Considering DVC

[goofydisneygal]

Can anyone help me to understand if DVC saves money over booking direct? As a frequent Disney visitor this program remains very confusing to me. Also, can you join without putting $$ down and finance it in? We have no issue with a monthly payment but putting several thousand down would be a harder struggle. Thanks!

 

[Chuck S]

Disney will finance, but you have to have a down payment. Depending upon your credit status, I've heard up to 20%, but usually less.

 

[redrosesix]

The main question you have to ask yourself is whether you plan to use it every year, or every other year since you can do that with DVC by banking points. If you're going to be paying for something you don't actually use, then no.

But otherwise, it's cheaper to own DVC than to book directly even at a value resort so long as you continue to take the same type of vacation as you would if you were renting the room. For us, we're pricing the cost of points as if we'd be booking a studio -- not a 2 bedroom suite concierge level.

We made the decision to buy DVC a long long time ago, and we've done the math. But it's so hard to buy in from where we live and we never seem to have the cash to do it when we're actually there lol. We can't even order the DVC DVD from here -- if you can you should, and do your math homework before you do the tour, since you'll know what financing options are available to you. But I believe everyone has to put some money down.

 

[a742246]

Some of the resale companies have financing options. But IMHO I wouldn't buy a DVC until you can save up and pay cash for it.

PS. Resales are the way to go, the prices are 1/2 the price of direct.

 

[Missyrose]

Just to put this out there, if you finance the purchase it will likely be at an outrageous interest rate. If you don't have a plan to pay off the loan in a year or two, you'll end up paying DOUBLE the per point cost for your points. In that scenario, you surely have no chance of saving any money over booking through Disney.

I'll agree with the PP, save up your money and buy resale with cash.

 

[crisi]

If the main thing is saving money, DVC isn't a good deal.

DVC is more likely to be more expensive over the long term than "other" options. It is a timeshare, not a hotel discount program. Which means you need to use those points before they expire. Even if its a tight financial year and you need to replace the furnace (you can rent your points, but no guarantees they'll be rentable)

Cheaper options:

Staying value
Staying offsite
Booking when Disney has good deals (free dining might be a better deal for you, for instance)
Renting points - particularly if you aren't going to go every year or every other year and don't want the commitment.
Buying an offsite timeshare resale (there are some great deals, some which trade into DVC).

DVC is a good deal for people who fit multiple of the following criteria (not necessarily all, but if you only fit one, it probably isn't for you).

1) Can afford to tie up five figures worth of money in a timeshare
2) Can pay cash (but might choose to finance)
3) Are going to stay in moderate or deluxe resorts if they didn't have DVC
4) Are going to go to Disney (and specifically WDW, not cruising and not - unless you own at Disneyland, Disneyland or Hawaii, unless you own at Aulani - availability at those two resorts appears to be particularly challenging for non-owners) at least every other year reliably for ten years
5) Want more space than a hotel room provides (and are willing and able to pay for it).
6) Can project a fairly stable financial future ten years out.

 

[Mariep26]

Just to put this out there, if you finance the purchase it will likely be at an outrageous interest rate. If you don't have a plan to pay off the loan in a year or two, you'll end up paying DOUBLE the per point cost for your points. In that scenario, you surely have no chance of saving any money over booking through Disney.

I'll agree with the PP, save up your money and buy resale with cash.

Don't forget the interest is tax deductible because it is considered a mortgage so factor that into the equation as well (this is if financing through Disney -- not sure of the other companies that finance.

 

[bighoo93]

If the main thing is saving money, DVC isn't a good deal.

I found the main reason for purchasing to be saving money. It is hard to imagine why anyone would pay all this money for accommodations up front if they weren't doing it to save money in the long run. I guess it is all relative: what are you saving money over? As compared to never taking a vacation, then DVC is more expensive and won't save you money. As compared to booking the same DVC resort the same dates directly from Disney, it will save you money.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I found the main reason for purchasing to be saving money. It is hard to imagine why anyone would pay all this money for accommodations up front if they weren't doing it to save money in the long run. I guess it is all relative: what are you saving money over? As compared to never taking a vacation, then DVC is more expensive and won't save you money. As compared to booking the same DVC resort the same dates directly from Disney, it will save you money.

