It sometimes is so easy to fall into some of the negative DVC spin on here, that you start believing what people are saying...that you'd be silly to buy into DVC.
I'm not sure what forums you're seeing this on, but I haven't seen anyone say that buying into DVC is silly. In fact most people on this board, including people who are likely to be critical of your analysis, love their DVC purchase. But then again, I wouldn't expect to see many people in the "Purchsing DVC" DISboard saying buying into DVC is silly. That would be just trolling.
We own at VGF, and most recently purchased another 100 points at Copper Creek. The reason? Because it saves us a bundle. I could have financed my original purchase through Disney (which is frowned on). So I didn't. But just for arguments' sake, if I had, according to the figures they layed out to me, I would have been paying approximately $2000 and small change per year for the 100 points we rented.
A DVC guide is probably not the most objective source for a financial analysis of the value of buying into DVC. I don't know if you're using data from when you bought in to VGF, but maintenance fees are presently at $590 for 100 points and are proposed to go up again to $613 in 2018. Those dues will keep going up and will dwarf the cost of the initial buy in.
Those 100 points allow us to book a studio at the Grand Floridian once per year. Our maintenance fees on those 100 points are $560.16, for a total of a smidge more than $2560 outlay per year. (Granted I put down $3000 as a deposit, but I also got an extra year of points loaded into my contract at purchase). In order to book for the same 5 nights we are staying in April, it would cost me $3600 to book a standard hotel room the the Grand Floridian, that is smaller and less equipped than my villa. So every single year, I'm saving money...and if I financed, after 10 years, $2000 of that yearly expense goes away. So I'm paying only maintenance fees (now $560, but higher in the future)...for a accommodations that are worth (we check every year just to remind ourselves how well we're doing) between $3,000 and $5,000 dollars.
Any formula that adds interest isn't taking into account that if you took and paid for the same vacation per year, that acquisition price is gone pretty quickly. So for the $15k my acquisition was...you can do 5% interest on 12k for the first year (because you would have spent at least 3k for the vacation), 9k for the 2nd year years, 6k, for the 3rd year, 3k for the 4th year, and that's it. That's an extraordinarily insignificant amount of money spread over the 50 years of ownership.
In terms of the financing, you can't just disregard the cost of the financing because of the running savings you are getting from visiting WDW each year (which comparing to rack rates on the hotel side is a bit dubious to start). But after 10 years, you will have paid 33% more in interest on that money than if you had paid cash. Financing on those kinds of terms is not frowned upon without reason. Again, no one can make the argument that it's not the right choice for you, or that all the happiness you will experience going to WDW isn't worth it, but the criticisms of financing are not baseless or without merit.
Sometimes I feel some of you aren't seeing the forest for the trees.
The above doesn't even take into account the boatload we save on Passes, dining, merchandise, etc. etc. Just my 2 cents.
I would argue that those who are critical of the claim that, financially, DVC is a great place to put your money, actually have more clarity about what they're buying into than someone who sees only the positive aspects from their relationship with DVD.
Like you, I love my DVC membership. I love that I'll be going to the park more often and creating great family memories. I'm excited about all the new attractions that are coming to the park. It's a big reason why I bought in. But as an exercise, looking at the 10 years prior to buying into DVC, how many trips did you take to WDW? Now look at the years since buying into DVC, how many trips have you taken? How many future trips do you have lined up over the next few years?
None of this is to say DVC isn't worth it. In fact, I think it's a great and I wish I would've bought sooner. But I don't think you can make the argument that you'll be "saving money" if the number of trips you now take as DVC member deviates from how you traveled to WDW prior to DVC.
DVD is in the business of making money. Period. They are one of the most profitable wings of the Disney Empire. Disney is publicly traded company, and is beholden to it's shareholders to ensure DVD's continued success. That success relies on CMs in the parks who get people in the midst of their most magical vacation ever to take a tour; guides who, on that tour, sell the idea of living this magic over and over again, year after year. Most importantly, that success relies on people like you and me who actually see the value in returning to the parks with our kids; people who see the value in inviting our parents who maybe couldn't afford this sort of luxury when they were busy making sure we grow up to be successful adults; people who value the enjoyment of friends around us who we will generously bring in to experience what we love most about Disney.
All that said, it's a great luxury timeshare. Not a great case for where to put your money. And I see the forest just fine.
