An article on "Does DVC save you money?"

[havoc315]

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

Ahh, many of those condos are gorgeous.

But even just a poolside garden 1BR at Aulani is 406 points for a week in the summer. Depending on your home resort ownership, that's $2900 to $3500 just in dues, or $400-$500 per day in just dues. (Putting aside the costs to actually purchase the points)

For under $300 per night, you can get this gorgeous penthouse:


For about $500 per night -- about the same as just paying dues for DVC / Aulani 1 BR stay, you can get this stunning 2 bedroom / 2 bath unit:








That's a heck of a lot nicer than an Aulani villa! I don't see any cockroaches.

Aulani does seem gorgeous. I look forward to hopefully spending a few nights. But I think it actually serves a pretty good example of DVC not really saving you money. Just pre-paying, so you get locked into the option. It certainly does seem like a really nice option, but if someone actually wanted to save money -- there are lots of ways to save far more in Hawaii, with absolutely amazing accommodations. Nicer accommodations for less money.

 

[Ssplashhmtn]

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 hear you. We determine what we would spend otherwise by looking at cash rates at the same resort because that’s what we did prior to our DVC purchase. And yes we definitely see savings in that math, a lot. Again, everyone that we know personally uses that same comparison. Most of us are creatures of habit, and know our annual Disney trip routine. That’s our agreed upon baseline.

To be fair, you make a good point on the temptation to spend the savings, on Disney, of course. Disney does benefit too, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t save money. If we use our saved money to “take a friend/grandparent” and get an extra room, well that’s simply using the savings. We could have used it on a newer car, but we decided to gift others a Disney trip. That is still savings. It was our call. ...ultimately savings are meant to be spent (at some future point).

I had never realized how many people define savings in different ways. Fun conversation. I’m glad we agree on your statement (and not everyone can even align on this): “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.”

 

[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.

Sorry I think I am seeing thing I thought you posted 150-200 now its 300 and no I don't see any roaches because im staying at Aulani Disney DVC 5 Star

 

[havoc315]

Sorry I think I am seeing thing I thought you posted 150-200 now its 300 and no I don't see any roaches because im staying at Aulani Disney DVC 5 Star

Said from a purely money saving perspective, you can get nice accommodations for as low as $150 to $200.
For $300 to $500, you can get accommodations far nicer than Aulani... and still effectively cheaper than Aulani.

Listen, you really LIKE Aulani. That's fantastic. It's beautiful, I'm sure you'll love it. But it isn't "objectively a savings." Not at all.

It's like saying... I got a gorgeous Acura for only $40,000! Great deal, I saved so much compared to buying a Mercedes for $50,000!!!
But... there is a sale on BMWs, even nicer than the Acura, for only $35,000!
So did you objectively save money? You could have gotten an even nicer car for less! Yes, you're getting a great car.. and it's cheaper than some other great cars.
But you didn't objectively save, and the pricing of Aulani didn't make a trip affordable that was unaffordable before.
For a family of 4, coming from the East coast of the USA, round trip airfare would be about $4000.... So going for a week, a $100-$200 per night difference in hotel prices isn't going to be the difference that suddenly makes the trip affordable.

 

[Sandisw]

Last reminder to stay away from arguments please. If we continue to go back and forth on off topic, the thread will be closed.

 

[Bing Showei]

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?

I can see how this sounded more personal than I intended, so I’ll rephrase it.

It's debatable that your vacation was enhanced. It's not quantifiable. Some might argue traveling to another country one has never been to would be an equally, maybe even more amazing trip. But what is undebatable is that the developer of your timeshare got you to spend money with them as opposed to someone else in this instance.

I stand by the core of that statement.

Who cares if Disney gets our vacation dollars in this instance?

I don't care that Disney gets your vacation dollars. In fact, my retirement portfolio thanks you.

Using our DVC points to go to Aulani saved us a lot of money compared to what other destinations were going to cost us.

I do care is that you keep using your experience as proof positive to anyone reading and thinking about buying into Disney's timeshare that your case is clearly a case of saving so much money.

