Is it worth it?

[GladamirFlint]

Is DVC worth it? just wondering, it seems cool

 

[MSUmom]

I love mine. I have never regretted it. Of course, I have only owned for 3 years. I only wish I had done it when my kids were younger. Read some of the blogs. Some of the bloggers have it all worked out financially. My only suggestion is buy resale from a reputable seller.

 

[disneynutz]

That's totally up to what "worth" means to you.

There are costs, rules, policies, restrictions, you are obligating yourself to Disney vacations and you need the budget for the very expensive Disney vacations every year or two.

You need to love the DVC resorts and rooms, especially your home resort.

Bill

 

[Micca]

You can work on the facts & figures and probably prove to yourself (or the person you're wanting to persuade) one way or the other. You should do that and make sure it's something you'll maintain a passion for over an extended period.

I think most people buy things over their lifetime that really aren't "worth it" but they enjoy having it and using it. Might be a car, clothing, jewelry, some sort of collectable. You can spend $600 on a leather jacket, or you can go to Target and pick out something for less than a hundred that will keep you every bit as warm & comfortable as the more expensive coat. It's a matter of taste, and whether the $600 jacket is going to cause any financial discomfort for you.

With DVC there are realities, and there are the intangibles. Good luck on your decision.

 

[Sheriff Woody]

I think it's worth it. If I'm objective and realistic, I really can't afford it. The smart thing to do would be to sell it and get rid of some other debt. But, my dvc membership and my kids are the only things in the world that bring me joy. I love being able to gift first class accommodations to friends and family so to me, making some sacrifices in other areas in order to keep my dvc is definitely worth it.

 

[CMOORE185]

It has been worth it to us. We do more than just WDW with our points. HH a lot, Vero sometimes, Hawaii this spring. We have stayed at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica, and even used our points for Disney Cruises. Remember you have to buy direct to go to some of the places I mentioned, so at today's prices going outside of Disney vacation club hotels may not be cost effective.

If you buy direct buy to use at the hotel you buy at. It makes no sense to spent a $160 per point to only use those points at One of the older hotels. Maybe buy some direct and some resale to save money and utilize all the wonderful hotels in the club.

 

[smjj]

If I had to buy today, no it is not!! Unless you buy resale where you can get a much better deal. We bought many years ago and I look at the price per point and say to myself "good job Scott" but at today's prices, no way. I know if you buy resale Disney has restrictions placed on just what you can do but those restrictions are on stuff we never used anyway except for DCL and we are grandfathered in on that. However we do love going to Disney and the last several times we have stayed with our entire family of 10 in 3 bedroom villas and at today's prices verses what we paid for our points, what a deal. I mean we have actually paid for our investment several times over...smjj

 

[aclov]

Been with DVC since 1999 and haven't regretted it. People always ask if I get tired of Disney which I've been fortunate to treat family and friends who probably would of never gone and visited some nice places, even have exchanged twice which isn't a great value but worked for me

 

[chalee94]

DVC works *best* for people who:

1) go to disney at least every other year
2) prefer to stay onsite at deluxes (or at least moderates)
3) can plan their vacations 10 or 11 months in advance
4) intend to use DVC primarily for staying at a DVC resort at disney (rather than trading out for other timeshares or cruises, etc.)
5) need or prefer larger accommodations than a basic hotel room

OTOH, there are lots of good reasons to balk at buying DVC:

1) thousands of $ upfront plus annual fees require a certain level of financial ability and commitment (and you still need to pay for tickets, food and travel, etc.)
2) commitment to wdw/fear of wdw burnout (sorta - while you can trade out if you buy direct, the best value is staying at the DVC resorts)
3) DVC not as deluxe as deluxe hotels in some senses (limited housekeeping, sofabeds, no room service at some DVC resorts)
4) financing a depreciating (sooner or later) luxury purchase is generally a poor idea
5) you are happy with value hotels/offsite
6) amenities like a kitchen and washer/dryer have no value for you
7) you don't/can't plan vacations 6+ months in advance
8) you enjoy hunting for deals/bargains for each trip

If you’ll be upset when other people can pay cash for a room and get a discount or get “free” dining thrown in, then DVC is not for you.

remember that it's not a "membership" so much as a long-term real estate lease commitment with continuing costs.

