Long Term DVC Savings

[kassonvike]

So, i had found an article that said the costs of Disney Deluxe hotels has gone up almost 90% in the last 10 years. Obviously inflation is no where near that. So if my SSR contract MFs are only going up roughly 3% a year, and Dinsey hotel costs are rising at more than twice that aren't we going to save a ton of money long term?

Not sure if the article was using rack rates. I suppose a counter argument could be taht maybe the rates have sky rocketed but the discounts are also increasing? Factoring in potential 'free' Dining Plans also probably makes it a more complex thing to figure out the true cost over the years.

 

[disneynutz]

You may save on the room but you probably spend more than the non owner on your Disney vacations.

Bill

 

[Dean]

So, i had found an article that said the costs of Disney Deluxe hotels has gone up almost 90% in the last 10 years. Obviously inflation is no where near that. So if my SSR contract MFs are only going up roughly 3% a year, and Dinsey hotel costs are rising at more than twice that aren't we going to save a ton of money long term?

Not sure if the article was using rack rates. I suppose a counter argument could be taht maybe the rates have sky rocketed but the discounts are also increasing? Factoring in potential 'free' Dining Plans also probably makes it a more complex thing to figure out the true cost over the years.

When you include the up front costs and time value of money, that brings the numbers much closer together. Also, without owning you can chose whether to pay those costs, now you're stuck paying no matter where it lands.

 

[Deb & Bill]

So, i had found an article that said the costs of Disney Deluxe hotels has gone up almost 90% in the last 10 years. Obviously inflation is no where near that. So if my SSR contract MFs are only going up roughly 3% a year, and Dinsey hotel costs are rising at more than twice that aren't we going to save a ton of money long term?

Not sure if the article was using rack rates. I suppose a counter argument could be taht maybe the rates have sky rocketed but the discounts are also increasing? Factoring in potential 'free' Dining Plans also probably makes it a more complex thing to figure out the true cost over the years.

Not many guests pay rack rate. Most have some sort of discount.

 

[Brian Noble]

You can end up spending less if you own long enough vs. just renting a room, but the time horizon to break-even is longer than most people think, due to opportunity cost of the purchase price, etc. MouseSavers has a pretty good analysis on this. Some of the assumptions probably require some adjustment, but it gives you an idea of where to start.

Things break down pretty quickly though if you start staying in the larger villas, etc.

 

[MiramarQE]

Complex question - remember, the DVC savings are only on a PART (the room) cost of your vacation.

We are frequent WDW guests - and have compared our actual dining costs to the cost of the dining plan - we always spend less OOP so we never use the dining plan. A "free" dining plan to us is just a room discount (you don't get a discounted room rate AND free dining) - we just take the 35% (typical) FL resident/AP holder discount and call it good.

A DVC membership should save you SOME cash over even discounted room rates (deluxe and moderate). This assumes you are frequent guests and properly manage your points. The cost is up front as mentioned by others, and if you have to borrow to buy you are really increasing your cost to the point you may not see any real savings.

 

[CMOORE185]

Because of the high upfront cost, timeshares and vacation club memberships make the most financial sense in the long term. An example: Lets say you pay $200 a night for a week in a hotel. Over ten years, you would have shelled out $14,000 to take a one-week vacation each year. A timeshare at the same property might cost $8,000 upfront, with annual maintenance fees of $550. After ten years, youd have paid $13,500only $500 less than it would have cost you to pay for normal vacations. Over 30 years, however, the timeshare becomes a much better deal: At the end of that period, youd have paid only $24,500 for your yearly vacations at a timeshare, as compared to $42,000 if staying at the hotel.

 

[disney junky]

One thing that I think is overlooked is that there is still some value in the points you own, at least for the time being. Right now, the resale value of my BVW points (at least the recent going rates) is equal to the price at which I purchased them.

 

[crisi]

One thing that I think is overlooked is that there is still some value in the points you own, at least for the time being. Right now, the resale value of my BVW points (at least the recent going rates) is equal to the price at which I purchased them.

