Is it worth it?

[kimmypar]

Hi All,

DH and I are considering purchasing in to the DVC program. We live in California and like to spend two weeks in mid-Dec every year at WDW. I am wondering if it would save us money to just purchase in to the program. Can anyone assist me with this. I have so many questions about how this works!

 

[we3luvdisney]

Depends how you look at it. The purchase prices is ~$12,000, with an annual maintenance fee of ~$600.00. Some may say it's worth it, others will disagree. Only you can make the decision. If you were to purchase, look at resales too.

I saw all the hotels that you've stayed at. I also noted that you stayed at Shades of Green. We also stayed there and thought the hotel was fantastic! Very peaceful and quite large, compared to most of the resorts. If you want additional questions answered, just PM me.

 

[emacman]

I'll say your potential purchase is surely worth it. I love vacations! I will take a vacation to WDW regularly, I did 5 times before buying DVC. Like you, I stayed at Contemporary, Dolphin, off site, and Beach Club villas. I am way ahead in a villas and should I ever need to to I can reasle my interest. Points are up about $15 per point since I got in. The investment goes up, the rooms are better, you will save over rack rates, what's not to love?
For your own peace of mind you should do your own study. I conclusively decided along with my family it was the right move and we've never regretted it. If you believe in magic, you belong!

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Hi, kimmypar. If you are going to come to WDW every year, and will stay on-site in a deluxe, it is without question going to be better on the wallet. Comparing it to a moderate, in my opinion, it is still a good deal. I think most agree that it is a good deal in comparison to the deluxes, but there may be varying opinions when comparing it to moderates. I am not sure of the advantage if you are staying at SOG with a military rate.

Good luck with your decision, and please ask questions!

 

[Richyams]

You fees will be higher than $600. $600 is for 150 points. Not enough for two weeks in a decent size unit. Probably not even enough for two weeks in a studio. Look at 400-500 points, an OKW Grand Villa and you will see a great deal.

 

[KNWVIKING]

Just consider what the deluxe and moderate resorts will charge per nite in 5,10,15,etc years.

Simple example.

Dues are $600. today. Assume 4% annual increase for 10 years, dues will be $888. Increase cost to stay in a deluxe resort ten years from now: $288.

14 nite stay times $150.00 per nite equals $2100.00. Assume the same 4% increase for 10 years, same room in ten years will be $3108. Increased cost to stay ten years from now: $1108.

And my $150.00 per nite price is probably on the low side. Use $200. per nite and the ten year increase will be $1344.00.

 

[Pa@okw95]

Kimmypar--I noticed you have gone to WDW many times already. If you are sure that you will wish to continue to go to WDW for many years to come then I would think DVC would be good for you. But I would suggest you think hard on traveling from California of all places to Florida every year. California is so beautiful and you have so much to do all around you-I would think hard on the question do you really want to go every year. Someone came up with a fee of $12,000 for cost, that seems like a very low contract. I would think you would want to stay in a one or two bedroom every year. You may want to check the amount of points needed for this adventure during the month of December before you jump in.

 

[whiles]

KimmyPar,

My Wife and I just purchased 200 points at Beach Club Villas and finalized the paperwork last week.

We looked at the oppurtunity to vacation at least once a year. We live in California (Bay Area) too and the hard part of the sale was getting to Florida once a year. Sounds like you have that problem solved in your case.

We did alot of point number running to make sure this was something we would use. Her is the basic scenario we came up.

We typically travel during the "Magic Season" a studio costs 134 points which leaves 66 left over in the year.

We will use the 66 points for a 3 day mid week stay a Pardise Pier (63 points) and bank the left over. since we are Disneyland annual Pass holders we will enjoy the treat of staying at the Disney hotels at least once a year too.

Good luck on your pursuit, just remember it is a gift you give to each other every year.

Whiles

 

[Steve BWV'99]

KimmyPar,

Lincoln? No way!...We live in Lincoln too, near the airport. Small world (no pun intended). I got excited when people post from the Sacramento area but seeing a post from where I live is really neat!

