Is DVC for me?

[thomascaldwell1]

This Labor Day will be our 6th annual WDW vacation and we're now seriously considering the DVC. We've heard a little of information here and there, and we are trying to do the math and see if it's really for us or not.

Our typical WDW vacations are 7 nights, once a year, in a moderate resort. We would consider taking a 2nd vacation to another DVC location within a calendar year if the point system and costs would allow. Starting in 2013, we will count as a group of 5 instead of 4 (1 senior, 2 adults, 8 year old, 3 year old)...

I have a few straight forward questions, and welcome additional information!1) As a DVC member, do I get a discount on the dining plan? I understand that the DVC rooms come with a kitchenette that we would use for breakfasts and evening snacks, but while we're in the parks, we want to enjoy them- and that includes the character dining experiences that we like, too!
2) As a DVC member, do I get any park ticket discounts?
3) Explain again about the 'home resort' concept- if we buy into, say, Bay Lake Towers, we can always opt to stay at one of the other DVC locations like at Animal Kingdom, right? Does it just cost more points to stay at a DVC location that's not your 'home resort'?

Sorry- it's been a while since we last looked into this (about a year) and we are just pulling the information back out again. Any information is welcomed as we're trying to make sure this makes financial sense for us right now.

 

[LeslieLou]

I have a few straight forward questions, and welcome additional information!1) As a DVC member, do I get a discount on the dining plan? I understand that the DVC rooms come with a kitchenette that we would use for breakfasts and evening snacks, but while we're in the parks, we want to enjoy them- and that includes the character dining experiences that we like, too! No, you do not. However, you are able to buy Tables in Wonderland. With one annual trip per year, it may or may not make sense for you. If you can offset your trips or do them within 13 months of each other, it may work out. You'd need to do the math. We like TiW better than dining plan, but that's our preference. Hubby loves appetizers and beer!
2) As a DVC member, do I get any park ticket discounts? Only on Annual Passes - $100 off
3) Explain again about the 'home resort' concept- if we buy into, say, Bay Lake Towers, we can always opt to stay at one of the other DVC locations like at Animal Kingdom, right? Does it just cost more points to stay at a DVC location that's not your 'home resort'? It may cost more or less than your home resort. The points tables apply to everyone, home resort or not. The only difference is availability. At 7 months, other resorts may or may not be available. You have 4 months to book at your home resort before any one else can

DVC may or may not be for you based on a moderate resort...I would strongly suggest looking in to resale vs. buying through Disney. We did and are very pleased. We bought a slim number of points in case our interests change when our kiddos get a little older. We bought enough to do 1 week per year in a studio or about every other year in a 1 BR. That gives us freedom to do other things. That being said, we do add on nights or consider adding on whole trips outside our DVC. Best of luck in your choice

 

[KS_Disney_Dad]

An example of home resort would be owning BLT and wanting Christmas. You could book late Jan. Other resort owners, such as myself with OKW, I would have to wait until late May.

 

[taaren]

Our typical WDW vacations are 7 nights, once a year, in a moderate resort. We would consider taking a 2nd vacation to another DVC location within a calendar year if the point system and costs would allow. Starting in 2013, we will count as a group of 5 instead of 4 (1 senior, 2 adults, 8 year old, 3 year old)...

As a group of 5 the 1 bedrooms would be nice for you if you're okay with the senior sleeping on a pull-out or sleeper chair and the kids are okay with sharing. Otherwise the 2 bedrooms are nice for a group that size.

Since you usually stay in mods, you probably wouldn't be saving a tremendous deal by buying DVC, but get an upgrade both in resorts and size of accomodation. For us, we always stayed off-site pre-DVC, and switching from a off-site hotel room to on-site villa was an amazing upgrade for roughly the same price every year (we counted MFs + buy in spread out over 50 years).

1) As a DVC member, do I get a discount on the dining plan? I understand that the DVC rooms come with a kitchenette that we would use for breakfasts and evening snacks, but while we're in the parks, we want to enjoy them- and that includes the character dining experiences that we like, too!

