Is DVC worth it?

[kmaach]

I have put a deposit down on the DVC but have yet to execute the contract. I have read a lot especially on mousesavers.com regarding this and I am nervous about it. Can any give me any advise or other websites to research?

 

[WolfpackFan]

The short and sweet answer is - if you go to WDW every year and stay in a moderate or deluxe resort and would like to have a true home away from home with kitchen, bedrooms, laundry, etc.; yes it is worth it. If you stay typically in value resorts or offsite or don't go every year; no it is not worth it. Also, if you an planning on buying with trading into RCI as a major part of your plan or taking DCL cruises often on points; it is also not worth it. As far as websites for information on DVC, THIS is the best website to go to.

 

[dianeschlicht]

You are already on the best website to research DVC, but you might want to read a few of the threads like these to get a good picture.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2143867

 

[disneyistheone]

I agree with the above.Everybody's situation is unique. I personally think DVC is a pretty good deal.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

WolfpackFan has laid out a most excellent general set of parameters for making such a decision based on the very limited information you have provided about you and your vacation habits. We could help you much more specifically if you were more specific in your needs and uses, as WolfpackFan implied.

IMO, I agree with the above; when it comes to unbiased DVC, this is the site.

Give us a little more about you, your family and your vacation needs and habits and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised what you learn and how quickly folks will respond with information very specific to your needs. I can virtually guarantee you that there's at least one of us here exactly like you.

Welcome!

 

[kmaach]

I have a 7 and an 11 year old and we have been to WDW 4 times in the past 4 years. We stayed at the Grand Floridian 3 times and the Polynesian once. We would like to continue going every 18 months or so but are not sure how long that will last as the kids will be getting older. That and the annual dues are a major concern of mine. Followed closely by the fact that we will have to finance this as we do not have the cash on hand. Maybe I am answering my own question.
Thank you all for your help!

 

[AlexTina]

Here's a link to a spreedsheet that someone did that may help you decide.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2137102

We did something similar and after years of staying at the Poly and other deluxe resorts we decided that it was defintely worth it for us. We are a family of 5 so we can't stay value or moderate without the need for 2 rooms, and while deluxe rooms are nice they are still just hotel rooms. We purchased without ever staying in anything other than a deluxe room and took our first DVC trip this past November. We stayed in a 2 bdrm and believe me there's no going back. Our trip was so relaxed and enjoyable having plenty of room for everyone to move around, it was so nice having the seperate rooms and not all being cramped into a hotel room. All I can say and I'm sure you'll hear this a lot but I just wish we had done it sooner!!

Tina

 

[eliza61]

I have put a deposit down on the DVC but have yet to execute the contract. I have read a lot especially on mousesavers.com regarding this and I am nervous about it. Can any give me any advise or other websites to research?

I'm going to give the "gooey sweet non monetary" answer to that.

First, remember you're on the dvc forum. While I have complete faith in my fellow dvc'ers, we are just a tad bit biase. Though I will say we do try to give "just the facts".

We go every 16-18 months. we purchased a small contract (<200 pts) that allows us to go for 9 nights during August (our normal travel period) & stay in a 1 bedroom. For the way we travel, We always stay in a deluxe we broke even after the 7th trip.

Now some thoughts on common arguments.
1) With all the disney promotions you will do better booking regularly through disney.
That may or may not be true. Prior to 4 years ago Disney was not so free with the discounts. I'm suspecting when the economy turns around again, every body will revert back to their fun loving full price ways.

2)Poor investment/better time share deals out there
This one may be true. Any time share is not a investment vehicle, I would not go into this with a "I'll make money and enjoy disney vacations" mind set.

3) Not so many perks with DVC anymore
Once again, I would purchase with the idea of saving on my accomadations. Perks are enjoyable but not what you plunk down thousands of dollars for.

4) You won't save any money. Soooo True!! We spend more money going back year after year.

Any way I'm still enjoying my membership. I have had magical vacations, I've invited friends and family, had girlie trips and I do trade out (Wolfpack is right though not the best use of points but hey thats what there for. )

 

[logan115]

The short and sweet answer is - if you go to WDW every year and stay in a moderate or deluxe resort and would like to have a true home away from home with kitchen, bedrooms, laundry, etc.; yes it is worth it. If you stay typically in value resorts or offsite or don't go every year; no it is not worth it. Also, if you an planning on buying with trading into RCI as a major part of your plan or taking DCL cruises often on points; it is also not worth it. As far as websites for information on DVC, THIS is the best website to go to.

