Disney really is the best

[mj2vacation]

The decline of benefits in resale really did hurt DVC. I was going to buy more points and add our son's name to get the AP's at a discount, and this is no longer possible.

Buy a 25 point contract direct from disney. For 25 points it's a cash purchase. Then contact member admin and they can tell you how to retitle it. Since it is intra family they don't consider it a resale. For added assurance, leave your name on the title and just add his.

Other option is to purchase 50 direct in his name.

 

[ljmiii]

When DVC announced there would be changes and they would start differentiating between direct- and resale-purchases, owners/members split into two groups...

The only reason it hasn't affected the resale value of DVC Points...

I found myself in both groups. Sad that Disney felt the need to create the perception that resale buyers were '2nd class citizens' and happy they didn't actually make any changes to make that perception a reality. When I first purchased DVC the spread between direct and resale prices was quite small after incentives - DVC didn't have any BCV to sell me so I bought resale. But it could have easily gone the other way.

And sadly, it HAS dramatically affected the resale value of DVC. It's just that the slow and steady appreciation of my BCV points can't compare to the 'through the roof' increases in the price of buying DVC direct. Or the incredible increase in the cash price to stay at a DVC villa or WDW Deluxe resort.

When I later bought a BLT contract I was actually rather shocked when I found out what DVC wanted for those points - I can't imagine anyone buying DVC direct anymore (beyond the 25 point purchase needed to be considered a 'member').

 

[Dean]

I think a person's opinion depends on their amount of love/hate you have for Disney. My DW and DD are Disney addicts. They would live there if they could. It's is a truly magical experience for them when we stay at DVC. Me, not so much. I like the convenience to the parks, the rooms are fine as far as I am concerned, and the ability to rent your extra points to offset MF'S is a major plus.

But it is extremely expensive in my mind. What you pay to get in and the actual cost of your stays. I wouldn't mind a small contract (100 points), but it will not ever be my go to TS. We stay at Bonnet Creek for less than half of what it would cost at any of the DVC resorts and the rooms are just as nice I think.

Not in my case. We enjoy Disney and prefer to stay on property because it's on property. I am convinced my opinion is rooted in fact, not emotion and if anything, I feel I am possibly overly sympathetic to DVC. Disney does theming well though there has been a clear decline in theming with their last couple of refurbishments, esp BCV. DVC is definitely my first love when it comes to timeshares. That said, there's no way to say they measure up in terms of maintenance or refurbishment compared to the other top systems, at least not with a straight face.

The decline of benefits in resale really did hurt DVC. I was going to buy more points and add our son's name to get the AP's at a discount, and this is no longer possible.

Maybe for some but likely not overall. It'll cause a few to balk and some to buy retail that otherwise wouldn't, my guess is the overall direction has been it's led to significantly more retail sales. As for the buy and get the perks issue, it still is possible. Under the previous system (either before any restrictions or the last change), you'd have either had to buy the minimum new buyer amount (usually 50) or buy 25 then change after the fact paying the deed change. You can still do either of those things. It never made much sense to buy the 25 resale and then change the deed for 25 just points.

 

[frank808]

Buy a 25 point contract direct from disney. For 25 points it's a cash purchase. Then contact member admin and they can tell you how to retitle it. Since it is intra family they don't consider it a resale. For added assurance, leave your name on the title and just add his.

Other option is to purchase 50 direct in his name.

You can add on a new 25 point contract direct, and just title it with added owner. No need to call member services to re title the new contract after it closes.

Now you have to decide if it is worth it to pay about $4000, for 25 points at okw, to add a person as an owner. Are the benefits worth that to you?

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[Dean]

You can buy a new 25 point contract direct, and just title it with added owner. No need to call member services to re title the new contract after it closes.

Now you have to decide if it is worth it to pay about $4000, for 25 points at okw, to add a person as an owner. Are the benefits worth that to you?

