Passing on DVC - One of Life’s Regrets

[ddbowdoin]

My wife and I spent our 20’s at Disney... an engagement happened there, several trips, then a honeymoon that last 12 days! It marked a memorable and important part of our lives. Now in our 30’s, several years removed from a proper “all out” Disney trip we sat down and did the math and accounting for all of our trips over that period of life we sunk in nearly 3/4 what it would have cost us to join the Beach Club.

It stands to this day, the biggest regret of my life!

I’ve avoided the forum over the last few years because it’s painful, in a weird way, to realize that this part of my life has faded purely for financial reasons.

I’m trying to come back, slowly. If I could hop back in time and have a chat with myself... BUY INTO DVC DUDE!!!!

 

[nickys]

My wife and I spent our 20’s at Disney... an engagement happened there, several trips, then a honeymoon that last 12 days! It marked a memorable and important part of our lives. Now in our 30’s, several years removed from a proper “all out” Disney trip we sat down and did the math and accounting for all of our trips over that period of life we sunk in nearly 3/4 what it would have cost us to join the Beach Club.

It stands to this day, the biggest regret of my life!

I’ve avoided the forum over the last few years because it’s painful, in a weird way, to realize that this part of my life has faded purely for financial reasons.

I’m trying to come back, slowly. If I could hop back in time and have a chat with myself... BUY INTO DVC DUDE!!!!

In your calculations, did you factor in the maintenance fees? That would have been a considerable extra amount.

However, there was no way to know what was going to happen. Your twenties are not the time, IMO, to be sinking a large amount of money into a luxury purchase. And the fact you haven’t had an “all out” Disney trip for a while maybe shows it was actually the right decision.

Anyway, there’s no point in regretting what’s done, at least not to the extent of wasting today. Life’s too short for that. And welcome back to the forums. Start planning another trip. Maybe even look into resale. By banking and/or borrowing, maybe you could do a trip every couple of years with a small contract, especially if you can go in the low seasons (DVC low seasons).

 

[ddbowdoin]

In your calculations, did you factor in the maintenance fees? That would have been a considerable extra amount.

However, there was no way to know what was going to happen. Your twenties are not the time, IMO, to be sinking a large amount of money into a luxury purchase. And the fact you haven’t had an “all out” Disney trip for a while maybe shows it was actually the right decision.

Anyway, there’s no point in regretting what’s done, at least not to the extent of wasting today. Life’s too short for that. And welcome back to the forums. Start planning another trip. Maybe even look into resale. By banking and/or borrowing, maybe you could do a trip every couple of years with a small contract, especially if you can go in the low seasons (DVC low seasons).

I actually did... a close friend bought in when we researching at the same time. He purchased enough points to get 12ish days in the high season. He would then sell a weeks worth which in turn covered his yearly dues and used the remaining time with his own family. It worked then, still works now. It’s smart.

I guess the point is is that I already dropped 20 grand across trips, it wasn’t 0 or a full DVC membership.

 

[Lensman]

I agree with what @nickys said, best not to focus on regret.

In investing, we also like to say, "Don't confuse strategy with outcome." It's always easy to look at investments that have gone up and said that the best strategy would have been to invest in them 20 years ago. But these same investments were not a sure thing back then and you're only evaluating your past strategy with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight.

It's actually an example of hindsight bias, which is "the common tendency for people to perceive events that have already occurred as having been more predictable than they actually were before the events took place"

Hindsight bias - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Now looking forward, I agree with @nickys that it might be time to look into buying DVC via resale, if you're still planning to go regularly.

For me, 20/20 hindsight said I should have purchased resale after the 2008 financial crisis - say in 2011 when OKW was selling in the 30s, SSR/VWL/BWV were in the 40s and 50s, and BLT was in the 60s.

You could always just "keep your powder dry" and wait for the next recession and buy into DVC via resale then.

 

[eliza61nyc]

There's a lot of clarity in hindsight. ~Julia Hartz.

but look at it this way, if this stays the biggest regret in your life, you are doing good.

 

[FCivish3]

My wife and I spent our 20’s at Disney... an engagement happened there, several trips, then a honeymoon that last 12 days! It marked a memorable and important part of our lives. Now in our 30’s, several years removed from a proper “all out” Disney trip we sat down and did the math and accounting for all of our trips over that period of life we sunk in nearly 3/4 what it would have cost us to join the Beach Club.

It stands to this day, the biggest regret of my life!

I’ve avoided the forum over the last few years because it’s painful, in a weird way, to realize that this part of my life has faded purely for financial reasons.

