DVC - Is it worth it?

[westjones]

We bought into BCV a few years ago and we are happy with our 150 points. A part of me wanted to buy more, thank goodness DH held me back. The 150 is really all we need. We want to go other places on vacations and don't want to think we have to go to Disney every year (although since buying we have gone every year).

The problem I see is that the cost per point has gone up a lot since I bought. I don't think I would feel the same about buying at the current prices as I did when we bought. On the other hand, I didn't know about resells and if I were to buy now I would look at resales since they are less expensive than Disney prices.

As for saving money, I think we will over time, but we use studios and have breakfast and night time snacks in our rooms every day. Also, we only financed for 1 year, so we didn't pay a lot of interest. I wouldn't buy if I had to pay it off over several years.

I don't think DVC is for everyone. I also think 150 points is quite enough for families of 4 or less. The 1-2 bedrooms are great (we have tried them), but you can get two trips in a studios for what you would get with the larger units. Also, we don't stay on weekends (usually) because the points more than double! So for us a Sun-Thurs (leaving Fri) trip is what we call a week at WDW. It is enough for us.

Good Luck in your decision.
DJ

 

[DisneyMim]

We are one of the original members. For us it was, and continues to be, one of the best things we ever did. We LOVE to travel. Being members though does not really save us money. What it does do is allow us to have an annual 2 week vacation at WDW, one of our fav vacation spots in the world. We are very lucky to be able to also stay at other Disney resorts during the year (we love concierge when we want some spoiling!! LOL!!) and to be able to do other (gasp!) non-Disney vacations during the year. If we could only vacation at Disney every year and only use our DVC membership, I think we would probably reconsider. What I am trying to say is that yes I know that most DVC members say that everyone should buy into it, but I don't tell people that. It is a very personal decision and one that should not be influenced by anyone, including me. You have to take a long hard realistic look at what you want to do for your vacations every year. Yes you can use DVC for other vacations. I am not sure how well that works because we have never used ours for anything besides DVC resorts. I know that using it for non-DVC Disney resorts is not the best use. We always pay cash for those trips. We really really love our DVC membership and all things Disney, BUT we also like to see other places. For example my daughter just came back from London and we have a RCL cruise planned for this summer. DVC is best for those who want to stay at home-away-from home resorts. If you are going to miss the Poly or GF DVC may not be for you. Also as others have said if you like staying at the values (which by the way we LOVE too!) it may not be worth it. I think you are on the right track trying to get as much info as you can. Take your time and look into everything and really think about how DVC would work for your family. Also I want to add that even if you buy and then realize it does not work for your family, not to worry. This happened to friends or ours, they sold and they bought again a few years later. Sometimes it just isn't (or is) the right time in your life. Whatever you do, best of luck.

 

[spiceycat]

It works for me.

I stay in Studio and I cook most of my meals - but then I am on a budget. I am also cheap.

As you can see most DVC members are not.

Now sometimes I will go with a 1 or 2 bedroom but generally because I am bringing friend or family.

when it is just me and another person (or my solo) it is a studio.

I paid if off and broke even long, long ago - so now I just have to pay for the maintence fees. OKW has the least maintence fees - so for around $120 I can stay in a studio at OKW for 5 nights in Sept, Oct, Nov (most of) or Dec (most of). However I brought in 93 when they were still giving the free tickets - so as I say I broke even long ago. I don't count the property tax because that is a write off on my taxes.

as I first say if you stay in a 2-bedroom and eat out - you aren't going to save money - well maybe in 15 years.

However you can compare DVC to the other timeshare I brought a few years later - it will NEVER Paid off - they allowed renters to stay a week at less than what I paid for the maintence fees. DVC does not do this.

you can generally get most offsite timeshares for less than their maintence fees - Skyauction (RCI) or condodirect (II). DVC you can't.

when I did my inital figures I included a 6% increase every year in the maintence fee. Once I am retired I am thinking about buying an annuity to pay that until 2042.

 

[4greatboys]

I believe what they are trying to say is because they have DVC and APs you end up spending more because you go to Disney more! It's that darn combination!

When you already "have a room" and admission its pretty much impossible to pass up a trip. We have 215 pts and broke even on our investment after just a few trips. In a sense it does save you money in that last June when we stayed 5 nights in a 2 bdrm at BWV in June instead of having to pay the $3500 it would have been rack rate we paid roughly $750 in maintanence fee. To me that is a money saver.