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While I've seen a couple of reports to them selling 25 pts to a new member (as this would be), normally they require it to be an add on so same title and US to do 25. Otherwise it's the new member minimum, 25 at most, 50 at Copper Creek. Member services won't retitle, you'd have to go through the formal ROFR process (though auto in this situation) and a closing or at least a new deed with recording plus recording of the waiver of ROFR. So roughly $40 if you do a quit claim deed yourself.

 

[frank808]

It is interesting to see the differing opinions on the topic. To me DVC is by far the 'best' of the timeshares I've purchased. I never have to worry about getting the reservation I want, the value has appreciated, and I can easily rent any points I don't need at a tidy profit. Plus the location is uniquely valuable (from BLT I walk to MK and from BCV I walk to EPCOT and HS) and while BCV needed a refurb BLT is nicer than the Orlando MVCI resorts in which I've stayed.

(Oh...and I quoted SueDonJ because *usage* is still the same for new DVC resale purchases - you just are considered as an 'owner' and not a 'member'. Practically speaking, what that means is that you don't get an Annual Pass discount and can't go to the 'member' lounges, parties, and cruises. But you can become a member for about $1,500. And yes, it also means that you can't throw your money away by using DVC points on things that you should never buy with DVC points instead of cash).

With regards to dvc being nicer than mvc. Stay at marriott lakeshore reserve and your opinions will change. No dvc even grand floridian has nicer rooms or facilities than there. I am an owner at vgf and stay at lakeshore when we do not goto wdw parks.

How do you get to be a member for $1500? The lowest amount of points you can buy direct is 25 and would run close to $4000. What resort are you buying direct at $60 a point?

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[frank808]

While I've seen a couple of reports to them selling 25 pts to a new member (as this would be), normally they require it to be an add on so same title and US to do 25. Otherwise it's the new member minimum, 25 at most, 50 at Copper Creek. Member services won't retitle, you'd have to go through the formal ROFR process (though auto in this situation) and a closing or at least a new deed with recording plus recording of the waiver of ROFR. So roughly $40 if you do a quit claim deed yourself.

Sorry was referring to rickandcindy. Since she was already a dvc member she could do a 25pt add on and title it with her son added on as an owner. I am not saying for new members then the min would be as you said 50 points.

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[ljmiii]

With regards to dvc being nicer than mvc. Stay at marriott lakeshore reserve and your opinions will change. No dvc even grand floridian has nicer rooms or facilities than there. I am an owner and vgf and stay at lakeshore when we do not goto wdw parks.

How do you get to be a member for $1500? The lowest amount of points you can buy direct is 25 and would run close to $4000. What resort are you buying direct at $60 a point?

Fair enough...we've never tried lakeshore reserve as it seemed too far way from WDW. The Palms are fine, but Cyprus Harbor was something of a dump - by far the worst MVCI resort at which we've stayed.

Oh...and $1,500 is the spread between the cost of buying 25 points direct vs resale at most DVC resorts. So if someone wants the benefits of being a 'member' vs an 'owner' my advice is to buy a slightly smaller resale contract and then buy 25 points direct.

 

[famy27]

I own Wyndham and DVC. I bought Wyndham resale in 2008 and DVC in Oct 2015, so I am a DVC "member" and get all of the discounts and events. I can't use my points for the cruises and such, but I would never do that anyway.

Going from Wyndham to DVC has been a shock to the system. I am so used to Wyndham nickel-and-diming us with transaction fees, housekeeping fees, guest certificates, etc. that I was completely shocked to find out the DVC charges me absolutely nothing. I changed one reservation four time, and I paid zero fees. I've done numerous stays of one or two nights. No fees. I rent out half of my points and cover all of my MFs for the year, so my stays are free. I could resell my points tomorrow for more than I paid two years ago. I agree that OKW needs a refresh (which it is getting), but I think the other resorts are in great shape (and I've stayed at almost all of them in the past few years). We absolutely loved Poly and would buy points there if I could find room in the budget. So, I guess what I'm saying, is that I find it hard to disagree with the OP.

