, if you know you'll take a Disney vacation at least every other year, for 50 years....and you want to stay at deluxe resorts.....there's not much else to base your decision on.

Since you've read this site and DVC, you know how points, banking, borrowing and Use Years work.

Thanks very much for the advice! We think we can definitely make it all work, we've already agreed that if we do a loan, we'd want to only take a 5 year one to pay it off quickly. The more we research, the more it sounds good considering how much we've already spent on annual Disney getaways. A DVC membership just seems to make financial sense for us so we're hopeful to bite the bullet. Thanks again!

 

[sxeensweet]

Thanks very much for the advice! We think we can definitely make it all work, we've already agreed that if we do a loan, we'd want to only take a 5 year one to pay it off quickly. The more we research, the more it sounds good considering how much we've already spent on annual Disney getaways. A DVC membership just seems to make financial sense for us so we're hopeful to bite the bullet. Thanks again!

Yes don't be afraid to do a loan if its right for you. You also can pay the loan off early even if you choose 5 years you could pay it off in less time of you want to with no penalties. We did the loan through Disney because we did not want to pay the whole thing at once and it helps us greatly on our taxes to claim the mortgage loan interest and property taxes, as our 2nd allowed property so that's a plus for the loan in our book. Lol.
Always do what is best for you and your needs not what others advise. If all cash works for you do it and if a loan works for you as it was for us after much research and crunching numbers for the life of our contract and loan, then do it that way. No one can tell you what's best for you except you. Many do loans and many do cash. Also many do direct and many do resale. Frankly with the new restrictions I think direct is the way to go if you can afford it. We bought direct at AKV/Kidani in 2013 and have never regretted it and love being a DVC member.

 

[Mike K]

Yes don't be afraid to do a loan if its right for you. You also can pay the loan off early even if you choose 5 years you could pay it off in less time of you want to with no penalties. We did the loan through Disney because we did not want to pay the whole thing at once and it helps us greatly on our taxes to claim the mortgage loan interest as our 2nd allowed property so that's a plus for the loan in our book. Lol.
Always do what is best for you and your needs not what others advise. If all cash works for you do it and if a loan works for you as it was for us after much research and crunching numbers for the life of our contract and loan, then do it that way. No one can tell you what's best for you except you. Many do loans and many do cash. Also many do direct and many do resale. Frankly with the new restrictions I think direct is the way to go if you can afford it. We bought direct at AKV/Kidani in 2013 and have never regretted it and love being a DVC member.

Thanks so much! We were a little boggled on the whole resale market and were thinking going direct would be much easier anyways. We're going to take the meeting during our trip and see what comes of it. Regardless, I don't think we'll be signing up until January anyways because we don't want to have to pay for a full year of dues at the half-year point. The Animal Kingdom Villas were of great interest to us because of their affordability and luxury but, we're currently leaning towards the Boarwalk Villas.

 

[sxeensweet]

Thanks so much! We were a little boggled on the whole resale market and were thinking going direct would be much easier anyways. We're going to take the meeting during our trip and see what comes of it. Regardless, I don't think we'll be signing up until January anyways because we don't want to have to pay for a full year of dues at the half-year point. The Animal Kingdom Villas were of great interest to us because of their affordability and luxury but, we're currently leaning towards the Boarwalk Villas.

We love Boardwalk as well even before we were DVC members. Do note they will push the current Poly and Aulani on you BUT they do have points available to sell at the older resorts you just have to insist you want Boardwalk and that you know they still sell those properties. Lol. Direct was soooo easy. We even were able to book our first trip the day we called and started the process even before we signed any papers that were shipped to us! And we were done and closed in only about 3 weeks. Easy peasy. Plus you will get full benefits unlike all the new restrictions on resale purchases like no member events, no discounts on merchandise, no discounts on annual passes, no access to the club lounges, etc etc.
Whatever you choose I wish you the best and that it goes smoothly. Hope to tell you Welcome Home soon!!