Nope, no discount on the dining plan (unless you count the ability to buy it at regular price during the holiday season). You do, however, have the ability as a DVC member to buy the TIW card for $100.

2) As a DVC member, do I get any park ticket discounts?

No ticket discounts, only discounts on AP. A DVC member AP is about $100 cheaper than a regular one. Many have found buying an AP and taking trips 11 months apart to be quite effective. This would also work well if you bought a TIW card and got two uses out of it that way as well. Then wait 13 months and repeat.

3) Explain again about the 'home resort' concept- if we buy into, say, Bay Lake Towers, we can always opt to stay at one of the other DVC locations like at Animal Kingdom, right? Does it just cost more points to stay at a DVC location that's not your 'home resort'?

You can book your home resort at 11 months. Then at the 7 month mark you can see what's available. The larger the resort, the more likely it is to be available, so AK, OKW and SSR are frequently available more so than BCV/BWV/BLT at the 7 month mark. It also depends on season, and DVC seasons are not busy at the same time as regular seasons. It does not cost more points to stay at another resort if you don't own there, you just get the "leftovers" of whatever the people who own there didn't reserve at the 7 month mark in terms of availability.

HTH.

Post script - As a PP mentioned, definitely look into the resale market.

 

[Missyrose]

This Labor Day will be our 6th annual WDW vacation and we're now seriously considering the DVC. We've heard a little of information here and there, and we are trying to do the math and see if it's really for us or not.

Our typical WDW vacations are 7 nights, once a year, in a moderate resort. We would consider taking a 2nd vacation to another DVC location within a calendar year if the point system and costs would allow. Starting in 2013, we will count as a group of 5 instead of 4 (1 senior, 2 adults, 8 year old, 3 year old)...

I have a few straight forward questions, and welcome additional information!1) As a DVC member, do I get a discount on the dining plan? I understand that the DVC rooms come with a kitchenette that we would use for breakfasts and evening snacks, but while we're in the parks, we want to enjoy them- and that includes the character dining experiences that we like, too!
2) As a DVC member, do I get any park ticket discounts?
3) Explain again about the 'home resort' concept- if we buy into, say, Bay Lake Towers, we can always opt to stay at one of the other DVC locations like at Animal Kingdom, right? Does it just cost more points to stay at a DVC location that's not your 'home resort'?

Sorry- it's been a while since we last looked into this (about a year) and we are just pulling the information back out again. Any information is welcomed as we're trying to make sure this makes financial sense for us right now.

The only resorts whose one-bedroom villas sleep five are BLT, AKV and OKW. Those three resorts have the sleeper chair in the one-bedrooms. The other resorts do not. You can fit five in the other resorts' one-bedrooms, but you would have to provide an air-mattress, bedding and towels for the fifth person.

For a group of five that includes three adults, you would probably be happier in two-bedroom villas. But those cost more points and for someone who is comfortable in Mods, the price of that many points may be a bit of a sticker shock.

I think your family is an excellent candidate to rent DVC points for a few trips and see if you like the villas and to see if the system works for you.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[BeachLove]

I was once a moderate resort lover.....

Now I'm all about staying at DVC properties! I've been able to bring family without spending a fortune on getting two or three regular rooms. Its funny that I ended up buying DVC after pricing out 3 rooms for 7 people at Port Orleans. I found out about resale and bought 200 points at Boardwalk a few years ago. Now we just get a 2 bedroom and a studio for myself and my parents/grandparents and siblings. I'm able to constantly invite friends and family! By the time it expires I'll be in my 50's and I think its already given me my $$ worth(the initial cost) All I can say is do not finance, pay cash and buy a small contract if you have to. Those finance rates are horrible in my opinion. I'm actually now looking to add on another contract at either Boardwalk or Saratoga. If I could go back in time I would do it again. Good luck with whatever you decide!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Any discounts or perks that DVC members get can disappear in a minute. You need to buy DVC for DVC and to use DVC points at DVC resorts. Any other reason can be costly.

