Are you surprised by the actual cost of your DVC vacations?

[disfanforlife]

I love reading that so many of you feel the same way as me. I don't even bother to think about the cost. I already bought it and the money is gone - that is my reasoning. We bought 200 points and paid cash. We got developers points the first year and used them at SSR. Then we got an extra set of points since AKV wasn't open yet, but had to bank them. Right now, we are ahead on points, but I think eventually we will catch up and have to get into either borrowing or adding on, or gasp skipping a year. We have 5 in our family and absolutely love staying in a 2BD. Could we fit in a one bedroom, yes, but doubtful we would ever want to. I love knowing that we are taking a vacation every year - like you we live far away and only go once a year, but that is okay with me, once a year is more than most people I know get at Disney. Did I buy DVC to save money? No. But, I feel we are getting to stay at the nicest places and I know we wouldn't do that for cash. So far, we LOVE owning and don't regret it for a minute.

 

[dmoore22]

We had been considering DVC for sometime before we finally took the plunge. This may sound morbid but it was when my uncle was diagnosed with vascular dementia that convinced us to finally join. When my aunt shared the news about our uncle she said, "We saved for years so we could retire and enjoy life. Now that we've done it we can't even enjoy it." It was then that I knew we must do it rather than save for that unknown future date that may never happen. I cashed in part of our retirement savings and purchased a resale, then an add-on. Ironically I found that we were spending about the same as we did when we stayed at the value resorts with our 6 kids in two rooms. The difference is we stayed twice as long with DVC. Now I am retired (or rather semi-retired) and we can make our way down there twice a year. No doubt that will change as the grand kids grow. I now look at this as my personal Health-Care Plan. The best mental hygiene there is -- and cheaper than my insurance premiums!

 

[disfanforlife]

We had been considering DVC for sometime before we finally took the plunge. This may sound morbid but it was when my uncle was diagnosed with vascular dementia that convinced us to finally join. When my aunt shared the news about our uncle she said, "We saved for years so we could retire and enjoy life. Now that we've done it we can't even enjoy it." It was then that I knew we must do it rather than save for that unknown future date that may never happen. I cashed in part of our retirement savings and purchased a resale, then an add-on. Ironically I found that we were spending about the same as we did when we stayed at the value resorts with our 6 kids in two rooms. The difference is we stayed twice as long with DVC. Now I am retired (or rather semi-retired) and we can make our way down there twice a year. No doubt that will change as the grand kids grow. I now look at this as my personal Health-Care Plan. The best mental hygiene there is -- and cheaper than my insurance premiums!

So True, good for you for taking the plunge! My husband's father has the same thing. He worked hard his whole life and now can not enjoy his retirement. That is also a reason for us to do it. We want to enjoy life now, within reason of course. Taking a vacation once a year is certainly a great way for us to do it. This year, we took his mother with us and she had the time of her life. Again, this is something we would not have done without dvc but adding one person to a 2 bedroom villa was not a problem for us. She can't wait to go again!

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

My house taxes just went up $600 in one year. In addition to that we know have to buy garbage bags for our garbage and pay for the bus for our kids. So this year the cost just to continue living in my house went up $1000 with no added benefits (per se).

So don't sweat the small stuff. $2400 for a 2 week vacation is pretty good. I don't know where you could go for that amount. Plus you are staying in a 1 bedroom with a full kitchen, w/d & king size bed. I went to Newport RI for 2 nights and spent over $700 for the room, meals and entertainment and that was ONLY for 2 Nights.

Just enjoy !!! I'm frugal too and my dues are $1526 this year, but heck I'm going to Disney for 9 days 1 month from today!!! Yahoo. At least I'm getting something great for my money. Life is too short, so please don't fret about the cost, but instead say WOW!! look at what $2400 will get me at Disney-- Memories that are priceless!!!!

