DVC Resale Vs. Renting

[Brian Noble]

The market generally over-values stripped contracts, and under-values loaded ones. That doesn't mean you have to buy a loaded one, but there is little good reason to buy a stripped one unless it is exactly what you want and "exactly what you want" is a particular use year at a particular resort for a particular point value, and that combination is rare.

I cannot justify the difference between direct and resale to myself in dollars-and-cents terms. Instead, the difference is in the emotional benefit of never having to face "I'm not really a Member," plus the added friction-free use of points at restricted resorts. Some people will place a high value on those things. Others not so much. YMMV.

As for transportation time: Nothing at WDW is close to everything else, and so inevitably I expect to spend some time getting between points A and B. As they say on the Transportation Board: There is no pixie dust in transportation. Our trips are very rarely MK-dominant, and haven't been since the kids were very little. Even then, less than half of our time was spent in MK. That tends to make being "on the monorail" a little less important to us. Our monorail experience (at BLT) was fine, but we did not find it exceptionally compelling. But, again, YMMV. This is going to depend a lot on how you "do" WDW.

 

[emchen]

Focusing on Poly and BLT, what would be considered a target?
For instance, BLT, Mar use year, 200 points, $135 pp, 277/201/200, $27k seems like a pretty good deal to me? Also, Poly, Dec use year, 200 points, $133pp, 200/200/200 $26,600 as well. Am I on the right track?

Definitely on the right track. Dvcrofr.com will also help with comps so you can see where you want to be after a counter offer or two.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Thank you to anyone who reads and responds to this book! haha

Speaking of books, I recently purchased the DVC Field Guide put together by Jimmy Shaddock https://www.dvcfieldguide.com/ and found it to be super valuable. On his website he also has availability tables which can really help answer some of your questions as to what may be available at any given point in time, which I find more useful than the blanket statement of "availability at 5-6 months isn't bad". It depends on what time frame you're looking at for your visit.

I bought a loaded contract resale, 250 pts with 180-ish from the previous year. Work intervened with my planned usage and I will end up using something like 140 points this use year which left me with 290 points that I rented out. Renting out 290 points ended up covering more than 1/4 of my purchase price, or a few years of dues if you want to look at it that way. Of course renting out points is not a guarantee but it's at least useful to know that the option is there.

 

[lilsonicfan]

One more thing, as a family of 5 here too I would just caution you to look at the points charts carefully before buying and think about the times you'll travel. My kids are a bit older and I'm now hesitant to take them out of school but when they were your kids' ages I didn't think twice, but that decision did impact my UY choice and how many points to buy. You probably know this already but 1BRs often cost twice as many points as studios and thus are often available for longer periods after the 11 month mark but again that largely depends on where you want to stay.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Thank you for the responses! So much good information in this thread. We are locking in our booking for Poly today, so we will be taking that trip. I wanted to atleast stay in one of the monorail resorts before seriously considering buying there. Full disclosure, I thoroughly enjoyed French Quarter (not bcz of theming or anything, as we live in south Alabama and have been to the real one many times) because we were not in the room very much, did not spend a ton of time at the resort, and Sassagoula was awesome. I had a beignet sundae every night! My wife did say that she felt "cramped" in the room, and I certainly don't disagree with that. I guess what I'm saying is that I want to see how much nicer the resort is and how much more convenient the location/travel is compared to the (near double) price tag.

I would like to respond to some of the comments with some more questions, anyone feel free to answer as you can.
For renting points, is availability generally there? Realistically, I never had much hope in finding a DVC rental 3 months before a trip, but what has generally been the cutoff? Is there some/a lot of availability 5-6 months out? Or is it pretty much that you need to book 11 months out if you want to get what you want? Great point about the boys getting older and having less flexibility with school/function scheduling and such, I agree with that.

"Rent half of what you need so the upfront investment isn’t as much then borrow every other year and rent on years that you already borrowed from." Just making sure I understand this comment correctly. This is saying to just rent the points based on the trip we want to take? As in, have a trip scheduled with rented points through somewhere like david's?

I understand the time value of money/opportunity cost concept, and there's no arguing against that math. However, it also assumes that one would actually take that $ and only use it as an investment vehicle. While the future is uncertain, and we all need as much retirement money as possible, my wife contributes to her matched 401k, I have a defined benefits pension plan, and I also have money automatically deferred into a 457B every paycheck. I am less concerned with the time value of this money, should we decide to make a purchase. As one poster said, "the experiences and memories with family are worth more that any amount of money." I agree with this statement completely.

