Joining DVC versus Not Joining DVC

[dj1cincy]

I am wondering what the real advantages are to joing DVC instead of simply finding a deal on renting the points when I want to vacation. I realize that the points I rent are probably double the price compared to when I can purchase them when I am a member of the DVC, but the initial upfront cost is extremely high. Renting points still provides me with about a 40% savings. Can someone explain to me what the value is in becoming a member?

Dan

 

[MrShiny]

The price doesn't go up. Even renting points, the prices continually rise. It seems like $11/point is becoming standard, while it was $9 a couple of years ago.

Also, instead of just spending the money, you are buying something of lasting value. You could easily buy, use it for 5-10 years and then sell it and probably wind up much better off than if you had just rented. It's not at all impossible that you could sell in 5-10 years for what you paid now (or close to it).

If you don't sell, and continue to go to Disney, you'll reach a point where it's essentiall paid for itself. In 2030 say when rooms on site are $1200 and points rent for $20, it'll seem like a really good investment.

YMMV, oh course!

 

[sz9144]

here is what sold me on becoming a member- it's basically a lifetime opportunity (heck, 49 yrs from now it'll probably be my great grandkids splashing in the pool). And for $15K I know that I have vacations paid for the next half century And not just hotel rooms, but comfortable villas with kitchens, laundry, etc. no scrimping and saving to purchase a vacation- I just make a reservation, and my points take care of it.

of course, I am a new member, so maybe I am filled with new owner enthusiasm....

 

[rayzke]

I agree.
I now have a basically worry free, comfortable, and cheaper vacation that I have to take at least once...sometimes twice a year....and not just at Disney!

 

[vascubaguy]

You are most likely going to receive quite a wide variety of responses. However, you make a very good point... for many people, the cost to rent points for accommodations is much more economical than purchasing into DVC. One of the biggest concerns with renting points is that you do not control the reservation. So, if you need to make any changes or need to cancel a trip, you could be stuck depending on the terms set by the owner. You are also subject to the going rental rate, which will likely increase over time (though still a good deal). Rental rates will go up, but the number of points required for the accommodations will remain the same.

Once the initial investment is paid, your future accommodations are covered for years to come. During those future vacations, you won't have to concern yourself with as large of a bill for vacation. Additionally, you have control of your points and setting your own accommodations, so you don't have to find someone to rent points and be subject to terms or conditions. Plus, you would be able to rent your points if you ever needed or didn't plan to use them.

You also have access to some of the perks. If you go often and make use of AP's, you can get the $100 off per pass (which adds up).

Of course one of the big reasons is that you get to own a small piece of Disney.

 

[bcvillastwo]

The OP did not provide any information on their WDW vacationing habits. Without that information it's difficult to tell whether DVC would make sense or not.

Most of us have the opinion that if you visit WDW at least every two years and you tend to stay in a moderate or better resort then DVC may be a good deal. But, no one knows for sure until they run the numbers for their own personal situation.

Other factors that favor considering DVC include, but are not limited to, how much you like WDW and whether you prefer to stay on property.

My advice is to continue to read these boards, ask lots of questions, take time to really analyze your own personal situation, mom and dad need to really talk it through and then if it looks like it makes sense to you, ask more questions and then if it still seems like a go decision call DVC and start the process or start the buying process via one of the DVC resale companies.

 

[dianeschlicht]

The OP did not provide any information on their WDW vacationing habits. Without that information it's difficult to tell whether DVC would make sense or not.

This isn't really the best guage either, since most of us change the number of times we go to WDW once we become members. When we first looked into membership, we were going to WDW every 2-3 years. When we first purchased, we would plan a trip a year but plan them within the same 365 day period so we could use an annual pass and get two trips on one pass. After 2 years of that, we started going 2-3 times a year and taking 12 1/2 months off between to get the most out of our APs.

