CM with a potential DVC Question

[skruggie]

Hi there, I was wondering if those who are current DVC owners might be able to answer a question I am trying to get clarity on.

I am a current CM (not for the parks - I work in California). I am taking 1-2 trips to WDW a year, and I intend to be working for Disney as long as they will have me, for the next 30 years or so.

Under these circumstances, knowing that I get the current CM discount on booking resorts, does it make financial sense to buy into DVC for the long term?

I stayed at a villa on my last trip with my CM discount, and I admit I got used to it very easily. I did notice they only seem to be available to us during off season for the most part, which is why I've started to do research to see if this makes sense.

If I was to buy in, it would either be at Boardwalk or Beach Club.

Thanks, any input would be appreciated.

 

[Sandisw]

As any potentional new DVC member, it is important to decide how often you will be visiting DVC to make the investment worthwhile.

I have heard CM's receive a 15% discount off DVC and this will certainly mak buying BCV or BWV direct from Disney comparable to the resale market.

Even though you currently get a discount on accomodations, I am sure that Disney could, at any time, eliminate the discount.

If you plan on visiting at least every other year, and are used to paying for deluxe accomodations, the DVC is a good investment, IMO.

Owning at DVC will certainly give you some flexibility for travel if your discounted room are on during select times.

We have been visiting WDW for years and just bought in last month (we wanted BLT) and are very excited about it!

Good luck!!!

 

[5forDiz]

It may be good idea to buy most of your points at DVC Grand Californian especially if your travel planning most often would be to book at WDW 7 months or less in advance of your trip (then having a 'home resort' at WDW wouldn't make a difference for your booking purposes). The Home Resort your points are 'tied' to gives you a priority booking window at that particular resort at
11,10,9 and 8 months before check-in date you would want; at 7 months or less before check-in date any DVC member, regardless of what their HR is, are able to call to book at any DVC resort. You may want to have your Home Resort closer to where you reside in the event that you cannot get to WDW at least you'd have the convenience of hopefully using your points at GCV (or maybe friends or relatives nearby could go as well). You can add on additional points at BCV or BWV if you'd want to own there too.

Best wishes on your planning

 

[skruggie]

It may be good idea to buy most of your points at DVC Grand Californian; in the event that you cannot get to WDW at least you'd have the convenience of hopefully using your points there since it's closer to your home (or maybe friends or relatives nearby could as well). You can add on additional points at BCV or BWV if you'd want to own there too.

Best wishes on your planning

Thanks for the suggestion - however I live 45 minutes away from Disneyland, so I wouldn't forsee ever staying there. I generally go to DL for the day on the spur of the moment.

Really, the only reason I would want DVC would be if it made financial sense with the amount of trips I forsee taking to WDW. I'm just not sure yet if it makes sense or not, based on my current discounts.

 

[5forDiz]

I don't know what your CM discount is on regular accommodations ( heard it's a good one - hope it is! you CMs deserve it ) but a 'rule of thumb' <kind of> for prospective DVC purchasers is if you plan to travel to WDW at least every year or every other year and typically book deluxe accommodations then DVC probably is a good fit. It's a good way to pre-pay accommodations. There are some perks but those should not be considered when thinking of purchasing because they can change and may be eliminated completely - presently the best perk is $100 of AP purchase.

Also, if you bank a year's points into next you'd have double allotment every 2nd year (ie banked 2008 pts + current year's 2009 pts) or with banking & borrowing you'd have a triple allotment every 3rd year to use (banked 2008 pts + current 2009 pts + borrowed 2010 pts).

Hope this may have helped a bit more

 

[skruggie]

Thanks 5forDiz - this is the part where I'm trying to determine (justify ) if it makes sense for me.

I have a silver pass, so the AP discount would not be beneficial for me. And I get a very generous discount on accommodations. I don't always stay deluxe when I travel, although it is my preference. I go back and forth between the deluxe resorts or POR, depending on what time of year it is. For example when I come out in December, even with my discount I still can't afford the luxury resorts.

