Can You Tell Me About DVC?

[scanne]

I was thinking about how often we go to Disney - at least once a year for at least 8 days. The past couple of years we've gone twice and this year we're going 3 times. With all the $$$ I'm spending on hotel rooms I could have been a member of DVC a long time ago. So I was checking the re-sales and there are some tempting options out there. Especially since I figured with the points calculator that we could stay 9 nights in a studio at VWL in July/Aug. for 144 points. Wow!

So I'd like more info on owning DVC.

What is the average cost per year in dues? Are your dues based on how many points you have? What do the dues cover? How much do the dues increase from year to year? Is the purchase of DVC tax deductible b/c it is considered a real estate purchase? Do the amount of points per night go up? Like if it's 144 points for a studio for 9 nights in 2005 will it double in 2025? Are there discounts for park passes offered?

I would appreciate any info you are willing to share. My parents have asked about this, as well, becaus they travel with us often, so we'd most likely split the cost.

Thanks!

 

[tamu91]

I was thinking about how often we go to Disney - at least once a year for at least 8 days. The past couple of years we've gone twice and this year we're going 3 times. With all the $$$ I'm spending on hotel rooms I could have been a member of DVC a long time ago. So I was checking the re-sales and there are some tempting options out there. Especially since I figured with the points calculator that we could stay 9 nights in a studio at VWL in July/Aug. for 144 points. Wow!

So I'd like more info on owning DVC.

What is the average cost per year in dues? Are your dues based on how many points you have? What do the dues cover? How much do the dues increase from year to year? Is the purchase of DVC tax deductible b/c it is considered a real estate purchase? Do the amount of points per night go up? Like if it's 144 points for a studio for 9 nights in 2005 will it double in 2025? Are there discounts for park passes offered?

I would appreciate any info you are willing to share. My parents have asked about this, as well, becaus they travel with us often, so we'd most likely split the cost.

Thanks!

Let me see if I can shed some light. There are countless DVC experts on this board far more qualify than myself but I'm a recent member who went through a similar thought process as you're doing now so I can at least get this post going.

Average dues are running slightly above $4/pt. Some are slightly less, SSR and some are more, VB. Due are based on how many points you own and at which resort. All 7 resorts have different rates and I'm sure somebody has it all listed somewhere. I believe dues have increased about 2%-3% a year and the tax portion of the dues can be dedected.
The overall points allocation per resort is fixed but I do believe DVC is allowed to adjust it within x%. But remember, if they raised the weekly points per night, they have to lower it somewhere so it all balances out. As in your example, there will be no way for DVC to double the points required to stay 9 nights from one year to another and be able to balance the points IMO. You might end up paying more points for weekend nights but your weekday nights will be adjusted accordingly as well. Am I just confusing you here?
The only ticket discount DVC offers is on annual passes. $100 on AP and slightly more on PAP.

 

[Catira]

tamu91 I am also doing my research into DVC. I just received my dvd yesterday and have not had a chance to see it. I have loads of questions and I keep coming bach to the DISboards attempting to find the answers.
Okay first question: Do you need to stay at the resort you buy only? For example, if I buy Saratoga, can I later stay at Old key west? If you buy 150 points, and need more later, what do you do? I'm sure I'll have more questions later, hope the fellow disboard members will help me out.
Have a great weekend.

 

[stingmom]

tamu91 I am also doing my research into DVC. I just received my dvd yesterday and have not had a chance to see it. I have loads of questions and I keep coming bach to the DISboards attempting to find the answers.

That's what we're here for!
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Okay first question: Do you need to stay at the resort you buy only? For example, if I buy Saratoga, can I later stay at Old key west?

Absolutely! Your "home" resort gives you the option of planning 11 months in advance at your "home" property (in this scenerio, SSR) and then you can stay at ANY other resort booking 7 months out.
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If you buy 150 points, and need more later, what do you do?

Buy more direct through Disney or buy a resale. You can ALWAYS add on.

I'm sure I'll have more questions later, hope the fellow disboard members will help me out.
Have a great weekend.

HTH!

 

[tjkraz]

What is the average cost per year in dues?

As tamu91 said, it's around $4 per point. I know that SSR is $3.83 and OKW is $3.86. VWL and most of the others are a little above $4 each.

(Sorry I can't find my link with the exact numbers by resort.)

Are your dues based on how many points you have?

Correct.

What do the dues cover?

They cover the normal operating costs of the resort--everything from transportation to housekeeping. They also cover the operating costs of the DVC program itself, including the operators and computer systems that track reserservations.