At one point, you bring up the unattainable cost of going to Hawaii absent a Disney timeshare as demonstrative of how ownership makes it possible and cheaper.

We wouldn't have been able to afford the Hawai'i trip without DVC.

But then you talk about how you were settling on family trip to Australia.

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).

You would later acknowledge going to Australia is A LOT more expensive, suggesting that going to Hawaii is actually saving you money.

Have you looked into how much an Australian vacation costs? I'll save you the suspense...it coast A LOT.

So if you were ready to settle on going to Australia, how unattainable was Hawaii really? If your travel budget could support a trip down under, it would suggest that Hawaii would be more achievable than you may have initially suggested.

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.

I don't think Disney's timeshare is nefarious, or robbing anyone of anything. I think it's a brilliantly designed product that plays on the emotional attachment a lot of us have to a trusted brand. So much so that we're willing to commit to giving them our money every year for the next 20-49 years. So much so that we're willing to twist logic to prove that buying in is always a great financial decision.

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 objective facts:

- You opted to take a trip to a Disney timeshare instead of taking a planned trip to Australia.
- Your trip to that Disney timeshare is something you wouldn't have done without owning the aforementioned Disney timeshare.
- Aulani didn't even factor into your buying a Disney timeshare.

Subjectively, Disney's timeshare can be a good thing. It sounds like it's a great part of your life and vacationing needs. But for posters who come onto the boards asking if "Disney will save them money," a little more reality based objectivity would be healthy.

 

[upritbass]

Too late, that happened about 15 pages ago.

On the bright side, I discovered the ‘ignore’ button.

 

[Bing Showei]

I hear you. We determine what we would spend otherwise by looking at cash rates at the same resort because that’s what we did prior to our DVC purchase. And yes we definitely see savings in that math, a lot. Again, everyone that we know personally uses that same comparison. Most of us are creatures of habit, and know our annual Disney trip routine. That’s our agreed upon baseline.

Just to clarify, an important qualifier I suggested is that "what we did prior to our DVC purchase" should be reflective of the frequency with which one visited WDW historically. I'm not sure a forward-looking projection of stays that don't factor in past annual expenditure (real verifiable data with which to compare), is valuable to calculate savings. If you are factoring that historical, annual cost and found savings, then yes. That would be a fair baseline to judge savings.

To be fair, you make a good point on the temptation to spend the savings, on Disney, of course. Disney does benefit too, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t save money. If we use our saved money to “take a friend/grandparent” and get an extra room, well that’s simply using the savings. We could have used it on a newer car, but we decided to gift others a Disney trip. That is still savings. It was our call. ...ultimately savings are meant to be spent (at some future point).

This had me stumped for a minute to be honest, but let me ask you this: If you could have the exact same savings as buying a Disney timeshare, but Disney would offer it to you on an annual cash basis - no commitment; meaning you could stay at the exact same savings rate every year on cash (the same exact experience), would you see it as an equivalent to your timeshare ownership? Or would you take that annual cash offer in place of owning a timeshare? I would guess most on this board, including their financial advisors, would say to take the no-strings-attached annual offering.

I ask this because in the cash scenario, there truly is savings that you can use however way you want; be it gift a trip to others, take a friend/grandparent, or buy a newer car. How people used those savings would truly reflect what their consumer tendencies are absent the influence of a Disney timeshare ownership.

In the timeshare ownership scenario, your "savings" (by way of maybe extra points you had from skipping/banking a year, buying too many points, taking a break from WDW, whatever it may be) will be locked into the Disney timeshare ecosystem (yes you can rent, sell, etc, but that comes at its own costs and risks). So taking those savings to buy a newer car is not an option. It is our call, but by virtue of committing a portion of our discretionary spendings to a timeshare, we are limiting what those options actually are. Namely, spending money at Disney. The system makes it so easy, that with a few clicks of the mouse, you're treating grandparents to a 2BR stay at WDW with their grandchildren. Who wouldn't want that for their children?

