DCL Question

[ashman]

I posted this on the DCL board, wanted to solcit your opinions as well.

I got some DVC promotional materials recently and was looking at what it cost in points to cruise. How many of you DVC’ers use your points to go cruising? How often do you go to the WDW otherwise? It seems like it takes a lot of points to have a decent vacation of any length. If your primary draw is DCL, is DVC a good avenue to explore?

Do the points required to stay at a resort change from year to year? How about for the cruises? How frequently do the maintence fees increase?

Thanks for entertaining the "newbie" questions. On our cruise we ran into a lot of DVC folks, wanted to get some more info.

 

[hellerjw]

I'm new to DVC myself having just bought in April, but will take a stab at some of your questions.

If your primary desire is to cruise vs. a resort stay, DVC is not the most economical way to do it. The points required for cruising are high and you will do better paying cash. The ability to use points for the cruises is more of a perk than a good value. It can be done but there is premium point cost involved.

The points required to stay at a DVC resort can change based on when the days fall within a Disney Season, with major holidays (Easter, Christmas, etc) and special event times costing more points than slower periods. However, whenever they raise points for one time they have to lower them for another since the total point cost for the year can't change. Since the cruises aren't really part of DVC and have to be negotiated each year their point values can increase much more frequently and aren't bound by the "raise here, lower there" requirement.

Maintenance fees/annual dues can go up each year and I think the average increase is around 4%. However, this is pretty much in line with the cash resort yearly increases and close to the rise due to inflation. With DVC, you will pay much more in annual dues over the life of the contract (40-50 years) than the initial buy-in cost.

 

[Anthony1971]

the easy ones first
The point structure for a year can not change that is not to say they can not move the points around to make it more to stay on weekeday and less on a weekend day but they have only done this once a long time ago with one resort it is not a normal practice and again the points to stay for a year can not change.
Maint fees increase about 3% a year but the property taxes you pay (not a lot but something) are tax deductable so long as you only have one other residence that you claim.
Using points for DCL that is up to you... a good value well no are you losing anything or overpaying no but the points have the most value if you use them for a DVC resort. If you pay for one person in your room with points that are left over.... but I would not suggest this as being the points primary use you can get a better price in general paying cash as if you use your points you then pay the rate DVC quotes you for any part you do not have enough points to cover and sometimes thier rate is a little higher than what you can get form a travel agent or even DCL itself.

 

[Didney Daddy]

In general it is best to use points at DVC resorts but there are times when the trade is not that bad. You have to search the prices on the cruise and category you want and compare that to the points it would cost. For a category 6 4 night cruise I have prices run from $2,500 for a party of three to $6,000 depending upon the season. WHen the prices get to the upper range, sometimes the DVC points start looking like fair value.

ALso, DVC ran a discount on Adventure By Disney trips where they cut the number of points by 25% for some trips. WHen they did that, the economic trade was again a push so if you had extra points that might have made some sense.

Good luck,

 

[ashman]

So sounds like a good perk if you have the point and the timing is right but not a good primary reason to buy.

 

[CarolMN]

So sounds like a good perk if you have the point and the timing is right but not a good primary reason to buy.

Yes - a good succint summary of what they all said, LOL.