Do you feel short changed by buying DVC?

[ricesk]

And sometimes when you're out of points, it's fun to take advantage of the offers. I did that last December with the Disney Visa Free dining and I and two of my adult children had a great visit and really made the most of the meals, including Candlelight Processional at Le Cellier.

That sounds like fun! The only way I could get my friends down there is with any DVC point I had!...they are not Disney-obsessed, as I am. That's a good reason to buy in....to be able to go on vacation with other family/friends who wouldn't normally go.

Do you ever exchange your points at other places? If so, is it easy and reasonable to do? Sorry if this is on another thread......

 

[jodifla]

I definitely understand want "hitthebids" is saying.

I have been trying and trying to justify purchasing DVC....and just can't....We have been to WDW 6 times in the last 4 years.....just came back in April and booked another trip in October. Problem for me is, assuming we are going twice each year, I would have to purchase about 300 points....or do the banking/borrowing....or stay only Sun-Thu. Plus, there frequently seems to be issues with availability in a DVC room/suite. And, you are still paying the ~$1000+ MFs each year.

I can really justify this emotionally, but not practically.

We love the deluxe resorts, especially Beach Club, but seems more practical for us to wait for the discounts.

On the other hand, my impractical side, is dreaming of becoming a DVC member someday.

But you are staying in a one room hotel room instead of a one or two bedroom villa. It really changes the type of vacation you have.

 

[ricesk]

Agreed...it is a different vacation. Good point. But it's a lot of money for one week in a larger room with a washer/dryer. That's just not enough incentive for us I guess.....yet.....there's always hope!

We did stay in a one bedroom at Wilderness Lodge and really loved it.

 

[WolfpackFan]

I don't agree with you at all. Seems like this type of question comes up about every 2-3 weeks now.

 

[YourEveryDayAdam]

Agreed...it is a different vacation. Good point. But it's a lot of money for one week in a larger room with a washer/dryer. That's just not enough incentive for us I guess.....yet.....there's always hope!

We did stay in a one bedroom at Wilderness Lodge and really loved it.

See http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2137102

That's a spreadsheet I put together. It shows you the exact cost, including maintenance fees of DVC over time, and compares them to the cost of paying cash for the reservations.

Further down, I did some more comparisons to debunk some of the ways people try to talk themselves out of buying DVC, including "there will always be a coupon", "it's not worth it because i'm fine with the moderates", "the maintenance costs make it more expensive", "I can invest the money and use that to pay for my vacations", "I won't save money if I finance", etc.

The ultimate findings were: If you have DVC, you will save TONS of money if you normally stay in deluxes. You will save a good bit of money and stay in a deluxe resort if you normally stay in moderates. You will break even and stay in a deluxe resort if you normally stay in the values.

Bottom line: If you go to Disney every year, more than once a year, or every other year, and can see yourself doing that for a long time, then DVC makes sense for you...Almost no matter what way you slice it.

 

[ricesk]

What part don't you agree with?

 

[Mtnman44]

Staying in a 1BR or a 2BR for a long trip doesn't even compare to a hotel room. This is one of the things that even the spreadsheets have a hard time accounting for.

 

[logan115]

Agreed...it is a different vacation. Good point. But it's a lot of money for one week in a larger room with a washer/dryer. That's just not enough incentive for us I guess.....yet.....there's always hope!

We did stay in a one bedroom at Wilderness Lodge and really loved it.

Out of curiosity, and PLEASE don't take this the wrong way. I realize that DVC is a lot of money, but how much have you been spending on cash reservations ?

Let's say that hypothetically you spend $1500 per trip on lodging (don't really know how long your trips are or what you typically spend), that's $3K you've spent for the last two trips.

Not telling you to buy or not buy (although I just bought ), and one of the things that pushed me to the other side was that instead of paying for a room for a week I'm taking that same money and paying for a room for 50 years.

Good luck either way,

Chris

 

[edk35]

We have never felt short changed. Someone did a spread sheet on this........it might make you see things more clearly.

