An article on "Does DVC save you money?"

[Bing Showei]

The math was very clear for all of us. Is that not how you are defining savings (i.e. spending less than we would otherwise spend for something we consider equivalent)?

That’s a fair question. My question to you would pertain to the bolded part of what you stated in your question. How would you determine what you would otherwise spend?

Without an agreed upon baseline with which to do any comparison, there is unlikely to be consensus on the validity of what any analysis will yield.

I will state unequivocally that through the life of a contract, on a per trip basis, staying at a Disney resort will be cheaper with a Disney timeshare commitment than without one. There is no arguing this fact. Even the most die-hard "you're not saving money" among us will acknowledge that this is true. If that is your argument, I have nothing to add. It's true. On a per trip basis, Disney's timeshare will be cheaper than any other option out there.

But people aren't qualifying their statements that way. People are saying a Disney timeshare is a great way to save money, that it's a very simple reality and that if you don't see that, you're being obtuse.

But the question goes back to what are we comparing costs to as a baseline? People like to project out 5, 15, 25, 50 years to demonstrate all the savings they are going to have. Compared to what they will spend over that time, they are winning, winning, winning from Day 1.

Forward-looking to project savings with vs. without a Disney timeshare is a model that timeshare developers sell because it makes sense. You'll always come out ahead that way. No timeshare salesman would ask you to look back at what you've spent over the last 10 years on what they're selling you.

But that's exactly what I would recommend those considering buying in do. Look back at the last 5, 15, 25 years at what their spending has been at Disney. Average out what those costs have been per year staying at WDW. 5 years would include the global pandemic. 15 years would include the housing crisis. 25 years would include the dot com crash and 9/11. Sprinkled in there may be personal life choices that took you to hike the Machu Picchu, do a safari in sub-Saharan Africa, or stay in an over-the-water bungalow in the Maldives. There may also be years you didn't vacation for personal reasons (oops baby, career change, building a bunker for the zombie apocalypse).

Looking back and averaging costs gives you an honest perspective on what your behaviors are without a Disney timeshare. If you are able to save money against historical behavior, you truly are saving money on buying a Disney timeshare. If compared to you without a Disney timeshare there are no savings, then you are likely buying in for another reason, not the savings.

A Disney timeshare is a financial liability and commitment to spend money at Disney for the next 20-49 years.

Disney's timeshare changes the way you travel. For many of us, that's a welcome change. We are forced to vacation. We will invite family on trips on trips. We will travel to Hawaii. We will stay on site within walking distance to a park for the first time. All things we likely didn't do before; all great reasons to own a Disney timeshare. None of which is to save money.

 

[crisi]

That said -- Does DVC ultimately "reduce" my vacation budget, and thereby transfer more money into savings? No, not really. It's really an additional expense that potentially is giving me more. Best case scenario, it's giving me more for my money.
But don't we do that most (if not all) the time we spend? Don't we always look for ways to get more for our money? When booking a cash room at WDW, don't most people book through special offers, if available? Don't we all weigh our budget against our accommodation. Deciding whether a deluxe resort is "worth it" compared to a mod/value... Deciding whether on site is "worth it" compared to saying off site.
So at all times, we are weighing the objective cost of something versus the perceived value. When we opt for a cheaper option, it "saves money" only in the context that we didn't find the more expensive option to be worth the price. But for any purchase, there is always a more expensive option.

My husband drives a loaded E Class Mercedes. Its a $75k car. Now he got it slightly used for $45k - so he "saved money." And its an awesome car. It drives like a dream. The seats are so comfortable. Safety features are incredible. He believes it is worth every penny. I drive a used Prius I got for $17k used. Its a $24k car. I pay a LOT less in gas than anyone else in the family. I also saved money when I bought my car. My oldest drives my old Volvo that he got for "free" as a high school graduation present. It was worth $10k when we gave it to him - I had bought it for $15k used. My youngest drives a Fiat that we bought off of a salvage lot for $5k (a bargain - its an automatic and had less than 30k miles on it when we bought it - but it was "totaled" in a hail storm so it isn't pristine by any mean). Again, free to her. Everyone "saved" money on their vehicle. Everyone has a car that gets them from here to there. But at the end of the day, we'd have more money in the bank as a family if we were all driving salvage Fiats. And a lot more money if we could get everywhere on bicycles.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

Is DVCSD happier owning? Sure sounds like it. Anyone can get behind that. But when someone has shown no history of traveling to Hawaii suddenly does, it reinforces that travel patterns will change, and it illustrates exactly why Disney is in this game.