 

[DrTomorrow]

OK - I'm lost.

"I am so NOT saving any money with my DVC!!! "
" So, we actually spend more money."

This would lead me to believe it's NOT saving you money.

Then:

"For us...DVC has been priceless. We can do a ladies only trip, just dd and myself, for a nice long time...10 days and stay in a studio. Or go as a family with dh and stay in a one-bedroom for 8 nights. Yep, priceless for us!!"

So does it work or not work for you?

There's a BIG difference between "saving money" and "believing that the money is well spent". There are a great number of ways to do a WDW trip that are cheaper than DVC ownership (at least now - let's revisit this in 2033 ). However, I think it's safe to say that most DVC owners feel that they are getting good value for the money: better accomodations, more trips, being able to take along family & friends, less worry about the cost of the room, no stress about AP discounts, etc.

It works for DW and me, I can tell you that!

 

[tjkraz]

OK - I'm lost.

"I am so NOT saving any money with my DVC!!! "
" So, we actually spend more money."

This would lead me to believe it's NOT saving you money.

Then:

"For us...DVC has been priceless. We can do a ladies only trip, just dd and myself, for a nice long time...10 days and stay in a studio. Or go as a family with dh and stay in a one-bedroom for 8 nights. Yep, priceless for us!!"

So does it work or not work for you?

Just because someone isn't saving any money with DVC doesn't necessarily make it a negative.

Our family of four could never spend a week in an All-Star room. DW and I spent 7 nights at a moderate for our honeymoon and that was a drag. No balcony. No place to store food. We had to trek down to the food court just for a snack. The theme parks were great, but we didn't want to spend every moment there. And much (not all ) of the time spent in our room was very, very boring.

There is no question we are giving Disney more of our money than ever before thanks to DVC. But, I'm a "quality over quantity" kind of guy. So if that means I spend 5 nights in a One Bedroom for the cost of 7 nights at a moderate, so be it.

DVC enables us to get a $500 room for a fraction of that cost. If folks are satisfied with $50 per night for a value resort, so be it. It's just not my cup 'o tea. I'll take my washer and dryer in the room. I'll take my whirlpool tub. I'll take being able to lay the kiddies down in the bedroom for a nap while we go on with our lives in the living room.

 

[wtpclc]

This is another reason it wouldn't work for me - I cook nothing. Even if I had an oven - I still wouldn't cook.

Another reason I don't see it working for me - I won't go to Disney for just 4 or 5 nights. Whenever I go, I want at least 7, if not more, nights. And staying on the weekend blows the whole thing out of whack point wise.

The way dh and I figured it, we stay for a week. Our points are valued at $5.60 each (a very simple calc, would vary with interest). We looked at a week at BWV during adventure season (this is when we travel). 85 points. $476 for a week at BW. That is less than we paid at the mods and we could stay at a delux. It still saved us money. I don't cook much at home, can't imagine I'll do more than grab cereal and a banana and snacks in the room, but that's still a savings.

When people say it costs more, it's because they take more trips than anticipated. They consider it worth the extra money. I would imagine, they still save on a per trip basis, unless they've gotten addicted to 1 or 2 BRs.

Is it for everyone? No.

Can it save money, even with some weekends? Yes.

 

[crisi]

And then we still save - addicted to one or two bedrooms - as the day had arrived where we were addicted to connecting rooms at Deluxe resorts.

For us, Disney gets more of our money because we take more trips. But for each of those trips, accomodations are a smaller amount of our budget.

 

[jarestel]

Every trip to WDW for us requires 2-6 roundtrip airfares, rental car, and a suitcase full of money to dine at Disney restaurants since we don't spend much face time with the stove in the DVC units. Not to mention annual dues that tend to increase way more often than not. Throw in a handful of APs to accomodate these visits and... well you can see what I'm saying. Since we know we have a place waiting for us at WDW anytime we feel like going, we give in to temptation and make 3-4 trips a year. So you can see, we've probably already spent more money in our 5 years as members than we'll ever save by owning DVC.

Having said that, we never bought intending to save money. We purchased so we could have fun and enjoy time with our children and grandchildren. And that is so worth it! Can one save money by owning DVC? I'm sure it can be done, and others have come up with elaborate formulas and methods for figuring this out. As for me, any financial cost is miniscule compared to the family memories we have all been enriched by since becoming members.

