Beating the dead horse...is a DVC right for us?

[MinnieMouse100]

Owning gives me a warm fuzzy and locks me into a vacation I want to take with my family anyway. My thoughts simply if you can say comfortable this is something I want to do and it's not going to put strain on my finances then take the plunge. After all a vacation is about enjoying yourself not really financial sense.

Agreed!

 

[HokieGCC]

Your analysis seems about right but I think there are a couple things that make the payback period more like 8-10 years.

- You could have invested the $16K and earn ~$1K/year lets say so you lose out on that.
- If you are not in DVC you might have the luxury of time to wait for promotions that would make the purchased stay less expensive eating into you savings calculation.
- Yearly dues will go up ~3%/year

You can also look at this at the macro level. DVC is a thriving business. This tends to imply that in general the price point is about right (free market). Most people believe they are saving money while Disney believes it is making more money off of you. So the accurate assessment of which side of the line you are on is buried in the smallest of details of how you go about it.

My personal conclusion is that DVC "might barely" save you money. So, we ended up buying 50 points that gets us 5 nights in Jan at the BW but also gets us a good season pass discount. We also go in May but pay the old fashioned way toting our discounted season pass.

 

[Splashboat]

We frequently book moderate resorts and frequently book deluxe- last trip (April) we booked Wilderness Lodge Villas and in Sept. , we are at Beach Club Villas.

I don't believe anyone who has studied DVC suggests it is a good fit for someone who likes to stay in moderate resorts.
Prior to purchasing we also took advantage of the discounts and got some really great deals but that was several years ago.
I am always watching the discounts for family members and I have seen the prices rise significantly over the last 10 years. The deals this year compared to just 5 years ago are significantly higher.
Also, there are a lot more blocked travel dates for these deals and personally I don't want to be in limbo hoping a deal will show up for the time I want to travel.
An offer might be for 30% off deluxe but the price of deluxe (rack rate) has increased significantly.
I am not suggesting it is right for you, just clarifying some points I have observed.

 

[CMOORE185]

I questioned it's worth in 2000 at $65 per point and decided at that price point it was worth it, but I would never buy at today's direct price. Also not happy at the rate of increase of MF's. Luckily one of the resorts I own has the second lowest fees and will be the lowest in a few years IMO. That is SSR.

 

[littlestar]

Of the ones you mentioned, Animal Kingdom, I'd consider that one resale because you can buy it for reasonable and you have the longer ending date versus Villas at Wilderness Lodge which ends in 2042. Plus, you'd have access to booking the different room categories earlier if you owned at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Take a look at the resale prices passing ROFR here lately for Animal Kingdom - I think you could find a deal. I wouldn't buy direct from Disney - it's too expensive. If you buy a resale Animal Kingdom contract for a good price and use it for 10 years and then sell it for what you paid, you're basically vacationing for the price of dues. As far as investing the money goes, who knows what the market is going to do for the next few years with the fed tapering continuing - the market may stay flat or lose over the next few years. And I don't think interest rates are going to rise for at least another year and a half or maybe longer. Who knows, though? We've never been down the fed taper road before.

 

[SouthJersey]

Of the ones you mentioned, Animal Kingdom, I'd consider that one resale because you can buy it for reasonable and you have the longer ending date versus Villas at Wilderness Lodge which ends in 2042. Plus, you'd have access to booking the different room categories earlier if you owned at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Take a look at the resale prices passing ROFR here lately for Animal Kingdom - I think you could find a deal. I wouldn't buy direct from Disney - it's too expensive. If you buy a resale Animal Kingdom contract for a good price and use it for 10 years and then sell it for what you paid, you're basically vacationing for the price of dues. As far as investing the money goes, who knows what the market is going to do for the next few years with the fed tapering continuing - the market may stay flat or lose over the next few years. And I don't think interest rates are going to rise for at least another year and a half or maybe longer. Who knows, though? We've never been down the fed taper road before.

Thanks for the info!

Yeah, I'm not worried about a, "What I could be doing with that money..." I'm still contributing the max to my Roth and the market isn't going to see returns like it did last year, ever.

I'm just trying to do the math on if it's worth it.
Here are my biggest questions:

1.) The studios that sleep 4. Are they as nice as the regular 4 person rooms in the resorts? Any pro's/con's vs the regular rooms if booking normal?
2.) What is the realistic time-frame needed to being able to book where we want to go (non-home resorts)?
3.) My 'home' resort guarantees me a booked room if I book how far out?
4.) I can still add dining plans (no discount or advantage to being a DVC owner?) right?

I would definitely not be buying new. I was looking at the timeshare store for a 200-220 point DVC. AKL would be nice

 

[CMOORE185]

Thanks for the info!

Yeah, I'm not worried about a, "What I could be doing with that money..." I'm still contributing the max to my Roth and the market isn't going to see returns like it did last year, ever.

I'm just trying to do the math on if it's worth it.
Here are my biggest questions:

1.) The studios that sleep 4. Are they as nice as the regular 4 person rooms in the resorts? Any pro's/con's vs the regular rooms if booking normal?
2.) What is the realistic time-frame needed to being able to book where we want to go (non-home resorts)?
3.) My 'home' resort guarantees me a booked room if I book how far out?
4.) I can still add dining plans (no discount or advantage to being a DVC owner?) right?

