Canadian DVC Members...

[2dkluv'dby2]

Hi all,

I am new to this forum and am looking for some information in regards to DVC. My husband and I are seriously considering the idea of buying into DVC but I am wondering what the actual cost per year(CDN) to you as a member is if you are planning on going to Disneyworld each year and what convinced you to buy? Thanks in advance to you for your thoughts.

Regards, Shelley

 

[tigger2on]

Hi Shelley
We go at least once a year and have a disabled child who can't sleep with anyone else in the room, so we had to get connecting rooms until we discovered DVC. Now we get a 1 or 2 bedroom and having the kitchen makes it so much more convienent. Plus it's on site ... really saving us money. Rather than 2 rooms at a Mod, we get 2 rooms in a deluxe for a better price.
We rented before we bought because we really wanted to experience it first and make sure it was "Right" for us.
Cost of airfare has soared over the years so we will start to fly out of Buffalo as long as we can get a non-stop flight. And we rent...
so we are really only saving on accomodation than anything as well as the discounts they offer to DVC members.

 

[murcor]

My dad took us yearly to WDW as children and we would like to do the same for our family.

When we started planning our trip to WDW we literally looked at hundreds of hotels on tripadvisor, expedia, hotels websites etc and realized there were certain things that we wanted in our accomodations/resorts.

1) To be onsite or close by (we do not rent a vehicle)
2) Balcony (which eliminated values & moderates and many other hotels nearby)
3) We would need two rooms or a villa
4) Considering our stays are 1 - 2 weeks the washer/dryer sounds tempting
5) The full kitchen was a plus for breakfast, snacks, beverages and light meals (amazing how much money can be saved and theoretically applied to the room)
6) The quality and cleanliness of the entire Disney corporation

With all these things in mind we started looking at dvc. At first it seemed like too much $$$, the more I learned about the program, the better it seemed. DVC had everything we wanted without sacrificing.

The first time we stayed at a DVC property a general public discount code came availble for our dates so we booked a cash stay with CRO for SSR. That was it....we bought while we were there. and have no regrets about our purchase. We are planning our third trip home and we are looking forward to many years of fun, laughter and relaxation.

Good Luck Deciding

Angela

 

[Ham Ham]

Just returned from WDW had my 2nd DVC presentation at SSR. We also stayed at SSR this trip using another Disborad members points.

225 Points after incentives was about 22,000 USD your DVC membership is valid up until 2054.
Add to that yearly dues of around 1100 USD. 1100 USD x 48 years of dues = 52800

That will be a total of 74,800 USD for dues and cost of ownership. Multiply that by 1.17 a total of 87,516 Canadian dollars at today's exchange rate divided by 48 years of use gives a grand total of 1823 in today's dollars per year.

There's the math so does it work for you?

 

[dsneygirl]

Your cost is all determined by how much you pay for points, how many you buy and what your maintenance fees are (which varies depending on your home resort).

As for DH and I, as you can see by my ticker we have been to WDW a lot. It is by far our favourite vacation spot and we knew that with starting a family we would want to take the grandparents along as well and a villa would be the way to go. I have been going to WDW since 1980 so I don't think I will get tired of it any time soon.

We also took the plunge because we only live an hour from Buffalo and air fare is super cheap. We can also drive in a reasonable amount of time. If I lived somewhere where the transportation to WDW was a lot more expensive we would probably have thought differently. Also we have the ability to travel during the value season so we didn't need as many points.

 

[Scratch42]

Points will be going up March 31st!

They are going to up to...........................

$101.00 per point!

if you are serious considering buying do it now!

janet

 

[Alysa]

To be honest, i don't think that owning at DVC saves us any money at all - we might as well sign over one of our paychecks a year to Walt. What it does do is force us to take the time out of our busy lives and go and spend a whole blissful week (or more) with our beautiful children (and our families) and make wonderful memories that we would otherwise probably put off until they were in university! If you want to save money, don't join and go on a lot less trips. If you want memories you will cherish forever, well, DVC can do that! Good luck with your decision!

