How did you decide DVC was worth the money?

[dobball23]

I would love to buy into DVC, however, I am having a tough time convincing myself it is worth the money. How did you crunch the numbers and find out it was worth it?

My wife and I have gone to WDW in 2007 and 2009 for at least a week and stayed at Coronado Springs. We wouldn't mind continuing that every-other-year pattern (at least!) in the future.

 

[Dean]

I would love to buy into DVC, however, I am having a tough time convincing myself it is worth the money. How did you crunch the numbers and find out it was worth it?

My wife and I have gone to WDW in 2007 and 2009 for at least a week and stayed at Coronado Springs. We wouldn't mind continuing that every-other-year pattern (at least!) in the future.

I think there are various ways to approach the buying decision. DVC only works from a financial standpoint for those traveling to Disney routinely, who value staying on property at a moderate or above, would use the points at only DVC resorts and can afford it. Even then it will often provide a better value but NOT save money, esp if you've tended to find discount codes. I'll repeat, DVC will almost certainly not save you money in the long run but it may give you better value for that money depending on your situation and preferences. The best financial comparison is between a hotel room and a studio or two hotel rooms and a 2 BR. I don't feel people should finance such a luxury purchase but everyone has to make their own decisions in that regard. That said, for the right situation, DVC is a great option and can be a great value. There are many nuances and one needs to realize the risks and compromises involved which are many but not dramatic overall assuming one understands the product going in.

Also, one needs to understand the alternatives including off site hotels and timeshares. There are a number of off site options that are just as nice or nicer that are a fraction of the price, when I say fraction, I mean often 5-10%.

 

[gracelrm]

We decided to become members after our third child was born. We loved going to WDW and knowing we would eventually have to start getting two rooms is what convinced us to go with DVC. Having said that, even since becoming members, we have stayed at POR several times in the rooms that sleep 5. I can't really say that DVC has saved us any money or was a great financial decision, but like Dean said, it fits our lifestyle and has made our travel to WDW more pleasant. DVC has allowed us to take extended family twice on trips they would have never taken if we hadn't provided the accommodations. It has allowed us to go to HH & VB during our fall break almost every year since 2001. We have made family vacations a priority. Without DVC, we probably wouldn't have traveled as much.

 

[dobball23]

Thanks for the feedback.

It basically sounds like DVC provides a better value (perhaps I stay at AKL Kidani Village instead of Coronado Springs) for the money, but it won't necessarily make our vacations cheaper.

I would love to hear opinions/thoughts from others as well.

 

[javamom]

First pull out your long term goggles or telescope. Get a long range vision.

Pull out your receipts or other records. Add up what you have already spent for just the lodging portion of your visits. You may have to estimate this, if you cannot remember. Price out a resale or DVC direct contract that you think will fit your family today, and possibly tomorrow.

Keep in mind that rack rates will increase and promos will come and go.

For us, it made sense after our second Disney trip that our family would be more comfortable in DVC rooms, and we were going to spend the money anyway. DVC just makes all of that easier, because that room expense is already paid.

Essentially, down the road it'll be the hedge bet of maint fees vs rack rates.

Finally, if it doesn't work out for you down the road, sell the contract. You won't make a profit, but you will gain back some of that investment. SO, really, if you were going to spend the money at Disney anyway, it's a win!!

 

[AirGoofy]

I'm not really sure you can reach this solely as a financial decision. It really depends on your Disney experience.

There are many who talk about DVC as an "investment" or "savings". But, there are so many unpredictable factors - the cost of increasing annual member dues vs. the cost of future discount offers, etc. Then, there are the comparables - is a moderate resort room vs DVC studio the same? What if the DVC studio has a MK view at BLT or savanna view at AKL? As you mentionned, would you stay in AKL if you did not have DVC? Finally, there are those that say it is cheaper at DVC because they can cook all their meals in the villa (in 1 bedroom). But, I don't want to cook on vacation.

Ultimately, we did join DVC and are happy with it because of the total experience. And, we are planning to purchase another contract once we have saved the full amount for purchase. DW and I honeymooned there 10 years ago in September, and even without dds (8,6) we know we will continue to return. With DVC, we are now able to go twice a year (Spring/ Fall). We don't have to stay at value resorts anymore (yeah). I don't feel compelled to do every theme park during every visit. We pick the theme parks on which DVC resort we are staying. I like the variety, being able to vacation at Vero Beach or Hilton Head one time and then Disney the next. And, one year, we will make it to Hawaii for a vacation as well.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Dean]

Thanks for the feedback.

It basically sounds like DVC provides a better value (perhaps I stay at AKL Kidani Village instead of Coronado Springs) for the money, but it won't necessarily make our vacations cheaper.

I would love to hear opinions/thoughts from others as well.

You can also work out the costs for yourself. Purchase prices (retail and resale) are easy to find. The points charts are listed at the top of this page. Dues for various DVC resorts are listed several places here on DIS and elsehwhere. You likely know already what you've been spending though you could look at rack rates and known discounts as a starting point for the cash options, you mentioned CSR. After that you've got to make some assumptions and decisions about YOUR variables.

