DVC vs package holiday?

[Sammy in MK]

We have just come back from WDW and signed up to DVC! Our initial excitement however has now come crashing down to earth as it seems that the cost of flights in the last 2 weeks in August and the add on extras you get with packages (i.e free Disney Dining Plan) plus the annual dues each year means that perhaps the whole deal is not as good as it seems.

Can anyone help us please, as we have only a few days left in which we can cancel.........

Where can we get the cheapest flights?

please help.................

 

[jen_uk]

If you fly Virgin and do miles plus money you will get it for about £500 each which is pretty good. If you look around you can get flights for about £450 -£500. When I looked at flight prices at first I didn't think DVC would save us that much but after I found fligths for around £500 and worked it all it will save us between £1000 - £1500 every year.

 

[Jets fan]

We had initial reservations over DVC but the only benefit we can see is that you get to stay in a nicer place. It costs us about £600 a year in annual dues and we go to Disney every other year so for £1,200 we get a two bedroom apartment in OKW.

Now if we were to stay in the All Stars we could, in theory get it cheaper than DVC. The free dining should also be a consideration, especially if you go at the same time every year.

We have never stayed in our use month which is September, but the 11 month window is a bonus.

It's swings and roundabouts really.

 

[SNOWHITE7]

We get our flights through Virgin. We have a Virgin credit card and put everything we buy on it then pay it off in full each month. By paying a fee we get 2 flying club miles for each pound we spend. This usually means we have enough points for one free flight each year plus a free companion flight if we pay the full price for one flight. As there are three of us, this works out well. It can also work out cheaper to get two miles plus money flights, we usually check before we book.

 

[earthelves]

I Just Priced 2 Return Flights For The End Of November Through Expedia And They Were £693.00,That I Thought Was Pretty Reasonable.I Tend To Shop About To Get The Best Deal's.

GoodLuck

 

[Hilary]

As has already been said, DVC may not save you money. In fact, it will almost certainly cost more (by the time you've paid for separate flights, car rental and annual dues) than than the cheapest package deal you could find. (That's not based on any hard research, by the way, just my 'gut feeling'! )

For us, buying into DVC gave us the ability to stay on-site in great accommodation - our main considerations when our DDs were younger and we knew we wanted to spend a lot of time in the parks. We had already moved away from package deals as we couldn't get the flexibility we wanted in number of nights / local airport / size of accommodation, etc.

Now that DDs are older and we don't have the school-holiday boundaries, we are more likely to travel during the cheaper off-peak times for flights and DVC is working well for us. Circumstances change and life moves on: DVC may not be as good for us further down the line but, if that happens, we figure we can sell our points or transfer them to DDs.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Ali and boyz]

We have just come back from WDW and signed up to DVC! Our initial excitement however has now come crashing down to earth as it seems that the cost of flights in the last 2 weeks in August and the add on extras you get with packages (i.e free Disney Dining Plan) plus the annual dues each year means that perhaps the whole deal is not as good as it seems.

Can anyone help us please, as we have only a few days left in which we can cancel.........

Where can we get the cheapest flights?

please help.................

we have just booked for my DM & DD to come with us for next year but stay in seperate accommodation as we wanted a bit of 'space' this year . I booked them a 1 bedroom and it came to around $4,000. so I reckon if we went every year it would come to around $6,000 as we need a 2 bedroom multiply that by each year and we reckon we couldnt afford to stay there every year. (remember that doesn't include our flights )

think if you dont go so often or are happy staying off-site then dvc maybe doesn't work out a good buy. I just know we couldn't afford to stay at one of the luxury resorts had we not bought.

pays to shop around for flights. we got a really good deal this year booking early. we got 21 nights for les than the 14 nights this year. also it is cheaper to go for a fly - drive rather than a flight on sometimes.

 

[Pootle]

When I joined 11 years ago I was still teaching and peak holiday times were a part of my life. As Hilary says though, life changes and I too now travel off peak and have had great value from my DVC membership.

Our preferred time at WDW was Easter and a couple of times I bought the cheapest package I could and only used a couple of nights of the included accommodation - sometimes because we were touring, but latterly because we were using the DVC accommodation.

With regard to the DDP though, whilst it looks like it will be offered (to UK visitors at least) next year, the plan is changing and there is no guarantee that it will continue indefinitely.

DVC is an expensive purchase so it's sensible to check it really is a good fit for your family while you still have time to back out. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[CustardTart]

We finally bought DVC points earlier this year as, over the last decade, we have spent sooo much money on WDW accommodation. We looked at the purchase as an opportunity to pre-pay for future Disney holidays and, having done our sums many times over, we worked out that, after 4 years, our points will have paid for themselves. Then our accommodation will only cost whatever the annual dues work out at - compared to what we spent last year on 3 rooms at the Poly that's a great deal. TBH I just wish we'd thought through the purchase earlier (we did a tour in 2000) but with the exchange rate it's a great time to buy...

Not tried the DDP but have the DDE card instead which saves 20% off meals and drinks...

Flights-wise, we have booked VH fly-drives for our 2 upcoming DVC trips as they worked out much cheaper than booking separate flights. I shall definitely be investigating Miles plus Money for next summer...

 

[Ali and boyz]

forgot to say that when I booked on Monday for next July they asked me if I wanted to purchase the DDP. TBH we stay in the villas with the full kitchens and don't eat big lunches so for us the DDP would have been a waste of money . now if we were staying in a room only basis and did the parks every day then the DDP might kick in to be value for money

 

[tubtruck]

Try pricing any of the DVC resorts or any of the other delux resorts with someone like Virgin who sell all the Disney resorts, you will find that the savings are very substancial, of course it will seem expensive if comparing a cheap package with one of the sanford charter airlines staying at somewhere like a Days Inn, but thats like comparing apples and oranges rather than apples and apples. DVC is a luxury purchase rather than a budget cheapest way possible money saver.

 

[mark&sue]

We purchased DVC after a two week stay in the grand floridian. The DVC accommodation is far superior as we now don't have to share a room with our teenage daughter. On the price we paid for the Grand Floridian DVC pays for itself after about 5 stays.

However after just coming back yesterday from our first time in August we will not go again as it was too hot! I cannot get any other two weeks off work during the school holidays so will have to rent out our points next year and bank for the following year and go off peak in 2010.

We too have a virgin credit card so hope that will help.

To make you feel better check out the actual costs for staying at DVC accommodation if you are paying with cash. You can ask Disney direct for a quote and you will be amazed at how much you will save over just a few years.

Hope you enjoy your DVC as much as us. Oh and we have used our points for an exchange in Devon, stays at Disneyland Paris and our fantasic cruise last week.



Susan