Don't want to be Debbie Downer, but I need a pep talk!

[CarolMN]

...(snip)......And thanks for the park tix options as well. I am trying to see if we can find a way to make the AP's work for us. So if we go in May this year and April of next year, that would work, correct?

Yes. You get two trips out of 1 ap.

.And as far as the points go, I don't think I have too many points, but I have been told that it makes more sense to get small contracts at several resorts and add on later. That is why I thought we made a mistake, although with the size of our family we will always need 2 rooms, and we are not big split stay people........

Unless you like moving during your trip or plan to use the add on every other year, I don't think this is good advice for you. IMO, having different home resorts makes sense only for a select group of members. Since you seem to prefer 7-9 night trips once a year in a 2 bedroom and don't like to do split stays, it makes more sense to have all your points at one resort - the one at which you most often prefer to stay.

Having your points all at one resort means you can book your trip all at once, you won't have to change rooms or resorts during your vacation and it is easier to manage your points. If you want to try other resorts, you can try to switch at 7 months and not do it if you can't get all your dates at one resort.

 

[arthur06]

I agree with the AP option. We bought our AP's last December and used them only 2 days that trip (we were on the Wonder most of the week). This year we have a 6 day trip (leaving in 7 days) and a 9 day trip. When my wife and I were talking, it seemed like the trip last year was "over" priced, but this years trips will be "under" priced. If you can make the AP work it really is a great deal.

Also, Dean and a few others have touched on the space issue. Won't it be wonderful for you and your husband to be able to sleep in the same bed on vacation. Having two rooms, I would suspect, that there is on adult in each with 2 kids in each. Be careful though, with all that space...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHrSX0gHX_8

 

[castleri]

I definitely agree with the don't bother with the DDP. We have had trips with and without it and since the price increase this year won't even think about it. We just did a one night stay and ate at Raglan Road, artist's palette at SSR and typhoon tilly's at tyhphoon lagoon and did not spend what it would have cost for the DDP for one night. We do have the TIW card which was good at Raglan Road. We all ate what we wanted and while we did not have dessert or all the non alcoholic drinks we might have with the DDP we all had enough to eat and did not feel stuffed like we did on the DDP. Somehow when you know you can get the desserts and drinks you feel like you Have to get them when in fact I wouldn't order them otherwise. I stopped in at the new restaurant next to T-Rex in DTD and was pleasantly surprised at the selections and prices. For a family there is an option of a whole chicken, 12 chicken strips or 8 pc fried chicken, two family sized sides and 8 tortillas for $20. I can see getting one of these meals either to eat there or take back to the villa if we have tired children along. There are definitely ways to eat more cheaply than the DDP. We are in the group that always eats breakfast in the room and occasionally supper. We also keep snacks around and have been known to get a whole key lime pie at Publix or Walmart. Our APs are working out also by careful planning of trips so that we get at least two out of them each year.
In another year or so you will probably be among those of us who say the only thing about DVC they regret is not buying sooner.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

You can't use free dining and that's bad?

Gee, you have been denied the chance to overpay for a subpar hotel room so you can eat free. What a sad situation!

Yes, I am being kind of sarcastic, but honestly it is not FREE!!!!!!!!! It's just a discount called "FREE" so everyone thinks what a deal. The hotel rooms Disney provides are priced a good 30% over thier value (outside corridors, no free wi-fi, so so bedding, limited amenenties etc... they don't measure up to hotel standards! ANd the deluxes fail even more then the values when compared to the quality for price ratio. )

When you think about it and realize it's not free then I think you will be happier.

Disney gives very little for "free"... but they know if they call it free folks will fall all over themsevles to throw cash at them

 

[kstinw19]

Given your family setup you clearly don't have too many points for a week yearly. Some may think you don't have enough but I suspect it'll work out just about right over time because some years you may need a 2 BR and others a 1 BR. There is something to be said for the emotional feeling you get as long as you don't let it override common sense decisions. There are few places on earth where I feel as at home, comfortable or at peace as at Disney.

More points JK...we might need that down the road, but I suspect that not all of us may be going at all times.