• How much do you discount rack rates if any.
• Do you include the time value of money and any interest paid if applicable in your decision making.
• Assumptions of impact or inflation on dues and regular hotel rooms.
• Will you sell later, if so, what % of value will you likely retain based on purchase price, location and length of contract.
• Personal risks including job loss, etc.

Some will compare to DVC rack rates but to me that's a fools comparison unless you'd actually stay at DVC on cash or in suites consistently. Also realize you'll miss out on promotions such as free dining or at best, you'd have to go outside of DVC to take advantage.

Just for fun, lets compare a studio at SSR to CSR for 7 nights. Just quick and dirty, you have a buy in around 120 points or roughly $8K with closing and yearly fees of $650 a year roughly current dollars. Basically you'd be spending AROUND $1000-1100 per year in todays dollars for a room for a week and that ignores that DVC is a depreciating asset but takes into account the earnings you could have had on the buy in. If you add an allowance for depreciation, you're up to a cost of $12-1300 per year for that studio for a week ROUGHLY.

If you figure you could essentially always get a discount of at least 10-20% and up to 42% for the cash room, you'll have a good starting point there. That puts you at about break even comparing SSR resale for a studio to CSR with a 20% discount taking into account the taxes you'll pay cash but not DVC. Using the same comparison for a deluxe clearly favors DVC but you do give up some options such as housekeeping. If you use a resort that costs more points, the numbers shift but not that much. If you compare between 2 rooms and a 2 BR, you get similar numbers though slightly less favorable but pick up the kitchen as an added benefit. A 1 BR will almost always cost you more unless you really use the kitchen.

I'm not trying to do a spreadsheet for you, just get you to thinking about the variables and the assumptions you'll have to make in such a comparison.

 

[cvjw]

We bought into DVC when our family of 4 could no longer fit into the regular Disney rooms comfortably. We had been visiting Disney at least once a year for 10 years, and knew that we would continue to visit at least that much. We bought resale last year, and have since added on 2 times, with one more contract currently at Disney for ROFR. We started out in 1 bedrooms, but quickly found out that we had rather stay in 2 bedrooms, and those are more points. We also originally bought enough points for 1+ weeks per year, but we are now planning on 3+ weeks per year. Besides the cost of the contract, be sure to figure in maintenance fees, yearly annual passes, and the extra costs of visiting Disney. DH and I just figured out how much per month we are now paying Disney for our points, annual passes, dining plans, and incidentals, and we were both shocked! It's a good thing we love Disney.

 

[Sandisw]

We have been going to Disney most years since 1994 and bought last year when they built BLT. We liked staying at the CR due to its location to MK, our favorite park. The other DVC resorts didn't really interest us. Now that we have BLT and can still walk to MK, it made sense.

As far as financial, I looked at what it was costing me for my yearly trips and decided if I could own DVC and have 1 bedrooms instead of the hotel room at CR for no more than I was currently paying, it would be a good deal. My typical vacation for our family of 5 ran around $5000 per year so that was my target.

When I ran all the numbers, I realized that DVC would not cost me more, and in the long run, less so we went for it. Now that our family trips will most likely be 3 for a while (two are in college), the money I am saving each year is going to replenish what I took out to pay for DVC. Initially, we were going to finance but worked it by using the Disney Visa to get 6 months with 0% interest that was enough time to "pay cash".

Of course, we plan to visit WDW for years to come and are thrilled with our membership. The great thing is that you can get in to DVC with smaller contracts now, either by going resale or direct, and that may be enough to give you a feel for those EOY trips.

Basically, the way I figured it, I locked myself in to getting to go to Disney at a deluxe resort for at least a 30 - 40% discount. Prior to owning DVC, I kept hoping for a pin code to give me discounts (which never came). Now I don't have to worry about it. Plus, we have several family members who also love visiting Disney and figured there would never be a shortage of people to use up the points if for some reason we could not. Win-win for all!!!

Good luck!!!

 

[Anal Annie]

We felt we were being priced out of the deluxe hotel rooms and started thinking that one day our DS would never be able to afford to bring HIS family to Disney. So we figured buying now while he was still at home to enjoy it with us would be the way to go. We tried one stay at a Moderate first and knew we didn't want to back down any more to a value. We now love knowing that we have lodging for about 14 nights a year SOMEWHERE, prepaid. It lets us take more vacations...but it DOES add up when you figure in flights, meals, annual passes etc. But sooo worth it for us.

 

[stichy]

We bought it on our first family trip. We stayed at Sports during Pop Warner week. I had no clue going into it that it was Pop Warner week. I could tell DH really didn;t like the value. I held off on sugguesting the DVC tour until our last day at the park. We were waiting in line for ever for a bus to the park. We took the tour and I was ready to give them the deposit. DH said we need to go home and discuss it. He make a spread sheet factoring in a percentage of dues each year for inflation. He decided it wouldn't be a bad idea and he uisually gives into most things I want. At the time we lived in DE and figured we would only visit once a year because of airline costs. # months later we got transfered to CHarlotte NC so we are only about 8 hours away. This means we go way more frequently.

