Is DVC a good buy for someone who usually stays in moderates?

[Doberge]

Rates on moderates can vary wildly. At 12-13 days per year I assume you have an annual pass. I stayed recently at Coronado for about $180 with an AP discount. Even after taxes it was cheaper than maintenance fees for one night in many DVC studios. DVC is not an obvious yes.

 

[MartyParty]

Hi there,

Curious as to what you're thoughts are on someone who usually stays in moderates every year. Roughly 12-13 nights total a year. Would DVC be a good purchase? Or would I never break even?

In the beginning and before buying DVC we really overlooked what the future of resort hotel stays would cost. I did quick search for a fancy chart showing the pricing over the years. Oddly couldn't find much. I did find this one data set on Mice Chat.

https://www.micechat.com/23546-price-increases-walt-disney-world/

Data is an interesting thing. As you will see the % increase on Disney property even for the budget category has greatly increased. If looking off Disney, % increased not nearly as much. Perhaps that will impact Disney hotels at some point but so far the desire / benefit of staying on property vs price has been inelastic.

Note, this article was written in 2013.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Rates on moderates can vary wildly. At 12-13 days per year I assume you have an annual pass. I stayed recently at Coronado for about $180 with an AP discount. Even after taxes it was cheaper than maintenance fees for one night in many DVC studios. DVC is not an obvious yes.

Um, I don’t think any resort have fees of 10 dollars per point.

And depending on the season you can get a studio for less that 18 points

What was the date of your stay….

I stayed at POFQ last fall and was over 400 a night …

 

[reddog21]

For us it was about family size, for 2 adults and 2 large boys it was hard to stay in a studio. We have stayed offsite a bunch of times which is ok but we would rather stay on property. We usually stay for 2 weeks so renting points didn't always work and the cash price for a 1/2 bedroom on property is ridiculous so the only options were to vacation elsewhere, continue to stay offsite or buy DVC. The break even didn't matter to us, it was the space needed to enjoy the vacation and stay on property.

IMO not everything has to be financially logical(different than if you can afford it) sometimes it's just about making decisions that will make you or your family happy.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

For us it was about family size, for 2 adults and 2 large boys it was hard to stay in a studio. We have stayed offsite a bunch of times which is ok but we would rather stay on property. We usually stay for 2 weeks so renting points didn't always work and the cash price for a 1/2 bedroom on property is ridiculous so the only options were to vacation elsewhere, continue to stay offsite or buy DVC. The break even didn't matter to us, it was the space needed to enjoy the vacation and stay on property.

IMO not everything has to be financially logical(different than if you can afford it) sometimes it's just about making decisions that will make you or your family happy.

the difference between an ok Vacation and a great vacation is priceless

 

[intamin]

the difference between an ok Vacation and a great vacation is priceless

Agreed. For some people the difference is being able to walk back to your room. During a recent trip I wasn’t feeling the best and being able to go back to my room at the boardwalk was so worth it. If I had to walk out of the park and then drive to my offsite property I would’ve been absolutely miserable. Not to mention my friend and fiancee would’ve had to leave with me. Hasn’t happened to me yet but what if my parents/kids just get exhausted in the middle of the day and needs to head back to the room but not everyone wants to go back yet? I’m okay paying more for that convenience. That’s worth the cost of DVC for me.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Agreed. For some people the difference is being able to walk back to your room. During a recent trip I wasn’t feeling the best and being able to go back to my room at the boardwalk was so worth it. If I had to walk out of the park and then drive to my offsite property I would’ve been absolutely miserable. Not to mention my friend and fiancee would’ve had to leave with me. Hasn’t happened to me yet but what if my parents/kids just get exhausted in the middle of the day and needs to head back to the room in the middle of the day but not everyone wants to go back yet? I’m okay paying more for that convenience. That’s worth the cost of DVC for me.

Agreed,

My kids are all adults now, but when they were younger teens I was completely comfortable telling them where and when to meet me ….

That doesn’t have if you are staying off property

 

[Mikey15]

Um, I don’t think any resort have fees of 10 dollars per point.

HHI ($11) and VBR ($13) do, though they’re unique animals.

OKW ($9.36), AUL ($9.14), and AKV ($8.81) are a couple of years away.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

I have not kept up with current pricing, but my opinion was always that it was not worth it if you are happy in the moderates. I also didn't click on the link with the spreadsheet up above, but one thing I've often seen left out of those is the time value of money, which can be very significant. They also often compare to a deluxe resort or even the rack rate of the villa your points will get you, which is deceptive if without DVC you were going to book a value or a moderate with a discount.

For us, it only made sense once we were in a position where we could plan 11 months ahead (maybe not as important if you have no kids and can be super-flexible on your travel times), and when we needed more space than one hotel room. Once we needed either a suite or 2 rooms, it really made sense.

Before that, we preferred to pay for our rooms year by year, plan our stays based on our budget at the time (our income can vary quite a bit from year to year), and not have our cash tied up in pre-paid vacations.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

HHI ($11) and VBR ($13) do, though they’re unique animals.

OKW ($9.36), AUL ($9.14), and AKV ($8.81) are a couple of years away.

Yea sorry, HHI AND VBR are not Disney to me
I should have been more clear WDW resorts.

But using the WDW resorts My point is still valid....

My guess is that if a moderate was available for 180 per night, a DVC room would have been 13 points.....

But I would love to compare apples to apples.....