I don't think you understood my point. We were going to take a big vacation for my daughter's HS graduation regardless. London? We have already done that. Paris? We have already done that too. Funny enough, those European vacations actually cost less (in general) for us than going somewhere like Hawai'i because we live in the northeast. My daughter has always wanted to go to Hawai'i, but we didn't take Aulani into consideration at all when evaluating DVC. It was after we bought into DVC that my wife had the idea of doing Aulani for the HS graduation trip. Our "travel patterns" didn't change, since we were going to take a trip anyway (we were kind of setting on Australia before the Aulani idea). The trip to Hawai'i, because of our DVC membership, will actually cost much less than any other trip we would have taken. DVC didn't change anything...it enhanced it.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

Finance people will tell you you are missing two important things - time value of money and salvage value. Now, one of the reasons I don't play this game any longer is that both of those require assumptions. I always assume that TVM is a wash - yeah, you can make money in the stock market if you invested it, but inflation - especially Disney inflation - makes it a wash - and so was fond of the simple calculation you are doing. But people who do TVM in their calculations get very different results. The other one is salvage value - what will it be worth when you sell it. The assumptions here are huge - because while a lot of DVC owners get appreciation - some are forced to sell in a down market. And my BWV is going to start dropping in value at the end of its life - which is starting to look closer. A third cost would be financing, which if you need to finance over a few years, will dramatically increase your costs.

Economists will tell you that you are missing another soft calculation - opportunity costs. What else could you have done with the capital. This is where those of us who are financially conservative say "make sure you are saving for retirement/college/etc." Those college bills are HUGE. If in going on vacation in general and not setting aside college funds, the cost could be $400 a month student loan payments for your kids when they are young adults. If you aren't sufficiently funding your retirement, your days with the Mouse might cost you some comforts in your old age.

I understand all that, but the request was for a "simple" calculation.

 

[crisi]

I understand all that, but the request was for a "simple" calculation.

But "all that" is why a simple calculation is actually pretty meaningless. Especially if you don't have the knowledge to, as you and I do, understand all that. And, quite frankly, if people can't come up with "purchase price of contract per point/# of years at purchase + this years dues = this years per point cost" on their own and are asking, they don't understand "all that" and probably lack a financial advisor to tell them.

This board isn't just the people participating in the conversation. Its also people who are reading along, trying to decide if they want to buy, who may never post until its to be Welcomed Home.

 

[Bing Showei]

I don't think you understood my point. We were going to take a big vacation for my daughter's HS graduation regardless. London? We have already done that. Paris? We have already done that too. Funny enough, those European vacations actually cost less (in general) for us than going somewhere like Hawai'i because we live in the northeast. My daughter has always wanted to go to Hawai'i, but we didn't take Aulani into consideration at all when evaluating DVC. It was after we bought into DVC that my wife had the idea of doing Aulani for the HS graduation trip. Our "travel patterns" didn't change, since we were going to take a trip anyway (we were kind of setting on Australia before the Aulani idea). The trip to Hawai'i, because of our DVC membership, will actually cost much less than any other trip we would have taken. DVC didn't change anything...it enhanced it.

Your point actually illustrates my point perfectly. You're going to go stay at a Disney property that without your Disney timeshare, you admittedly wouldn't have stayed at. In this case, you gave up a potential trip to Australia because, "Hey, we have points, let's use them in Hawaii."

It's debatable that your vacation was enhanced. Some might argue traveling to a country she's never been to would be an equally, maybe even more amazing gift for your daughter. But it's undeniable that the developer of your timeshare got you to spend money with them as opposed to someone else in this instance.

 

[Nabas]

I will state unequivocally that through the life of a contract, on a per trip basis, staying at a Disney resort will be cheaper with a Disney timeshare commitment than without one. There is no arguing this fact. Even the most die-hard "you're not saving money" among us will acknowledge that this is true. If that is your argument, I have nothing to add. It's true. On a per trip basis, Disney's timeshare will be cheaper than any other option out there.

For the die-hard WDW fan (this is my 40th year going to WDW!), there's no question that DVC will save money over the life of the contract.

