Is owning DVC really worth it?

[hmire]

I think it is. I am a family of 5 with 3 young kids. So I new that value resorts (other than suites) are no longer an option for us. POR is the only one that sleeps 5. I look at DVC at staying at deluxe for value cost. The maintenance fees every year (210 points at SSR) is less than staying at POR. I like the idea of also enjoying the resorts. Without DVC we would not have ever stayed at deluxe accommodations. At this time, when we do the parks we will be buying DDP so we won't be using the kitchen other than breakfast.

 

[E2ME2]

As noted, I think it depends. I'll let you do the math for your situation but in general, you'll be roughly break even for moderates compared to a studio or 2 rooms to a 2 BR. Assuming you'll go routinely, I think the added value is worth it, esp since you should be happy at the lower cost DVC resorts. If you're good at chasing codes and tend to travel when they are maxed out, such as free dining, the code stays will be cheaper.

Dean;
What do you mean by "chasing codes" and getting "code stays" with free dining??
Can you explain that to me, please

 

[mjc2003]

It's worth it if you have the money and want to take very nice vacations to WDW. It's not worth it if you want to trade out regularly, are super budget conscious to the point of suffering angst over every dollar spent, or don't really care what the room looks like as long as there is a bed.

You might not save money per se, but you do get MORE for your money. As others have stated before, it's hard to argue that DVC saves money b/c it essentially forces you to take vacations at WDW, most assuredly more than you would as a non-member.

I think the mitigating factor in this is that it's a luxury, discretionary purchase and the finances have to be right. Everybody's finances are different, and for some it's a stretch to go to WDW even once or twice; that person is not going to benefit from DVC b/c of the additional costs incurred with each trip. Yes, the room is ultimately a small part of the cost equation.

We own at BCV. I was able to carry my sleeping 3 year old back to the room from the Epcot World Showcase to our villa in about 4 minutes one night during our last trip. I can't really put a dollar value on that!

 

[ain0004]

We bought in 2008. Will we get our money back? Who knows. This is what I do know. For a family of 5. We felt like we were running on top of one another. DVC is not always about just going to disney there are many different places you can visit in the world. I believe the cost of the plan is hard to justify in the start, but in the end we would have spent that much anyway, according to my calculations.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Dean;
What do you mean by "chasing codes" and getting "code stays" with free dining??
Can you explain that to me, please

I'm not Dean, but most DVC members will say that now that they are members they don't have to wait for various codes to come out to go to WDW. Things like free dining. Kids stay free. Buy five nights, get two free. 30% off moderate resorts. 35% off deluxe resorts. Free dining has been coming out every so often for the last few years since the economy wasn't that great. But when the world was booming, you didn't see free dining. And when the economy gets better, you'll see fewer of these.

 

[DizBub]

Worth it? To us, the answer is a resounding "Yes!!" Now, we will probably never get OUR $$'s worth because of our ages but the time we will be able to share with our kids and grandkids will be priceless. We will be gifting our membership to our kids. I know some here think this is leaving a liability to them but they do not feel that way. DisneyWorld freaks all 3. In the meantime we will be going there 3 to 4 times yearly until we can't go anymore. Not park commandos these days, just enjoying the resorts, restaurants, weather. Quality of life. It is "home".

 

[ffcheff]

It is definately worth it for our family of five. We live in philly and alot of our friends are people who like to do a weeks vacation at the shore. If you take out the initial buy in cost a week at the jersey shore in summer is no cheaper than a week in a DVC one bedroom and the vacation experience is similar, beach during the day and boardwalk at night to go on rides and play boardwalk games. Disney is parks in the morning, Pool in the afternoon and parks at night. If you rent a house at the beach you still have to cook. I always laugh when they say "your going to disney again" as they rave about their most recent stay in wildwood or Ocean city.

 

[luckyman_apd]

It is definately worth it for our family of five. We live in philly and alot of our friends are people who like to do a weeks vacation at the shore. If you take out the initial buy in cost a week at the jersey shore in summer is no cheaper than a week in a DVC one bedroom and the vacation experience is similar, beach during the day and boardwalk at night to go on rides and play boardwalk games. Disney is parks in the morning, Pool in the afternoon and parks at night. If you rent a house at the beach you still have to cook. I always laugh when they say "your going to disney again" as they rave about their most recent stay in wildwood or Ocean city.

Yeah, we live in Jersey. Not a big fan of the "Jersey Shore" like others around here. I can drive to it in 45 minutes. Why would I want to spend a week there? My brother gives me the same "you're crazy, you're going to Disney again?" speech. I haven't even told him we purchased. Not worth hearing his opinion (yet he rents from a DVC owner when he goes!)

Everyone has their own ideas of what is a good vacation. We prefer Disney and OBX, they prefer the Ocean City NJ. He is paying $4000 for a week at the shore, I'm paying $2000 for a week in OBX for a week, about $2800 for a 5 night Disney trip (this is including air/tickets/and my yearly per point cost). I think I'm getting the better deal here. So for us it's worth it.

 

[Dean]

Dean;
What do you mean by "chasing codes" and getting "code stays" with free dining??
Can you explain that to me, please

As noted, Disney tends to offer codes and specials for cash stays including free dining for package deals. These are the comparisons for many. Comparing to DVC rack rates is a fools comparison unless you'd pay those rates otherwise.

