WonderlandsMostWantd
Actively enhancing my muchness.
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2008
- Messages
- 267
I am so excited, I had to share with people who would understand!! 
My explanation is long, so bear with me!
Were a slightly different family my husband and I, are in our early thirties, and we cant have children. Now, Ive been going to Disney with my dad almost every year for the last 10 years on and off, and now that my husband has been to Disney, we intend to continue an annual tradition. My dad spends the winters in Florida (were in MN) so going to Disney in December is how we get our family holiday time in, and give us a MUCH needed chance to get away from daily stress and enjoy ourselves, so weve committed to annual trips every few years or well try to do a non-WDW trip, but weve made a commitment to getting away from home for at least a week a year for our own health, happiness and sanity!
With all of that said, were usually Value-Moderate accommodation commandos, so we first figured, after taking the tour and talking to the guide, that DVC wasnt really geared toward us and we left it alone until about a week and a half ago, when I decided to look at the numbers from a different angle.
Heres how DVC works for us we book multiple rooms every trip! Didnt stop to think about that before! Dad always stays in his own room, and we stay in ours. This year, our roommate is coming along with us, as well as next year the plans were already in place. We have other friends and family who plan on coming with us in a few years. Were looking at a minimum of 2 rooms, usually closer to 3, per trip, and we prefer the quieter, more relaxing feel of Moderate resorts to the hustle and bustle of the Values, so weve been gravitation toward those. So, out of pure curiosity, I decided to run the numbers Wed booked our 3 rooms at a moderate resort, and then I got a PIN code at a rate of 30% off those Mod rooms. Then, I got the financing numbers from a guide at Disney. I ran the numbers for 160 points, assuming the highest financing rate going through at Disney (14.25% right now) plus annual dues for 1 year (which is approximately how long we save for each trip, setting aside money out of each check). The total for 1 year of financing and dues at DVC (assuming the highest possible cost, with financing) wound up being within $20 TOTAL of the cost of 3 moderate rooms, during the value season, WITH a 30% off pin (the lowest possible cost per room) That really got me thinking
So I talked to my dad and my roommate about it. They agreed that if we were getting 2 bedroom villas - DH and I in the master, roommate (or our other friends/family in the future) in the 2nd bedroom and dad on the pullout he insists, he refuses not let our guests have their own bedroom and he can sleep through anything, so hed be more comfortable knowing other people had their own room (the man is a saint, I swear!) wed all still have our own sleeping space, our own bathrooms (in the case of AKL Kidani village anyway, which is where we would buy because weve always wanted to stay at AKL, my DH LOVES Animal Kingdom,) Plus wed have a kitchen which would save money on park food (at least breakfasts, minimum) wed have to pay for if we stayed in a Mod with no kitchen, and free laundry which lightens the packing load. Since dad and the roommate were planning on paying Disney for their hotel rooms anyway, they came up with just paying us what they would have paid Disney for their rooms, to help offset our initial membership buy in. Now, since we get way more long term value and use out of our DVC membership, we retain ownership of it even when nobody else comes with us, and were still technically sharing accommodations, we decided we wouldnt accept more than $100 per night from either of them, which is still far less than theyd be paying for a Moderate, even with 30% PIN (and frankly, we NEVER count on a discount, we were just lucky to fall into that one) and only marginally more than theyd be paying if they stayed at a Value, for far more amenities. So for us, with this set up, were not actually paying any more in accommodation costs than we were paying before. In that respect were breaking even each year were still spending as much on accommodation as we would with multiple rooms in a Moderate resort (with a DISCOUNT that we never expect to see again), and were staying in much better accommodations instead, and getting money saving perks in other areas, for the same out of pocket accomodation cost per year.
This also puts us in a position that down the road when my dad (whos retired already and on a fixed income) can no longer afford to pay for his room (and he WILL insist on paying, as long as he can) we can still bring him to Disney with us, because technically, we arent paying anything extra for him to come (hed never, ever allow us to pay for his room for him, he gets fussy when we buy him dinner when we go out as it is!) Itll be easier for us to use the look, its already covered, so you might as well come with excuse down the road, so we can keep having trips with him.
But for now, hes helping us offset the initial buy in cost of the membership, and that makes him happy.
Now, its also worth mentioning that we did check our finances very closely and determined that even if NOBODY went with us and chipped in for their room, we could still afford our dues and payments every year this was VERY important to us we werent going to buy if we had to actually rely on other people in order to pay for our DVC that would have been a BAD move. But, having friends and family help offset the costs in the begining allows us to loosen our vacation savings budget a bit during the years that we have guests.