I would definitely not be buying new. I was looking at the timeshare store for a 200-220 point DVC. AKL would be nice

Non home resorts can be booked at 7 months, some are harder to get than others. SSR, AKL, and OKW are the easiest to get.

Even your own home resort has no guarantees. You can book at 11 months out but if a lot of owners book at the same time you could miss out.

You can book dining plan but no discounts.

I wouldn't buy AKL because it is fairly easy to get at 7 months, minus concierge, and the dues are high. I would buy a harder resort to book like BCV's, plus your resale value will hold longer there.

 

[skier_pete]

First off, you are right that DVC is clearly less expensive than full price deluxe accommodations. However, you have to be careful to compare apples to apples. Before I comment the below quote is something I've been posting on many of these threads. I put this together as I was deciding to buy DVC.

You should only buy DVC if the following apply:
1) You like Disney enough to go at least once a year to maybe every other year.
2) You vastly prefer staying on property AND staying at moderates or deluxes and you have the money to do so.
3) You can regularly schedule your vacations at a minimum of seven months in advance and preferably 11 months in advance. (Last minute and DVC don't go great together unless it's 1 or 2 nights.)
4) You would be 100% satisfied with staying at the resort at which you own points, because sometimes that's all you will be able to get with that long in advanced booking.
5) You don't mind not having maid service in your room. (This is sort of a hidden piece, but it's odd to be staying in such a nice resort and not get the high quality service.)
6) You don't care about trading points outside the DVC family of resorts. Anyplace else is a sucker's bet.
7) Once you spend the initial money, you better understand that you continue to have to pay maintenance fees, and these fees will continually rise. DVC will never be paid off.
8) The biggest thing to me - you have to foresee that you will want to continue stays at Disney World (on property moderate/deluxe) for at LEAST the next 10 years or more. The advantage to owning DVC is not today. When buying resale, the advantage is out about 10-12 years. (It's closer to 20 years if you buy DVC new from Disney.)

If only a few of these items apply to you, it might be wiser to RENT DVC points.

OK - in addition, you are comparing full price deluxe rooms to DVC. This isn't really fair. One, would you really pay FULL price at a deluxe? I would think you need to at least start with a discounted room rate. More appropriate is to compare the cost of RENTING DVC to OWNING DVC. When I did that (buying resale at about $75 a point) I got 11 years for the break-even point, which was very similar to the cost of continuing to stay in a moderate. I assumed that maintenance fees would increase by 5 % a year, as would the Disney room rates. I did NOT factor in that the value of my unspent money would increase in the bank, as to me that is not the certainty that it once was.

Really though, if you normally stay deluxe, and you can accept the restrictions that DVC will place on you (less housekeeping, more advanced booking necessary to maintain flexibilty) then it's probably a good move.

 

[Sandisw]

First off, you are right that DVC is clearly less expensive than full price deluxe accommodations. However, you have to be careful to compare apples to apples. Before I comment the below quote is something I've been posting on many of these threads. I put this together as I was deciding to buy DVC. OK - in addition, you are comparing full price deluxe rooms to DVC. This isn't really fair. One, would you really pay FULL price at a deluxe? I would think you need to at least start with a discounted room rate. More appropriate is to compare the cost of RENTING DVC to OWNING DVC. When I did that (buying resale at about $75 a point) I got 11 years for the break-even point, which was very similar to the cost of continuing to stay in a moderate. I assumed that maintenance fees would increase by 5 % a year, as would the Disney room rates. I did NOT factor in that the value of my unspent money would increase in the bank, as to me that is not the certainty that it once was. Really though, if you normally stay deluxe, and you can accept the restrictions that DVC will place on you (less housekeeping, more advanced booking necessary to maintain flexibilty) then it's probably a good move.

The only reason though to consider rent vs buy is if you would actually do that. We never would have rented points...savings or nit..due to the drawbacks so when we bought it would not have made sense.

I do agree you need to look at a discounted rate because you can typically get something. We also looked at what DVC would give us spending the same amount and that would be more trips or larger rooms. So for us, it wasn't saving as much as it was getting more for our money.

Of course, this was when we bought our original 180 points. We now own 430 so savings is out the window!!!!

 

[bakerworld]

We found that we were going to Disney twice annually. We have preferred DVC locations. Plus the club precludes a few of the 'extra expenses' that use to irritate me with regular hotel rooms (e.g., parking and extra adult fees).

Remember tho the price of DVC will allow your 6 day stay to increase or double that means spending will also increase (food and tickets).

 

[okw2012]

I believe that the resale and rent markets for DVC are large enough that they provide a fair assessment of how much points are really worth. Compared to other timeshare systems it is pretty good value. Buying direct is certainly not the best use of your money. So why buy resale if you can rent for pretty much the same price? For us, it makes vacationing less stressful because it is mostly prepaid. I hate having to pay a huge credit card bill once I am home, even if I have typically enough in my bank account to pay all of it. Also we love talking with the kids about what we will do with our points years in advance. Anticipating our next prepaid vacation is a bit like the feeling we got as kids when thinking, months in advance, about our Christmas present. I guess there is a bit of magic in being a DVC owner.

