DVC Price Increases...Still Worth It??

[Tinkrbell]

I was just noticing that BCV has increased almost $1000 in price in only 10 months!! (11,250 with no buyback of pts to $12,000 & a MB offer) I don't believe ANY other DVC resort has had such a drastic price increase in such a short time.

I know there have been numerous spreadsheets calculating whether it was worth purchasing into DVC vs. staying at a Disney Deluxe with and without discounts. I remember one stating, that at the 11 year mark you come out even. What year mark would it be now? At what price is it no longer worth while?



Of course, I still believe that if or WHEN they build the Polynesian Villas they can & will charge Whatever they like to. Probably $100/pt. or more. JMHO.

 

[Dean]

It really depends on your personal situation and preferences. There are so many variables that it's impossible to make a blanket statement. Actually DVC has never truly made sense from a strictly dollars standpoint or at least not after the free passes were no longer available. It simply depends on what you're comparing to. Would you stay on property, especially at the Deluxe and Premium resorts without DVC. Of course there's always resale where there are some dollars to be saved over buying directly from DVC but it's still a lot of money. Other variables include your vacation habits, whether you can save money to pay cash, will you eat in the room more with the kitchen or go to the parks less overall?

 

[Tinkrbell]

Dean-I understand what your saying as far as the dollars goes. Especially with the FREE park passes ending. (That is my dh main argument not to buy into DVC), but when comparing strictly to Disney Deluxe or Moderates and going out to eat for dinner (who cooks on vacation anyway!) From the calculations done in the past, is it a good buy WITH the price increases?

Obviously not as good as before, but OK, or too costly now to consider?

 

[vbfamily]

Honestly, I don't know-right off the bat it doesn't sound like you would be doing a lot of cooking in the room-I don't want to do that either-I don't go on vacation to cook.

It is getting pretty costly, you have to think about how many times you would be going to WDW-if you go a lot it might be "worth it". Let's face it-it's a lot of money, but if you are going to use the heck out of it, it might be worth it.

Can you get better cash discounts when you go and if you only go every couple of years it might not be worth it.

We've ran the numbers, did all the math, gone back and forth and you definately are spending money but if it makes you happy, do it.

I do wish they still offered the passes-I think it would make DVC more unique and appealing.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[jcodespoti]

I would hit the resale market now more than ever before. It is getting very costly to be buying from DVD.

Joe in CT

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by SlyHubby
I seriously doubt it. If you looked at the resales recently, it's pretty clear that the prices are stagnating - no real increases over the past 18 months. I think there isn't much room to raise prices on new memberships if at all. Disney profits are still hurting big time, airlines are in major trouble, travel is down in general - it's not the most enticing environment to be raising prices on timeshares.

I'm not sure I agree. DVC resale prices took a big jump in the listing prices with the last price increase as did the ROFR buy back price. Due to the economy, less of them may have sold but I don't even see that with what I've looked at. Maybe Shontell can shed some light on her experiences in this area. 8-12 months ago the resale prices seemed more in the $62-65 pp range and generally selling around $58-62 pp from what I saw. Now I see more prices in the $65-68 pp range overall and it seems selling for $62-65 pp.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Yes, in my opinion DVC is stll a good deal. A $4/pt increase only amounts to 10 cents per point, per year. When we look at the long term cost, this is a very small amount f money. In the long run, annual dues are by far the most expensive part of DVC.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

For me it wouldn't be worth it...but I had friends buy new even though I explained that they would be better off with resale...so I think even at $84 there are enough buyers that the market says its worth it.

I'm going to duck now and say this. The distance between the resale price and the DVD price is just an indication that DVC is getting more in line with other timeshares for resale purposes. Fortunately DVD keeps raising the price so that my resale value is staying at least constant.

I am curious what will happen when BCV is gone and SSRV comes on line. Much bigger magical beginnings? I hope that I am employed when SSRV comes out because I'd like to get a unit there.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by doubletrouble_vb
I'm going to duck now and say this. The distance between the resale price and the DVD price is just an indication that DVC is getting more in line with other timeshares for resale purposes. Fortunately DVD keeps raising the price so that my resale value is staying at least constant.

The usual minimum resale price in general has gone from $58 to $62 pp with the last increase and will likely rise again if it hasn't already. I bought one of Marriott's Flag ship resorts (Grande Ocean) for 50% of the Marriott resale price, 2 weeks. I don't think we'll see $40 pp for a while yet. The economy may have slowed total sales (I don't know) though but I don't think it's the price per point would be mainly responsible.

 

[mikebarr]

I bought a resale for about $50 p/pt (230 points) back when there were free passes. I always thought they didn't give DVC members enough of a perk. I mean really, you'd at least think they'd give you a 10% merchandise discount like they do with the Disney Club? Maybe discounted park passes? They really give little to nothing at all, and prices keep going up.

But, here is the reason why: they give nothing, they raise prices, they cut benefits, ALL BECAUSE THEY CAN! It is the same reason college tuition and private school prices go up. They can do it because there is demand. The free passes were a lure to help sales.

I bought in because we loved Disney and just had a baby, and had spare cash from the bull market. It was a fortunate, opportune time and situation. As much I ***** sometimes, it is worth it to me. I almost sold, then changed my mind when a full price offer came in. My heart won out. I'd feel naked without my DVC. It brings us too much enjoyment that we wouldn't have otherwise.

This year, we are taking 3 trips. Our parents get to see their grandchildren in Disney for next to nothing. We bring people down and stay in cozy condos with views of Epcot. One night cash in a 2 br unit at the BWV is more than I pay in annual dues. We are comfortable there and can share the expereince with family and friends thatwouldn't otherwise go. We can't put a price on that.