 

[eliza61]

Now if I add up the monthly payment, plus DDP and park hoppers for the family, we come out to almost $13K!!

I realize that when DVC is paid off our cost will decrease significantly, but it is tough to swallow that kind of cost, especially during this economic time. I don't even want to tell my husband that I haven't bought the park tix and dining plan yet. He will freak!

So I guess my question is, is it worth it? Do you have to "suck it up" for the first few vacations in order to reap the benefits? I guess with all of the promotions going on, it is hard to swallow and I feel very restricted. It seems as if it's not a benefit at this time.

Any reassurances would be appreciated.

1) Hopefully you didn't buy for the perks. Perks come and go. I've been going to wdw since ~ 1980 and in that span of time I have seen at least 3 different types of dining plans. I've seen a boat load of discounts, some where attractive, nothing has yet to beat the discount I've gotten from being a dvc member.

2) as others have said, Disney is not in the business of giving any thing "Free"
The cheapest rate at BLT that I found on alllears was a studio during value at $390 bucks a night (before tax). and you want to pay this in order to be able to get mediocre food?

3) over time, I'm betting that your traveling style will change. right now while your kids are relatively small eating onsite at TS seems like a good deal (it was when my kids were little) but let me tell you, our travel styles have changed dramatically.

 

[WolfpackFan]

As far as AP's go, we always plan our trips so that we get two trips (a week each) out of one AP and then buy new AP's every third year. Also to save money we don't do many full service meals. I've really got hooked on going during F&W and we eat a lot of meals at the food kiosks (I know they can mount up, but we're not big eaters). Plus I think we have eaten at just about every CS restaurant at WDW .

 

[pnyltwk]

We always buy our park tickets months in advance. And we eat breakfast and most dinners in our villa. It is not unusual for our week long trips including souvenirs and food to cost less that $500.00 out of pocket. And of course the accomodations are always great and paid for in advance. We bought in 04 and paid off our purchase price in less than two years. I too had a hard time swallowing the initial price, We have added on twice since and the only regret is that we did not join sooner.

 

[Who's your Mickey?]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I knew you would all make me feel better

Thank you for your keen insight. While I did realize that I was not doing the math properly and have to factor it out over the life of the contract, I was just strictly going by the actual monies paid out this year. I realize that the cost would be lower if I did the math particulars.

And thanks for the dining options. I was looking for others who think that the DDP is not a great choice as well. I think I will definintely look into TiW...I wasn't aware of all of the benefits!

And thanks for the park tix options as well. I am trying to see if we can find a way to make the AP's work for us. So if we go in May this year and April of next year, that would work, correct? That would be a nice savings for next year. And if I can figure out a way to make Thanksgiving work, I would definitely get use out of it.

And as far as the points go, I don't think I have too many points, but I have been told that it makes more sense to get small contracts at several resorts and add on later. That is why I thought we made a mistake, although with the size of our family we will always need 2 rooms, and we are not big split stay people.

Thanks again...I am definitely not planning on selling it. We just love it there and I don't see that changing in the future.

My DW figured it out after we bought our 1st DVC AP. A DVC AP pays for itself in 8 days... Anything beyond that over the course of a year is gravy...

Also, I realize how expensive a DVC membership can seem up front... But you have to stop doing that... It'll depress the best of us... Start thinking long-term because DVC is a horrible short-term investment... You've got to hang in and go the distance... Take your total payments due and divide it by the use term of your membership instead of the loan term. Trust me, you'll feel much better this way...

 

[sweetdana]

I am looking to maybe go in Oct for 4-5 nights. I just priced out a studio at SSR it was 2,900$.. Currently no discounts, though there will be discounts, there are not ALWAYS discounts.. I trip over Christmas, or Easter I bet you feel diff. Stupid me cancelled a Ressie at the BC cause air was outrageous on price.. DOHHH now I am regretting.. but I bet I made someones day with a WL.

It does stink and feels like a knife in your heart, to think they want someone else's business more than yours. But yours in garenteed now, so why bother with anything free... BUT I bet things will slowly change. Disney knows it needs customers to be happy to buy more points, and take more trips and eat more on site food. I bet over time more "free/ discounted" stuff will come more to those DVCers too. I know a # of DVC owners who do not go to the parks any more, or much less. Many who eat in rooms, or down the street instead of 59$ for Capt Grill, and many who are happy staying on site and going to WOHP. They will see a trend and fix it.

