DVC as investment

[soozer52]

We bought into DVC at a time when the price per point was extremely good. The 11 years we have been vacationing on points....we have more than gotten our original cost back two or even three fold.

Did I buy it as a financial investment? Nope, bought it to invest in vacations and family time and lock in the 'price' of rooms for a long time to come. Could I sell it now and be money ahead...definitely but have no plans to do so.

Now I am looking at my points as my investment for my retirement years. We now have enough points that we can go away somewhere in our retirement years for a week a month. Not a bad way to spend my senior years with the hubby....can't wait!!!!!

That about says it for us. We bought SSR five years ago and so far we have used it for quick getaways, a wedding and a honeymoon and much more. I had simply bought in because it would force my DH to take a vacation once a year. Who knew then we would get so much pleasure from a "timeshare"

We even give away points every year for our church auction (and no, some quirk of law says we can't deduct it) and boy, every year people bid! We have four grown daughters and all love to use their point allotment every year. And now that my DH is retired we can run away to Florida for a few days whenever we want

As far as being a Disney nut, we never really were. So much to do (and eat)in Orlando. We now have very small g-children and look forward to taking them to WDW. I remember thinking years ago--Animal Kingdom, what a dumb idea. Now its the only park we go to and we bought points at AKV.

Lots of surprises when you buy a Disney "timeshare".

 

[mouse]

We purchased DVC at BCV for $75 a point when it was first offered. We paid cash. Many vacations later, we figure we have long since passed the point where we have broken even. We never looked at it as an investment, however, if at some point in the future we feel that we want to, or need to, sell, we would consider that income profit, even if we had to sell below $75 a point.

 

[dmccarty]

After our April 2009 trip we had spent 32 days or so at WDW via DVC. We figured that after the April trip we paid for DVC compared with buying rooms for cash. We will take two trips this year after which we will only do one trip a year. We will stay seven nights so it works out to a bit over $100 a night which for a hotel is pretty danged cheap. Our first trip to WDW with DVC we spend around $80 for a room in a hotel on the drive to Disney.

We took a 3 night trip to the beach a few years ago and it cost us $1000. Nothing special about the trip and I was bored out of my mind. If we dont eat out at California Grill too many times and put kids in Simba's club house I figure we can take a week long vacation for under $2,000. And we all have fun.

If we sold or DVC membership for half of what we paid for it we would be ahead of the game. Of course if we had invested the money in the stock market it would worth 50-75 cents on the dollar. We won't sell DVC unless we become unemployed or have some other financial disaster. By the time our membership runs out the kids will have inherited our DVC points.

DVC has certainly saved us money. Penny saved is a penny earned.

Later,
Dan

 

[Golden Rose]

DVC can make sense even as a financial investment if you are the type of person who can continue to vacation with the same frequency you did before you bought in, rather than letting it suck you into spending more and more time at Disney.

We realized that in the last few years, we were going to WDW about every 9 months and always staying in Deluxes. We almost always got either two rooms or a suite, as DM liked to to travel with us. That's right, we were spending _at least_ $600 a night, for trips of about 6 nights, about 1.5 times a year. That adds up very, very fast. Now, we have sacrificed Concierge level by buying DVC, but we treat our villa like Concierge level and keep it stocked with snacks and beverages, so it works out ok.

We took an extra trip to WDW this year because of our DVC, but this will probably be an exception for us. (We had double points this year because of developer points and banked points.) Most years, I think we'll do two trips now. So, we are upping our trips to WDW a little because of DVC, but really, we're going with only slightly greater frequency than we were before. If you can commit to doing that and only that, DVC can be a great value.

As far as being Disney nuts... well, I was always one growing up, but no one else in my family really is. However, everyone has found something they enjoy at WDW, so it has been a great vacation spot for us. (My DM and DSF called our January trip their Central Florida Golf Vacation, and never once set foot in the parks. )

DVC is a great deal for a certain type of vacationer. We fit that profile, and it sounds like you may, too.