 

[thomascaldwell1]

Thanks everybody! I fear that we're not convinced of a cost savings (we're fairly frugal people, but LOVE our yearly trips to WDW) and are not sure that this is the best thing for us. We can get the park tickets on our local military base since my father-in-law is retired military which a DVC guide told us was the best discount since it's very hard for us to travel to WDW more than 1x per year I don't personally see the value in the AP. Regarding the TiW, I can't quite figure the math on this. Someone said above that it's approximately $100 and that it offers a 20% savings on our meal. We're pretty straight forward and having a young, always hungry, 2 (soon 3) year old in our travel party, we typically do buffets. Not sure how much I'd really be saving and if it makes it worth it. We were looking at pricing 200 DVC points and when we figured in the monthly (financed) rate they offered with the maintenance fees, plus the park tickets, TiW, and OOP costs for the food after the TiW discount- I'm not sure I can see where we come out ahead. It'd be quite awesome to say that we are DVC members and be able to share the comfortable accomodations with our group, but my husband and I look at things from a financial perspective, and when we only paid about $2500-3000 per trip to travel and that includes our accomodations, tickets, and dining plan- I don't see the savings. Don't get me wrong, I WANT to see the savings!! I WANT to be a DVC member, but if it doesn't make sense, it doesn't make sense. They way I priced the DVC for 200 points would be over $5000/year for 10 years and I don't have the cash to pay for the whole thing out of pocket and still have a savings account for the 'in case of job loss' concept. Oh, please, explain how DVC is financially worth it- PLEASE?! Thanks everybody!

 

[Missyrose]

Thanks everybody! I fear that we're not convinced of a cost savings (we're fairly frugal people, but LOVE our yearly trips to WDW) and are not sure that this is the best thing for us. We can get the park tickets on our local military base since my father-in-law is retired military which a DVC guide told us was the best discount since it's very hard for us to travel to WDW more than 1x per year I don't personally see the value in the AP. Regarding the TiW, I can't quite figure the math on this. Someone said above that it's approximately $100 and that it offers a 20% savings on our meal. We're pretty straight forward and having a young, always hungry, 2 (soon 3) year old in our travel party, we typically do buffets. Not sure how much I'd really be saving and if it makes it worth it. We were looking at pricing 200 DVC points and when we figured in the monthly (financed) rate they offered with the maintenance fees, plus the park tickets, TiW, and OOP costs for the food after the TiW discount- I'm not sure I can see where we come out ahead. It'd be quite awesome to say that we are DVC members and be able to share the comfortable accomodations with our group, but my husband and I look at things from a financial perspective, and when we only paid about $2500-3000 per trip to travel and that includes our accomodations, tickets, and dining plan- I don't see the savings. Don't get me wrong, I WANT to see the savings!! I WANT to be a DVC member, but if it doesn't make sense, it doesn't make sense. They way I priced the DVC for 200 points would be over $5000/year for 10 years and I don't have the cash to pay for the whole thing out of pocket and still have a savings account for the 'in case of job loss' concept. Oh, please, explain how DVC is financially worth it- PLEASE?! Thanks everybody!

A couple of things. DVC won't really save you much money when compared with the moderate resorts. The only savings is really if you planned to stay in deluxe. Or you can look at it from the perspective of paying the same price as moderate resorts, but upgrading the accommodations to deluxe.

DVC is really a means to prepay vacations, not necessarily to save you money. And it definitely won't save any money if you finance the purchase because the interest eats away any potential savings.

You could save up for a small contract you could use every other year to see if the system really works for you.

