The reality check thread: when DVC didn’t go as expected

We have bought three direct contracts. We never had a good experience with the "Welcome Home Stay". This most recent time a few months ago, (and I realize this is my fault), I rebooked a stay longer with the new points while there was availabilty before calling to trying to book a WHS. Well because I did this, I was no longer eligible. After expressing dismay at the inflixibility of the process after handing over quite a bit of money to them, it was suggested I attended a class on how to use points.

So lesson to everyone else, before you do ANYTHING else after buying a new direct contract, call and book your welcome home stay....

I appreciate you sharing this, because it’s the kind of nuance that isn’t obvious until you run into it yourself. It’s a good reminder that timing and sequence matter more than they probably should with things like the Welcome Home Stay.

Hopefully future purchases or changes come with a bit more flexibility or at least clearer guidance upfront. Either way, your experience will help others avoid the same situation.

Hope to see you in the parks!

A class on how to use points? This is a first for me.

I recently learned a lesson (after 14 years being a dvc member). After a sister trip recently, my sister transferred points to me (we share our points for these trips). She is SSR-resale, so the points are restricted. I went to use them for a quick one night stay to use them up and instead they took points I had in my bank. I am bummed because apparently banking goes before transferred and I was hoping to use my own points with my BLT contract for a different longer stay. According to the online chat, nope. Another lesson: I thought her transferred points would expire this July (August use year) I am a march use year, so this gets confusing-her points don't expire this July'26 , they expire July'27! Go figure, I thought transfer points expire for use year.

So newbie or not, always learning the point mystery!

Controversial. but we bought BLT without having stayed at that resort. While had a lovely time and the 1 bedroom villa was great, it ranks at the bottom of DVC resorts for me. I've realized I really value easy access to Epcot and solid quick service, and Contempo Cafe was just not our fave. This is a great argument for trying before you buy.

I'm debating selling the contract to buy more direct points or resale at a more preferred resort, or using them at 7 months for "sleep around points."

We had something similar occur with a 50pt BWV resale we bought, never having stayed in villas or inn.

Thought we’d like BWV primarily for how close it is to Epcot and DHS. That, we did like. However, upon a 2-night stay shortly after buying, we realized the BW area was too busy and noisy for us. Also, we cared less for the villas being attached to BWI than we anticipated.

We sold ours and bought more BCV resale. Certainly is helpful that small contracts sell quickly for well-located resorts. Obviously, that’s what I suggest, as you can stash the proceeds until you find a resort you’d rather have if you’ve none in mind that you want.

I keep hearing about this "Welcome Home Stay" yet when we bought direct there was no mention of it...is it fairly new? We bought in 2013...is it direct only? We bought our resales '17, '18 and '23.

Welcome Home stay just means it your first dvc stay, thats it.

Thanks for this advice!😉

So many intricacies. I feel like this should be made clear to a member before the transaction is processed. Bummer!

Yes. I've been watching the DVCFan Youtube channel and can confirm Paul and Amy discussed that Welcome Home stays are exclusive to direct-purchase contracts.

I'm very interested in becoming a DVC member but I have already found SO much relies on you doing your own research. I've been crafting spreadsheets, diving into Youtube and forums, talking to a direct Disney guide, etc. What I thought would be a straightforward decision has so many variables some of which are unpredictable making decisions that much more difficult.

Without the tremendous resources that the DVCFan community has made readily available at my fingertips I would be not only lost but not fully informed.

All I can say...don't wait. My biggest DVC regret is not buying sooner. Dive right in, whether direct or resale do it. Once the first contract is bought and you start using it, it all comes together. I have both types and they both have positive and negatives. However.....resale has more positives right now. Good Luck!

Honestly when I bought it came with a rather large "instruction" package/book. It is all in there and accessible, but I am not good at fine print. I am an "experience" learner, it sticks in my brain once I "experience" it and learn my lesson! LOL

I did not have Paul and Amy or anything like that when we bought-just a forum many of us know of ;) that was helpful, but not on the Paul and Amy level helpful! 😂🍕

I created a VERY thorough spreadsheet to make sure math worked out before buying my resale contract. My financial advisor (who is very knowledgable on these things) went through it with me and agreed that it was a no-brainer to buy the contract. My wife is also a Disney travel planner and added a lot of insight into things from a cost standpoint (like the average discounts that could be had...too many people just compare DVC to rack rates). That said, I did miscalculate one thing regarding maintenance fees. A resort can have years of maintenance fees history, allowing you to identify the average yearly increase and average variance off that increase (how often do the fees skew off the average and by how much). HOWEVER, as a resort ages the cost to maintain that resort will increase and more renovations will need to be done...which will increase the maintenance fees. Yeah, I never thought of that.

I own BCV and I noticed over the last few years that the maintenance fees have increased dramatically over what they were forecast to be (based on the history, by year, of maintenance fees and their variance). After looking into it, it sounds like this increase is due to what I described above. Buying DVC, even with these higher fees, was still a no brainer...but the savings is slightly less. Make no mistake, though, the savings of buying into DVC are still huge compared to paying non DVC prices.

The lesson? As my financial guy would say, "past performance is not a guarantee of future performance". Don't think that DVC maintenance fees will continue increasing at the same rate for the life of your contract. As the resort ages, they will increase at a higher rate. Build that into your "mathing" when evaluating your DVC purchase.