 

[Brian Noble]

Is DVC worth it? just wondering, it seems cool

The value proposition is simple. You commit to many years of taking (and paying for) vacations in WDW in their more expensive properties, and you pre-pay a chunk of those costs. In exchange, you get a discount on the lodging portion of those vacations vs. renting the same thing from Disney each year. In the early years, the discount is comparable to the best discounts disney offers in that category. In the later years, your discount gets quite a bit better, because your annual costs will typically grow more slowly than Disney's rental rates.

If you are the sort of person who imagines going to WDW at least every other year for the foreseeable future, and would only stay onsite in a Deluxe or DVC resort, owning will save you money. If instead you go every other year, but usually stay in Moderates, DVC is a way to upgrade your lodging at about the same cost.

If you sometimes stay in (and are happy with) a Disney Value resort or (gasp!) an offsite resort for your WDW stays, DVC will cost you more, but you'll arguably have nicer lodging in exchange for that extra cost.

 

[jerseyduke]

Double what chalee said.

Is it worth is is a subjective question.

From a straight out numbers crunching point, todays direct prices are starting to push the limit.

But there are other aspects that can have value, albeit non-monetary. Since to at least a degree it is a use it or lose system, it can force people to take vacations. (This is something true of all time shares, and may be very beneficial to people who never seem to get away)

Many people certainly seem to add on, so something must be good about it.

Just do your research. Understand the system. Realize, that it is an a continuing expense (Even with my mesely 150 points, it is about 800 a year in maintenance fees. I buy 2 annual passes (900), usually airfare, a 'Tables in Wonderland Card' (100), so it tends to cost me (and that is me and the DGF, so only 2 people) at least 2000 a year (probably closer to 5 when all is said and done).

DVC is really for planners. If you want to book a trip and stay at The Beach Club, and you want to do it a month in advance, it is not for you. It is January, and I have a March and December trip already reserved.

I would reread everything Chalee said.

Then I would understand:
1. Home resort priority.
2. Use Year
3. Banking and Borrowing
4. Fixed week/direct purchase/resale purchase options.

One thing that I do think people do not really mention is that DVC seems to hold it's value well. I do not mean this is in the sense that it is an investment. I mean it in the sense that it is not a huge risk.

For example, I purchased 150 points directly from Disney at the Villas at the Grand Floridian. That has (come march) Provided me with 2 weeks of lodging at the world. Adding on maintenance fees, closing costs, etc, I am at about 162$ per point.

I could probably sell my contract and clear in the neighborhood of 130 per point. So that is a loss of 32 per point (32*150) = 6600 and that is what I traded for 2 weeks of deluxe accommodations. (plus time value of money, etc of course), but my general point is, in the event it is not for you, you can jump ship and not be in some huge hole.

I love my purchase. I do regret not buying a fixed week, but that is it. If I hated it, I would be able to bail, and it would be far from the worst mistake I have ever made.

 

[disney junky]

DVC works *best* for people who:

1) go to disney at least every other year
2) prefer to stay onsite at deluxes (or at least moderates)
3) can plan their vacations 10 or 11 months in advance
4) intend to use DVC primarily for staying at a DVC resort at disney (rather than trading out for other timeshares or cruises, etc.)
5) need or prefer larger accommodations than a basic hotel room

OTOH, there are lots of good reasons to balk at buying DVC:

1) thousands of $ upfront plus annual fees require a certain level of financial ability and commitment (and you still need to pay for tickets, food and travel, etc.)
2) commitment to wdw/fear of wdw burnout (sorta - while you can trade out if you buy direct, the best value is staying at the DVC resorts)
3) DVC not as deluxe as deluxe hotels in some senses (limited housekeeping, sofabeds, no room service at some DVC resorts)
4) financing a depreciating (sooner or later) luxury purchase is generally a poor idea
5) you are happy with value hotels/offsite
6) amenities like a kitchen and washer/dryer have no value for you
7) you don't/can't plan vacations 6+ months in advance
8) you enjoy hunting for deals/bargains for each trip

If you’ll be upset when other people can pay cash for a room and get a discount or get “free” dining thrown in, then DVC is not for you.

remember that it's not a "membership" so much as a long-term real estate lease commitment with continuing costs.

Nice summary. Well said.

 

[disney junky]

DVC is really for planners. If you want to book a trip and stay at The Beach Club, and you want to do it a month in advance, it is not for you. It is January, and I have a March and December trip already reserved.

This exactly. Planning is so much of the fun.