 

[montrealdisneylovers]

As noted, Disney tends to offer codes and specials for cash stays including free dining for package deals. These are the comparisons for many. Comparing to DVC rack rates is a fools comparison unless you'd pay those rates otherwise.

We paid rack rates at BLT for 2 years during Christmas week which is the only time right now that we can travel to Disney. I do not believe that Disney has any specials on discounted dining or packages at that time of year. This is why we bought DVC. The points at that time of year are huge but nothing like those ridiculous rack rates.

 

[Dean]

We paid rack rates at BLT for 2 years during Christmas week which is the only time right now that we can travel to Disney. I do not believe that Disney has any specials on discounted dining or packages at that time of year. This is why we bought DVC. The points at that time of year are huge but nothing like those ridiculous rack rates.

You're in a special situation and that's why I qualified the answer. Even then, would you do that most years? You could also rent and get almost the same benefits.

 

[luckyman_apd]

You're in a special situation and that's why I qualified the answer. Even then, would you do that most years? You could also rent and get almost the same benefits.

Renting is an option.....but at that time of year, how likely is it to find an owner to rent from? It is a highly popular time, and you would certainly need a renter with 11 month availability for many resorts.

Many had told me renting would have saved me money an given me the deluxe DVC accommodations without the risk and upfront cost.....but at the same time, I don't know many DVC owners to rent from, and I don't control my reservation. Call me a control freak, but that means a lot to me.

I agree about the fools comparison of rack rates for a DVC room. I've never looked at the cash cost for a non dvc member on a dvc room. I've only compared to rooms I would have actually booked.

 

[montrealdisneylovers]

You're in a special situation and that's why I qualified the answer. Even then, would you do that most years? You could also rent and get almost the same benefits.

Hard to say. We are Disney lovers and we used to stay at the All Star Resorts yet always dreamed of one day staying at the Contemporary. We finally were in a position that we could do it and chose Bay Lake Tower at the time. Once you stay there, it is very very hard to go back to All Star!!

 

[DizBub]

Hard to say. We are Disney lovers and we used to stay at the All Star Resorts yet always dreamed of one day staying at the Contemporary. We finally were in a position that we could do it and chose Bay Lake Tower at the time. Once you stay there, it is very very hard to go back to All Star!!

Amen to that.

 

[Caren90]

After stayingb
In a 1 bedroom I don't see us ever turning back. My concern is what will happen after our stay in a Grand Villa this May?
stephen

 

[papertraveller]

Sometimes it is also about the intangibles. We were just in conversation with some dear close relatives, and realized that we have the chance to share a week at Disney with the whole family, including the first visit to two wonderful great-nieces! (We have one of those crazy families with inter-generational mixes!)

Our DD is over the moon with excitement to show her cousins the World.

Cost: one year of DVC MFs.
Experience: Priceless.

 

[plgit]

I feel the same way about going to Disney as an adult. Growing up my family did a handful of vacations to Disney and I remember them fondly. But my favorites ones are the ones that we did as adults. Disney is so much more than Princesses and Castles. DH and I in light years into the future would love to go down annually for the Food & Wine Festival with some other couples. That was my very favorite thing down at Disney!

 

[DougEMG]

Is DVC worth it over stay in an onsite hotel, the answer is it can be and it depends. I looked at comparing the average of 10 different DVC studios (AKV, AKV savanna, BLT, BLT lake, BCV, BWV, BWV view, OKW, SSR and VWL) against their equivalent deluxe hotel room and against a room at Port Orleans (because that's were I use to stay) for 2 weeks in Dec and 3 weeks at the end of Aug (because that is when we were wanting to go).

I wanted to compare apples to apples, hence I'm using studios against hotel rooms.

For December 9-23, the average DVC studio was 199 points, the average rack rate cost of booking the equivalent room with Disney was $6,967, while booking the moderate at rack rates was $2,864. So if you could rent points to stay at DVC at $10/point, your discount was 71% on the deluxe rooms and 30% on the moderate room. My actual costs is $7/point (buy-in + MF) and then the discount worked out to be 80% for the deluxe and 51% for the moderate when comparing rack rates. So it looked like it was a better discount than anything I could get off of rack rates.

With 3 weeks at the end of summer, it was equal to a 59% discount at the deluxe and only a 12% discount at the moderate when renting at $10/point. Owning with a cost of $7/point, it was a 71% discount for the deluxe and only a 38% discount for the moderate.

So staying at a deluxe, the DVC is probably always going to work out better. Compared to a moderate with a discount there are going to be times when the moderate with discount is a better deal.

So even though we previously would have stayed in a moderate with free dining I felt that DVC (resale) was a better option with the potential for better accomodates at the same or less price as I was paying before to stay at a moderate.

 

[DizBub]

So even though we previously would have stayed in a moderate with free dining I felt that DVC (resale) was a better option with the potential for better accomodates at the same or less price as I was paying before to stay at a moderate.

No way do we ever want to go back to a regular value or moderate. We never stayed deluxe but suspect we'd still prefer DVC. Even the studios with the kitchenette, queen bed and the sofa are SO much more comfortable than a regular hotel room. The 1 and 2 bedrooms are off the chart!!

 

[Sammie]

Did not realize this is an old thread.