 

[patsal]

I paid in cash what I would have paid in cash for a 2 week deluxe Disney Vacation with all the bells and whistles for my first DVC Contract. I paid in cash for my add ons as well, this time only what I would have spent on a decent smaller vacation. My dues are $1750 per eyar give or take. I know that my DH would not take a vacation every year if we didn't have "points that need to be used". He would work , work , work. My way of looking at it, for a mere $1750 I can drag him away from home for at least two weeks per year. We use our Disney Visa pretty exclusively so the rewards I get with that pays for at least 2 PAP's per year. Food I can budget for groceries, splurge on the DDP, mix it up with cooking and TIW. Usually I can keep it at $800 per week for four of us. Now there will only be three of us so that should ease up expenses--jsut in case DS thinks we are sad that he no longer wants to vacation with us--we are calling it the 25 percent off sale!--obviously we are not upset at all. I can also recoup some of the initial investment if I find we need less points by selling. Overall I am happy withit and since I always used the 10% of our income would be for vacations/Liesure I am well under budget now that I have DVC!

 

[eliza61]

Personally, I am in the minority camp of people who firmly believe that " There is no such thing as a cheap wdw vacation"

I get into a lot of arguments on the budget board over this one, LOL but my firm belief is that even with a dvc membership, Disney is an expensive vacation.

Some ways can be done much more cheaply than other but once you arrive under that big arch that says "Welcome to Disney" you pretty much are going to put a hurtin' on the 'ole wallet.

So I always try to look at the overall value for what I spend. Do I feel the money I put out was put to good use. If I come back with a yes, every thing else is gravy.

 

[AirGoofy]

That cracked me up
I hear ya OP......Now the cost of your vacation after u buy DVC is the "best kept secret"....LOL....I do love WDW tho

LOL! I enjoy my DVC, but have no delusions that I am saving money. Neither DW nor I plan to cook on our vacation and we enjoy the different restaurants. DDs are 7,5 and we will enjoy the theme parks for many years. We enjoy the fun of planning a vacation for 11 months (and all the subsequent changes). And, the other benefit has been the relaxed pace. Before DVC, I dragged the family to a theme park everyday, open to close, and wondered why everyone was tired. Now, we know we will be back to WDW each year, so we include some downtime in the vacation. That has been really enjoyable.

 

[lugnut33]

Honestly, what is considered a "cheap" vacation? Going to a state park and spending 7 days in a leaky tent? Driving a few states over and staying at your Aunt Mary's house with her 6 smelly cats? Driving around with your dead Aunt Edna tied to the roof of the family truckster?

If you want to go on a nice vacation, I don't think there is anything "cheap".

So no, I'm not surprised that I'll be spending money on a Disney DVC vacation.

 

[3DisneyKids]

I'm sure I would cry myself to sleep if I actually did the math. But I don't. Not because I am truly scared of what it would turn out to be, but because in the end it doesn't matter. I didn't do it for the money. I did it because with 3 kids we needed DVC in order to enjoy our trips. And oh, do we ever. Heaven. And that is worth the price tag, whatever it may be.

 

[Crystal_27]

I totally don't regret our decision at all to become members, it's just once you break stuff down, and analyze it differently, the numbers are hard to swallow at times on a large-scale perspective. Anyone else feel this way?

Tiger

I actually feel the opposite - - I keep pinching myself because DVC is such a good deal for us. We bought into BLT and are now paying $800 for MFs. Before DVC, we were paying approximately $325 (or a little less if a pin code was offered) per night to stay at the Poly. So, for three nights at what we would have been paying at the Poly, we now get 7-10 days in a studio at BLT. That definitely makes me a happy owner.

 

[abk96]

Well the way I total our yearly vacation to Disney brings us to over $6500. This includes our year of monthly payments for our loan, dues, airfare, park tickets, and dining plan.

And this is only for 4 nights. Yikes.

 

[Dean]

We started off with 175 points at Saratoga, for a total of 10 nights in studios with 1 daughter. Our dues added to our buy-in was still a relatively good and manageable total at approx. $1100.00 USD We did multiple trips for the first 2 years, which cost us more money in food and transportation though, so we put a stop to that.

Fast forward to over 2 years after that, and we were gifted with our son (we were told we couldn't have another child), so we added on 125 points at AKV for a combination of studios and 1 bedrooms for approx. 10-11 nights (our add-in was pretty much at-par for CDN exchange). After doing a studio with the 4 of us, we knew that wasn't going to work out, and since we come from Canada, we didn't have the option of shortening our trips as travelling is a big deal to how far away we are. We stopped going multiple trips, and decided just 1 trip per year each summer. Of course now, our dues and buy-in cost had increased.