How much do the dues increase from year to year?

The average increase for Old Key West, the oldest resort, is about 3-4% annually. But since dues are directly tied to operating costs, some years have seen larger than average increases due to outside economic factors.

Is the purchase of DVC tax deductible b/c it is considered a real estate purchase?

If you finance, the interest is deductible if it meets certain criteria. But I can't think of any circumstances under which the initial purchase would be eligible for a deduction.

There is a small component of the annual dues (about $1 per point) to cover property taxes. This amount is most likely deductible.

Do the amount of points per night go up? Like if it's 144 points for a studio for 9 nights in 2005 will it double in 2025?

For the DVC resorts, no, this cannot happen. The total number of points in a resort must remain constant over the life of the contract. The one thing they could do would be to reorganize the point schedule. If they did that, the cost for one particular week may go up, but another week would have to go down.

This type of reorganization has only happened once in the 13+ years that DVC has been in existence. It certainly could happen again, but the frequency is very low.

Are there discounts for park passes offered?

Right now we get pretty substantial discounts on Annual Passes--about 25% off of the normal price.

Last year it was 10% off of the length of stay pass.

These types of discounts are not guaranteed and could disappear at any time.

 

[tamu91]

Do you need to stay at the resort you buy only? For example, if I buy Saratoga, can I later stay at Old key west? If you buy 150 points, and need more later, what do you do?

Once you become a DVC member, you can stay at any one of the DVC resorts. The only advantage you have at your home resort is the banking window, 11 vs. 7 months. Maintenance dues can be another but there isn't a whole lot of difference, VB being the exception.
When I was doing the research, I even thought about buying HH or VB because HH & VB resales are SO much cheaper. However, I chose VWL because it's the smallest resort and closest to MK. With SSR coming on-line, I was afraid of not getting the dates I needed.
The only reason I originally considered SSR before my VWL purchase was the extra 12 years of deed life at SSR vs. the other 6 resorts.
Doing on add-on with Diseny is very ease and somewhat economical on small contracts.

 

[senecabeach]

Here are the Annual dues for 2005 at each resort per point:

Saratoga Springs $3.82
Old Key West $3.86
Hilton Head Island $4.03
Beach Club Villas $4.26
Wilderness Lodge $4.35
Boardwalk Villas $4.41
Vero Beach $4.86


OK...Ask Away?????????

 

[disfreak4life]

I am a boardwalk owner of 200 points. I bought a resale in 2003 for $75.00 a point at the timeshare store. The purchase was $15,000 in which I took a HELOC to pay for it. After taxes and closing costs, it came up to $16,500. I now pay about $950 a year in annual dues and yes they are directly tied to how many points you buy; about $4.35 a point I believe. These annual due rates do change from year to year but at really a negligible rate. I know others who have been in the club for several years and they say these points have gone up and down year to year. I believe they are tied into the annual board meetings that happen in each December. Annual dues are due in January. You can pay them in monthly installments or you can charge them to any credit card (I charge to the Disney Visa to get my reward dollars). In all honesty, this is the ONLY part of being a DVC owner I don't like; that is the annual dues.

My contract is 40 years divided into 200 points a year or 15,000 divided by 40 = $375 a year + your annual dues of about $950 a year = 1325 a year. Figure out how many nights you could average given the accomodations you desire and then divide those nights into your 1325 a year in my case. I figure I could get about 10-12 nights a year so 1325 / 10 or 12 = $110 - $135 a night. Not all that bad given that you are staying on Disney property in very luxurious accomodations, especially if you stay in a 1-br or higher. Compare $135 a night to the rack rates; about 50-75 % off.

The other thing to keep in mind is that this is ONLY FOR YOUR ACCOMODATIONS. It does not include park tickets or dining, etc. (however, you do get nice discounts in these other areas).

You can bank and borrow your points into different use years so you don't have to go every year. Plus, you can go to more than 300 hotels around the world.

Is it cheap? No. Does it save you money? Yes, compared to the money you would spend if you paid by cash. But it does have a cost; a significant cost when you add the airfare, the rental car, the park tickets, the dining, etc. But the biggest question is it worth it? Vacationing is expensive, especially at DW, but I really believe it is healthy for the individual, the family, etc. to spend time away from the ordinary things you do and go somewhere you know you can have lots of fun. I am very glad that I purchased mine. The community is fun too.

Good luck on your decision.

 

[YoHo YoHo]

First, I would like to thank everyone who has replied to this thread. It has been very helpful!