 

[Mike K]

We love Boardwalk as well even before we were DVC members. Do note they will push the current Poly and Aulani on you BUT they do have points available to sell at the older resorts you just have to insist you want Boardwalk and that you know they still sell those properties. Lol. Direct was soooo easy. We even were able to book our first trip the day we called and started the process even before we signed any papers that were shipped to us! And we were done and closed in only about 3 weeks. Easy peasy. Plus you will get full benefits unlike all the new restrictions on resale purchases like no member events, no discounts on merchandise, no discounts on annual passes, no access to the club lounges, etc etc.
Whatever you choose I wish you the best and that it goes smoothly. Hope to tell you Welcome Home soon!!

Thanks again for all your great tips! We did see that Poly and Aulani were only being shown for new DVC members which almost turned us off so that's great to hear we can still get what we want so long as we insist

 

[ParentsOf4]

Since you are considering making Boardwalk Villas (BWV) your Home Resort, be aware that the contract there ends in 2042. For roughly $15/point more, you can purchase at a resort with 20 or more years left than BWV.

BWV's advantage is that its Standard View rooms have among the lowest points-per-night cost throughout all of WDW. Since these tend to book first, being a member there means your points will go farther.

In October, for example, a Standard View Studio at BWV requires 78 points while a Standard View Studio at the Poly requires 130 points.

 

[sxeensweet]

Thanks again for all your great tips! We did see that Poly and Aulani were only being shown for new DVC members which almost turned us off so that's great to hear we can still get what we want so long as we insist

You're very welcome! I'm always glad to help if I can. But yes as has been pointed out you will get 20 years less on your contract if you pick The Boardwalk vs. one of the newer resorts. I know you mentioned Kidani/AKV that you liked as well. With that one you will get almost 15 more years than if you pick Boardwalk. So that is something I forgot to mention and you will have to consider when picking a home resort.

 

[Mike K]

You're very welcome! I'm always glad to help if I can. But yes as has been pointed out you will get 20 years less on your contract if you pick The Boardwalk vs. one of the newer resorts. I know you mentioned Kidani/AKV that you liked as well. With that one you will get almost 15 more years than if you pick Boardwalk. So that is something I forgot to mention and you will have to consider when picking a home resort.

That's most interesting about Boardwalk and a true shame learning about 20 years less too. I like how far our points can stretch at a resort like that but losing out on so many more years is a bummer. Upon further investigation, we're thinking Bay Lake Tower and Grand California (which we felt was the best Disney hotel experience we've ever had) will be our top candidates now. Grand California takes us to 2060 which is fantastic!

 

[sxeensweet]

That's most interesting about Boardwalk and a true shame learning about 20 years less too. I like how far our points can stretch at a resort like that but losing out on so many more years is a bummer. Upon further investigation, we're thinking Bay Lake Tower and Grand California (which we felt was the best Disney hotel experience we've ever had) will be our top candidates now. Grand California takes us to 2060 which is fantastic!

Yep Bay Lake Tower opened the same year as Kidani so that would be a great choice as well. Grand Californian is good if you plan to travel to California. more in the future. Really any you choose will be a great choice. Have fun deciding! It's a very exciting time when you are about to make the leap to joining DVC!

 

[ToTBellHop]

I would recommend at least considering a resale. If you still have any interest in BWV, you can get contracts for $95/pt there. It might be worth it, you just have to ask yourself if you care about booking at non-DVC resorts and enjoying the member perks that are never guaranteed to begin with. If you want BLT, you can get contracts at $125/pt. How much are those small extra perks worth to you? Tha answer varies for everyone, of course, you just want to have this well-thought-out before committing. An extra $10000 or so to buy direct isn't trivial. For us, it was a no-brainier, but we wanted VWL, got it at $80/pt, and still get the member perks.

 

[Mike K]

I would recommend at least considering a resale. If you still have any interest in BWV, you can get contracts for $95/pt there. It might be worth it, you just have to ask yourself if you care about booking at non-DVC resorts and enjoying the member perks that are never guaranteed to begin with. If you want BLT, you can get contracts at $125/pt. How much are those small extra perks worth to you? Tha answer varies for everyone, of course, you just want to have this well-thought-out before committing. An extra $10000 or so to buy direct isn't trivial. For us, it was a no-brainier, but we wanted VWL, got it at $80/pt, and still get the member perks.