Fast forward to last month and we did another add-on at AKV for 60 more points in order to stay exclusively in 1 beds for 13 nights per year. Now of course, at 360 points our dues plus buy-in costs have more than doubled in price from original purchase, and I'm having trouble with that as I'm a frugal girl. Now, we are at $1750.00 USD for dues, and our buy-in is now up to $750.00 for a total of $2400.00 USD for 2 weeks. Yikes!

I totally know that we've gone from 10 nights in a studio, to 13 nights in a 1 bed, but those totals are starting to scare me! I know that those same rooms are like $600-$700/night, but we would never have stayed in them, so owing DVC has allowed us to upgrade in a big way. I also know that pricing out a moderate room (this is where we stayed and would stay each summer, unless a great deal on AKV or SSR) is pretty much the same price, or actually a bit more than our cost with the 1 bed, plus, we'd only be going for 9 nights, in order to keep costs down. Once I break it down per night, it's only $223.00/night for a deluxe room, which is great, but that is today with dues as they are, and our CDN exchange is at a very good rate.

I totally don't regret our decision at all to become members, it's just once you break stuff down, and analyze it differently, the numbers are hard to swallow at times on a large-scale perspective. Anyone else feel this way?

Tiger

This is one of the reasons that we do most of what we do with other timeshares even for DVC stays. Add to that the fact that many people spend more on other things, not less when owning DVC and that you're locked in for a number of years. At best it's a golden handcuff.

 

[dizfan]

We were surprised in a good way.

Really didn't think we would like cooking in the room. Our first DVC trip, it was so convenient to have bagels, fruit, and popcorn in the studio. In the 1BR, we liked to make eggs, bacon, and pancakes.

Unlike past trips, we also used grocery delivery. Scary how much we saved buying two cases of bottled water instead of buying water in the parks.

Also, knowing that we would be going twice within a 12 month span we bought an Annual Pass. Previously, we waited for the deals and bought the tickets with the deals (free dining, 4/3, etc). On top of the DVC savings, thanks to the people on disboards, we learned the AP prices go up in early August. We bought just before the price increase so we were able to get it at 2008 prices, but didn't use it until December (and will use it again in October).

Also bought Tables in Wonderland. While it hasn't quite paid for itself yet (cooked in our room a couple times that we planned to eat at CS), our October trip we'll be coming out ahead.

While it's not a savings from Disney, Southwest opened up in Milwaukee. Saved on the price of the tickets. Best of all was our savings (3 people) on the luggage. Scary when the price of luggage for the three of us (on our old airlines) would have been more than the price of one of our round trip tickets.

 

[culli]

While it's not a savings from Disney, Southwest opened up in Milwaukee. Saved on the price of the tickets. Best of all was our savings (3 people) on the luggage. Scary when the price of luggage for the three of us (on our old airlines) would have been more than the price of one of our round trip tickets.

competition for airtran. I just said the other day I wish southwest was open in Milwauke, I had no idea!!!!!!!! It looks like they go to MCO too so we can use ME. I thought they flew into the other Orlando airport. This is great news for our family.

 

[PrincessV]

We were surprised in a good way.

Me, too. I realize my situation isn't the norm, but I was honestly surprised when my 5-night DVC stay last summer ran less than $200, in addition to the cost of DVC. I live near enough to WDW that we go often and have had AP's as long as my DS7's been alive, so that's not an extra cost for the DVC vacation. Transportation costs 1/2 a tank of gas to get to WDW and back, so about $12. We prefer to eat breakfast in-room, so I spent the same amount on breakfast foods as I would in any given week. Our only expense was food and merchandise... and we absolutely could have spent less than we did, but wanted to have a TS dinner most nights. I do use the TIW discount, but I can't even really count the cost of that in the vacation total, since I use that year-round as well.

 

[crisi]

Personally, I am in the minority camp of people who firmly believe that " There is no such thing as a cheap wdw vacation"

I get into a lot of arguments on the budget board over this one, LOL but my firm belief is that even with a dvc membership, Disney is an expensive vacation.

Some ways can be done much more cheaply than other but once you arrive under that big arch that says "Welcome to Disney" you pretty much are going to put a hurtin' on the 'ole wallet.

