has anyone found DVC to be...

[kmurawski]

We could not have made a better choice in DVC. Yes, we do think it is economical and something to pass on to our son. We have the ability to share vacations with our family in a comfortable home-like setting.

 

[buzz5985]

When I was a little girl - my grandparents rented a cottage in Hampton Beach NH, every summer. All the Aunts and Uncles were there, being the oldest, the cousins started joining us.

My DVC offers me the opportunity to offer that vacation with our families. Our first trip using DVC we brought DH's family to HHI in a GV. This summer I am bringing my family to OKW and HHI. To us that was what it was about - being able to share the experience.

 

[Chester's Mum]

I don't know if I'd call it an economical way to travel to Disney. For me it was an economical way to upgrade to a better quality of accomodations.

I have travelled to "The World" almost every year since 1987. I found that my taste in accomodations has escallated, until finally in 2007 my cost for just rooms was in the vicinity of $2700 (14 nights-all stars, coronado then contemporary). I had thought about purchasing but didn't want to commit to the $16,000 up front. So I bought in with a 60 point resale. About a month after I closed I added on 40 points.

I bought DVC thinking I'd finally be satisfied with my accomodations and we stayed in a studio this year. Amazing as it was, after I viewed the 2 bedroom model unit at Boardwalk, I can't stop thinking about adding on more points. Anybody see a pattern here?

Economical? Not really.

Good value? Definitely.

 

[Mtnman44]

Just keep in mind that Disney did not create this program in order to get LESS money out of people.

 

[starbox]

We view DVC as a "vacation upgrade" rather than "discount plan" and absolutely spend more now - but I think that over the life of the contract, we'll end up spending less on average.

Then again - would we spend over a week at a Disney resort every year for 50 years w/out DVC? Probably not.

 

[timp718]

We waffled on DVC for almost a year, then bought in '04. DGF and I looked at it like this, prior to DVC 66% to 75% of our vacations were @ WDW. We both enjoy the World, even w/o kids(yet). Our decision was of course based on our unique situation. We live 3 to 4 hours away, my mom lives 1 hour away(kill two birds with one stone on most trips). We often invite family/friends to join us, so flexibility of a 2 BDRM works great(until my sisters want to come with their kids over Easter week, ouch Premier season). Do we go more often? Yes probably, but we try to be smart. A weekend trip, we might book a regular resort when the price is right(FL res/Passholder Discounts). In '06 we had most of the extended family(7 people) celebrate Christmas @ HHI, that probably wouldn't happen w/o DVC. After looking at our use patterns over the first 2 years or so, we added on minor pts at other resorts we enjoyed staying at(BWV, OKW, BCV) to compliment our original SSR purchase. Now the main problem is DGF getting time off to go, my schedule is ultra flexible so Sun-Thurs is perfect, but not for her now(originally it was). Was it worth it, yes. Do we spend more on "leisure" spending, probably not. If we weren't @ WDW, we would spend the money somewhere else.

 

[Chellymouse]

We bought into DVC for many reasons, one being we travel to WDW frequently and our costs have been rising considerably. Is is economical? This year, yes. I'm taking my BFF in August for a "girls week" and to celebrate the end of my first year of grad school for a week and DH and I are going for 9 days in December. For what DVC has cost us, we are basically getting 2 trips for the price of one had just DH and I gone in Dec. staying at POR-FQ. We are planning on adding on in the future to take advantage of some of the other vacations offered and while it's not the best use of our points, it's going to enable us to travel to places that normally would have taken us a year or two to plan and save.

 

[luvthattink]

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Someone stated that Disney is expensive. I beg to differ because I was just at Hershey Park, PA. When in Disney I bought a 4 pack of drawer knobs for $12 (they have 4 Mickey parts) A drawer knob at Hershey was about $6-7 for one. So compared to other amusment parks Disney is not expensive.

I am SOOOO glad that you made this point. I live 10 mins from Hershey and we have season's passes. We went to Disney in May 2005 and paid like $6 for a kids meal, when we came home and I went to Hershey for the first time that season I about choked when they wanted almost $10 for a chicken fingers kids meal !!! And that was consistently what I found as I paid for different things...I kept saying to my dh and my parents (who go with us to Disney and also have HP passes) "Ya know....if we were at Disney we'd be paying way less for this!"

Now for my two cents. We are a family of six plus we always take my parents with us so DVC made a whole lot of sense for us. We got enough points to do a 10 day trip (we now go 12, so we have been talking about adding on) and its soooo nice to not have to get two separate rooms and try to cram everyone in there and be on top of one another. Its very nice to be able to get a 2 bdrm villa and spread out. Its also super nice to be able to throw in some laundry at the end of the day rather than sitting in a laundry room or having 80 loads when we get home. It hasn't changed our travel habits other than adding on two days. And the big thing for us was with the rate that prices for rooms go up at Disney the fact that we would, year after year, consistently be able to get the same type of accommodations without the rise in price was great...basically buying tomorrow's vacations for today's prices was appealing to us.

That being said, obviously this is a money maker for Disney as they are securing future business, tickets, retail, dining etc....but for us that's ok we'd do it anyway!

 

[Inkmahm]

DVC can save you money - but not if it changes your travel habits!

After DVC, many here say they go more often, stay in larger accommodations than originally planned, and treat friends and family. They would never have done those things before/without DVC. While wonderful to do, none of those things make DVC a way to "save" money, LOL.

