How much "sooner" could you have bought?

[Simba's Mom]

So often I hear the phrase "I only wish we'd bought sooner" (Sometimes I'm hearing myself saying it). So I was wondering, does anyone have any stories about "missed opportunities" to buy, a chance to purchase, but you decided not to. Then years later you bought and regretted making the choice not to purchase earlier? We can't be the only ones! In 1992, we visited a sales kiosk, set up an appointment for a tour-then cancelled! We just decided "No, we're not really interested" (I don't know whatever possessed us to turn it down). So who else did something similar? Ten years and many thousand dollars later, we changed our minds.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

We visited OKW in probably 1996, but did not buy until 1998 at BWV. I guess we would have been a couple years wiser and happier had we decided to by in 96. At this point... we're happy... so that is all that matters now.

 

[dvc_john]

I toured OKW in 1991 before the resort opened. Had to wear a hard hat to walk thru the construction site to see the models. (That was before the models were in Commodore House). Didn't buy then because I didn't see how I could possibly use 230 points a year (230 was the minimum then.)

Did buy a few years later, and have been adding on ever since!

 

[crisi]

I got married to my first husband when OKW was being built and we saw it go up on our honeymoon. Didn't buy (although he would have loved to, I'm too frugal and had other things to do). Don't regret not buying - it wasn't affordable then and the divorce left me too broke to think about vacations.

I did my second honeymoon to my now husband at WDW as well, when I was reminded again of DVC. Didn't really consider it, and in the following years wouldn't have afforded it - it was six years before we went back to Disney - during the intermediate five years we went through infertility treatments, built a house, and adopted a child - all expensive and all would have made me regret DVC.

When our kids were small we took them to WDW. After that trip we bought DVC. It would have been nice to realize before that trip that this was going to be a regular vacation for us and have bought, but it wasn't until we were there that we came to realize that at least while the kids were little we'd be a Disney family. But, then again, having not been in six years, having kids, not being familiar with the DVC resorts except by the small exposure from trips much earlier Money was plentiful enough at that point to pay cash without worrying about it.

So I have no regrets about having not bought sooner, and would have only regretted pretty much any previous purchase, unless we'd taken the risk and bought the trip before we did.

 

[CustardTart]

Could have bought in 2000 when we first toured VB BUT it wouldn't have felt as comfortable as it does now. Bank balance, exchange rate all much more favourable so happy to have waited and made our first purchase (Jan 2007) at a time when many factors made it an easy, stress-free decision.

 

[dianeschlicht]

First heard about DVC and saw the construction of the "Disney Vacation Club resort" in 1992 on our trip. Since we were in the habit of regular WDW trips already, it sounded like a GREAT idea to us, but we didn't tour until 1994. THen we waited until 1997 to buy!!! DUMB, DUMB, DUMB!! If we knew then what we knew almost immediately after purchasing, we would have done it in 1992!!!

 

[HookdonWDW]

We saw the DVC info when we went in 1993, but erroneously thought you had to be "rich" to afford it. We were DINKs at the time, and in retrospect, would have had no problems affording it at all. We just assumed it would be out of our price league. I KNEW I shouldn't assume . I still think about all of the free tickets we gave up (not to mention the low buy in price!) and cringe...

 

[TenThousandVolts]

I don't regret not buying sooner. I bought in Dec. '06. We were not financially ready before then, we stayed in mostly values with the occasional mod/deluxe stay and with small kids we were fine in a small room. As our kids are getting bigger and since our youngest has turned 3 and now 'counts' as a guest in the room - DVC makes sense. It was either DVC or start staying in offsite suites - and we love being onsite.
We bought about 6 weeks after we started looking into DVC- no real missed opportunities here.

 

[mikesmom]

I saw the DVC kiosks when they first went up - and every year after that. Like another poster I "assumed" I couldn't afford it (never even asked). I was a single mom with a little boy, but had a decent enough income that I was taking him to WDW every year for 7 or 8 days. It's obvious to me now that the money I spent on those vacations could easily have paid for DVC. The free park apsses they gave away those first years would have made me come out ahead!