 

[Dean]

I believe that the resale and rent markets for DVC are large enough that they provide a fair assessment of how much points are really worth. Compared to other timeshare systems it is pretty good value. Buying direct is certainly not the best use of your money. So why buy resale if you can rent for pretty much the same price? For us, it makes vacationing less stressful because it is mostly prepaid. I hate having to pay a huge credit card bill once I am home, even if I have typically enough in my bank account to pay all of it. Also we love talking with the kids about what we will do with our points years in advance. Anticipating our next prepaid vacation is a bit like the feeling we got as kids when thinking, months in advance, about our Christmas present. I guess there is a bit of magic in being a DVC owner.

Value of such items is always perceived and not real. While DVC may have a higher resale value than many timeshares (not all) based on purchase price retail it also is more expensive to buy and yearly in most cases. Plus this is a case where past performance definitely doesn't suggest future performance due to the dramatic price increases over time. Put another way, you must compare to current prices not what we paid a few years or more ago. Of my 3 main timeshare options (Bluegreen, Marriott and DVC), it's the least beneficial to me overall and the lowest overall value.

 

[crisi]

1.) The studios that sleep 4. Are they as nice as the regular 4 person rooms in the resorts? Any pro's/con's vs the regular rooms if booking normal?

With all the rooms except OKW, you have a queen bed and a full pull out in the studios. They are not as nice as Disney Deluxe resorts - they aren't refreshed as often, they show a lot more wear and tear. And there is the pull out thing. Some members - particularly couples who share a queen bed, like the sofa because it gives a studio apartment feel. But for families who want two real beds - and don't want OKW, it often drives them to a two bedroom (there is only a king bed and a pull out in the living room in a one bedroom) - which increases cost significantly.

 

[bakerworld]

With all the rooms except OKW, you have a queen bed and a full pull out in the studios. They are not as nice as Disney Deluxe resorts - they aren't refreshed as often, they show a lot more wear and tear. And there is the pull out thing. Some members - particularly couples who share a queen bed, like the sofa because it gives a studio apartment feel. But for families who want two real beds - and don't want OKW, it often drives them to a two bedroom (there is only a king bed and a pull out in the living room in a one bedroom) - which increases cost significantly.

 

[Medlen1016]

I was thinking of buying a time share and have a question. If I were to buy points in Hilton Head how hard would it be to use the points in Orlando during the off season? Points are much cheaper dues are relatively low. Only caveat I see is I can only book 7 months out. Am I missing something in the fine print? Any pros and cons from others who currently own in Hilton Head?

 

[Dean]

I was thinking of buying a time share and have a question. If I were to buy points in Hilton Head how hard would it be to use the points in Orlando during the off season? Points are much cheaper dues are relatively low. Only caveat I see is I can only book 7 months out. Am I missing something in the fine print? Any pros and cons from others who currently own in Hilton Head?

The dues for HH are not nearly as low as SSR and it has more risk of increases due to it's coastal type location. HH is not cheap enough (nor VB) to justify buying simply to use at WDW. Now if you want HH and to use them at WDW, different ballgame. Simply to get into the system for WDW, SSR is almost always the best choice. Relatively low price, a lot of contracts so choice of UY and # of points, lowest dues overall other than BLT which is much more to buy and and it's structure and design make it unlikely to have large fee increases going forward.

 

[disneynutz]

I was thinking of buying a time share and have a question. If I were to buy points in Hilton Head how hard would it be to use the points in Orlando during the off season? Points are much cheaper dues are relatively low. Only caveat I see is I can only book 7 months out. Am I missing something in the fine print? Any pros and cons from others who currently own in Hilton Head?

If buying the cheapest resort worked, than everyone would only own there and no one would own more than one resort.

Bill

 

[crisi]

If buying the cheapest resort worked, than everyone would only own there and no one would own more than one resort.

Bill

Another way of putting this - those BCV resales sell and sell for a lot of money. So do those BLT resales. Why would anyone pay twice as much for their contract not to use the home resort booking window?

Not all BCV owners (for example) will stay at home every time - but enough will - and there are enough owners at the other resorts that find BCV an attractive option, that being able to stay there as a non owner, especially during popular times for BCVs, will be a gamble.

One of the variables that plays into resale price is how available the resort is at seven months - it isn't absolute - HHI is very difficult at seven months during the Summer and resales are cheap, but its an indication for anyone evaluating purchase.

 

[skier_pete]

If you just want to stay on Disney property, and don't much care where - it makes a lot of sense to but at the cheapest one on property (whether you decide that is OKW or SSR is how you view the costs).

However, I definitely would NOT by at HHI or VB if you plan on using it to primary stay on property.

 

[ant37]

Just putting my 2 cents in here... even though you have tons of replies.
The short answer is - yes! It's worth it. You are locking in the cost of your vacations for many years to come.
We've been members since 1997, my kids were really young, now they are 24 and 22 and they still love "going home" with us.
And sometime in the future we will pass the points on to them and they will make memories with their own kids...