If you have not done a DVC presentation, I would highly recommend giving it a try. During our first experience, we were compensated for our time spent with the agent. More importantly, it was a presentation that would forever change how my wife and I plan our vacations. At the end of our presentation, we decided to join DVC at the brand new Riviera Resort. While our decision had a quick turnaround, there were several questions that we had brainstormed before, during, and after the presentation.
Was DVC right for us?
My wife and I both reside in Southern California with no kids. We are in our early 30s, both working professionals, and have been married for a few years (since the writing of this article). During our DVC presentation, we were amazed at the professionalism and pressure-less scenario but also felt out of place. Most of the attendees were folks with several generations; the multimedia had more to say for families.
However, with the new Riviera Resort Tower Studios, we found those to be the perfect accommodations for the two of us. The new resort had plenty to offer for us two and provided the perfect transportation options that we were already familiar with. With the new Disney Skyliner Transportation System, we found this mode of transportation to work well with our travel needs. While advertised as alternative transportation to Hollywood Studios and Epcot, access to the WDW Monorail is an added plus. While the point value and availability for a Tower Studio is not as efficient, the flexibility of direct DVC points gives us the opportunity to stay at other resorts.
Can we see ourselves using DVC for the next several decades?
We have friends who travel all over the world, and having DVC might feel like we will be stuck. However, we realized that our vacationing habits needed to be physically away from work (no staycations), minimal travel planning (no zealous planning), and ease of accessibility to fun and entertainment. DVC checked all these boxes. While it is difficult to think a few years ahead, we saw this as an opportunity to invest early. In our most recent trip to WDW for the Dream’s Unlimited Travel 20 Years of Dream event, we had the opportunity to attend the Animal Kingdom Moonlight Magic event with some other DVC members. We took this opportunity to ask this question, and everyone’s regret was not buying sooner.
During our opportunity to purchase, we had two options: resale or direct. While the price of resale was very attractive, we wanted to take advantage of the direct contract benefits. For direct purchases, Riviera Resort and Aulani were advertised, but our DVC guide also gave us the option to purchase our favorite resort, Animal Kingdom Lodge. However, we ended up with Riviera Resort for the 50-year contract.
Before our trip, we had familiarized ourselves with the DVC Show and the DISboards, which was very helpful and informative. We were familiar with buying resale through vendors like The Timeshare Store. But what really helped the most was to talk to DVC members in-person.
Is DVC worth it?
DVC is a big financial investment. Depending on the number of points, the monetary amount for a contract could be equivalent to a new car. What convinced us to purchase was comparing the amount spent on our most recent cash stay. We saw the cost of our value resort vacation was equivalent to a DVC contract down payment. Since we had already planned for annual visits to Walt Disney World, we decided to put our vacation savings into a DVC contract. After buying our Riviera Resort contract and sifting the point charts, we are now able to fit two trips a year!
Since signing our direct contract in Summer 2019, we already took advantage of Moonlight Magic @ Disney California Adventure and booked a couple of trips for 2020 (March @ Animal Kingdom Lodge, August @ Old Key West and Riviera Resort).
What is your experience like doing DVC? Do you have any tips for two?
My tip would be that couples ensure they’re prepared for the future financial commitments owning DVC entails. While making a down payment is equal to someone’s whole trip, if someone buys DVC via paying over years, then the so-called break even point is pushed out years later as you have to figure the interest rate into the equation (on a side note, the only fair way to compare costs also includes discounted deals on hotels that are readily available). Moreover, member maintenance fees never go away and, in fact, increase each year. While you may only pay $7 per point this year, within 10 years that cost will likely be closer to $9 per point. In 20 years, you could see $12 per point. . .and so on. Meanwhile, perks such as discounts on merchandise, restaurants, and annual passes among other things can go away at Disney’s whim. Those perks are not built into the contract. One of the selling points DVC gives new owners is that they can trade out points to travel to other places around the world or DCL cruises except that’s a terrible value for your points. Finally, and this point is rather ironic, to make best use of your points, you need to do visit Disney the rest of your lives. You tend to make more trips, thus you spend more money. 😉 As long as a couple understand that their vacation habits may alter in later years, that having a family down the road changes a lot of habits, and that in the long run DVC is nothing more than a timeshare (i.e., a luxury), then DVC can be a marvelous thing.
We are a couple who just bought into Riviera as well. We stayed at Pop Century for 8 days and loved the Skyliner, so that method of transportation was a big plus for us (I don’t understand why people think it breaks down so much. It seems that when it pauses for a few minutes people think that it’s broken, but that’s normal for any gondola system in my experience). We got the minimum (100 points) direct from Disney, no financing, and plan to add a resale contract elsewhere later on. I worried about making this big purchase up to the minute we were doing it, but I didn’t want to regret not buying sooner like other DVC members say.
I don’t think DVC is only for families. New resort contracts start out at 50yrs. Hopefully within 50yrs your kids grow up and move out 😀 Let those brats get their own DVC. It’s nice to bring your kids but they quickly grow up. I can definitely see my husband and I perfectly enjoying our DVC as a couple only.