 

[Ham Ham]

To be honest, i don't think that owning at DVC saves us any money at all - we might as well sign over one of our paychecks a year to Walt. What it does do is force us to take the time out of our busy lives and go and spend a whole blissful week (or more) with our beautiful children (and our families) and make wonderful memories that we would otherwise probably put off until they were in university! If you want to save money, don't join and go on a lot less trips. If you want memories you will cherish forever, well, DVC can do that! Good luck with your decision!

Well put!!!!!

 

[Canadian Tom]

Hello: We've been going to WDW for the last 20 years. We purchased DVC just 3 years ago. Until then it didn't make much sense because of discounts offered by Disney and the Swan and Dolphin. We now own three contracts for a total of 423 points. Used wisely we can stay there for a total of thirty some on days. Is it worth it. Yes if you plan on going to WDW once or twice a year. The numbers you were givien were about right but there are other savings you need to consider. Example: discounts to DVC owners, pool hopping, rooms are bigger, you can save money and time on food by making breakfast and snacks in your room, even the studios have fridge, microwave, toaster, coffee pot.

We usually stay at the BCV and our per day cost for the room is approx. $85(cost of maintanance and initial outlay). There is no comparison between BCV and what Disney will offer you for $85 per night including taxes. Does that help? Canadian Tom

 

[Tiger926]

Be careful when using a set maintenance fee amount like in above calculations. Maintenance fees usually rise each year (we have a max. rate in our DVC contracts though), so your points are a fixed cost, whereas your maintenance fees will probably cost more than what you project unless you add in inflation or a set increase each year. Will still be cheaper than hotels though as those rise each and every year as well! Plus, don't forget we get discounts on tons of stuff: tix, DDE, restaurants, shopping, hotels, etc.

Last thing: Would not recommend DVC if you are used to values or cheap off-site hotels, as your DVC will cost more - not a fair comparison though as our DVC resorts are deluxe.

We love DVC!! Good luck, Tiger

 

[mickeychick]

I only bought into DVC within the last year, but I didn't purchase through Disney (originally). I opted for a small 65 point contract, which I could buy with cash and avoid financing. I've since added-on another small contract through Disney - once you're a DVC member, you can add on any amount starting at 25 points, rather than having to purchase the 150 point minimum.

I basically wanted to purchase enough points that would be allow me to go every year in a studio, or every other year in a larger villa or for a longer time. If you go every other year, you can use banking/borrowing to maximize your points. I also wanted to keep my maintenance costs low, and allow for some flexibility in the future...in case I ever want to sell-off one contract, but keep the other.

FYI - the resale process took some time to complete, but was very simple. I went through the Timeshare Store - one of the DIS board sponsors - and they provided great service

 

[explorer1977]

Hey mickeychick
We are trying to do the excact same thing that you did (buy a small contract then add on. The maintenance fees were a big part of our decision to do it this way but also we wold like to own at a newer resort (say like CRV, here's hoping) in the future when we have a family and need more points. Nice to hear it worked out great for you and I'm sure it will for us when we finanlly get a contract (I keep on getting missed by seconds or minutes on resale contracts that go fast but our time will come)

 

[mickeychick]

Yup, those small contracts are snapped up, LOL! If you have an idea of the number of points you'd like and the home resort that you'd prefer, you can contact the Timeshare Store directly and they'll call you as soon as one becomes available, even before they list it.

Another reason I purchased resale was because I was interested in BWV as my home resort. With the lower points needed for standard view rooms there, I can stretch my small amount of points even further. A 7 night stay in a BWV standard view studio in Oct or Nov is only 87 points

 

[Disney_Mama]

We bought just for the reason of having a quality family vacation every year. We had our first DVC at BWV this March and it was by far the best one we have had. The $$$ is a lot but it is well worth it if you plan on going every year. I am sure after a few more visits like the last one my husband will agree that we need more points, so that we can go twice a year We looked into other timeshare and there was just no comparison to the Disney Quality....Good Luck