In terms of purchasing... I have really started looking hard at listings, dvcrofr, these message boards etc., trying to learn as much as possible in order to make an informed decision. We are taking this trip in February, so I am not in any kind of rush to buy, but I also want to learn what I can about a good deal vs great deal, what to look for etc. in order to not miss out on an opportunity.

Some of my current thoughts:
-In my situation, being an owner of "0" points, stripped contracts seem worthless to me, unless it was a supreme deal, and I was also buying another contract with it. Most of the stripped contracts I see are priced comparably to regular ones.
-Loaded contracts just seem like they provide significantly more value, even over just regular ones.
-Without significant price discounts (like VGF over the summer) I just do not see the value of direct purchasing over resale. At all. Even with restrictions factored in.
-I will find out firsthand in February, but I really feel like the convenience of the monorail resorts is a big +. We are not bougie at all, but I do not mind spending money on something, as long as I feel like I am getting good value. For instance, I'm very much a "when I'm on vacation, I'm on vacation" type of person. If we drive, I want to park the car and not crank it again until we are leaving for home. Non-Disney property resorts were never even considered, even though I know they represent significant savings. While I will honestly say that I commend Disney for our experience with bus transportation, as it was surprisingly efficient in my opinion (maybe we were just lucky?) but we certainly lost a ton of time with bus travel, and when we went to the park, we were pretty much there for the day.
All of that being said, it seems like we missed the boat on VGF, so future resale may be better than current there. Focusing on Poly and BLT, what would be considered a target?
For instance, BLT, Mar use year, 200 points, $135 pp, 277/201/200, $27k seems like a pretty good deal to me? Also, Poly, Dec use year, 200 points, $133pp, 200/200/200 $26,600 as well. Am I on the right track? I know a lot of ppl are saying prices should fall, but I don't know how they are compared to historical averages, so I certainly don't have an opinion there.

Thank you to anyone who reads and responds to this book! haha

It’s not my preferred theming, but if your budget allows…I’d try a 1Bd or 2Bd BLT… the walking distance to MK while your kids are elementary school aged, monorail access, and extra space/bathroom…. very tough to beat.

I think the hard part is when you start looking at the math on renting 200 points during the 7-11m window for $22+ a point for $4400 when that’s 16% of the value of a contract…

IMO BLT is a very low risk purchase given the location, low dues, and room sizes (# of bathrooms).

Be warned… a 1 Bd with 2 bathrooms or a 2 Bd with 3 bathrooms… and laundry… for a family of 5…. it will be nearly impossible to stay in a hotel room/studio ever again!

 

[sndral]

When considering contracts w/ current & banked points (loaded contracts) I think you need to also know whether you can use those points & for that you need to understand use years & banking deadlines & whether there’ll be anything to book once you have access to those points. A nice big number of banked points to start will do you no good if they expire before you can use them. I’ve used your 2 examples in an attempt to illustrate

…
For instance, BLT, Mar use year, 200 points, $135 pp, 277/201/200, $27k seems like a pretty good deal to me? Also, Poly, Dec use year, 200 points, $133pp, 200/200/200 $26,600 as well. Am I on the right track? I know a lot of ppl are saying prices should fall, but I don't know how they are compared to historical averages, so I certainly don't have an opinion there.

Thank you to anyone who reads and responds to this book! haha

200 BLT March use year. Looking at the 277 - are these in the 2023 use year or the 2024 use year?
I’ll assume 2023, if so, you must use all banked points (77 of the 277?) for a stay before 3/1/2024. Also, since you are past the banking deadline for a March use year (which was Oct. 31, 2023) you also must use the remaining 2023 (200 of the 277?) points by the end of Feb. 2024, since it’s too late to bank them forward. Assuming you offer on the contract, it’ll take 2-3 months to pass ROFR, get your membership set up & access to the points, giving you only 1 or 2 months to try to grab a last minute stay w/ 277 points before they expire.
Compare that to the Poly Dec. use year contract. If it’s 200 (2023)/200 (2024)/200 (2025). December hasn’t even started its’ 2023 use year yet, so those 2023 points can be used to book trips occurring between 12/1/2023 and 11/30/2024 or they can be banked anytime before July 31, 2024 into your 2024 use year to be used for trips occurring between 12/1/2024 - 11/30/2025.
OTH, if those Dec. Poly points are 2022/2023/2024 points, the first 200 - the 2022 points - are worthless, since they’ll expire on 12/1/2023 & you won’t get through ROFR, closing, & account set up before 11/30/23.
W/ a family of your composition I’d hesitate to go w/ the Poly ATM, it’s a lovely resort, but it won’t take long before those studios feel too small as your 3 children get older. If you’re ok w/ switching at 7 months to a resort w/ bigger villas once your kids are older, then it’s less of a concern.