We tended to go every year and stay in either a moderate or deluxe on site resort. Since DVC, we have treated family a few times and are now going a little more often, but in total, I think we have spent less on WDW lodging post DVC than we did pre-DVC. (We were fortunate enough to buy in when the price was $65 per point).

We are spending more on transportation (more trips) and about the same on tickets (due to excellent DVC discount on annual passes). I think we are spending more on restaurants. Since we are not so focused on "commando" park touring, trying all the higher end restaurants is more enjoyable. We are definitely spending WAY less on souvenirs, LOL.

We still vacation other places, but do not use DVC points to do it.

All in all, WDW vacations are a luxury and DVC is a commitment to regular, fairly expensive vacations. I don't recommend it to anyone who doesn't have the discretionary income to support it. JMHO. YMMV

Exactly! And it ALL started with those first darn annual passes that we bought. We had been going once per year to Disney and staying in Deluxe. Then I added a December trip and annual passes with the logic that we could go twice each year and then maybe a long weekend here and there if there was suddenly a good airfare sale and we could get a room discount with the A/P. yeah, right.

That annual pass purchase lead to more trips and a DDE card. THAT lead to us looking at and buying DVC. THAT lead to us bringing family with us quite often and paying for a lot of their expenses, too.

Save money with DVC? If I save any more money, I'l be in the poor house. (Just joking there, but I do agree that DVC is not for you unless you have the discretionary income to support the habit.)

 

[Inkmahm]

Its been a good value - but its been one of the LEAST economical things we've ever purchased. DVC and the year my husband decided to develop a taste for wine as my anniversary gift - now THAT has been expensive - its really nice to share a bottle with him, and "create memories" but my developing a taste for Bud Light would have been far more economical.

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that this year we're adding a trip in October to try the Food and Wine festival for the first time. I expect that will turn out much like the trip in December to see the holiday decorations- it will be an annual event from now on. That means we're there at least once in spring, October and December each year. Without that first annual pass purchase that started us down the road to Disneymania...

 

[crisi]

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that this year we're adding a trip in October to try the Food and Wine festival for the first time. I expect that will turn out much like the trip in December to see the holiday decorations- it will be an annual event from now on. That means we're there at least once in spring, October and December each year. Without that first annual pass purchase that started us down the road to Disneymania...

You COULD alternate December and October....airfare from Minneapolis (are you on that end of Wisconsin) isn't getting any cheaper! But I hope you like F&W. October is "our time" at Disney - not for Food and Wine but because the kids get a school break, but this will be our last October (boo!) My husband works in Corporate for one of the Twin Cities big retailers and October is just too close to the holiday for him. So we are looking at the end of August (hot! but the kids are out of school)

 

[ZekeKelso]

My story is a bit unusual, but one of my main reasons for buying into DVC was to allow me to spend *more*.

I'm frugal. No matter how much money I have in the bank, it's almost impossible for me to stay in a Deluxe resort, or even a Moderate. I just can't do it. Nor could I ever pay $700/night for a "room" - even if it is a 2BR BW-view apartment in the heart of summer.

But now that I own DVC, I've got the points; they have to be used. Even though 70 points/night seems a bit crazy - I'm doing it. It's not money - just points.

And owing DVC allows me to treat my family. It's not socially acceptable for me to call up my brother, ask him on vacation, and offer to pay for his room. But I can offer to let him stay in my "free" timeshare.

 

[Inkmahm]

You COULD alternate December and October....airfare from Minneapolis (are you on that end of Wisconsin) isn't getting any cheaper! But I hope you like F&W. October is "our time" at Disney - not for Food and Wine but because the kids get a school break, but this will be our last October (boo!) My husband works in Corporate for one of the Twin Cities big retailers and October is just too close to the holiday for him. So we are looking at the end of August (hot! but the kids are out of school)

Alternate... hmmm.. never crossed my mind! I only seem to ADD trips to Disney, very rarely do I delete trips! Not a bad idea though.

We actually fly out of Milwaukee, we're in a suburb here.

 

[disneymayz]

We would go a lot more if the airfare was not so high.

 

[sajetto]

My story is a bit unusual, but one of my main reasons for buying into DVC was to allow me to spend *more*.

I'm frugal. No matter how much money I have in the bank, it's almost impossible for me to stay in a Deluxe resort, or even a Moderate. I just can't do it. Nor could I ever pay $700/night for a "room" - even if it is a 2BR BW-view apartment in the heart of summer.

But now that I own DVC, I've got the points; they have to be used. Even though 70 points/night seems a bit crazy - I'm doing it. It's not money - just points.

And owing DVC allows me to treat my family. It's not socially acceptable for me to call up my brother, ask him on vacation, and offer to pay for his room. But I can offer to let him stay in my "free" timeshare.

You have put our own exact situation into words. My husband and I can't stand to spend what is in the bank. Our first trip together was in a value resort and we used every possible strategy imaginable to pinch pennies. With DVC we have forced ourselves to take luxury vacations, take our parents with us, and spend quality family time together. Initially, it was hard for us to make the jump and we spent countless hours talking ourselves into it, but now we feel it was one of the best decisions we ever made. We STILL continue to be very frugal, but we value our one luxury expenditure more than we ever thought we would.