Current incentive

[phorsenuf]

Does anyone know what the current incentive is for buying into SSR, if there is one.
Thanks!

 

[qgallo]

I would like to know too!! I cant believe 128 views and no one knows ???

 

[MaggieDoodle]

We just bought into SSR, and they were giving $1,200 off the down payment. I believe it figures out to $8 per point. Hope I understood your question correctly.

Maggie

 

[vascubaguy]

$8 off per point for SSR, with 150 pt minimum buy-in. If you pay for it all without financing it's just $8 off. If you use DVC financing, they apply the $8 towards the required down payment rather than just calculating a discount (that makes your intial out-of-pocket expense a bit lower). Also, you can get the current (2005) year points and only have to pay a prorated amount in MN fees for the rest of the year.

HTH

 

[MScott1851]

VASCUBAGUY is correct. We went to our appointment last Thursday. They also gave us $100 in Disney Gift Certificates to put towards shopping, dining, entertainment, etc. while in WDW. We used it to upgrade our five day tickets to seven day tickets and make them non-expiring!

I can't wait to go back! The Saratoga Springs resort is so beautiful. I definitely love the decor.

We are still debating on whether or not this is the right time for us to buy into DVC. I was ready to put the down payment down right then and there...DH, ever the level-headed one, insisted we sleep on it a week. It seems like such a good deal, but after figuring in maintenance fees each year, I don't know if it really is for us right now. We really want to go so many other places besides WDW...yes, I know we can bank and borrow and exchange and rent our points, but there would be years that we would lose money...we are only looking at buying 160 points, and even if we rented out our points one year, it would only cover $1600 of the $1968 that is our yearly payment, not to mention the $610 maintenance fees for the year. I'm scouring this board for nuggets of information to help us make up our mind. I realize that we aren't buying in to "save" money...just to pre-pay our WDW vacations...definitely something to think about in case we have kids one day and I'm not working as much...our vacation accomodations are already taken care of (for the most part..those yearly maintenance fees are going to be a bummer....you could get a week at an off-site or value resort for that amount of money!)

 

[vascubaguy]

VASCUBAGUY is correct. We went to our appointment last Thursday. They also gave us $100 in Disney Gift Certificates to put towards shopping, dining, entertainment, etc. while in WDW. We used it to upgrade our five day tickets to seven day tickets and make them non-expiring!

I can't wait to go back! The Saratoga Springs resort is so beautiful. I definitely love the decor.

We are still debating on whether or not this is the right time for us to buy into DVC. I was ready to put the down payment down right then and there...DH, ever the level-headed one, insisted we sleep on it a week. It seems like such a good deal, but after figuring in maintenance fees each year, I don't know if it really is for us right now. We really want to go so many other places besides WDW...yes, I know we can bank and borrow and exchange and rent our points, but there would be years that we would lose money...we are only looking at buying 160 points, and even if we rented out our points one year, it would only cover $1600 of the $1968 that is our yearly payment, not to mention the $610 maintenance fees for the year. I'm scouring this board for nuggets of information to help us make up our mind. I realize that we aren't buying in to "save" money...just to pre-pay our WDW vacations...definitely something to think about in case we have kids one day and I'm not working as much...our vacation accomodations are already taken care of (for the most part..those yearly maintenance fees are going to be a bummer....you could get a week at an off-site or value resort for that amount of money!)

You definately can't compare the yearly maintenance fees on 160 points to a vacation at an off-site location. I mean 160 points could get you up to 20 nights in a studio! (of course it wouldn't be consecutive nights, but it's possible with 8 points per night at OKW). You figure the nightly cost just based on the MN fees in that case and you are talking less than $31 per night. (Even when you add in a few dollars to cover the "cost of the points" you are still less than most nights in an off-site location, and they certainly wouldn't be deluxe accommodations). Now that was the extreme low figure... using some "real" figures from my trip next year.... I'm staying 5 nights at BWV at the end of March (55 points total). My overall cost per point from the initial purchase is $1.80 per point, and then $3.83 per point in MN fees, so 5.63 per point total... times 55 pts = 309.65 (that averages out to $61.93 per night). I couldn't get a value resort for $62 per night (especially with 3 adults in the room)!!!

Ok, with that said.... if you would be happy at staying offsite in a bargain hotel, then you probably wouldn't benefit as much from DVC membership. However, if you would rather have the deluxe accommodations during your stay and have all of the advantages of staying on-site, then it could be a good program for you. Probably the biggest thing to consider would be the financing. If you financed thru DVC for 10 years, you would definately want to try and pay it off as quickly as possible. You could consider other financing options as well (home equity, or even credit card-some cc rates are lower than DVC and offer a fixed rate).