 

[intamin]

I would like to respond to some of the comments with some more questions, anyone feel free to answer as you can.
For renting points, is availability generally there?

For renting, availability works similarly to owning, ideally book the room at 11 months. Within 5 months, availability is shoddy. With renting though you need to give yourself even more buffer time because you have to wait for someone who is willing to rent the points to you

"Rent half of what you need so the upfront investment isn’t as much then borrow every other year and rent on years that you already borrowed from." Just making sure I understand this comment correctly. This is saying to just rent the points based on the trip we want to take? As in, have a trip scheduled with rented points through somewhere like david's?

They're saying to buy a smaller contract and bank/borrow to go on trips every other year. On years where you have a break and don't have any points remaining, rent points from other people to cover the trips in the off years.

I understand the time value of money/opportunity cost concept, and there's no arguing against that math. However, it also assumes that one would actually take that $ and only use it as an investment vehicle. While the future is uncertain, and we all need as much retirement money as possible, my wife contributes to her matched 401k, I have a defined benefits pension plan, and I also have money automatically deferred into a 457B every paycheck. I am less concerned with the time value of this money, should we decide to make a purchase. As one poster said, "the experiences and memories with family are worth more that any amount of money." I agree with this statement completely.

I'm in this boat as well. I'm going on the trips and outspending what I would've made in interest. As much as I would've liked to keep and invest the money, I'm realistic with myself and we've been on 7 trips this year alone.

In terms of purchasing... I have really started looking hard at listings, dvcrofr, these message boards etc., trying to learn as much as possible in order to make an informed decision. We are taking this trip in February, so I am not in any kind of rush to buy, but I also want to learn what I can about a good deal vs great deal, what to look for etc. in order to not miss out on an opportunity.

You probably wouldn't be able to use DVC points for this trip unless you bought direct anyways and had them book you a "Welcome Home" trip where DVC pulls from their special inventory for the first trip.

Some of my current thoughts:
-In my situation, being an owner of "0" points, stripped contracts seem worthless to me, unless it was a supreme deal, and I was also buying another contract with it. Most of the stripped contracts I see are priced comparably to regular ones.
-Loaded contracts just seem like they provide significantly more value, even over just regular ones.

They do, stripped contracts are generally overvalued and loaded contracts are undervalued on the resale market.

-I will find out firsthand in February, but I really feel like the convenience of the monorail resorts is a big +. We are not bougie at all, but I do not mind spending money on something, as long as I feel like I am getting good value. For instance, I'm very much a "when I'm on vacation, I'm on vacation" type of person. If we drive, I want to park the car and not crank it again until we are leaving for home. Non-Disney property resorts were never even considered, even though I know they represent significant savings. While I will honestly say that I commend Disney for our experience with bus transportation, as it was surprisingly efficient in my opinion (maybe we were just lucky?) but we certainly lost a ton of time with bus travel, and when we went to the park, we were pretty much there for the day.
All of that being said, it seems like we missed the boat on VGF, so future resale may be better than current there. Focusing on Poly and BLT, what would be considered a target?

Not allowed to post specific contracts on here per forum rules but I would aim for a target between 125-135 per point in a use year you like for those resorts. If loaded that would be a great deal

 

[twodogs]