Its seldom overlooked, but we often throw it away if we are doing conservative cost analysis. The issue being that people often sell because of economic need, and economic need often hits all at once. So in 2009 or 2010, people looking to sell their points were NOT getting very good prices for them - anyone forced by circumstances to sell during until maybe early last year or late 2012 did not do well (last year resale prices took off). Those who bought with a loan in 2007-9 and then were forced to sell due to job loss in 2009 or 2010 often ended up owing more than they could sell their contract for.

ESPECIALLY if you need to finance or need to get salvage value (the technical term for the residual value when you decide to sell) in order to make the numbers work in your favor. Chances are, it will be worth SOMETHING, and chances are even pretty good that it will be worth enough that you'll be happy to get the check at sale if you've owned for - say five years or more. But conservative estimates are conservative because they don't bet on chances.

 

[jco_direwolf]

The other argument I hear often is staying at the GF or BLT is the same as staying at PopC. If you feel that way then DVC is not for you.

Nothing bad about PopC, I really like PopC. But by the same token I in NO WAY think it is equivalent to DVC I'm paying more and getting more and the more is worth it.

Pre DVC for me I normally stayed at Port Orleans, but sometimes I'd stay at PopC. I was excited to stay at DVC instead.

 

[crisi]

The other argument I hear often is staying at the GF or BLT is the same as staying at PopC. If you feel that way then DVC is not for you.

Nothing bad about PopC, I really like PopC. But by the same token I in NO WAY think it is equivalent to DVC I'm paying more and getting more and the more is worth it.

Pre DVC for me I normally stayed at Port Orleans, but sometimes I'd stay at PopC. I was excited to stay at DVC instead.

But the argument that DVC is just like staying at a Deluxe hotel is not valid either. DVC is nice, but it is a timeshare with timeshare like operations and accommodations, where Disney's hotels have hotel like operations (daily cleaning being the big noticeable difference - but the availability of concierge service would be something that a lot of Deluxe fans on the DIS would miss). So there isn't a lot (DVC rooms through CRO maybe) where you can compare apples to apples in terms of cost.

 

[jco_direwolf]

(daily cleaning being the big noticeable difference - but the availability of concierge service would be something that a lot of Deluxe fans on the DIS would miss).

I've never. Issued the daily cleaning. And a few places have DVC concierge (AKL I know and GFV(?))

 

[crisi]

I've never. Issued the daily cleaning. And a few places have DVC concierge (AKL I know and GFV(?))

Only VAKL and so few rooms to make it unavailable to the vast majority of DVC members. So, for practical purposes, no concierge and, when I stay in a hotel room, I expect my bathroom to get cleaned every day. I don't in a timeshare, but what I'm saying is that you can't compare the two and call it a wash. If you can't compare Pop to DVC you can't compare the BWI to the BWV.

 

[Dean]

The other argument I hear often is staying at the GF or BLT is the same as staying at PopC. If you feel that way then DVC is not for you.

Nothing bad about PopC, I really like PopC. But by the same token I in NO WAY think it is equivalent to DVC I'm paying more and getting more and the more is worth it.

Pre DVC for me I normally stayed at Port Orleans, but sometimes I'd stay at PopC. I was excited to stay at DVC instead.

As Crisi notes, they are not the same. For me there really are 2 components with Disney, 3 if you count the timeshare compromises separately. There's location and there's the qualify/level of the hotel. Plus timeshares do have a certain amount of compromise associated and one should determine how much those issues impact their situation and personal usage/psyche. Even within DVC or the deluxe's you have different levels when looked at objectively and there too it depends on what's important to you. For example, WL and AKV are not as deluxe as YC/BC which are not as deluxe as GF. But if they meet your needs and the other issues aren't important (or even are a detriment) then it may not matter to you. Within DVC you've got SSR and OKW which are significantly different than some of the others and in a sense, more like the moderates than deluxe's. And if the theming of a given resort is near and dear, a "lower" resort may be better in your eyes.

 

[nabi]

Within DVC you've got SSR and OKW which are significantly different than some of the others and in a sense, more like the moderates than deluge's.

autocorrect is always good for a chuckle

 

[Dean]

autocorrect is always good for a chuckle

Dragon even more so.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

Tragically, I am not aware of VGF concierge existing.