DVC Question

[2x_dis_dad]

I have been looking into DVC. I don't understand a few things.

1. When you buy in and have to purchase the points, Do you have to buy the points again every year or thats what the initial cost is?

2. Someday down the road if you want to buy more points to add to your total, Is that an option or do you have to sell yours and buy all over again getting more points at the beginning.

3. What is a total years ownership cost currently? I mean after the initial purchase if you purchased with cash?

Thanks in advance, I am still trying to figure this stuff out.

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by 2x_dis_dad
I have been looking into DVC. I don't understand a few things.

1. When you buy in and have to purchase the points, Do you have to buy the points again every year or thats what the initial cost is?

You do not "buy" the points again every year - yes, that is what the initial cost is. After your initial "buy in" purchase you pay only annual maintenance dues. These vary by resort purchased, but currently, a good ball park estimate is $4.00 per point.

2. Someday down the road if you want to buy more points to add to your total, Is that an option or do you have to sell yours and buy all over again getting more points at the beginning.

You do not sell what you have and start all over again (thank goodness)! You can buy what is often referred to here as an "add on" contract. You can get one directly from Disney (if they have points left to sell at the resort you are interested in) or you may buy via the resale market.

3. What is a total years ownership cost currently? I mean after the initial purchase if you purchased with cash?

Thanks in advance, I am still trying to figure this stuff out.

The only cost to you if you pay cash for the initial buy is the annual maintenance dues. As mentioned above, it varies. I'd use $600/year as an estimate assuming you buy the minimum contract of 150 points. (Add on contracts can be for as little as 25 points).

HTH. Good luck with your decision! Feel free to ask as many questions as you like.

 

[jmminarik]

1) When you buy X points, you will get X points on the first day of your annual use year. For example, every Sept. 1 we get 225 points at vero beach. There is no "cost" for these points every year, though there is an annual dues.

2) You can buy more points, subject to availability, at any time. You can buy more points through Disney though they seem to insist that those new points match your current use year.

You can always buy points via resale, which gets you around the 'use year' restriction of Disney's sales AND means you can get points at resorts that are sold out.

3)Dues runs about $4.00 per point (depending on the resort).

-Joe

 

[jmminarik]

I knew someone else would be posting when I was typing.

I forgot to mention in answer to question 3. The "true cost" will be hard to figure out once you consider going to WDW more often means more park tickets/annual passes/more transportation costs/more souviniers since you're not blowing the bankroll on the room/etc.etc. DVC has probably caused me to contribute more money to Eisner's executive bonus on things other than room charges that I'd care to think about.

-Joe

 

[bobbiwoz]

Annual dues for 2004
at each resort are as follows:

Old Key West $3.68


Hilton Head $3.86


Beach Club Villas $4.18


Villas at Wilderness $4.22


Boardwalk $4.25

Vero $4.67


Bobbi

 

[pumpkinboy]

Nice sort order Bobbiwoz! Lowest to Highest is a good one; I was thinking alphabetical order by resort, but your's does nicely, so I'll conserve orange ink (or is it electronic bits... )

All good answers for you 2x_Dis_Dad. Any more questions?

 

[2x_dis_dad]

Thanks for the quick replies everyone. I am definately going to put some more thought in to it. It sounds like a really good deal. We usually got to Disney 2 or more times a year for 4 or 5 days at a time. We have annual passes so the tickets arent a big deal those days. How many points would we need to get? We stay at the all-star resorts now because the kids like it and we like the price. We always go in the off season usually in January and October. We are going to go for a long weekend in December too.

 

[jmminarik]

150 points is the initial buy-in from disney, and if you go a few times per year, that won't be enough in all likelyhood.

However, I'll let you do the math...go to the top of this page and play around with the 'points calculator' and look at the charts.

Keep in mind that weekends are always more expensive than week days, and many DVC'ers plan their trips with only 1 or no weekend days.

And comparing to the Allstars financially is tough...there is no real 'break' even buying DVC compared to staying at the allstars, but the rooms are generally much nicer at DVC and if you wind up not eating every meal out, well, DVC might help financially eventually. Ok...succinctly, DVC won't save you money if you're happy with teh All-Stars.