 

[CKCruising]

Thanks everybody! I fear that we're not convinced of a cost savings (we're fairly frugal people, but LOVE our yearly trips to WDW) and are not sure that this is the best thing for us. We can get the park tickets on our local military base since my father-in-law is retired military which a DVC guide told us was the best discount since it's very hard for us to travel to WDW more than 1x per year I don't personally see the value in the AP. Regarding the TiW, I can't quite figure the math on this. Someone said above that it's approximately $100 and that it offers a 20% savings on our meal. We're pretty straight forward and having a young, always hungry, 2 (soon 3) year old in our travel party, we typically do buffets. Not sure how much I'd really be saving and if it makes it worth it. We were looking at pricing 200 DVC points and when we figured in the monthly (financed) rate they offered with the maintenance fees, plus the park tickets, TiW, and OOP costs for the food after the TiW discount- I'm not sure I can see where we come out ahead. It'd be quite awesome to say that we are DVC members and be able to share the comfortable accomodations with our group, but my husband and I look at things from a financial perspective, and when we only paid about $2500-3000 per trip to travel and that includes our accomodations, tickets, and dining plan- I don't see the savings. Don't get me wrong, I WANT to see the savings!! I WANT to be a DVC member, but if it doesn't make sense, it doesn't make sense. They way I priced the DVC for 200 points would be over $5000/year for 10 years and I don't have the cash to pay for the whole thing out of pocket and still have a savings account for the 'in case of job loss' concept. Oh, please, explain how DVC is financially worth it- PLEASE?! Thanks everybody!

I think you need to consider where you will be staying. Once you go to 5 people, I don't think you can stay in a moderate hotel room. You would probably need to go to 2 rooms. This might not change your budget much, but definately adds to it. With 2 rooms, you might be able to save on the dining plan (Get it for 3 people in one room and use it for 5...i don't know if this is possible, but I don't see why not). If you need to go to a one-bedroom anyways then there is no way that DVC won't save you money.

Your DVC costs seem to be out of whack. Since you like moderates, then I would work with OKW (rather than BLT which is much more expensive). You should be able to buy 200 points at OKW for $60/point on the resale market. That would be 12k (or 1200/year if you only want to use 10 years for the points even though they are good for 30 years). The maintenance fees would be $5/point yearly (or $1000/year...These will go up over time, but so will the hotel room cost, so take these numbers as you want). That would put the DVC numbers at $2200/year over 10 years (and that point you would own all the points and your costs would be maintenance fees). You would have to add your DDP

You will also find that very few DVC members use the DDP. Most eat at least one meal in their villa. You can prepare alot of food for $200/day (Even if you eat one meal out at $100 for your group. That would leave $100/day for another meal or groceries).

 

[WsPrincess]

I think the cost savings you are looking at is not there for a couple reasons. First, you are comparing a moderate hotel room to a villa with a living room, bedroom and kitchen (1 bedroom since you will need that when you are at 5 people). The villas are larger obviously and often the location is a lot better since they are much closer to the parks (except OKW and SSR but those are close to the moderates).

Also, the dining plan does not really save money. Even Disney advertises it can save you up to 20% and that is the same savings as the TiW card except instead of having to order exactly what the DDP says, you can pick and choose. Maybe you want apps instead of an entree one night, that is an option with TiW but not DDP. You still get the discount on buffets.

Also, you mentioned financing so I am assuming you plan to buy through Disney. You can save a lot by buying resale. We just recently closed on 320 points resale and our break even is about 3-4 trips at this point based on how we usually travel and the DVC cost. DVC is not for everyone and that is OK but I think there is a value in it.

 

[Lynne M]

If you're looking at DVC as a discount program - solely as a way to save money on your vacations - I don't think you'll ever be able to justify the cost, because that's not what it is.

First, I think you need to completely remove discounts on tickets, dining, etc from your calculations. DVC members currently get some discounts on APs, a few restaurants, some recreational experiences, that sort of thing. Any discounts are not part of your ownership. They are given by third parties, and come and go at the whim of those outside companies and other divisions of Disney.

DVC is all about the villas, and you'll only see real savings if you compare your costs as a DVC member to the cost of comparable lodgings on cash reservations. Meaning, compare it to the cost of rooms at deluxe resorts, or to the cost of the villas themselves on a cash reservation. If you're comparing to moderates, you're really not going to see a savings.