I also think DVC will save money for the family who plans to go for (let's say) the next 10 years while the children are of a certain age. The idea is that the DVC resale market is strong and should still be strong in 10 years. That family is going to be able to sell their DVC in 10 years and get most of their original purchase price back.

I'm not so sure about the short-timer (only wants to go a few years) or those who pay a lot in interest for their purchase.

DVC also will probably not save money for those who are comfortable with WDW's Moderate or Value Resorts.

IMO, you have to consider individual circumstances to determine if a family is going to save money with DVC.

 

[CmdrThor]

Finance people will tell you you are missing two important things - time value of money and salvage value. Now, one of the reasons I don't play this game any longer is that both of those require assumptions. I always assume that TVM is a wash - yeah, you can make money in the stock market if you invested it, but inflation - especially Disney inflation - makes it a wash - and so was fond of the simple calculation you are doing. But people who do TVM in their calculations get very different results. The other one is salvage value - what will it be worth when you sell it. The assumptions here are huge - because while a lot of DVC owners get appreciation - some are forced to sell in a down market. And my BWV is going to start dropping in value at the end of its life - which is starting to look closer. A third cost would be financing, which if you need to finance over a few years, will dramatically increase your costs.

Economists will tell you that you are missing another soft calculation - opportunity costs. What else could you have done with the capital. This is where those of us who are financially conservative say "make sure you are saving for retirement/college/etc." Those college bills are HUGE. If in going on vacation in general and not setting aside college funds, the cost could be $400 a month student loan payments for your kids when they are young adults. If you aren't sufficiently funding your retirement, your days with the Mouse might cost you some comforts in your old age.

I think many people underestimate the time value of money, but you are right that inflation does play a factor. Sometimes I feel regret buying a contract because maybe I should have just invested the money and gotten a point transfer. Say I invested my $100 a point for SSR instead of buying, then bought points for $16. Once you subtract dues my transfer purchase really only cost me a little over $8. If I have historically had a return of around 12% in the stock market, I would have been better off just using the returns from my investment to buy transfer points. But as dues increase and transfer costs increase, that eats away at my investment principal and eventually I am spending more than I am making. I am then pretty happy with my purchases for my own use, but I still hate renting out my points unless I can get a very good price for a hard to get confirmed reservation. I think many people who rent overestimate the returns compared to just investing the money and underestimate the risk.

 

[Eric Smith]

Here is my issue....would you have stayed in that room if you didn't own DVC? If not, it isn't saving money as I define it - its adding value. We would have never stayed in two bedroom units without DVC. With DVC we did, it was wonderful, and it improved the quality of our vacations. But a regular hotel room at CBR, which is what we stayed in pre-DVC and would have continued staying in, even moving to a Deluxe regular hotel room, would have been cheaper than a two bedroom. I know this because most of our non-DVC vacations have been the four of us in one room - we don't book connecting rooms when we cruise with the kids, we will put all of us in a room in Australia, etc.

We would also have never paid for hotel rooms for friends. Again, don't regret it for a second, its been great. But adding value, not saving money. And we would have done fewer of our trips at Disney - we still would have spent money on vacations, but some of those vacations would have possibly been cheaper - because park tickets and food at Disney make it an expensive vacation. (pre-Covid I go to London every year and spend a fraction of what I spend at Disney - my youngest is out at college near Boston, so I've done several New England vacations tacked onto visits to them - way cheaper). And while I don't begrudge Disney the money, I have come to begrudge some of the time. The kids are adults now, and I never got them to the Grand Canyon or Mammoth Cave.

Now, if you really would have booked a bigger unit, or taken friends, or gone as often or whatever, then yeah, DVC saves you money.

ETA: In other words we got a LOT more for a little more money.

It depends on how you do your analysis and what assumptions you make. When I was looking at buying in, I compared the cost of what we were doing (staying at the Swan/Dolphin) and compared that to the cost of the DVC contract that we bought. We were going to WDW once a year, so it was pretty easy math to compare the room cost at the Swan/Dolphin and the initial cost and maintenance fees on the DVC contract. The DVC contract was quite a lot cheaper (something like 50-60% of the cost). The definition of savings is going to vary person to person, but there is definitely a way that DVC can save people money. I won't argue that it saves everyone money or even the majority of people who buy in.