So this is where my conundrum is. I absolutely fell in love with the Beach Club villas when I was out there recently, what I'm trying to determine is with my discounted rate and the fact that the perks that come with DVC wouldn't necessarily apply to me, if it is still worthwhile. I do know that we get a discount towards DVC in general, but I'm still on the fence as to if it makes sense financially, as opposed to booking with my discount rate and sometimes getting deluxe accomodations, and sometimes not.

I am taking 3 trips to WDW in 2009, and at least 2 in 2010. I forsee that in the future I would be going out between 2-3 times a year, for anywhere from 5-7 nights at a time.

 

[thepops]

Don't forget that you'd be able to use those points at the Disney resort in Hawaii when that opens as well.

 

[sznk]

If you do decide to buy DVC, I would suggesting checking the resale market sites (such as the one that sponsors this site - TTS) and compare your CM discounted prices to resale prices.
My understanding is that when you buy thru Disney as a CM, you can't sell your points in the resale market unless and until Disney releases you to do so. The advice is usually (and correctly, imo) not to buy DVC as a profit-making deal, but people sometimes have to sell for unforeseen reasons. One never knows what the future may bring.
That's also why many folks buy several smaller contracts instead of one giant one - smaller contracts are typically easier to resell. You can't sell partial points on a contract. Disney only charges closing costs for your first contract, while outside resellers charge for each contract. Sometimes the seller will pay the closing costs &/or current year's maintenance fees -depends on each particular situation.
The tricky part is deciding IF you should join. This site is a wealth of information. Good luck with your research and decision.

 

[Sandisw]

Thanks 5forDiz - this is the part where I'm trying to determine (justify ) if it makes sense for me.

I have a silver pass, so the AP discount would not be beneficial for me. And I get a very generous discount on accommodations. I don't always stay deluxe when I travel, although it is my preference. I go back and forth between the deluxe resorts or POR, depending on what time of year it is. For example when I come out in December, even with my discount I still can't afford the luxury resorts.

So this is where my conundrum is. I absolutely fell in love with the Beach Club villas when I was out there recently, what I'm trying to determine is with my discounted rate and the fact that the perks that come with DVC wouldn't necessarily apply to me, if it is still worthwhile. I do know that we get a discount towards DVC in general, but I'm still on the fence as to if it makes sense financially, as opposed to booking with my discount rate and sometimes getting deluxe accomodations, and sometimes not.

I am taking 3 trips to WDW in 2009, and at least 2 in 2010. I forsee that in the future I would be going out between 2-3 times a year, for anywhere from 5-7 nights at a time.

When I decided to buy in last month, I figured it this way. My yearly costs for accomodations run about $1800 ( 5 - 7 nights at the Contemporary, depending on the deal that I get).

To buy into DVC, 50 points resale at VWL and 115 pts at BLT, it would cost me about $16,000. This would get me a 8 days a year in a studio (similar to my current travel plans. With MF and the cost of the points averaged out for the life of the contracts, it will now run me about $1000.00 per year for accomodations.

While MF's will go up, so will room costs. What I realized is that I will be "saving" $800 every year than what I am used to paying.

Maybe it would help if you sat down and figured out about what you pay yearly for your WDW accomodations (give CM discount). Then compare this to the cost of DVC (MF, and initial investment averaged out for the contract life). If what you pay now is more, then DVC is right for you!!!

 

[5forDiz]

sznk gives you good advice re looking into purchase on resale market and sandisw's method to figure costs of dvc vs non-dvc trips I think works well thumbsup2 sandisw!) .

If you search through some threads ( like ones that say ' is dvc really worth it, etc.) you will find some posters will also try to determine what else their money could have been doing for them if they invested in a cd, etc instead of buying into dvc....for our family we knew we'd keep travelling to wdw at least every year or eoy for at least another 10 years so we liked that we know when we go we will stay in villas and have prepaid the accommodations part of our trips (except for Maintenance Fees which are paid annually either in one lump sum every January or divided by 12 & deducted monthly from check acct) Also we didn't intend to invest the money we spent to buy in - we were either going to spend it on dvc membership or buy some new carpeting/furniture which wasn't a necessity but more like maybe we'll buy some new house stuff; well, buying DVC won hands down !