To me, it comes down to cost. The entrance AND yearly fees are lower with my resale HGVC than would be with resale MVC. The only way I would purchase MVC would be a resale deed at HHI, and those are very expensive as well (listed prices $8000-$24000 on Redweek). With the amount we travel, our 2 resale platinum 2 bedrooms are more than enough for us. Our total buy in cost for our 2 deeds are around $10,000 with MF's around $2200 (including club dues). I can't get close to that with MVC. I love the flexibility and the way HGVC treats its customers (non sales team of course). It may not be a big deal to most, but things like skimming points on reservations and the high junk fees (MVC is at least 3 times as much as HGVC to enroll resale points) really turn me off. I don't like the HGVC $59 club booking fee, but I still am way ahead in the long run. My wife and I personally don't want to front the costs of MVC ownership, but don't look down upon those that do (much like we don't look down on those that purchase from a developer). My wife and I have looked at a mandatory Vistana deed, but, with the MVC acquisition of Vistana, there's just too much uncertainty and the locations are even more limited than HGVC. We also don't want to commit too much of our travel budget to timesharing. While we love the space of our HGVC units, we still want the flexibility to go other places outside of our ownership.
I understand the biggest drawback to HGVC is locations. Yes, I agree they are limited, but they are improving. Besides the DRI acquisition (who know what locations will open up to HGVC members or when), they have been slowly adding locations. Since I became a member in 2018, they have added Charleston (Liberty Square), an additional resort in Myrtle Beach (Ocean Enclave), more access to Hilton Head (2nd building), adding Los Cabos (La Pacifica), 2 new NYC resorts (Central on 5th and The Quin), Chicago, Maui, another resort in Japan and Barbados. In the 2nd quarter 2019 investors call, they announced they have a fee for service resort coming in the Gatlinburg, TN area (who knows the accuracy of this statement or even if the 3rd party developer is still on board). This isn't including any DRI resorts that will possibly be upgraded into HGVC (that was mentioned in one of the original announcements back in March). Do all of these locations intrigue us? Absolutely not! We have already been to Chicago (and would go again) and will visit NYC at some point. We love HHI (going again next summer on a mini family get together, 2 rooms) and also like Myrtle Beach. Vegas will always be a draw for my wife and I as well. Would love to visit the Cali resorts, Los Cabos and any of the Hawaii resorts (haven't been to any yet). Obviously, if you don't like the locations, HGVC isn't for you.
As
@dougp26364 says above, I wouldn't trust a word of what salesmen have to say on DRI access (or anything, for that matter). We all, salesman included, will know when it's announced. My guess is there won't be any freebies and there will be a cost no matter what. Mark Wang said it himself back in July and I tend to believe what's said in investor calls more than what a salesman says. Honestly, if we get no access to the DRI resorts, my wife and I are still fine with what we have.