# DVC Member Offer --- $199 for a 4 Park Ticket



## vacationhopeful (Sep 18, 2014)

Okay - $50 per day! Good til May 24, 2015. Must buy by Dec 31st.
*
Kickers: *
GOOD only for each park ONE DAY. Limited to ONLY one visit per park. Can't do any park TWICE.
Can't do 2 parks in one day either.
Can not add on days or Park Hopper. 
Can be upgraded to an AP (gave no terms or conditions).
Expires 14 days after 1st usage.

*Each DVC Member is limited to 8 $199 tickets. Did not say DVC member had to be present for use.*


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## rfc0001 (Sep 18, 2014)

Dvc member must pick up tickets in person but non-dvc member can use.


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## vacationhopeful (Sep 18, 2014)

That is okay as my sister will be travelling with me. I have a Nov 1st reservation at BC ... my sister though has been totally SPOILED -- she had developed a certain snob status on which and where her next DVC resort stay should be.....

I am hoping this BC trip will get her to acquire another AP for a 2 week January DVC stay... :rofl:


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## elaine (Sep 19, 2014)

I think per the discussion on disboards, some were told that you don't even have to pick up tickets. You get an electronic code that can be linked to magic bands (even for friends). The tickets are sold via member services, and you have to give your DVC info.


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## rfc0001 (Sep 19, 2014)

elaine said:


> I think per the discussion on disboards, some were told that you don't even have to pick up tickets. You get an electronic code that can be linked to magic bands (even for friends). The tickets are sold via member services, and you have to give your DVC info.


You get the code so you can book FP+, but I think there is some debate whether you can just link that to a MB, or if you need to physically pick up the ticket to "activate " it.  It should work the same as DVC APs -- which I don't know since I picked mine up before trying to use the MB it was linked to.  We just got a new AP, and linked via code to MB, so will see if we have to physically pick up the ticket to use it when we go next month.


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## chriskre (Sep 19, 2014)

This is great.  
I hope they keep this perk going.  
Did they give any sort of deadline?  

The AP discount is good but if you only want to go for one week then it's not worth it.   
So for us smaller points owners who can only afford a week at Disney as opposed to those mega point owners this is good news.  
It makes trying to stretch a yearly pass into two years worth of visits less stressful.  
And it's nice that you seem to be able to upgrade it from the 4 day ticket to the AP if you change your mind.


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## rfc0001 (Sep 19, 2014)

chriskre said:


> This is great.
> I hope they keep this perk going.
> Did they give any sort of deadline?


https://dvc.disney.go.com/members/member-extras/special-offers/4-day-pass:
_Disney Vacation Club Members can purchase these tickets September 10, 2014 through December 31, 2014. Tickets must be used by May 24, 2015._


> The AP discount is good but if you only want to go for one week then it's not worth it.
> So for us smaller points owners who can only afford a week at Disney as opposed to those mega point owners this is good news.
> It makes trying to stretch a yearly pass into two years worth of visits less stressful.
> And it's nice that you seem to be able to upgrade it from the 4 day ticket to the AP if you change your mind.


AP breaks even at two 4 day visits a year (present offer excluded). I highly recommend getting a trader TS and exchange into DVC through RCI-e.g. a $6800 HGVC resale (resale value around $2/pt) w/ $650MF (MFs range from $0.12-$0.20/pt) would buy you enough pts (3400) to get a 1bdrm week every year in DVC (even peak season) _forever _(unlike DVC) -- _waaay _better value than DVC. I do both -- reserve with DVC then exchange with RCI and cancel my DVC reservation (or use it to add a couple days). Then you can rent the DVC points you don't use for $11/pt.


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## Eli Mairs (Sep 19, 2014)

We are staying at a grand villa at OKW for eight days in October, with our two daughters, sons in law and two granddaughters.
Some of us have park hopper, non expiry tickets which we have linked to our magic bands.
We heard about this offer last week and I called DVC to order them. Since we want to use these tickets rather than the ones we have linked, we have to go to guest services at Downtown Disney or one of the parks to link and prioritize them, so that they are used first.
This is such a great deal that we will use our other passes for another trip.