If I had never bought DVC, I'd have a whole lot more money in the bank. The more frequently you go to WDW, the more frequently you need to buy park admission. That goes up every year. The nice bone DVC threw at us this fall doesn't happen every year.

Dining at WDW isn't cheap. The more you go, the more you spend on dining.

And then there are the souveniers. After 15 years of WDW, I finally go home with almost nothing souvenier-wise. And with all the changes to cupcakes and cookies from better tasting confectionaries, I don't spend money on those either.

But the first years, especially if you have children (and we have an only child so he got every light producing toy Disney every made and sold on a cart), you will spend a lot more on stuff. You have to have the polo shirts and sweatshirts and t-shirts. YOU HAVE TO BUY THEM, you get 10% or 20% off. You are SAVING money!! (Glug, glug, glug, drink the Kool-aid)

And if you can squeeze out one more trip on that Annual Pass, you'll even pay cash to do it because you get the AP Discounted room. (We're saving even more! Glug, glug, glug)

We've done other vacations in these 15 years that we did not use DVC points for - gone to the beach, went to the National Parks and mountains, went to DL and Southern California. Lots of different places. If I had never been to WDW, I probably wouldn't miss it. But I drank the darned Kool-aid 15 years ago and now I just have to stop drinking it. We did buy in 1997 because we liked WDW, we thought having a bigger place to stay would be nice (at least a one bedroom villa every stay - never a studio), and it was about $50 a point with dues in the neighborhood of $2.85 a point.

Nah, DVC isn't a way to save money at all. I can rent a beach condo from an owner for a lot less than I spend on park admission alone.

 

[joelp]

Can anyone help me to understand if DVC saves money over booking direct? As a frequent Disney visitor this program remains very confusing to me. Also, can you join without putting $$ down and finance it in? We have no issue with a monthly payment but putting several thousand down would be a harder struggle. Thanks!

First, if your primary goal is to save money, financing a DVC purchase is not the way to go. Unless you have some alternative way to finance, you'd have to buy direct from Disney - which means about double the initial cost per point compared to buying resale, and a high interest rate (10%+ ...).

Second, you'll have a yearly Maintenenace Fee to pay on top of that ... (varies with the Home Resort and # points ...)

Third, if you don't consistently stay on-site at Deluxe Resorts, you won't "save" much money ...

Spend some time and read through the many informative DVC threads here on DISBoards, and also check out DVCNews.com.

 

[crisi]

I found the main reason for purchasing to be saving money. It is hard to imagine why anyone would pay all this money for accommodations up front if they weren't doing it to save money in the long run. I guess it is all relative: what are you saving money over? As compared to never taking a vacation, then DVC is more expensive and won't save you money. As compared to booking the same DVC resort the same dates directly from Disney, it will save you money.

Would you be booking a two bedroom for cash at Disney every year? I wouldn't.

We are great examples of DVC members who spend more. We are Deluxe hotel people. But we would stay in a hotel room, not a two bedroom, which is what we book now with our kids. Without DVC we'd probably be every three to five year people - with DVC we are every other year people. We've brought family and friends and paid for their rooms. We don't cook anything other than breakfast in the room. And knowing what I know now - we'd stay off site.

Now, there ARE people for whom DVC saves money over what they'd spend at Disney to start with. They never take guests (or if they do, they would have with cash reservations). They stay in studios. They were staying Deluxe to start with. They didn't travel when Disney tends to offer deals. And they were going every single year and will continue to hold that pattern. I think of all the members on this board over the years that participated in the "does DVC save your family money" conversations six of them actually seemed to be saving money.

 

[staceymay00]

I found the main reason for purchasing to be saving money. It is hard to imagine why anyone would pay all this money for accommodations up front if they weren't doing it to save money in the long run. I guess it is all relative: what are you saving money over? As compared to never taking a vacation, then DVC is more expensive and won't save you money. As compared to booking the same DVC resort the same dates directly from Disney, it will save you money.

I don't think we are spending less money on Disney trips since buying DVC, but we are certainly getting more for our money. We had been staying in deluxe hotel rooms (with discounts in the range of 40%) because we have three kids and outgrew the POR rooms. We don't mind staying off site some of the time, but looking ahead long term I felt I wanted to be on site at least half of our trips. We now stay in 2BRs instead of a single hotel room. The upfront cost of our points (purchased resale and not financed) plus MFs per night in a 2BR at OKW is roughly what we were spending per night for a discounted room at a deluxe resort like the Polynesian. We would not likely ever pay rack rate for a WDW deluxe resort room, and we certainly would not pay rack rate for a 2BR villa. The beauty of DVC for us is that we can stay in those 2BR units for close to what we had been spending per night for a standard room.

