I don't get it?

[cardio75]

I'm not trying to start trouble, I'm just trying to make sense of DVC. I've been in contact to DVC about how it works and it sounds like you simply pay (based on the # of points) $20,000.00 (based on ~200 points) for the opportunity to stay at a hotel or condo. I understand you can bank or borrow up to 1 year worth of points (max of 600 in my example) which would allow you to stay at a nicer place for a longer stay.
I understand there is no other real benefit (no park admission discounts, special events, etc). And you have to pay an additional maintenance fee every year that is currently around $750.00 and rises at ~3-4%/year.

Even if you can afford to give Disney $20,000.00; how is this service any better than just making a reservation at a resort? i.e. it seems just staying at the resort is cheaper
thanks
steve

 

[DebbieB]

There is a $100 discount on annual passes and discounts on selected dining locations.

When you compare cost vs staying a regular WDW resort, you have to compare deluxe. I love the DVC 1 bedrooms. The only problem is they are over $400 a night through CRO. That was my comparison point, not a value or moderate resort.

 

[DaveH]

For us, we looked at the prices in 2001 when we bought. Our thinking was that room rates go up. When we figured the cost of points and maintenance over the length of contract the cost for the rooms become a better deal the longer we are into our contract. We are still paying more for a room than we use to. The reason is we always stayed in a value. Now our rooms are a major upgrade. When we joined there was no annual pass discount, now there is. All the perks can come and go. On our first contract when you take the cash cost of the rooms we stayed in compare to our cost we have already used the initial cost and more. We look at getting better rooms for our maintenance fees only. The discounts after 9-11 for rooms were better than before. Until recently the discounts were not as good. I am assuming there will be times that discounts will be going up and down. The decision is a personal one for each of us. I hope this helps.

 

[kim_d]

There is a $100 discount on annual passes and discounts on selected dining locations.

When you compare cost vs staying a regular WDW resort, you have to compare deluxe. I love the DVC 1 bedrooms. The only problem is they are over $400 a night through CRO. That was my comparison point, not a value or moderate resort.

I agree. We compared what we would pay annually for a 7-10 nights at a deluxe for the next 10+ years and DVC made sense to us. We are paying OOP for 3 nights at the Poly in Jan and it is costing us over $1100 for a standard room- a deluxe for a week will cost you well into the thousands of dollars.

Also with DVC you get larger rooms with kitchen and washer/dryer (1 & 2 bedrooms). DVC you get AP discounts, free gym usage and some other dining/shopping discounts.

I don't think DVC is for everyone, but we are completely happy with it.

ETA: I know there is also a discount entry fee for events like the marathon for DVC members.

 

[WDWLVR]

For us it was the accomodations that sold us on DVC. We bought to use a one bedroom. I like having the separate bedroom, like the full kitchen, the use of the washer/dryer and the jetted tub. DVC has allowed us to pre-pay for our vacations until 2042 and just pay the annual fee (which is always less than if we were booking a deluxe room that same year).

I also love the felxability that DVC offers us. We've stayed in studios, one bedrooms and even a two bedroom once.

DVC isn't for everyone and it pays to do your homework to see if it is right for you.

As for discounts/special events. There is the $100 off AP's, there are discounts on many of the behind the scene tours (many the same as you get with AP's but still discounts). Also there are smaller things like Welcome Home Wednesdays and the DVC Merry Member Mixer.

 

[ChelleinNC]

I'm not trying to start trouble, I'm just trying to make sense of DVC. I've been in contact to DVC about how it works and it sounds like you simply pay (based on the # of points) $20,000.00 (based on ~200 points) for the opportunity to stay at a hotel or condo. I understand you can bank or borrow up to 1 year worth of points (max of 600 in my example) which would allow you to stay at a nicer place for a longer stay.
I understand there is no other real benefit (no park admission discounts, special events, etc). And you have to pay an additional maintenance fee every year that is currently around $750.00 and rises at ~3-4%/year.