 

[Brian Noble]

It basically sounds like DVC provides a better value (perhaps I stay at AKL Kidani Village instead of Coronado Springs) for the money, but it won't necessarily make our vacations cheaper.

I think that is approximately correct.

I'm not really sure you can reach this solely as a financial decision.

I believe that it is important to know the dollars-and-cents costs of owning vs. the cost of your "normal" vacation lodging. You might still decide to buy in---even if it costs more than your "normal" stay---because it provides more desirable accommodations, or because it "feels good" to own, what have you. But, you should still understand what the financial implications are.

 

[Goofy DVC]

I started to look at the whole cost thing a little differently. Most folks and rightly so, compare Disney to Disney or DVC costs to rack rate costs. One thing I started to realize is that we've been members since 1993 and have spent a lot of money at Disney. But, if we were not DVC members, granted we would not have gone to the mouse house as much but we would have spent that money on other vacations or luxuries. Some would have been significantly less than a "disney year" vacation and some more. For me the whole financial is it worth it game is to hard to figure. It makes my head hurt. Bottom line for us is that DVC is the best thing we ever did for our family. We have really enjoyed our years as members.

 

[joandegennaro]

DH and I are 44 and 42. We have 2 DD's currently 17 and 12. We decided (well I decided and it took DH 3 years and 1 DVC stay) that this is where we would like to vacation regularly. While we enjoy the parks, we could and plan to do resort only stays. OKW is our home resort and we will be comfortable in a studio for many years to come with its limited upgrade kitchenette. We are simple folks who are content to eat cereal each day (do it at home) sandwiches for lunch, and simple dinners (pick up a cooked chicken at Walmart) For us this makes for a very inexpesive trip each year. Yes we will dine out if we want to. We do that at home as well What I feel DVC is giving us is a trip every year in a nice resort with upgraded accomodations, it gives us the flexiblity to try the other resorts around WDW to give us some varitey if we want, and it also gives us the flexiblity to pick and choose when we want to travel, how and what type of accomodations we want to stay in ect. We bought in as an investment in our personal vacations, the value is in the fact that we will go away each year. And down the road when DD's marry and have kids we will have a wonderful vacation spot to share with our DGC.

 

[Toonpies]

It was May 2008 and 2 dollars to the pound.

 

[DebbieB]

I always stayed at deluxe resorts, usually room only and was tired of having a big bill to pay when I got home from a trip. I love the 1 bedrooms and $450 a night even with a discount was too much when I wanted to go twice a year.

 

[TEK224]

In 2004, I stayed 5 nights at WL. The next year I made a reservation to stay at the Poly. When I figured out that the cost for those two stays would total almost $4000 dollars, I cancelled the Poly and bought in at SSR. Added on the following year. Haven't had a regret since!

Terri

 

[Tiger926]

We stayed in moderate for approx 8 nights, 1x per year. When we crunched our numbers, we took our buy-in cost, our dues and came to a number that was just slightly more than staying in a moderate for 8 nights, but for this amount, we can stay in 1 bedrooms! We realized it was worth it once we saw the actual figures. We only go 1x per year, keeping our costs down, and if we decide to go more than 1x, we just take that as an extra vacation, as we would have done a weekend away anyway. We currently have 360 points, which can get us a 1 bedroom in the summer for approx. 10-13 nights (depends upon resort), and so for a wee bit more than our vacations would have cost us, we are now staying in way bigger accommodations, with laundry, jacuzzi and full kitchen, which saves money on food!

It is worth it to us! Good luck in your decision, Tiger

 

[dstevens]

Did anybody mention the fact that you own DVC for a period of years? My wife and i debated strongly about purchasing DVC. We live in Delaware have 2 unmarried children, 19 and 22,and a married son, 25 with a 19 month old Grand Daughter and his wife. We purchased a share in AKL Kidani for 48 years. They start at 50 years and depending on when you buy in determines the life of your DVC. We are in our 40's so we plan on being around a number of years to use DVC. Even if something were to happen it can be transfered or sold for the life left on the DVC. We like the cooking facilities in each room. We have a membership in Owners Locker so we have a crock pot and other items stored safely in WDW year round. A crock pot is a wonderful thing and a huge money saver over eating out. We don't go to the parks every day during our stays. There is more to do then go to the parks daily.

 

[JimMIA]

You've gotten a lot of good advice already and you'll get a lot more. My advice is to really go to school on DVC and see how the system would fit your family's needs. DVC is a very good timeshare program and it's fairly straightforward, but no timeshare is for everyone.

I guess the one caution I'd give is that owning a timeshare is a longterm thing, so don't look shortterm. Think about using DVC for years, not your next WDW trip.

Also all timeshares work best for people who are able to plan, book and keep reservations quite a bit in advance. Most of them are not great for short-term planners, and DVC is certainly not a good last-minute option.

I'd put the money stuff on the back burner until you really understand how the system works, and there is no better place to learn than right here on the DIS. Read everything you can find and question everything until you are satisfied you understand how DVC works. It's not hard to learn, but it does take time and effort.