DVC Value...Beyond Cost..Whats your value

[jockotaco]

You can read a ton of threads on this board regarding the "value" of DVC. Most are lengthy calculations of long term cost VS. purchasing a room. Some use Disney rack rates while others use value resorts and anything in between. The bottom line is Disney is expensive DVC or not. I want the best experience both in and out of the park. Let me share with you our first DVC experience. Everyone will place a different value on this, that's up to you.

2 Bedroom Villa at VGC
6:00 AM..Kids Awake and ready. Bowl of cereal at the table while the adults get ready (money saved and no need to spend an hour or so at a buffet).
6:30 AM.. Adults eating breakfast while kids getting ready (yummy healthy breakfast in a dinning room).
7:00 AM...Five minute walk to park entrance for early entrance
8:00 AM..3 rides and 2 character meet and greets down..park open to general public
10:00 AM..Kids forgot coat...15 minute round trip for one of the adults to retrieve forgotten clothes.
12:00...Lunch time..5 minutes back to room (most likely 60 plus for a value resort) Kids relaxing on sofa in living room VS on a bed in hotel room.
12:30...Hearty inexpensive healthy lunch in villa
1:00..Relaxing on sofa in from of TV
1:30..5 Minute walk back to park
6:00..Back to villa for dinner
6:15..Glass of wine in living room/ on balcony
6:30...Second glass of wine..OK you get the point
6:45.. Healthy dinner at a table
7:30...Back to park (5 minutes)
8:15..Infant ready for bed..Watching world of color on balcony
11:30...Back to room for the rest of the family...Monorail ride and 2 minute walk.
12:00..Adults on balcony with a night cap.


The convenience alone is worth it to me. What is your value?

 

[DebbieB]

You can read a ton of threads on this board regarding the "value" of DVC. Most are lengthy calculations of long term cost VS. purchasing a room. Some use Disney rack rates while others use value resorts and anything in between. The bottom line is Disney is expensive DVC or not. I want the best experience both in and out of the park. Let me share with you our first DVC experience. Everyone will place a different value on this, that's up to you.

2 Bedroom Villa at VGC
6:00 AM..Kids Awake and ready. Bowl of cereal at the table while the adults get ready (money saved and no need to spend an hour or so at a buffet).
6:30 AM.. Adults eating breakfast while kids getting ready (yummy healthy breakfast in a dinning room).
7:00 AM...Five minute walk to park entrance for early entrance
8:00 AM..3 rides and 2 character meet and greets down..park open to general public
10:00 AM..Kids forgot coat...15 minute round trip for one of the adults to retrieve forgotten clothes.
12:00...Lunch time..5 minutes back to room (most likely 60 plus for a value resort) Kids relaxing on sofa in living room VS on a bed in hotel room.
12:30...Hearty inexpensive healthy lunch in villa
1:00..Relaxing on sofa in from of TV
1:30..5 Minute walk back to park
6:00..Back to villa for dinner
6:15..Glass of wine in living room/ on balcony
6:30...Second glass of wine..OK you get the point
6:45.. Healthy dinner at a table
7:30...Back to park (5 minutes)
8:15..Infant ready for bed..Watching world of color on balcony
11:30...Back to room for the rest of the family...Monorail ride and 2 minute walk.
12:00..Adults on balcony with a night cap.

The convenience alone is worth it to me. What is your value?

Having a luxurious room with plenty of space (usually 1 bedroom). All I'm paying now is $117 a month for 250 BWV points. No hotel bill at the end of the stay.

 

[keishashadow]

My value of owning DVC is less monetary vs knowing that my hard-working DH will actually commit to several vacations a year & relax instead of working like a dog all the time. It's instilled the travel bug in him.

I ran the numbers after i blanched at a $3,500 price quote for a week at the Poly years ago. Promptly bought our first resale for the same amount and added on thru DVC direct, but always on a cash basis and haven't looked back.

We could use more points, but have resisted since we enjoy mixing things up via staying offsite and other types of trips these days. It's all good unless i'm expected to cook anything more taxing that a cup of coffee on vacation

 

[Disneyholic]

Knowing that I am going to going back to WDW for many years to come. I am 59 & DH is going to be 69. We just bought DVC on our last DCL cruise in August. With it being 42 years left that would make DH 111 & me 101 when it expires. He is planning on it expiring before he does.

We liked that we could pass it on to the kids. They are DisneyNuts, too.