Even if you can afford to give Disney $20,000.00; how is this service any better than just making a reservation at a resort? i.e. it seems just staying at the resort is cheaper
thanks
steve

The big advantage of buying into DVC is locking in the price you pay for your vacations. Back after 9/11, we paid $189/nt at the BC. That just isn't likely to happen again. We saw that the room rates were going up at a very quick pace and decided it was time to buy into DVC. We bought 250 points and in 9 more years our loan will be paid off. Our loan payments yearly are comparable to what we were starting to spend on weeklong trips (once a year) but we have enough points that we can go twice a year. After the loan is paid, all we'll be paying are the dues (maintenance fees) for the next 40-50 years. My only regret is that we didn't buy into DVC earlier when the points were cheaper (although they haven't gone up as much as room prices)

As for discounts/perks, there are some. They do change, but for now there is a $100 discount off of AP's, discounts on certain party nights, food discounts, Golf membership (excellent perk ). There's also the ability to save money by cooking in your villa, doing laundry (for free) instead of extra bag charges with airlines.

If you normally stay in Deluxe resorts, plan to go to Disney at least every other year, then DVC can be a good way to go for the next 40-50 years at todays prices

 

[chalee94]

winston-salem!

anyway, there are lots of benefits to DVC that are nonfinancial: having a prepaid vacation plan like DVC forces some people to take vacations every year and the larger rooms are a benefit for larger families.

but in inflationary times, it can be a huge benefit to prepay some vacation costs.

in pure "value" terms, DVC is also pretty scalable: i started small, buying a resale contract with just enough pts for a 5 (week)night stay in a studio room with 2 queen beds and a kitchenette each year for 35 years worth of vacations. my costs were $3800 up front and annual dues are $180 per year (or $15 per month)...which by my math works out to less than $70 per night (tax included) to stay onsite during the time of year that i prefer to go.

a lot of the purely financial value depends on limiting yourself to studios instead of multiroom suites and staying on weeknights, as weekends are more expensive.

it just depends on how you use it. if you're happy staying in value rooms or offsite, DVC would probably never be worth it. and while you can trade out, the best financial deal is to use the pts at DVC resorts. you just have to do the math to see if it fits how you vacation.

 

[Laxmom]

For us, it was also the accomodations difference. In a regular room, when one person got up to go to the bathroom in the night, the entire room was awake. Now, our kids get their own room and own bath. They are old enough that they just won't sleep in the same bed together. I couldn't stand coming home and facing mounds of laundry. Now, we come home and put the clothes from the suit case into the dressers because we throw in a load or two of laundry while on vacation. We are saving money cooking a lot of our meals in our room. And I am talking throwing in a frozen pizza or spahgetti or one of those ready to eat meals from Bertolli. We would rather spend money on activities than food while on vacation. That said, we do go out to eat a couple of times. With our DVC Perks, we saved about $35 just on 2 meals. Our groceries for the week for 3 was $175. As the pp said, it also forces us to take vacations. We have made some incredible memories with our kids. The oldest is married and they continue to travel with us when able because we have the room for all of us in one unit now.

Your price comparison is hardly typical. That is why the smaller contracts fetch a higher price and the big contracts sit unsold at a lower price per point. We have added our points in steps. Our first contract was 50 pts resale that would give us a stay every other year or a bigger unit every three. The cost was under $4500 and the mf was $250. The first unit that I reserved with those points would have cost us $1500 rack rate for our stay.

You are paying in advance for your vacations but at todays rate. But you are also paying for bigger rooms in most cases. Spring break we are in a Grand Villa at HHI because of banking and borrowing. At 2300 sqft., this thing is bigger than my house!! Rack rate for our stay - over $1000. And we will still have points left for a getaway later in the year. In these two stays, the rack rate equivalent is about 1/3 of what our total points cost and we are in year 1.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

For us, it was also the accomodations difference. In a regular room, when one person got up to go to the bathroom in the night, the entire room was awake. Now, our kids get their own room and own bath. They are old enough that they just won't sleep in the same bed together. I couldn't stand coming home and facing mounds of laundry. Now, we come home and put the clothes from the suit case into the dressers because we throw in a load or two of laundry while on vacation. We are saving money cooking a lot of our meals in our room. And I am talking throwing in a frozen pizza or spahgetti or one of those ready to eat meals from Bertolli. We would rather spend money on activities than food while on vacation. That said, we do go out to eat a couple of times. With our DVC Perks, we saved about $35 just on 2 meals. Our groceries for the week for 3 was $175. As the pp said, it also forces us to take vacations. We have made some incredible memories with our kids. The oldest is married and they continue to travel with us when able because we have the room for all of us in one unit now.