Second, if you do not mind, I have a question or two. They may be very simple or even somewhere within a thread, but I haven't found them yet. Oh, and as you can tell, I have never posted, so please help me out, sometimes I don't understand the short hand ... but I'm tyring.

Can someone give me an example/explanation on how the DVC (Disney Vacation Club - even I could get that one) points system works when you are booking a room at a resort that is not a DVC home site? I'm wondering about the "value." For example, if we wanted to stay at the Polynesian Resort, does it pay in terms of the value of your points use to do this? And, does anyone know how the prices (in points) have changed over time at the non-DVC resorts? Does anyone have an opinion as the the value of using your membership/points in this way as a price limitation on room costs for the future? I presume that the overall points can change at the non-DVC resorts over time.

Once again thanks!

 

[CarolMN]

First, I would like to thank everyone who has replied to this thread. It has been very helpful!

Second, if you do not mind, I have a question or two. They may be very simple or even somewhere within a thread, but I haven't found them yet. Oh, and as you can tell, I have never posted, so please help me out, sometimes I don't understand the short hand ... but I'm tyring.

Welcome to the DVC Forum and congratulations on making it out of "lurkdom"

Can someone give me an example/explanation on how the DVC (Disney Vacation Club - even I could get that one) points system works when you are booking a room at a resort that is not a DVC home site? I'm wondering about the "value." For example, if we wanted to stay at the Polynesian Resort, does it pay in terms of the value of your points use to do this? And, does anyone know how the prices (in points) have changed over time at the non-DVC resorts? Does anyone have an opinion as the the value of using your membership/points in this way as a price limitation on room costs for the future? I presume that the overall points can change at the non-DVC resorts over time.

Once again thanks!

DVC membership is not a good idea if you want to stay at non-DVC resorts on a regular basis. The points for the non-DVC resorts are not contractually "locked in" - they can and do change! In fact, they seem to go up every year. It's nice to have the option for an occasional stay, but the best economic value of DVC is staying at the DVC resorts.

For example, a weeknight in a Garden view room at the Poly in value season this year is 35 points. (Let's say you are looking at a mid-July stay since the seasons are not the same for the DVC resorts as they are for the Delxue resorts). A mid-July stay on a weeknight in a studio at the VWL or BCV or BWV (PV) is only 14 points. A studio at OKW or BWV SV)will be 11 points and an SSR studio will be 13 points. A 1 bedroom unit at BCV, VWL or BWV (PV) is 30 points, and the 1 bedrooms have better amenties than a Garden view room at the Poly. (Think washer/dryer in the unit, jacuzzi tub, fully equipped kitchen, living room, 2 TVs, & a king bed). Other times of the year will show similar results.

In 2006, a mid-July stay on a weeknight at the same DVC resorts will still be 14 points. The 2006 charts for the non-DVC WDW resorts are not published yet. But I'm sure it will cost more than 35 points to stay at the Poly.

HTH. Best wishes-

 

[disfreak4life]

A way to calculate the value of using points vs. using cash is as follows:

A a DVC member, you are allowed to "rent or trade" your points to those seeking to rent or trade points. The going rate for your DVC points is typically $10 a point. So, if the Polynesian is requiring 35 points to stay there, then you can view that as a $350 a night value if you were able to rent or trade your points for cash at $10 a point. Compare that $350 to the rate you would get if you went with the traditional non-dvc member route.

If you choose to use your DVC points for a non-dvc resort, you could put a value of the price your paying this way: Calculate what you are actually paying per point for your DVC membership given the price you pay for your contract, the number of years you have the contract, and your annual dues. I figure that I pay about $6.25 per point. So a room that costs me 35 points calculates to $219. Again, I would have to compare that $219 to the rack rate I could get if I had paid cash for the room.

 

[tjkraz]

YoHo YoHo:

One thing that many members will do to get their non-DVC resort "fix" is to pay cash for their weekends at an old favorite. With the increase in DVC points for weekends, it can be much more economical to move to a cash resort for stays of more than 5 nights. Disney will transfer your luggage, so it is a largely painless process.

If you don't mind my saying so, sacrificing a few nights in an old favorite resort is a small sacrifice when you start looking at the dollars that DVC can save in the long run.

Good luck!

 

[dianeschlicht]

I might also add, that in my opinion, the deluxes are are really not as nice as a 1-2 bedroom DVC resort unit. If I stay in a deluxe, I don't get a jacuzzi in my room, a laundry room in my unit, or a full kitchen and living room. Timeshare units are much easier to relax in and be "on vacation", in my opinion.

 

[YoHo YoHo]

WOW!!!!! - thank you all for you help answering our questions -