A Disney timeshare works great for my family. I've done exactly what you described. I've treated friends to a Disney trip. I've flown grandparents in for Flower and Garden. We've taken that extra trip because we had the points and a Disney timeshare-discounted AP, and we've gone because we were going to head "somewhere this summer anyway." Would I do all of that with the cash equivalent in savings? I'm not sure. Maybe we head closer to the grandparents and meet up at Dollywood? All I know for sure is that I've been happier owning because we can afford to take the extra trips. The 'savings' is immaterial as we could afford it even if it didn't save us a dime.

But if someone needs the savings to work out mathematically, the way people are calculating it out on these types of threads - that savings is a given, in order to make ownership make sense, and they asked if they'll save money owning a Disney timeshare. My answer would still be "Probably not."

But if history proves anything, it won't matter. The heart wants what the heart wants, and Disney knows how to leverage that like few other in this world.

 

[Eric Smith]

Ahh, many of those condos are gorgeous.

But even just a poolside garden 1BR at Aulani is 406 points for a week in the summer. Depending on your home resort ownership, that's $2900 to $3500 just in dues, or $400-$500 per day in just dues. (Putting aside the costs to actually purchase the points)

For under $300 per night, you can get this gorgeous penthouse:
View attachment 560277

For about $500 per night -- about the same as just paying dues for DVC / Aulani 1 BR stay, you can get this stunning 2 bedroom / 2 bath unit:

View attachment 560282

View attachment 560283

View attachment 560284


That's a heck of a lot nicer than an Aulani villa! I don't see any cockroaches.

Aulani does seem gorgeous. I look forward to hopefully spending a few nights. But I think it actually serves a pretty good example of DVC not really saving you money. Just pre-paying, so you get locked into the option. It certainly does seem like a really nice option, but if someone actually wanted to save money -- there are lots of ways to save far more in Hawaii, with absolutely amazing accommodations. Nicer accommodations for less money.

Low quality accommodations always look good in the pictures. They don't always look as good when you show up. I'd be skeptical of any place that rents for $100 to $150 per week on Hawaii where almost any decent hotel is going to be north of $100 a night.

 

[havoc315]

Low quality accommodations always look good in the pictures. They don't always look as good when you show up. I'd be skeptical of any place that rents for $100 to $150 per week on Hawaii where almost any decent hotel is going to be north of $100 a night.

I’ve used AirBNB before. Yes, you need to exercise caution. But when a unit has 200 5 star reviews and is qualified as a super host, you’re going to get a superlative experience. If the photos were fake or exaggerated, that shows up in the reviews quickly.

Hotels are more expensive than renting a condo — you’re not paying housekeepers and a whole hotel staff. (And DVC doesn’t get the housekeeping either).

You can get a decent hotel room in Hawaii for $150 per night.

You can get a gorgeous luxurious condo in Hawaii for $500 per night. And that’s still cheaper than a similar DVC unit.

Again, Aulani looks amazing, I look forward to staying there. But no... DVC Aulani isn’t the frugal-cost-saving way to do Hawaii.

 

[crisi]

We had great units in Hawaii with ocean views - one bedrooms - for around $100 a night. Not a cockroach in sight. I'd encourage anyone to check reviews.

 

[smisale]

We had great units in Hawaii with ocean views - one bedrooms - for around $100 a night. Not a cockroach in sight. I'd encourage anyone to check reviews.

Please I will take a survey on how many people would stay in a 100 a night hotel. And there a ton of reviews for the same location don’t just read the 4 stars read them all. But I can tell you with certainty there no complaints at aulani. Stayed at ocean view in South Carolina for 250 a night lasted 20 minutes and I was out

 

[DougEMG]

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

My favorite vacation spot is WDW. I grew up in Europe, have done the parks things, visited other countries and cities, etc, but if I could only do one vacation a year, my preferred destination is WDW. Guess I'm crazy too!

 

[DougEMG]

But if someone needs the savings to work out mathematically, the way people are calculating it out on these types of threads - that savings is a given, in order to make ownership make sense, and they asked if they'll save money owning a Disney timeshare. My answer would still be "Probably not."

I like what Bing has said here and totally agree. If someone NEEDS the saving to work out, then they probably shouldn't be buying DVC. There is just too many assumptions, variables and bad math that goes into peoples' calculations on exactly how much DVC will save them that it is too easy to come to the wrong conclusion. DVC is a luxury purchase after all.