 

[Snow Shoe]

If you go to Disney only every 3 or more years apart, then DVC is not for you or your money. Our family goes once every year at least if not twice. We stay at BWV or VB in a 2 bedroom villa and love it. We like the full kitchen, washer/dryer, Jacuzzi tube in the master bath, the extra space you get vs. a room at a moderate or deluxe on property. This year we took advantage of the DVC discount on AP's $100/ticket and PAP's $125/ticket. We eat 95% of our meals in the parks, but we all like having the full kitchen for drinks, snacks, or when we get in the mood to cook a breakfast meal. The W/D'ers are great for the occasional washing needs that we have.

Using points to stay at other resorts no matter what time of the year is not good use of them. You can't stay at value resorts using points. However, one year ago, on March 27, 2004, we gave our son a weeks stay at the GF for his honeytmoon. There's not enough fingers and toes to count on the number of times he's been to WDW, but his bride had never been. Upon getting to the GF, they had changed their room assignment from a std. view, to one of the honeymoon suites. When they called home after a few days, Wendi new DIL, was on clowd 9. Using all of our VB points that year, was well worth it.

When we bought back in 98' BWV and 01' VB, it was for the sole purpose of hedging the continuing room rate increases from purchase date to 2042. Room rates have gone up, but my cost on points for either BWV or VB hasn't changed but 1-3 points per day stay. Each DVC resort has just so many points total to use. They can't increase the number of points needed, only rearrange the numbers of points. Like many DVC'ers, we only wish we had bought in to it back in 92 when it first opened!

 

[kaseyC]

I agree with spiceycat. I think in the long run we will save money-but that's not the only reason we bought. With 3 kids, a two bedroom makes it a vacation. I'm not a big fan of cramming into a room. This way you get privacy and can put the kids to bed! We also eat breakfast in which can save fifty dollars easily a day! We love our DVC!

MTE!!! We have 3 DDs and a 2 Bdrm Villa makes our vacation. No more hiding out on the balcony waiting for the girls to fall asleep. We love having the space to spread out and enjoy our time together.

Hey Psychodisney! We're practically neighbors! I work out at the Health and Fitness Center in Lindenhurst.

 

[JimMIA]

DW and I spent 7 nights at a moderate for our honeymoon and that was a drag. No balcony. No place to store food. We had to trek down to the food court just for a snack.

TJ! You went OUT for FOOD??? Geeez, why don't I ever think of stuff like that????

 

[goofy4tink]

Okay, I'm the dope that originally said 'I'm not saving money but the DVC experience is priceless.' (paraphrasing here). The way I figure it is...we used to vacation on Cape Cod for about $1200 a week for a 'cottage'. Then we bought food but still managed to justify eating out once a day. So, in the end we spent close to $2000 and my dh still got bored and left mid-week. Now, I figure I spend about $3100 a year for 10 yrs (my total cost broken down over 10 yrs. plus my monthly maint.) I used to spend about $1500 for our room at WDW (was thrilled to spend less) for stays of about 7 nights. We went once every 15 months or so. So, now, with the points that I have, I travel to WDW twice a year and stay a total of 15 nights. When that 10 yr. period is up, I will be paying my $900 (or so) for maint a year and still having those nice long stays. If I break down my nightly cost now, it comes to about $207 a night, based on that $3100 amount.
But, while I am paying an addtl $1100 a year for vacation...I think my vacation experience is much better. Not saving me money at this point, but come talk to me in 10 yrs. when I'm finished paying for it. I figure that after I have 14 trips to WDW under my belt, it will have paid for itself. (based on what I used to spend per trip for a room-1500) Of course if I base my figures on what I would have spent for the same room that I will be using over the next 9 years..it will only take 8 trips to break even. And I've been down 3 times now, so not too many to go.

Well, now that I've made that clear as mud......it seems that others who have had the same experience I have had, have explained what I meant much better than I can. So...thank-you!

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I love my DVC and wouldn't get rid of it for anything. As far as number of dollars saved, you will get many opinions on that.

For me, it's about much more than money...

MG

 

[DrTomorrow]

This is another reason it wouldn't work for me - I cook nothing. Even if I had an oven - I still wouldn't cook. [...]

We don't cook, either - at least not "Hey, honey, how about whipping up a pot roast with carrots, mashed potatoes, honey & bisquits and Baked Alaska for desert" (If I asked that, I think that dear old DrTomorrow would need a doctor ). But we do have virtually all of our breakfasts in our room: fruit, pastries, some oven-cook rolls/croisants/buns/etc. We also usually pick up a frozen pizza for those nights when pizza sounds good but we don't want to wait (or pay for) delivered pizza.