 

[bonybroad]

Hey, I'm out of points, and booked the 4/3 deal.
It was a deal for me, because I was banked and borrowed out, and still wanted to go for StarWarsWeekend.
We're upgrading our 4/3 tickets to DVC annual passes. We can then go in December and stay DVC with only airfare and food.
I got the best of both worlds this year, and the stars probably won't align like this again for another few hundred years!

 

[Anal Annie]

First let me say we love DVC and enjoy almost every year, but i do feel sometimes that I may have done better if we just booked a regular Disney vacation when we wanted to go. It seems that every time we go, Disney is offering some discount or freebie that DVCers can never take advantage of. Last year it was free dining plans, this year seems to be 3 nights free when booking 4 or more nights. I know that the orig. DVC members got a 10% discount on park tickets for 10 years or something like that but other then store purchases we have to pay the full ride for everything else. I know it is a good value that we got but we still have annual dues and when all is said and done a week at WDW is costing me a lot more then $1599 a week for a family of 4. Just want to know if anyone else feels the same.

Isn't that for a value resort with double beds, no kitchen and with regular tix (not hoppers) for only 6 nights? Last time I priced a deluxe resort with park hoppers for 7 n (what we consider a week) it was easily 2x that much.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Isn't that for a value resort with double beds, no kitchen and with regular tix (not hoppers) for only 6 nights? Last time I priced a deluxe resort with park hoppers for 7 n (what we consider a week) it was easily 2x that much.

You will need to buy the tickets whether you pay cash or if you go DVC. Unless you get a "deal" that includes ALL the tickets.

 

[WDWLVR]

I don't feel shortchanged at all. We bought DVC in early 2000 and have been very happy with it ever since.

We were 99% certain we were going to buy in when we made a short trip down in January 2000. Since it was a quick trip we booked at All Stars. Well after spending the night there and then seeing a one bedroom at Boardwalk we were sold. We will at times stay in a studio but the one bedrooms are why we bought DVC. Give me that full kitchen, washer & dryer, whirlpool tub, and the separate bedroom with a king size bed.

We love our DVC!

 

[jbrowna]

It seems that every time we go, Disney is offering some discount or freebie that DVCers can never take advantage of.

Why can't DVCers take advantage of them? Just call up Disney and book, and don't mention that you belong to DVC, and you'll get the same deal. Or go ahead and tell 'em you're DVC... what difference does it make? If you want the same deal you can get the same deal, by paying for it like anyone else. But when the deals go away, you'll still own DVC!

By the way, have you used the DVC exclusive 50% Monday lunch discount at Wolfgang Puck's?

 

[Nikisha421]

the only thing that DVC has done for me is allowed me to go to the one place in the worlds that I have always wanted to be (and couldnt be) more often because it was too expensive...

...i do belive that the dvcers on the dis are a little biased bc they will overwhemlmingly state that dvc is a positive...if they didnt then they wouldnt frequent a board like this...

...so probably not the best place to get a fair answer...

 

[Nikisha421]

i never even knew of this discount

 

[christa112]

Brand new DVC member and in my eyes I wasted money paying my for three WDW trips. I should have bought the DVC back in 2006 when I 1st heard of it I would have been an over for almost 4 yrs now.

Just booked a 2 Bedroom Villa, Savannah View which would have cost me close to $10,000 Two more DVC trips like that and my DVC is paid in full!!!!

Do I think they should offer a discount on park ticket and DDP's? YES!!! We are not planning on going every year so the Annual Pass is not worth it for us. Maybe if enough DVC guests put their two cents in they will listen someday.

 

[photobob]

I don't fell short changed. there are some attractive deals out there trying to keep business going in this difficult economic climate. When I look at what rack rates currently are and they will doing nothing but go up every year, I am particularly glad I bought in. Just wish I'd done it sooner.

 

[barlitz]

I don't think we feel short changed but I do think we are Disneyed out and may take a Cruise or trip to Aruba next vacation, since we bought into DVC we've gone at least twice a year and we may need to try something different.

 

[Anal Annie]

You will need to buy the tickets whether you pay cash or if you go DVC. Unless you get a "deal" that includes ALL the tickets.

My bad. I was just thinking about how much use we get out of our AP's in comparison to the tix chg. that's in that $1,600 amt. I just double checked the prices the other day before I ordered our AP vouchers....7 day hoppers are like $278 pp.