We looked at DVC many times over the years (our kids are now 16 and 18) but never did it because I had several considerations:
-I didn’t want to feel like we “had” to vacation at a DVC resort (or trade into another time share) every year or so just because otherwise we were wasting money/points or having to go through the renting out process
-I wasn’t sure when my kids were 4 and 6 years old after our first WDW trip, if they (or we) were going to love Disney in 2 years or in 10 years or not at all (turns out we all still love it)
-I would have thought we would have always loved WDW the most (back when we first started going to Disney parks) and bought there if we had done it back then; turns out now that we love DLR even more, as it suits us much better these days, not having to do transportation between parks, better weather, ride density. Flights are the same (we live in Texas). So we would have chosen the “wrong” home resort if we had bought back then.
-Kids get physically bigger; those points that seem like a good deal now for booking that studio might likely won’t get you the space you need later. We only have 2 kids, but with 3, you really need to look at enough points for at least a 1 bedroom (or bigger, depending on gender of your kids, etc, as they may not mind sharing that sofa bed now, but may not want to share beds when they are teens, gender notwithstanding).
-as OP stated, your kids will likely get to the point in MS or HS where they won’t want to miss school and get behind (or miss sports or fill in the blank), and you will only be going at the school breaks (read: most ”expensive” times in terms of points and availability challenges for booking outside of your home resort). If you have chosen a home resort (or park, as in WDW vs DLR) that no longer suits your family, this will really be felt
-we needed flexibility to cancel; my job and my husband’s jobs aren’t always predictable; as our parents have aged, their health sometimes means we have very last minute changes in travel plans; we don’t even rent points at this time based on these limitations; if we had bought DVC, yes, we can reschedule our our reservations (so more flexibility than renting points), but we still have to contend with limited or no availability to alter plans at times at some resorts and/or losing our points if we aren’t able to use them at the last minute and it’s too late to rent them out.

So much good advice to be had on these boards, but do realize that on the DVC boards, the vast majority are happy owners, and you may not get the completely balanced views of those that have chosen not to buy DVC. Good luck with your decision.

 

[intamin]

We looked at DVC many times over the years (our kids are now 16 and 18) but never did it because I had several considerations:
-I didn’t want to feel like we “had” to vacation at a DVC resort (or trade into another time share) every year or so just because otherwise we were wasting money/points or having to go through the renting out process
-I wasn’t sure when my kids were 4 and 6 years old after our first WDW trip, if they (or we) were going to love Disney in 2 years or in 10 years or not at all (turns out we all still love it)
-I would have thought we would have always loved WDW the most (back when we first started going to Disney parks) and bought there if we had done it back then; turns out now that we love DLR even more, as it suits us much better these days, not having to do transportation between parks, better weather, ride density. Flights are the same (we live in Texas). So we would have chosen the “wrong” home resort if we had bought back then.
-Kids get physically bigger; those points that seem like a good deal now for booking that studio might likely won’t get you the space you need later. We only have 2 kids, but with 3, you really need to look at enough points for at least a 1 bedroom (or bigger, depending on gender of your kids, etc, as they may not mind sharing that sofa bed now, but may not want to share beds when they are teens, gender notwithstanding).
-as OP stated, your kids will likely get to the point in MS or HS where they won’t want to miss school and get behind (or miss sports or fill in the blank), and you will only be going at the school breaks (read: most ”expensive” times in terms of points and availability challenges for booking outside of your home resort). If you have chosen a home resort (or park, as in WDW vs DLR) that no longer suits your family, this will really be felt
-we needed flexibility to cancel; my job and my husband’s jobs aren’t always predictable; as our parents have aged, their health sometimes means we have very last minute changes in travel plans; we don’t even rent points at this time based on these limitations; if we had bought DVC, yes, we can reschedule our our reservations (so more flexibility than renting points), but we still have to contend with limited or no availability to alter plans at times at some resorts and/or losing our points if we aren’t able to use them at the last minute and it’s too late to rent them out.

So much good advice to be had on these boards, but do realize that on the DVC boards, the vast majority are happy owners, and you may not get the completely balanced views of those that have chosen not to buy DVC. Good luck with your decision.

All great points! Thank you for providing this opposing perspective as obviously the rest of us are pretty one sided.

I agree with pretty much all of them. You never know if some medical thing starts getting in the way of trips and traversing the parks is no longer as easy as it was before. Or if your kids start falling out of love with Disney. This is why I personally only recommend people to buy DVC for themselves and not for their kids, grandkids etc. You can control how often you go to a degree, but you can't control what your kids or your kids' kids will do or be interested in in the future. If you're going regularly already and love it on your own then yeah you should consider it. But if there's any doubt about whether or not you want to keep visiting these locations for the foreseeable future then maybe renting would be the better option.

 

[AstroBlasters]

All great points! Thank you for providing this opposing perspective as obviously the rest of us are pretty one sided.