 

[Dopey13]

I would seriously look into purchasing resale. Here is a list of websites to check out. The cost savings if you do your home work is well worth it.

www.disney-vacation-club-resales.com
www.dvc-resale.com
www.atimeshare.com
www.timesharesbyresale.com

 

[Greg K.]

We've been visting WDW for several years, almost every year, plopping down from 6-8k each time for a 10 or 14 day vacation.

The way we see it, we'll be cutting our annual vacation costs, roughly, in half. And, based on our vacation patterns, the DVC investment will pay for itself quickly, probably in four or five years. It will likely become a better and better value as the years go on.

 

[sitchu2]

The first time I checked out DVC, was at OKW in 1995 , I hemmed and hawwed for 6 years and finally bought at BCV pre sale and boy am I glad I did.

I feel like I cought the train just before it left the station. I added on a month later and just bought a small resale at BWV for 66 pt because I have had so much enjoyment from my membership.

I do not cook full meals in the kitchen but you bet you save a bundle just for having one. Dont forget the free laundry too.

I have a family of 5, the 2br villa is around 900 a night the time we travel and we could never have touched that.

We used to spend 30 a day on breakfasts, now we just bring it along and we are able to get out and hit those parks without waiting on line for breakfast. I get my own fresh coffee brewed, we have a place to bring leftovers.

We used to buy a package, now we bought aps and got 3 seven and eight day trips out of them, thats like free passes for 2 out of 3 trips. We can only go and enjoy ourselvs this often because of DVC. When the kids are gone you will find me and my husband enjoying wdw without a doubt.

I also have vissions of giving my kids all a "free" homeymoon.

There are many other things to think of when figuring out if dvc is worth it.



By the way, I called My Guide, before I added on resale, to inquire about a dvc add on. He said it didnt make sense because I have a feb use year, and I would loose my 2002 points because its too late to bank. So I saved a few dollars and went resale(non stripped june use year)

My guide also said that they project BCV to sell out by May. They will during May or June begin a pre sale special on VSSR . I asked him to contact me when that begins, I think I may want to just add on again at boardwalk this way ill have just bcv and bwv instead of a piece of bwv and a piece of ssr. Where do I like to stay most? Deffinately Epcot area!!

 

[Tinkrbell]

What is SSRV or is it VSSR?

 

[ncligs]

Originally posted by Tinkrbell
What is SSRV or is it VSSR?

It is the new DVC resort planned for next year, this was copied from the DVC website below.

Preparation for construction has already begun with the removal of existing townhome structures on the 16-acre site slated for Disney Vacation Club units. Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa is planned to be a part of the Disney Vacation Club.

 

[SlyHubby]

Originally posted by mikebarr
I mean really, you'd at least think they'd give you a 10% merchandise discount like they do with the Disney Club?

They do. Show your DVC membership card in any Disney Store and they give you the 10% discount.

 

[vernon]

As far as running the numbers, as Dean correctly says, it's very much up to your individual habits and preferences.
While you say you don't like to cook on vaca, even just having cereal and toast for breakfast 5 days out of 7 is going to save you maybe $150 a year. The use of a fridge so you can have access to cold drinks instead of paying resort prices can be a huge saving if you actually look at the charges ( $2 for a soda, $4-6 for a beer). Individually they are small savings, but multiplied up over a whole holiday it does make quite a difference. IMHO drinks, breakfasting as above and maybe having a couple of meals like pizza (at lunch if you're taking a break from spending time round the pool, or you have a kid thats just too tired to go back out to eat after a day in the parks).
It's worth remembering as you become used to spending vacations at WDW it is less likely that you'll go to the parks everyday. All DVC resorts have some great pool and recreational activities. When you do make use of those facilities, it is possible that instead of buying pizza and fries from the hotel snackbar ( probably $50 for family of 4 by the time you include drinks all day) you might go up to the room (getting the kids out of the sun for a couple of hours is never a bad thing in summer) and slip a pizza from the freezer into the oven. IMHO it's hardly cooking.

While the above does offer some saving, I think something like $500 a week is a fair guess, it's really in you room charges that the finances come into it. Not everyone can only use Sunday to Thursday's cheaper rates, but there are a lot of ways to avoiding the high costs of Friday and Saturdays. If you can be flexible in the use of your points then this can make a huge difference to the costings. The points cost of two Sunday to Thursday trips is the same as one whole weeks cost. Obviously if you only EVER use Sunday to Thurdays for vacations your break even is going to be something like 30% better than if you calculate a whole week (7 days). If you only ever vacation for long weekends then your breakeven time is going to be seriously worse than either straight weeks or Sunday-Thursday breaks.

Just to be very simple in explanation let's say the $ cost of a room is $100 a night ( I know there are no DVC room rates at $100 per night but this is just for simplification and allowing that maybe someone would stay at a moderate or an All Star)
DVC two stays Sunday to Thursday at 10 points per night would cost $1000 for the same stay using $$$ or 100 DVC points
A whole week would cost points 5x10 and 2x25 so still 100 DVC points but $ cost would be $700
two stays Thusday to Sunday (3 nights) would be 60 points per visit ( 2x25 and 1x10) so 6 nights accommodation is 120 DVC points but would only have cost $600 if you were paying cash.

It's up to you to look into what you're likely to do in the future and use your own vacationing habits to fine tune any spreadsheet you use to get accurate data for your own circumstances. I hope that helps you a little in your plans. The more flexible and resourceful you can be with your points, the better the numbers will work in your favour, so do really think through things.