Is DVC even worth it for us?

[Deb & Bill]

...I do think in about ten years we will have gone enough and used our points enough that our initial expenditure will be recouped in terms of what we would have spent. (Think rack rate for One or two rooms at the Contemporary or Poly)....

But, how often have you paid rack rate for one or two rooms at the Contemporary or the Polynesian? You really need to compare a discounted rate that you would have actually paid for the accomodations you would have actually stayed in.

 

[crisi]

I just want to point out that you can probably only take 2/3 vacations like a week at WDW for $15k depending on how you do it, but any thorough examination of DVC requires a full spreadsheet with NPV projections and a true understanding of whether you are doing it to save $ or to bank vacations for future years when you have the available funds.

It's easy to show how much $ the outlay for DVC may be and although members may/do see realization of savings/value long term it's not something everyone is in the position to do and not something wants to sink costs in.

I do have an accounting degree and spent the last year as an auditor.

But I also don't own to SAVE money - I own because...
1) We want the kids in a different bedroom
2) I am not comfortable renting
3) When I bought, I was an onsite snob.
4) We can easily afford it.

Frankly, if it weren't for #1, we are happier in Deluxe hotels. And if it weren't for the kids being little and Disney being an easy trip, we wouldn't have bought. We have a last trip promised to our godchild, who isn't yet old enough, and then we may sell.

 

[BeerMe]

It is emotional.

 

[sonofanarchy]

4) We can easily afford it.

Honestly, this is all you need to say. You are very lucky that this is the case for you. And if it is, you don't need any other reason or justification. If it was easily affordable for us, I'd do it too.

 

[sonofanarchy]

And in reality those principles apply to many of the off property resorts as well. To me it's all a balance of resort/vila appeal, location and price. While I prefer on property, I find some of the off property resorts nicer overall.

Oh, absolutely. I could stay off-site in my MIL's timeshare for about $500 for 11 nights. I won't do it though.

 

[sonofanarchy]

Honestly, I think this happens a lot more than you realize. For some it's such an emotional purchase that your statement is right on. I'd venture to guess that is true for more than half the buyers (most buyers are retail) but even for those that are aware of the full options including resale, it still happens. Unless DVC makes financial sense (both from a personal affordability standpoint and savings/value standpoint), it's really foolish to buy. To buy simply to be a member of the club makes no sense but I've seen it happen.

Yeah, I have seen this quite a bit. It always astonishes me how much DVC merchandise I see. It's almost like a way of showing status or something.

The whole "owning a piece of the magic" is a brilliant (though completely manipulative) slogan.

 

[Dean]

Oh, absolutely. I could stay off-site in my MIL's timeshare for about $500 for 11 nights. I won't do it though.

It depends on which resort. I'd put around 10 resorts as at or above the level of DVC ignoring theming and location. Truthfully almost all of those resorts are better than DVC resorts in one or more areas IMO.

 

[jerseyduke]

There are so many emotional factors that influence the decision that you can not represent in a spreadsheet (and trust me, I think you can run the world from Excel).

Purely from an ROI standpoint, what is the ROI of staying in a Delux studio vs. a mod. resort room, or even a value? How do you quantify that? Sure you might enjoy your vacation more, but would you not enjoy otherwise?

I prefer deluxe accommodations, but have had to go mod or value at times for budget reasons. I enjoyed those trips.

The bottom line is Disney is trying to increase profits. I do not say that in a "they are evil and greedy" way at all. They now have me as a DVC member, and I am sure they will make more money off of me over the life of my contract then they would have otherwise.

It is all the things that you can not quantify that make it worth it.

IF it actually saves you money, it probably will not be much. I find it hard to believe anyone can come up with numbers that make it a "GREAT purchase"

More than anything else, if is can you afford it.

 

[Dean]

There are so many emotional factors that influence the decision that you can not represent in a spreadsheet (and trust me, I think you can run the world from Excel).

Purely from an ROI standpoint, what is the ROI of staying in a Delux studio vs. a mod. resort room, or even a value? How do you quantify that? Sure you might enjoy your vacation more, but would you not enjoy otherwise?