The way we decided if it was a good deal was the cost of the accommodations we liked to stay in on site. We did the moderates a few trips, and then did a deluxe and there was no turning back. Then we stayed at OKW, and knew we couldn't go back to a regular hotel room even at a deluxe. For that reason, we figured the cost of a deluxe for a trip for a week in deciding if DVC made sense. We figured the $4,000-$5,000 we were spending a trip made DVC look like a real bargain. Sure, there is still expense with going to WDW and DVC. There's maintenance fees and park tickets and transportation that we would always have no matter where, but we knew it was our destination of choice, so it made total sense to us. Using those terms, we figured we had our prepaid vacation investment back in about 4 years.

 

[robinb]

Also, instead of just spending the money, you are buying something of lasting value. You could easily buy, use it for 5-10 years and then sell it and probably wind up much better off than if you had just rented. It's not at all impossible that you could sell in 5-10 years for what you paid now (or close to it).

This is an interesting point. I own two DVC contracts, one for 9 years and one for 4 years, so I ran the numbers on how much each contact "cost" me over the time period that I have owned it if I sold it this year.

I bought my 230 OKW points in 1997 for $55 per point or $12659 total. Over the past 9 years (inclusive of 1997, but not 2006) I have paid $6902 in dues. OKW resales are now selling for $77. If I sold my points for $77 each (minus a 10% commission) I would receive $15939 in return.

OWK Purchase and Dues
$12650 1997 Purchase @ $55 PP
$6902 Dues, 1997-2005

Total Cost 1997-2005
$19552

$15939 2006 Sales Price @ $77 PP

Cost to me for 9 years of OKW:
$19552-$15939 = $3613
$1.75 per point per year

Note: I assume that the buyer will pay for the 2006 dues which I have paid.

Using the same calculations for my 200 BWV points bought in 2001 at $63 and could sell for $82.

Cost to me for 4 years of BWV:
$1178
$1.47 per point per year

While I am not *making* money off of my DVC "investment", that cost per point sure does make staying over NYE much easier to take. My 5 days in a GV on this last trip (1/1/06 - 1/6/06) would have cost me a whopping $315.

ETA: These calculations do not take into account the Time Value of Money, Inflation or the HEL we took (and paid off) for our BWV points.

 

[eliza61]

I'll jump in with my 2 cents worth. My family & I also enjoy having the ability to try other places. We've been to Washington D.C, New York & london all using our vacation points and we've stayed in 4 star hotel that we would neverstay in regularly. Also we definitely stay at WDW a lot longer (generally 12 days) than we would if we had to pay for it.

E

 

[Cruelladeville]

I bought in 1997 at $56 per point. I can sell my contract immediately if something happened where I had to, at $81, which is any increase of $25 per point. So, since I own 900 points, I would make $22,500. That's a comfort knowing that that is less than the maintenance fees I have paid, meaning that my vacations were free. When you rent, your vacations are never free, and you never break even. I broke even in my 6th year of ownership.

 

[browniemtb]

Using the same calculations for my 200 BWV points bought in 2001 at $63 and could sell for $82.

Cost to me for 4 years of BWV:
$1178
$1.47 per point per year.

Thats a great scenerio, never thought of looking at it this way. Also you make me feel bad. Back in 01 when we were down there I ask the DW to go on a tour.......but at that time we were newly married had a little child and were in the process of finishing our house. So we waited....till Monday. I paid $92 a point at the BWV, I'm happy to be in though and hopefully in 5 or so years I'll be writing how I could sell for $120 point....just think of your position then.
Brownie

 

[Dean]

Buying doesn't make sense for many people and makes sense for many less at today's prices than it did even 2 or 3 years ago. For one who will go to WDW at least about every 2 years, will use the points only at DVC resorts, will do light or neutral on weekend stays using points DVC still makes sense. It really doesn't for essentially any other scenario. And it absolutely does not make sense to use for long weekends or any trade options. Even then, there will ALWAYS be far cheaper options to get to Disney by staying off site. It's easily possible to do so for a cost of 10% most weeks of the cost of DVC by utilizing off site timeshare options.

