VWL Groupies & Lovers Thread (Special Collectors Edition 2.0) updated 21 June 2023

[Granny]

Not to turn this thing around, because we all should have concern for our dues increase, but I remind myself from time to time the reason(s) I bought into DVC. Granted, lots has changed over the years. It has become huge in relation to where we were in 2000/01 when VWL was first getting started. It has become less family like, more corporate like. But it remains for me and my family a creator of memories.

Jimmy...great perspective! I agree that DVC has allowed us to stay in on-site suites that we never would have been able to afford without DVC, and I wouldn't trade our family memories at WDW for anything!

But I agree also with you, DDad and Sleepy that the current pricing for points is so high! I am constantly amazed that Disney can continue to make the case for DVC ownership with the price increases per point, and the higher point requirements of some of their recent resorts.

We used to go for one week a year as a family, and as empty-nesters, Mrs Granny and I have been enjoying 2 trips per year in a 1BR. I had thought about more points when we have grandkids and need the larger accommodation again...we don't want to give up our second trip to handle the accommodations. But the price per point just keeps going in a crazy direction. We could buy resale but even that pricing is crazy...if we bought more VWL points we'd be paying much more per point for 16 fewer years of use.

Don't tell anyone, but I'm thinking our second trip each year in the future may well be an off-site location. As Jimmy pointed out, staying on-site even at the budget resorts is pretty pricey!

 

[twinklebug]

Dues are a shock every year. But, for me they're less painful than paying that high deductible on the health insurance ... and Disney is far more fun and relaxing than visiting a doctor any day no matter the reason. For mental health reasons alone I cannot consider dropping my DVC. Now, if only Mickey could do Stitches, manage Pain & Panic, and take care of the Sneezy, Wheezys and generalized Grumpys (One of the prior is not a Disney character.) Perhaps Disney should consider building a DVC with health care as a theme, or not. Can you imagine those dues?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

So...I'm wondering if VWL is picking up a higher percentage of the total shared costs since CCV is not yet fully declared. Clearly, WL went down in their percentage of shared costs but I think there were fewer units available to share those costs so VWL ended up with a higher percentage?


It all comes back to how Disney splits out the shared costs at a resort. And of course, we do not have access to that information. But I cannot think of any reason why VWL & CCV would have the highest dues at WDW. It makes no sense from an intuitive standpoint.



I'm not sure what shared costs would have gone up? The pool make take a little more staffing and some more towels, but running the new salon, Geyser Point and Roaring Fork shouldn't be part of our dues.

Like I said, it makes no sense that VWL would rise at a quicker rate than other DVC resorts. Not sure why the capital reserve would go up so much?

First we probably are seeing it in the taxes although that gets difficult to determine how much as attributable to the added amenities vs normal increases. There's going to be a new Community Hall that we'll pay for now (it hasn't opened yet though has it? Should soon though I'd think). There's new restrooms by the pool. New BBQ areas that we'd get a share of the maintenance costs. Not certain how they'll be breaking out the parking lots now - I'd expect the new lots for the cabins go to CCV.

I'd have to guess that we're in the works for a refurb again soon. They just replaced the roof so that should be good for a few years.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

When the dues for our pts. plus the cost of meals per year equals the price of the package deals one can get (including free dining) when booking on line (when not a DVC member) the same number of WDW trips per year, I couldn't help but to consider selling the pts. How sad.

I've been considering downsizing although we do have quite a few family members that we enjoy inviting along but I just have to figure out if I can squeeze more out with less! Babies are starting to come though so interest most likely won't be waning in the upcoming years. And myself - well I'm approaching 50 years of Disney theme park attendance so I'm probably a lifer. What makes me a bit sad is that our VWL contract is the one that keeps coming up as the most reasonable to eliminate, mostly because of the high dues. I love it there but we're flexible in when we go, like staying all over, and I know I'll be able to get us rooms there for visits because of our flexibility and preference of the larger villas. With the resale market up where I'd make more than I paid so it's tempting. It still makes me sad though - it was our first DVC contract. I'm not pulling the trigger just yet but consideration is getting stronger.

