New and UPSET!

[dizzi]

yeah 16 weeks in a studio would be nice but who has 16 weeks vacation. the most i would have in 5 years is 10 weeks.

And of course i am done with vacationing for this year so the points for this year are going to have to be banked anyway.

We definitley wont be doing any lounging at a resort for at least 5-6 years for weeks at a time........

Thank you for all of your input i willhave Dh read this thread here soon and make a final decision before moving our cruise and before doing anything else......

Thanks agian
LYNN

 

[nunzia]

I'm just curious why you think you will only be cruising for seven years. Do you not enjoy any of the Dsiney theme parks? They are alot of fun without kids..more fun sometimes

 

[dizzi]

I am sure we will hit the theme parks now and again...........
We have done a week long if not longer for the last 21 years!

Yeah if we had just thought of this time shre thing a bit sooner!

The 2 children that are left at home LOVE the cruise and have asked to do it, and not the parks until they are too old for the stack............

1 of them will only get 3 more cruises and the last child at home will get maybe 6.

And then, I am sure we would use the DVC points for other things..........
Dh and I like to take trips on our bike and there are plenty of places that we can Bike to and stay so........i think we have decided to keep the DVC and use it as we see fit until the kids are not in our vacation dreams and then use it more "wisely" with the Great Resorts.

Thank you all for your help and input..........

Now maybe one day we will get really adventurous and sell our points and use the $$$$$$ for a cruise!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dizzi]

ps.....We have done MAny weeks also without the kids.and you are right, they are very nice without the kids..........
living so close helps too!

But we do want to broaden our horizons............so to speak and see some things we have not seen before!

Maybe even Castaway Cay in our future as we did not make it there on our last cruise!

 

[WDWLVR]

I think the one thing you can count on is that the cost of the cruises (points wise) is only going to go up each year as the cost of the cruises (dollars wise) go up every year.

 

[dwelty]

This is the first I ever heard of saving on points if you book within 3 days of your last cruise, so your point totals would be lower. However, you are banking and borrowing points for your next 3 cruises, it looks like you are using 5 years points for 3 cruises if I read it right, so you must figure MF for 5 years also to offset it. Also there is a very good chance that point requirements will go up in future years, forcing you to either pay cash for part of your cruise or add more points, again additional cash outlay. Once again, we are using points this one time for a 3 night cruise, but I agree with the others that using points for cruising is not a wise use of DVC points. Good luck with whatever you decide.

There are instances where they will give you a 25% points discount if you book your next cruse (While on your current Cruise) I would not count on this lasting forever.

 

[tjkraz]

I think the one thing you can count on is that the cost of the cruises (points wise) is only going to go up each year as the cost of the cruises (dollars wise) go up every year.

They will go up, but maybe not every year. The 2007 and 2008 values are identical.

Looking at OP's math, I'd say a key component is getting the 2007 points plus the Developer's Points with no dues. If I follow, she'll be using her 2008-2012 points, plus the '07 and DPs for 3 cruises. The dues on the '08 - '12 points will run about $5500 including increases of roughly 4%. Add in booking fees and a moderate increase in points over the duration and you're around $6000. Getting three 7-night cruises, plus some short resort stays for that amount is pretty decent.

Now if she was paying dues on the '07 plus developer's points, it would add around $2000 more to the cost. I suspect $8000 out of pocket for 3 cruises isn't quite as competitive, especially if you factor in early booking prices for cash customers.

She'll be using more than 6 years' worth of points for three cruises. Let's say that she is saving about $3000 with DVC for each 6-year / 3-cruise block. At that rate it would take 36 years just to break even on the initial $18,000 DVC investment. Those first few years will look good because of the Developer's Points and no dues on '07, but once that benefit is lost the cruises are much more expensive.

If she only plans to cruise those 3 times on points and then start using the points primarily for DVC resort stays, it may still work out. But only OP knows whether she'll be doing that. If there's any ambiguity in those plans, I'd lean toward putting the $18k in an interest-bearing account to fund the cruises.

 

[Dean]

I am hearing what you are saying......
WE bought this on NOV 2 so we do have 2 more days to cancel RIGHT?

BUT please if you would look at my #s and see if you still think this is not worth it to keep.

We purchased 225 points and were given an incentive of 160 points.

We paid @ $18,000 and our dues will be $924.

We WILL have this paid off in 3 years or less. So we will not have a large amount of interest.

DVC changed the cancellation policy a couple of years ago from 15 days to 10 days.

I would never recommend a DVC purchase to be used even 50% for things outside of DVC resorts. Actually, I'd have to look long and hard at the math if I expected to use my account even 25% outside of DVC resorts. It's nice to have those options, but I certainly would not buy DVC as a vehicle to cruise.