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## chriskre (Sep 20, 2014)

rfc0001 said:


> https://dvc.disney.go.com/members/member-extras/special-offers/4-day-pass:
> _Disney Vacation Club Members can purchase these tickets September 10, 2014 through December 31, 2014. Tickets must be used by May 24, 2015._AP breaks even at two 4 day visits a year (present offer excluded). I highly recommend getting a trader TS and exchange into DVC through RCI-e.g. a $6800 HGVC resale (resale value around $2/pt) w/ $650MF (MFs range from $0.12-$0.20/pt) would buy you enough pts (3400) to get a 1bdrm week every year in DVC (even peak season) _forever _(unlike DVC) -- _waaay _better value than DVC. I do both -- reserve with DVC then exchange with RCI and cancel my DVC reservation (or use it to add a couple days). Then you can rent the DVC points you don't use for $11/pt.



Oh trust me I have plenty to trade into DVC but still love the last minute short stays since I live 4 hours away so owning DVC points is a must for me unless I stay off site which I also often do.  

Thanks for the link for the expiration dates.  Just had my Disney fix this month so will be waiting a while.  Maybe next month.


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## icydog (Sep 27, 2014)

If I buy them can my grown kids use these tickets if I don't go with them? They want to go together without me.  That's okay. I'm fine with that.  

I'm going to Marriott's Lakeshore Reserve in October. I can buy them all then. Yes, they'll pay me back!


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## icydog (Sep 28, 2014)

rfc0001 said:


> https://dvc.disney.go.com/members/member-extras/special-offers/4-day-pass:
> _Disney Vacation Club Members can purchase these tickets September 10, 2014 through December 31, 2014. Tickets must be used by May 24, 2015._AP breaks even at two 4 day visits a year (present offer excluded). *I highly recommend getting a trader TS and exchange into DVC through RCI-e.g. a $6800 HGVC resale (resale value around $2/pt) w/ $650MF (MFs range from $0.12-$0.20/pt) would buy you enough pts (3400) to get a 1bdrm week every year in DVC (even peak season) forever *(unlike DVC) -- _waaay _better value than DVC. I do both -- reserve with DVC then exchange with RCI and cancel my DVC reservation (or use it to add a couple days). Then you can rent the DVC points you don't use for $11/pt.





chriskre said:


> *Oh trust me I have plenty to trade into DVC* but still love the last minute short stays since I live 4 hours away so owning DVC points is a must for me unless I stay off site which I also often do.
> 
> Thanks for the link for the expiration dates.  Just had my Disney fix this month so will be waiting a while.  Maybe next month.




Is HGVC the way to go to trade well into Disney Vacation Club? Aren't they maintenance fees to trade very high? Do you deposit, say, 3400 HGVC points into RCI for each trade. I haven't seen any Hilton points on eBay going for only $2 a point.Am I missing something? Thanks. I am new to trading into Disney Vacation Club .I am not new to DVC


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## rfc0001 (Sep 28, 2014)

icydog said:


> Is HGVC the way to go to trade well into Disney Vacation Club? Aren't they maintenance fees to trade very high? Do you deposit, say, 3400 HGVC points into RCI for each trade. I haven't seen any Hilton points on eBay going for only $2 a point.Am I missing something? Thanks. I am new to trading into Disney Vacation Club .I am not new to DVC


You can find plenty of HGVC resales for $2 _or less_/pt (some as low as $1/pt). MFs on average are $0.20/pt (some as low as $0.10/pt), so you can easily get the required 3400 pt for $6800 + $680 MFs/yr, whereas to get the to _average _1 bdrm points in DVC, which is 265 pts, the cheapest 270 point DVC resale would be $10,500 and $2000/year MF. The average points in Premier season goes up to 363 DVC points, so proportionally that would be $14,100 purchase and $2,700 MFs to buy enough DVC points to get a Premier week at DVC. 

