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[V677]

Is this Disney Vacation Club really worth it?I kinda wanna join.

 

[ORD2KOA]

Aloha, If you believe you're going to travel and use the points, it's absolutely worth it. The cost of hotel stays has risen significantly over the years. I feel we've received good value for our money.

You may want to check this website for pros/cons: http://www.mousesavers.com/dvc.html

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Well, I've found it to be quite worth it. I joined in 1996 and haven't regretted a minute of it. I joined while living in the north and though briefly about selling it when I landed here. I thought I wouldn't get much use out of it, but I was wrong! I use it more now than ever before!

I like the flexibility of the program, the perks, the overall cost. It's a great hedge against inflation and WHOOOOHOOOOOOOO I make my last payment on my DVC financed loan this month!

 

[Disney Doll]

"Worth it" is kind of a subjective thing. What I think is "worth it" or "worthwhile" may be very different from what you think is.

Let me tell you a little bit about DH & myself. We are in our 40's, married 15 years, tried and couldn't have children . We like to vacation at WDW. We were going at least once a year, and more often if time and finances permitted. We liked staying in at least a moderate as far as "level" of accomodations, and preferred a deluxe, if we could get a reasonably good rate.

We looked into the DVC in 1997. My DH is in real estate, so he looked at it every which way from upside down to right side up, and found that if you were going to go to WDW at least every other year, it could be a worthwhile program, if you liked nicer accomodations and such. If you are the type of person who is happy with more "basic" accomodations, then DVC might not be right for you, since the level of what they offer is more than you would feel you "need".

In our case, as I said earlier, we liked a little higher level accomodations, we knew we were going to stay at WDW at least once a year, so we bought.

And we have never regretted it.

We stay in at least a 1BR. We love having the full kitchen and laundry. Not that we do a lot of cooking...mostly light breakfast and snacks, but it's just nice to have. We like the fact that the 1BR has a separate bedroom, so when you are "hanging" in the room, you are not laying on the bed...you are sitting in a real livingroom. There's a little "breathing" space, which is nice.

As far as finances, it is an investment insofar as you are investing $$ into it to buy points. Do not consider it an investment that is designed to make you $$, because it won't. It has held its value quite well, don't get me wrong, but it is not a money-making investment. You can call it an investment in your family's vacationing future, you can call it an investment in leisure time, but it isn't going to make you $$ like your 401K will!

When we bought our first contract, we took a 10 year loan, because it had the cheapest monthly payment. Our logic was that we could always pay more, but if we had a month where $$ was a alittle 'tight", all we had to pay was the cheap monthly payemnt. Our goal was to pay more every month and pay it off more quickly than 10 years, and we did that...we had it paid off in about 3.5 years. Once you get the initial buy-in paid off, the "return" actually gets better. Plus, including it as part of the monthly bills and doing it a little at a time made it easier too.

We own a total of 430 points for which we pay about $150/month in dues, or about $1800/year. In 2005, that $1800 got us 5 nights in a grand villa, 4 nights in a 1BR and 8 nights in a 2BR...a total of 17 nights. So, for about $105/night, we got deluxe accomodations. Price out the Beach Club, the Poly or whatever your favorite deluxe is and see if it comes out to anywhere near $105/night. If you want to add in the cost of the initial buy-in, figure $65/point (we bought a while ago) x 430 points=$27950 divided by 45 years (length on contract when we bought)=$621/year. So add $1800+$621=$2421/year. Still gives us deluxe accomodations for about $143/night. And I am not even counting the fact that when we first bought the dues were cheaper.

Not bad.....

 

[Mtnman44]

I haven't bought yet, but I'm a wannabe. Here is my two cents based on my past experience with timeshares.

They are not cheap and you must look out past 10 years before you really see the cost benefit. However, IF you plan on going to Disneyworld at least every other year for the next 20+ years and you perfer or would otherwise stay in deluxe accomodations, then Yes you will find it to be worth while in the long run. Maint fees will continue to rise, but they will be fraction of the cost you would pay each year if you simply paid cash for your room every trip.

It seems that these DVC contracts appreciate in value which is very rare in the timeshare world. However, since the contract expires, I would expect that appreciation to peak and then begin to drop down to zero as the expiration date approaches.

 

[ORD2KOA]

Glad to hear that. We'll be living in Orlando mid-2007. About a year after we moved from Chicago to Hawaii I was thinking about selling, but was able to rent the points a few times, which paid for the maintenance.

Congrats on the loan!!

Well, I've found it to be quite worth it. I joined in 1996 and haven't regretted a minute of it. I joined while living in the north and though briefly about selling it when I landed here. I thought I wouldn't get much use out of it, but I was wrong! I use it more now than ever before!

I like the flexibility of the program, the perks, the overall cost. It's a great hedge against inflation and WHOOOOHOOOOOOOO I make my last payment on my DVC financed loan this month!

 

[Boston5602]

AS I read in many other posts , its not all about saving money for me. I like NOT running to the park gate at opening and heading back when the park closes. We ENJOY the time there !!! Sometimes I get up real early other times I sleep til lunch time ( sometimes <G> )

I spend some time by the pool and around the resort in general. I love knowing " there's always next time"

anyways that's my thoughts on it.

 

[ORD2KOA]

Boston, I agree. One thing I love about OKW is it isn't a mad house, and since you know you're coming back, you don't feel the need to run around like a lunatic when you're at WDW.

What really pushed us over the "should we/shouldn't we" edge was that when we joined, we had free Park Hopper passes until 2000. When we factored that in, it made even more sense to buy.

BTW - We're also members of HGVC (Hilton Grand Vacations Club) and find it's cheaper over-all, but they charge per reservation.