 

[doctoralchick1]

I don't look at buying into DVC as an investment.

For the first time this year, we stayed at the Polynesian for a week because we wanted to stay on the monorail. Having experienced off Disney property (miserable but cheap hotels) and other hotel resorts on the Disney property (still miserable when waiting for the bus), we realized that we ONLY want to stay at a hotel on the monorail that has access to MK and Epcot.

We calculated how much our hotel cost and decided, if we're going to spend this much on hotel everytime we come to WDW, then I want to get my money's worth. For the cost of DVC, I will "break even" after the 7th year of paying for hotel accomodations on the monorail. In the 8th year, I will only have to pay the annual dues for the hotel and to me, that is where the cost savings are.

So it's not an investment...it's about paying for something that we will already have paid for anyways. Our son is 5 now (just bought in June 2009) and he will be 12 when we break even. If he still loves Disney, it will be a bargain to come here in the 8th year of using DVC. If he is no longer interested in Disney and prefers Universal Studios--at least we have an affordable place to stay in the Orlando area.

And no, we are NOT Disney fanatics. We just know that Disney vacations are child friendly which is why we choose to do Disney for our family vacations.

We just bought DVC this year because we saw that BLT was on the monorail--and that was a HUGE reason why we bought. We have been CONSIDERING buying into DVC since 2005, so 4 years.

I couldn't justify it in the past because I could not see a good reason to buy a timeshare if you still have to take that bus that takes FOREVER to come. And one time, we got stuck in the middle of the lagoon taking the boat ride back to the Swan & Dolphin (which are on Disney property but not owned by Disney) because it started to rain heavily and winds were too strong for the boat to actually come to our dock. So we waited for almost an hour on the boat--NOT fun. And they dropped us of at another dock (probably one of the DVC timeshares like BWV).

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

We have 100 points.

We are a couple that don't mind staying in studios and love to travel in January.

At first the 100 points were more than enough! We were visiting Disney more so we were spending more money as well. We also became more extravagent with our food and merchandise purchases.

(We esentially started having the Disney trips we'd always dreamed about!)

Now, we've settled in. We know that we will be back soon. It is so relaxing, and we want to come back OFTEN.

So now...we need more points.

 

[ricthemic]

we believe it only works financially if you pay cash for it.

BWV and SSR

 

[mousygirl]

I agree with only paying cash. I would not finance a vacation, even if we really wanted to go. We will break even after 2.5 trips and I think we will get a lot out of it while our kids are young

 

[mickey1717]

When we first bought points (1993?)there were about 20 buldings in Old Key West and I beleive we paid $47 per point. That purchase also gave us free park passes for half max occupancy of the room until 2000. Looking at the current resale market I'd say I've gotten my money's worth. I'm not so sure about purchasing today when looking at current prices and current resale prices. When you add in the annual dues it's getting very pricey.

 

[Goofy DVC]

We did not buy in as a "financial" investment but more as a family investment.
However here is our "financial story".
We buy at $56 per point OKW 1993.
At the time I'm thinking of not buying and taking the $$$ and purchasing stock in a little company called Lucent instead.
Note, I do purchase stocks as an investment and like Buffet I buy and hold forever.
We decide to buy DVC and of course after that the stock market goes on a Monster run. I believe at one point Lucent trades at or over $100 per share.
I am somewhat sick. To be honest it was killing me for a while. Back then 100 certified financial advisors would have called me a fool for my decision.
Fast forward, 2009 my OKW membership would sell on the resale market for more than I paid. Let's say $67 per point. Lucent is bought by Alcatel for mayde $ 3 a share. I would have lost about 90% of my investment give or take. I know I would have never sold because other investments from back then I still own.Would those financial advisors please step forward and be counted today. I know others would be more consevative with their investments but that's my story.Thank God we bought DVC. Best INVESTMENT I ever made!!!!