That said, I'm not trying to convince anyone to not buy DVC -- lot's of reasons you would want to own both -- I do. I use DVC to book reservations (and ADRs at 6 mos + 10 days), then backfill it with an RCI exchange, cancel the DVC ressie, and can always rent the replaced DVC points (@ $11.25/pt). I also use DVC to add a day or two to RCI exchanges (otherwise you'll pay $400-500/night cash). The DVC AP or TIW can also save a lot of cash. At the same time, if you are a DVC owner and want to visit WDW 2-3 times a year, you'd be crazy not to own both DVC and a trader in RCI to exchange in. There _are_ better traders than HGVC but their exchange value fluxuates, so no guarantee you'll get a week in DVC for them, whereas HGVC exchange rates are fixed -- you can get any week in DVC (even in premier season) for 3,400 pts for 1bdrm, 4,800 pts for 2bdrm.


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## got4boys (Sep 28, 2014)

You can get HGV Club points for less than $2 per point. I would check resale sites. There are two recommended HGV Club resellers and the one that I have worked with in the past is Seth Nock.

Just remember if you are looking for points, buy the smallest unit in the highest season. 

You can do a search and find him.


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## got4boys (Sep 28, 2014)

Most of my trades into DVC has been through Bluegreen Points through RCI.

They are easily acquired at minimal cost. Just takes a long time to get into your name (average 6 months).


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## rfc0001 (Sep 28, 2014)

got4boys said:


> You can get HGV Club points for less than $2 per point. I would check resale sites. There are two recommended HGV Club resellers and the one that I have worked with in the past is Seth Nock.
> 
> Just remember if you are looking for points, buy the smallest unit in the highest season.
> 
> You can do a search and find him.


Wow, search resulted in finding a site with his listings and a bunch of others.  Looks like I was being conservative...many for $0.50/pt


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## chriskre (Sep 28, 2014)

icydog said:


> Is HGVC the way to go to trade well into Disney Vacation Club? Aren't they maintenance fees to trade very high? Do you deposit, say, 3400 HGVC points into RCI for each trade. I haven't seen any Hilton points on eBay going for only $2 a point.Am I missing something? Thanks. I am new to trading into Disney Vacation Club .I am not new to DVC



Wyndham and Bluegreen are cheaper to acquire and have lower MF's.
Both trade into DVC thru the corporate RCI portal.

Resales in both clubs have access only to RCI weeks not RCI points, but most units seem to get deposited to the weeks side anyways.


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## icydog (Sep 29, 2014)

I've owned BG and my neighbor has Wyndham points. I don't want to go that route because getting rid of the timeshare is so difficult


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## AnnaS (Sep 29, 2014)

I hope they offer this again in the future.  This would be great for hubby and I when we go down alone since we are not park commandos.


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## High School Sweethearts (Oct 2, 2014)

*Help! Newbie question*

Can anyone explain what the DVC Disney Vacation Club is??


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## DeniseM (Oct 2, 2014)

It is a timeshare system, that is affiliated with Disney.   Most resorts are on/near Disney parks:  http://disneyvacationclub.disney.go...sney vacation club|58688921468|e|15406cz14031


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## vacationhopeful (Oct 2, 2014)

High School Sweethearts said:


> Can anyone explain what the DVC Disney Vacation Club is??



It is Disney condos themed -- AKV is Animal Kingdom Villas with savannas under most of the ST, 1bd & 2bdr condo; BWV is Boardwalk Villas along the Atlantic City theme of 1900's outside the back gate of Epcot. BCV is Beach Club Villas is across the lagoon from BWV - themed as being at an East Coast Atlantic beach. Etc.

All the DVC resorts are theme and usually drive mature adults into wearing Mouse Ears and eating Mouse Ear shaped chicken nuggets. But if you stay at a DVC resort, you have access to EMHs -- extra magic hours which are 1 hour open early before everyone else who is pay $100+ per day person or 2 hours opened after the parked closes to the "commoners". 

