Help! Need some major DVC analysis help!

[december14disney]

Hi all,
I was hoping you could help me analyze a DVC membership. We are currently looking at buying resale AKV at 87 a point 100 points for a total of 8700.00. I was trying to crunch some numbers but I am having trouble comparing DVC to what is comparable to DVC (for example staying at AKV is comparable to AKL) versus what we DO. My FI and I could afford to stay ALK savannah every time but instead we always opt to stay POR during Oct-Dec room discounts instead of really what we dream of doing. Just because we are like that…pinch one more penny if you will. (I guess that’s why we have the money to buy the contract…but none the less) However, 100 points with DVC could give us two trips to Disney Sun-Thurs one time in a Savannah, one time not. This to me makes it hard to compare with the ONE long weekend discounted trips to POR that we have done in the past—its on another level. If looking at it…two DVC trips Sun-Thurs in Savannah and one trip standard you compare that to two trips to AKL on a Sun-Thurs Savannah and standard one time your break even point is like 5 years! That seems great…but on the other hand that’s NOT what we would have done we would have gone once a year during discounted times like Wednesday-Sunday or something at POR. We also go to NYC for a long weekend every year... And I have trouble finding ANY information on points for other stays besides Disney DVC resorts. So I just feel like I am getting wrong figures. Ugh so frustrating…. Compare DVC to what you have done in the past or the value of vacation you WOULD HAVE every year if you just bit the bullet and did it. Help all---what do you think? And does anyone know where I can find point info for the stays not at Disney DVC hotels?

Thank you,

Katie

 

[CarolMN]

We compared DVC to what we would have done without it. I didn't care about "being fair" or perfect in my analysis. It only mattered to me to see if the purchase would return a good value to us for our vacation money. At the time, I didn't mind staying in the values or moderates, so for my analysis, DVC's better accomodations didn't matter. They were "just gravy". Of course, now I am spoiled and am very happy to stay in the 1 bedroom units and don't want to stay in a regular hotel room anywhere, LOL.

We bought DVC only for stays at DVC resorts. That gives you the most value for your money. We don't use it for the non-DVC resorts or for trading via II.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

We only stay in Deluxe resorts when we go, so it was a simple calculation for us. Using an average of 8% increase in hotel rates (this is the average), the cost benefit to buying in was great. And we were once people who never thought we would buy in because we just didn't think we'd like it or it wasn't worth it.

As for NYC, you're talking about one of the most expensive cities in the world. You can exchange your points, but most people don't think the value is that great (then again, if you look at the cost of a 4-star room in NY, I think there is value).

Have you ordered the Disney Dream Book yet? If not, call for one, it has all the charts you need (and a lot of other information).

 

[Pa@okw95]

Are you talking about staying in a studio at AK? Your 100 points seems a little short for what you are talking about. The cheapest studio during October is 85 points for Sun-Thur? I would call DVC and ask them to send you some point charts to start with if I were you. Having siad that, I like a lot of members do not use the studios at DVC so you may want to consider more points in your purchase. Studios are better than POR that is for sure but are really just a normal hotel room? I your are out all the time and just use the room for sleeping then maybe the studios are the way to go. I woud double check your points situation at least before doing anything, 100 points seems like very little for two trips per year, Sun-Thur.

 

[Halo]

An AKV Points Chart is here.

A Sun-Thurs Savannah View Studio in Adventure season would be 55 points (5 nights x 11 pts per night). With the remaining 45 points from the 100 you are contemplating purchasing you would be able to book a further 5 nights in a Standard View Studio (5 x 9 = 45). So, so far so good - your Maths does stack up.

One way to value purchasing DVC rather than cash bookings is as follows:-

The cost of DVC is a combination of the capital up front capital out-lay ($8,700 in your case); and the on-going maintenance cost.

As you are seeking to compare DVC with the cost of staying at POR, you can use this as your base.

Take the cost of staying at POR and project this forward for say 10 years, increasing it each year by say 4% to assume price inflation.

Compare this with the maintenance costs of your AKV points over the same period, and increase these by the same 4%.

The difference between the two is what you need to apply to the capital cost. If you are going to be financing your purchase increase the cost by the interest rate on the finance. If you are paying from savings increase it by the opportunity cost you could have gained from investing the money instead.

In terms of NYC, the point is well made that the best use of DVC points is to stay at DVC. If you do not intend staying for the second 5-day period, you could either buy less points, or you could rent out those points to others at $10 per point +/- and use the difference between this and the maintenance fee payable (say $6 per point) to put towards your weekend in NYC.

I hope this helps.