Your price comparison is hardly typical. That is why the smaller contracts fetch a higher price and the big contracts sit unsold at a lower price per point. We have added our points in steps. Our first contract was 50 pts resale that would give us a stay every other year or a bigger unit every three. The cost was under $4500 and the mf was $250. The first unit that I reserved with those points would have cost us $1500 rack rate for our stay.

You are paying in advance for your vacations but at todays rate. But you are also paying for bigger rooms in most cases. Spring break we are in a Grand Villa at HHI because of banking and borrowing. At 2300 sqft., this thing is bigger than my house!! Rack rate for our stay - over $1000. And we will still have points left for a getaway later in the year. In these two stays, the rack rate equivalent is about 1/3 of what our total points cost and we are in year 1.

IMHO, This is the best advice on the DIS!

 

[Disney_Daddy]

I'm not trying to start trouble, I'm just trying to make sense of DVC. I've been in contact to DVC about how it works and it sounds like you simply pay (based on the # of points) $20,000.00 (based on ~200 points) for the opportunity to stay at a hotel or condo. I understand you can bank or borrow up to 1 year worth of points (max of 600 in my example) which would allow you to stay at a nicer place for a longer stay.
I understand there is no other real benefit (no park admission discounts, special events, etc). And you have to pay an additional maintenance fee every year that is currently around $750.00 and rises at ~3-4%/year.

Even if you can afford to give Disney $20,000.00; how is this service any better than just making a reservation at a resort? i.e. it seems just staying at the resort is cheaper
thanks
steve

Steve, you asked the same type of question a few years ago. The price then was $14K. Probably should have jumped on then, eh?

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=730418&page=0&highlight=

DVC isn't right for everyone. Like many will tell you, if you normally stay at Value or Moderate resorts, or if your family will fit comfortably into a standard hotel room, then the choice for DVC is less clear.

For us, 5 people inside of a regular room is not manageable. We are not park commando's, so we do spend time in the room and at the resorts.

Hopefully you'll figure it out. Otherwise, I'll keep an eye out for a new thread in 2011 with a starting price of $25K.

 

[dianeschlicht]

To explain the value, here is our situation.

We purchased 230 points in 1997. We paid $62.50 a point and a 2 bedroom villa was renting for about $600 a night from Disney. We have stayed in those two bedroom villas at least 20 times in the past 11 years, and the only thing it cost us above our initial buy in of $14,400 has been our annual dues. If we were to rent that same size unit with the risiing costs for the past 11 years, it would have significantly higher than that!

Buying a timeshare like DVC is a hedge against the rising costs of accommodations on site. While it's true that we probably wouldn't have stayed in the 2 bedrooms that often without purchasing DVC, we have truely felt like we "invested" in our vacation future when we purchased. We have since added on an additional 219 points, and we still feel it's a great "deal" for us.

 

[JenSop]

For us, DVC means being able to take family and friends with us to Disney.

We just went last month and we (DH and I) took my parents and my grandmother. We got a 2BR at BCV and had a wonderful family trip. We'll have those memories forever.

In a few years, we want to get a grand villa for an extended family trip. That way we can all stay in the same suite together - this is something WE can do for our loved ones. Paying cash for a GV is something we could NEVER do.

I'm also planning a "girls only" trip to disney with some of my friends. Again, wouldn't be able to do it the same if it weren't for DVC. My friends don't have to worry about paying for a room.

Sounds like the OP has been thinking about DVC for a LONG time. We are SO HAPPY we bought in and will be loving our trips for the rest of our lives!

 

[Mtnman44]

To answer your question:

It can get a little tricky but here is the deal, DVC does save money in certain situations (namely, compared to deluxe disney resort stays). However, you really only save money if you would have gone to disney almost every year and stayed in deluxe on property anyway, even without DVC. If DVC ownership causes you to start going to WDW every year when you otherwise would have went only once or twice every 10 years, well.........