We're certainly not ruling anything out this early in the game as we continue to educate ourselves on DVC direct VS. resale. Your insight has given us even more to think about so thanks so much for it! We really want to come prepared to the meeting so we can keep up with everything told to us lol

 

[Mike K]

Yep Bay Lake Tower opened the same year as Kidani so that would be a great choice as well. Grand Californian is good if you plan to travel to California. more in the future. Really any you choose will be a great choice. Have fun deciding! It's a very exciting time when you are about to make the leap to joining DVC!

Random question time lol Although I fully understand that there's no negotiating the point pricing but, if one were to hypothetically to take a loan out, can the monthly fee amount be negotiated?

 

[sxeensweet]

Random question time lol Although I fully understand that there's no negotiating the point pricing but, if one were to hypothetically to take a loan out, can the monthly fee amount be negotiated?

Your Interest rate you can try to get them to adjust that by putting more money down etc, but they are pretty strict on going by your credit score as to what rate you get. The more money you put down as with any loan will lower your monthly payment. Also another great thing about going direct Disney does not report the loan to your credit report unless you default it will not show up on your report.
The initial credit check of course shows up on your report as an inquiry, but theactual loan never does. We liked that because it kept our score from getting a ding for having another loan and owning more money overall on our reports. So our score stayed steady and did not take a slight hit as it can when besides the credit check, you add more money to your debt ratio. To this day as they promised the loan has never appeared on mine or my husbands credit reports being we pay on time.

 

[Mike K]

As long as our meeting goes smoothly and informs us of other minor details, it looks my wife and I will be making the Poly our home resort with 225 points Wish us luck later on this month, we look forward to calling it "home"!

 

[sxeensweet]

As long as our meeting goes smoothly and informs us of other minor details, it looks my wife and I will be making the Poly our home resort with 225 points Wish us luck later on this month, we look forward to calling it "home"!

Best wishes to you both! Sending Pixie Dust your way!! We bought 220 it's a great amount to have! Let us know what happens.

 

[Mike K]

Best wishes to you both! Sending Pixie Dust your way!! We bought 220 it's a great amount to have! Let us know what happens.

Will do! Thanks again to you and everyone else for their helpful tips, we sincerely appreciated all of it! Stay tuned

 

[Seanual757]

1st off congrats we had been looking for a few years and dicided to go for it in 2015. After crunching the numbers on our past, current, and planned stays it just made sense for us over the previous 3 years our stays added and planned 2015 & 2016 stays it would have cost us a little more than our purchase price of our DVC contract. Our last trip over Spring Break would have cost us just over $11k for the week in a 2 bedroom villa. That was 1/3 of our purchase price.

We typically stay 3-4 times a year (1 week, and 2-3 small 2 days trips) this has worked out great for us. Since we are local we can take advantage of the super low travel costs to WDW (20 min by car), take advantage of promotions (we have 4 reservations for the Typhoon lagoon beach bash this year), and anything else that pops up. This year we have 3 more trips planned (2 weeks from now at, July 4th, and October, I am sure we will add one more maybe the 1st weekend of August before the kids go back to school). We budgeted around $2300 year for annual dues (they will come out to around $1500 between the 2) so we will bank the additional $800 into our DVC fund for a future purchase or just let the kitty build up.

We opted for the VGF and we choose direct buy vs. re-sale as we plan to use RCI and the Disney collection. We opted to finance for the 10 years knowing we would pay off the loan early. Durning our most recient stay we were informed of the current promotion as well as the price increase. We thought about picking up some points for Poly to give us a 2nd home resort since VGF is sold out.


We are looking to add another weekend to our stays so we can do 5-6 stays during the year so we went ahead and paid off our 1st DVC ontract and started planning for Poly. We finally made the decision 2 weeks ago to purchase our 2nd contract direct from DVC. This past Saturday we signed our papers and are the proud owners of Poly until 2066, and our VGF contract expires in 2065.


We are holding hope that they will start selling Ft. Wilderness again when the new cabins open if so we would like to purchase 100points if they do.


We have small children so the next 15 to 16 years our vacations will be WDW vacations and we wanted to make sure we had enough for our 5-6 stays a year.