is it worth it?

[laura-k]

I am not a member but a long time annual visitor to WDW.

We have not really considered it because we don't normally stay in deluxe accomodations. We either camp at Fort Wilderness or stay in a Value resort.

Yes we have the money in the bank to pay for a DVC membership with cash, but I don't want to have to pay the maintenance fees.

We have been visiting WDW the last few years using discount codes, etc. We, personally, are just as happy staying at the value end of the magic.

If you normally stay deluxe and are financially sound, then you will probably find that it makes sense to buy. If you are comfortable with the values/moderates and if you would have to "stretch" financially to make the purchase, I think you'd better pass.

Just MHO though.

Let me start by saying I am from Minnesota - ya usually nice and practical I have been going to WDW for about 15 years also I have stayed in moderates ,deluxe and yes once at the all star Music but decided a while back that after I do the parks ,eat at some of my favorite resorts and stroll around or mini golf or shop I actually liked going back to my Motor home the best ,there was actually just something about my pillow ,my fridge and mostly my bed that was just more restfull for me (all my stuff in it's place ect....)I just rested better I guess and have always been within walking distance of the boat transportation -So when DH brought up Surprised me with BLT -I was actually hoping that I would be at home and comfortable there not like that staying a few days in somebody else place feeling I usually have -this was terrible at the music and a little better at the Polly
So we used 2 years of our points (we only got the 160 to start ) and did a 1 bedroom and it was WONDERFUL I was immediately at home my stuff in the fridge ,the bed and bedding were so comfy I slept great ,I also was not doing that -Is this room worth 500 .00 thing us practical not rich people do-I'm not so much of a view person and I found myself sometimes just gazing out -I fell in love with that short walkway back after MK in the evening -The monorail to shop around on the rainy day -
I Am A Huge Convert -I LOVE DVC and can't wait to go back and now like so many others ,I want more points .
My only concern would be the maintenance fees double the points double the fees that would be getting fairly spendy per year -
For now I think I will alternate the 1br every other year and my motor home and then reevaluate again in 2012 - But Maintenance fees will be the biggest factor next time around - Oh by the way the campgrounds has gone up dramatically in this time some by price increases but even more by discounts there really are none to speak of anymore just AAA no passholder ,no postcards ect...and for the last 2yrs I pay more to sleep in my own bed than extended family members I book at moderates with the DP-
oops just making myself mad again-(LOL)

 

[mdsd8700]

I think that everyone here has made valid points and has brought ideas up that need to be thought about. I do agree there has been a decline at WDW in recent years. We have done a Disney trip every year since 1997 (although not always WDW) however the downgrade in food, hotel appearance and sometimes customer service is apparent. However we just recently purchased BLT knowing all of this but still have a deep love of the Mouse. We have always stayed deluxe and have never stayed without a discount of somekind, even if it was only AAA. So we could have continued on that path and been very contented with it. Every family really needs to take a look at their vacation habits and how much they are willing to give to Disney. Even if you love it, you may not want to do it for the next 40-50 years. For us wanting to be able to take our grandkids was the biggest factor for buying. Since we are so new to DVC it hard to say what we will think in 5 10 or 15 years, but I think we have stayed loyal all these years (my husband's first trip was in 1972 and he still LOVES it) so it will work out to be a wise decision and one we are happy about. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Greysword]

If you normally stay deluxe and are financially sound, then you will probably find that it makes sense to buy. If you are comfortable with the values/moderates and if you would have to "stretch" financially to make the purchase, I think you'd better pass. Just MHO though.

Multiple people have done an analysis to determine if DVC is worth it, from a price perspective, using the time-value of the initial buy-in funds (versus sitting in an interest bering account), fiancing costs, and monthly fees comparing this to rack rate with a 40% discount and allowing for a standard price increase each year (I think it was 10%-20%) at all three categories of Disney rooms (deluxe, moderate, and value).

In the end, the Value resorts were in the most contention with discounted values beating DVC or with DVC passing the Values around year 35-40. With a standard price increase, the DVC option beat both the moderate and deluxe by a wide margin (DVC overtaking at the 20-25 year mark for Moderates and closer for Deluxe).

Other analysis break down the actual cost per point, taking into account initial buy-in and monthly fees (with an annual increase based on recent trends). This cost is multiplied by the number of points to reserve the room (some use per day and some use per stay) to compare to the actual cost of a specific room (rack rate and discounts, including factoring in free dining as a discount). At rack rate, DVC beats all contenders. At a discounted rate (includig free dining), the values give the most contention, with moderates goig either way depending on the code.