 

[crisi]

It depends on how you do your analysis and what assumptions you make. When I was looking at buying in, I compared the cost of what we were doing (staying at the Swan/Dolphin) and compared that to the cost of the DVC contract that we bought. We were going to WDW once a year, so it was pretty easy math to compare the room cost at the Swan/Dolphin and the initial cost and maintenance fees on the DVC contract. The DVC contract was quite a lot cheaper (something like 50-60% of the cost). The definition of savings is going to vary person to person, but there is definitely a way that DVC can save people money. I won't argue that it saves everyone money or even the majority of people who buy in.

And if you keep your travel patterns the same, and continue to book studios - yep. Where it falls apart is if you discover the wonder of a one/two bedroom and then stop staying in studios. Or start booking a one bedroom just once in a while because its available at a resort you want to try when studios aren't. Then you'll need more points (or shorter/fewer trips). In that situation, people tend to pick more points. But this isn't everyone. There are people who manage to keep their patterns the same. Those people probably will save money.

 

[havoc315]

And if you keep your travel patterns the same, and continue to book studios - yep. Where it falls apart is if you discover the wonder of a one/two bedroom and then stop staying in studios. Or start booking a one bedroom just once in a while because its available at a resort you want to try when studios aren't. Then you'll need more points (or shorter/fewer trips). In that situation, people tend to pick more points. But this isn't everyone. There are people who manage to keep their patterns the same. Those people probably will save money.

Not just that. You're generally committing to paying Disney prices for tickets, for food, which escalate quickly, beyond inflation.
Even if you keep your patterns the same, those patterns may lead to increase costs beyond normal inflation. 10 years ago, the price of a 7 day ticket was a mere $160! The price of an annual pass has doubled in the last 10 years.

I wonder how many people would have changed their WDW patterns due to the increased price of tickets and food, if they weren't already "locked" in by the DVC ownership.

Put another way, even if you are getting a discount on the lodging, you're paying spiraling costs on the other factors of a trip.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

Your point actually illustrates my point perfectly. You're going to go stay at a Disney property that without your Disney timeshare, you admittedly wouldn't have stayed at. In this case, you gave up a potential trip to Australia because, "Hey, we have points, let's use them in Hawaii."

It's debatable that your vacation was enhanced. Some might argue traveling to a country she's never been to would be an equally, maybe even more amazing gift for your daughter. But it's undeniable that the developer of your timeshare got you to spend money with them as opposed to someone else in this instance.

You continue to miss my point. We didn't give up any potential trip anywhere, because we weren't sure where we going to go. Australia was on the table. So was Ireland. We didn't think Hawai'i would be affordable so it wasn't on our initial list, but it would have been #1 on our list if there was a way for us to swing it. I guess you decided not to pay any attention to my comment that my daughter always wanted to go to Hawai'i. DVC is actually going to allow that to happen. Again, we were going to go somewhere. Have you looked into how much an Australian vacation costs? I'll save you the suspense...it coast A LOT. Who cares if Disney gets our vacation dollars in this instance? Using our DVC points to go to Aulani saved us a lot of money compared to what other destinations were going to cost us. And it is the dream HS trip for my daughter.

I notice you make a lot of assumptions when trying to make a point. You have no idea or right to say that it's debatable that my vacation was enhanced. You are not in my situation. Who are you to say what vacation would have bene better for my daughter? She is the one that has been begging to go to Hawai'i. She knew the options we were considering (Australia and Ireland) and yet she was ecstatic when we told her about Aulani. She has already been to many different countries, yet I have not seen her as excited for anything as she is for Hawai'i.

You can keep spinning things to make is sound like there is some nebulous opportunity cost that DVC is inflicting on its members. You can keep trying to twist words to make is sound like, for example, people are being robbed of trips to Australia because of DVC. Yet, when the source (me) tells you that is not how it played out at all you chose to just ignore that info and make assumptions. I guess that's the way you try to "prove" a point. I understand you try to play the role of "harsh truth" when it comes to DVC, but sometimes DVC is just objectively a good thing.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

This board isn't just the people participating in the conversation. Its also people who are reading along, trying to decide if they want to buy, who may never post until its to be Welcomed Home.

Exactly. And believe it or not, those that are researching DVC might not now how the MFs work and how to allocate purchase cost to each point. I didn't when I first started looking into DVC. The point system can be very confusing at first. Initially, I had no idea how to calculate the difference in room rates between DVC and rack rates. So I was just passing along the "simple" calculation for comparing the room rates, as the other poster had requested.

