I know everyone is asking the same question...

[crisi]

Thats the #1 reason why we are close to buying....On our first trip to WDW this past Nov. on the last night on the way out DW said to DS5 say goodbye to mickey inocently enough....upon hearing those words he sat down on Main street and began to cry saying I don't want to say goodbye. This was the same son that when we suprised the kids at 8am when they woke up in the car wondering how they got there and noticed we weren't home, Palm tree's etc, and said suprise we are going to disney said...I don't want to go...let's turn around and go home....

Now both boys keep asking when we are going back... I believe we will be taking yearly trips and DVC will work....now its figuring out which resort? resale or direct?? buy two smaller contracts at two different resorts and alternate years??? etc etc

We were there. And our kids are now eleven and twelve and that magic is not there. My son would rather go to Mexico. We did a beach vacation last year and it was perfect for him. My daughter is more into the Disney magic, but she still liked Mexico better. Both want to go back to Europe. Given a choice between Disney and horse camp - horse camp ranks very high with my daughter.

A lot of people have kids who continue to be charmed by Disney into adulthood. We only go every other year, and the kids would be happy at this point with every three or even every four. We set out to give them experiences other than Disney, and have been successful. They like Disney, they enjoy going, but they like other vacations even better - and our vacation time and dollars are not unlimited.

We don't use points for our alternate vacations, we do better and have a lot more flexibility with cash.

 

[mdsd8700]

I think everyone here has given very sound advice and lots of great things to think about. Which is why we all post here because we really get varying opinions and ideas.

We having been doing Disney (WDW, DLR or DLC) every year since 1997 and we just bought finally bought into DVC this month. My husband was born and breed on Disney going every year from 1972 until he turned 18. My first time was when I was 19, but fell in love instantly. Our kids have been raised as Disneyaholics and our son (16) has gladly fallen into the role our daughter (13) not so much. However we wanted them to be able to experience these things with their kids and us with our grandkids. So it wasn't so much about when we were going to break even or what the overall cost would end up being with MF or ticket costs. It was our way of prepaying or insuring that our kids and grandkids could experience the same joy. It took us many years to decide to finally purchase, we were close several other times. The timing was right this time around. We fell in love with BLT (lots of childhoold memories for my husband at the Contemporary) and we were able to pay cash which wouldn't have been true earlier in our marriage. We are also fortunate that we have been able to experience many other trips as well; I feel that our kids are well rounded when it comes to vacations. However when deciding on DVC there are so many things to think about but I think having a true love of Disney is key and it is something you should feel 100% comfortable about.

Good luck!

 

[disneynutz]

IMHO the things that need to be considered is do you currently vacation every year and spend several thousand dollars doing so?

Do the Disney resorts and parks appeal enough to to and your family to vacation there for the next 10 years?

Buying into the DVC will only provide you with discounted resort accommodations, you will still spend thousands on travel, food, and other vacation related expenses. You are also locking yourself into repeating Disney vacations.

The DVC works well for thousands of families, but not for all. Only you can decide if purchasing a membership will benefit you and your family.

Bill

 

[Granny]

I'm wondering though with all these sales Disney comes up with we usually get such a great deal! (Like the recent $500 gift card). I know Disney might not always have sales like this but right now it seems cheaper than joining? or am I thinking wrong?

I think this is a key part of DVC ownership that many people overlook. Yes, in a bad economy Disney does a lot of promotions and discounting. But a few years ago when the economy was much rosier, there were very few discounts and "codes" to be found. And there was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth for those who depend on these discounts to go to WDW.

DVC gets rid of the "code dependency" and offers a solid value in discounted, upgraded accommodations. It is sort of like getting a very good every-day-low-price instead of contantly looking for "room sales".

For us, it takes all the hassle out of planning the accommodation portion of our trips. The only key is that DVC works best if you can plan at least 7 months in advance for the most part.

I agree with those who indicate that DVC is not a money saver. We definitely go more often than we would without DVC. But it allows us to stay in upgraded accommodations that we could never afford paying cash each time. And so it makes our vacations much more relaxing...which is the whole point of vacations anyway!