You mentioned renting your points on the years you couldn't use them and during those initial years while you are paying off the DVC you wouldn't "make money" by renting, BUT after it is paid off and if you rent the points, you'd be looking at making $1600+ and only $600+ in MN fees... that's about $1000 extra in those years.

While you are considering, definately thing about short-term and long-term. Also factor in potential financial commitments that might pop up. Right after I bought in, I had to take my car into the shop... that was an unexpected $500.... and just a few weeks after that, something else went wrong with the car... another $300. I made sure I wasn't going to stretch myself too thin by buying in.

Good luck and best wishes in whatever you decide to do. And let us know if you have any questions about the program.

 

[MScott1851]

That's the problem, once we saw the accomodations, we realized we would always want a one bedroom! hahaha! We only tend to go to WDW for 4-5 nights at a time, stay deluxe, over a weekend, and always in September. It would still take a lot of points for us to vacation like I want to! We also like to travel other places, and tend to look for deals as well. Even with the flexibility to trade into the World Passport collection, I like to stay exactly WHERE I want to, not where I would feel like I HAD to (due to using my points).

We're definitely still debating it...your posts have helped us, as well as the links in your signature.

 

[Man_Of_Leisure]

We're definitely still debating it...your posts have helped us, as well as the links in your signature.

While you debate, the price continues to go up and up. I looked at purchasing in 2000 when the price was $68/pt and getting ready to go to $70/pt. Five years later, while still debating, I bought into SSR in March when it was $93/pt and with the incentives I paid $87. The price went up to $98 in June. The price increased roughly 30% in five years and the incentives are only good for a limited time after the presentation, particularly the financing incentive.

My point is that you obviously enjoy going to WDW for at least one week every other year or so. A possible solution to your delima is to buy a smaller contract through resale. You can then bank and borrow your points and go every two or three years.

I did not see you mention any rug rats, so I don't know if you have any or are planning any; however, from your pic it looks like you're a young couple. If you have children or are planning some you may want to consider how your vacation plans may change as a result.

Man Of Leisure

 

[deide71]

I don't think a DVC purchase is financially prudent for those who have to finance. True, the price to buy in goes up each year, but if you are financing @8-9% that negates savings you may gain by buying in now.

Unless you have your own source of financing @ a significantly lower interest rate than Disney, I think you should wait to buy until you can pay upfront.

 

[ACDSNY]

We're in the process of purchasing a 100 point resale contract. Some of our reasons for purchasing a smaller contract is we live in N. CA so getting to Orlando every year isn't in our budget, but we do go to Disneyland at least yearly and we've been going to Orlando every 2-3 years.

Since we won't have a lot of points to use each year, I won't feel quilty when I decide to vacation elsewhere because I don't have too much invested.

 

[Anewman]

I don't think a DVC purchase is financially prudent for those who have to finance. True, the price to buy in goes up each year, but if you are financing @8-9% that negates savings you may gain by buying in now.

Unless you have your own source of financing @ a significantly lower interest rate than Disney, I think you should wait to buy until you can pay upfront.

Well we are about to close on 200 points, 10 year finance plan.

200 points gets you one week 1bdr in Oct(regular season)

One week SSR 1bdr during regular season goes for around $3,000(including tax), 2005 rates.

Next years loan payments and fees combined will be around $3,000 and part of this will be deductable.

Seems prudent to me to pay around what it would cost to stay at SSR, but owning instead and deduct most of it. And once loan is paid off the real savings begin.

And IMO paying cash for vacations while you wait to save up for DVC purchase would Negate any savings in your plan.

 

[gppnj]

I don't think a DVC purchase is financially prudent for those who have to finance. True, the price to buy in goes up each year, but if you are financing @8-9% that negates savings you may gain by buying in now.

Unless you have your own source of financing @ a significantly lower interest rate than Disney, I think you should wait to buy until you can pay upfront.

On the surface, this statement makes a lot of sense. However, I think the big mitigating factor is whether or not the person would be going to WDW anyway. If you're going to go to WDW anyway, I feel you might as well put the money you'll be spending toward DVC rather than paying for a non-DVC hotel.

 

[richard220]

Took the tour in early September. Weren't completely sold yet so we decided to wait till we got home and talk about it for a while. Well we've pretty much decided to go for it and purchase 200 pts. Problem is our guide told us the current $8ppt incentive was only good for three days after departure (long gone now). Think if we called up now, and told them to sign us up, they wouldn't give us the incentive? $1600 is a big difference. We received literature in the mail about a month before we took the tour. It also offered the $8ppt incentive, but mentioned no deadline. So basically if you never take the tour, the incentive has not time limit, but if you do take the tour they lock you in to making a decision in 3 days. This doesn't seem to make much sense. Any thoughts??