 

[jimmytammy]

I will say this, I looked out of curiosity a few days ago, and VWL is selling on The Timeshare Store in the 80s-90s range, so not terrible. In fact, I felt a little disappointed to find the value of many others was way up in comparison. For ex.(dont get me wrong, I own pts here too)BWV, an older DVC resort, and OKW, the flagship resort, are both selling for more, in the low 100s. So unless the high dues are affecting the lower cost, its a bit disheartening knowing our beloved lodge isn't holding as high a value. Maybe its because CCV is still selling?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I will say this, I looked out of curiosity a few days ago, and VWL is selling on The Timeshare Store in the 80s-90s range, so not terrible. In fact, I felt a little disappointed to find the value of many others was way up in comparison. For ex.(dont get me wrong, I own its here too)BWV, an older DVC resort, and OKW, the flagship resort, are both selling for more, in the low 100s. So unless the high dues are affecting the lower cost, its a bit disheartening knowing our beloved lodge isn't holding as high a value. Maybe its because CCV is still selling?

My main line of thought is that it hasn't risen like BWV and BCV in good part because of the additions of BLT, VGF and PVB and now a bit due to CCV. When VWL was built it was THE MK resort location for DVC. Once the other 3 came in and were on the monorail it lost that distinction. BWV and BCV remain the only Epcot resorts and have the benefit of being able to walk to 2 parks. Now with CCV if one wants to own at the resort that is a new option and has more years. In this case it seems like pricing may actually be reflecting the years left to expiration. As an average of years left the cost of VWL is probably pretty close to CCV.

But we'd still be able to sell and have essentially had the contract for no cost other than MF's - not too bad for a timeshare that ends in 2042 and that we've owned for almost a decade. That's all IF we decided to downsize.

 

[jimmytammy]

Perhaps Disney should consider building a DVC with health care as a theme, or not. Can you imagine those dues?

I like this idea! The dues would be out of this world, but imagine all the fun and mischief us groupies would have

My main line of thought is that it hasn't risen like BWV and BCV in good part because of the additions of BLT, VGF and PVB and now a bit due to CCV. When VWL was built it was THE MK resort location for DVC. Once the other 3 came in and were on the monorail it lost that distinction. BWV and BCV remain the only Epcot resorts and have the benefit of being able to walk to 2 parks. Now with CCV if one wants to own at the resort that is a new option and has more years. In this case it seems like pricing may actually be reflecting the years left to expiration. As an average of years left the cost of VWL is probably pretty close to CCV.

But we'd still be able to sell and have essentially had the contract for no cost other than MF's - not too bad for a timeshare that ends in 2042 and that we've owned for almost a decade. That's all IF we decided to downsize.

All this makes sense now, not really factoring in BLT, VGF and PVB. I guess we really were the premier MK DVC there for awhile. VWL will always be like having gold in the bank for me. The recurring theme seems to be for us VWL owners the memories it helped create for us, and those are priceless. So like moths to a flame, we keep getting drawn back to the place over and over. I sort of like my moth like existence

 

[ArielSRL]

I will say this, I looked out of curiosity a few days ago, and VWL is selling on The Timeshare Store in the 80s-90s range, so not terrible. In fact, I felt a little disappointed to find the value of many others was way up in comparison. For ex.(dont get me wrong, I own pts here too)BWV, an older DVC resort, and OKW, the flagship resort, are both selling for more, in the low 100s. So unless the high dues are affecting the lower cost, its a bit disheartening knowing our beloved lodge isn't holding as high a value. Maybe its because CCV is still selling?

Yes, I have definitely noticed that it is falling along the lines of SSR - maybe a tad bit more, but less than most others. We paid $89 a point - contract went up for sale in July - though we never countered (we might have gotten less but its a smaller 100 pt contract so I felt like in my research it was a fair price).

 

[sleepydog25]

I can't remember exactly how much we paid for our larger resale contract, though i think it was in the $83-85 range. That was nearly eight years ago. About six years ago, we bought a 50-pt direct contract for $93 pp which was only $3-4 dollars more per point than anything we could find resale in that point range and same UY. As I look at current pricing for new resorts, it's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that the cost per point is double that we paid for our "home." Crazy pricing.