 

[havoc315]

Please I will take a survey on how many people would stay in a 100 a night hotel. And there a ton of reviews for the same location don’t just read the 4 stars read them all. But I can tell you with certainty there no complaints at aulani. Stayed at ocean view in South Carolina for 250 a night lasted 20 minutes and I was out

Aulani is beautiful. That's not the issue. The issue is whether it's a "savings."
A 1 bedroom at Aulani... figuring in the dues for the points, pro rated purchase price for the points.. you're easily talking $500 a night.

Now, that's a slight savings compared to booking a 1 bedroom for cash at Aulani, but it's not objectively a vacation savings. There are plenty of gorgeous properties in Hawaii for FAR LESS. Ok, you don't trust the $100 per night unit... You going to claim that you can't get equally nice (or nicer!) accommodations in Hawaii for under $500 per night?

How about this one... get the entire house for $368 per night..





Or this 2 bedroom / 2 bath for $450 per night:






Now Aulani appears beautiful. And being in a resort carries advantages. But if someone's goal is to "save money" on a trip to Hawaii, they don't do it with DVC Aulani. That's really, "I saved thousands of dollars by buying a Lexus... since it was cheaper than the Mercedes I was considering!"

The question isn't whether Aulani is a nice resort. The question isn't even whether it's a good value. The question is, "does it save you money?"

The answer seems to be, "it saves money if we only compare it to certain other hotel resorts that are more expensive. It does not save money if we compare it to the tons of other options in Hawaii, including resorts that are cheaper than Aulani, house rentals, condo rentals, etc."

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

I’ve used AirBNB before. Yes, you need to exercise caution. But when a unit has 200 5 star reviews and is qualified as a super host, you’re going to get a superlative experience. If the photos were fake or exaggerated, that shows up in the reviews quickly.

Hotels are more expensive than renting a condo — you’re not paying housekeepers and a whole hotel staff. (And DVC doesn’t get the housekeeping either).

You can get a decent hotel room in Hawaii for $150 per night.

You can get a gorgeous luxurious condo in Hawaii for $500 per night. And that’s still cheaper than a similar DVC unit.

Again, Aulani looks amazing, I look forward to staying there. But no... DVC Aulani isn’t the frugal-cost-saving way to do Hawaii.

Have to watch out for the cleaning fees when renting on airbnb. We rarely stay in the same place for more than a few days so airbnb doesn't really work for us.

 

[dvc lover 1970]

Does DVC save money...not sure, but it is a vacation my entire family enjoys. I like having everything all inclusive, I like the fact that I can use disney transportation to get anywhere on property. I like feeling safe in the bubble.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

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.

He mentioned his location and flight cost in his first post on this. So, if flights are considerably more expensive from his location, that can make the difference.

Aulani is beautiful. That's not the issue. The issue is whether it's a "savings."
A 1 bedroom at Aulani... figuring in the dues for the points, pro rated purchase price for the points.. you're easily talking $500 a night.

Now, that's a slight savings compared to booking a 1 bedroom for cash at Aulani, but it's not objectively a vacation savings. There are plenty of gorgeous properties in Hawaii for FAR LESS. Ok, you don't trust the $100 per night unit... You going to claim that you can't get equally nice (or nicer!) accommodations in Hawaii for under $500 per night?

How about this one... get the entire house for $368 per night..
View attachment 560511
View attachment 560512
View attachment 560513


Or this 2 bedroom / 2 bath for $450 per night:

View attachment 560514

View attachment 560515


Now Aulani appears beautiful. And being in a resort carries advantages. But if someone's goal is to "save money" on a trip to Hawaii, they don't do it with DVC Aulani. That's really, "I saved thousands of dollars by buying a Lexus... since it was cheaper than the Mercedes I was considering!"

The question isn't whether Aulani is a nice resort. The question isn't even whether it's a good value. The question is, "does it save you money?"

The answer seems to be, "it saves money if we only compare it to certain other hotel resorts that are more expensive. It does not save money if we compare it to the tons of other options in Hawaii, including resorts that are cheaper than Aulani, house rentals, condo rentals, etc."