 

[smisale]

1

 

[Sandisw]

You continue to miss my point. We didn't give up any potential trip anywhere, because we weren't sure where we going to go. Australia was on the table. So was Ireland. We didn't think Hawai'i would be affordable so it wasn't on our initial list, but it would have been #1 on our list if there was a way for us to swing it. I guess you decided not to pay any attention to my comment that my daughter always wanted to go to Hawai'i. DVC is actually going to allow that to happen. Again, we were going to go somewhere. Have you looked into how much an Australian vacation costs? I'll save you the suspense...it coast A LOT. Who cares if Disney gets our vacation dollars in this instance? Using our DVC points to go to Aulani saved us a lot of money compared to what other destinations were going to cost us. And it is the dream HS trip for my daughter.

I notice you make a lot of assumptions when trying to make a point. You have no idea or right to say that it's debatable that my vacation was enhanced. You are not in my situation. Who are you to say what vacation would have bene better for my daughter? She is the one that has been begging to go to Hawai'i. She knew the options we were considering (Australia and Ireland) and yet she was ecstatic when we told her about Aulani. She has already been to many different countries, yet I have not seen her as excited for anything as she is for Hawai'i.

You can keep spinning things to make is sound like there is some nebulous opportunity cost that DVC is inflicting on its members. You can keep trying to twist words to make is sound like, for example, people are being robbed of trips to Australia because of DVC. Yet, when the source (me) tells you that is not how it played out at all you chose to just ignore that info and make assumptions. I guess that's the way you try to "prove" a point. I understand you try to play the role of "harsh truth" when it comes to DVC, but sometimes DVC is just objectively a good thing.

These are really good points and I agree that no everyone wants or sees traveling lots of different places as better.

It goes back to the word saving and what someone wants out of owning DVC. Honestly, I have done other trips and when it comes down to it, Disney remains my favorite and if I was forced to only do one trip a year, Disney would win, even without DVC.

I am happy for your daughter and what an awesome HS trip. My daughter picked...wait for it...Disney! Lol

 

[smisale]

Your point actually illustrates my point perfectly. You're going to go stay at a Disney property that without your Disney timeshare, you admittedly wouldn't have stayed at. In this case, you gave up a potential trip to Australia because, "Hey, we have points, let's use them in Hawaii."

It's debatable that your vacation was enhanced. Some might argue traveling to a country she's never been to would be an equally, maybe even more amazing gift for your daughter. But it's undeniable that the developer of your timeshare got you to spend money with them as opposed to someone else in this instance.

Well here we go again DVCsundevil I could not said it better my self and mind you I have, that certain posters if you don’t agree with there opinions your wrong and can twist things so the words or math suits them.kept telling them it saves you money it drives them nuts

 

[smisale]

You continue to miss my point. We didn't give up any potential trip anywhere, because we weren't sure where we going to go. Australia was on the table. So was Ireland. We didn't think Hawai'i would be affordable so it wasn't on our initial list, but it would have been #1 on our list if there was a way for us to swing it. I guess you decided not to pay any attention to my comment that my daughter always wanted to go to Hawai'i. DVC is actually going to allow that to happen. Again, we were going to go somewhere. Have you looked into how much an Australian vacation costs? I'll save you the suspense...it coast A LOT. Who cares if Disney gets our vacation dollars in this instance? Using our DVC points to go to Aulani saved us a lot of money compared to what other destinations were going to cost us. And it is the dream HS trip for my daughter.

I notice you make a lot of assumptions when trying to make a point. You have no idea or right to say that it's debatable that my vacation was enhanced. You are not in my situation. Who are you to say what vacation would have bene better for my daughter? She is the one that has been begging to go to Hawai'i. She knew the options we were considering (Australia and Ireland) and yet she was ecstatic when we told her about Aulani. She has already been to many different countries, yet I have not seen her as excited for anything as she is for Hawai'i.

You can keep spinning things to make is sound like there is some nebulous opportunity cost that DVC is inflicting on its members. You can keep trying to twist words to make is sound like, for example, people are being robbed of trips to Australia because of DVC. Yet, when the source (me) tells you that is not how it played out at all you chose to just ignore that info and make assumptions. I guess that's the way you try to "prove" a point. I understand you try to play the role of "harsh truth" when it comes to DVC, but sometimes DVC is just objectively a good thing.