I know so much because I have stayed several times at DVC resorts and I own some DVC points ... I don't wear mouse ears. But I love EMHs.


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## rfc0001 (Oct 2, 2014)

High School Sweethearts said:


> Can anyone explain what the DVC Disney Vacation Club is??


DVC is a timeshare system like Hilton Grand Vacation Club, Marriott Vacation Club, Wyndham, Hyatt, etc. You can see a description and FAQ of each system at http://tugbbs.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=53.

Like most of these systems, DVC is points based, so you get a set of annual points in exchange for your deeded timeshare, and can book any resort within their system, or exchange your points through RCI (Resorts Condominiums International) for other resorts in other systems that exchange through RCI.

DVC timeshares are located in Vero Beach, FL; Hilton Head Island, SC; Oahu, HI (rated top Family Hotel in US by Travel + Leisure); Disneyland in Anaheim, CA; and 9 Disney World Deluxe Villas in Lake Buena Vista, FL. All except Saratoga Spring and Old Key West are sister resorts of Walt Disney World Deluxe Resort Hotels, which share common amenities. 1bdrm condos are double the size of an equivalent hotel room (1 room for master bedroom/bath, 1 room for kitchen/living room), and have kitchens and in-unit laundry. 

Given Disney rents these for anywhere from $300-$1000/night, by buying a timeshare in them, you get usage at a fraction of the price for an upfront "purchase" cost (which is actually a lease with DVC since it expires after x years). Staying on-premise at a WDW resort has several benefits, including free park parking, access to Disney Dining Plans, access to Disney Transportation from your resort (boat, monorail, bus), access to Extra Magic Hours at parks (park hours exclusively for resort guests), booking of Advanced Dining Reservations at 6 mos + 10 days (vs 6 months), booking of Fast Pass+ at 60 days (vs. 30 days). DVC membership has additional benefits of discounted Annual Passes and merchandise and restaurant discounts.

BTW, I checked out your other posts, and see you just bought a Wyndham timeshare. Wyndham exchanges in RCI (which is owned by Wyndham), so you'll have access to DVC resorts through RCI exchanges. I'm not sure if Wyndham has access to RCI Points or Weeks or both, but either way DVC deposits to both around 6-7 months out. On the Weeks side, you can put in an Ongoing Search (as far as 2 years out -- the earlier the higher your priority over other OGSes for the same resort/time). On both Points and Weeks you can get an instant exchange as well when deposits are made by logging into RCI.com and viewing available exchange inventory. I recommend joining TUG to get access to the Sightings Private Forum (I feel like I should be paid for plugging this ) where TUG members post sightings, including premium resorts like DVC and HGVC.


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## MegMML (Oct 2, 2014)

rfc0001 said:


> You can find plenty of HGVC resales for $2 _or less_/pt (some as low as $1/pt). MFs on average are $0.20/pt (some as low as $0.10/pt), so you can easily get the required 3400 pt for $6800 + $680 MFs/yr, whereas to get the to _average _1 bdrm points in DVC, which is 265 pts, the cheapest 270 point DVC resale would be $10,500 and $2000/year MF. The average points in Premier season goes up to 363 DVC points, so proportionally that would be $14,100 purchase and $2,700 MFs to buy enough DVC points to get a Premier week at DVC.
> 
> That said, I'm not trying to convince anyone to not buy DVC -- lot's of reasons you would want to own both -- I do. I use DVC to book reservations (and ADRs at 6 mos + 10 days), then backfill it with an RCI exchange, cancel the DVC ressie, and can always rent the replaced DVC points (@ $11.25/pt). I also use DVC to add a day or two to RCI exchanges (otherwise you'll pay $400-500/night cash). The DVC AP or TIW can also save a lot of cash. At the same time, if you are a DVC owner and want to visit WDW 2-3 times a year, you'd be crazy not to own both DVC and a trader in RCI to exchange in. There _are_ better traders than HGVC but their exchange value fluxuates, so no guarantee you'll get a week in DVC for them, whereas HGVC exchange rates are fixed -- you can get any week in DVC (even in premier season) for 3,400 pts for 1bdrm, 4,800 pts for 2bdrm.



