Would you buy again?

We bought in 2016/2017 to get access to the 1/2 Bedroom Villas, which if you are paying cash for are $500 to $1500 a night. We wanted to have separate rooms from our 3 girls and also have the ability to bring grandparents. So, for us the since we only go once a year it has been a pretty big savings over cash rooms.
 
We bought in 1997 and have used our points for 21 years. I'd never buy at the current selling price these days. We paid $50 a point for our original points direct from Disney (our nine night stay at the Polynesian was used for our down payment). We'll probably use the points for a few more years and then probably sell them off for whatever we can get for them.
 
We first purchased in 2010 when prices were a lot lower. At today's prices I would not buy DVC. The parks are just too busy. Right now we get around that by doing long trips, but we can only afford to do those long trips because we have lots of cheap points.
 
We bought in 2003, and we were both in our late 50’s. In our 70’s now, would I buy if I was just learning about DVC? No, seems to be the logical answer, BUT I am so happy I do own. I still love the Christmas Holidays at WDW, the Flower and Garden Show, Hilton Head, Vero Beach and Aulani. Then there are the fireworks, 4th of July and NYE. I STILL have reasons and the desire to go to WDW.
 


We bought recently, both direct and resale. 20 years ago, we were teenagers and not in any position to buy something like DVC! If we were older and facing retirement, I don't know if I would buy DVC since we do consider it a luxury purchase and who knows what our life situation will be like then. But for us it was still well worth the purchase when we did our calculations. We plan to go around twice a year and stay mostly in 1BR and 2BR villas as the kids get older. Owning DVC is a much more cost effective way for us to do this than paying cash, and we prefer the Disney deluxe resorts to other options at WDW. We've been going to WDW regularly for the past decade or so and haven't really had issues with insane crowds or long lines. It's a relaxing yet active vacation for us and we find that we can do plenty and have a great time without waiting in long lines. We've enjoyed Pandora and are looking forward to the new lands and attractions that are coming up in the next few years. Change is inevitable but so far we still love our Disney vacations.

And yes, it would have been great to have bought 5 years ago but DVC just wasn't on our radar back then!
 
I'm new to this part of the Disboards but I'm curious how many of you who bought DVC years ago would do it all over again with today's Disney. Do you feel like DVC is still a good value today as it was years ago? Obviously this question will field a number of different answers but I'm interested what you folks think. We are probably going to buy a resale contract soon. We have young kids and I think it's a good time to buy with all of the new things coming to the parks in the next 5 years.
I wouldn't. It's partly because our options have changed, our travel patterns have changed and DVC is increased so much to buy in. It's about 1/3 each of those factors roughly. It's still a good option for the right situation. If one can afford it, travel to WDW at least every 2 years, can plan at least 7 months out, use the points ONLY at DVC, stay on property mostly moderate or above and are OK with the compromises of a timeshare, it's still a reasonable choice for many.
 


I would buy again -- but then again -- I just bought in back in 2016, so prices aren't crazy higher since I bought. I'm still in my Disney Honeymoon phase...so I'm pretty much just handing Disney bags of money at this point.

And with two daughters under the age of 5...I'm pretty much like this for the next 10 years.

shut-up-and-take-my-money.jpg
 
We love our DVC. Have owned for almost 18 years. We have had no regrets and we bought direct cash. It seemed expensive then/or a "splurge" but don't think it compares to today's prices. We bought originally/our first contract $67 per point - 200 points = $13,400. Today - Direct - $182 (I think this is what they are going for now) per point 200 points - $36,400. Ouch!

So about 5.71% annual increase in price. I suspect that hotel room rack rates have increased at an even greater rate, which makes it still economical - assuming that you are committed to coming to Disney regularly. (Though renting points may still be the best option for many.)
 
One area that I've been disappointed with is the drop in the level of housekeeping. When we first bought and started staying at DVC, the rooms were kept up better than they are now. I don't know if they used to do deep cleanings more frequently than they do now (or if they ever do now), but in the past, I don't remember there being so much dust on every ledge and decorative edge in the room.