 

[frank808]

Fair enough...we've never tried lakeshore reserve as it seemed too far way from WDW. The Palms are fine, but Cyprus Harbor was something of a dump - by far the worst MVCI resort at which we've stayed.

Oh...and $1,500 is the spread between the cost of buying 25 points direct vs resale at most DVC resorts. So if someone wants the benefits of being a 'member' vs an 'owner' my advice is to buy a slightly smaller resale contract and then buy 25 points direct.

Ok that makes sense with regards to the $1500. I was thinking there was a way to buy in direct for cheaper.

Have you stayed at grand vista? That is my second favorite mvc resort in orlando. I would say room is superior to most dvc resorts in regards to size and furnishings. Only vgf would be nicer furnished than grand vista. The only close mvc resorts to wdw would be royal, sabal and imperial palms. They have nice size units, but there is a non resort feel staying there. But rooms are good size and about the same size as okw. Glad i haven't stayed at cypress harbor. The pics of cypress harbour look very nice. What was wrong with the resort? I am surprised that mvc would let it deteriorate so far as they are pretty aggressive with refurbishment schedules.

I also have hgvc but have only stayed at tuscany. From the outside i did not like it but the units are nicely furnished. If going to seaworld you can't beat the hgvc across the street from seaworld. Also since it is a seaworld preferred hotel there used to be express pass available from the concierge.

In orlando there are so many great choices for different budgets. Unless you have to be in the disney bubble, there are a lot of great options nearby. When we goto wdw parks we stay in the disney bubble. When we do other things in orlando I like to stay at marriots or hgvc.

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[rickandcindy23]

I cannot believe anyone would call Marriott's Cypress Harbour a dump. It's my favorite and has that elite status with II, and it's deserved.

 

[ljmiii]

The pics of cypress harbour look very nice. What was wrong with the resort?

The room smelled musty, the dishwasher had issues, and we saw lots of rust and decay. And it didn't help that the first villa they put us into already had a family in the room. But this was around seven years ago - I'm sure they've refurbed since.

We stayed at HGVC's Tuscany once and was very pleasantly surprised. As you say, the buildings aren't much to look at but the villas themselves are comfortable and spacious. And they had lots of activities for the kids. The only real downside was the parking...never enough by our building.

 

[Dean]

Sorry was referring to rickandcindy. Since she was already a dvc member she could do a 25pt add on and title it with her son added on as an owner. I am not saying for new members then the min would be as you said 50 points.

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Frank, they won't title it differently in this situation OR they will require the new minimum purchase like any other new member. They could add the 25 and then change it and end up with a qualified contract but it'd be a stand alone which they could either use in conjunction with their other membership with the added aggravation or use up their once a UY transfer. Fortunately the transferred points should be viewable and usage online unlike most transfers.

 

[Dean]

With regards to dvc being nicer than mvc. Stay at marriott lakeshore reserve and your opinions will change. No dvc even grand floridian has nicer rooms or facilities than there. I am an owner at vgf and stay at lakeshore when we do not goto wdw parks.

How do you get to be a member for $1500? The lowest amount of points you can buy direct is 25 and would run close to $4000. What resort are you buying direct at $60 a point?

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There is a range of quality over the resorts of ALL systems. No doubt DVC has less variability than any of the others. For Marriott it runs the gamut from Harbour Pointe/Vail to Lakeshore/Crystal Shores. No doubt all DVC resorts are better than the lowest end and no doubt the highest end Marriott's outpace DVC when you take the emotions out of it which includes the theming issues at VGF. To me it's the meat of the order when one should compare. Should you have an AC issue or need a blender, there's a big difference in how this is handled at DVC vs all other systems I play with. Even compared to Bluegreen and Wyndham, DVC falls way behind in these areas. OR just compare minor issues in villas/around the resort; DVC doesn't do well there either, they don't seem to have a plan and wait for the full refurbishment or things to be reported. My experience is that a great resort has a plan for refurbishment, usually 5/10 where 5 is soft goods and 10 the entire villa, and an OK resort has a 6/12 or 7/14 schedule. DVC has not met this standard even on the lower end though again, there are signs this might be changing or have changed and we haven't cycled through enough to see it completely.