 

[sarah-jane]

Much like OP our vacations are infinitely more relaxing with the kitchen and space for everyone.

 

[KingRichard]

You can read a ton of threads on this board regarding the "value" of DVC. Most are lengthy calculations of long term cost VS. purchasing a room. Some use Disney rack rates while others use value resorts and anything in between. The bottom line is Disney is expensive DVC or not. I want the best experience both in and out of the park. Let me share with you our first DVC experience. Everyone will place a different value on this, that's up to you.

2 Bedroom Villa at VGC
6:00 AM..Kids Awake and ready. Bowl of cereal at the table while the adults get ready (money saved and no need to spend an hour or so at a buffet).
6:30 AM.. Adults eating breakfast while kids getting ready (yummy healthy breakfast in a dinning room).
7:00 AM...Five minute walk to park entrance for early entrance
8:00 AM..3 rides and 2 character meet and greets down..park open to general public
10:00 AM..Kids forgot coat...15 minute round trip for one of the adults to retrieve forgotten clothes.
12:00...Lunch time..5 minutes back to room (most likely 60 plus for a value resort) Kids relaxing on sofa in living room VS on a bed in hotel room.
12:30...Hearty inexpensive healthy lunch in villa
1:00..Relaxing on sofa in from of TV
1:30..5 Minute walk back to park
6:00..Back to villa for dinner
6:15..Glass of wine in living room/ on balcony
6:30...Second glass of wine..OK you get the point
6:45.. Healthy dinner at a table
7:30...Back to park (5 minutes)
8:15..Infant ready for bed..Watching world of color on balcony
11:30...Back to room for the rest of the family...Monorail ride and 2 minute walk.
12:00..Adults on balcony with a night cap.


The convenience alone is worth it to me. What is your value?

This is our plan. Though it will be our first DVC stay in the world. We did this many times off site with much added travel time.

The best part is is getting our kids on 10 rides in the first 1-2 hours and then walking back into the parks all refreshed and seeing people dragging their kids out spent!

 

[TSMMANIAC]

The ability to bring friends and family with us to share vacations at Disney. Also not having to share a BR with any children. Having a cup of coffee on the OKW balcony in my PJs every morning. I especially enjoy the planning and planning of future DVC vacations.

 

[jockotaco]

Bringing friends is great. This last trip we went with some of our best friends who have kids the same ages as ours. Sharing such an awesome experience is incredible.

 

[Brian Noble]

The convenience alone is worth it to me. What is your value?

We never stay in anything less than a 1BR if it is just the two of us. When we bring the two kids, we never stay in anything less than a 2BR. Our most recent stay was at BCV for Food & Wine. So, I completely understand the condo vs. hotel room and location-location -location points you are making here.

However, it's worth remembering though that you don't need to own DVC to have that vacation experience. You can always rent from another Member. With a little bit of planning and flexibility, you can sometimes exchange in via RCI. Depending on how often you go, etc., that might well be a less expensive way of having exactly the same vacation experience.

 

[mickeysbestfriend]

8 years ago and have 35 left on my contract. A lot of the points that have been made so far are spot on. When I wake up, I don't have to walk any further than the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. We love relaxing on the balcony/patio in the morning and evening with those famous adult beverages. We love the peace and Quiet of OKW no where your villa is and the pools (not the main one) are usually uncrowded and quiet for the most part. We love making a fresh breakfast in the villa each morning but will occasionally hit Olivia's or Trails end for a change of pace.

We no longer 'run the parks' because we don't have to. We hit one in the morning for a few key rides adn then head back to relax by the pool with an adult beverage. Later on we head to what ever park or hotel we are having dinner at.

DVC has made us more relaxed on vacation that ever before. We can trade out if we want or rent our points to family or friends if we don't feel like a third or fourth trip in a particular year. We have allowed family to go with us gratis, but we have found that they don't seem to appreciate it as much as if we have them pay a nominal amount to share the villa.

We are planning to relocate to Florida in the near future and my wife said we could let her kids use our points.......I told her NOT! The points would still be used by us...for DATE NIGHT!

 

[disneybass]

You can read a ton of threads on this board regarding the "value" of DVC. Most are lengthy calculations of long term cost VS. purchasing a room. Some use Disney rack rates while others use value resorts and anything in between. The bottom line is Disney is expensive DVC or not. I want the best experience both in and out of the park. Let me share with you our first DVC experience. Everyone will place a different value on this, that's up to you.