The above sums it up quite nicely. Will it "save" you money ? That depends on where else you would stay. Staying offsite will always be cheaper, so if staying offsite is not a problem, then there are cheaper ways to get your lodging. For us we love being onsite, it is worth the premium (to us) to get to the airport and be completely submerged in all things Disney for the whole trip. Everyone's situation is going to be a bit different based on your preferences and vacation habits.

When we were deciding, I compared the cost of buying in to the next best alternative - continuing to rent ressies from dvc owners for our trips. Living just outside of Chicago, I doubt we'll ever make multiple trips in a year, and more likely to go 2 out of every 3 years. Some will compare the cost vs rack rates, but I don't think that it is realistic for us to do that as I would not be staying at a deluxe resort if I had to pay rack rates. We've stayed at 2 DVC resorts renting points, a 1BR at BCV, and a studio at SSR on a "last minute" trip last year (found out DW was pregnant and wanted to get one more trip to WDW as a family of 3). After these trips we thought about how nice it would be to own dvc, but always figured it was wayyyyyyyy out of our price range.

We then discovered the magical world of resale, which not only gave us the option of buying in at a lower price/point, but also smaller contract sizes if we wanted to. Our 2 previous trips we did split stays, staying at POP on the weekend and a DVC resort Sun-Thurs nights to avoid the higher weekend point requirements. The split stays were fine, but we ideally would've loved to stay at the same place for the entire trip (just get to the room and unpack without worrying about switching resorts in a few days). As a ballpark figure (will change based on resort, view, and season), we figured that a 1BR for a full week is somewhere around 240 points. If we go 2 out of every 3 years that would mean we need a 160 point contract (ironically the min buy-in direct thru Disney). The 160 point contract gets us 480 points every 3 years, allowing us our 2 240 pt trips utilizing banking and borrowing.

Started looking at the various resale sites (including the sponsor at the top of the screen), and found that I could get a 160 pt SSR contract for about $12K including first years MFs and closing costs. When I compared the $12K up front cost, annual MFs, AND the time value of money (some people forget to include this but it's critical in the analysis), I figured that depending on inflation, increases in MFs, point rentals, rates of return, and increases in the cost of hotel rooms, that my break-even is somewhere in the 10-14 year mark.

By break-even I mean comparing the 2 alternatives of keeping the $12K in the bank and earning a decent return, and using those funds to rent ressies for all of our trips vs buying in DVC, and paying the associated MFs each year. Somewhere in the 10-14 year window the $12K would've been all spent (the hypothetical "vacation fund" for lodging) if we just continue to rent, and if we buy in we'll still at least have our membership that will have some value to it. HOWEVER, I also needed to factor in that we would've paid about $7K in MFs over that same time period, so to me I'm "even" if my 160 pts are worth at least $7K in 10-14 years.

That's the financial side of it, but there are other intangibles that can't really be valued. First, there's something to be said about controlling your own reservation as opposed to renting from a member. Although my experiences renting have been great, it's worth *something* to me to be able to call MS myself and book a trip or make changes as needed. Second, DVC won't "save" me money, but will allow me to spend more or less the same and stay in much nicer accomodations. For the money I'd spend staying in a mod or maybe even a value, I can get a much nicer and bigger room. Third, it gives us the chance to get a room big enough that we'll be able to take friends/family with us without it breaking the bank.


By the way, I'm waiting to hear back on whether or not I "pass" ROFR (right of first refusal) on a contract that we made an offer on - so in case the novel about didn't sum it up - yes I think it's worth it. In addition to being a great price, it also came "loaded" with bank points that I'll rent to bring down my cost basis. If all goes as planned, we're going to bank this years points and have our first trip "home" next May, and bring along Grandma and Grandpa. Without DVC I would've had a hard time paying $3K out of pocket for lodging on that trip (either 2 rooms at a mod for a week, or renting a ressie for 2BR which is around 320 points), knowing that once we check out that money is just gone, so I figure that our membership will already start paying off. In addition, there's also something about being "forced" to have family vacations at a place we all love (DD at 5 months already smiles everytime she sees Cinderella's castle on TV so I know she's gonna be a Disney lover), and the thought of all of the family memories we will have is PRICELESS to me. Our kids won't be young forever !!