 

[darkwing818]

Been with DVC since 1999 and haven't regretted it. People always ask if I get tired of Disney which I've been fortunate to treat family and friends who probably would of never gone and visited some nice places, even have exchanged twice which isn't a great value but worked for me

Same for us & we've been members since 1994. We've booked 3 bedroom villas at least 3 times for Family & friends vacations. Additionally, 4 of our 14 Disney cruises have been taken using our points. It's worked out for us, but everyone's circumstances are different.

 

[Sandisw]

We enjoy ours and after the first contract we bought, we stopped figuring out whether or not it was "worth" it from a monetary point of view.

We realized that the biggest benefit for us is knowing we can book a trip and go when we want and it doesn't "feel" like it is costing us anything for the room portion of it---lol

But, we love the options of getting different room sizes when we want to travel with extended family and being able to offer this makes us happy!

We are planners and bought at the places we want to stay so that we can book there during home resort period. We probably are not done in terms of # of points since it will allow even more to come with us as my children begin to have their families.

 

[SarahInMN]

I would reread everything Chalee said.

Then I would understand:
1. Home resort priority.
2. Use Year
3. Banking and Borrowing
4. Fixed week/direct purchase/resale purchase options.

I agree with what everyone else has said. DVC worth is relative given what you find important but the devil is the details of the rules.

I cannot overemphasize the mantra "buy where you want to stay." Do not buy at a resort where you don't want to stay under the assumption that you can book at a non-home resort at the 7 month window. I booked us a week at BCV at the 11 month mark during F&W. At the 10 month mark, we decided we wanted to arrive 2 days earlier. Guess what? There was no availability at BCV. No biggie for us - we love the Garden Cottages and will stay 2 nights there before moving to BCV. If you want to stay at an Epcot DVC during F&W, I'd plan on making one of them your home resort. We wanted to stay at Epcot for F&W so bought there. We wanted to be on a monorail resort but the Contemporary wasn't us (plus we got married at the GF), so we bought at VGF. We would not be happy relying on buses to get everywhere - so that cut out a lot of DVC resorts for us.

As others have pointed out, it is unrealistic to expect availability at the smaller/more popular DVC resorts on short notice.

If the resort you want is an older resort, buy off the resale market. We bought BCV resale and bought VGF direct when it became available.

The value of DVC is staying at a DVC - don't be sucked in by the sales people telling you about cruises or trading into RCI.

Don't buy on a whim or because it seems "cool" - read these boards, do the research, and really do the math. More importantly ask yourself what is important? Can you plan ahead and do you have to change travel plans at the last minute due to work/family/life? Would not having daily housekeeping be a deal breaker?

What is the value of a DVC for us?
1) We generally go once a year and used to pay cash for deluxe resorts. We don't have kids, don't plan on having kids, and don't see our travel patterns changing. We like "tried and true" vacations and, with DVC, we also get our 2 owners lockers delivered each time we stay for even more comforts of home.
2) I hate playing the "find the room discount game" and for work purposes planning 11 months out benefits both DH and myself.
3) We like space: even though its just the two of us, we almost always get a 1 br. King bed, big bath, big living room. We rarely cook so the kitchen is not a value (except for breakfast and a full size fridge to store the 7 bottles of wine we travel with). The washer/dryer in the 1 br is key.
4) We prefer to not have housekeeping each day and have no issues tossing our towels in with our laundry.

Others would argue that using our points for 1 br is not a good use of points, but that a studio is a better use. Again to each his own - that's why not only the value of DVC is relative but how you use the points is relative.

We've only (so far) stayed in our home resorts and have absolutely no regrets about where we have purchased. That said, we are using some of our points to stay in a studio at VGC for a 5 night stay in May. Love being able to do that!

 

[CMOORE185]

I agree with what everyone else has said. DVC worth is relative given what you find important but the devil is the details of the rules.

I cannot overemphasize the mantra "buy where you want to stay." Do not buy at a resort where you don't want to stay under the assumption that you can book at a non-home resort at the 7 month window. I booked us a week at BCV at the 11 month mark during F&W. At the 10 month mark, we decided we wanted to arrive 2 days earlier. Guess what? There was no availability at BCV. No biggie for us - we love the Garden Cottages and will stay 2 nights there before moving to BCV. If you want to stay at an Epcot DVC during F&W, I'd plan on making one of them your home resort. We wanted to stay at Epcot for F&W so bought there. We wanted to be on a monorail resort but the Contemporary wasn't us (plus we got married at the GF), so we bought at VGF. We would not be happy relying on buses to get everywhere - so that cut out a lot of DVC resorts for us.

As others have pointed out, it is unrealistic to expect availability at the smaller/more popular DVC resorts on short notice.

