Disney Vacation Club
Topic: To Buy or Not to Buy, that is the Question

#	Author	Message
1	digby7 Thu 8/21/2008 8:18a	Just got an email from DVC, trying to tempt us again and again we have that now familiar debate. TBONTB. When we took our first trip in '97 we thought that was our once in a lifetime trip to WDW. What fools we were! That trip we turned down the opportunity to buy into Wilderness Villa's! I repeat fools. Now it is 11 years and many trips later and still we wonder about the true pros and cons of being DVC members. Any feedback out there? We love WDW, but my sister had a very bad timeshare experience and it has made me very leary. Does it really pay itself in 5-7 vacations and did you tire of it? Is it easy to use or full of complicated rules and hidden costs? Help!!!
2	RoadTrip Thu 8/21/2008 1:56p	<<Does it really pay itself in 5-7 vacations>> There are all kinds of answers to this depending on the assumptions you make. If it is CRITICAL to you that it pay for itself in 5-7 vacations, I think you should pass. <<and did you tire of it?>> No way. Eight years after making our purchase of Boardwalk points we purchased additional points at Saratoga Springs. <<Is it easy to use or full of complicated rules and hidden costs?>> Very easy, no hidden costs. We've never regretted our decision to purchase DVC for one moment.
3	Kar2oonMan Thu 8/21/2008 2:07p	http://www.realestatejournal.c...win.html
4	Jim in Merced CA Thu 8/21/2008 7:40p	Vacation Club -- it's timeshare by any other name. I lived in Florida for years, and was always accosted by those salespeople who wanted me to listen to their 90 minute 'presentation' and get free Disney tickets. I can't help but be suspicious of something that can't be explained in simple terms. What's the cost? Well, it's hard to explain. Is it a good investment? Well, that depends... Do you get your money's worth? Well, you see... To me, the term 'timeshare' has a similar connotation to 'Amway' -- which by they way, in North America is known as 'Quikstar.'
5	digby7 Sun 8/24/2008 6:39a	Thanks folks, you've given me some more to think about. Maybe we'll look into this when the economy settles down a bit. I had run into a lady DVCer in a garden center and she was so gung ho about being a member, but I am very budgetminded and didn't want to make a decision being swept away by her enthusiam.
6	Elderp Sun 8/24/2008 7:55a	I'm in the no category. I love to go to Disney properties but I find DVC too conforming to my tastes. Then there is the money, it is really expensive. A bit too much for our planning, then again we usually opt for the low options. If your the type of person that usually goes to WDW and opts for the mid options then I could see a cost savings in DVC.
7	digby7 Mon 8/25/2008 2:34p	We have gone all ways, budget, moderate and deluxe. First trip was budget at All Star Movies, can you believe that back in 97 our airfare for roundtrip was 125.00 per person! Plus we had AAA discount. 5 days. Whole trip cost us less than the airfare will now! We have stayed at POP Century twice, All Star Movies once, Dixie Landings 1 (PO Riverside now) Wilderness Lodge twice (our favorite) and the Polynesian once. We also went to DL for the 50th and stayed at the Grand Californian. I think another factor for us is that our "kids" are now considered adults and we have to pay the extra $$ per night for them to stay in our room. That really raises the cost. I have looked at off property suites and homes and that looks quite attractive too as far as keeping costs down. In the past, we used to get these great postcards from time to time that invited us to come and visit WDW and the discount on the rooms were hard to resist. That's how we got to go to WL the first time, got a postcard offering WL at less than 150.00 a night! The good old days!
8	deephil Tue 8/26/2008 10:45a	We joined DVC October '06 and we wish we joined years ago on our first visit. We saw in the travel agents window in the UK this week a trip for next September (2 Adults and 2 children) £4500. We bought another 100 points last year to add to the previous years and it cost not much more than that one family vacation from the UK. HORRIFYING. Th opportunities are endless we took our 2 year old niece to DLP this year and last year with her mum & dad, we are taking a couple to DLP for their Wedding present next year. We would never have been able to do this if we were not DVC members, we look forward to be able to treat our family in the years to come when the prices continue to rise, we will still be going on holiday as the points remain the same. Look at it as a Disney Loyalty Card they reward you for holidaying with them by freezing the price so to speak. Hope this answers some questions for you and helps you to decide.
9	digby7 Sun 8/31/2008 4:03p	Thanks folks!

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