 

[vascubaguy]

Buying doesn't make sense for many people and makes sense for many less at today's prices than it did even 2 or 3 years ago.

Today's price does seem high, but I'd bet that 2-3 years ago, $60-70 per point seemed high too. 2-3 years from now, if and when prices are $120 per point, people will think that $83.30 (or $90) was a steal.

 

[Dean]

Today's price does seem high, but I'd bet that 2-3 years ago, $60-70 per point seemed high too. 2-3 years from now, if and when prices are $120 per point, people will think that $83.30 (or $90) was a steal.

The question isn't whether it seems high or not. The question is look at the current prices, your usual trip habits, ROR on investments and compare to your other options like cash at on and off site. The fact that rentals prices haven't gone up as much as other costs should be considered as well. So taking the emotional part out of it, the set point has shifted significantly in favor of not buying for many people. Anyone where the numbers were not a slam dunk previously should likely not buy at all now. I know I would not look to buy, or at least as many points, if I were looking today. The truth is that I'd seriously consider buying a VERY small contract and banking/borrowing or even renting points for transfer if I were starting today. And once I get a large Dec, 06 trip under my belt, that's likely the type of approach I will take.

 

[sz9144]

I agree with buying lower points. We bought the minimum 150 pts. We travel to disney in jan and august, usually both either mid or lower season, so we can utilize our points well. as you mentioned, we plan to rent or transfer points to cover additional trips or larger rooms.

 

[Plutofan]

When you are thinking about buying there is no guarantee that you will be able to sell your points at a higher price in the future. At some point and no one knows when the price per point will go down as the contract gets closer to expire. People might not want to think about that but it is pure economics. If the price keeps going up and the number of years keeps going down at some point it becomes cheaper not to buy into DVC instead renting becomes cheaper. At this point in time the main reason that the prices keep going up is becuase Disney has set a price of $92 per point for re-sale through them. When Disney decides to lower that price because the contract has less years left the re-sale prices will go down. It is just a matter of time. Curently the prices appear to still be at a decent level where it still makes economic sense to buy a non SSR resort and still save money on future reservations. The value of a vaction under OKW contract purchased today at the resale rate is not as much as a value it was back when it first came out at $50 per point or less.

 

[Dean]

I agree with buying lower points. We bought the minimum 150 pts. We travel to disney in jan and august, usually both either mid or lower season, so we can utilize our points well. as you mentioned, we plan to rent or transfer points to cover additional trips or larger rooms.

You could buy as few as 25 resale and get all the benefits other than the number of days associated with the extra points.

 

[bethsg]

The main reason we purchased, we to create a scenario, where we are forced to take family vacations on a regular basis. This has worked great. We purchased in 1998 250 points at $53.34 per point, and then an add on in 2000 of 100 points for $56.95 per point. That was a total investment of $19030. At the time, I was a Cast Member in the Disney store, and received a 15% discount. Since 1998 we have taken many vacations, we have stayed at BWVs a four times, Wilderness Lodge Villas, Beach Club Villas, and Saratoga SPrings. We have spend 2 Christmas' at Disney. We have been on the 4 night Disney Cruise, and a 7 night DIsney cruise. We used points in Keystone Colorado and stayed in an amazing 4 bedroom home with friends. We are heading to OKW next week. I truly believe, if I spent the time and did the math, we are ahead based on the cash price of these various accomodations. (Next week at OKW would be $500 a night in a 2 bedroom, $2500 for our vacation) But the most important part of this scenario, is we have 8 years of wonderful family vacations, and memories.
When you start planning a vacation, knowing you don't have the expense of accomodations in your budget, really helps make it affordable. For our vacation next week, I had to get airfare... (love that southwest DING) and our park tickets. SUrely makes the cost more manageable.

 

[Plutofan]

Everytime I hear about a CM getting an additional 15% off I wish that I had my wife get a job at Disney for a short period of time just save on the DVC purchase. That is such a grea deal.