DVC Total Yearly Cost? Hidden Costs?

[Brian Noble]

pp who said it's a prepaid vacation at today's dollars makes a good point.

I'd actually amend it to be "it's prepaid vacation lodging at today's dollars." Just the lodging. Nothing else.

That's not a bad deal if, like Luckyman, you KNOW you will be returning to Disney regularly. Something saved is better than nothing, after all. But, that's the deal.

 

[Goonie78]

You have not inputted the IRR on your purchase. As Points cannot be raised for an accomodation (unless points are lowered somewhere in the Point Rate chart for that resort), you have "locked" in the costs of your vacation at today's dollars. Yes, you "prepaid" for your future vacation years, but you also have to take into account that the costs to buy points will go up every year as well and the $ amount of resales/pt will as well.

First, I want to thank everyone for their insights and experience that they have brought to me in this forum. It is refreshing to hear about the pros and cons that you brought up.

This question above was particularly interesting, are there any charts or data about the increase in point rates over time?

Does Disney maintain properties, what about assessments, have there ever been any? (I live in a condo so assessments are the killer cost that most people don't think about.)

For us, we plan on going every 2-3 years so a small point about is perfect. One big benefit I see is saving money on hotel tax and being able to use the Disney Express from airport (no car rental/parking needed). We stayed offsite last year and the transportation really added up.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[chalee94]

This question above was particularly interesting, are there any charts or data about the increase in point rates over time?

the stickied thread above:

DVC Resource Center

post 2 has historical annual dues and post 5 has historical direct pricing.

Does Disney maintain properties, what about assessments, have there ever been any?

the annual dues have so far been high enough that assessements have not been needed. but vero beach nearly had an assessment several years back due to storm damage (and OKW's extension was technically an "assessment" but if you opted out, there was no cost).

 

[Goonie78]

Thanks, I was wondering about the history of point rates in this sense: If it cost x number of points per to rent a studio at the Beach Club Villas in 2012, how many points did it cost for that same room at that same time in 1999-2011 for each year.

Thanks!

 

[chalee94]

Thanks, I was wondering about the history of point rates in this sense: If it cost x number of points per to rent a studio at the Beach Club Villas in 2012, how many points did it cost for that same room at that same time in 1999-2011 for each year.

as the other poster said: "points cannot be raised for an accommodation (unless points are lowered somewhere in the Point Rate chart for that resort)."

i know at OKW the cheapest studio season started at 7 pts per night. then went to 8 pts per nt for 15 years and are currently at 10 pts per nt. but the highest pt costs at OKW also had to come down...in order for weeknights (sun-thurs) to get more expensive, weekend nights had to get cheaper.

so the total number of pts it would take to book every villa at OKW for a year has been fixed since 1991...but if you counted on booking 7 pt weeknights in december in a studio, pts costs for you would have gone up. if you tended to use OKW pts for long weekends and new year's eve, point costs have gotten cheaper.

edited to add: did a little google-fu and dvcnews provides what you wanted to see:

http://dvcnews.com/index.php/resorts/beach-club-villas/points-chart

so low season studios went from 12 pts to 15 pts per weeknight...but premiere season weekend studio nights dropped from 43 pts per nt to 28 pts per nt. (i believe the BCV point chart did not change from the time the resort opened to 2008/2009 as shown.)

 

[Dean]

First, I want to thank everyone for their insights and experience that they have brought to me in this forum. It is refreshing to hear about the pros and cons that you brought up.

This question above was particularly interesting, are there any charts or data about the increase in point rates over time?

Does Disney maintain properties, what about assessments, have there ever been any? (I live in a condo so assessments are the killer cost that most people don't think about.)

For us, we plan on going every 2-3 years so a small point about is perfect. One big benefit I see is saving money on hotel tax and being able to use the Disney Express from airport (no car rental/parking needed). We stayed offsite last year and the transportation really added up.

Thanks again everyone!

VB just dodged a Special Assessment. If your looking at a trip every 2-3 years, I'd buy about a 10% cushion at least depending on what you're looking at. For this situation you're likely better just renting.

 

[crisi]

I'd actually amend it to be "it's prepaid vacation lodging at today's dollars." Just the lodging. Nothing else.

That's not a bad deal if, like Luckyman, you KNOW you will be returning to Disney regularly. Something saved is better than nothing, after all. But, that's the deal.

In some ways, this IS the bad deal with DVC. DVC can make your accommodations affordable. But park tickets have really gone up during our decade plus of ownership - plus our 2 and 3 year old are now 13 and 14 - adult tickets and adult food for four is way more expensive than child tickets for one, one getting in free, and they can split a kids meal. Airfare for four isn't cheap either.

Dues have gone up, but they are such a small portion of our overall vacation expenses that its really negligible. Its the increased cost of park tickets, food and airfare that make me wonder if we got a good deal or not. I think we got an awesome deal on our accommodations, but that's a pittance in terms of the overall cost.

Also, while some families know they are Disney families, our 13 and 14 year old don't NEED to be going to Disney. Given a choice, a beach is nice, so is an interesting city.