To the OP...I recommend taking the monthly payment you have in mind and putting it into savings every month for a year. Then you will at least have a down payment when you buy, and you will know if that payment amount works well for you. Even better would be saving the entire purchase price and not financing. Tickets and food for trips are still a big expense even after you own DVC.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[bighoo93]

We are great examples of DVC members who spend more. We are Deluxe hotel people. But we would stay in a hotel room, not a two bedroom, which is what we book now with our kids. Without DVC we'd probably be every three to five year people - with DVC we are every other year people. We've brought family and friends and paid for their rooms. We don't cook anything other than breakfast in the room. And knowing what I know now - we'd stay off site.

The OP asked about buying DVC vs. booking directly with Disney. The point of DVC is to save money vs. booking the same thing with Disney. But it is obviously true that there are alternatives to buying DVC that cost much less (including never taking a vacation) or much more. If you compare to going with different frequency, staying different amounts of time, and using different accommodations, it really isn't even about saving money or not. It is about entirely different choices, and you can compare those costs if you want.

 

[crisi]

I don't think we are spending less money on Disney trips since buying DVC, but we are certainly getting more for our money.

And that is what many people find - its a good value, even if they spend more than they would. But in order for it to be a good value, saving money can't be the primary motivation - getting more for the money you spend needs to be.

 

[bighoo93]

And that is what many people find - its a good value, even if they spend more than they would. But in order for it to be a good value, saving money can't be the primary motivation - getting more for the money you spend needs to be.

Unless you are comparing apples to apples, it isn't really a conversation about saving. It is about whether you would spend more or less for different experiences. I interpreted the OP to be talking about the cost for owning DVC vs. booking the same thing through Disney. If something else was intended, that should be specified (e.g., booking 2 weeks at a nearby Days Inn vs. 1 week owning DVC).

 

[Lynne M]

Can anyone help me to understand if DVC saves money over booking direct? As a frequent Disney visitor this program remains very confusing to me. Also, can you join without putting $$ down and finance it in? We have no issue with a monthly payment but putting several thousand down would be a harder struggle. Thanks!

The first and most important thing to understand is that DVC isn't a discount program or a club to join, it's a timeshare. So you'd be purchasing a real estate interest in one of the DVC resorts, and along with the initial purchase cost, you would be responsible for paying maintenance fees every year for the life of the contract, or until you sell your interest in DVC.

There are two ways you can buy into DVC - either direct from Disney, which is the fastest and also the most expensive, or from a real estate broker who specializes in timeshares - this is called 'resale', as you'd be buying someone else's contract that they no longer want. Resale is much less expensive (usually thousands of dollars less), but there are some restrictions on your use of DVC if you buy resale. You wouldn't be able to use points on non-DVC Disney resorts, or for DCL or ABD. Most members feel like that's not a loss, as those exchange options are very expensive in terms of point cost, and you may get a better value by paying cash for those options.

Now, on to your question - do you save money? Yes, you will likely save money over what it costs to book a villa in a DVC resort for cash. That's important. It's not a bargain way to vacation at WDW, it won't be cheaper than a value. If you routinely stay in deluxe villas or rooms at deluxe resorts, then a stay on points in a DVC resort will likely work out to be less money over the long term.

As for financing......don't. If you want DVC to save you money, don't finance it, and especially don't finance it through Disney. Their rates are crazy high, and you'll end up paying so much in finance charges that it will more than eat up any savings you might see on lodging.

Read all you can about DVC, and work through the numbers. If it looks like something that would work for your family, then figure out resort and number of points that are right for you, and start putting away money to buy without financing.

 

[crisi]

The OP asked about buying DVC vs. booking directly with Disney. The point of DVC is to save money vs. booking the same thing with Disney. But it is obviously true that there are alternatives to buying DVC that cost much less (including never taking a vacation) or much more. If you compare to going with different frequency, staying different amounts of time, and using different accommodations, it really isn't even about saving money or not. It is about entirely different choices, and you can compare those costs if you want.