If the resort you want is an older resort, buy off the resale market. We bought BCV resale and bought VGF direct when it became available.

The value of DVC is staying at a DVC - don't be sucked in by the sales people telling you about cruises or trading into RCI.

Don't buy on a whim or because it seems "cool" - read these boards, do the research, and really do the math. More importantly ask yourself what is important? Can you plan ahead and do you have to change travel plans at the last minute due to work/family/life? Would not having daily housekeeping be a deal breaker?

What is the value of a DVC for us?
1) We generally go once a year and used to pay cash for deluxe resorts. We don't have kids, don't plan on having kids, and don't see our travel patterns changing. We like "tried and true" vacations and, with DVC, we also get our 2 owners lockers delivered each time we stay for even more comforts of home.
2) I hate playing the "find the room discount game" and for work purposes planning 11 months out benefits both DH and myself.
3) We like space: even though its just the two of us, we almost always get a 1 br. King bed, big bath, big living room. We rarely cook so the kitchen is not a value (except for breakfast and a full size fridge to store the 7 bottles of wine we travel with). The washer/dryer in the 1 br is key.
4) We prefer to not have housekeeping each day and have no issues tossing our towels in with our laundry.

Others would argue that using our points for 1 br is not a good use of points, but that a studio is a better use. Again to each his own - that's why not only the value of DVC is relative but how you use the points is relative.

We've only (so far) stayed in our home resorts and have absolutely no regrets about where we have purchased. That said, we are using some of our points to stay in a studio at VGC for a 5 night stay in May. Love being able to do that!

I will disagree with you on a few points. One GF is our favorite resort but I would never buy there at the current price point. DVC's new resorts are not worth the mantra of "buy where you want to stay" in my opinion.

Second trading out can be a good use of points if you select wisely. We stayed at a couple of resorts that put DVC to shame using our points and was well worth the trade. Even the cruise can be a decent deal if you pick the right one. Sometimes for some reason they price them well on points. You just have to compare the points they are charging vs the cash cost to see if it is a good deal.

 

[SarahInMN]

I will disagree with you on a few points. One GF is our favorite resort but I would never buy there at the current price point. DVC's new resorts are not worth the mantra of "buy where you want to stay" in my opinion.

Second trading out can be a good use of points if you select wisely. We stayed at a couple of resorts that put DVC to shame using our points and was well worth the trade. Even the cruise can be a decent deal if you pick the right one. Sometimes for some reason they price them well on points. You just have to compare the points they are charging vs the cash cost to see if it is a good deal.

Again I think your first point is again relative -we love the GF, we got married at the Whitehall Patio, had the reception there etc. So, for us, yes the price per point was a lot to buy direct (vs what we paid resale for BCV) and yes it was a partially emotional purchase in that we couldn't/didn't want to wait to pick it up on the resale market. For us totally worth it despite the cost.

As for your second point, you're right: we've never traded out so my advice was what I "had heard" about trading out. So valid point!

 

[CMOORE185]

Again I think your first point is again relative -we love the GF, we got married at the Whitehall Patio, had the reception there etc. So, for us, yes the price per point was a lot to buy direct (vs what we paid resale for BCV) and yes it was a partially emotional purchase in that we couldn't/didn't want to wait to pick it up on the resale market. For us totally worth it despite the cost.

As for your second point, you're right: we've never traded out so my advice was what I "had heard" about trading out. So valid point!

We didn't get married at GF but we stayed there on our honeymoon and loved it. I always told my DW I would buy GF if it became a DVC but the sticker shock stopped me and that makes me sad.

And you are right that most of the time trading out is not a wise use of points, in fact those Hotels I was talking about are no longer part of the concierge collection, probably because those resorts were losing out in the trade with DVC.

 

[lovin'fl]

Been worth it for us. Bought into DVC in 2006 and still enjoying. Now, with our 3 kids being in HS, we can go and they can do what they like and DH and I can do what we like. We have family together time and then couple time. We like the weather in FL and it's nice to be there during Oct-Feb. Sure, in Jan, when we need to pay our annual dues it is a bit but when I book us a trip I feel like it's no cost. If we didn't have DVC and I were to go on WDW website and try to pick a resort I would be at looking at the cost per night. We are a family of 5 (now DS-18 brings his GF, so 6 in our party) and we love having the villas with our own master bedroom and a W/D so we can pack light. And soon, my kids will all be in college in 2.5 years, it will be just DH and I doing several trips a year (in off season only)...can't wait!!