Good luck with your decision process.

 

[MikeofRose&Mike]

We were there. And our kids are now eleven and twelve and that magic is not there. My son would rather go to Mexico. We did a beach vacation last year and it was perfect for him. My daughter is more into the Disney magic, but she still liked Mexico better. Both want to go back to Europe. Given a choice between Disney and horse camp - horse camp ranks very high with my daughter.

A lot of people have kids who continue to be charmed by Disney into adulthood. We only go every other year, and the kids would be happy at this point with every three or even every four. We set out to give them experiences other than Disney, and have been successful. They like Disney, they enjoy going, but they like other vacations even better - and our vacation time and dollars are not unlimited.

We don't use points for our alternate vacations, we do better and have a lot more flexibility with cash.

We were there too. DS had no desire to go to Disney from about 12- 16. He is back to wanting to go now. The first year he was in college we went in OCT, and he through a fit that he could not go.


Don't worry about the time value of money calculation, the cost of a comparable vacation goes up in the future too, and it becomes a wash.

I'd second the person who said buy a small resale and add on. I am on my third contract now.

 

[LouisianaDisneyFan]

My opinion is a little different. I think its the rare DVC owner who actually spends less owning DVC than they would paying cash - even those that stay in Deluxes. Why? Because we go more often. We staying in a two bedroom when we used to think a regular hotel room did it for us. We bring guests and pay for their rooms. We add on. With no hotel bill, we go to Cirque, eat out more.

There ARE people who are disciplined enough to save money. They continue to use studios. They use their points carefully. They don't let DVC ownership change their vacation patterns. They cook in their rooms. I truly believe those are the minority.

Which doesn't mean those that don't save money aren't happy. DVC adds value, even if it doesn't save money. Its a more effective way for Disney to get our dollar, and for us to feel good about it.

My thinking exactly. We spend a LOT more there now than we did, but we also come away with less stress. Rather than it being a decision of "Should we spend the money" it's a decision of "Where are we staying THIS time?" and "What new things will we explore on THIS trip?" It's given us the mindset of guilt-free vacationing (after all, don't we want to get the value out of the membership we spent so much to purchase?!?!). In essence, it's transformed our mindset regarding a luxury purchase from being extravagant to being thrifty! Disney is happy with this transition and so are we. Win/Win!

EDIT: As an afterthought... Sometimes it's hard to put comments into perspective when you read them on a message board. What is mere pennies to a surgeon from NYC would practically be considered life savings to a state worker from Louisiana. We are the latter... I was a school teacher who "retired" to become caregiver to elderly relatives and hubby works in administration for the university (i.e., a state employee who will undoubtedly see a pay cut due to the reduction in state revenue from the oil spill). We've been a single-income family with lots of responsibilities (four relatives over 80 and two kids in college) for a long time. So, when I write that something is a value or affordable, it's truly from a struggling middle-class perspective!!!

 

[Greysword]

To add another dimension. My wife and I bought DVC mainly for us, as we want to go every other year or so. Although we certainly justified it by including our daughter into the mix, if she begins to want another vacation option, then we shall send her to camp and go to WDW ourselves!

I agree with Crisi on her points. We found that we don't spend less with DVC, we simply reallocate the funds that would normally go to lodging (and some food, as we eat in the room more). This just means more souveniers or special events (like Cirque).

As far as a break even point, I did a spreadsheet where I took the room rate for our lodgings, gave it a 40% discount, then compared that to a point analysis like gfy (initial point cost+dues per point(times a 5% increase per year for 50 yrs)+annual finance charges/point, multiplied by the point cost for that stay) and compared the two. DVC rooms always come out cheaper in Deluxe accomodations.

You could compare that point cost to POR and the Value resorts if you want, but I have no idea how our vacation habits would have played out, since we bought on our honeymoon, which was our first visit together (and forst visit for either of us seperate in quite a while).

As for the memories, I can't begin to say that each visit pays for the whole shebang every time we visit!