So in summary, I think on the financial side DVC works for us (not using this as an investment - don't expect it to "make me money" - but also see it as making sense vs the alternatives). Plus, I was incredibly fortunate growing up to be extremely close to my grandparents, and my son and daughter are just as lucky, so to me having the chance to have 3 generations go thru the turnstiles at MK together and the memories that come from this trip is almost worth the cost of my resale all by itself.

Others here will also be able to provide additional input (as they're much more informed on DVC than I am), but this is just my view. Please make sure that you take into account all of the different opinions here (both the good and the bad) when deciding on what makes sense for you.

Good luck, sorry for the long-winded response,

Chris

 

[CMOORE185]

I think an easy way to determine if a DVC membership is worth it is to follow the actions of the owners. I think Disneys statistics say that some 95% of owners add more points after their initial contract. I originally purchased 240 points and told my wife I'm not going to be one of the 95% to add-on. Two add-ons later I am hooked on DVC. It is worth every penny in my opinion.

 

[kmaach]

What are your trip habits?

 

[CMOORE185]

What are your trip habits?

We go to Disney,(mostly world somtimes land) about every other year. We go to HHI and VB on years we do not go to Disney. We have traded through Disneys concierge collection 3 times, Disney cruise,(only use points for 1 or 2 passengers) 4 times. We have owned since 2000 and now have 500 points. My kids are 16 and 12, but even when their older we will go to Disney without them if they are not interested.

 

[jodifla]

I have put a deposit down on the DVC but have yet to execute the contract. I have read a lot especially on mousesavers.com regarding this and I am nervous about it. Can any give me any advise or other websites to research?

I think mousesavers is a pretty skewed site against DVC.

It sounds though, like you are feeling a bit overextended. How many points did you buy?

Let me tell you our story: We bought back in 1996. Points were around $62 back then. We bought in at the minimum, 150. We financed through DVC. Basically, it was about the cost of a car payment....as Floridians, we already spent A LOT of time at Disney. This just let us do it MUCH more comfortably. It was paid off within 5 years.

This worked brilliantly for us, because we went from DINKS to one person working FT, the other PT. But because our accommodations were paid for, we could still take great vacations...taking friends and family with us, which has been GREAT!

Perhaps a smaller resale contract to get your feet wet would be in order, something where you don't feel so extended.

I'm SO glad we bought back when the price was so much more affordable. We've gotten great use out of DVC, and cannot overstate how much we've enjoyed staying in places with a kitchen and separate bedrooms when we go on vacation, as well as being able to take friends and family with us.

 

[Brian Noble]

We stayed at the Grand Floridian 3 times and the Polynesian once.

This tends to make you a pretty good candidate, but...

We would like to continue going every 18 months or so but are not sure how long that will last as the kids will be getting older.

...you need to really honestly answer that one for yourself and your family. If you're going "for the kids", then owning DVC might not be the best possible approach, because as your habits change away from WDW, DVC will not be the most efficient way to obtain your vacation lodging. If that's likely to be your situation, you might be better off renting from other owners for the years Disney is still firmly in your sights.

I think mousesavers is a pretty skewed site against DVC.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I think Mary's analysis is extremely sound---and, her conclusion is the same as most of the advice offered here: "A good deal if you normally stay in moderate or deluxe lodging, and expect to come back for the forseeable future."

 

[Golden Rose]

DVC is a very good deal if you always stay at deluxe resorts, which it looks like you do, and if you go at least every three years, which it also looks like you do. That said, unless you plan to vacation that way for at least the next 30 years, or you are prepared to sell your contract, possibly at a loss, when your vacation habits change, it still may not be the right choice for you.

We went back and forth for several years about buying DVC. We take a lot of vacations that aren't to WDW, and we weren't sure we wanted to be locked in to Disney vacations every year, or even every three years. (We had heard about difficulties trading out, so we didn't want to count on exchanges.) During that time, we continued to stay at deluxe resorts (in our case, BC, BW, and GF.) We always stayed Club level, and since my DM usually travelled with us, we usually got either two rooms or a suite. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that we spent more than $10,000 on rooms alone while we dithered about buying DVC over the years.

We finally took the plunge and bought one contract directly from Disney (for AKL) last fall, and then almost immediately bought an add-on BWV contract resale. We've already taken one trip, and we have two more planned for this year. Admittedly, we're doing more trips this year than we usually do, because we have DVC, but the timing really works for us this year. In recent years we were going about once every 9 months or so, and this year we're going more like every 4 months (since we had double points the first year from developer points and banked points on the resale contract.)

