$178,364.60

[Jen_in_NH]

You could also buy less points and not go every year. If you see yourself going every other or even every third year, you could buy less points and through banking and borrowing work that out, and greatly lower that $178000 figure.

That's exactly what we did. We plan on going every other year, or maybe every third year when our son is a bit older. We bought a 100 point contract, and plan on banking a year to use the next year to have enough points for our stay. It certainly cut the cost down, and made it reasonable for us. If we find that it isn't enough, we can always add on later.

 

[wdwnut]

Could sell my points today and make back more than the original investments. Then the maintenance fees paid could kind of be considered what we would have spent for resort rooms; if so, we would have only been paying less than we used to in the early 90's with 50% off AP savings. Still happy with our purchases.

 

[jade1]

Could sell my points today and make back more than the original investments. Then the maintenance fees paid could kind of be considered what we would have spent for resort rooms; if so, we would have only been paying less than we used to in the early 90's with 50% off AP savings. Still happy with our purchases.

Exactly.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Exactly.

Ditto I've been a member since 2003 and not 1 of my contracts would sell for less than I paid if I were to sell today.

And Im talking ROFR passing prices, even with SSR hitting recent lows I was not worried.

If I sold in the $50 range, I would have 7 years of vacations every 3 months or so and 2 cruises paid and still recoup 75% or more. My dues would be in addition to my cost, but I would have paid way more than that with the best promotional rates offered.

 

[dmoore22]

Instead of reading DIS during lunch, I used excel to figure out how much DVC would cost me. I used the following estimates
300 pts at $112/point, no interest on the $33,600, and a 2.5% increase on maintenence fees per year, starting at $4.12 for year 1.

Anyway, thanks to excel, I found my total-total after 50 years: I'm giving Disney $178,364.60. This breaks down to $297.27 per month.

I will still take the tour in December, but from a standpoint of i don't know what I'm going to be doing in 10 years, much less 30 or 40, I'm thinking DVC may NOT be right for me.

I also compared the Rack Rate to DVC (with the same 2.5 % annual increase.) The savings of a vacation every year is over $130,000. But if I didn't have DVC, I wouldn't go to WDW every year, so it isn't a fair comparison.
Just wondering if anyone else looked at DVC from a numbers standpoint like this.

I think we all get hung up with the numbers at some point. However there is a certain degree of faulty logic, even when playing with a spreadsheet analysis. Here is a link to a very nice article that explains much better than I can in this limited space: http://www.mouseplanet.com/7289/BuyingDVC

And, if one must play with spreadsheets here is a link to a nice "Mouseplanet DVC Analysis Spreadsheet": http://www.mouseplanet.com/7290/TheDVCSpreadsheetDetails

 

[bobbiwoz]

It was in 1996 that we first looked at DVC and I did the math with pencil and paper and came up with staggering numbers that represented how much DVC would cost us, and we didn't buy.

I don't regret not buying then, obviously we weren't ready. However, in 2003 we were and DH and I consider it one of the best things we've done. We're empty nesters, we were when we did buy in, and have had many wonderful trips.

You've given it much thought and when and if the time is right you'll see your way to buy in and enjoy the DVC experience. Good luck!

Bobbi

 

[mommacat56]

To the OP: are you planning to stay at a DVC resort at rack rates when you are there for your vacation and tour? The reason I'm asking this is because when we purchased at OKW many, MANY years ago (1991 to be exact...and don't regret any of it!), we were able to apply the amount we spent on our vacation villa toward the purchase of our points, dollar for dollar. I don't know if Disney still allows that, but if you are planning on spending several thousand dollars or more on your accommodations at one of the DVC's still being sold, you might want to ask if this possibility still exists. So, if the room costs you $400/night and you stay for 7 nights, you could ask if you could apply the $2800 toward the purchase of a contract... Of course you would have to purchase through Disney at the going rate to do this. I thought bringing this up would give you more to chew on. Good luck with your decision!

 

[joksten2000]

We bought in 2000 with the idea we would go on a family cruise every other year. Everyone said not a wise use of points. We loved our cruises so much we bought two more times and now have 1,000 so we can cruise every year. as of 2011 we have spent $76,000 buying points. and will have spent $38,900 in maintenance fees. Total $114,900. We've enjoyed 13 vacations that have a dollar value of $142,000.

Now our $18,000 cruises will cost us our maintenance fee of $4.850 a year. Best money we have ever invested. Yes I consider it an investment because I'm getting a nice return on our money. It was simple math

I don't know where everyone uses the 2.5% increase in Maintenance every year. Dues went down from 06 to 07 by $170 and 07 to 08 they went up $20 a half of 1% Finally this year we went from $4,851.24 to $4,994.64 about 3% We'll see what happens next year Just so they don't get to $15,000 a year.

We could make a killing if we sold our points now.

If someone trys to multiply the fees now by years our cost is much more but we started out with 500 then purchased 250 several years later and another 250 a couple of years after that.

