? about DVC

[DisneyLvr12]

So, according to what I've read so far, seems as if the average cost to join is approx $21,000. Yikes! Ok, but what we can't figure out is what the benefits are. What are the benefits of buying into the DVC? We've already done to WDW 4x in the past year and stayed CL each time, and I can tell you that we've spent, roughly, a total of $12,000 (including airfare, CL room, dining/food, souveniers, etc). That's significantly less than buying into the DVC club and we've gone 4x! We can't figure out why so many people would join the DVC. We must be missing something!

 

[Lynne M]

That $21,000 is a one-time cost, and gets you several decades worth of stays.

You'll also pay annual maintenance fees, but if you do the math, and compare the cost of reserving a villa on a cash reservation to the cost for the same villa through DVC, you'll come out WAY ahead with DVC.

 

[Zip-a-dee-dude-da]

So, according to what I've read so far, seems as if the average cost to join is approx $21,000. Yikes! Ok, but what we can't figure out is what the benefits are. What are the benefits of buying into the DVC? We've already done to WDW 4x in the past year and stayed CL each time, and I can tell you that we've spent, roughly, a total of $12,000 (including airfare, CL room, dining/food, souveniers, etc). That's significantly less than buying into the DVC club and we've gone 4x! We can't figure out why so many people would join the DVC. We must be missing something!

R U Kidding? ....If you've spent 12,00 in a year lets assume 1/2 was on room cost (probably more) thats 6,000 a year.

Over 30 years ( rough length of DVC contract ) thats a total of $180,000. You are exactly who DVC is for. You could go 2 to 3 times a year in a studio for 30 years.

 

[corrinna]

Not only will you save on your room, if you are going 4x a year, there is an awesome discount on the annual passes. Then, if you have annual passes, you can purchase a Tables in Wonderland discount card that is good for 20% off your food at most of the sit down rest. and some of the counter service places too!!!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

DVC is Disney's version of a timeshare. So you do an initial buy-in (points instead of weeks), then pay maintenance fees (based on a per point cost which varied by resort) for as long as you own the property.

 

[goofy4tink]

When I bought DVC, it cost me about $13,000. When that is paid for, all you have are your dues and maintainence fees each year. So....lets say I spend $390 a night for a studio at BWV, total Sat to Sat stay is $3071, and I do this once a year for 5 years...well, I've now paid $15,355.
But, if I have purchased DVC at BWV, every trip after that is going to very cheap....take whatever my dues/fees are for the year and divide them by that number of nights...not much at all.
I get a nicer room, nicer amenities. It's not something that is going to pay for itself quickly, but over the long haul.

 

[gojoe]

If you do decide to buy make it the resort you where you want to stay. If you love Epcot resorts buy there! The home resort booking is very important. Check out re-sale. Time Share store was great for us.

 

[Pig Pen]

It works for us.

We paid about $8,500 for 150 points in 2002 - buying directly from Disney. I have lost track of how many trips we have taken, but we are able to stay for extended periods in rooms that would run anywhere from $300 to $900 per night! Last year we stayed in a studio at BLT for 8 nights (would have been about $4,000). We had a wonderful lake view in a deluxe resort and the room was new and modern.

The best thing about DVC is the flexibility. By banking and borrowing, we could have up to 450 points available for a trip. This year we are renting a 2 bedroom at VWL for 5 nights for 220 points (we banked and borrowed for this). If paying cash, we would have spent almost $4400 for accomodations for just this one trip!

I love that we have the choice of staying in a value studio at AKV for 9 points a night, or a grand villa with a view of MK for 94 points per night.

 

[danielle782001]

We love the rooms...To have a washer and dryer in the room means we come home with no dirty clothes...The kids have their own room to sleep in so we do not have to go to bed when they do...We have our own bathroom so no sharing with the kids...We are so comfortable there...We have been averaging two trips a year since we purchased and we get to do it for a very long time to come!

 

[Snow Shoe]

We're DVC owners at Boardwalk since 1998, and have been going to Disney every year since 1986. I now look back and wish we had purchased DVC in 1992 when it first started. It would have saved us some big money those 6 years before we finally did.

It had always been my wifes dream for many years to spend Christmas at Disney with the family. So for Christmas 2007 we did just that. Our sons and their families, our college daughter were all there, 11 people in all. I was able to get a grand villa at BWV with a great view. In the picture below, the white box was our porch.

They still talk about that Christmas vacation, and the magnificant grand villa we had. We've also taken seperatly our sons and their families on many summer trips over the years and got a 2 bedroom villa to share. Not having to freat over the yearly room price increase makes the cost of going so much easier.

You might want to consider the re-sale market for a purchase, instead of going through Disney.

 

[cvjw]

We just recently bought into DVC after vacationing at Disney every year for 10 years, some years twice a year. We finally decided to take the plunge because of the larger size of the villas vs. the size of Disney's regular hotel rooms. We went from the 4 of us in a regular room, all cramped, to the 4 of us in 2 bedroom villas - with tons of space. Yes, we did have to pay the initial buy in cost, but we went resale, so it was cheaper. Now, all we have to pay is yearly maintenance fees, and we can vacation at Disney twice a year in the great villas. We wish we had bought in much earlier. If you still intend to visit Disney in the future, you are an excellent candidate for DVC.

 

[ElizabethG]

We just bought points at BLT. That resort is the reason we joined. I love the accomodations and ammenities. We got double the points our first year (as a bonus). The contract expires in 2060, so that is 50 years of vacations. After the initial purchase (about $20,000), we'll be paying just over $700/yr in dues. That covers our one vacation per year for 8 nights in a 1-bdrm.

 

[DVC-Don]

Our last DVC contract was from the resale market and cost $10800 (150 points @ OKW in the summer of 2009). So you can get in for much less than you think.

 

[chalee94]

So, according to what I've read so far, seems as if the average cost to join is approx $21,000.

depends on what you use it for. it is pretty scalable - depends on whether you want a studio in the offseason or a 2BR or grand villa the week of christmas every year...

What are the benefits of buying into the DVC?

prepaid accomodations onsite at wdw (or at the grand californian villas at DL) for the next 33 to 50 years, depending on the resort you buy into. my OKW contract expires in 2042...a contract at the bay lake tower next to the MK expires in 2060.

there are some smaller perks (like $100 off APs or dining discounts) but those can come and go.

We've already done to WDW 4x in the past year and stayed CL each time...

you might like to know that among DVC resorts, only the AKV has CL rooms - and only a handful. so if concierge rooms are essential for you, then DVC is probably not a good fit.

 

[CanadianGuy]

This is truly a thread best suited to the DVC Planning board. And as such I'll be moving this there.

Thanks,

Knox

 

[kenny]

As others have said, the beauty is that you are pre-paying. So while there may not be the BIGGEST savings today, those savings grow every year as rooms get more expensive but you already paid for yours.

Also I wouldn't compare number of trips in regards to cost over DVC but actual days.

I am not sure what specials/deals you received on each trip but if you only spent 12K over 4 trips that is only 3K per trip. For airfare, CL room, food and souvinears, tickets, etc my guess is that they were not long trips.

I would figure out what it cost per night for your room and compare that to what it costs per night in DVC.

For example we are going in 2 weeks and staying in a 1 BR MKV at BLT. For the room alone the rack rate is over 5K for our trip. For the amount we paid in dues this year plus the cost of the DVC purchased (normalized to 46 years), for the amount it cost us for DVC we would only be able to stay at a moderate. Plus we have more than 1 trip this year. That just makes the savings even that much more.