If your purpose in buying is that you want to stay at DVC resorts, in DVC villas, then having a DVC membership is the most cost effective way to do that.

 

[mjc2003]

My argument for buying would be that the cost of Disney hotel rooms keeps going up, and in 5 years you might be paying 50% more just for your room/rooms, and as a PP said you'd probably really need 2 rooms. DVC costs are fixed in that you are paying for the room now, the points don't "go up". So you really have to use a certain assumed increase when trying to price out how you currently travel cost-wise against what you will be spending in 5-10 years for the same trip.

My argument against is that I personally would never finance such a discretionary purchase. I assume if you are talking about financing that you are talking about buying direct? So if you buy into BLT at their current prices and, God forbid, a job issue or unexpected expense arises and you have to sell, you will immediately be losing about 40% of your purchase. If you bought BLT at current prices you would be spending about $30,000 (not including finance costs), and if you had to sell it in a few years you'd probably be looking at about $16,000 after commissions. So you would be left having to pay back quite a bit of money to satisfy that initial loan.

I would seriously consider pricing this out versus a cheaper resale contract. If you are happy with moderates, you'd be doing very well to upgrade to a place like OKW, and remember, you can use those points to stay at other properties. As another person already mentioned, this brings your up-front cost way down, and makes the numbers far more manageable.

I don't think you are ever going to be able to make the numbers work if you are comparing a budget conscious trip and staying moderate to buying 200 direct purchase points at BLT. It won't work.

 

[chalee94]

Our typical WDW vacations are 7 nights, once a year,...We were looking at pricing 200 DVC points...Oh, please, explain how DVC is financially worth it- PLEASE?!

WSPrincess beat me to it.

for the week of labor day 2012 (nights of sept 1-7) for a DVC studio at OKW (relatively comparable to a moderate hotel room), you would need 76 pts, not 200.

so to get a comparable room as a mod would likely cost less than $5000 upfront (spread over a roughly 30-year remaining life) for an 80 pt OKW contract with annual dues in 2012 of about $420...do the math on that and you'll probably find savings...

for the week of labor day in a nearly 1000 sq ft 1BR OKW villa with full kitchen, private sleeping area with a king bed for mom and dad, washer and dryer and jacuzzi tub, sure, you'd need about 160 pts...closer to 200 if you stay a few nights in august.

yes, that's more expensive, but it's also considerably nicer than a room in a mod. it might be nicer in ways that may not suit you or be worth it to you...but it's not a 314 sq ft room at CSR either...

if you want the best deal, honestly, you should probably look at offsite timeshares - join TUG and do some research. there are several offsite marriotts and hiltons which are offer very reasonably priced 2BR units (if you put in the work to learn how, you can trade for them very cheaply).

but don't think of DVC as primarily a membership thing with perks. it's a long term commitment to a real estate interest. if the accommodations aren't worth it to you, then it's fine to move on...

 

[DougEMG]

Our typical WDW vacations are 7 nights, once a year, in a moderate resort. We would consider taking a 2nd vacation to another DVC location within a calendar year if the point system and costs would allow. Starting in 2013, we will count as a group of 5 instead of 4 (1 senior, 2 adults, 8 year old, 3 year old)...

What you should first do is look at the sleeping arrangements that you need/want. 3 adults and 2 children is a lot to squeeze into a studio or even a 1 bedroom (most 1 bedrooms sleep the same as a studio, some 1 bedrooms can sleep 5 with a pullout sofa and a sleeper chair), so is it a 2 bedroom that you are wanting?

Point wise looking at a week (Sept 02-09) a studio at OKW is 76 points, a 1 bedroom is 157 points and a 2 bedroom is 217 points. For SSR the points are 95, 183 and 246. The MF on OKW are currently $5.21/point and SSR is $4.73/point. Figure out what your buyin costs are per point, add your buyin costs and MF together and you'll come up with the cost of your stay. If that doesn't work out to a better deal, don't bother with DVC.