I agree with you, and I already own 4 DVC contracts, all bought resale.  So, now I'm looking to add a very low cost contract to use to trade into DVC.  I'm looking at an RCI contract, in Las Vegas, at less than $1000 purchase price.  It's 98,000 RCI points at $699/year.  Should I do that, or look at the HGVC contracts you are referring to?  Which is best?  I'd like to use the outside Disney contracts to go other places too, but I'm strongly considering their ability to trade into DVC.  Also, I know that you can't trade timeshares local to WDW to trade into DVC (which is why I'm looking for something outside of Florida).  Is that true with HGVC too?


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## got4boys (Oct 2, 2014)

Points systems - HGVC (Hilton Grand Vacations Club), Wyndham and Bluegreen   do not need to be outside Orlando.

You can buy one of the properties mentioned above and trade into DVC.

Yes, you can buy an RCI Points affiliated resort outside the Orlando area, but you would need a separate RCI Points account.


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## rfc0001 (Oct 2, 2014)

MegMML said:


> I agree with you, and I already own 4 DVC contracts, all bought resale. So, now I'm looking to add a very low cost contract to use to trade into DVC. I'm looking at an RCI contract, in Las Vegas, at less than $1000 purchase price. It's 98,000 RCI points at $699/year. Should I do that, or look at the HGVC contracts you are referring to? Which is best? I'd like to use the outside Disney contracts to go other places too, but I'm strongly considering their ability to trade into DVC. Also, I know that you can't trade timeshares local to WDW to trade into DVC (which is why I'm looking for something outside of Florida). Is that true with HGVC too?


So, I'm only knowledgeable of HGVC, DVC, (and learning MVCI) systems, so hard to make a comparison. You can search the Sightings board for previous Points values for DVC exchanges--quick search looks like 98,000 pts should get you approximately 2 1bdrm weeks/yr. For illustrative comparison HGVC req 3400 points for 1bdrm exchange @ $1/pt = $3400 resale + $0.20MF/pt = $680 MF), so looks like a better deal than HGVC. Only benefit I see of HGVC is access to Points + Weeks plus predictability of exchange rate (since Point values fluctuate). Obvious other consideration like which resort system you actually want to own in (if you are going to use it other than RCI), and other benefits of HGVC (like HHonors points, Hilton reservations, etc.). If it's just a trader, and your all about the value, then sounds like a better deal.


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## vacationhopeful (Oct 3, 2014)

got4boys said:


> Points systems - HGVC (Hilton Grand Vacations Club), *Wyndham *and Bluegreen   do not need to be outside Orlando.
> 
> You can buy one of the properties mentioned above and trade into DVC.
> 
> Yes, you can buy an RCI Points affiliated resort outside the Orlando area, but you would need a separate RCI Points account.



*Resale Wyndham contracts *ONLY come with a RCI WEEKS membership ... all the RCI Points available units would NOT be seen.


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## BillW (Oct 31, 2014)

MegMML said:


> ...  Also, I know that you can't trade timeshares local to WDW to trade into DVC (which is why I'm looking for something outside of Florida).  Is that true with HGVC too?



Meg,

With Hilton it is a corporate account that you use to make the RCI reservation so the proximity rule (50 mile rule?) doesn't apply. We own our HGVC at the Tuscany property in Orlando and have our second DVC reservation this year for December via RCI. We did Wilderness Lodge in July and are at Saratoga Springs next. For a cost comparison let me break it out this way:

We have a 3 BR platinum Hilton which gives us 8400 Hilton points.

To exchange into DVC in a 1 BR costs us 3400 Hilton Points, a 2 BR (when available, 1 BR more prevalent) is 5000 Hilton Points. This means we can book a 1 BR in Disney approx 2.5 times each year or 5 times over two years (Hair less actually so call it 4 times in two years).

