Comparing point charts...

[lenshanem]

So I'm stuck outside earlier watching over all the cul-de-sac kids so I decided to compare 2004 and 2005 point charts. (Please forgive me if I mess up here...)

Non DVC WDW resorts stayed about the same, changing a little here or there. No qualms here. At least the moderate resorts went down in points!

Wow, DLP points really went up, up, up! That is a bummer cause we wanted to go back there, but later down the road when my kids are a little older and better able to sit through that plane ride! If they continue at that rate... Is it still a good deal considering it includes admission?

Cruises -
All categories except standard went up for 3 and 4 day, but all went down for both 7 nights. A cruise is something else we wanted to do in a couple years.

I'm curious as to how the points compared in years past? And I wonder what makes the points fluctuate so? Is there a rhyme or reason?

How long does anyone think before the points are so high they won't be usable at all anymore? (Understanding here that as it is most of these options are not a wise use of points to begin with.)

Thanks!

 

[gtrist4life]

IMHO, since the non DVC Disney options seem to fluctuate, and usually upwards, I'd look at these options as being inflationary. We are looking to book these early in our membership and minimize the inflation aspect. The DVC resort points are fixed and we can go to our home resort and others in a few years. I've always wanted to try Concierge at either GF, Poly, AKL, or even the Grand Californian, but probably would never have budgeted for that expense without buying a DVC membership.

Even though it may not be the best use of points, it does take more effort and a bit more risk to rent points. But with the high point cost of the Cruise line we may try to offset the cost with renting.

Just my two cents.
Peace
G4L

 

[ford family]

The Disneyland Paris price hike must reflect the 15 to 20% devaluation of the dollar versus the euro over the last year. We certainly found WDW great value last week with the pound at 1.70 as opposed to 1.50 last year.
It's an ill wind......

ford family

 

[ArnyVee]

Originally posted by gtrist4life
I've always wanted to try Concierge at either GF, Poly, AKL, or even the Grand Californian, but probably would never have budgeted for that expense without buying a DVC membership.

Probably a silly question. But, what do you get that is 'extra' or 'special' by being in concierge at the resorts?

 

[JimC]

Concierge has some nice perks. Plan on $75 to $100 per day more for the rooms. Some resorts have larger rooms and better views on their concierge levels. IN some you get extra amenities common in top resorts (robes, mini-refrigerators, etc). You generally have a private check-in, private access to your floors and very personalized attention for reservations, PS, tours, etc. The lounges have breakfast in the morning, sodas and snacks throughout the day, afternoon tea or wine/cheese or lite eating fare and desserts are often provided in the evening. Some concierge levels have access to special tours events that are usually fully subscribed to those guests so are not available to non-concierge guests. It does vary so you should check the sepcifics of each resort before you book.

Is it worth it? Possibly if you are going to spend time at the resort and are able to enjoy the amenities. If you are a park commando, then possibly not. If you have ever stayed at a 5-star resort, that is what you get on the concierge levels. In my view, you ought to try it at least once, even if only for a couple of days.

As to the OPs question on using points outside of DVC. We look at what our points cost. For us, purchase and maintenance fees average in 2003 -- $5.46 per point. We multiply that times the required points to see how that compares to paying cash (remember to add in tax). If cash is materially cheaper than points, we pay cash, otherwise -- we use points.

 

[jmminarik]

Originally posted by gtrist4life
IMHO, since the non DVC Disney options seem to fluctuate, and usually upwards, I'd look at these options as being inflationary.

If it were inflationary, no one would have enough points to go anywhere outside of DVC in 10-15 years since no one person could have that many points.

Its probably more supply and demand with a bit of price fixing involved. Regardless of the 'outside' option, DVC needs to rent our rooms for cash in order to pay for these nonDVC options. When it's projected that cash rental income will be down for DVC resorts, you can expect DVC to up the point costs for an outside points reservation.

We're currently in that sort of economy...travel is down and hotel rates are being deeply discounted...and even if DVC weren't discounted, it's still competing with other hotels for patronage. The less cash DVC has rolling in, the more points they need to 'control' in order to rent more room nights to cover their cash outlays.

Now, if you consider DVC probably isn't getting the best rates for each Disney owned non-DVC rental (hotel or cruise) (i.e. DVC doesn't get to use the AP rates or the Fairy Tale Package), you can consider this to be where Disney has a bit of a price fixing involved.

If you want to complicate things even _further_, take into account alot of VB and HH points are really spent on ressies in the World (probably more spent on WDW ressies than the other way), DVC probably rents for cash proportionally more rooms at VB and HH than in the World...and these resorts seem to be discounted more because they don't have the powerful draw of WDW's parks.

Of course, that's just my theory on DVC economics. I could be wrong.

-Joe

 

[Dean]

Since DVC is paying for the exchange item with cash from rentals, the inflation of the unit costs should hedge against the inflation of the other venues.