I prefer deluxe accommodations, but have had to go mod or value at times for budget reasons. I enjoyed those trips.

The bottom line is Disney is trying to increase profits. I do not say that in a "they are evil and greedy" way at all. They now have me as a DVC member, and I am sure they will make more money off of me over the life of my contract then they would have otherwise.

It is all the things that you can not quantify that make it worth it.

IF it actually saves you money, it probably will not be much. I find it hard to believe anyone can come up with numbers that make it a "GREAT purchase"

More than anything else, if is can you afford it.

To me you have to make certain assumptions. In this exact situation I think you have to assume you're going to Disney on vacation for X number of days then the variables become cost and exact accommodation. From a spreadsheet standpoint, I believe this is the correct way to compare. You do need to look at both dollars and value though. However, I'm a big believe in the psychology of Disney and Timeshares and human nature all of which suggest to me that if you pay less on the room, you'll likely spend the extra somewhere else. I firmly believe that if the numbers don't make sense themselves for either savings or added value and someone still buys just for the emotions or perks, that is foolish and an extremely poor decision.

 

[BeerMe]

We have rci which we bought in the resale market. Take over maintenance payments. It still wasn't a great deal.

 

[Dean]

We have rci which we bought in the resale market. Take over maintenance payments. It still wasn't a great deal.

Then you didn't buy an option that was reasonable or at least right for you or else you're not using it to it's fullest potential. I can tell you with 100% certainty that I get a far better value out of my non DVC options than I do DVC. No one owns RCI, neither RCI or II sell or work directly as a timeshare.

 

[Minniesgal]

We didn't buy to save money we bought knowing full well it would cost is money because we would go more often and so far it has. We bought because we wanted to stay at Kidani in a 2 bedrooms villa to do AK, we wanted to stay at SSR in a treehouse to do HS and EPcot and we wanted to stay in BLT or VGF to do MK. We could have continued to stay offsite in a condo but we saved and waited 7 years until we were sure we could afford the purchase. We simply bought something we wanted to own.

 

[crisi]

Honestly, this is all you need to say. You are very lucky that this is the case for you. And if it is, you don't need any other reason or justification. If it was easily affordable for us, I'd do it too.

Lucky, yes. But also the choices we made and a lot of hard work. We were well into our 30s before vacations that weren't "staycations" became something we did. We haven't had a car loan since the mid -1990s or carried a balance on a credit card. We live in the same house we lived in when our income was less than half of what it is now (and I really should recarpet - one more year - TVM ). I worked when the kids were little (I stay home now that they are both teenagers, in part because they are teenagers and do really stupid stuff, in part because my husband has been traveling 50-75% of each month and works late nights when he is in town. His previous job was less demanding in terms of travel or late nights).

 

[Trooper8286]

But, how often have you paid rack rate for one or two rooms at the Contemporary or the Polynesian? You really need to compare a discounted rate that you would have actually paid for the accomodations you would have actually stayed in.

Twice and would have done another this year ( I backed out because of cost).

I was able to get a discount on the second trip, but it was still greater than MF.....


IDK.... It is worth it to us.... I not trying to convince anyone, just relating some of my thoughts and considerations

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[MarthaMouse]

Hi,

We made the 'bad' decision to stay at the Contemporary 3 years ago. This was the first time we had stayed on Disney property. (Before this, we had typically stayed for free with my sweet Aunt and Uncle at their timeshare condo nearby--they always come down and stay 4 weeks or so and are so kind to let us stay a few nights in one of the bedrooms) Well, after our stay at the Contemporary, we were HOOKED! (of course, I had always dreamed of staying there since first seeing it as a child while on the monorail back in the 70s Since then, we have stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kindgom Lodge.

We ultimately decided to join DVC (still in the process) to be able to keep staying in these type of resorts, and also because I have been toying with the idea of switching to relief or part-time after working full-time for 21 years. My thinking is that since we are not financing the initial purchase, it is like pre-paying for vacations that we will be able to continue enjoying, even if I decide to cut back on work.