I agree with pretty much all of them. You never know if some medical thing starts getting in the way of trips and traversing the parks is no longer as easy as it was before. Or if your kids start falling out of love with Disney. This is why I personally only recommend people to buy DVC for themselves and not for their kids, grandkids etc. You can control how often you go to a degree, but you can't control what your kids or your kids' kids will do or be interested in in the future. If you're going regularly already and love it on your own then yeah you should consider it. But if there's any doubt about whether or not you want to keep visiting these locations for the foreseeable future then maybe renting would be the better option.

I agree that it is beneficial to have a variety of perspectives. Would it be fair to say that 8-9 years is a potential breakeven in this case?

Very simplistically, $22 to rent - $8 dues = $14per point. $130/14= 9 years.

Obviously a loaded contract would break even more quickly than a stripped contract. The price of dues will go up, but so historically has the cost of renting.

At the end of 9-years it would be 2033 and a buyer would have 26 years left for which they could sell the contract, rent out the points, or continue to enjoy the points.

 

[intamin]

I agree that it is beneficial to have a variety of perspectives. Would it be fair to say that 8-9 years is a potential breakeven in this case?

Very simplistically, $22 to rent - $8 dues = $14per point. $130/14= 9 years.

Obviously a loaded contract would break even more quickly than a stripped contract. The price of dues will go up, but so historically has the cost of renting.

At the end of 9-years it would be 2033 and a buyer would have 26 years left for which they could sell the contract, rent out the points, or continue to enjoy the points.

I think that's a good way to think about it. Never actually thought of it like that but seems on par given most people's break even is 8-12 years.

One intangible benefit of renting is essentially having the 11 month booking window at everywhere so if renting it may have been a few points less to stay in a standard room or something but it's obviously way more complicated to add that in.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I think that's a good way to think about it. Never actually thought of it like that but seems on par given most people's break even is 8-12 years.

One intangible benefit of renting is essentially having the 11 month booking window at everywhere so if renting it may have been a few points less to stay in a standard room or something but it's obviously way more complicated to add that in.

Very good point about the 11m window at various resorts.

 

[Jameson416]

I agree that it is beneficial to have a variety of perspectives. Would it be fair to say that 8-9 years is a potential breakeven in this case?

Very simplistically, $22 to rent - $8 dues = $14per point. $130/14= 9 years.

Obviously a loaded contract would break even more quickly than a stripped contract. The price of dues will go up, but so historically has the cost of renting.

At the end of 9-years it would be 2033 and a buyer would have 26 years left for which they could sell the contract, rent out the points, or continue to enjoy the points.

That is a very good way to look at it I think. Yes, time value of money is a real thing. However, chances are that you are actually less concerned with TVM in practice, than you are just using it as the mathematical opposition perspective. Meaning, if you are even having this conversation, you probably do not already have that money in an investment vehicle and are therefore not taking advantage of the time value anyway.

I was doing some rough #'s and came up with the following:
Based on a 200 point contract, $29k initial + $1600/yr maintenance fees, studio accommodations at poly, rack vs DVC pricing.

I could do 9 years worth of (1) 5 night stay/yr in the timeframe I chose for $35,538.75 @rack rates

I could take (2) 5-night stay trips/yr for 4 years (8 trips) for $35,340. My 9th and 10th trips through DVC, would be cheaper than trip #10 through rack pricing.

Most would be quick to point out that I did not include things such as maintenance cost increases, promo discounts etc. I chose to assume that maintenance costs would increase at a similar rate to the rising cost of Disney's rack pricing. Honestly, I feel like MF will probably rise slower than Disney prices, though I could be wrong. Promotions are not a guarantee (we are not getting one on our upcoming trip) and this is a rough estimate projection. This exercise also takes into account the same bookings, studio standard @poly, while the breakeven gap certainly narrows if more expensive rooms are considered. I know there will be a point when we are looking for 1 and 2 Br villas, especially as the kids age, or other family decides to go with us.

Does this seem somewhat accurate as a "rough" projection for purchasing?

 

[AstroBlasters]

That is a very good way to look at it I think. Yes, time value of money is a real thing. However, chances are that you are actually less concerned with TVM in practice, than you are just using it as the mathematical opposition perspective. Meaning, if you are even having this conversation, you probably do not already have that money in an investment vehicle and are therefore not taking advantage of the time value anyway.

I was doing some rough #'s and came up with the following:
Based on a 200 point contract, $29k initial + $1600/yr maintenance fees, studio accommodations at poly, rack vs DVC pricing.