HS and EP are finally starting to get some much needed love and attention, so I'm looking forward to seeing what they do there. My issues with MK are:
1. Rides seem to be going down more frequently.
2. The cast members are great, there just seem to be fewer of them, resulting in longer lines.
3. The guests don't seem as happy, and I notice this more at MK than the other parks. I think people are coming with an entitled feeling, since they have paid a small fortune for their trip, and if they don't get what they want, they take it out on those around them.

All that being said, If we had to do it again now, at today's prices, I don't know that we would. We definitely wouldn't buy direct at these prices. Resale would probably be more tolerable.
 
There's a lot of "I wouldn't buy at the prices today" here, but they're actually not massively higher than they were 20 years ago accounting for inflation and the general rise in cost of luxury travel. Hotels all over go for double or more than they were just 10 years ago. I bet if you asked this question 20 years from now, a lot of people would say "I bought in 2015-2016 but would never pay the prices as they are today", mirroring this thread pretty closely.

It's true about the quality of the product declining, though, but there's also more attractions and such than there were before, so it's not an entirely apples-to-apples comparison. And you never know what the next regime(s) will do, either. I spend 90% of my time complaining, but I do like some of the after-hours events and the AP discount, so I appreciate those perks at least. And they did bring back the mug handles and quit serving gas station hot dogs at Casey's Corner, so I'll give them the minimum possible credit for that.

If you like to go regularly, it's probably worth it if you can afford it. If not, it's not.
 
There's a lot of "I wouldn't buy at the prices today" here, but they're actually not massively higher than they were 20 years ago accounting for inflation and the general rise in cost of luxury travel. Hotels all over go for double or more than they were just 10 years ago. I bet if you asked this question 20 years from now, a lot of people would say "I bought in 2015-2016 but would never pay the prices as they are today", mirroring this thread pretty closely.

It's true about the quality of the product declining, though, but there's also more attractions and such than there were before, so it's not an entirely apples-to-apples comparison. And you never know what the next regime(s) will do, either. I spend 90% of my time complaining, but I do like some of the after-hours events and the AP discount, so I appreciate those perks at least. And they did bring back the mug handles and quit serving gas station hot dogs at Casey's Corner, so I'll give them the minimum possible credit for that.

If you like to go regularly, it's probably worth it if you can afford it. If not, it's not.

what I find interesting is that if someone says they wouldn't buy in at today's prices, yet continue to keep their contracts, then from an economical standpoint, they are effectively "buying in" at today's prices since they are foregoing selling their contracts. Ignoring transactional costs -- if you choose to keep a contract instead of receiving $30,000 for it -- that is no different than paying $30,000 for the same contract (from a purely economic decision). In other words, if you currently own DVC but think that resale prices provide no value, then economically you'd be better off selling the contract and using cash for future vacations.

I will concede that selling your contracts have some transactional costs, so you wouldn't net the exact same amount -- so it's not perfect -- but it's more or less accurate.

I'm not saying anyone is wrong -- I'll probably be saying the same thing 20 years from now when I see contracts selling for $600 a point. It's more to the psychological factor of it being harder to pay out of pocket for something as opposed to selling something (that has an emotional value) and getting cold, hard cash in return.
 
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After a careful cost analysis, we decided that the purchase would work for our lifestyle. We purchased most of our points resale. Of course, we went in with eyes open, recognizing that the membership extras are not guaranteed, that disneyworld could become unpopular, that we might get disney-ed out, that our financial position may change, that we are not guaranteed exactly the room or accommodations we request, and that the value we paid could go to zero. To date, no regrets other than not buying 10 years earlier.