Bottomline in this: for the cost of a Disney hotel room over 50 years, at any level, DVC offers a comparable Deluxe accomodation with extras (washer/dryer, full kitchen, fluctuating perks such as discounts on APs, other resorts, etc). In comparison to any given single trip to WDW, DVC deluxe accomodations are at least comparable to the price of a Moderate, beats the deluxe rate hands down, and contends with the rate of a value resort depending on the discounts offered.

Just wanted to add a bit of detail to your analysis. Most of the DVC owners agree with your assessment to consider very carefully if this will place an undue burden on a family's finances and do not recommend it.

 

[JBx3]

So true and yet so sad.

DVC/Disney has the ability to really make the DVC something special but they choose not to.

Wouldn't it be great if the resale price of our contracts actually increased and there was a waiting list of people wanting to become members?

Bill

Very well said! Unfortunately it is all about growth and profit for big companies, not just Disney. Not only has WDW changed but the world in general.With that being said we really have enjoyed being members for a couple reasons.

1. making sure we take time in life to commit to high quality family vacation so we as a family can really grab onto what life is all about and what is important!

2. DVC memberships simply makes sure we do #1 in great fashion!

As far as this typical comparison rack rate and all that nonsense, please do not purchase by feeling you are getting a steal on lodging. I have been a traveling dsales rep. for 27 years, not once did I ever pay rack rate anywhere during my business travels. I get a kick out of this rack rate comparison talk. I never even met someone who paid rack rate!

IMO, buy in for reason #1 and #2 and enjoy!

 

[lmshaggard]

Imshaggard, Hi! That 6 day stay would take about 379 points, if you're only staying one weekend night. Wouldn't the maintenance fees alone be almost $2000 for that many points - not counting the original cost of the points? I'm just curious.

Well, we are in a 2 bdrm dedicated for 198 points for the 6 nights - checking in 12/17 and checking out 12/23 - 2 bdrm dedicated standard view (we just stayed in a standard view studio which had some animals so I am ok with standard). We own at BLT and GCV so our maintenance fees are less than 4 dollars a point. So we have less than $792 in maintenance fees for this trip plus our investment which was approximately $100 per point and we bought into both at 50 years. We paid $104 for BLT and $95 for GCV - we own 260 points. When I multiply it all out and divide it out by 50 years for investment and add back in the maintenance fees, I come up with $1312 which is significantly less than I actually originally thought. Thank you for making me realize it was even cheaper to take my family on a great vacation!! My only regret was not buying DVC when I was a store manager for the Disney Stores back in 2000 (was only 26 and didn't have lots of cash lying around ) - I would have bought at a steal then!!

 

[dandave]

Well, we are in a 2 bdrm dedicated for 198 points for the 6 nights - checking in 12/17 and checking out 12/23 - 2 bdrm dedicated standard view (we just stayed in a standard view studio which had some animals so I am ok with standard).

Ahh! Ok, I see! I had forgotten to figure in tax, and I was looking at the savannah view rooms for $1350 per night. I way overestimated the points!

 

[paminpa]

We bought in over 17 years ago- back when we got free passes- and when I see resales with the same price as I paid back then- I know I made a good decision! Not to mention the fact that we have had wonderful family vacations every year!

 

[AirGoofy]

One of the best things about DVC for us was since we joined, I now get to relax and enjoy the vacation. Before, I would drag two dds and DW around each theme park, RD to close, just wanting to get one more thing done. Now, going twice a year, we take time, do 1 or 2 theme parks each trip, enjoy the resort, enjoy the dining experience, and have a much better time. Knowing that I get to do this for the next 40 years is pretty cool.

My 2 cents - save and purchase outright, or be able to pay it off in 6 months. Like other large purchases, you don't want a feeling of regret around a vacation or 40 years of vacations.

 

[sgsting95]

Thank you everyone for the replies. When we save enough for the downpayment We are going to take the leap. Thank you!

 

[Lumpy1106]

Another newbie here wondering how you got DVC to pencil out as a good deal. Thanks Greysword, that's what I was looking for. Just using the #'s off of the DVC website and comparing to comperable lodging, I figured a break even of about 8 years. But not so fast; the comperable was a Deluxe and I'm pretty happy in a moderate. <10 years seems pretty resonable, but >25 years (!). No thanks! Anybody have any experience with the resalers? I could see that bringing the cost into a level I'd consider, but otherwise I'd say I'm out.