I could do 9 years worth of (1) 5 night stay/yr in the timeframe I chose for $35,538.75 @rack rates

I could take (2) 5-night stay trips/yr for 4 years (8 trips) for $35,340. My 9th and 10th trips through DVC, would be cheaper than trip #10 through rack pricing.

Most would be quick to point out that I did not include things such as maintenance cost increases, promo discounts etc. I chose to assume that maintenance costs would increase at a similar rate to the rising cost of Disney's rack pricing. Honestly, I feel like MF will probably rise slower than Disney prices, though I could be wrong. Promotions are not a guarantee (we are not getting one on our upcoming trip) and this is a rough estimate projection. This exercise also takes into account the same bookings, studio standard @poly, while the breakeven gap certainly narrows if more expensive rooms are considered. I know there will be a point when we are looking for 1 and 2 Br villas, especially as the kids age, or other family decides to go with us.

Does this seem somewhat accurate as a "rough" projection for purchasing?

It’s seems like a very well thought out process to me.

Just to throw a wrench in things you could start smaller buying a 100 point contract at BLT now (bank and borrow every other year to use as a 200 point contract) and then consider a 150 point contract at Poly2 during the member pre-sale to get access to discounts and have unrestricted points for restricted and future resorts. Poly 2 will have the Villas.

 

[twodogs]

That is a very good way to look at it I think. Yes, time value of money is a real thing. However, chances are that you are actually less concerned with TVM in practice, than you are just using it as the mathematical opposition perspective. Meaning, if you are even having this conversation, you probably do not already have that money in an investment vehicle and are therefore not taking advantage of the time value anyway.

I was doing some rough #'s and came up with the following:
Based on a 200 point contract, $29k initial + $1600/yr maintenance fees, studio accommodations at poly, rack vs DVC pricing.

I could do 9 years worth of (1) 5 night stay/yr in the timeframe I chose for $35,538.75 @rack rates

I could take (2) 5-night stay trips/yr for 4 years (8 trips) for $35,340. My 9th and 10th trips through DVC, would be cheaper than trip #10 through rack pricing.

Most would be quick to point out that I did not include things such as maintenance cost increases, promo discounts etc. I chose to assume that maintenance costs would increase at a similar rate to the rising cost of Disney's rack pricing. Honestly, I feel like MF will probably rise slower than Disney prices, though I could be wrong. Promotions are not a guarantee (we are not getting one on our upcoming trip) and this is a rough estimate projection. This exercise also takes into account the same bookings, studio standard @poly, while the breakeven gap certainly narrows if more expensive rooms are considered. I know there will be a point when we are looking for 1 and 2 Br villas, especially as the kids age, or other family decides to go with us.

Does this seem somewhat accurate as a "rough" projection for purchasing?

One other consideration in the calculation should be any interest/financing costs of this purchase (or if paying cash for DVC at this time would impact taking on financing for other purchases or delay paying off other interest-generating debts). With current interest rates, this could make a significant difference to any calculation for some folks.

As well, I don’t imagine you will be in a studio after about years 4-6, once you have tweens/teens because the space (and one bathroom!) is just too small. Now that makes for a more complicated calculation of both cash/rental points and DVC since you would need more points (and incur more MFs, and possibly more closing costs if you add on at a later time to have the points for the 1bedroom or more)….

It sounds like you are thinking it through carefully. Enjoy your trips, whichever decision you make!

 

[Jameson416]

One other consideration in the calculation should be any interest/financing costs of this purchase (or if paying cash for DVC at this time would impact taking on financing for other purchases or delay paying off other interest-generating debts). With current interest rates, this could make a significant difference to any calculation for some folks.

As well, I don’t imagine you will be in a studio after about years 4-6, once you have tweens/teens because the space (and one bathroom!) is just too small. Now that makes for a more complicated calculation of both cash/rental points and DVC since you would need more points (and incur more MFs, and possibly more closing costs if you add on at a later time to have the points for the 1bedroom or more)….

It sounds like you are thinking it through carefully. Enjoy your trips, whichever decision you make!