 

[DizBub]

It's all about "Quality of Life". DVC has totally changed the way we vacation. We couldn't possibly put a pricetag on that. We LIKE the DDP, feel it's worth it, another quality of life point for us. Next are APs. Maybe down the road we can make adjustments but just having the options are invaluable.

 

[Kidanifan08]

The value of DDP is debatable. It probably is a win if you eat the most expensive entree and most expensive dessert on the TS menu and the most expensive entree on the QS menus; but sometimes you don't really want that most expensive item. It is definitely not worth it for your 10 yo, unless she is able to eat circles around you. The idea of segmenting the trip would work, if you do want the DDP for a few days.

Outside of breakfast, we do not use the kitchen much for eating in; not having to eat in is one of the reasons we go on vacation. But for many, it works. There are grocery delivery services available which will save you $$ over buying food at the resort.

I don't know if it was mentioned, but TIW is only an option if you get the AP. TIW is only available to Florida residents and AP holders.

Having a W/D in the room helps to cut some cost on air travel, given the checked luggage fees with most carriers. This is a small savings, but may cover the cost of one meal.

AP is a great deal if you can plan your trips less than 12 months apart, but this has already been beat into the ground.

Finally, I will say this. We bought DVC in Oct 2008 and financed, but we plan to pay it off this month. We just added on 50 points, since we did not buy enough. Over the past almost 3 years, we have been fortunate to take 7 trips to WDW -- 3 with DVC points and 4 staying at the other resorts (POR, ASMu, CBR, CSR). In 2009, we stayed at SSR in January (developer points from buying DVC), Kidani in June and All-Star Music in October. Although my 3 yo loved ASMu, it was not nearly as nice of a trip staying at a value resort --- we did it for the free food and to save $$ since we had just purchased DVC a year earlier. At this point, I don't think I could ever stay at a value resort again (although I am tempted to do a trip to stay at the Art of Imagination when it opens). Once you have the kind of space that you will enjoy with a DVC 1 or 2BR villa, it is hard to go back. Maybe you should try this little "experiment" of staying at a value resort (or a moderate for that matter) to help you feel better about your purchase!!

 

[WolfpackFan]

We have added on twice since and the only regret is that we did not join sooner.

+1

I wish we had bought when OKW was the only DVC resort.

 

[taaren]

And as far as the points go, I don't think I have too many points, but I have been told that it makes more sense to get small contracts at several resorts and add on later. That is why I thought we made a mistake, although with the size of our family we will always need 2 rooms, and we are not big split stay people.

This is a little off-topic but I do think I made a similar 'mistake' when we bought since I didn't know about these boards until after. We bought 200 though we wanted 260, then added on later another 75, but didn't split the original up into 2 contracts (though we only wanted 1 resort). I don't plan on selling because I love using my points too much, but it would be nice to know that if I did a smaller contract could command a higher price - my fault for not investigating resale any more than "Its a new resort, basic google search says nobody is selling any contracts since its not even constructed yet." It is a pity that DVC Guides who sell retail don't mention this option to people and I wish mine would have explained the UY a little better - they told us we could only get June which is okay for our fall trips, but in retrospect Oct would have been a much better choice (also something we corrected when we added-on resale & were better educated).
Just wanted to let you know that there are a bunch of us in the same boat who, while we didn't get 'horn-swaggled' did have some mildly important details not explained to us by our salespeople. Either that or I was just too focused on all the other issues when we buying - mostly the $$ and how many points we needed vs could afford. I wish the DVC guides had a checklist of "Ask people who are buying these questions about various so that they can be sure to be happy with their purchase."

I think once you stay there and get a feel for how different it is to have a 2 bedroom and get used to using the strategies PP mentioned all your worries about getting the best value out of DVC vs code offers will melt away. If they don't you can always use one of the offers and pay for it by renting out your points.

 

[supersuperwendy]

I haven't read any of the other posts OP..but here's my 2 cents!