 

[JackosinDIS]

If by ‘a good buy’ you mean ‘will you save money’ then the answer is probably ‘no’ or boarder line as compared to moderate resorts… especially if you take in to account the cheap park tickets and free dining we are offered here in the UK.

If like me, you always dreamed of staying in the fancy deluxe resorts but couldn’t possibly justify parting with that sort of cash for a stay, then DVC is an excellent buy as I can finally afford the 2BR villas I have always wanted to stay in for 2 weeks every other year! (Thanks to SSR resale!)

So my view is ‘yes’ it is a good buy for people who usually stay in moderates, as you will get a much better holiday experience and get to have fun playing with points!

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

Just to add, IDK if you're Nate of Mr. Morrow (no kids as of yet,) or simply a fan, but the room types available are really great, as is the kitchen and laundry, depending on the makeup of your group. We own Riviera, and I can't wait to take a long weekend at the Tower Studios with my daughter or son or husband for just a duo trip. We don't do studios as a family because I love packing minimally and doing laundry at night and just using less clothing, but when we're empty nesters, I can see a studio working again. We bring extended family in a 2-bedroom and love having the family in our room, but with privacy in their own bedroom/bathroom. The flexibility can't be beat.

We JUST did a regular hotel room at the beach this weekend, and even with it having a mini fridge and microwave and included breakfast/coffee, we spent a FORTUNE on food eating out every meal, and I came home to four loads of sandy laundry after being away only two days. How quickly I forgot what it was like to vacation non DVC without all my conveniences. It really IS home away from home for us at this point.

Also, we don't do it yet, but in another year or two, we'll have no qualms about letting the teenagers split up from us to stay later in the parks or meet up for dinner somewhere else and use WDW transportation. The kids already know the parks and transportation really well and can give tours of several resorts at this point, so that makes vacation enjoyable for US, as parents, to actually get to relax a bit and not be hyper vigilant and joined at the hip 24/7 in the Disney bubble. I don't feel that way at all about anywhere else that I can think of for a vacation spot.

 

[aceshigh73]

I wondered if he was Nate from YT as well, but he didnt say "Any who....."

 

[smrice95]

I'd say yes and no. Disney inflation is real and crazy on the rooms, so I think you can definitely save even sooner than the 8-12 years posited above. What we didn't count on is going wayyyyy more often with points and wanting more points to go more often, APs, more flights, more food, etc. Now, we love our trips, and hosting extended family would never be a possibility without DVC, so monetarily it's at best a draw, but guaranteed vacations and having the opportunity to bring folks who wouldn't normally get to go, totally worth it to us.

Agree 100%, especially sharing with extended family! I have two contracts, one direct and one resale. We bought in in 2016. One (IMO) is paid off and the other is over half way paid off!

 

[take36]

Another things to consider especially if you are messy and/or got kids, is the housekeeping. You don't get hotel level housekeeping daily/every other day at DVC so I actually consider DVC to a small step below a full cash Deluxe stay.

I just did a trip where the kids wanted All Star Movies and they claim to like it more then our Gflo! Blasphemy but kids like what kids like. So theming is a consideration when you are "upgrading" to DVC from moderates.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Another things to consider especially if you are messy and/or got kids, is the housekeeping. You don't get hotel level housekeeping daily/every other day at DVC so I actually consider DVC to a small step below a full cash Deluxe stay.

I just did a trip where the kids wanted All Star Movies and they claim to like it more then our Gflo! Blasphemy but kids like what kids like. So theming is a consideration when you are "upgrading" to DVC from moderates.

The funny thing about messy people......
We don't really care if the room is messy....

the funny thing about kids, is the parents get to make the final decision ....

 

[intamin]

I just did a trip where the kids wanted All Star Movies and they claim to like it more then our Gflo! Blasphemy but kids like what kids like. So theming is a consideration when you are "upgrading" to DVC from moderates.

I’ll probably be the only one to say this but when I visit value resorts like pop/AoA/all star I get this like sticky, gross plastic feeling from them and I can’t handle staying in them for more than 2 days tops. If my kids want to stay there they can when they’re 18 with their friends lol.

 

[take36]

The funny thing about messy people......
We don't really care if the room is messy....

the funny thing about kids, is the parents get to make the final decision ....

It's a preference thing, I like not having make the bed and clean out the trash on vacation.

For me, Disney is for the kids, they get what they want! I actually bought DVC over a decade ago thinking I want to let my kids enjoy deluxe resorts.

 

[SheSingsAlong]

I have not kept up with current pricing, but my opinion was always that it was not worth it if you are happy in the moderates. I also didn't click on the link with the spreadsheet up above, but one thing I've often seen left out of those is the time value of money, which can be very significant. They also often compare to a deluxe resort or even the rack rate of the villa your points will get you, which is deceptive if without DVC you were going to book a value or a moderate with a discount.

Not sure how you quantify the time-value of money, but this spreadsheet does include the scenario of "What if you took the lump sum of money you would use for the initial DVC buy-in and put that in an investment account instead and used the account to pay for your hotel stay?" You can manipulate the account interest % as well. It also assumes that Disney will raise the price of hotels every year (and you can manipulate that % too). It's seriously an *amazing* spreadsheet I think anyone should use when they are considering buying DVC.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

I’ll probably be the only one to say this but when I stay visit value resorts like pop/AoA/all star I get this like sticky, gross plastic feeling from them and I can’t handle staying in them for more than 2 days tops. If my kids want to stay there they can when they’re 18 with their friends lol.

I get that way just driving by