But not about booking direct with Disney in a DVC resort. I don't know many DVC members who pre-DVC were booking DVC resorts at CRO rack rates. But you are right, if they did, they'd save a ton.

To me, savings is what you do when you spend less money doing something you would do anyway. Getting good value is what happens when you might spend a bit more (or a lot more) but its worthwhile. DVC - for some people - is a good value. For a few people, it saves them money - but not many.

Also, I think that if owning changes your behavior - so that you go more often, or bring guests, then that is part of the added expense of DVC. Without it, you wouldn't take those trips.

My husband drives an Audi - he could drive a cheaper car, but he got a great deal on the Audi - not that it "saved" him money over buying a Camry. And since he has the Audi, he has to buy Audi parts and get Audi service - which is not a cheap exercise. And he has to use expensive gas. All that adds to the total cost of ownership of the Audi - its a good "value" but it hasn't saved us anything - other than that we got it for $20,000 less than list price, but we wouldn't have bought a $65,000 car to start with. I can't say we "saved" $20,000 because we simply bought more car with $45,000 than we would have.

 

[bighoo93]

To me, savings is what you do when you spend less money doing something you would do anyway. Getting good value is what happens when you might spend a bit more (or a lot more) but its worthwhile. DVC - for some people - is a good value. For a few people, it saves them money - but not many.

I think those are really good definitions.

For my family, we would have stayed at a DVC resort (renting points) any time we went to WDW. We are a family of six and need a 2 BR, and we want to stay on Disney property. I can't say for sure that in the future we wouldn't have ever tried anything else, but that isn't what I would have expected or planned. So I consider it savings to have bought DVC and over time will spend less than I otherwise would have. It is possible that because of that savings, we will eat out a few more times and spend some (or in theory all) of that savings on something else. But I wouldn't say that means I didn't save money on the lodging. I would say that I saved money on the lodging, and that allowed me to do other things that I otherwise couldn't have afforded to do.

 

[Dean]

Don't forget the interest is tax deductible because it is considered a mortgage so factor that into the equation as well (this is if financing through Disney -- not sure of the other companies that finance.

timeshare lenders also writes as a mortgage however it doesn't make sense to give someone say $1000 a year in interest to save maybe $250 a year in taxes (25% tax rate). IMO buying DVC is unreasonable if one can't pay OOP but so then is vacationing in general if one has to finance it (such as using CC they can't pay off in full when the bill arrives).

DVC will save money compared to deluxe accommodations over the same period for a studio or a 2 BR compared to 2 deluxe units assuming one goes every year or 2 and can plan ahead. As noted, there is a psychology of timeshares that may mean taking more trips and spending more money in other areas.

 

[brertoad]

We were already paying cash for staying at Deluxe resorts, we took our first mini-vacation ("stay-cation") last November after years of no vacations at all; each time we were paying $400-600 out of pocket each time we were going for a couple nights at a time. Come summer time this year, we already spent $2600 on hotel costs, we tried a value resort and didn't like it much. I started looking at DVC resales.

I found a contract that we could afford and based on my estimated usage seemed like enough points for us to vacation in the way we were getting accustomed to. Everything went good with the sale, we have been using our DVC points since October, and absolutely love it. Probably the single best thing we have ever purchased for ourselves. I love that the only thing we have to worry about now is just paying the annual dues (under $1000), no more estimated $3000-3600 on hotel rooms a year. I know this is going to save us money every year. We have been greatly effected by the economy, we're really thankful that we were able to purchase a DVC resale, direct would have been out of the question.

We've benefited from being able to get the Premium Annual Passes for only $399 each, and we went ahead and spent the money to lock in that price for next year by purchasing 2 vouchers. That alone saved us $800 off the PAP price. We get FL APs every year anyways.

We live in Florida and have been driving to and from Disney for over 15 years, we go there to eat, shop, visit the parks. If you already are going to WDW anyways, and already spend your money there, then DVC may be right for you. I know that it is saving us money... yes, we will be spending money at Disney for food and things, but we are enjoying it, I'd rather save money on the hotel and spend it on food and fun.

If you buy direct you will be paying top dollar for the points, and if you finance you will pay double that in the long run due to interest. The best way to save money is to save up the cash you can, put it aside until you can afford to buy a resale contract.
Best of luck to the OP.