Found another point that favors the purchase of DVC

[Chause]

We recently purchased a VGC contract and are waiting for ROFR to finish. For us there were many things that favored purchasing, outside of any possible savings. However, that being said, we believed there to be a savings when the totality of the contract is considered. We are from the west coast so VGC is our only real option. Because VGC is the only show in town, we were stuck with the reality of $200 per point and whether or not the intangible value (outside of the $$) was realistic. We were surprised to find that even the monetary value was there. Our contract came to around $30,000. Throwing on $40,000 in lifetime maintenance fees (call it $50,000 since they increase) brings it to $80,000. Just as a snap shot in time to show you where we found the value, I can get about 7-8 nights in a studio in October for 160 pts (our contract). The rack rate for that room on the hotel side is just under $5,000. Push that out over the 40 years remaining and it's potential monetary value is $200,000. I think "savings" is misleading though, because there is no way we would stay at the grand California for 40 years at those rates. To me its only true savings if you were going to stay there regardless, which we would not. However, we do go every year for about a week. We normally stay across from the main gate, so those same 8 nights would run in the $2,000-$3,000 range. Push that out over the 40 years, and on the low end we break even comparatively. On the high end we do actually save a little. But if you consider the quality of product your are getting for your money, the VALUE is definitely there. Of course i'm not speaking to any increased amount of trips, because living in Washington State makes DL or WDW a once a year situation for us . At least that's what ill tell myself for now.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Really? Maintenance fees increase each year. So do points per night. Comparing AoA to a deluxe DVC, even though AoA is pricey as a value, is apples to oranges. Buying DVC to save money is silly. I bought DVC. Buying a timeshare doesn't mean your vacations are cheaper. It means your room is paid for already. That's really about it. If you save money great, but nearly no one does.

Points per night do not increase every year. There is a fixed number assigned to each resort and that is what it will stay until the resort closes. DVC can do a reallocation (very rare) but if they increase anywhere they have to decrease somewhere else to maintain the same overall resort points total. Because Easter shifts that is a two week period that will vary year to year but that's the season that shifts. Everything else is pretty fixed based on calendar dates.

 

[motherof5]

In recent years at least they raise them once per year.
Has happened in February for at least the last couple of years.
And room rates are generally also only raised once per year as well when the packages become available for the following year which I believe had been August for several years but now I think they've started doing it more in June....

If I understand correctly they can increase room rate but not point value correct?

 

[Matty B13]

Every resort has a set number of points that is sold by DVD representing a "share" of each room for a calendar year. Points for a room category can change during a reallocation, but the total number of points can never change. If one room point category goes up, another one has to fall.

The "value" of the points is determined by DVD when sold direct, and by the "market" when sold by resale.

 

[MamaBelle4]

I know the general consensus is that DVC doesn't save money, but I am convinced otherwise, though we may be a special circumstance.

We can only go 2x every 3-4 years (vacation time & saving up money for trips). But because we are a family of 7, our accommodation options are extremely limited. We only purchased 100 points at SSR and bank/borrow for our trips.

When we rented DVC, it cost us just over $3,000 for one week in the adventure season (I think). For the next, at least, 12 years, we will need a 2 bedroom (if not longer). That averages out to 6 trips, plus the trip we just took using our points for the first time. So, 7 trips (hopefully more ). Our purchase price was just around $9,000. Annual dues are (currently) under $500.

So those 7 trips, renting points, would presumably cost us $21,000. If we are to go 2x every 3 years on average, for those 12 years, that would be 9 trips (including the one we just used) which would be $27,000.

So the $9,000 purchase price plus the annual dues over the next 12 years (assuming a 5% increase each year, which is well above the 3-4% average) estimation of $8,709.84. that brings the total to $17,709.84.

And, yes, I realize that the dues will continue to increase and I could've invested that money else where, but I also didn't include that I pay my dues with gift cards I save 5% or more on, so this is just my way of looking at it.

I didn't go further than 12 years, because once my kids get older and we no longer need a 2 bedroom, I don't know what our needs will be. Maybe we will buy more points to be able to bring the kids and their significant others? Maybe we will travel as a couple only? Maybe we will snatch the grand babies in the middle of the night and just take them .

ETA: had to fix a stupid math error.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

If I understand correctly they can increase room rate but not point value correct?

I would have to assume you are talking about point requirements to trade to hotel rooms? That is fixed for the year when the point charts come out but can and have increased.

If talking about DVC rooms and what Disney charges for cash rates when they rent them out they have control of the room and can charge what they wish. For owners the point requirements stay the same except in the case where DVC would determine a reallocation is required and might shift point requirements around.

 

[Kaleidodad]

Really? Maintenance fees increase each year. So do points per night. Comparing AoA to a deluxe DVC, even though AoA is pricey as a value, is apples to oranges. Buying DVC to save money is silly. I bought DVC. Buying a timeshare doesn't mean your vacations are cheaper. It means your room is paid for already. That's really about it. If you save money great, but nearly no one does.

I don't understand this at all. We bought 100 points last October and will pass the break-even point after about 5-6 years: after that we pay maintenance fees and nothing else for our accommodations going forward. Yes, there's still airfare, tickets, food, etc, but comparing just room costs over time we will absolutely save money.

 

[Jerry5788]

I don't understand this at all. We bought 100 points last October and will pass the break-even point after about 5-6 years: after that we pay maintenance fees and nothing else for our accommodations going forward. Yes, there's still airfare, tickets, food, etc, but comparing just room costs over time we will absolutely save money.

I imagine you are doing break-even based off of rack rate prices and not cost if you rented points correct?