 

[DeeCee735]

Nope, we never did the numbers, outside of knowing we paid $21,275 (no financing) over 5 contracts since 2000 for the 285 points we own, averaging approx. $75 per point.
We never looked at the cost of maintenance fees, we don't care!

We're just regular everyday middle class people, who never once regretted buying in. We've taken awesome vacations, stayed in $500 a night hotels, did one 1/2 land, 1/2 sea Disney cruise with our kids that had an approximate $7000 price tag on it (used all points), going on the Dream next year, on points, been to Hilton Head with family and friends 3x now. We travel to WDW once a year for a week with the fam, and I go with friends or cousins one or two long weekends a year. 90% of the trips we've stayed in 1 or 2 bedrooms, only rarely are we in a studio. My daughter has used it for trips with her friends, and we're going for the second time this year in June to celebrate birthdays, with guests.

We bought it because we LOVE LOVE LOVE being in WDW, and our now college age kids love it too. We thought they'd get tired of going, but instead they ask to take friends, and their friends just can't wait to be invited

Next year we plan on using points for Vegas and in a few years time we'll be trading out for Hawaii

We would never take trips like these or this often if we didn't own it, and we purposely bought it so we could take as many vacations as possible. We will leave our contracts to our children, and our grandchildren. That math, I did do. Figuring in average age my kids might have kids, my grandchildren will be able to use the points for vacations until they are about 22, again, averaging.

There's no amount of money that can be put on the memories of our family and friends vacations, and the fact that my kids will be using it for their own families when we're too old, or gone to use it ourselves...at
least this is the way we see it

I've got the maintenance fee payments down to a science. We use the
Disney Visa card for just about all of our purchases, paying it off in full at the end of each month so there are no finance charges involved. I use the rewards dollars each month toward paying the upcoming maintenance fees (we are on annual statements). Then I charge the difference each month to my card (thereby earning a few rewards bucks a year on that too). By the time the annual statement is ready we are already paid in full, and we are only paying at most 3/4 of the total because the rewards dollars are paying the other 1/4 (sometimes more).

That's about all the math we've calculated and that's all we care to calculate cause we're too busy planning our next trips!!!!

Just our 2 cents! Good luck with your decisions and enjoy your vacations!

 

[Jason@dvcstore]

We did a spreadsheet too. My husband is a math guy.

I hope my response below is not too far off the topic but wanted to share.

At The Timeshare Store, Inc® when I hear couples discussing numbers the wife majority of the time blames the husband.

My most favorite call I have ever received was when the wife once told me "my husband runs all these numbers --he was an economics major so you know how they are" and I said yes I do. The reason I said yes I do was because I majored in economics at the University of Iowa. I didn't tell her that but I thought it was funny.

Jason

 

[Dean]

I hope my response below is not too far off the topic but wanted to share.

At The Timeshare Store, Inc® when I hear couples discussing numbers the wife majority of the time blames the husband.

My most favorite call I have ever received was when the wife once told me "my husband runs all these numbers --he was an economics major so you know how they are" and I said yes I do. The reason I said yes I do was because I majored in economics at the University of Iowa. I didn't tell her that but I thought it was funny.

Jason

I don't think it's uncommon for one person in a family to be more type A and one type B. I think the problems with this and DVC include two very important issues. One is that often those running numbers don't truly have sufficient and broad enough information and/or experience to allow them to make a truly informed decision. The other is that often emotion overcomes reason. Here's an example. Say a family goes to Disney 3 years in a row and stay at moderates and values then get interested in DVC. They don't really know what they'll want to do for vacation in 10 years, don't know what financial or health issues life will throw at them and don't know what the financial comparisons will be. DVC will likely not save them money and they have to decide if the extra value is worth the long term commitment. In effect, it's a gamble, though certainly one that's worked fairly to very well so far for many of us.

These are some of the reasons why I feel that DVC needs to CLEARLY make sense to a given situation rather than being a break even issue that makes one feel good. It is dramatically unlikely that new owners will get the full measure of value going forward compared to us long term owners. I do think there are exceptions though, esp those that buy in for a very good price, in the range of what SSR is bringing currently for a later expiring contract. I think those that buy just the number of points they truly need, esp those that look at other timeshares for non DVC stays, are also in a position to get better value than most. Combining the 2 approaches can yield even further value if done appropriately. Obviously there are many variations of circumstances and many people who delude themselves due to the emotions with DVC rack rates as a major component of their decisions and assignments

 

[unclescrooge_0707]

When I posted, I did not honestly think this would go to 4 pages!

Again, thank you all very, very much. I especially liked the Economics major comment
We're going to WDW three times in 4 years, so that's why this is a consideration, but as everyone has said/suggested, past performance does not guarantee future results. Which is definatly part of the reason to consider, and not consider, DVC.

And the link to mousesavers was also helpful, so thank you to dmoore22 for that one!

Time will tell, and if you see me posting more regularly in January to this thread on the DISboards, you'll know our decision!