Agreed. To each their own, however, it would be hard for me to see much (if any) benefit to making such a purchase under the financing terms that are offered. I would think the only feasible way to involve financing would be by using something such as a HELOC. Not saying that is financially responsible, however, when considering financing options, one could probably attain 50ish+% cuts on rates. Our only outstanding debts are home and 1 vehicle. Not paying the house off anytime soon, and while I suppose the smartest thing to do financially would be to pay off the auto loan, it has a low interest rate, making the capital more valuable than the outstanding loan in my opinion. Your points are well-taken though, and that is sound advice.

 

[kboo]

Family of five here too! I was 48 when we bought into our first contract. So if you buy into your first at 33, I say to you sir, LUCKY!

I was in my 40s also, with 2 very young kids because I had them in my 40s. So I love that you are in that position at 33 to be considering this!

We've noticed there is less urgency to 'do it all' ... since you will be back to use up your future points. Feels more relaxed.

It took us about 4 years (and more than 4 trips) to feel less urgent about hitting "everything". Just in time for my kids to be tweens and to want to ride certain rides OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER ...
Like: let's ride Everest AGAIN!! when I really want to soak in the atmosphere. But then I remember I didn't ride Everest for about 5 years running. I think my limit is 3x before I start turning green.

TLDR - An owning pro for us is 'Forced Vacations'

100% for us. DH and I have (had) careers that often have conferences in fun places. So we'd try to make a vacation out of our conferences, which was never fully fun for the non-conferencing parent. DVC makes us think about and plan more vacations (including non-Disney trips because we have to come up with a plan that covers all the trips)

My wife did say that she felt "cramped" in the room, and I certainly don't disagree with that. I guess what I'm saying is that I want to see how much nicer the resort is and how much more convenient the location/travel is compared to the (near double) price tag.

I think there are 2 points to this - as others have said, $ per night when you own are considerably lower than the rental price, so you're upgrading location and price and still paying only a little more than moderate prices. But you can certainly slice/dice the # other ways as well. We found that it made it easier for us to "splurge" for larger units that I would NEVER have done if paying out of pocket at a hotel. For example, staying at Grand Floridian in a 1br over Christmas is a BIG splurge. Renting those points (if it's even possible) is upwards of $10,000 for a week. Based on the cost we paid for those points (resale in 2017/2018) those stays were around $5,000. Since buying in we've had several Easter week and Christmas week stays that have been just magical - and we "only" paid around $40,000 for those points.

It’s not my preferred theming, but if your budget allows…I’d try a 1Bd or 2Bd BLT… the walking distance to MK while your kids are elementary school aged, monorail access, and extra space/bathroom…. very tough to beat.

BLT was where we first bought (resale) when prices were quite low. Our first exposure to DVC was a cash stay at BWV (where we were "upgraded" to 1br) and then a 2br BLT stay where we had my sister's family as well as my parents. 3 kids in strollers, so we really appreciated the walks to MK in the stroller with easy viewing of fireworks from our villa (or the ability to be at the base of Main St, watch fireworks, and have the kids in bed 15-20 minutes later).

We bought enough points to alternate staying in a studio and a 1br once a year, bought a contract with banked points, and started in a 1br. (Ha - the only time we stayed in a BLT studio was on an adults only anniversary weekend.) We quickly realized that the more relaxed Disney vacation goes hand in hand with larger accommodations. We still don't cook meals that much but we do use the kitchen to start our early days with fruit/breakfast.

 

[Chili327]

We’ve only been to WDW once in our life, and that’s when we rented the BLT points.

I want to go back and stay at BW or GF, but I have to wait until the politics of the state don’t make my wife boycott it…..

It's also the same flight distance for us to fly to Hawaii as Orlando…. and we don’t have to buy park tickets in Hawaii….

Current plans:

January- VDH (with Aulani direct points)
March- VGC (VGC points)
August- Aulani (with Aulani points)
November - VGC with the 2025 UY points
August 25- Aulani Grand Villa (will clear out our 26 points)

So, I’m thinking WDW will be on the docket for Spring Break 2027….

Love this!! (and the "current schedule")

 

[intamin]

I was in my 40s also, with 2 very young kids because I had them in my 40s. So I love that you are in that position at 33 to be considering this!

I wish my parents had put the money from my education into buying Grand Cal instead. I could've been a member in my teens Just kidding. Sort of.

 

[Chili327]

I wish my parents had put the money from my education into buying Grand Cal instead. I could've been a member in my teens Just kidding. Sort of.

I wish i knew what DVC was when i was a pass holder (early to mid 2000's), then i might have been holding my breathe for a few more years till VGC opened!!!