FAQS/info. before buying DVC?

[collins3]

Hello, I am thinking about buying into DVC directly through disney, 160pts@animal kingdom, but I have so many questions.
Is it really worth it, are the savings real?
To current DVC members, are there any special savings or promotions that a newby may not know about when purchasing for the first time. I've heard that knowing a member is a big help?
What if you don't have the amount of points total for a specific vacation, can you just pay cash to fufill the vac. amount?
Has anyone tried the points for international travel or the adventures by disney?
What if I change my mind while still paying off the loan/contract?

Thank you for any replies and assistance!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

You really won't save much buying into DVC. You will shell out a bunch of money to buy into the system. Ultimately, you will prepay your future vacations. You will wind up spending a lot more money on Disney that you would if you didn't own DVC. You will get deluxe accomodations for a bit less, but you will pay yearly dues that at this point continue to increase a bit every year. Who knows what the cost of yearly dues will be in 2025?

 

[collins3]

Thank you for the info! My husband and I have been taking a vacation every year for about the last 6 years so I am trying to decide if this will pay off in the long run, and that maybe we will actually go to europe if we have a little help getting there, but your reply exactly describes my biggest concern-annual dues. Thank you !!

 

[chalee94]

Is it really worth it, are the savings real?

can be. depends on how you use it. use it primarily at wdw and avoid weekends as much as possible, and there are considerable savings...if you were planning to go to wdw at least every other year anyway...

if you stop seeing points as dollar-equivalents, and start getting spoiled staying in larger accomodations and going to wdw more often, or making expensive trades because you have the points anyway...then yeah, that makes the savings go away.

To current DVC members, are there any special savings or promotions that a newby may not know about when purchasing for the first time. I've heard that knowing a member is a big help?

there are some promotions where allowing a member to refer you is a bonus...i don't know what they are running right now, tho.

What if you don't have the amount of points total for a specific vacation, can you just pay cash to fufill the vac. amount?

not exactly. you may be able to get a 25% discount on the cash price of a DVC room, if available. you may be able to do this to some extent on trades for cruises...i'm not sure.

Has anyone tried the points for international travel or the adventures by disney?

if you're looking for savings, you need to plan to use 80-90% of your points at wdw. point costs at DVC resorts are relatively fixed - that is not so much true of trades/cruises, where point costs can rise from year to year.

if you are looking for a timeshare to trade to europe and so on, you can find options with cheaper dues than DVC.

 

[dismorgh]

Hello, I am thinking about buying into DVC directly through disney, 160pts@animal kingdom, but I have so many questions.
Is it really worth it, are the savings real?

Depends. If you are planning a Disney vacation at least every other year, and prefer Deluxe resorts, then probably. Our vacation this year would cost us over $4,000 for the room alone! We will be at the break even point in about 4 years.

To current DVC members, are there any special savings or promotions that a newby may not know about when purchasing for the first time. I've heard that knowing a member is a big help?

Just the current $8 or $10 off, plus developer points.

What if you don't have the amount of points total for a specific vacation, can you just pay cash to fufill the vac. amount?

Sure, or you can bank/borrow points for a longer stay.

Has anyone tried the points for international travel or the adventures by disney?

Not yet, but maybe in the future. Obviously, not the best use of points, but YMMV.

What if I change my mind while still paying off the loan/contract?

Sell it. Relatively easy to do.

Thank you for any replies and assistance!!

The DIS is a great source of information. Keep asking!

 

[disney dumbo]

Is it really worth it, are the savings real?

IMHO.... YES!!!!
This can be justified any way you want... to get the answer you want.
The way I like to justify it... it is the simpliest (fits my brain!)... and gives me the answer that I want! Take the contract price per point divide by number of years add the MF/year/point... multiply by the points required for your stay... compare that to the Disney web site prices.

Could you get a discount on Disney prices? Maybe... but that's all at their timing... their availablity... no guarantee.

I do not want to pay the prices on the Disney web site for villas!

We splurged this past Christmas... had a 2BR at WLV... I would have NEVER paid Disney what they charge for that villa... $5,700.
I paid 182 points.

DVC can be complicated... mainly because of my doing... but bottom line... wish I had joined Day 1.

Best advice I can give... read these boards... lots of great posts from super smart people
I'm hoping to get there one day!