I applaud you well done

 

[havoc315]

You continue to miss my point. We didn't give up any potential trip anywhere, because we weren't sure where we going to go. Australia was on the table. So was Ireland. We didn't think Hawai'i would be affordable so it wasn't on our initial list, but it would have been #1 on our list if there was a way for us to swing it.

I’m just confused. You were considering Australia but not Hawaii... because Hawaii was too expensive?

I hate to point this out, Australia is far more expensive than Hawaii. And DVC doesn’t objectively make Hawaii cheaper. There are tons of amazing options in Hawaii cheaper than DVC ownership. (Easily get a beautiful huge beach front condo for under $150-200 per night. Pricing mid July, 1 week in Aulani is 434 points— the cost of 62 points per day, just the annual maintenance fees far exceed $150-200)
And likely, lodgings are not your biggest expense. It’s the airfare that’s the killer.

So not sure of the logic here.
With DVC, you’re paying MORE for Hawaii than if you got a beautiful condo.
Australia costs more than Hawaii... with DVC or without DVC. So don’t understand why you were considering Australia UNTIL you

Hope you have an amazing trip. Aulani looks lovely. We plan on doing Hawaii next year. Going to try to get 1-2 nights at Aulani but my wife isn’t very interested in Oahu, she really prefers Maui.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

These are really good points and I agree that no everyone wants or sees traveling lots of different places as better.

It goes back to the word saving and what someone wants out of owning DVC. Honestly, I have done other trips and when it comes down to it, Disney remains my favorite and if I was forced to only do one trip a year, Disney would win, even without DVC.

I am happy for your daughter and what an awesome HS trip. My daughter picked...wait for it...Disney! Lol

Thank you for saying this! I always wonder how crazy we must be to prefer Disney.

We have a hard time traveling for more than 5-6 days at a time. So, out of the country just isn't an option. I'm not flying all day on an airplane and dealing with more than an hour time change to spend 4 nights somewhere.

I traveled extensively with my daughters for about a year when one was auditioning at colleges across the US. We turned every trip into at least a 4 day weekend. While I'm not sorry we did it (we made some good memories) I always felt like we were "going through the motions". I bought all the CityPasses to get admission to all the tours and tourist favorite places. I did all the research. It just always felt like we were "faking it'. We didn't find it super enjoyable even if the town was beautiful. For example, we thought Boston was a really great city. That was one of our longest trips and we did a ton of stuff and stayed in a beautiful Hilton. My daughter was going to a music camp during the day and loved the school. But it didn't compare to a Disney vacation.

We loved New Orleans - even got to be there for Mardi Gras, but it was really more of a "love the vibe" kinda thing. We actually talk about how my younger daughter just loved it because Princess and the Frog is one of her favorite movies and Port Orleans Riverside was our favorite Disney resort at the time. LOL

DH goes on "sports trips" to other states with his brothers and dad. They go to games and sports bars. lol He has fun, but it's mainly because they are sports freaks and like being in the different stadiums and what not. The girls and I would never do that stuff with him.

But everyone is always wondering when the next Disney trip is. We've only been DVC for 3 years. So, this mindset is not a result of being "locked in". It's a reason we bought.

 

[smisale]

I’m just confused. You were considering Australia but not Hawaii... because Hawaii was too expensive?

I hate to point this out, Australia is far more expensive than Hawaii. And DVC doesn’t objectively make Hawaii cheaper. There are tons of amazing options in Hawaii cheaper than DVC ownership. (Easily get a beautiful huge beach front condo for under $150-200 per night. Pricing mid July, 1 week in Aulani is 434 points— the cost of 62 points per day, just the annual maintenance fees far exceed $150-200)
And likely, lodgings are not your biggest expense. It’s the airfare that’s the killer.

So not sure of the logic here.
With DVC, you’re paying MORE for Hawaii than if you got a beautiful condo.
Australia costs more than Hawaii... with DVC or without DVC. So don’t understand why you were considering Australia UNTIL you

Hope you have an amazing trip. Aulani looks lovely. We plan on doing Hawaii next year. Going to try to get 1-2 nights at Aulani but my wife isn’t very interested in Oahu, she really prefers Maui.

I just checked Expedia and your right there is condos for that price if you want to share accommodations with roaches. I don't want to book a place and then when I get there spend most of my vacation trying to find a better place to stay if there is one or find out everything was sold out. with DVC I know that it is a 5 star hotel and to book the same accommodation is 715.00 a night at the Aston Beach Tower