 

[dandave]

Lumpy, I bought a small resale just to test out the DVC waters. I discovered that DVC is not a good fit for me. We get FL Res discounts, military discounts, AP discounts, etc. So, we never pay more than 60% of Disney's rack rates, nor have we ever. You can look at my sig to see all the years we've been going.
I also have no clue what I want to do 11 or even 7 months from now. I can plan a 3 week vacation to Europe on a month's notice, I certainly don't need more time than that to plan a Disney vacation! By the time I knew that I wanted to go to Disney, the rooms that I wanted weren't available. I sold my contract last week. I ended up getting a $3000 vacation for what ended up costing me only about $800 after closing costs and all. Part of that was by buying a loaded contract though, then selling it stripped. So, I lost nothing to give it a try!

*I should add that the $3000 would have been rack rate for that vacation.

 

[lmshaggard]

My husband multiplied it all out - our initial investment, our maintenance fees, approximate increases by % and we figured out we are we are basically prepaying value prices to stay in deluxe plus resorts. I never would have paid cash to stay at the resorts we have already stayed at in the past 18 months since owning. I would always look as I was booking trips with any/all special offers I could find and could never justify the extra $ for the deluxe or even moderate resorts as we aren't really resort people. We are enjoying the resorts tremendously and I also love the discounts especially on annual passes. It took us 3 tours, lots of questions, and BLT opening to finally buy and we haven't looked back since. In fact, we have already added on Good luck with your decision!!

 

[southtexasmom]

It has been worth it for my family. We love DW, we love spending our time together there.

 

[zmanandshan]

I purchased my first DVC in March and will use it for our first DVC trip in OCT. It took me 3 years to decide. In the end, I figured that if I will still interested after 3 years, then I would enjoy it for years to come. We have 2 young children. We also progressively went from staying offsite to moderate, to Deluxe. For us, we can't see going back to staying offsite or the value or moderate resorts, as we got too spoiled, so I think it will be a great deal.

 

[needtogomore]

wouldn't it be great if the resale price of our contracts actually increased and there was a waiting list of people wanting to become members?

Bill

I dont see that happening with all the discounts they are throwing around.

 

[rentayenta]

Is everyone mostly glad they have gotten in on the DVC? And you think it's worth it? I am looking into it and it looks awesome to me. Is there anything hidden about it?

We have been owners for just over a year (May 2009) and I only wish we would have bought in sooner. It has been amazing thus far. We have been to the GCV and stayed in a 2 bedroom for 5 nights which would have cost me almost half of the contract if I were to pay cash for the villa.

We also stayed a week in Cabo, traded through RCI, and the condo was fabulous.

I am currently planning a December 2011 trip.

 

[Mtnman44]

The hotel vs. DVC is not a perfect comparison unless you only plan to stay in studios. The 1 and 2 BR villas offer a completely different, and better vacation experience in my opinion, especially if you have a couple kids or more. This is part of the DVC value in my opinion. I could never have stayed in these types of units had we been "pay as you go" vacationers. My vacation expenses would be over $12k instead of $3k.

 

[dandave]

Mtnman, Are you looking at rack rates or discounted rates, though?

I can book a 2 bedroom villa at SSR from Sept 24th through Oct 1st for $2622 with tax, using the Summer room discount of 40% off. An AP discount would generally be 45% off.

 

[missycj96]

If you go to WDW regularly and like to stay in the better resorts, it is very worth it. I bought SSR and WVL resale. I have been able to stay in all the best resorts - BWV, BCV, VWL and BLT for many nights since I joined. I also have given relatives stays in hotels that I never would have been able to give. I find if you book studios (we have a small family) , the points go a long way. For example, this summer, I am staying almost 2 weeks at BLT. Before DVC, this would have been cost prohibitive.

I

 

[dandave]

And I just checked my email to find and even better offer:


Summer Specials:
Get up to 40% off your Walt Disney World® Resort Hotel
Book and travel now through October 2, 2010.
Disney Resort savings for travel through August 14th and August 15 through October 2, 2010:
Disney Value Resorts are: 15% to 30%
Disney Moderate Resorts are: 20% to 30%
Disney Deluxe Resorts are: 25% to 40%
Disney Deluxe Villas are: 30% to 40%

Pay for 3, Play for 5! Book now and receive special savings on your Disney Theme Park Tickets! For a limited time, when you purchase your 3-day Walt Disney World® now you'll receive 2 days FREE (does not apply to 3-day tickets with the No Expiration Option)! Book by June 30, 2010 to save!

My point is that the discounts that WDW has been throwing out there for at least the past 10 years (that I'm sure of!) do not seem to be disappearing as some often hint at. No, the discounts are not guaranteed, but neither is the ability to use your points at non-home resorts, price of maintenance fees, DVC dining options, etc, though. I'm not saying that DVC is a bad deal, I simply don't see it as any better deal than what's available to the general public with the myriad of discounts available the majority of the time. It can be a way to prepay for future rooms or, for many, a way to pay for vacations on an installment plan. Such seems to be the American way.