Inspired by "Extra Money" thread

[KaterBell]

As I was reading the "how much extra money has DVC cost you" thread, I was wondering -

Has anyone put together a spreadsheet where they calculate how much money they've SAVED with DVC?

For example - a week stay at the Beach Club Villas in a 1BR.... with points vs. the Rack Rate (or cash value) of the room during that time....

Compared to the cost of buying in, with added dues, etc. I'd LOVE to see what the break even point is....

 

[RobDoc]

While I lost interest in continuing to track the savings once we broke even, I did have a spreadsheet that followed all costs of DVC and annual fees (I also included lost interest on the purchase cost) and compared that to what our trips to WDW using DVC points would have cost, including the park admissions included through 1999 with our original purchase. I did use rack rates for the comparable room costs and AP rates for the admission costs.

In our case, we broke even in May, 1997 - after 3 years and 11 months of DVC ownership. The current break-even may be a little higher without the park admission and with the higher purchase price, but I'd still extimate it at 5-7 years for most who use their points in an efficient manner. Of course, as with many things, Your Mileage May Vary!

Enjoy!

Edited by WebmasterDoc for careless typo errors!!!

 

[BillPA]

WOW Doc, you broke even 4 years BEFORE DVC opened.


Obviously a typo, was that 1997? NOt 1987?

We broke even about the same, in just under 4 years. And it's been 'money in our pocket' for more than 7 years now.

 

[CarolMN]

For us "saving $$" because of DVC is pretty much an oxymoron. That's because without DVC, we most likely would not be making an annual trip to WDW. (There are lots of fun places to go in Minnesota and Wisconsin that don't cost nearly so much).

Anyway, even though I firmly believe DVC is a good value, it's kind of like saying that I saved $$ on that outfit I bought because it was on sale. Since I wasn't planning to buy it until I noticed what a good deal it was, I actually spent money, not saved money.

But please don't tell my DH that I realy do understand that - the arguments are much more fun if he thinks that I think buying stuff you really don't need because it's on sale is the same as saving $$. LOL!

 

[Wislodgers]

CarolMN I love your reasoning. We took 4 trips in the past 12 months (had to use those AP's!). We NEVER would have gone that much had it not been for DVC and also those darn AP's. Ours just expired a couple days after returning home. We are not planning a trip for another year and will do the AP thing again, it did work well.

With no "out of pocket" expenses for accomodations and park tickets, the money we had to come up with to go was not bad at all......... We do love our DVC!

 

[westjones]

I too don't think that DVC really 'saves' me money because we would never stay at resorts like DVC resorts and we would never go to WDW so many times if we were not members. For us, DVC made going on nice vacations affordable.

DJ

 

[OKWKirt]

Before I bought in 1997 I compared the cost and maintenance against rack rates for OKW and determined it would pay off in 5 years. I also told myself that I would have normally stayed at a moderate and used those rack rates and the payoff would be in 8 years. I decided to buy because I wanted those great rooms. I have kept track (see below) and it payed off in six years but notice I bought more points in 1999. I kept this very simple and didn't take into account interest and all that other stuff.

1997 July Purchase 220 pts - $12,555 -$12,500
Oct 4 nights OKW studio +$896 -$11,604
Maintenance -$324 -$11,928
1998 May 10 nights OKW studio +$2530 -$9,398
Nov 3 nights Big Cedar +$667 -$8,731
Maintenance -$637 -$9,368
1999 May 9 nights OKW 2 bdrm +$4320 -$5,048
Dec Purchase 100 pts -$6000 -$11,048
Maintenance -$687 -$11,735
2000 Apr 3 nights Big Cedar +$1200 -$10,535
Jun 9 nights OKW 1 bdrm +$3015 -$7,520
Dec 3 nights WL +$685 -$6,835
Maintenance -$1004 -$7839
2001 Jun 2 nights VB +$450 -$7,389
Jun 7 nights OKW 1 bdrm +$2555 -$4,834
Oct 4 nights OKW 2 bdrm +$2100 -$2,734
Maintenance -$976 -$3,710
2002 Jun 3 nights OKW 1 bdrm +$1125 -$2,585
Oct 3 nights OKW 2 bdrm +$1635 -$950
Maintenance -$1020 -$1,970
2003 May 7 nights 2 bdrm +$3920 ++$1,950
Maintenance -$1085 +$865

 

[OKWKirt]

I just saw what happened to my numbers and it may be hard to read. It didn't look this way before I hit send. The left column was the year, next column was the month and nights stayed and maintenance, next column was either a "+" for the rack rates it would have cost me or "-" for my purchase of points and maintenance, and the last column was a running total of my payoff. Hope that helps.