 

[Granny]

Is it really worth it, are the savings real?

This is a very common question asked here. You might want to check out THIS RECENT THREAD on the same topic. It has some excellent responses.

 

[dianeschlicht]

In reality, if it is worth it to YOU is the real question. For us, it is definitely worth it! We were going about every 2 years prior to buying DVC and staying on site mostly at Deluxe or moderate resorts. When we figured out two trips in a deluxe would pay for an initial contract (this was 11 years ago), it was a no brainer for us. Once we became members, our travel habits changed. We LOVED having the ability to travel multiple times and bring family and friends with us, so we purchased additional points right away. Now our routine is to go anywhere from 1-3 times a year.

 

[AKV707]

For us, it is also worth it. 14 trips to WDW from 1993-2007 in mods and deluxe. Looked at DVC many times and never bought in. (wish we had done it earlier) Finally, this pasy summer, we became members. We simply look at iot as paing for tomorrow's vacations at today's prices. Sure the dues will go up, but so will resort rates. The point charts are locked in for decades, so we know as we go along, the value will increase. We see no end to our WDW trips, so DVC works for us!

 

[culli]

I struggled with this one too. But I have a 5, 2 and 1 year old and my Mom travels with us often. We went to Disney in Nov for 7 days 6 nites (went way too fast) and got two rooms at Port Orleans - I decided we are going to WDW every year or at least every other. I started planning out the trip and doing #'s for moderate and also deluxe for 2008- WOW it was expensive. I did various research into many options broke down the WDW costs etc.

I then looked into DVC as an option and with the current incentive we bought 225 at SSR (about 22K) and got 225 2007 pts and banked plus 160 DP. The wife and I planned on taking a quick trip to WDW in Feb before we bought. We just bought and quickly changed our room reservations and used my DP - saved me around $600 in what I was going to pay for rooms. We are getting a studio (would be $325 a nite) at SSR. I planned a 10 day 9 night over turkey day time in a 2 BDR at SSR using mostly the "free" 2007 pts and DP (I have to do some changing but assume I can use them at 7 months). The 2 brd would have cost us about $6700 and combine that with studio we are using in a few weeks of $1300 without diping into my 2008 pts. Ok this is draging out but in less that a year I'm getting about 8k in rooms back already. However.............I doubt I would pay that much for a room if I had to pay out of pocket - but........2 rooms at a moderate would be in excess of $2k easy not to mention what a deluxe would cost. I'm getting much nice "luxury" accomidations I probably wouldn't pay for at "full" cost.

If you add in the ability to stay at disney in great accomodations cook our own meals, washer/dryer etc and for how we will use it..........yup it is a good deal. Now you will have to run through something similar for your own situation. Sorry to bable but I did run throught diffent options a few hunderd times and for how OUR family will use it - it will be cost effective.

 

[JsMom2]

I believe it's worth it. I just joined last October, and then added on points in November and December. I've spent around $40,000 on DVC, and have already booked almost $16,000 of vacations.

For some trips, you are not really saving money but the important thing is that you've prepaid for your trips for the future. Plus I love the idea that my DD and grandchildren can continue to benefit from this for years to come.

I'm in the military, so when I retire my income will be drastically reduced. However, by buying into DVC now I'm ensuring that we'll still be able to take luxury vacations even with the reduced income.

Wendy

 

[Princess Tinkerbell]

We just purchased in December and we are so excited!!! We did all the math and it does seem like a good value for us. We go at least once a year and stay at Deluxe resorts. It's hard to do a dollar for dollar average, but even the most conservative amount we put on it still had us breaking even (not includidng dues) in about six years (the least conservative had it at about three years).

The best unexpected benefit was the freedom to go w/ the flow a little more b/c we know we will return at least once a year. We had planned to go to the AK only one day on our last trip and were very tired so we skipped it and just hung out by the pool all day b/c we knew we would be returning in about six months. For our upcomming trip, we are doing the campfire movie and I don't mind at all that I am going to miss a night of entertainment at the parks b/c I know I will get my fill.

The referral from a current DVC member only applies for parts of the special offers. Here is a link to DVCnews.com (great site for me when I was deciding) that explains the special offers and when a referral is required. If you need one, anyone on this board would help out (there is probably a need a referral thread somewhere).

http://dvcnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=227&Itemid=173

GL!!!