How high will the $ get?

[ChipnDaleRule]

We are planning to buy into DVC but are waiting for the $ to get to about $1.75. Does anyone out there think it will get there,or higher?

 

[wayneg]

No-one can possibly know. Personally I can't see it for a few years, our economy is in a right mess, not many investors want to put their money into the £ just now. If there are strong signs of a recovery then theres a chance but I don't see it short term(under 2 years)

 

[les2425]

my self i think it may hit $1.60 to the pound sometime this year not to sure when.
just keep a eye out on hear.

les

 

[eeyorefanuk]

Sorry to barge into your post, but have read about people doing DVC. Can I ask is it very expensive, and what do you get for it??

 

[Disneymad]

DVC (aka Disney Vacation Club) is basically a form of Timeshare. It requires an initial lump sum purchase of a contract that lasts a number of years (there are various expirations depending on the home resort you 'buy' but the shortest current contract expires 2039) which then gives you a number of points to spend each year. It's a bit more complicated than that (you can bank and borrow) but essentially that's what it boils down to.

Your points can obviously be spent on rooms in any of the DVC properties but there is also an option to exchange your points with alternative Disney hotels that aren't in DVC and Disney Cruise Line plus there is a deal with RCI who own properties all around the world so if you don't fancy a regular dose of Disney every year or 2 you have options to holiday elsewhere. This is not considered best value for your points but it's not a complete rip off either - just a sub-optimal use of the points.

Regardless of whether you visit/use your points each year you have to pay a yearly maintenance charge. This amount is a cost per point you own so it scales according to how big a contract you have. For an example though I have 2 DVC contracts, one for 160 points at Wilderness Lodge and one for 100 points at the Boardwalk. Last January the total yearly maintenance fee for those 260 points was around $1200-ish I think.

I can't remember what the lump sum I paid for the contracts which was a few years ago now. I do remember that it would take about 10 years or so for me to break even on the contracts though (which is coming soon for me now, wee!) and that was with a fairly average exchange rate. Effectively it will soon just cost me the $1200 a year to stay onsite. 260 points equals about 3 weeks give or take in Value Season depending on the resort I choose to stay in.

DVC isn't particularly good value in the short term, especially with the recent deals Disney have been putting out with free dining etc. However, if you're looking long term, it's a super investment and for me personally it basically means I can afford to stay in deluxe resorts which outside of DVC I just wouldn't have been able to do. Even with the deals the last couple of years I've never regretted buying in to DVC. Not even once.

More information about DVC can be found here on the DIS. If it's something that you think you might seriously consider there's a UK DVC forum too so pop over to that and people would be happy to answer your questions - there's a fair few of us Brits who have WDW as their 2nd 'Home'

 

[Becx N Gav]

Good luck with your decision. I do hope the exchange rate changes but I doubt very much it will improve by that much anytime soon.
I think with the £1/$2 rates we saw a couple of years ago this may have affected people perception of a 'good' exchange rate.
Since I have travelled to the USA (first time in 2000 so not very long) I have seen it go over $1.5/£1 a couple of times but I consider $1.5/£1 to be 'normal'. I was happy getting $1.45/£1 some times!

I really do hope it goes up and would suggest you check daily to see if that happens - have everything planned and ready so you can buy it at that point.

 

[Elise79]

I don't think you are going to see much above $1.60 this year.

We have just added on to our DVC contract and based our costings on $1.45 and when I paid the first part off on Friday I got $1.51 so a good few £ saving.

We bought our inital purchase this time last year and got just over $1.60 - and it hasn't been that high since.

If DVC is right for you the few £££ extra it is going to cost just means it will take you a bit longer to break even.

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

I would love to buy into DVC - I just wish the rate would creep up a little more. We are in no rush - anytime in the next three years would be good!! I have my cash waiting in envelopes to change into dollars - looking out for the next plateau.

 

[Laurafoster]

We were lucky and managed to buy into DVC when the $ rate was really good. Think we got $2.05 to the £.

Just wish i'd got more points now!

 

[howlongtillsummer?]

Well done you!

 

[disneyholic family]

DVC is offering some really great deals right now on OKW and SSR...
OKW is an especially good value as the cost/point is almost back to what it was when it first was built and the contract has been extended so it's back to a long contract...

so unless you really really really want a particular property as your home property (and are able to plan your holidays 11 months in advance), i'd go with OKW if it's still available (when i was there two weeks ago, the rate per point was $92 and you only had to buy 50 points - much less than usual)..

there are other advantages of DVC ownership - special discounts , special receptions, etc..

also, you really only have to go once every 3 years - you can bank one years points to the next year and you can borrow from the upcoming year....so you can use 3 years' points at once..

for example....say i wasn't able to go last year.....so i could bank those points for one year (to 2010).....
so this year i would have both 2009 points and 2010 points to use...
but lets say i decide to stay longer this year and need more points...
i can borrow points one year in advance....so i can borrow from 2011....

so in other words, i could stay this year with banked points from 2009 and borrowed points from 2011.....
which effectively means, i only have to go to disney once in 3 years to use all my points...

or of course, you could use your points elsewhere at the many non-disney properties where you can use your points (i have a friend in DVC who uses her points for a sky trip every year at a non-disney property)..

but that 3 year thing is the reason we didn't buy way back in the 90's...we didn't know that....the salesperson we had back then didn't answer our questions well and didn't explain that to us...
had we known at that time we would have bought DVC on the spot...stupid...as it turns out, we went back to WDW every year....but we didn't know that at the time....had we known we could use 3 years points at one time we would have bought then..

but now OKW is on sale anyway, so it's a really good buy (since they've extended the contracts back to the original length)...

 

[paulh]

one thing you have to remember is the dues,which are every year,they will depend on the £v$ every year not just when you buy in
We look at $1.60 as good as that's what we bought in 1999
Paul