 

[joksten2000]

I knew when you bought timeshares you had to buy a certain week in the year and I was smart enough to know that was too restricting for us.

I took the whole family on a Christmas cruise in 2000 as it was the first Christmas since my Mother died and felt it was needed as we had spent Christmas eve with her my whole life.

The grandkids had such a great time that we decided to listen to their spheel adn the rest is history. We now have enough points to go on family vacations every year. Our present to our children & grandchildren.

 

[dbs1228]

My parents own serveral time shares and hold "weeks" to trade. They have put me and my siblings on the deed 2 years ago and we have not had a lot of luck with the ressies. My dad just said they had 5 weeks that need to be used by Feb. 2011 and instead of using our new dvc points we should use their weeks. WELL... We have tried to find places with their weeks and have nothing but headaches! We tried at 9 months out to get accomadations in West Hollywood, Disney Land and San Diego we were able to get 2 nights in San Diego out of our 10 night visit. We stayed off property for 4 nights Disney last year, and the accomadations were clean but in no way dvc standards. We inquired about going to England next June, 15 month advance notice, and there was nothing???? I like knowing when I call dvc no matter what resort I end up in I will be happy and in most situations I will get accomadations. I do not see us using dvc for non - Disney trips but you never know.

Funniest part to me is my parents cannot understand that we have the flexibility to book a studio up to grand villa and we can go more then once a year depending on how we decide to use our points!

 

[Dean]

My parents own serveral time shares and hold "weeks" to trade. They have put me and my siblings on the deed 2 years ago and we have not had a lot of luck with the ressies. My dad just said they had 5 weeks that need to be used by Feb. 2011 and instead of using our new dvc points we should use their weeks. WELL... We have tried to find places with their weeks and have nothing but headaches! We tried at 9 months out to get accomadations in West Hollywood, Disney Land and San Diego we were able to get 2 nights in San Diego out of our 10 night visit. We stayed off property for 4 nights Disney last year, and the accomadations were clean but in no way dvc standards. We inquired about going to England next June, 15 month advance notice, and there was nothing???? I like knowing when I call dvc no matter what resort I end up in I will be happy and in most situations I will get accomadations. I do not see us using dvc for non - Disney trips but you never know.

Funniest part to me is my parents cannot understand that we have the flexibility to book a studio up to grand villa and we can go more then once a year depending on how we decide to use our points!

It sounds like they haven't learned how to use their system and trading options very well. An investment in learning and early planning will likely yield better results. Since you're on the deed, you're an owner and could do this yourself.

 

[dbs1228]

We go to disney every year so dvc works for us. For estate planning parents put us on the deed. With 3 kids,work, sports (DH and I both coach) college visits and all the choas that comes with having kids limits our vacation time and the time to really look at what my parents have. We do 1 other vacation other then Disney which is always a "new destination" My parents have banked weeks with RCI etc.... and seem to be on top of it but I think they have more then they use. Once kids are gone I will be looking more closely to what they have, and take advantage.

 

[Donald's Main Squeez]

I don't regret our decision to buy in. It is like pre-paying our vacations. It also makes take time out to plan a vacation every year or so. And if we are able, a couple of trips a year. In the last 12 months, we have been on a 7 day cruise, 5 days in the grand villa at AKV, and 3 more nights this summer at Boardwalk Villas. Too much fun if you ask me.

 

[itsreally4mommy]

I liken it to staying onsite vs offsite or getting the dining plan vs not. Sure it probably doesn't save much if anything. It may cost more. But if it truly heightens your enjoyment and gives you a more carefree attitude on vacation (which is what vacations are about) then I believe it is worthwhile as long as it doesn't cause a financial hardship.

 

[DVCGeek]

I liken it to staying onsite vs offsite or getting the dining plan vs not. Sure it probably doesn't save much if anything. It may cost more. But if it truly heightens your enjoyment and gives you a more carefree attitude on vacation (which is what vacations are about) then I believe it is worthwhile as long as it doesn't cause a financial hardship.

Well said! I particularly like your comment about 'carefree attitude' - that is my favorite part about "going to Disney".

 

[edk35]

I just can't look at DVC in terms of what it will cost me in 10-20-50 years. That would be like looking at my Starbucks intake and trying to calculate how much I will spend on Starbucks in 50 years. Are there cheaper options? Of course! But, for now, Starbucks does it for me, just like DVC works right now for our family for the way that we vacation at Disney. When/if DVC stops working for us, we will sell and know that we've gotten our value out of our membership. In my mind, I only need to get back in savings the amount of the initial buy in plus what we've spent on MFs and, given the fact that our December, 2010 trip will get us close to being half-way to breaking even, we should get to break-even well before we tire of Disney vacations (which, in my current mindset, I can't imagine how that will ever be - LOL).

Starbucks!!! That cracked me up. Yes I hate to calculate how much I spend on certain things over 50 years. YIKES IS RIGHT!!!!! You could do that about a lot of things we spend our money on.