The points costs are too high, and as mentioned above, there is no guarantee that they won't dramatically increase over time. If you are buying DVC to cruise on, you're really not buying anything guaranteed.

I'd go much further and say that anyone buying with the intent on using any cash equivalent exchange options is making a poor choice, even just 5-10% of the time.

 

[JimC]

...
I'd go much further and say that anyone buying with the intent on using any cash equivalent exchange options is making a poor choice, even just 5-10% of the time.

Agree.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Seems like I've read where the value of a point, used to cruise (minus MFs) is only around $3. Is this correct?

 

[CarolMN]

Seems like I've read where the value of a point, used to cruise (minus MFs) is only around $3. Is this correct?

You may very well have read that on one of the threads here on the DIS.

IMHO, the answer to the question (is $3 correct?) depends on how you value your points (i.e., by amount of MF? amount you can rent them for? or other formula?) There is no consensus on these boards on how to value points.

The answer also depends how far in advance you book the cruise since DCL cruise prices seem to increase the closer you get to departure.

 

[Dean]

Seems like I've read where the value of a point, used to cruise (minus MFs) is only around $3. Is this correct?

As a rule, you can get a cash rate somewhere between $6 and $7 per point compared to the number of points required, basically the cruise price divided by the points it'd cost. About the best I've seen, assuming you're booking while early booking discounts apply, is $7.50 per point. There might indeed be a special situation to the contrary but not enough to justify the risk of buying DVC hoping to use for cruises. In addition there are significant downsides to using points including they become reservation points and expire the end of the use year. You also give up some other incentives like per cabin credits. In some ways points plus cash is even worse. Higher cabins that are discounted less and less often may be a little different scenario. But the entire program could be eliminated tomorrow.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I think they were figuring a value of $7.50 and sutracted 4.50(approx MF) to get the $3

 

[2tink4u]

Dizzi, I think you figured things just fine. And, after your 3 cruises you still have points to use every year. With Disney building in hawaii and all the choices I think you will love points and probably buy more to keep up with inflation. If you use most of your points to cruise your dvc value may not be as much as those who try to save as much as possible and only stay in dvc resorts but a discount you will still have and may reap more rewards when you learn the system better, and possibly sell points also. I don't think you will be unhappy. Your "disney savings plan" may not save you as much because the point cost of cruises will increase with time. Remember one thing all discounts related to dvc are not guaranteed and likely to change/morph/rotate with econonomy and the times. Bad economy dvc members will have more rewards to bring in the guaranteed crowd. Good economy and less rewards and so forth. We are all a little astonished you would buy and not be a complete Disney lover. However, the time share benefit which I have looked into heavily, is actually very good and if you allow flexibilty you can trade into Interval International at a fair point price and Disney only trades with the best so most, if not all accomadations are 5 star. If this doesn't interest you and you purely want to cruise then your savings will dwindle with time as the rest of ours increases. Best of Luck!!

 

[dizzi]

Dizzi, I think you figured things just fine. And, after your 3 cruises you still have points to use every year. With Disney building in hawaii and all the choices I think you will love points and probably buy more to keep up with inflation. If you use most of your points to cruise your dvc value may not be as much as those who try to save as much as possible and only stay in dvc resorts but a discount you will still have and may reap more rewards when you learn the system better, and possibly sell points also. I don't think you will be unhappy. Your "disney savings plan" may not save you as much because the point cost of cruises will increase with time. Remember one thing all discounts related to dvc are not guaranteed and likely to change/morph/rotate with econonomy and the times. Bad economy dvc members will have more rewards to bring in the guaranteed crowd. Good economy and less rewards and so forth. We are all a little astonished you would buy and not be a complete Disney lover. However, the time share benefit which I have looked into heavily, is actually very good and if you allow flexibilty you can trade into Interval International at a fair point price and Disney only trades with the best so most, if not all accomadations are 5 star. If this doesn't interest you and you purely want to cruise then your savings will dwindle with time as the rest of ours increases. Best of Luck!!

Oh i love DISNEY, my family calls me a DISNEYAHOLIC! I just dont see us going to the parks as much as we have in the past........as i near 40 i realized i have seen Disney so much i know which bathroom is going to be the cleanest at which times, and until this Cruise HAD NEVER seen a mountain come up out of the water Like we saw as we arrived in ST MARTEEN, I just feel the need to see and do other things, WHILE enjoying it with DISNEY!!!!

I am sure you are right that our value will be different ...but as MY Dh and i thought about it, OUR MUCh of a greater value can youhave than giving your children the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We feel safe with Disney and know that what ever wwe do with them will be incredible!!!!!!!!!!!