Disney currently has a sale on right now for that time period and the Disney Port Orleans Riverside room is $1,241.

So I'd say that the DVC studio wins in savings no problem.

For a 1 bedroom you'd actually need to figure out your buyin costs. Working backwards, if you take $1,241/157 (1 bedroom points) - $5.21 (MF) = $2.70 So if your buyin costs are less than or equal to $2.70 a point, then you can stay in a 1 bedroom for the same price as the hotel room at Disney Port Orleans Riverside.

When you compare a moderate vrs a DVC studio using points purchased resale, the DVC studio pretty much always works out to be the better deal.

My suggestion to you would be to rent points to stay at a 1 bedroom in OKW. That unit will sleep 5. If you can get the points renting for $10/point that will only cost you $1,570, only ~$330 more than the Riverside room, but you'll have a full kitchen and can save a lot on meals. Then you'll know if DVC is for you or not.

 

[thomascaldwell1]

Alright- can someone educate me on this resale concept? I know nothing more about the DVC than what I've heard from the DVC DVD and DVC rep by phone. I'm always interested in learning more about the possibility of ownership. We are very interested in upgrading our accomodations from our current moderate rooms. In addition, as far as travel time frame, now that our oldest is getting older, we are going to have to start going to WDW during more popular time frames like the holidays, summer, or spring break which is why I was figuring something more along the lines of 200 points. In regards to sleeping arrangements, we always travel with my father-in-law, and with the girls still being fairly young, we have a cot for each of them, so having only 1 bed and 1 pull-out is totally fine, especially since we are in the parks all day, not sleeping in the room.

Thanks in advance for any resale information you can offer, or if there are links or something of that sort I should check out. Thanks again everyone!!

 

[chalee94]

Alright- can someone educate me on this resale concept?

the question timeshare salespeople don't want you to ask is "what happens if i have a major life change (job loss/health issues/divorce...or even just kids that completely lose interest in disney) and can't afford or don't need my contract any more?"

DVC won't buy back your contract directly in 99.9% of cases. (a few years back, there were scattered reports that DVC would offer BCV owners $55 per pt but that was very unusual, and still much less than the going rate for BCV resales.) so the only alternative is to "re-sell" your contract to another individual.

timeshares in general drop a ton in value after you buy them. (roughly half of a timeshare's direct price is to pay for marketing the timeshare.) most developers also add or subtract incentives that benefit direct buyers to encourage direct purchases (although most of these are little more than window dressing). disney joined this club early last year:

Disney Vacation Club® has announced a new policy that limits access to certain Member Getaways exchanges for Ownership Interests purchased on the secondary market (also known as the re-sale market).

Under the new policy,Members who purchase from anyone other than Disney Vacation Development, Inc., on or after March 21, 2011, will not be eligible to use those Vacation Points to make reservations within the Concierge Collection, the Disney Collection or the Adventurer Collection. Those Vacation Points will instead be valid only for reservations at Disney Vacation Club resorts, as well as for RCI® exchanges, Club Cordial and Club Intrawest.

The affected collections are special Member benefits programs offered by Disney Vacation Development, Inc., and are not part of Members' Ownership Interests. That said, Members who purchased on the secondary market prior to March 21, 2011, may use those Vacation Points for all Member Getaways.

Note that the policy doesn't impact banking, borrowing or transferring Vacation Points. All Members will continue to have the ability make such transactions, regardless of where they purchased their Ownership Interests. Complete rules about these transactions are available in the Home Resort Rules and Regulations section of this website.

on the bright side, the value of a timeshare is always in using the timeshare within its system, so nothing of real value was taken away. (timeshares are not investments.) always remember that any perks - like the AP discount - can be taken away from resale (or direct) purchasers at any time.

still, you have to weigh the options you lose and decide whether it's worth it to buy SSR direct for $105* or buy SSR resale for less than $65 per pt...or buy BLT direct for $150 per pt or resale for $95 per pt.