I’m trying to come back, slowly. If I could hop back in time and have a chat with myself... BUY INTO DVC DUDE!!!!

I had heard about DVC, years ago, and didn't think it made any sense at all. I thought, "Disney's doing Timeshare, but boy, are they playing on their name and charging more than it could possibly be worth." I had owned other Timeshares. I had sold Timeshare at one point, many years ago. So, I was an expert, right?

Various resorts were built, but I didn't pay much attention. On one trip I was even on the monorail, passing Bay Lake Tower as it was under construction. Somebody said, "There's Bay Lake Tower, the latest part of the Disney Vacation Club. It goes on sale next week!" I heard people discussing the price and saying they were going to do it, and I thought, "What fools. That is WAY overpriced. Disney sure knows how to con people."

But then, fast forward a few years. I realized we were making so many trips to Disney World (up to 6 a year, even though we live 2000 miles away) and I was spending so much money that I really should have bought BLT. And, it turned out Disney Timeshare WAS different from everybody else. The price for Disney Timeshare went UP over time, not down, EVEN ON THE RESALE MARKET. What a surprise! So, I followed it for another year or two, and then I ended up buying Poly, Direct, for about 80% more than BLT had cost just a few years before. And then I turned around and bought 270 BLT points on the Resale market for almost 50% more than I could have had them for, Direct, 5 or 6 years before, and I would have had the benefit of using them all those years. And then I couldn't help myself. I love Animal Kingdom Lodges so I bought two contracts there, on Resale, but once again for significantly more than I could have had them Direct a few years before, and I missed out on all those nice vacations.

End result was that my 'genius' had ended up costing me more money and more vacations than I could have imagined at the beginning. I ended buying in, eventually, and I paid more, BUT, I have it now, and I love it. I can't say DVC is for everyone, but it can be very nice, and a decent price, all things considered. So, now I own 8 contracts at 3 resorts. Over 300 points Direct and the rest resale. I DO regret not getting in before, but Better late than NEVER!

Oh, and when Riviera has been on resale for a while, I will buy it, too, and save a lot of money. I won't need to worry that it can only be used AT RIVIERA, since I have plenty of other options to stay other places.

 

[correcaminos]

Personally unless you knew you would continually go so much, it's not a bad idea that you held off. I was going regularly for years and finally bought in after a while when I did the math. Does it mean I regret spending cash on just a room? Nope, it worked the way it was supposed to for us. I was also not just doing several trips - but multiple times a year. I think that's when DVC really starts to make sense.

We do think resale is a fantastic deal though and would do it again.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

My wife and I spent our 20’s at Disney... an engagement happened there, several trips, then a honeymoon that last 12 days! It marked a memorable and important part of our lives. Now in our 30’s, several years removed from a proper “all out” Disney trip we sat down and did the math and accounting for all of our trips over that period of life we sunk in nearly 3/4 what it would have cost us to join the Beach Club.

It stands to this day, the biggest regret of my life!

I’ve avoided the forum over the last few years because it’s painful, in a weird way, to realize that this part of my life has faded purely for financial reasons.

I’m trying to come back, slowly. If I could hop back in time and have a chat with myself... BUY INTO DVC DUDE!!!!

I felt that way. Then pulled the trigger. Buy resale

 

[Janir]

My boss always loved WDW, and also regrets not buying in when OKW was first selling. Tried to rent him some points this year but he didn't have the money to go. Forced me to plan on going so I can't fault him.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

I actually did... a close friend bought in when we researching at the same time. He purchased enough points to get 12ish days in the high season. He would then sell a weeks worth which in turn covered his yearly dues and used the remaining time with his own family. It worked then, still works now. It’s smart.

I guess the point is is that I already dropped 20 grand across trips, it wasn’t 0 or a full DVC membership.

Yeah but you did not pay that all up front

 

[Scubacat]

I saved for 10 years trying to talk myself into it (and the wife out of it ) I finally bought 3 BCV resale contacts when I turned 40.

Do I regret not buying sooner? Not really. It would have been an ongoing financial obligation when I wasn't secure enough in that area. And unless you're settled enough to be able to book 11 months in advance, you just can't beat the flexibility of booking a regular BC room with a promo often just a few weeks before a trip.

Obviously it's an apples-to-oranges comparison, but the point is I wouldn't look back with regret. There are always resale contracts for sale if you ever decide to go for it.

I previously had some similar concerns that I had not thought it through and had maybe missed the boat. Those ended the first time we got to our 1 bedroom villa for a week followed by a folio with no room charge.