Perhaps it saves money compared to the places @DVCSunDevil was considering when pricing out trips. Honestly, I'm not going to dig deeper into the places you're finding and try to guess what was available when someone else was thinking about vacation destinations. I simply don't care that much!

Personally, I've never done AirBNB or rented a house anywhere! We stay at Hilton or WDW. lol It's just how we roll. We like to know what we're getting and have at least some familiarity.

My point is, you have no idea what and when he was looking into Hawaii vs somewhere else that always made the "somewhere else" more affordable. And, again, choosing the cheapest isnt the only way to save... getting what you want at a discounted rate is still savings.

So, quoting from your post: The question isn't whether Aulani is a nice resort. The question isn't even whether it's a good value. The question is, "does it save you money?"

The answer is: Yes. You are saving $ vs paying cash or renting points to stay at Aulani.

Why does this not equate savings to you? Why is it only savings if you saved $100 to put into your 401K?

And I simply do not buy into the notion that DVC forces you into taking more trips and spending more money. That's called "lack of self control" or perhaps better "free will to spend our money as we choose"! No doubt some people choose to spend more. But nobody has to spend more than they normally would.

Will I eventually need more points to stay in bigger rooms or book multiple rooms regularly? Yep. Because that's what we were already faced with when finally deciding to purchase DVC. We were taking DD's boyfriend along. Not gonna stay in the same room as them! It was not because we owned DVC / "we have the points so why not take him too", but rather DVC was the affordable solution to our growing / changing needs. So that's when we bought into DVC.

I have an excess of points right now because 2020 sucked. So, I have a choice: rent my points and put money in my pocket or try to take a rescheduled trip. I can choose what's best for us at this time. If I'd rented from someone, perhaps I'd simply be out the money with no options. So maybe DVC saved money again!

 

[smisale]

in his first post on this. So, if flights are considerably more expensive from his location, that can make the difference.


Perhaps it saves money compared to the places @DVCSunDevil was considering when pricing out trips. Honestly, I'm not going to dig deeper into the places you're finding and try to guess what was available when someone else was thinking about vacation destinations. I simply don't care that much!

Personally, I've never done AirBNB or rented a house anywhere! We stay at Hilton or WDW. lol It's just how we roll. We like to know what we're getting and have at least some familiarity.

My point is, you have no idea what and when he was looking into Hawaii vs somewhere else that always made the "somewhere else" more affordable. And, again, choosing the cheapest isnt the only way to save... getting what you want at a discounted rate is still savings.

So, quoting from your post: The question isn't whether Aulani is a nice resort. The question isn't even whether it's a good value. The question is, "does it save you money?"

The answer is: Yes. You are saving $ vs paying cash or renting points to stay at Aulani.

Why does this not equate savings to you? Why is it only savings if you saved $100 to put into your 401K?

And I simply do not buy into the notion that DVC forces you into taking more trips and spending more money. That's called "lack of self control" or perhaps better "free will to spend our money as we choose"! No doubt some people choose to spend more. But nobody has to spend more than they normally would.

Will I eventually need more points to stay in bigger rooms or book multiple rooms regularly? Yep. Because that's what we were already faced with when finally deciding to purchasing DVC. We were taking DD's boyfriend along. Not gonna stay in the same room as them! It was not because we owned DVC / "we have the points so why not take him too", but rather DVC was the affordable solution to our growing / changing needs. So that's when we bought into DVC.

I have an excess of points right now because 2020 sucked. So, I have a choice: rent my points and put money in my pocket or try to take a rescheduled trip. I can choose what's best for us at this time. If I'd rented from someone, perhaps I'd simply be out the money with no options. So maybe DVC saved money again!

Could not have said it better myself thank you

 

[DVCSunDevil]

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.

Without getting into all the details, we had discounts and benefits through other avenues that would have made Australia MUCH less expensive than an Australian vacation usually is. The Australian vacation would have been cheaper than a Hawai'i vacation if we had to pay the standard rates for the hotel in Hawai'i. We did all the math.