How many of you have "broken even" or better?

[JasonDVC]

As we all know, DVC is not cheap. Considering the cost of your ownership plus the MF's, etc., vs. the cash value of your stays, have you broken even yet? Are you ahead of the game?

Hope I made the question clear enough.

 

[bloat]

Our first contract was a BWV contract on 170 pts, we bought via resale in 2000. We paid $9700+400 closing cost, for a per pt cost of 59.50 per point. We could sell it for MORE then that today.

I have been very happy with that contract.

 

[castleri]

I felt I had broken even after about our second or third trip but my circumstances may vary from others. We were able to purchase our first contract with no financing. That was in 1997 at $62.75 a point . Our first trip we stayed five nights in a GV at OKW and then in a 2 BR for 2 more nights. If you add up the rack rate for those rooms we were at least half way there. The second trip was 2 nights in a BWV studio overlooking the main pool and then five nights in a 2 BR a OKW. Can't remember what the third trip was but am certain by then we had broken even based on rack rate. If you compare what we paid to what we would have spent at an offsite hotel ( had always stayed offsite except the trip when we purchased DVC) then I don't know if we will ever "break even" financially. However, in every other way we have more than broken even - the quality of the villas, the convenience of the transportation system (not trying to get out of a parking lot at closing and then dealing with traffic on 192 or I4) and the sheer happiness being on site provides. We would never have considered paying the rack rates for these same villas and are so happy we can stay there at our DVC cost. I feel we have also done the same with the other two contracts even though the third one I had a few financing charges when I moved it from one credit card to another to get 0% financing over a couple of years. It was probably less than $600 total financing.

 

[bloat]

I wonder if any of the contracts bought today via resale, will actualy go up in value like the ones bought in the late 90's have?

My guess would be no.

 

[tubtruck]

I would say SSR contracts are the most likely to increase as the years go by they will have a far larger proportion of their life left yet are presently priced very low. In 20 years time they will have twice as long left as the older resorts and this will be worth something.

 

[Greg K.]

We bought our first "starter" kit in '02: 150 pts for about 12k. We added on two years later, another 150, resale, for a little less. (I can't remember the exact figure...)

Up until then, we typically spent 6-8k per two week Disney vacation every year.

Since joining DVC, even with membership dues, those numbers have been cut in half. Saving 4k a year over seven years comes to saving about 28k.

I'd say we broke even a couple years ago.

 

[Disneypirate85]

Purchased 2 years ago SSR $84.00 a point, we have 2 more trips and we will be even. Shawn

 

[dianeschlicht]

Well, since our first purchase of 230 points and our second purchase of 150 points were 11 and 12 years ago, we felt we broke even on those after about 5 years. We haven't broken even on the new AKV points yet though, but I know we will soon if we always stay Concierge level, like we plan!

 

[RobDoc]

We purchased in summer 1993 and I tracked all costs (including mortgage interest and lost opporunity) for several years and balanced that against what the same trips would have cost in cash. At that time we did get free park passes and that "discount" was also tracked as a savings. By late spring 1997 we had broken even on our costs and every trip since then has cost us only the annual maintenance fees. This past winter we even sold one contract for $20/point more than we paid justfying our savings even more.

The break-even will depend on the villa type, how many weekends/weekdays are reserved and how often you are able to go, but there is definitely a savings at some point.

Enjoy!

 

[Peggy Sue]

We puchased 220 at OKW in 1997 and 130 at OKW in 1999 ...we've since added 200 points at BWV ... we have not financed ... I've never run the actual numbers, but we know we never would have been able to take the vacations we've taken without DVC ... We've never stayed in a studio, and we have hosted numerous family and friends, have stayed in Grand Villas 4 times for 8+ days, and if we bring another couple along it's always in a 2 bedroom ....

The most priceless DVC trip was the family reunion we hosted in 2007 ... a Grand villa and 3 studios for my family of 14 .. The reunion was for my dad who had been seriously ill ..sadly, he passed away last year ..the pictures and memories we all have of the 8 days we spent together in WDW will always be cherished ...you just can't put a price on it. We love being able to share Disney with family members who would not be able to come otherwise because of cost ...

Prior to DVC we had stayed at the Poly on our honeymoon ..but subsequent vacations were in the moderates ... We enjoyed our vacations, but you just can't compare a resort room to a DVC 1, 2 or 3 bedroom villa ...and we certainly would never pay rates for these rooms without DVC!

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

We have owned since 2005 and the next trip (feb 10) we will break even or come out slightly ahead for our BW points. The Feb 2010 trip will be our 6th trip-- however, we did buy 150 points originally and then added on at BW another 30 points.

Now since we just bought more BLT points, I guess I'll have to wait another 5 years to come out even.

 

[DebbieB]

I paid $14,750 for 250 BWV points in September 1999 (which included a $1500 credit for giving back 150 of my 1999 points). I think I figured broke even in about 4 years considering I was spending 11 nights in a 1 bedroom per year with a rack rate of around $400 per night. I used to keep a spreadsheet but haven't updated it recently, I'll have to take a look. My dues right now are about $1,300 a year so am definitely ahead now. I had 6 nights in an AKV studio in June and have 6 nights in a 1 bedroom at BWV in December this year. I borrowed some of my 2009 points for a 3 night stay at PPH at DL last December (April use year).