resale can take a little longer - it often takes 6-8 weeks to complete the closing after you reach an agreement (and can sometimes take a while to find the "right" contract in terms of size, resort and use year month). direct purchasers can book a reservation immediately.

but if things change and you need to sell your SSR or BLT contract, remember that you will be selling at resale prices whether you paid $150 or $65 for your original contract. you paid extra for (expensive) options like trading for disney cruises that you can use, but you cannot transfer those options to a resale buyer whether you bought direct or resale...at the point you need to sell, you will find disney is your adversary, as they have their own contracts they are trying to sell.

that's probably more than you wanted to know, but there you go...

the timeshare store is a major DVC resale broker and sponsor of the DIS (i used them and recommend them). other brokers can be found using google.

*DVC is constantly reacquiring inventory of so-called "sold out" resorts through foreclosures and "ROFR": which is their right to take contracts away from resale buyers - partly to pick up inventory at fire-sale prices and partly to annoy resale buyers enough to push them to buy direct.

 

[Deb & Bill]

... In regards to sleeping arrangements, we always travel with my father-in-law, and with the girls still being fairly young, we have a cot for each of them, so having only 1 bed and 1 pull-out is totally fine, especially since we are in the parks all day, not sleeping in the room.

The thing you have to remember with DVC is there are occupancy limits. It doesn't matter if you spend all your time in the parks, if your kids are tiny and can sleep six in a bed, if the grandparents love for the kids to sleep with them, etc. A one bedroom sleeps five (and some only sleep four because they only have one king bed and one queen sleeper sofa). A two bedroom generally sleeps eight (or nine if they have the extra sleeper chair in the living room). And dem are da rules.

Also with DVC, your attitude about visiting the parks changes. You know you'll be back next year or later on in the year, so you learn to spend a little time enjoying the resort, the pool, the Community Hall and your villa. That 1PM nap after a morning in the parks becomes a tradition, not a necessity (or maybe it becomes a necessary tradition. ) You're not worrying about coming back to your villa at lunchtime and finding the housekeepers there just starting to clean your villa because they won't be in your villa much unless you stay eight nights or more in one single location. You'll sit in the villa at night playing a board game with your kids because you don't need to rush out and worry about getting caught in the rain. You'll do that park activity another time.

Plus no one wants to eat the park food. They just want a nice slice of pizza from the freezer section. Or a bowl of cereal. You can eat anything you want when you have a nice kitchen to prepare the meal in.

There are multiple resale companies. All you need to do is Google DVC Resales and you'll get them. A lot of those companies have staff who not only sell DVC resales, but they are members themselves.

 

[ELMC]

Ok, so you asked a TON of really good questions, so I decided to break up your posts and respond to them one idea at a time. I hope you find this helpful.

Alright- can someone educate me on this resale concept?

The best way to find out about resale is to read the existing posts that are on here. Basically, if you buy resale you will save about 50% the cost of buying direct. That should change your calculations a bit.

We are very interested in upgrading our accomodations from our current moderate rooms.

Then DVC may be an option. But keep in mind that upgrading your accommodations comes at a cost. Purchasing DVC can save you money vs. paying cash for Deluxe rooms. But there won't be a savings vs. paying cash for Mods. You get what you pay for, and Deluxes are more expensive than Mods, plain and simple.

In regards to sleeping arrangements, we always travel with my father-in-law, and with the girls still being fairly young, we have a cot for each of them, so having only 1 bed and 1 pull-out is totally fine, especially since we are in the parks all day, not sleeping in the room.

I'm wondering who is sleeping on the pull out and how much longer they are going to enjoy that for. Also, keep in mind that kids grow quickly and pretty soon they will require a bed. Just a thought.

Thanks everybody! I fear that we're not convinced of a cost savings (we're fairly frugal people, but LOVE our yearly trips to WDW) and are not sure that this is the best thing for us.

Like I said above, if you're looking for total savings, DVC might not be for you. The best way to save money at WDW is to book Values with free dining. Any upgrades from there are going to cost you.

