Weighing options of less expensive home resort per point versus more expensive but longer contract.
Not for us. We are in our med and late 40s and figured we didnât mind if the contract ended when we hit our late 60s and edge toward retirement and fixed income at which time maintenance fees may be burdensome. And whole we hope our kids will want the contracts we canât assume they will want them.
Also you should know the average buyer keeps their contract for 10 years. So thereâs that.
1 Like
It definitely is influencing me. I am âpushing 60â so I know my DVC will go to my son. It is also a reason I have considered only adding direct (to allow him the greatest flexibility ). We have looked at adding BR, BCV, and BWI and have decided against them due to the shortened contracts.
3 Likes
Really interesting how different points in life mean the contract length takes on different meaning
For a very young family, I would TOTALLY advocate for the longest contract life you could accomplish.
For you, your son is grown so he can speak to his wishes on this.
And for us, our kids are way too young to know what their lives will look like as adults.
All in all, I think your place in life probably has bigger impact than than the contract specifically. That is - you figure out what you want out of the contract and go from there
4 Likes
I agree that there is no right or wrong answer. I do think I have seen a formulae somewhere where you look at length of contract and price to compare. Sometimes direct, and the 50 years comes out as a better value.
It is funny, I think my son looks at DVC as a way of ensuring his mate will go to Disney every once in a while. She may look at it as a potential rental, and I look at it as one way I can have a say in what he does with my money after I am gone (I know he may sell it and yes- I am that controllingđ)
3 Likes
Certainly cost could be a factor too. When you stretch the cost of your contract out over 50 years vs 20ish, the cost per year will definitely go down!!
2 Likes
Yea. Fifty years is too long probably but 23 years is definitely too short if we are planning on using it until we are too old to travel. It is unfortunate because I was interested in BW and BR. Wondering about a very small contract at one of those in addition.
Now you are starting to sound like me! I have found myself starting a list of future DVC purchases. Then I remember how old I am. Get as much as you can- enjoy!
1 Like
You definitely wonder what is next. The Riveria looks impressive and now I am wondering what the new one near Fort Wilderness will be like. Seems a bit odd to have 3 of similar theming so there must be some plans for how it will stand out/be different.
1 Like
The expiration definitely did play a role in my resort choice, but it certainly wasnât the only factor. We were mainly concerned about price so that we did not need to finance. Boulder Ridge is honestly my favorite theme-wise and the price was right, but the end date really turned us off. So we really came down to BLT, SSR and OKW-extended which are all roughly similar in end dates. It really was the 2042 contracts that turned us off.
My kids are only 1 and 4 and I want to be able to take potential grandkids for a couple of years! My sons will be 39 and 36 when our contract expires.
Although you could also look at it from the other direction and say that they would be 24 and 27 when a Boulder Ridge contract would have expired and onto their own lives and thus we wouldnât need it anymore, but I have high hopes for many couples trips at that point!
2 Likes
In my initial purchase it did not because I bought a resale contract at Boardwalk through Disney and I really wanted that location. However, now I am looking to add on a contract through resale (not direct through Disney) with a longer contract. Specifically looking at the Grand Californian. And for reference I was 26 and single when I bought in 2014. Now I have a 3 year old so there are lots of trips in our future.
1 Like
We had a difficult time with this tooâŚ
My husband is in his 50s, Iâm in my 40s but we have 6 kids ranging from 25 to 5.
We are buying direct at Polynesian but that BW contract was really tempting to use as well.
We decided to buy that initial contract at Poly direct (itâs our favorite resort) and then we are buying a larger second contract at OKW or SS to use those points for the rare occasion that we take all 6 kids at the same time.
Itâs such a personal thing - BW was appealing to us as a resort but from a strictly numbers perspective, I knew that we would be happier having that Poly contract if we decided to sell.
As I told my husband, âimagine buying a house knowing that itâs being torn down in 20 years. Yeah - itâs cheap - but you also wonât be able to off-load it as easily if you need to move cross-country in 10 years.â
2 Likes
Yes. Exactly. We discussed if we used ths cheaper/shorter ones for 10 years, would it be worth anything if we wanted to sell? On the other hand, Disney is going to have to do something with all these hotels that are expiring sooner and the loyal dvc base who are with them. It is hard to imagine they will all pay the then current going rate for a new contract instead of a newer dvc property. So, maybe it will all work out somehow. 
I donât think so. Disney will sell you a BCV contract with the current expiring contract for $225 a point:
Well I mean in 15 years, hard to predict. Not sure who is going to buy a contract expiring in 7 years for $300/point for example. Something will have to adjust. Also, when there are brand new dvc resorts by then, hard to see buying one that is 50 or 60 years old at SS for the same price as the new resorts at the time.
I donât expect anything so we went into this purchase looking out for our best interest, focusing on what we know now and not âhopingâ Disney would do something for us in 10-20 years.
I agree most likely they may re-theme SSR but I will buy any of the original resorts, even resale right now before I would buy the Riviera or Reflections. The re-sale restrictions are a game changer for me. Maybe they have long-term plan but they are giving the impression that they are out of touch and reactionary.
4 Likes
I agree totally with this point. 
Yep. You have to do what works best for you all. Was just making the point that there will be changes of some sort so the people who do buy older resorts may not be as bad off in 15 years as it seems they will be right now.
These 2042 contracts are intriguing me. My family plans on using DVC accommodations for the next 20ish years by renting points. However, the only reason we need DVC accommodations at all is because we have 5 adults (and probably 6 in the future) and are unwilling to stay offsite. Also, the majority of moderates and values have been deemed unacceptable for some reason or another(I am happy to elaborate if anyone is curious).
My parents are 62 and 63 years old so they donât really care what happens to WDW accommodations in 25 + years. If we were to purchase a DVC ownership, it would be left to me (Iâm 33). My partner (32) and I love going on Disney theme park vacations together, but we would no longer need DVC accommodations; moderate or deluxe would be perfectly fine.
I am concerned that Maintenance Fees will be astronomical 20 years from now. The cap on Maintenance Fee increases is 15% year-to-year so they can theoretically raise MFs by 15% every year. If we purchase a Home Resort with 40 years left on it, we could be left with a money pit. We wouldnât want to pay the MFs, but we wouldnât be able to sell it either.
If we purchase a Home Resort that expires in 2042, the MFs will presumably increase in the last 10 years or so since the buildings are older. Iâm guessing that they will push them to a 15% increase every year since a) the buildings are older and need more maintenance and b)resale value will be very low since the contract expires in 10 years.
To summarize, when interested in 20-25 years of DVC accommodations is it best to
a) rent points from owners
b) pick a contract that expires in 20 years
c) pick a contract with >20 years left on it
Thoughts?