-Joe

 

[dianeschlicht]

To answer your question, you will have to decide which resort you prefer and then check the points charts for the size accommodation you would need and the number of days you will likely stay. Bear in mind that your need will change as your children age, so I would suggest you plan for a 2 bedroom at your chosen resort. You will notice that the points are different for different times of the year, so that will also help you figure out your optimum number of points. We purchased 230 at OKW to begin with, and it didn't take us long to figure out that was not enough! We added another 150 the following year. Just a word that points always increase in price! If you are looking at anything other than SSR, you might have to go resale.

 

[rocketriter]

If the calculations suggested above lead to prices the seem expensive, think ahead about the ages and privacy needs of your kids (I don't know how many you have). When they're younger, they should go to bed earlier than you might want to; to satisfy this you'd consider a suite or two connecting rooms, which is much more expensive at WDW than one room at Allstars. When they're older, especially if they're not all the same sex, they'll demand more privacy and separate beds, again leading to an expensive suite or connecting rooms. Under these circumstances, assuming that you want to stay on the grounds in the first place, DVC starts looking better and better.

That's one reason why the posters above are telling you not to compare prices with Allstars; as the years go by, Allstars may not have the functionality you need.

 

[OneMoreTry]

AllStars would be less expensive. But "you get what you pay for."

DVC is the least expensive for the quality of lodging you get. Depending on the time of year you stay and whether or not you stay Friday and Saturday nights, the break-even point is anywhere from 5 to 10 years.

Fridays and Saturdays cost many more DVC points, but the cash price for other on-site hotels is the same. The low seasons for DVC resorts do not coincide exactly with the low seasons for other Disney hotels. I'm not sure why.

 

[jmminarik]

Originally posted by OneMoreTry
AllStars would be less expensive. But "you get what you pay for."

DVC is the least expensive for the quality of lodging you get. Depending on the time of year you stay and whether or not you stay Friday and Saturday nights, the break-even point is anywhere from 5 to 10 years.

When comparing to the more expensive resorts, but not the All-Stars. 2x mentioned they're happy at the All Stars (for now), so I felt obliged to point out that there will likely be no break even comparing to the value resorts. The one thing you can't state quantitatively is the value of more great vacations. How can you put a price on a child grinning ear to ear and bouncing with excitement when they see Mickey, or Cindy.

Originally posted by OneMoreTry
AllStars would be less expensive. But "you get what you pay for."

Fridays and Saturdays cost many more DVC points, but the cash price for other on-site hotels is the same. The low seasons for DVC resorts do not coincide exactly with the low seasons for other Disney hotels. I'm not sure why.

My suspicion is that Disney wants DVCers to fill the resorts during the low points seasons because some of them are low park seasons. Even though we're not paying for the lodging (per visit), if we fill the DVC resorts we're in the World spending money on park tickets and food, and I think we (as a group) probably spend more money on food and souviniers precisely because we don't spend money on the hotel. Of course, I could be wrong.

-Joe

 

[ear_poppin]

Heres the math I used to consider if it is a good deal -

Initial cost $14280.....( $ 84 x 170 points ) divided by 50 years as the SSR points last 50 years.

Cost per year ( I paid cash) = $285.60

Plus the annual dues 170 x $3.80 = $646.00

So the yearly total works out at = $931.60.

Now...I love to stay on site at Universal and go to the two/three hotels and we do this at the weekend... I also like to go to the beach/busch gardens. Thus I can use my points Sun to Thurs and Streeeeetch the points to an amazing 15 nights accomodation for a studio.

Thus each night costs $62 !! compared to $289-$329 plus room tax! that cash guests would pay ( some deals may be had ie AP rates etc)

BUT what about the dues going up?? Yes that is correct but then so do the cost of Disney rooms each year so the comparison works out similar year after year!

Obviously my holiday requires a lot of moving about to stretch the points as I do ...but to me that enhances the holiday! Also coming from the UK I come for three weeks at a time so I would need to change anyway.

When I went for the Tour having read so much on the DIS and working out the next three years holidays etc my guide said she had never seen anyone so prepared ( she also must have thought what an easy sale this will be!)...So I would advise you to plan out your holidays as you see them now( being aware that down the line your priorities will change) and see what sort of points/comparison you can make.

As a last note ( as typing it makes me feel great) the Dollar/Pound exchange rate is SO good at the moment my rooms cost me £33 a night!!!!! at the moment.....that is so unbelievably cheap...as we pay double that for a Travelodge!

Hope this insight into my brain helps you a bit!