 

[MiaSRN62]

However you can compare DVC to the other timeshare I brought a few years later - it will NEVER Paid off - they allowed renters to stay a week at less than what I paid for the maintence fees. DVC does not do this.

I so hear ya on this spicecat ! Even though my offsite timeshare has been paid off for a few years now, I'm hearing of people getting weeks on skyauction for less than my yearly maintenance fees. I feel like I have a SO much better deal with DVC. I feel like it's "worth" more.....and not necessarily talking monetary. I actually feel like they respect Members not to sell out to the general public for pennies. They recognize our loyalty and committment, whereas with my offsite timeshare I feel like a number. I am not entirely dissatisfied with my Vistana timeshare. The resort is beautiful and the villa is clean, spacious and nicely decorated, but that's where it ends. I don't feel any "magic" there......barely appreciation for being an owner, but it suits our needs, as we visit FL not just for WDW, but we also have several relatives within a 90 min driving distance of the resort.

tjkraz says : Our family of four could never spend a week in an All-Star room. DW and I spent 7 nights at a moderate for our honeymoon and that was a drag. No balcony. No place to store food. We had to trek down to the food court just for a snack. The theme parks were great, but we didn't want to spend every moment there.

AND

DVC enables us to get a $500 room for a fraction of that cost. If folks are satisfied with $50 per night for a value resort, so be it. It's just not my cup 'o tea.

I agree completely with what he tjkraz stated. It's all about the quality of vacation and cramming into an All Star room just wouldn't make for as pleasent a vacation for us. Also, the prices of hotel rooms will go up over the years, yet our points remain fixed. Sure our maintenance dues can go up, but I still think we'll always be getting a great price for deluxe villas.

We don't usually really "cook" in our villas either, but it is nice to know we can. We do use the full-size refrigerator to capacity. We stock it with drinks, pudding, yogurt, cheese (for snacks with crackers),ice cream etc. We do occassionally make microwave stuff or maybe a pot of pasta. Mostly we use the kitchen for breakfasts in our room---then we can get an early start on the parks. At this point, we're so spoiled by having the washer and dryer and whirlpool tub I don't think we could ever go back and vacation the way we used to.

 

[wtpclc]

I think the main thing holding me back from DVC is the fact that I simply don't have an additional $11,000 for vacation purposes right now. Of course we could always finance, but I feel as though in my current financial state, it would be a very irresponsible choice on my part. My fiance has a 4 year old son that I'm trying to help raise, and she has a lawyer, household bills, etc.

I try to take them on vacation twice a year, but that's with saving week to week and as I can. I just feel as though I would be making a mistake RIGHT NOW obligating myself to pay for something such as DVC. Hopefully, in time, that will all change.

And that is the best logic yet. Savings or not. If you can't be comfortable with a decision to go for DVC, then the stress is not worth it! Getting in over your head to buy a piece of the magic, would tarnish that magical feeling. I applaud your sense of fiscal responsibility and hope that, in the future, we'll be able to tell you Welcome Home!

 

[lllovell]

I think the main thing holding me back from DVC is the fact that I simply don't have an additional $11,000 for vacation purposes right now. Of course we could always finance, but I feel as though in my current financial state, it would be a very irresponsible choice on my part. My fiance has a 4 year old son that I'm trying to help raise, and she has a lawyer, household bills, etc.

I try to take them on vacation twice a year, but that's with saving week to week and as I can. I just feel as though I would be making a mistake RIGHT NOW obligating myself to pay for something such as DVC. Hopefully, in time, that will all change.

Absolutely NOTHING wrong with this logic. Just make sure that you are not shorting yourself time as an owner at DVC for what you are already spending for those vacations. i.e. - figure out your financed payments each year and make sure your couple of vacations aren't about the same price (with a bit extra tossed onto the DVC mortgage to pay for parks, etc). You have to eat out when you are staying at the value resorts. We look forward to having coffee in the room that we don't have to walk to get in the mornings and to being able to grab a midnight snack without having to get dressed and trudge down to see if anything is still open. I also think we save a TON of TIME by eating breakfast in our rooms.