This is us exactly. We investigated, waited 10 years before buying, paid cash when we could and have been very very happy. I only regret waiting so long.
At my current age and health I probably wouldn’t buy now. If I were younger, yes for sure
 
what I find interesting is that if someone says they wouldn't buy in at today's prices, yet continue to keep their contracts, then from an economical standpoint, they are effectively "buying in" at today's prices since they are foregoing selling their contracts. Ignoring transactional costs -- if you choose to keep a contract instead of receiving $30,000 for it -- that is no different than paying $30,000 for the same contract (from a purely economic decision). In other words, if you currently own DVC but think that resale prices provide no value, then economically you'd be better off selling the contract and using cash for future vacations.

I will concede that selling your contracts have some transactional costs, so you wouldn't net the exact same amount -- so it's not perfect -- but it's more or less accurate.

I'm not saying anyone is wrong -- I'll probably be saying the same thing 20 years from now when I see contracts selling for $600 a point. It's more to the psychological factor of it being harder to pay out of pocket for something as opposed to selling something (that has an emotional value) and getting cold, hard cash in return.

That's a good point. However I bought 6 years ago in order to lock in the price of my future vacations at a level I was confortable with. So I keep the contract because I will continue to vacation at that price level for nearly 40 more years.
The same contract would now cost me double what I paid and it would mean an overall price higher that I would like to pay. I am writing while in a queue for an attraction at Shanghai Disneyland. I'm staying offsite for less than 1/3 the price of the overpriced Disney hotel. Without DVC I would stay offsite at WDW as well, no way I would pay Disney prices.
 
I'm new to this part of the Disboards but I'm curious how many of you who bought DVC years ago would do it all over again with today's Disney. Do you feel like DVC is still a good value today as it was years ago? Obviously this question will field a number of different answers but I'm interested what you folks think. We are probably going to buy a resale contract soon. We have young kids and I think it's a good time to buy with all of the new things coming to the parks in the next 5 years.

Absolutely not. We purchased direct from Disney in 2009 while BLT was under construction. I sold the Bay Lake Tower contract we had years ago and haven't regretted the decision. Occasionally I used to rent from Dave's but with the new policies in place like daily mandatory security checks I won't be back on property anytime soon. DVC locks you in to either paying maintenance fees and not going or trying to rent your points to barely cover those fees. Either way Disney wins and you're stuck.
 
We purchased in 1999 and for many years very happy we did.

But then the mouse REALLY started to get greedy and looking at the current DVC purchase prices, ticket price increases, the recent years of neglect in the WDW resort in general and DVC room refreshes which have removed most of the Disney touches I would not buy now. Right now we mostly use our DVC points to rent out and use the $'s to pay for cruises on Disney Cruise Line which hasn't lost the things that made us want to go to WDW.
 
We investigated, waited 10 years before buying, paid cash when we could and have been very very happy. I only regret waiting so long.
At my current age and health I probably wouldn’t buy now. If I were younger, yes for sure

This is the flip side of the time value of money push you see frequently on here. Not that TVM isn't important, but part of this is that time is a very finite resource. Tomorrow, let alone a healthy tomorrow, is not guaranteed. That's why I made the decision to buy resale using funds from a HELOC. I want to enjoy Disney while I can, and resale DVC is a relatively cost effective way to do that well.

I do not write this to say that folks should buy regardless of income, financial commitments, and most importantly interest rates. I think that all needs to be analyzed very carefully. My only point is that I think a decision to finance a DVC resale purchase can be a prudent one, however, there needs to be a lot of thought put into it.
 
I don't think so. We bought our 250 AKV resale points in 2012 for only $65 per point. We still love going to WDW, even with all the changes that bother many, but I don't think I would buy DVC today based on how much it would cost now vs. what it did when we bought it.
 
I don't think so. We bought our 250 AKV resale points in 2012 for only $65 per point. We still love going to WDW, even with all the changes that bother many, but I don't think I would buy DVC today based on how much it would cost now vs. what it did when we bought it.

Not trying to be argumentative, but why not sell the points and pocket the $25,000 you’d get from selling?

Aren’t you, by not selling your membership, acknowledging that you still think it’s worth the money to own?
 
I keep mine around because I can rent out points to cover the annual fee and still make money.
 

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