I wish I understood the whole DVC thing more. It seems so confusing, the whole point thing... are you buying points for any Disney property, and when you factor in maintenance plus the initial buy in how do you know it's a good deal?
Not to get into the whole process about DVC (there are some great FAQ'a in the DVC forums that will walk you through), but I will give you a brief "in a nutshell" view of DVC
1) You buy points which can then be used in any DVC resort, any Disney properties at WDW or
Disneyland,
Disney Cruise, and an assortment of other places which quite honestly aren't any kind of a deal.
2) The actual points needed for a stay vary based on day of week, time of year, size of room
3) There is a yearly maintenance fee per point which are ranging from $4-6 depending on resort. Majority of the resorts are at $5-5.50 per point
4) Most people calculate the "value" for yearly use based on 2 things... actual maint. fee and the prorated amount of the original contract.
Example. Let's say, I bought 200 pts for $100/point ($20,000). I paid cash so I had no closing/interest costs. That contract is for 50 years of points. Divide the total cost by 50 years and that is how much I spend each year towards my initial investment ($1000). If you finance it is totally different, you have to figure in interest, etc... this is just to give you a simplified idea of "value".
So last year my initial cost was $1000 and my maintenance dues were around $900 for a total cost of $1900.
With those points I can book full week studio during busy times of spring break or summer.
Can travel off season, say right after Thanksgiving and before Christmas? I can stay 5 nights (Sun-Thu) in a 1BR suite.
So my actual "value" for 5 nights of a 1BR suite would be $380 night OR 7night stay in summer Studio would be $272 night.
Before anyone worries about quibbling over the math this is just meant to be estimates and in now a comprehensive value assessment.
just a little example