 

[disneynutz]

I don't think that it's a easy question to answer. I get the feeling that many DVC Families travel to WDW each year because they feel that they have to, not because they want to. If they were paying cash, they might skip a couple of years or more.

 

[Dizny Dad]

I don't think that it's a easy question to answer. I get the feeling that many DVC Families travel to WDW each year because they feel that they have to, not because they want to. If they were paying cash, they might skip a couple of years or more.

I agree with disneynutz as stated above, but just for fun, I keep a running spreadsheet on totaling our DVC trips with comparison columns of "rack" rates for the accommodations.

I list all expenses such as airfare, food, park tickets, etc with all of the DVC discount values, along with the initial cash outlay for our "starter kit" and subsequent add ons (geeze louise), yearly maintenance fees, etc. This total is comparred against the total of all of the same fees at standard non-DVC rates.

As disneynutz commented - would we have gone twice a year without being DVC? Probably not; but it is not about the money!

What is not on the spreadsheet is all of the conversation it creates, the magical planning that goes with it, and the thrill one sees on the family's faces!

We have more than broken even!

 

[keishashadow]

In the past i'd nickel & dime vacation expenses, yet since we've bought DVC (small resale & add on) Ive taken 'them' @ their word and assume it's paid for itself.

If it hasn't, so be it At least i know my DS now feels he 'must' take a vacation twice a year in order to make it work...which is fine by me all around

We've skipped 2nd trip WDW for DL, couple of cruises, etc. over the past 2 years and tend to visit Universal every trip, just trying to keep things fresh kwim?

imo, there are some things u cannot assign a $ value.

 

[rutgers1]

I think the break even point is harder to figure out than most think for several reasons:
1) Many use rack rates to determine it, yet odds are they wouldn't have been paying rack rates....unless they are as foolish as I was before buying DVC (I never shopped the best price).
2) Many people finance and don't take the interest into account.
3) How many REALLY would have gone to Disney this often had they not bought DVC? Odds are I would have gone every other year while my kids were young, but I have no clue how often I would have gone later in life. Now I am locked into Disney. I don't mind that, but that changes things in terms of break even for me, as odds are that other hotels and companies would have gotten more of my vacation dollars had I not bought DVC.
4) For those who have the initial outlay sitting in a bank account, they have to consider the interest that money would have earned had they just left it in the bank and paid cash for their vacations (considering interest when determining the profit).
5) Last but not least, the break even time period changes depending on whether you would have stayed in a deluxe, moderate or value resort. Many DVC owners jumped from value to DVC, and who knows what their hotel choice would have been had they not joined DVC, or how frequently they would have gone to Disney World. The purchase of DVC makes much better sense for the person who always stayed at the Grand Floridian over the person who always stayed at the Pop Century during free dining.

I am excited to have DVC, but I am not quite ready to declare it a financial victory for me yet. For starters, I financed it through a home equity loan (piggybacked it on some other things we were doing around the house). Second, I was perfectly happy in moderate resorts. I probably could have stayed in POR forever (I love that place!). Third, although Disney will always be a special place to my wife and I, there probably would have been 3 or 4 year time periods that didn't involve a Disney trip (later in life) had we not purchased DVC. That last point is why I hope Disney builds as many timeshare hotels around the globe as possible, as well as why I hope Disney's trading power with RCI improves.

 

[ParrotBill]

We broke even at about 7 years, ever since it's been a gravy train!

 

[BEASLYBOO]

I don't know if I consider it "breaking even" or rather getting more than I anticipated for what I paid. I bought in at $61 a point, were I paying the recent prices, probably not. We've had several family reunions in GV's that generated some of the most treasured family memories, accomodations that would have been completely out of my reach were it not for DVC.

I didn't finance, I saved and bought in and I've owned for 9 years. The money I drop at Disney each and every DVC stay prevents me from actually saying or believing that I've broken even but I guess I'm close!

 

[rutgers1]

Your last point is one that I should have added to my own list above. I forgot to add the additional expenses incurred during a Disney trip that wouldn't have been incurred had I/we only visited every other year, or every three years. That hit home this trip when my family left Disney property and ate at the Olive Garden for the price that we would have paid for a quick service lunch at Disney. When you add in the overpriced souvenirs, you have a lot of additional expenses. I know some people save money by eating in their villa, but we have yet to master that skill.

 

[Greg K.]

Your last point is one that I should have added to my own list above. I forgot to add the additional expenses incurred during a Disney trip that wouldn't have been incurred had I/we only visited every other year, or every three years. That hit home this trip when my family left Disney property and ate at the Olive Garden for the price that we would have paid for a quick service lunch at Disney. When you add in the overpriced souvenirs, you have a lot of additional expenses. I know some people save money by eating in their villa, but we have yet to master that skill.

Well, living in New York City, we consider visiting some of the huge and wonderfully stocked grocery stores around the Lake Buena Vista area very much part of the "Disney Experience"

Strolling the wide, clean, beautifully organized aisles of Publix or Winn-Dixie is like Fantasyland for us We enjoy that -- and enjoy hauling all the loot back to our villa to "dine in" a night or two or three.