Also, your vacation habits will probably change if you become a DVC member. You know you are going back, so being park commandos is now a thing of the past for us. Its wondeful to take a day off during our time at Disney and really enjoy the resorts, swim, pool hop, ride bikes, etc. Heck, I am looking forward to this on more than one day of our next trip

It is not for everyone, but to me your posts sound like you really are looking for reasons NOT to want to join. Thats great too! We stayed at Coronado Springs last weekend and I tell you what, if I never had to stay at Pop or the All-Stars again, that is ok with me! We are new DVCers, will take two 5 night trips this year (and still have 50 points to decide what to do with) and yet we go down a time or two more than that as well and DO stay at the values or moderates. Sometimes we are doing studios but they don't come close to comparing to a value resort. They are so much better.....nicer....better appointed (just having a fridge at no extra charge and a microwave is a HUGE improvement to me as a mother of 2 small boys). OH OH OH and a BATHROOM that you can actually close the door to without straddling the toilet!

If I had to choose to not to go Disney or to stay in a value, of course I would stay there. They are clean and plenty nice enough. But for my family, it we can have that extra bet of enjoyment (for 50 more years), then it is well worth the investment now.

 

[maja36]

We live in Toronto where most of the year you can't go outside without lots and lots of layers. So when we purchased our dvc last month we really counted on studios (there's 4 of us) only, because who wants to hang around the room when you could be outside in sunny florida? And the studio rooms are not too shabby.

And a full kitchen? ARe you kidding me? I cook each and every single meal every day at home (to pay for dvc etc), when I am down there for those 7 days out of 365 days in the year.... I sure won't be using a real stove. Hello Earl of Sandwich. Ok I'll use the microwave. Maybe.

The rest of the points that we save (we go at value season only) we will rent out to pay for the dues for the year.

Travel with the rest of our family? Are you kidding me? I see my family enough LOL, I like family time with my own family on holiday only.

If I had everyone with me, it would be like I was at home cooking and tidying up the 2 bedroom unit (since maid service is not included).

Is it worth it for us? Well I tell my husband that I really live in Disney for 1 week a year and I'm visiting in Toronto. But today I walked out in a really beautiful spring morning... and I'll let disney wait for January 25, 2006.

We did the numbers (always comes down to that)... in the long run it is well worth it for us. Including borrowing interest (high rate asssumed), principal works out to $400 Canadian per year for 50 years (annual dues on top of that). We figure in 30 years, the most the 2 weeks in a deluxe accommodation at dvc will cost is $2,000. Who knows what hotels will cost in 30 years!!

 

[jnrrt]

I think the main thing holding me back from DVC is the fact that I simply don't have an additional $11,000 for vacation purposes right now. Of course we could always finance, but I feel as though in my current financial state, it would be a very irresponsible choice on my part. My fiance has a 4 year old son that I'm trying to help raise, and she has a lawyer, household bills, etc.

I try to take them on vacation twice a year, but that's with saving week to week and as I can. I just feel as though I would be making a mistake RIGHT NOW obligating myself to pay for something such as DVC. Hopefully, in time, that will all change.

If this is your reason, you ablsolutely are right in waiting to join or not joining at all. DVC is a big commitment in terms of money, and even though it can make sense finanacially, no one should commit themselves to such a financial obligation unless they can do it responsibly. I know that we were not willing to buy in sooner for that very reason, and even though now we know it probably would have been fine, you can never be sure, and we wouldn't have enjoyed it as much, being so close financially.

Now, on the flip side, I will tell you why we're glad we did join. We don't think we probably save any money, but we have MUCH nicer vacations, in addition to many of the points stated earlier in this thread. That is why we bought.

The first time I took our daughters on vacation in a hotel room and sat in the tub, with my DH sitting on the toilet, both of us reading because they won't go to sleep whn they can see us and there's nowhere else to go, and you can't talk or you'll wake them up, I thought, "this is not vacation". And being out on the balcony with the bugs in the dark is not much better. And playing cards in the hallway on the floor with other guests staring at you is not better! LOL - we have tried it all. So I told my dh I'd rather wait to go when we can go the way we want to than to go more often and do it like that. We spent so much money to get there, and then felt like it was wasted because no one slept.

Now, obviously, that is my family only. But now we can go as often as we could when we were staying in one hotel room, but not have to stay in one hotel room. It makes all the difference to the quality of our vacations. And I don't have to spend days of my life looking for good deals, because it's all set, and that's worth something to me too.

If you feel it's not a good idea now, BTW, you could always rent. We went that route too. And while in the long run it's not as good a deal, for the short run, it's still an awesome savings over the rack rates, and you don't have the commitment for the whole shebang.