Anyway, we joined in 99 and never regret it. We try to go to Florida once a year but with the way you can bank and borrow points you can set it up to go every other year as well. We werent able to go one year so we used the extra points for a cruise on our honeymoon. We also used points to stay at the Grand Californian at Disneyland although its not a good value point wise.

Good luck in deciding, hopefully you will join!

-Steve

 

[kimmypar]

Thanks to all for the information! You guys really know your stuff. You have supplied me with some very helpful information and I think I have a lot of homework to do!

I envy all of you! We considered buying about 6 years ago and now wish we had .At the time it seemed so expensive but as a few of you have pointed out, when I tally up the expense of ALL those past trips, it would have probably been worth it.

It is just DH and I, no kids, so a studio would probably be just fine and we always go during off season which, I am guessing, cost less points.

So, after I have done the math, where do I begin?

And Steve! Hello to another Lincolnite! It's a small world after all! It's a world of.......Sing along!..... HA HA

 

[Cruelladeville]

We often go to Disney, and have stayed at all the resorts, but we decided to buy in to DVC after the prices at Caribbean Beach went up to $150 per night, which I thought was outrageous After figuring out all the costs including dues, a studio on points cost me $60 per night, which was way less than $150. Prices have gone up since then, but you will still save money. Run the numbers yourself to see if you save with DVC, and if you do, then you belong in DVC!!

 

[JimC]

kimmypar -- Our assessment was that studios vs moderates breakeven came at eight years as did 1 bedrooms vs deluxe resorts. 1 bedrooms compared to moderates breakeven was closer to 20 years. Assumptions used: moderate resort rate used was PO water view with appropriate DC discount, deluxe resort rate used was BC pool view with appropriate AP discount, even use of peak and regular season hotel rates and even DVC use of magic and choice seasons (one week in the spring and one week in the fall), point price $80 (going rate when we bought with no MB discount), future increases (85% of historical hotel rate increases and 120% of historical increases in OKW maintenance fees). In other words, I tried to project a worse case scenario and it still looked very good to us.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[sparkspeak]

212 points will get you a studio any two weeks from Dec1-23 at BWV (preferred), VWL or BCV; 174 points for BWV standard; or 164 points for OKW. You have a good history for comparable Disney hotel costs for that period, so if you crunch the numbers you'll have a very good estimate of the value of membership for you. If you decide to buy, you can do it all by phone. There are good threads here that recommend guides (sales people) who will answer all of your questions. (Note: There's no sales pressure!)

 

[Lisa P.]

Since you like to stay at a variety of resorts and since it can be hard to secure BWV standard view in popular early December, it's probably a good idea to look at 212 points.

212 x $75 (estimated resale & closing or MB deal) = $15,900
Would you pay cash or get a loan with debt interest to pay?

212 x $4/pt (estimated, typical annual maint) = $848 per year

Is this acceptable to you? What are you typically paying for your vacation accommodations? Do you usually get an AP rate or other discount? Have you be getting Shades of Green overflow rates?

Many people use a set figure for what they value their cost to be, per point. Some say $8 per point is reasonable. At $8/point, 212 points costs you ~$1,696 for your 2 week in your room. That's about $121 per night in total costs. Not bad.

Are you okay with the trade-off in price, given that you would be front-loading your costs? (That's the nature of timesharing.) The resorts are lovely but DVC stays only include once weekly housekeeping plus a midweek towel exchange. Do remember that, in the unlikely event that DVC opts to restructure their points charts (some time periods go up & some go down to compensate), the lowest season may be most likely to increase points requirements. IOW, consider buying just a few more points than you expect to need and bank the surplus each year.

How do you feel about planning for the vast majority of your stays being at DVC resorts, rather than staying at the wider variety of Disney hotels? If you use the points for those, it's a much, much more expensive arrangement. Also, if you become spoiled by the nicer 1BRs, you'll get more, but it'll cost more too.

These are a few of the considerations, so you enter with your eyes open. Your vacation style certainly seems to fit that of a potentially happy DVC owner! HTH.