We also are a family of 6. In fact we were a family of 5 when we bought in 2008. We had stayed at POR and deluxe resorts in the past but I always felt like we needed more space and more than one bathroom. I had thought about DVC since our honeymoon in 1997, but didn't get serious about it until a few years ago. Well since I'm a WDW travel agent I've seen how the cost of WDW vacations go up. Yes..if you take advantage of the constant "deals" they are selling it seems like you are getting a great deal. But I strongly felt that over time, the cost of accommodations at WDW was going to get higher and higher, plus I really wanted another child. If we became a family of 6 I didn't want to always have to book 2 rooms or stay in a cabin or get a family suite, or pay Disney crazy rates for DVC villas so we decided to join DVC. It was probably one of the best things we've ever done. We've had the great joy of being able to bring along friends and family and still have room to spare. We had our 4th baby at the end of 2009 and I love knowing we have LOTS of space when we go to WDW. We love the 2 bedroom villas. I couldn't imagine going back to staying in regular hotel rooms. I love having a washer/dryer and a kitchen. We eat most of our breakfasts in our villa and we enjoy that. The villas that sleep 9 are fantastic. We are planning a trip for next year for our whole family.. the 6 of us, plus my parents and our kids' friend! It's going to be great and it wouldn't be possible without our DVC membership. I guess the value of DVC is in the eye or wallet of the beholder...but for us...it's magic!

 

[DebbieB]

My mom thought I was nuts when I bought DVC. The first time I took her to OKW in a 1 bedroom, when we walked in her jaw dropped. She walked around looking at everything. That look on her face was worth the $! When we got home, I heard her on the phone telling everyone about our "apartment". That luxury is totally worth it, without spending $500+ a night.

A BLT 2 bedroom for May, lake view, is $900 per night plus tax. You would have to pay that to get "free" dining.

 

[TreesyB]

There are also additional discounts when you get the AP that even DVC members don't get. When I had AP, I would save all my souvenir purchases at World of Disney at DTD where there was 10% off. Also, all of my party would do the same. And there are other restaurants that have discounts, and not necessarily the same as DVC. So even without TIW card there are discounts to be had just for being DVC or AP.

I love the way I travel now. No more commando Disney travel. And there is never a hurry to get to a park, because there is no pressure. We'll be there again next year.

 

[photobob]

We too make use of the AP's and buy them with plan to get two years worth of trips with them. The first time we bought them we got three trips and this go around we'll get two. The two times I bought AP's combined we have gotten 25 park days out of them.

We drive so we take a lot of food and drinks with us. Our usual MO is to have a snack bfast in the room, a TS lunch and a light dinner in the room or maybe a cs dinner. The amount we usually spend on food is no where near how much DDP costs.

We too enjoy the home away from home feel of staying in a villa. Our kids are no longer kids (24 and 18) and we tend to spend more time at the resort than we used to. DVC villas particularly the one and two bedrooms allow for much more comfortable lounging, not to mention the nookie factor having your own bedroom!

 

[kstinw19]

Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone! You have made such excellent points and now I feel like I did the best thing and the best thing is that when my dh does 'freak' I have many counterpoints to calm him down.

I cannot wait for our first BLT stay and many more for years to come.

And thanks for all of the opinions on the DDP. With the exception of 2 character bkfsts (we still have a 3 and 5 yo), we will be doing bkfst in the room, which should save on the food costs.

And I am def going to do the AP's. I know that we are planning to go back next April so we will at least get two trips out of it, and maybe a Thanksgiving trip as well.

You guys rock!!

 

[Tiger926]

Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone! You have made such excellent points and now I feel like I did the best thing and the best thing is that when my dh does 'freak' I have many counterpoints to calm him down.

I cannot wait for our first BLT stay and many more for years to come.

And thanks for all of the opinions on the DDP. With the exception of 2 character bkfsts (we still have a 3 and 5 yo), we will be doing bkfst in the room, which should save on the food costs.

And I am def going to do the AP's. I know that we are planning to go back next April so we will at least get two trips out of it, and maybe a Thanksgiving trip as well.

You guys rock!!

Yeah!!!!

Tiger