 

[rocketriter]

On our last non-DVC visit to WDW, we stayed at WL four nights for about $900. An equivalent studio would have cost us about $200 in dues at just over $4/point. So (not counting the minor detail of the initial cost of membership!) one could argue that we're saving 3/4 of the cost of accomodations and getting a nicer room as well.

However, the truth is that we've taken advantage of the situation to step up our future reservations to the 1- and 2-bedroom levels. In the end, after a few years amortizing the initial investment I suspect we'll still pay slightly less per trip, meanwhile staying more days in significantly better accomodations. What's not to like?

 

[OneMoreTry]

Before joining I calculated the break even time at about 5-6 years depending on when we go and whether or not we stay Fri and Sat nights, which are real point busters, and which resorts we stay at.

 

[RobDoc]

Originally posted by BillPA
WOW Doc, you broke even 4 years BEFORE DVC opened.

Yeah, that was some spreadsheet!!!

I guess that should have said 1997.

Thanks for the correction!!

 

[KaterBell]

Wow, you guys, that really is amazing. I'm going to start keeping track of this stuff! I am assuming by our rate of WDW travel (1-2 trips per year), we'll break even after about 5-6 years too.

Thanks !!

 

[Pa@okw95]

Buying into DVC is not a savings, it is an expense. Sorry to upset all those that think otherwise. If you did not own DVC you would never be going to WDW as much as we do, so forget savings. What people love to do is compare the price of some resort they would normally stay at and then compare prices between that resort and a DVC membership. The above statement applies to just about everyone. Let us not forget that we are not buying anything down there in spite of paying taxes, deeds, etc. All we are doing is leasing points for X amount of years. At the end of that lease we have nothing, but who cares, well after you spent thousands of dollars going to WDW more than you would normally that is an expense, whatever the difference is but you will never be able to figure that unless you are god. So what you really must compare, which is impossible to do, is the amount of times you would have gone to WDW and the expenses if you were not a member to what you will spend as a member. It comes out a negative not a savings but then again you can never really figure it out. There is no break even point sorry!! I am not god but some people may think I am the devil for even suggesting such a thing, but it is true. Sorry, no savings.

 

[KaterBell]

Hey, I had a parade today, but someone just rained on it.

Nah, I understand completely that DVC is an expense - obviously, I dropped enough money to buy my 210 points/ year until 2042.

But DVC or not, we would have gone to Disney World and stayed onsite.... we were fans of the deluxe resorts, and probably would have stayed there. To me now, BCV is more "deluxe" than the GF ever would be... so it *is* a savings in the long run.

Thanks for sharing your opinion, though!

 

[Pa@okw95]

Katerbell---thanks for not calling me any names-I even corrected "Doc" who claims less than 4 years-my post may not last I really enjoy going to Florida in the winter so I am happy I have a DVC membership that is very expensive.

 

[RobDoc]

Originally posted by Pa@okw95
I even corrected "Doc" who claims less than 4 years-my post may not last

Everyone is certainly welcome to post their experience regarding their personal vacation habits.

In my case, I have spent far less on the vacations I have taken (and would have taken -with or without DVC) over the last 10 years by using my DVC membership. I would have taken the same amount of time away from home and DVC has allowed me to spend much of it at WDW- but, rest assured, the cost has been far less than what I would have spent doing other things in the same amount of time.

As I stated in my earlier post, "Your Mileage May Vary!" (and obviously that has been your experience) , but please don't suggest you have "corrected" any of my comments. I was well over $1000 ahead within 4 years of DVC ownership (and it IS ownership until January 31, 2042).

 

[KaterBell]

Originally posted by Pa@okw95
Katerbell---thanks for not calling me any names-I even corrected "Doc" who claims less than 4 years-my post may not last I really enjoy going to Florida in the winter so I am happy I have a DVC membership that is very expensive.

Why would I call you names? That'd be silly.

You look at your DVC membership a different way - probably in the most "realist" way. I look at it as "hey, I'm spending money, but not as muuuuch money as i would if I wasn't in DVC... and my rooms have a kitchen. Yay me!"

 

[BWVDee]

 

[JimC]

It is a symbiotic relationship. DVC lowers our per diem vacation costs. So Disney gets more of our vacation time than before. We enjoy Disney in better lodgings for less money per day. That works for us.

 

[DisneyBill]

Just curious, has anyone/everyone taken into account the modest (yeah, right) Florida hotel tax in the rack rate costs? Also, once the break even is attained this issue reduces your ongoing costs that are related to annual dues payment.