 

[TLinden16]

When I first thought about buying DVC, I want to say that the price was around $45 or 50 a point or something like that and it just seemed so expensive and unattainable to me. Of course, I was right out of college and making half of what I make now. What a difference 11 years makes.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

We feel that we bought at the right time so sooner would not have been better for us -- the only thing we wish was that we bought a little more points than we did.

 

[bwvBound]

Short Answer: Toured in 1998 -- purchased in 2004. Extremely happy with our decision to wait.

Longer Version:
Our first-ever introduction to any form of timeshare/vacation club was Sept '98 when we stayed in a BWV studio unit as part of DCL's Land'n'Sea package. We took the tour and felt we understood the offer -- but our heads were swimming with anticipation of our first-ever cruise on the brand new Disney Magic ... and we said, "Thank you, not at this time." Primary reasons against purchase:

• While we did visit WDW every year -- the purpose was a work-related conference with all expenses paid by our employer. We sampled the Dolphin, Yacht Club and Beach Club -- with the YC being our definitive favorite.
• We couldn't see ourselves travelling cross-country each year to WDW for a vacation.
• We thought the minimal buy-in (220 pts at that time??) was higher than our needs.

We left soon after for the cruise -- which was a complete success. From our 4n Disney Magic trial cruise we went on to fill our travel calendars with 12n Holy Lands in 99 (NCL Dream), 10n Ibearean Treasures in early 2000 (Renaissance R2) with 14n Panama Canal (NCL Wind) later that same year, 16n Antarctic Adventure in early '01 (Marine Expeditions) with 14n Transatlantic that fall (S.S. Norway), etc. We became cruise junkies ... snatching up trips from auction sites as often as we could scrape up the vacation time from work.

In summer 2000 we revisited the timeshare question and purchased a small ownership in a points-based club with many west coast locations. Took our first timeshare trip that August to their Cabo resort and loved it. We then started adding to the ownership buying resale contracts. (Add-on-itis isn't limited to DVC!)

We also joined The Timeshare Users Group (TUG) and developed a craving for a "red-hot trader" for use through RCI, a need to sample RCI Points, an entry to II, etc. (Essentially, our add-on-itis called for diversity and options!) We picked up an EOY summer SoCal week for day-use access and its strong trading characteristics; then an inexpensive trader in South Africa; then another local property tempting us with mineral hot-springs, golf, equestrian and other benefits. With 4 different vacation-ownership products we thought we were done.

Along the timeline between 1998 and 2004 our employment situation had morphed into an entirely different animal. While my DH and I continued to attend our annual conference -- the new employer took a "no-way-Jose!" attitude about covering Dolphin & YC room rates and we found ourselves booking BWV via exchanges against our first timeshare. Initially, the employer offered us $15/night reimbursement towards our accommodations and then eventually discontinued even that level of support.

During our 2004 visit, while staying at BWV on an exchange, we retoured and put our name (and credit card) on the waitlist for 150 BWV points with DEC UY. We also initiated offers on two resale contracts -- both of which fell apart before hitting ROFR. (Discouraging!)

In April, we received a call from our guide with good news -- he had our points! However, as the conversation progressed ... they were SSR points not BWV. We stalled a bit ... but eventually agreed to initiate the sale. (Reasons: More years, lower dues, etc.)

He phoned a few days later with bad news: He can't sell to California directly. Do we have any family out of state who could receive the materials for us? (Oh, my -- perhaps this whole DVC thing was too difficult. Even my South Africa purchase was easier!!) Again we stalled and reconsidered. I booked our January 2005 visit via II while we waited.

He called again to assure us that using an out-of-state household was easy and safe. We consented and were assisted by a dear friend in Oregon who received our materials to her address and shipped them to us.

The paperwork held another surprise: wrong UY! We had been led to believe we were accepting SSR DEC vs BWV DEC -- but the contract read SSR OCT. Yeesh -- this is too difficult!