We can get the park tickets on our local military base since my father-in-law is retired military which a DVC guide told us was the best discount since it's very hard for us to travel to WDW more than 1x per year I don't personally see the value in the AP.

That's great that you have that option. However, I don't think this should factor into your decision as you can buy these regardless of whether or not you purchase DVC.

Regarding the TiW, I can't quite figure the math on this. Someone said above that it's approximately $100 and that it offers a 20% savings on our meal. We're pretty straight forward and having a young, always hungry, 2 (soon 3) year old in our travel party, we typically do buffets. Not sure how much I'd really be saving and if it makes it worth it.

The math is fairly straightforward. You pay $100 to get the TiW membership. If you spend $500 on food during your trip you break even (20% of $500 is $100 savings and that's what the membership costs you). If you spend $499 or less you lost money (albeit a small amount) and once you spend $501 you start saving money at a rate of 20% of whatever you spend.

We were looking at pricing 200 DVC points and when we figured in the monthly (financed) rate they offered with the maintenance fees, plus the park tickets, TiW, and OOP costs for the food after the TiW discount- I'm not sure I can see where we come out ahead.

Again, TiW, food and park tickets are all independent of purchasing DVC. When comparing numbers you should look at DVC costs vs. paying cash for rooms. The only time food costs should come into the picture is if you get free dining. But when you get free dining you have to pay rack rate for the room. Given that you are frugal people who love saving money, I'm assuming that you usually get some sort of discount and have not had to pay rack rate.

As far as the cost making sense, it's pretty simple. If you finance at the Disney rates, you will NOT save money. Financing a purchase over ten years can add more than 60% to the purchase price. So your $20,000 direct purchase DVC contract will actually cost you $32,746 (assuming an 11% interest rate). In this case you're better off renting DVC points from an existing owner.

It'd be quite awesome to say that we are DVC members and be able to share the comfortable accomodations with our group, but my husband and I look at things from a financial perspective, and when we only paid about $2500-3000 per trip to travel and that includes our accomodations, tickets, and dining plan- I don't see the savings.

Exactly. If you finance, you will be spending $1,200 a year for the next 10 years on interest alone. Then on top of that add in all the real expenses. No savings there. But you said something important above when you said "It'd be quite awesome to say that we are DVC members..." Your salesperson is counting on that. Forget the numbers, forget your home budget expenses. Forget your kids' college fund. Forget your car that is on its last leg. Don't you want to own a piece of the Magic? Sign here.

Don't get me wrong, I WANT to see the savings!! I WANT to be a DVC member, but if it doesn't make sense, it doesn't make sense. They way I priced the DVC for 200 points would be over $5000/year for 10 years and I don't have the cash to pay for the whole thing out of pocket and still have a savings account for the 'in case of job loss' concept. Oh, please, explain how DVC is financially worth it- PLEASE?! Thanks everybody!

It sounds like you know the answer already. You want to see the savings, but you can't. That's because they're not there.

But there is hope. Rerun your numbers using a resale purchase where the prices are about 50% less than direct. Then remove the finance charges (if you have to save for a few years to do this, then do so). The numbers should start to make sense provided that you are comparing to other methods of staying in a Deluxe. If you're content to stay in one Mod room, it still probably won't add up.

You've done the right thing by coming on here and asking some great questions. Keep learning as much as you can and good luck making your decision!

 

[Missyrose]

In regards to sleeping arrangements, we always travel with my father-in-law, and with the girls still being fairly young, we have a cot for each of them, so having only 1 bed and 1 pull-out is totally fine, especially since we are in the parks all day, not sleeping in the room.

Just wanted to make sure you knew that DVC resorts won't provide cots like the regular Disney resorts will. You can add an extra person to your 1-bedroom villa, but you would have to provide an air-mattress, bedding and towels for the extra person.

But one thing to consider (Deb pointed this out on another thread, I believe) is do you really want to spend all this money on DVC and have someone in your family sleeping on an air-mattress on every vacation.

Take a peek at the point charts for two-bedroom villas, you may appreciate the space in the long run.