2 Bedroom Villa at VGC
6:00 AM..Kids Awake and ready. Bowl of cereal at the table while the adults get ready (money saved and no need to spend an hour or so at a buffet).
6:30 AM.. Adults eating breakfast while kids getting ready (yummy healthy breakfast in a dinning room).
7:00 AM...Five minute walk to park entrance for early entrance
8:00 AM..3 rides and 2 character meet and greets down..park open to general public
10:00 AM..Kids forgot coat...15 minute round trip for one of the adults to retrieve forgotten clothes.
12:00...Lunch time..5 minutes back to room (most likely 60 plus for a value resort) Kids relaxing on sofa in living room VS on a bed in hotel room.
12:30...Hearty inexpensive healthy lunch in villa
1:00..Relaxing on sofa in from of TV
1:30..5 Minute walk back to park
6:00..Back to villa for dinner
6:15..Glass of wine in living room/ on balcony
6:30...Second glass of wine..OK you get the point
6:45.. Healthy dinner at a table
7:30...Back to park (5 minutes)
8:15..Infant ready for bed..Watching world of color on balcony
11:30...Back to room for the rest of the family...Monorail ride and 2 minute walk.
12:00..Adults on balcony with a night cap.


The convenience alone is worth it to me. What is your value?

Pretty cool deal we have, don't we!

 

[bltpoppins]

However, it's worth remembering though that you don't need to own DVC to have that vacation experience. QUOTE]

I want to know that I have my BLT 2 BR LV the week before Xmas every year.
For us, this is our Xmas with our family and this is why I purchases BLT. Ownership has its perks!

 

[BEASLYBOO]

The ability to bring friends and family with us to share vacations at Disney. Also not having to share a BR with any children. Having a cup of coffee on the OKW balcony in my PJs every morning. I especially enjoy the planning and planning of future DVC vacations.

OMG, you took the words right out of my mouth. The only thing I would add, always having a trip to look forward to and gone are the "commando" days, we actually relax even doing the parks!

 

[mikron]

We bought in 2004 to SSR and then OKW. SSR is great but when we stayed at OKW it was the best. The one bed room gives all the feel of home and as you we used it like home. No value to our enjoyment for us. Best nights sleep for me over any motel/hotel. When we stayed in a dedicated two bedroom WOW didn't want to go home.

 

[joeyrose]

these days, i come to disney for the resorts and family atmosphere, not the parks. love dvc!

 

[CaskPeg]

My DH and I bought back in 1993 and enjoyed tickets until 2000! We were sold and signed the same day....in fact that night we stayed for our first night in our own one-bedroom at OKW. With half of the family in Florida...it is a great place to visit and kick-back these days now that the kids are grown.

I will do my 5th Disney Cruise in May aboard the Fantasy...already booked! To me, currently, OKW is "coming home" each time. I own at OKW, own at SSR, have vacationed in many of the other properties.

By far DVC is consistently a top-knotch stay what-ever the location!

CaskPeg

 

[LindaBabe]

I could LIVE in a two bedroom villa for the rest of my life perfectly happily.

 

[Jousey]

I could LIVE in a two bedroom villa for the rest of my life perfectly happily.

That's what I thought as well, we think the 2br villa is bigger than our house.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

Our last 6 day trip we didn't even make it into Animal Kingdom. That's one of my favorite parks. I loved that I didn't really care to be missing my favorite park because I knew I would be back in a few months and could go then. I was a die hard commando before DVC because I never knew when I was going back and I wanted to do it all. It's amazing how much fun and relaxing Disney can be without the pressure to do it all. It surprised me that I like it even more that way. So I guess the main the value for me is knowing that I will be going back.

 

[BabsBunny]

Our kids are in college and high school, plus they both have jobs, so it's near impossible for the four of us to get down there these days. But for DH and I, it's a convenient way for us to get away and relax. We also book a one bedroom, as we enjoy the home feel of it.

We were down there last March for three nights, in October for three nights, and now we're scheduled to go back in February for three nights. MCO is the only airport in Florida we can get a direct flight to, and we don't want to waste a day in airports or have to worry about delays in the winter months. We use JetBlue AmEx for both personal and work, so one of our flights is usually free. We also love that we don't have to deal with renting a car. Three hour flight and we are on a bus headed to our resort. No muss, no fuss.

So yeah, DVC has been of great value for us. It's a getaway that really does feel like a home away from home. And it's a great excuse to get us away from the office for a little mental health break.