More calls to the guide. He can't change the UY ... but talks us into OCT vs DEC. We felt really manipulated. While we entered the negotiations seeking both specific resort and UY -- we were accepting changes to both. Again, we wondered ... was this a good decision? Having come this far, we pressed on and closed the deal: 150pts SSR OCT.

Later that same year, while on an RCI vacation in Pompano Beach for Labor Day, we phoned MS to see if there was anything available at DVC's Vero Beach. We picked up 2 nights in a studio and loved it. (Yes, we took a DVC vacation in the middle of an RCI vacation. A bit strange? Perhaps, but the visit to VB and the experience of being chased home by Hurricane Frances made for a memorable trip.) From that point forward we were "ok" with our DVC decision.

Wrap up:
Waiting was the right decision for us. Through a bit of buying and selling we've honed our vacation toolkit for location, rate, and flexibility. We've learned plenty in the process (thanks to TUG, DisBoards and similar sites) and have enjoyed the ride. Highlights:

• Location: I strongly believe that "drive-to" properties are essential. Our toolkit is heavily weighted with west-coast properties ... and we have no hesitation visiting them for weekend getaways.
• Rate: Perhaps not every stay is ... umm ... "thrifty" -- but in most cases I'm convinced I'm getting excellent use of my vacation budget. That red-hot summer trader hasn't failed to secure a larger, better unit with each trade while also giving me a bonus week for each deposit. We've used inexpensive getaway weeks through both RCI and II in great places. We've enjoyed "last minute" exchanges at high-demand locations like the Four Season Aviara for very little outlay. (And on and on and on.)
• Flexibility: Using the various timeshare types correctly -- we have no trouble accepting full-week exchanges for trips to HI ... while using points for shorter stays. Our tools support local weekend escapes, multi-site roadtrips (San Diego to Vancouver and back visiting 11 different resorts in 16 nights), booking multiple units for family gatherings (5 units at a time ... on multiple occasions), etc.

Last honing tip for us - an important one we would have missed if we purchased in 1998 -- buy DVC in small contracts. While our typical stay is 200 pts (7n, 1BR Boardwalk view at BWV in January) -- we only own 175 and that in two contracts (150 + 25pt add-on). Thanks to the occasional exchange we live in a banking mode and are again extending our vacation $$$. (We rather enjoy booking 200 pts BWV using 175 pts SSR's lower rates .)

 

[jade1]

It worked out best for us the way it happened. Noticed a DVC sign on our first trip in 1997 and again a year later. Did one more trip a year later and finally looked into and bought VWL and BCV shortly after. If we had purchased on our first trip it would have been BWV-which is great but hasn't been as necessary to own at as BCV for Spring Break and VWL for XMAS. Just would have bought more points at BCV if we had known.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

We stayed at OKW when it was still called DVC in 1995 and I took the tour (my DH refused to consider buying a timeshare). I was so confused by how many points we would need and the 230 minimum seemed like way too many for us. So I didn't push DH to purchase.

Then DH started up a retail business that keep us from visiting WDW together for many years. Then DH retired and sold his business. By the time we next came to WDW in 2005, we were DVC members, thanks to all the great info on this Board. After 3 trips and 30 nights at BWV, DH says its the best purchase we ever made.

I think we have just about the right number of points for us and it is indeed less than 230. Of course, we paid almost twice as much to buy the points we own as we would have if we bought in 1995! If you ignore the time value of $$, we probably would have spent fewer $$ and own more points if we had bought in 1995, but I would have been miserable owning the points and not enjoying them. In addition, the purchase would have stretched us financialy in 1995, but was very affordable in 2005.

Bottom line, no, I don't wish we had bought sooner.

-- Suzanne

 

[Granny]

We would never have bought DVC if they hadn't built at VWL. Still, we were a little slow to buy there since we had ignored the DVC kiosks in the parks assuming that it was just another timeshare rip off scheme.

So yes, we wish we would have bought about 2 years earlier than we did. And in retrospect, it would have been nice to buy in the beginning and utilize those free park passes but the reality is we didn't start going to WDW until 1998.