My explanation is long, so bear with me!
Were a slightly different family my husband and I, are in our early thirties, and we cant have children. Now, Ive been going to Disney with my dad almost every year for the last 10 years on and off, and now that my husband has been to Disney, we intend to continue an annual tradition. My dad spends the winters in Florida (were in MN) so going to Disney in December is how we get our family holiday time in, and give us a MUCH needed chance to get away from daily stress and enjoy ourselves, so weve committed to annual trips every few years or well try to do a non-WDW trip, but weve made a commitment to getting away from home for at least a week a year for our own health, happiness and sanity!
With all of that said, were usually Value-Moderate accommodation commandos, so we first figured, after taking the tour and talking to the guide, that DVC wasnt really geared toward us and we left it alone until about a week and a half ago, when I decided to look at the numbers from a different angle.
Heres how DVC works for us we book multiple rooms every trip! Didnt stop to think about that before! Dad always stays in his own room, and we stay in ours. This year, our roommate is coming along with us, as well as next year the plans were already in place. We have other friends and family who plan on coming with us in a few years. Were looking at a minimum of 2 rooms, usually closer to 3, per trip, and we prefer the quieter, more relaxing feel of Moderate resorts to the hustle and bustle of the Values, so weve been gravitation toward those. So, out of pure curiosity, I decided to run the numbers Wed booked our 3 rooms at a moderate resort, and then I got a PIN code at a rate of 30% off those Mod rooms. Then, I got the financing numbers from a guide at Disney. I ran the numbers for 160 points, assuming the highest financing rate going through at Disney (14.25% right now) plus annual dues for 1 year (which is approximately how long we save for each trip, setting aside money out of each check). The total for 1 year of financing and dues at DVC (assuming the highest possible cost, with financing) wound up being within $20 TOTAL of the cost of 3 moderate rooms, during the value season, WITH a 30% off pin (the lowest possible cost per room) That really got me thinking
So I talked to my dad and my roommate about it. They agreed that if we were getting 2 bedroom villas - DH and I in the master, roommate (or our other friends/family in the future) in the 2nd bedroom and dad on the pullout he insists, he refuses not let our guests have their own bedroom and he can sleep through anything, so hed be more comfortable knowing other people had their own room (the man is a saint, I swear!) wed all still have our own sleeping space, our own bathrooms (in the case of AKL Kidani village anyway, which is where we would buy because weve always wanted to stay at AKL, my DH LOVES Animal Kingdom,) Plus wed have a kitchen which would save money on park food (at least breakfasts, minimum) wed have to pay for if we stayed in a Mod with no kitchen, and free laundry which lightens the packing load. Since dad and the roommate were planning on paying Disney for their hotel rooms anyway, they came up with just paying us what they would have paid Disney for their rooms, to help offset our initial membership buy in. Now, since we get way more long term value and use out of our DVC membership, we retain ownership of it even when nobody else comes with us, and were still technically sharing accommodations, we decided we wouldnt accept more than $100 per night from either of them, which is still far less than theyd be paying for a Moderate, even with 30% PIN (and frankly, we NEVER count on a discount, we were just lucky to fall into that one) and only marginally more than theyd be paying if they stayed at a Value, for far more amenities. So for us, with this set up, were not actually paying any more in accommodation costs than we were paying before. In that respect were breaking even each year were still spending as much on accommodation as we would with multiple rooms in a Moderate resort (with a DISCOUNT that we never expect to see again), and were staying in much better accommodations instead, and getting money saving perks in other areas, for the same out of pocket accomodation cost per year.
This also puts us in a position that down the road when my dad (whos retired already and on a fixed income) can no longer afford to pay for his room (and he WILL insist on paying, as long as he can) we can still bring him to Disney with us, because technically, we arent paying anything extra for him to come (hed never, ever allow us to pay for his room for him, he gets fussy when we buy him dinner when we go out as it is!) Itll be easier for us to use the look, its already covered, so you might as well come with excuse down the road, so we can keep having trips with him.
But for now, hes helping us offset the initial buy in cost of the membership, and that makes him happy.Now, its also worth mentioning that we did check our finances very closely and determined that even if NOBODY went with us and chipped in for their room, we could still afford our dues and payments every year this was VERY important to us we werent going to buy if we had to actually rely on other people in order to pay for our DVC that would have been a BAD move. But, having friends and family help offset the costs in the begining allows us to loosen our vacation savings budget a bit during the years that we have guests.
And your dad sounds wonderful!
Home! Your Dad sounds like a great guy.