However, for those that would like better/bigger than hotel room accomodations and do enjoy WDW often and when they go, always stay on property in Deluxe resorts, then yes DVC does in fact save money. However, even that is not really an apple to apple comparison since the rooms are HUGE compared to your average hotel room plus they have kitchen, washer dryer, etc.

You'll find that if you allow for a similar inflation increase at the hotels as well as the Maint Fees for DVC, that DVC ownership will have saved you enough money after about 7 vacations to have completely made up the initial cost of the purchase and the maint fees to that point. After that the savings really start adding up.

*Now, I'll add my opinion that very few DVC buyers actually benefit financially from DVC. Not surprisingly, it is Disney that benefits. Most people INCREASE the amount of vacations they take due to their DVC membership so really, compared to what they would have spent, they now spend much more on WDW. nothing wrong with that at all if that is what they wanted to happen.

So in summary, the standard advice applies: If you want to go very often and want to stay on property, DVC is a good option but it is long term. you will not start really saving any money until at least 7 trips are behind you. And truthfully, if you include the opportunity cost of the $20k you put down (lost interest/investment income), then the true breakeven is a few more years later.

 

[eliza61]

I'm not trying to start trouble, I'm just trying to make sense of DVC. I've been in contact to DVC about how it works and it sounds like you simply pay (based on the # of points) $20,000.00 (based on ~200 points) for the opportunity to stay at a hotel or condo. I understand you can bank or borrow up to 1 year worth of points (max of 600 in my example) which would allow you to stay at a nicer place for a longer stay.
I understand there is no other real benefit (no park admission discounts, special events, etc). And you have to pay an additional maintenance fee every year that is currently around $750.00 and rises at ~3-4%/year.

Even if you can afford to give Disney $20,000.00; how is this service any better than just making a reservation at a resort? i.e. it seems just staying at the resort is cheaper
thanks
steve

Nope,
For the way we travel ( always deluxe, generally 9 nights or more) no way would making a ressie through cro cheaper. We don't do values, or moderates and with my husband and 2 sons all top out over 6ft tall no way are we fitting into 1 hotel room so generally we would reserve 2. Also maintnance fees may go up 3%, room rates having been going up ~5%.

It's a pre paid vacation plan just like all other time shares.

 

[lovinthemouse]

We bought based on future costs. Cash rates will continue to go up. We prefer staying at the deluxe resorts. We spent our fair share at the values and there is just no comparison. Our points allow us 2-3 trips each year where other wise it might be only 1 every 2 years. So it works for our family. I believe DVC is not for everyone and you are entitled to your opinion. But it definitely works for us.

 

[kimberh]

Steve, you asked the same type of question a few years ago. The price then was $14K. Probably should have jumped on then, eh?

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=730418&page=0&highlight=

DVC isn't right for everyone. Like many will tell you, if you normally stay at Value or Moderate resorts, or if your family will fit comfortably into a standard hotel room, then the choice for DVC is less clear.

For us, 5 people inside of a regular room is not manageable. We are not park commando's, so we do spend time in the room and at the resorts.

Hopefully you'll figure it out. Otherwise, I'll keep an eye out for a new thread in 2011 with a starting price of $25K.

Some people have amazing memories. The price has certainly went up!

 

[vicki_c]

After our $5K Poly value season (!!) stay this year (which was like our 12th Disney trip since we've been married or something, with plans for many more to come), we didn't have to do much figuring at all! (But we did still crunch the numbers!)

We saw it for exactly what it was -- a prepaid vacation for the next 40+ years -- and that alone made sense to us. The other perks (rooms size, washer/dryer, etc.) were just extra to us. It's not an investment, just paying in advance for vacation.

 

[4Pluto]

The accommodations allow for a good deal of flexibilty. For my extended family of 7 we need three separate rooms. We could reserve a 2 bedroom villa or pay for 3 separate hotel rooms. With the villa, we get more together time. (I realize that more together time with an extended family doesn't work for everyone!)

 

[Coach81]

We got it because Disney's prices aren't going to go DOWN anytime soon. We are locked in for the next 50 years

 

[cardio75]

does anybody ever use their points for non-disney vacations? i.e. is it easy to get rooms at other points approved hotels when and where you want?

thanks