 

[DenLo]

So...I'm wondering if VWL is picking up a higher percentage of the total shared costs since CCV is not yet fully declared. Clearly, WL went down in their percentage of shared costs but I think there were fewer units available to share those costs so VWL ended up with a higher percentage?

It all comes back to how Disney splits out the shared costs at a resort. And of course, we do not have access to that information. But I cannot think of any reason why VWL & CCV would have the highest dues at WDW. It makes no sense from an intuitive standpoint.

I'm not sure what shared costs would have gone up? The pool make take a little more staffing and some more towels, but running the new salon, Geyser Point and Roaring Fork shouldn't be part of our dues.

Like I said, it makes no sense that VWL would rise at a quicker rate than other DVC resorts. Not sure why the capital reserve would go up so much?

Wouldn't the Developer, DVD own the undeclared units that are being rented for cash? So wouldn't the developer be responsible for a portion of the tax?

As to the capital reserve going up it could be because of the elevator, maintenance and replacement is always a factor with them. Also we lived in a high rise in Denver in the 90s, one day the realized they could no longer find replacement lightbulbs for lights that were on each floor of the 31 story building. So pretty soon it went from replacing the lights to redoing the wallpaper as the new lights had a smaller mount, to needing new carpeting and the three 20 year old elevators needed overhauling until we ended up with a $10K special assessment based on unit size. We were lucky as we had the 2nd smallest unit others paid triple our amount. What I am saying as buildings age things need to be replaced sometimes sooner than expected. And I expect that DVC found after remodeling some of the resorts, that it was costlier that expected and so upped the dues to cover that cost.

Jimmy...great perspective! I agree that DVC has allowed us to stay in on-site suites that we never would have been able to afford without DVC, and I wouldn't trade our family memories at WDW for anything!

But I agree also with you, DDad and Sleepy that the current pricing for points is so high! I am constantly amazed that Disney can continue to make the case for DVC ownership with the price increases per point, and the higher point requirements of some of their recent resorts.

We used to go for one week a year as a family, and as empty-nesters, Mrs Granny and I have been enjoying 2 trips per year in a 1BR. I had thought about more points when we have grandkids and need the larger accommodation again...we don't want to give up our second trip to handle the accommodations. But the price per point just keeps going in a crazy direction. We could buy resale but even that pricing is crazy...if we bought more VWL points we'd be paying much more per point for 16 fewer years of use.

Don't tell anyone, but I'm thinking our second trip each year in the future may well be an off-site location. As Jimmy pointed out, staying on-site even at the budget resorts is pretty pricey!

Maybe you should consider vacationing away from Disney as that way they will not get any of your vacation monies for the second trip. DH and I love to cruise and a Disney cruise is just too expensive for the long cruises we enjoy. We recently did two cruises out of Vancouver, Canada. One to Hawaii and back and the other doing a California Coastal cruise. We loved it. It was wonderful weather in October in California. And smooth sailing on both.

 

[Granny]

Wouldn't the Developer, DVD own the undeclared units that are being rented for cash? So wouldn't the developer be responsible for a portion of the tax?

As to the capital reserve going up it could be because of the elevator, maintenance and replacement is always a factor with them. Also we lived in a high rise in Denver in the 90s, one day the realized they could no longer find replacement lightbulbs for lights that were on each floor of the 31 story building. So pretty soon it went from replacing the lights to redoing the wallpaper as the new lights had a smaller mount, to needing new carpeting and the three 20 year old elevators needed overhauling until we ended up with a $10K special assessment based on unit size. We were lucky as we had the 2nd smallest unit others paid triple our amount. What I am saying as buildings age things need to be replaced sometimes sooner than expected. And I expect that DVC found after remodeling some of the resorts, that it was costlier that expected and so upped the dues to cover that cost.

Denise...you make a good point. The truth is, we will never fully know what goes into our dues. Maybe they just figure the more awesome the resort, the higher the dues!