 

[Mark099]

I am probably the most cynical person when it comes to timeshares. Conventional timeshares are wickedly expensive. No matter how you crunch the numbers, they will never work in your favour. Two exceptions... a steal of a deal on a resale or you luck out and have a timeshare during the Winter Olympics (2010) in Whistler, BC.

That said, for some reason, DVC seems to work in our favour under certain conditions. For example, you...

1) visit WDW at least every 2 years or visit the equivalent of 10-14 days every 2 years
2) always stay on-site
3) always stay in moderate to deluxe accomidations
4) truely understand the points process to make it work for you
5) never waste points -- there are people on the boards looking for as little as 1 or 2 points all the time

When trying to calculate the break-even point, I never used the rates for a 1BR villa at a DVC resort. I was more realistic, and used a low season moderate resort rate. For us, I figured we would have to use our DVC membership for about 50-60 nights to break even. For others, that are willing to spend the $300-500 a night to stay at a deluxe or DVC resort will break even a lot faster.

 

[bongo59]

I don't think a DVC purchase is financially prudent for those who have to finance. True, the price to buy in goes up each year, but if you are financing @8-9% that negates savings you may gain by buying in now.

Unless you have your own source of financing @ a significantly lower interest rate than Disney, I think you should wait to buy until you can pay upfront.

......................finally some sane advice.........................never finance a luxury!

 

[bongo59]

On the surface, this statement makes a lot of sense. However, I think the big mitigating factor is whether or not the person would be going to WDW anyway. If you're going to go to WDW anyway, I feel you might as well put the money you'll be spending toward DVC rather than paying for a non-DVC hotel.

........sorry dont buy that..............even if they go they have to pay for it some how.............and i bet they used a CC to do it...............If you pay that bill off that month its OK.................but how many people do that consistently??? Easy to answer.............just look at how much money Americans finance via CC every yr...............astronomical.............this is how young folks bury themselves starting out..............Never finance a luxury.............a house is all you should finance everything else should be paid for up front including cars....................

 

[tjkraz]

........sorry dont buy that..............even if they go they have to pay for it some how.............and i bet they used a CC to do it...............

Maybe yes, maybe no. I'm sure there are many people who can budget themselves $2000+ annually for a family vacation, but they aren't willing to forego trips for 5 or more years just so they can pay cash for DVC.

The inflationary price of points is also a consideration. Back in 2000 you could buy into DVC for about $65 per point. Now you pay $90 to get the full 50 years at SSR or $80 plus to go resale on the older resorts, with 5 fewer years' of vacations to show for it. And we have every reason to believe the cost of DVC will continue to escalate.

Paying cash is the ideal scenario. Financing may add a couple of years to the break-even point, but it shouldn't be discarded out of hand, particularly for families who are resigned to paying for annual Disney trips one way or another. Financing DVC is a lot less expensive in the long run than paying cash to stay at a Deluxe or Moderate resort for the next several decades.

 

[vascubaguy]

........sorry dont buy that..............even if they go they have to pay for it some how.............and i bet they used a CC to do it...............If you pay that bill off that month its OK.................but how many people do that consistently??? Easy to answer.............just look at how much money Americans finance via CC every yr...............astronomical.............this is how young folks bury themselves starting out..............Never finance a luxury.............a house is all you should finance everything else should be paid for up front including cars....................

Although I totally agree that paying cash is the best way to go... it just isn't feasible. I have a decent salary, but I couldn't afford to buy all of my points with cash and it didn't make sense for me to keep spending thousands of dollars each year on vacations to Disney, when I could be putting that same money towards DVC to get 50 years of accommdations AND still getting to go on a vacation.

When I originally bought in I got a very small 40 point contract at OKW. I had the cash to pay so I didn't have to worry about financing. Well... then I find out that I'm going to be going to WDW in March/April of 2006 (and we already had planned to go in the Fall 2006). 40 points just doesn't cut it for 2 trips each year, and I figured that rather than dropping a couple thousand to rent points from someone or to book ressies thru CRO, I figured I'd use that as a nice downpayment on more points. So, I bought 110 points thru DVC, put that on a 0% interest for 14 month credit card. I got way more points than I could use ('04 points banked, '05 points coming) so I booked my ressies for 2006 and rented the remaining points to help cover the costs. I'll have the rest of the add-on paid of before the 0% promo ends on the credit card (or if something comes up, that card has a fixed rate of 6.99%).

I just started thinking... this post was about current incentives... not financing debates... sorry about that.

So back to the topic... yeah... $8 off per point or $8 per point applied towards DVC financing. Oh... did we mention the DVC tote and SSR lithograph?