I will say, the perks are also pretty nice, and you get them even if you just own a small contract. They can change at any time, but for the time being, we're really enjoying them. We bought APs for the first time, since the $100 off made it worth it for us, and that let us get the TiW card, which is perfect for our dining habits. My DM and her DH are golfers, and we have DM as a co-owner so that she could get a golf membership. The golf discounts are so good right now that the two of them are going to save almost $1000 in greens fees this year alone.

Anyway, let me say that if you're not feeling good about your purchase, don't make it. It took us years to come to a decision about it. Now we wish we had bought sooner, but really, I don't think we're sorry we waited until we really were ready. (We just wish we could have applied all the money we spent on the hotels in the meantime to our purchase!) DVC will be around when you are ready to buy, if you ever feel ready to buy. You can always get whichever resort your heart is set on resale, even if it is no longer available from Disney directly... and you'll probably pay a lot less.

Good luck in your decision!

 

[Lynne M]

We would like to continue going every 18 months or so but are not sure how long that will last as the kids will be getting older.

Others have commented on this, but I'll add my two cents.

Most of us who own DVC bought it because WDW is OUR favorite vacation destination, kids notwithstanding. I don't have kids, and I go a couple of times a year to enjoy the sun and the resorts and restaurants, and spend some time in the parks. Many of the families who own are all hooked on Disney - the kids, and the parents. If the kids aren't into Disney when they're older, the parents still will be and will continue to go, into their retirement years. And in many cases, the kids continue to love the Disney trips and keep right on going as they get older.

DVC is a long-term commitment to the mouse. If you can see yourselves continuing to visit the DVC resorts whether or not your kids want to, then you're a prime DVC candidate. Over the life of your contract, you'll save a small fortune over what you're paying for Poly and GF, even including the maintenance fees.

If, however, the only reason you go to WDW is because you feel obligated to take the kids, and you think your kids really aren't that into it and will want to stop going at some point, the DVC is not a good choice.

 

[AlexTina]

Most of us who own DVC bought it because WDW is OUR favorite vacation destination, kids notwithstanding. I don't have kids, and I go a couple of times a year to enjoy the sun and the resorts and restaurants, and spend some time in the parks. Many of the families who own are all hooked on Disney - the kids, and the parents. If the kids aren't into Disney when they're older, the parents still will be and will continue to go, into their retirement years. And in many cases, the kids continue to love the Disney trips and keep right on going as they get older.

This is key. I grew up going to Disneyland. It was just me and my mom and we switched off, she chose where we went one year and the next year it was my turn to choose, I always chose Disney. My Dh is from Orlando and lucky for me he loves Disney too. We have been going to Disney since before we had kids and continue to go now that we have 3 of them. We have family all over the country so we go other places as well but we ALWAYS make it back to WDW at least once a year. With my kids it's not if we're going to WDW but WHEN are we going to WDW. If your family has similar views then DVC is right for you. If you enjoy Disney but would likely only want to visit ever few years then you should probably take a pass on DVC.

Tina

 

[eliza61]

Also wanted to weigh in (again):

It's really strange because now that my kids are getting older (15 & 17) I find myself going to disney more!

I did a girls spa weekend last May
Took my sons for a quick getaway during Jersey week.
Dh and I did a quick getaway for our anniversary.

Especially now that airfare is so cheap, every time we think of getting away, we look to our dvc. Now I find myself borrowing points from the next year.

I also financed my membership but not through Disney. I put down 1/2 and took out a Helo for 5 years.

 

[kmaach]

Speaking of airfare, two of you, (one from King of Prussia and one from SJ) fly out of philly, I would assume. I do to. DO you use USAIR? I know this is off topic.

Thankn you all for your help today.....GOOD STUFF

 

[RumpleMom]

Disney is even more fun now that the kids are grown.

I loved going to WDW when the kids were little. They were anxious to see the characters, then there came a time when it was all about the rides and characters were avoided.

Then, it was where are we going to dine? And it was now ok again to have a picture with a character. Also, can we bring a friend, boyfriend/fiance? These trips were instrumental in deciding whether he passed the Disney test. One boy did, two didn't. DD and husband now own their own DVC.

Now the kids are starting their careers and don't have as much vacation time as we do, so we go to WDW just the two of us and have a wonderful time. They do join us when they can.

We are now taking extended family, who live out of state, along with the grandparents. It is a great place to get family together for a vacation because there is something for everyone to do.