help,cant decide?

[ChipnDaleRule]

I have been sat all day doing the figures on DVC v DIY booking, and i cant see much difference (at the moment).I have based my figures on a 14 night stay in august (which at the moment is free dining) at BC. Adding flights and spends together i only come up with a small saving. Disney online flight inclusive seems to be a really good deal.
I know DVC is more than the money, but still its a big part.

Help needed please

 

[Sid74]

We got into DVC on our first trip to WDW. I had been looking into it for a while, as the idea of locking in the costs for the next 50 years of Disney interested me.

I am a fussy eater due to a couple of medical conditions, so after a few days of not managing to eat much, and largely getting by on milk, DH decided he wanted to find out more about DVC, as he was interested in the full kitchen, and us being able to make sure I could eat properly. We were lucky in that we managed to buy at just the right time. Due to the exchange rate being $2 to £1, it cost us the same as 3 holidays to WDW, and that was staying at the values.

What figures are you using for the price of DVC? Are you using the buy in cost of points, or are you using the rental cost?

What questions do you want answering?

Some of the enjoyment of DVC is being able to stay in 1, 2 or 3 bedroom villas, with the full amenities of home, washer and dryer, seperate bedrooms and living areas, and some is from the upgraded features, bathrooms with whirlpool tubs, private balconies or patios, proximity to WDW.

 

[mark&sue]

I too am not sure what you are asking but now we have found the treehouse villas I have no doubt that we made the right decision in buying DVC and especially at Saratoga Springs Resort/ Price a treehouse up without DVC



susan

 

[ChipnDaleRule]

Ok, I am looking at about 275 points for AK which roughly at todays exchange rate is £13,700 (resale). On top of that is the flights (£3700 roughly) for 4 of us which have sky rocketed this year,then DP(for us thats a must)£1500, park tickets (£960)and of course spending money(£1000 ish),then annual dues (£870).It would be a 14 night once every other year trip. I work that out that we would have to save About £4450 a year to go alternate years.That is not factoring in the price of the points,just what we would always need to spend every trip.

On our last trip we stayed at BC and our holiday cost a similar amount.

Am i looking at this the right way,or am i doing it all wrong?

 

[Elise79]

When you are looking at staying at DVC - what size room are you looking at staying in? If it a studio then it is a fair comparison but if you are looking at a one bedroom then you would need to compare to a one bedroom booked cash.

You will need to buy flights and tickets either way so you can only compare the cost of accommodation and DDP.

Examples: for next august 10-24

AKL savannah view room - £3108 Inc DDP

AKV Savannah view studio - 260 points which the annual dues will be approx £900 plus dining plan (used your figures as I wasn't sure of adults/children) £1500. That gives you a saving of £700 towards your purchase.

The thing that throws the figures for you is the DDP.

We used to think we needed the DDP then last time we decided to try without and we saved money and we ate what and where we wanted. We didn't stop ourselves from buying anything.

Next time we are getting APs so we can get a TIW card and our savings over the DDP will be even greater.

 

[mark&sue]

To make it value for us we go twice in 12 months so get the $100 discount per person off annual passes, then don't go for two to three years. We stayed in the treehouse in July and have booked again for April. For cash this is $700 a night. So definately a saving there. Nothing comes close to the privacy of these villas. There will be another family with us and we intend to have some nights chilling in the treehouswe with picky bits to eat and of course our own alcohol which is not included in the dining plan and as we are all big drinkers this saves us money.

We will dine in Disney restaurants (we have the Tables in Wonderland and annual pass for discounts) but don't want to feel tied to Disney we can walk down to crossroads and go to chilis like we did last year (two for one cocktails) or try the Olive Garden.

Completely co-incidentally both these dates last July and April don't have free dining and this is the time we wanted to go. DVC is for life and you just don't know how long free dining will last or whether it will be for the dates you want i.e special anniversaries or birthday.

We use a Virgin Credit card so get better deals on flights We are paying £3,000 for all seven of us to fly out in April.

Good luck on your decision


susan

 

[dadolan]

During certain months Disney offer highly discounted offers at certain resorts. We used one of these 2 years ago at Saratoga Springs which was a cracking deal but we couls get nothing like the same deal if we wanted to go at Xmas for example.
It was a result of that trip that we bought into DVC and as a result are spending Xmas in a Treehouse villa!!! Best decision we've made

 

[paulh]

you have to rember that the free ddp will not always be there,once the economy picks up they will start to remove it or tailor it differently(its changed a lot over the last few years already)
Once you have bought you have locked in your price you only have dues to pay each year .Rack room rate can go up and up
For us we have had it since 1999 and without it we would not have done the stayed at xmas, cruise or stayed a t California without it.
On a price comparison it should take 6-7 trips to pay for itself based on a mod resort
For us it has
Paul

 

[ohana7]

Each year I go through the same thing, then I look at Saratoga or Old Key West and think DVC is expensive, then I look at the other resorts Wilderness Lodge (one of our home resorts) BLT, Beach Club and realise that without DVC I could not go to them. We have also had a few great cruises, and stayed at the GF with bonus points. Remember you may buy your home resort, but you also have the oportunity to go to many others. ( Grand californian,Vero, HH and Hawaii soon)