 

[ransom]

Well, DW and I first heard about DVC way back in October of 2006. I know a lot of you will have trouble remembering those times, but it's true that DVC existed then.

Because we hadn't even been on our first WDW vacation at the time, we thought there was no way it was for us. We wanted flexibility in our vacations. Who wants to be tied to one company?

Time passed. We took our first WDW vacation in December 2006, saw the kiosks, and appreciated that the folks in them never bugged us.

By the time we returned from our vacation, we knew we wanted to go back to WDW annually for as long as possible. It'd been the best vacation we'd ever had!

So we looked into it in January 2007, and ultimately decided being tied to Disney would be bad.

But I kept reading these boards and checking the resale market. In March I contacted a DVC rep. and discussed buying new. I got the DVD and the book.

By April we were really thinking hard about it, and finally realized how few points we really needed. We'd been thinking of buying 280 points, but when it got right down to it, we really only needed 150. If we needed more later on, we could always add-on. So, at 150 points, it wasn't too huge of a commitment for us.

We started looking in earnest for our ideal contract on the resale market in mid-April, and found it two weeks ago. We've made it through ROFR, but it'll be a few weeks more before we close.

So, the answer to the question is that we could have bought DVC about 7 months sooner, but it would have been one heck of a leap of faith!

 

[pilferk]

We entertained the notion back in '01 (before we had kids). We could have afforded it, cash, and seriously considered buying in...We had gone down in Sept of '01 for a trip (at AKL, no less!), did the tour, etc. We scheduled another trip in early December, and we had serious discussions through October, etc and were leaning toward buying.

Then my wife got pregnant. We cancelled the December trip (getting preggers wasn't easy, and we were paranoid about flying), and decided to table DVC talk until our daughter was a bit older. We did take a trip or two in the interim, for conferences for me at the Contemp.

We were still talking about it a year and a half later when "we" got pregnant again. We decided to continue to "table" the talk until our son was a little older, and took another trip for a conference at the Contemp.

Then, we started seriously talking about it again late in '05, early in '06 leading up to a work trip for a conference at....you guessed it....the contemp. We didn't do the tour, but did poke around SSR for a bit...and it wasn't really our deal. We came home, had some talks over the next 6 weeks (at that point, it seemed it was when, not if, with our only misgiving related to SSR and possibly waiting for a new resort)....and promply found out we'd brought home a little disney sourvenir.

So we again tabled the discussion and waited until my daughter was born. Just after that, rumors began swirling about CRV and AKV...both were very appealing to us, and we decided that we would buy into whichever was announced first. At long last, we would be DVC members!

I don't regret waiting. It was the right decision for us and, quite frankly, it probably was a good financial decision too (the money we had in '01 to purchase DVC became "extra" down payment on the house we had built). But still, in retrospect, as much as waiting worked out well for us, there's that nagging sentiment wishing we'd bought in earlier.

 

[bwvBound]

pilferk -- what great blessings along the wait!

 

[pilferk]

pilferk -- what great blessings along the wait!

Thanks! I agree! And, quite frankly, they'll make the DVC membership all that much sweeter.

I really love that my wife and I were able to go, alone, before the kids were born. We find we're not in such a rush to do the parks "commando", like we were B.K. (Before Kids). Now, we're able to slow down and really see the parks through the kids eyes. Honestly, to me, nothing is more magical than that! And the DVC membership seems to really compliment that "style" of Disney vacationing....

 

[Cruelladeville]

We toured OKW in 92,93,95, and we still have the pictures they took of the family after the tour! I refused to join, though, because there was no maid service and it was only for rich people. Well, BW opened in 96?-97? We went to dinner at Cape May, and I had had a couple of drinks so we walked over to BW to tour, and I told the guy at the podium, "we're here to buy!" I don't know where that came from, but we did buy, and now own 916 pts, so it wasn't just for rich people.

Every time we talk about buying in, DH points out that he wanted to buy in in 92, when it was $48 per pt, but I had to have maid service!