how payments work?

[GS67]

i know you get charged monthly for dues. how much do you pay a month for the loan? do you get billed twice a month or is it one bill?
say the avg loan is 16,000, dont the dues over the couse of the entire contract add up to be far more than the 16,000 you paid for the loan?

 

[jarestel]

I pay dues annually rather than monthly, but I believe if you elect to pay them monthly, they will be debited along with the amount of any DVC financed loans as one payment.

And yes, you are correct, the total dues paid over the lifetime of a contract will exceed the original purchase price by quite a margin.

 

[GS67]

I pay dues annually rather than monthly, but I believe if you elect to pay them monthly, they will be debited along with the amount of any DVC financed loans as one payment.

And yes, you are correct, the total dues paid over the lifetime of a contract will exceed the original purchase price by quite a margin.

so is it worth it then?
we are a family of 4 & go once a year. our total trip which includes the dining plan has avg. about 1900 the last 2 years while staying at pop century for about 6 days, 5 nights

 

[wildernessDad]

If you are fine staying at the value resorts, then it is my opinion that it is not worth it for you to buy into DVC.

 

[chalee94]

if the 5 nights you stay exclude fri-sat nights, and you would be content to stay in a studio at OKW (2 queen-size beds), DVC might still be worthwhile...but generally value rooms are less expensive.

edited to add: you'd probably need far less than 160 pts in that case, which would make things considerably cheaper...

 

[Caskbill]

Over time the cost of DVC will be cheaper than staying in regular WDW resorts. You need to account for inflation. You can't just take today's price and multiply it by so many years.

In total dollars, an annual 3% increase in hotel prices will be more than a 3% increase in DVC dues. If a $100/night hotel room goes up 3% one year, that's $15 more for a 5-night stay. If a DVC studio, which takes 10 points, and has dues of $4/point, goes up by 3%, it equates to an increase of $6 more for a 5-night stay.

Keep compounding for 30 years and the difference becomes substantial. Generally you can figure it takes about 7-9 years to reach the 'break even' point. After that you start savings considerably versus paying hotel rates.

Finally, the caveat is that there are a number of other factors such as what resort, room type, day of week, and Disney season. Don't expect to get a 2-bedroom Boardwalk View at BWV and expect to save money compared to getting a Value room at All Stars.

But no matter how you calculate it, two things will almost always occur. You'll either save money compared to WDW hotel rooms, or you'll get better accommodations for the same amount of money.

Again, it's the long term savings that apply. Not short term.

 

[hellerjw]

You have the option of choosing the 1st or the 15th of the month for them to debit the dues payment each month. The only exception is January which is debited on the 15th.

I have my dues payments drafted on the 1st and my loan payments drafted on the 15th so they are split up as 2 different drafts each month.

 

[ChelleinNC]

To answer your original question, on the 15th of the month (for me) there are 2 automatic debits from my checking acct. One is the loan pmt and the other is the monthly dues pmt.

Think of the dues like your HOA dues (if you have them ) or condo dues. Even if you paid off your house/condo you would still have monthly/quarterly/yearly association dues to pay for common grounds, landscaping, maintenance.....

 

[dianeschlicht]

To answer your original question, on the 15th of the month (for me) there are 2 automatic debits from my checking acct. One is the loan pmt and the other is the monthly dues pmt.

Think of the dues like your HOA dues (if you have them ) or condo dues. Even if you paid off your house/condo you would still have monthly/quarterly/yearly association dues to pay for common grounds, landscaping, maintenance.....

Good analogy, and since this is basically a vacation home, you are paying to maintain it in good condition for the life of the contract. I just wish our DD's condo association did as good a job at that as Disney does!

 

[TifffanyD]

When I was trying to decide whether or not to buy, I wanted to lay out the savings and such to see how much a DVC "saves" so I wrote a nifty spreadsheet to do so. It assumes that if you are not buying the DVC that you take the price you would have used to purchase it and put it in a savings account, since I've heard a lot of people say that the lost investment potential is another "cost" of DVC. If you want to see it to help you make a decision, PM me your email and I can send it to you.

*It doesn't make any adjustment for if you are borrowing the money because I knew I wasn't going to be financing. If I knew more about the way the interest was charged I could add that in.

 

[pinnocchiosdad]

i know you get charged monthly for dues. how much do you pay a month for the loan? do you get billed twice a month or is it one bill?
say the avg loan is 16,000, dont the dues over the couse of the entire contract add up to be far more than the 16,000 you paid for the loan?

You have to look at it from different angles. Say your points let you stay for 5 nights a year in a $375 a night room. Thats $1875 plus taxes totaling over $2000 for the 5 nights. If you have the base 160 points then your MF's are about $700. tat $700 just got you $2000 in services. thats $1300 savings X 40+ years. you do the math. For all you "the glass is half fullers", that say "well your maintainence fees will go up". Yes they will. but do you think Disney will not raise the room rates. By the time your MF's are $800 a year, a room will be $550 per night. If there were no benefit to membership none of us would be on thi sight right now. Don't overthink your memberships, just enjoy them!!! JOE

 

[Deb & Bill]

DVC doesn't really save you money. It just prepays your vacation stays, but you still pay dues each year and they continue to go up each year. Dues are not fixed.

You still have to pay for your tickets, your food and your transportation to and from WDW. All it pays for is your lodging. So your $1900 is tickets, plus food, plus lodging. Subtract the price of your tickets and the price of your dining plan and figure on the remainder as your cost for lodging. Compare it to your annual dues, plus your initial buy-in and go from there.