So, from what I have read on these boards, it all depends on what type of resorts you enjoy--DVC makes more sense if you like staying at the deluxe resorts. OR, staying for extended stays like my Aunt and Uncle do at their timeshare? This is the question that I have about that: do members do that--use their points for 3 or 4 week stays at resorts like Old Key West, or do you have to had OKW as your home resort to be able to book an extended stay like that?

Have a great week,
Martha

 

[bakerworld]

We went on a DVC tour on our last trip, and I really would like to purchase, but after crunching numbers, my husband isn't sure whether or not it will be a good deal for us. We're a family of 3 (including a 1.5 year old daughter). I'm a teacher, so we'd only be vacationing during school break times. We just stayed at Pop Century and were fine with staying in a value resort for a week - however we already booked a bounceback free dining offer for POFQ. We don't necessarily need to stay in a deluxe resort, but we definitely want to stay for 7-10 days each year, have a dining plan, and park tickets. Do you think we're better off doing a package every year or doing DVC? My husband seems to think that until DVC "pays for itself" it'll actually be more expensive than just doing packages.

IMO the pkgs were easier - if we'd been happy staying at moderates we'd not purchased DVC but we started doing our 'bounce backs' at the Yacht and Beach Club. If you find yourself gravitating exclusively away from the moderate/value then DVC does pay for itself.

 

[Mickbee]

Very engaging topic (again) with lots of great info and perspectives.

To me comparing the different tier accommodations and room types varies and isn't an "Apples to Apples" measure and is difficult to assess the worth. It is like comparing a Toyota to a Mercedes or BMW. All are great cars and are suited to a person's particular lifestyle and desires. All folks mentioned earlier in the post in many forms...

Is it a terrific or horrible financial decision??? For us it has been a great personal decision while factoring in the financial perspective. Can I quantify the specific numbers? Nope, but we aren't worse off.

An important decision for us to keep in perspective is Disney will halt or significantly reduce the deep discounts and special promos when the economy will support the rate increases. Disney has a brilliant revenue management and marketing teams and know what the market will bear and when. When they no longer see the needs for the discounts, the great discounts will dry up... It wasn't too long ago (12 years) that it was difficult to find a decent discount off of rack rate. Without a crystal ball it is anyone's guess where prices will go... The discounts will ebb and flow based on the economy and occupancy rates.

After being out of the pocket with the DVC world for a few years I was shocked to see how high the price through Disney direct are now. IMHO there are two different considerations: Buying Resale vs. Disney Direct when determining the "Is it worth it". It would be hard to compare today's rates to a $130-$165 pp to the discounts.


If you do buy in, and in the event your family gets sick of Disney or DVC doesn't fit your lifestyle any longer, selling your contract WILL recoup some of your expense. It doesn't imply you will recoup everything and likely not. What I'm saying is DVC would yield some return unlike a cash reservation. Once you stay & pay, the cash reservation has a zero percent chance of recouping any value beyond memories.

We purchased and sold many DVC contracts, some through Disney, some resale. We always came out at or above or initial cost. This DOES NOT imply this will be the way for you or anyone...




Best of luck in your decision.

 

[Deb & Bill]

...This is the question that I have about that: do members do that--use their points for 3 or 4 week stays at resorts like Old Key West, or do you have to had OKW as your home resort to be able to book an extended stay like that?

Have a great week,
Martha

If you have enough points to book three or four weeks, you can book them. But I think there is a limit to the number of nights you can stay without making a new reservation. We've done 13 nights for our longest trip.

 

[Dean]

If you have enough points to book three or four weeks, you can book them. But I think there is a limit to the number of nights you can stay without making a new reservation. We've done 13 nights for our longest trip.

There's a limit to how much you can book in advance but I don't think there's a limit on how long you can stay. I'm not aware of a limit on length of reservation for DVC but there may be. There are for some other timeshares I use.

 

[Bhoffm02]

I went on a DVC presentation a few months ago and was told that the point cost at the resorts do not increase. If this is true then why do the point charts come out yearly. If it is not true, then how often/how much do the points required to stay increase?