Our maintenance fees are approx 18 cents/Hilton Point plus we pay a $199 RCI exchange fee with each reservation. So our cost for each 7 night stay is (3400 x 0.18 + 199) = $811 in a 1 BR and (5000 x 0.18 +199) = $1099 in a 2 BR. We get to use the Magical Express, Magic hours, meal plans if we want as well.

One other thing we discovered about the two, and we considered DVC for a while, is that DVC is a right to use ownership and HGVC is a deeded property. Basically DVC ownership 'expires' at a certain point in time while we continue to own HGVC as long as we pay maintenance fees and can pass it on to our heirs.

This is not meant to be a pitch for one over the other, we think we would have been happy with either one, but this is how our journey has gone. We are very happy with trading in but we do give up the early reservations and choice of resorts. We have to take what's available and when it is available but we're okay with being flexible. What makes that possible is our firm belief that within DVC there is not a 'bad' resort and we can be happy at any of them.

Best of luck,
Bill


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## rfc0001 (Oct 31, 2014)

BillW said:


> With Hilton it is a corporate account that you use to make the RCI reservation so the proximity rule (50 mile rule?) doesn't apply.


Per RCI Disclaimer for DVC booked through HGVC:





> Addition of dining plans requires full payment upfront, reservation must occur no less than 48 hours in advance to add dining plan. Disney's Magical Express requires RSVP to 800-800-9800 48 hours prior to arrival and includes shuttle/bag service from/to airport. Call DVC member services at 800-800-9800 no later than 48 hours prior to arrival to provide all guest names in advance, no exceptions.
> $95 mandatory resort fee charged at check-in. Fee includes but is not limited to services such as assistance with dining reservations, Disney's Magical Express reservations and purchasing theme park tickets through DVC member services toll free number 800-800-9800.
> *There is an area ownership restriction at this resort. If you made this reservation using points from an Orlando ownership or a resort within 30 miles of Disneyworld resorts in Orlando, it will be cancelled and you will be notified about rebooking a non-Disney property.*


The reality is RCI is lazy and doesn't bother to check if you are an Orlando owner (and have no way to tell AFAIK), but technically it is not allowed, so I wouldn't recommend making the decision to buy a HGVC in Orlando relying on the way it works now. Of course, purchasing relying on RCI at all is dicey as HGVC or DVC could drop RCI





BillW said:


> Our maintenance fees are approx 18 cents/Hilton Point plus we pay a $199 RCI exchange fee with each reservation. So our cost for each 7 night stay is (3400 x 0.18 + 199) = $811 in a 1 BR and (5000 x 0.18 +199) = $1099 in a 2 BR. Plus we get to use the Magical Express, Magic hours, meal plans if we want as well.


Also $95 mandatory resort fee -- see disclaimer above for details on this, registering guests, booking DME and DDP





BillW said:


> One other thing we discovered about the two, and we considered DVC for a while, is that DVC is a right to use ownership and HGVC is a deeded property. Basically DVC ownership 'expires' at a certain point in time while we continue to own HGVC as long as we pay maintenance fees and can pass it on to our heirs.


This is a bit of a misnomer. While DVC timeshare value is fixed (e.g. you know exactly how many points it will give you over the fixed life of the contract, and will depreciates to 0 at that time), _all_ timeshare depreciate to 0 value when the value of the benefit (the week) becomes worth _less_ than the cost of the maintenance fee, and worse they continue to depreciate to a _negative _value since you still have the maintenance fee liability long after the benefit has disappeared until _you_ die. This is why it is common practice for people to pay people to take their timeshare and why people refuse to accept timeshares bestowed as part of an estate. Disney is just being realistic about this and having the value _and _the liability expire at same point, _so the value never becomes negative_, and then they can tear down the building and start over (which is what would eventually happen in the actual HGVC timeshare you own as well).


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