It was interesting to see a major change a few years ago where a large chunk of those who'd been wearing the rose colored glasses, lost them. I believe it was the first round of reallocations in the last decade. It was like you flipped a switch and it seemed about 20% went from being big supporters to barely able to stomach them at all. On my end to go from being perceived as somewhat attacking them to apologist without any change in my stance was quite interesting.

 

[dagger1]

Dont Disney TS's revert to Disney after a period of years? You only own for a certain period of time?

 

[vacationhopeful]

Yes, they are RTU timeshare ... not forever. But then again ... it is one way to say, nothing stays the same forever.

 

[DeeCee]

We own DVC for over 17 years. I've had the pleasure of staying in different Marriott's with a friend who owns MVC. We recently purchased an MVC legacy week in HH via direct resale with MVC.

I can't say one is better than the other. I have to stick with advise given to us 18 years ago to buy where you want to stay the most. We've stayed in Disney's HH resort a few times and we liked it a lot, but....the reason for the MVC purchase is so we can always stay at a beach side property (Disney's is marsh side) and as long as we stick to the booking windows with MVC, we shouldn't have a problem getting it whenever we want. With DVC it was harder to book Disney's HH resort, due to it not being our home DVC resort and the booking window.

I do think the OP's post and the way we each feel about our timeshares is a very personal opinion. Whatever works best for each of us...DVC is my #1 as far as timeshare ownership goes because it's where we like to stay the most and being on property is way more important to us than staying off property. Buying almost 18 years ago means we paid a third of the cost of buying today. If we sell it now, we make good money, but we never looked at making money on the purchase of our timeshares. We went into it understanding that it's like buying a new car. As soon as it's driven off the lot it depreciates!

In our expereince DVC is an easy trade out, we've gone to the places we want with no problem and during high (holdiay) seasons. I haven't tried trading our Marriott yet, so I can't do a comparison.

All in all, if our timeshares get us where we want to go and we understand the costs involved in owning each, we got what we wanted and we're happy with both.

 

[dagger1]

Yes, they are RTU timeshare ... not forever. But then again ... it is one way to say, nothing stays the same forever.

But if "Disney is the best" wouldn't I want my children (if they wanted) to inherit and continue using Disney?

 

[vacationhopeful]

But if "Disney is the best" wouldn't I want my children (if they wanted) to inherit and continue using Disney?

I would bet, any ownership which gets near the termination time, will get an special price offer to renew at some discounted rate for the original owner ... just "Live Long and Prosper" enough to buy your ownership again.

 

[dagger1]

I would bet, any ownership which gets near the termination time, will get an special price offer to renew at some discounted rate for the original owner ... just "Live Long and Prosper" enough to buy your ownership again.

Haha, yes, you're probably exactly right! An offer to "renew" (read re-buy) at a "special" "today only" price! Hmmm, where have I heard that before.... Thanks, I will avoid RT(N)U (Right to Not Use) TS's.

 

[mj2vacation]

But if "Disney is the best" wouldn't I want my children (if they wanted) to inherit and continue using Disney?

I am sure Mickey will be glad to sell the look aid again!

They already offered an extension at OKW. The process was awful.

Boardwalk was in queue to be next with a different process and that project was shelved in 2009.

 

[Dean]

I would bet, any ownership which gets near the termination time, will get an special price offer to renew at some discounted rate for the original owner ... just "Live Long and Prosper" enough to buy your ownership again.