Maybe you should consider vacationing away from Disney as that way they will not get any of your vacation monies for the second trip. DH and I love to cruise and a Disney cruise is just too expensive for the long cruises we enjoy. We recently did two cruises out of Vancouver, Canada. One to Hawaii and back and the other doing a California Coastal cruise. We loved it. It was wonderful weather in October in California. And smooth sailing on both.

We are definitely looking at more non-Disney options. In fact, a Western Canada trip including Vancouver is in my thoughts.

WDW trips may evolve to extended family only which would still be fantastic.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Happy Birthday @twinmom108 !!!​

 

[sleepydog25]

Happy Birthday @twinmom108 !!!​

I second this!!

 

[DenLo]

Denise...you make a good point. The truth is, we will never fully know what goes into our dues. Maybe they just figure the more awesome the resort, the higher the dues!

We are definitely looking at more non-Disney options. In fact, a Western Canada trip including Vancouver is in my thoughts.

WDW trips may evolve to extended family only which would still be fantastic.

Location, location, location as realtors say and I think it applies to resorts too. The counties and cities raise their mill levies and assessments which in return raise our dues.

That trip sounds wonderful. Years ago I did a trip through Wyoming, Montana, Banff and over to Vancouver and Victoria and then down to Washington and back to Colorado. It was beautiful but I needed a vacation after than one as we drove it in 10 days. I always forget how large the states and providences are in the west.

 

[jimmytammy]

Happy Birthday twinmom108!!!!

 

[DiznyDi]

Wishing twinmom108 a very Happy Birthday!!

 

[jimmytammy]

Tech question here...since we extended our trip by a few days in Dec from the 10th til the 13th, we have had issue with trying to get FPs for those days(though for whatever reason, last week we were able to secure AK FPs on the 12th, well outside of the 30 day window, and today is the 30 day mark for the 12th).
So my question is why can't I get FPs for the 10th-11th? Granted, the website has been horrible the last few days as well. But when I can get it too pop up on the web or the app, it tells me that my party needs addressing, that we have exceeded our FP limit. Then I try to do frequent asked questions and can't get that to pop up either.
If you folks can help, I sure would appreciate it. If not, a call to Disney is my next order of business

As a side note, we are able to secure dining ressies for these days

 

[momtwoboys]

152 days till we are VWL (BRV) whichever! We also just passed ROFR on a 100pt contract at OKW...65pp! YAHOO!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Happy Birthday twinmom108!!

Tech question here...since we extended our trip by a few days in Dec from the 10th til the 13th, we have had issue with trying to get FPs for those days(though for whatever reason, last week we were able to secure AK FPs on the 12th, well outside of the 30 day window, and today is the 30 day mark for the 12th).
So my question is why can't I get FPs for the 10th-11th? Granted, the website has been horrible the last few days as well. But when I can get it too pop up on the web or the app, it tells me that my party needs addressing, that we have exceeded our FP limit. Then I try to do frequent asked questions and can't get that to pop up either.
If you folks can help, I sure would appreciate it. If not, a call to Disney is my next order of business

As a side note, we are able to secure dining ressies for these days

I guess, you are staying on WDW property? And you have APs? Have you looked under "My Reservations" what FP+ show up there? Maybe you accidentally added some on other dates and now you exceed the 7day limit?

You also mentioned that you extended your trip, so to me it sounds like MDE does not recognize the nights you added on? Maybe try to connect the reservation number again? This might pull the updated dates into the MDE system from the DVC system.

 

[jimmytammy]

Happy Birthday twinmom108!!



I guess, you are staying on WDW property? And you have APs? Have you looked under "My Reservations" what FP+ show up there? Maybe you accidentally added some on other dates and now you exceed the 7day limit?

You also mentioned that you extended your trip, so to me it sounds like MDE does not recognize the nights you added on? Maybe try to connect the reservation number again? This might pull the updated dates into the MDE system from the DVC system.

I should have clarified, we will be off property those 3 nights. But when we have been off property before we didn't have issues. And we do have APs. I will give your suggestions a try for sure!!