So I always try to look at the overall value for what I spend. Do I feel the money I put out was put to good use. If I come back with a yes, every thing else is gravy.

I'm usually over there with you making the same point. That doesn't mean a Disney vacation isn't a good VALUE for some people. Or that DVC isn't a good VALUE for some people. But cheap....?

 

[allflgirl]

Me, too. I realize my situation isn't the norm, but I was honestly surprised when my 5-night DVC stay last summer ran less than $200, in addition to the cost of DVC. I live near enough to WDW that we go often and have had AP's as long as my DS7's been alive, so that's not an extra cost for the DVC vacation. Transportation costs 1/2 a tank of gas to get to WDW and back, so about $12. We prefer to eat breakfast in-room, so I spent the same amount on breakfast foods as I would in any given week. Our only expense was food and merchandise... and we absolutely could have spent less than we did, but wanted to have a TS dinner most nights. I do use the TIW discount, but I can't even really count the cost of that in the vacation total, since I use that year-round as well.

Princess V, I'm with you and the only reason I bought into DVC was because I live in FL and it is an inexpensive way to vacation for my husband and I. Normally we have to spend airfare, car rentals, hotel costs, etc. on our yearly ski vacations, not counting the $100+ per day for ski passes for each of us. Our Florida Seasonal Annual passes are a drop in the bucket to $400 - $500 for 5 days of skiing, PER PERSON and my Seasonal pass is good for 15 months this year!!!! I'm loving this DVC thing and the funny thing was, I RARELY ever stayed on property before DVC (I think maybe 3 nights total), because I'm opposed to dropping the $'s and I won't stay at a Value resort. Also, DVC has given me the opportunity to do things with my extended family that I could have never done before (like this past Christmas at AKV with my elderly mom and aunt). I can not put a price on that, except that I know I would have dropped $600+ per night, if I didn't have DVC. That total trip, because we prepared all meals in our villa, was $100 for 4 people!!! I'm very happy, so far.

Julia

 

[Golden Rose]

We've been pleasantly surprised by the actual costs of our DVC vacations. We didn't eat out for breakfast at all, since it was easy to do full breakfasts in the room... and we did most of our snacking when we were in the room as well. (I've said before and I'll say again that we treat our DVC kitchen like we used to treat the the concierge lounge; we drink our alcohol and eat our snacks at the resort.) We bought annual passes since the DVC discount made the choice easy, and because we had the APs we could get a TiW card. The TiW card let us eat at all the restaurants we always eat at, but then it gave us the 20% discount. DM and DSF played the same amount of golf they would have played, but they saved money on it because of the DVC golf card.

Seriously, we are the poster children for saving money with DVC. (This is because we always stayed at deluxes before we joined DVC, and we were already going about every 9 months.) We actually did an extra week vacation (well, 6 nights) at WDW this year because we realized it was the cheapest vacation we could take at that moment in time. (We had the extra points this year, we already had the APs, we already had the TiW card... and we can drive to WDW in a day and half.) We were going to do a cruise, but we realized we could do WDW so much more cheaply because of DVC.

I know not everyone is going to save money with DVC, but it is a great value for us.

 

[chief215]

Have been going to Disney something for past 38+ years - been a member of DVC since '93. Didn't regret it then or now. Kids are grown - we go for an excape once in awhile - didn't even go to the parks this past trip - money scare like so many others, but still enjoyable. Probably would not have taken a vacation this year because of the economy, but did DVC it. Talk to people all the time as to why they will go to Disney every other year or sooner, but not buy into DVC. Most answers are predictable - "no time to plan", "don't have the money for upfront costs", "can get a good deal if I wait", "Kids will grow up and then what", "Sound good, but there must be a catch", etc. I keep trying. Listen to the boards and talk to people - it is still a great place where people are happy!

 

[parlay]

Before DVC, most folks probably didn't vacation every year. If money was tight, you could stay around the house and save some money. Now you have to vacation, rent out your points or forfeit them.

Bill

We initially made several trips a year when we originally joined DVC. But this is our "Disney-free" year (which is really tough!!!) But we are doing a "staycation" to save money this year - and rented out enough points to pay for our annual dues for the year, banked the rest to use on our Cruise/Disney trip in 2011. Still love DVC, wouldn't change a thing - expect maybe buy more points!!