 

[motherof5]

I would have to assume you are talking about point requirements to trade to hotel rooms? That is fixed for the year when the point charts come out but can and have increased.

If talking about DVC rooms and what Disney charges for cash rates when they rent them out they have control of the room and can charge what they wish. For owners the point requirements stay the same except in the case where DVC would determine a reallocation is required and might shift point requirements around.

Thank you

 

[rg35]

I imagine you are doing break-even based off of rack rate prices and not cost if you rented points correct?

I personally wouldn't compare to points rental because I wouldn't want to deal with the risk of renting and having our reservations controlled by an outside party. While I know it goes smoothly the majority of the time, it's not something we would have done for vacation accommodations.

So even though I was aware of renting points when we were considering purchase, I looked at rack rates of deluxe rooms to get a general cost comparison.

 

[AdamsMum]

Really? Maintenance fees increase each year. So do points per night. .

Points per night don't increase every year, I don't know where you got that from. Points have been reallocated a couple of times in the past 10 years or so, but the total number of points in each resort stays the same. At one point they decreased the number of points for weekend nights, but increased for weekday nights. Easter is a different date each year so that point structure is sort of floating. Different seasons, different point costs etc.

I consider that having bought most of my points resale, and staying at a much nicer resort that I'd have been willing to pay cash for, I've received great value for my DVC points. As others have pointed out, I've gone more often and so may not have "saved" money but I certainly have received value for my DVC dollars. Before DVC I usually stayed at moderate resorts and I'm shocked at the increase in the cost of those.

 

[bwvBound]

We are from the west coast so VGC is our only real option. Because VGC is the only show in town, ...

I'm SoCal and seem to be missing something. Why is VGC your only option? We've owned SSR since 2004 (long before VGC was announced) and things have worked well for us. We use our DVC points at WDW locations (mostly BWV), Grand Cal, Aulani and Vero Beach. All good. What am I missing?

 

[Jerry5788]

I'm SoCal and seem to be missing something. Why is VGC your only option? We've owned SSR since 2004 (long before VGC was announced) and things have worked well for us. We use our DVC points at WDW locations (mostly BWV), Grand Cal, Aulani and Vero Beach. All good. What am I missing?

He probably doesn’t travel to Florida if I had to guess? VGC I hear is extremely difficult to book 7 months out so need home resort

 

[NewbieMom]

I'm SoCal and seem to be missing something. Why is VGC your only option? We've owned SSR since 2004 (long before VGC was announced) and things have worked well for us. We use our DVC points at WDW locations (mostly BWV), Grand Cal, Aulani and Vero Beach. All good. What am I missing?

I don't want to speak for the person who posted, but we considered purchasing VGC as a home resort but due to the high $pp decided to buy points at a WDW resort instead. The reason we really wanted VGC points was to have the 11 month booking priority for high demand times that we tend to travel (spring break, summer, holidays). These are difficult times to book VGC at 7 months. However, we are in CA and able to drive to DL on relatively short notice and don't need an entire week's stay at VGC. With that in mind, we decided to forego the high VGC prices. But I would venture a guess that the poster might be a little farther from DL or can't go last minute and need the home priority.

 

[Chause]

Yep, exactly what the previous two people said. We are within driving distance of Disneyland (Washington state, so not a quick jaunt) and only have an interest in going to WDW every five years or so. I had thought about going the route of buying a WDW resort for the cheaper points and then just cross our fingers every year, but that’s not practical. Especially after all the stories I’ve heard about the nightmare scenarios of booking 7 months at VGC. To add to that all my family is in the OC, so it will serve not only Disneyland purposes. “Book where you want to stay” everyone says, especially true with DVC in Southern California. Payed ALOT more to not roll the dice every year, but I’m ok with it.

 

[bwvBound]

Yep, exactly what the previous two people said. We are within driving distance of Disneyland (Washington state, so not a quick jaunt) and only have an interest in going to WDW every five years or so. I had thought about going the route of buying a WDW resort for the cheaper points and then just cross our fingers every year, but that’s not practical. Especially after all the stories I’ve heard about the nightmare scenarios of booking 7 months at VGC. To add to that all my family is in the OC, so it will serve not only Disneyland purposes. “Book where you want to stay” everyone says, especially true with DVC in Southern California. Payed ALOT more to not roll the dice every year, but I’m ok with it.

Ok, so more of an "only interest" due to home resort booking advantage. Compelling ... but not a restriction.

 

[NewbieMom]

@bwvBound What would you say is your success rate in booking VGC at 7 months? Do you go during high demand times (school vacation, holidays)? And do you usually stay more than a few days at a time?

I don't have my points yet (first DVC contract pending closing) but I'm hoping to be able to use my cheap points at VGC.

 

[bwvBound]

@bwvBound What would you say is your success rate in booking VGC at 7 months? Do you go during high demand times (school vacation, holidays)? And do you usually stay more than a few days at a time?

I don't have my points yet (first DVC contract pending closing) but I'm hoping to be able to use my cheap points at VGC.

My success rate is pretty high ... I've only missed out on 1 attempted reservation since the property opened. We sometimes book up to three visits in a given year; generally use 1BR units; take advantage of the waitlist; generally stay 2-3 nights; and are not afraid to piece together a reservation by snagging nights as they come along.

That said, we are "drive-to" close-by and have two other timeshare properties nearby as our backup. Sometimes we go simply because I found a couple nights sitting open while stalking the inventory. I can't really say if the reservations are high demand periods or not ... we've stayed twice over Memorial Day weekend, visited in early Dec for decorations, visited in Oct or Nov for special party events but rarely use our points June - Sept due to our UY banking rules.