DVC - What do you think?

[Sharon/Mark]

Hi

I am full of questions today

My husband & I have visited Florida (Orlando) every year for the last 5, its getting to the stage where we are seriously looking at options open to us as repeat travellers. DVC looks fantastic but I am concerned about the hidden extras, in the form of annual dues which look almost as expensive as another holiday, I would love to know if this is true and if there are any other hidden extras you have to take into consideration. Last year we visited Sarasota Springs and it was lovely but we worked out that dues for approx 500 points would be another £850 a year!!!!! Surely thats not right!

Can anyone help me!

 

[DizGeek]

I think the rule of thumb is, if you stay at a deluxe Disney resort for 7+ days a year, then DVC may be for you. I looked into it a couple times. Basically, what your doing is paying for any Disney vacation you'll ever take up front.

 

[Pootle]

Have you seen this thread on the UK DVC board? http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1190664#post13944955 It's a thread started by someone also considering DVC

 

[jjpenguin]

The annual dues are the only costs you will have after the initial investment, they are for upkeep and maintenance of the property, bus service,staffing, pools etc. etc. They do go up each year but so do the resort costs, and taxes.

I'm just wondering why you would need 500 points, that seems an awful lot!! If you are staying for a longer time then even just staying at a normal hotel would also be expensive.
If you really want the luxury of 1 or 2 bedroom accomodations then you need a lot of points, but you can also maximise your usage by not using points for weekend or maybe staying 1 week in a studio (doing a lot of parks) and then upgrading for the next week into a 1 br.

 

[mark&sue]

We have 520 points and that is roughly the annual dues amount. I actually don't think we do need that amount.

We bought whilst we were staying at the Grand Floridian and thought that we would definately break even after a few years and do still feel this to be true but am now more concerned about the flight prices than the annual dues.

Next year we are paying over £3,000 for just the three of us and a car. Hoping once we don't have to go in August this will get better but with current scares I can only see flight prices rising.

I know for sure if we lived in US then DVC is the way to go. I have started to have my doubts that we can sustain the amount of trips to US every year and may start renting out the points every few years.

Let us know what you decide.



Susan

 

[mikki.young]

We have 550 points and were going twice a year in a one bed for 2-3 weeks at a time (relatively low season). Annual dues do go up, but not as much as hotel room costs. Also there are lots of perks (vary year to year) best of which at the moment is $100 off cost of Annual Passport.

 

[Halo]

...but we worked out that dues for approx 500 points would be another £850 a year!!!!! Surely thats not right!

Actually its likely to be higher - Disney subsidises the annual maintenance fees of resorts under development. Once SSR is sold out its fees will climb. I think you should base any calculation on fees at $4 a point, so for 500 points it would be +/- $2,000 per annum which is over a thousand pounds. DVC is IMHO good value but its not cheap - you need to go into it with your eyes open.

 

[Revtel]

Our 400 points cost us around £17,000 to buy, and each January I have to pay a further £800/900 in dues.

Is it expensive? Yes.

Is it good value for money? Possibly

Do I regret buying into DVC? Never

Life is for living, and the sheer joy and luxury of the DVC resorts makes it all worthwhile.

 

[Hilary]

DVC is IMHO good value but its not cheap

I think that's an excellent summary.

We enjoy DVC for the kind of accommodation it gives us for the cost. When we bought into it we loved the fact that we could stay in accommodation with the advantages of being on-site at WDW and the facilities of a private villa (well, apart from a private pool!). Now we spend less time in the parks it's flexibility suits us for different kinds of trips.

It's not a budget way to 'do Disney', but I try to find cheap ways of doing other things!

 

[crux]

I agree about it being value for money, but not cheap. We still spend about the same amount a year on our trips, but it's just split differently. We were spending approx £2,500 to £3,000 for package trips through Virgin Holidays to stay at moderate on-site resorts, including car (and insurances) and unlimited entry to the Disney parks (I know you can cut the costs by doing a DIY trip, but we didn't know any better!).

This year our fly-drive through TCD is costing £1,850 - but we are flying Sunshine First with 50 inch leg room (we tried it last year and it was fantastic, our best flight ever), we paid approx £550 in annual dues for our DVC points and have paid $500 (£300) for two annual Disney passes which will be used next year as well. The total amount we are paying now is similar to the cost of a package deal, but we're getting better accommodation and more comfortable flights. If you can afford to buy the points without borrowing the money, you normally go every year (or two) staying on-site in moderate, or deluxe, hotels - then it makes sense to buy.

Ian

Edit - I forgot to add we've got 222 points split across VWL and BCV, which is enough for 2 weeks in a studio for we we normally go - which is anytime in September and October.

 

[jjpenguin]

I agree with Crux. We love staying onsite but would never be able to (or even willing to) pay the price for anything more than a moderate. We can now stay in deluxe acommodations and can spend the extra on flights or dining or shopping etc.

I was lucky enough to have the lump sum available for the initial purchase and now only pay the dues. If I total up what the acommodations would have cost me rack rate I am now at the break even point so from here on I'm just paying my dues for my stay. And that's worth it to me!!

In 4 weeks I'll be going solo for a week to WDW, something I would have never done without DVC.

 

[mikki.young]

I think I should add that we bought our points at $51 a point and got 8 years free entry to the parks included. It made it a no brainer for us but at today's prices I am absolutely sure it would not be as simple a choice. I know we have never regretted our choice but that may not be the same if we were buying today.

Good luck with your decisions.