IMO that's overly optimistic. First it may not happen and second, if it does, it'll likely approach or pass equivalent retail pricing.

Dont Disney TS's revert to Disney after a period of years? You only own for a certain period of time?

I don't see the owned vs RTU as a big deal either way in general but it likely is an issue for the 2042 resorts.

 

[dahntahn]

We bought DVC when our kids were young, paying $24 K for 300 points, and went every year for a long time. Now kids are grown and we go infrequently. On years we skip I rent the points for enough that I get about $3000 after paying the maintenance fees. That is a return of 12.5% on my money, and where can you get that these days? Meantime we bought 4 Hyatt weeks during the crash years on EBay at huge discounts and are able to vacation in very nice resorts in locations we like, esp. Key West and Bonita Springs, Carmel and Sedona. Love both Hyatt and Disney. The kids had a blast when growing up and are Disneyphiles so we haven't sold and await our granddaughter being old enough to go in another year or two. The Hyatts are versatile enough that we look forward to planning their use as a couple, with kids now grown, or with friends.

 

[vacationhopeful]

IMO that's overly optimistic. First it may not happen and second, if it does, it'll likely approach or pass equivalent retail pricing.

I don't see the owned vs RTU as a big deal either way in general but it likely is an issue for the 2042 resorts.

Corporate DVC is very smart at marketing .... and will look HARD at making an offer to extend an original OWNER or direct family member's DVC expiring ownership by RESELLING the points back to them. If the original family brought at $35 per point and the offer to extend is $XXX per point (where DVC has spent almost no DOLLARS on marketing or commissions send a new certificate and update the computer records) verse selling those points for say, $XXX per point ... DVC would do fine. And I am not saying that the exact terms of ownership would NOT be absolutely the same as the original certificate. DVC might require a additional full price purchase ALSO ... so a 123 point contract might have to be upgraded to a 231 point contract. And/or DVC might alter (increase the number of) points required to book resorts & unit sizes.

I do NOT see DVC saying "Farewell, Good bye" to these very long term DVC families who owned their points for 15 or 20 or 25 plus years .... esp if prices drop on the resale market as the expiration dates approach the "Drop Dead" date.

Disney is NOT going to tear down all the DVC resorts ... could seriously remodel or alter the theme of resorts which could be due to outdated theme park, outdated design (handicap or maintenance issues), structural issues of a building, etc. The Animal Kingdom Park is a big land hog and very expensive to operate ... and part of the DVC resort theme... could be either expanded or just totally terminated. Or the Contemporary Resort (the oldest hotel?) with the monorail running thru it ... on that expensive real estate next to the Magic Kingdom.

The Orlando park opened in 1971 .... designed in the 1960s. I was living 35 miles from NORTH of the parks for over a year when Disney dropped the rope. Things CHANGED drastically in Central Florida after October, 1971 ... not so much in 1971 or the following couple of years ... but the area drastically was altered within 5 years...new interstates, local roads, airports, schools, towns built. Orlando Airport is NOT MCO (was McCoy Air Force Base in 1971)... Orlando Airport today services mostly private planes. The larger airport for that area in 1970 was Daytona Beach International Airport ... still there with a commercial flight or two daily ... but TODAY most flights are due to Emory Riddle University which sits with direct access to the runways... a school which has expanded from its 1971 days...when I dated a Vietnam vet going to school there.

Almost 46 years for WDW Magic Kingdom Park ... less for the oldest DVC resort incantation... I am sure changes will happen ... if I really, really knew the future for the DVC resorts .. I could make a fortune. Meanwhile, I will just keep using my 90 DVC/AKV points.

 

[dagger1]

Not to beat a dead horse, but why do people keep talking about "buying" DVC?
They are paying an upfront rental fee to DVC to be allowed to pay their MF's for twenty to forty years, no...? Then they, or their heirs, must pay another upfront rental fee, maybe, at Disney's discretion.
But there is zero ownership involved.