Okay, how much is it really?

[MinniesYooHoo]

I've been dying to become a DVC mamber for years. The problem is, I have absolutely no idea how much this costs. I'd hate to schedule a tour while at Disney for our upcoming trip, only to find out I can in no way afford it. That would be a bit embarrasing for me I understand that it depends on how many points and which resort you buy into, but I was just curious about what folks truly pay per month, and how much dues are. I realize this may be personal, so I understand if I don't get many answers! But HELP if you can.

 

[Sandisw]

Right now, to buy directly from Disney, as a new member, you have to buy in with a minimum number of points (160). They are selling at BLT, AKV, and SSR. The cost per point is $112/ppt, but they are offering incentives right now if you have a members name as a referral (welcome to use mine, just send me a PM if you want the info.).

With the incentives, you are looking at a start up fee around $17,000 to buy directly fromm Disney. However, if you want to get in as a member and don't want to swing this high cost, there is a huge resale market. You can get contracts with less points, and many times pay less per point. However, there are closing costs and other things to consider when buying resale.

The first thing that I would do is research the different resorts to see if you have a preference on where to stay, when you are traveling, and how many points you forsee needing for those trips. The advice that is always given is "Buy where you want to stay". You get an 11 month booking window for stays at your "home resort" (where you own points). To book at other DVC properties, you only have a 7 month window. It can make a difference depending on where and when you go!

I got into DVC in the past month through a small resale contract at VWL. I really want BLT (Bay Lake Tower @ Contemporary) as my home resort but didn't want to do the 160 minimum. Once I became a member, I was able to add points at BLT with less than the 160.

You can go to several of the resale sites to see how much those contracts are going for once you have a better idea about where you would want to stay and how many points.

Search the boards as well. There is a lot of information about the whole process. Good luck and happy planning!

EDIT: Dues are based on number of points and resort. For me, I pay $3.67 per point for my BLT points, and $5.04 per point (I think) on my VWL points.

 

[Chuck S]

Points, from Disney, are currently $112 per point, with 160 point minimum buy in for most resorts, not including any incentives. One incentive is a free cruise. Incentives change fairly often, and usually include a few $ off per point, or matching developers points. Developers points are generally one years worth of points that must be used by a specific date, and have limitations, such as only valid at SSR or Disneyland resorts, and can only be booked 7 or less months out.

There is certainly nothing to be embarrassed about if you take the tour and get all the info, and then find you can not afford it. Disney is not high pressure like some other timeshare companies. Just tell them thank for the tour, but it just isn't for me.

Annual dues will vary by resort, currently they are in the $5 per point range. They include the the operating costs of the resort, an ongoing fund for scheduled rehabs, a management fee to Disney, costs of the DVC Memeber Servies reservation system, property taxes, etc.

 

[cn123]

Im not sure if it is still offered but I started out with 100 point AKV purchase you don't qualify for incentives but it allowed me to start off small and one day add off at a different resort

 

[MinniesYooHoo]

Okay, that's a great start! Thank you so very much. But now part 2 of my question. How many points to buy? I would want to be able to book a room/rooms to accomodate 10 people at a time. I know everyone would not be able to go everytime, but it would be nice to be able to hve everyone together when time allows. Am I looking at this all wrong?

 

[kristenrice]

Just for your reference purposes, we bought a 100 point resale at AKV last September. We paid $9200 for the contract and $397 in closing costs. Those are the only costs associated with the actual purchase. Then, you add in the maintenance fees (annual dues). The MF's are due every year in January. Since our contract included all of 2008's points and the seller had already paid the MF's on them, we included a reimbursement in our contract. We paid the seller the $471.xx for 2008's MF's on those points. I didn't think it was right to keep them after he'd paid for them, but that is a negotiable point in any resale. Then, this January, we paid $485.xx for 2009's MF's. The maintenance fees go up every year (they could also go down, but don't count on it!) and they are due in January. You can also opt for a monthly direct debit from your checking account which will spread your payments out over the year.

After your initial buy in (which we paid cash for so I can't help on estimating a monthly payment amount) your only financial obligation to DVC is your maintenance fees. They range from around $3.70 at BLT to over $6 at Vero Beach. This is per point that you own. You can acquire your initial buy in via Disney (160 points minimum) or resale (no minimum, but the contracts are "pre-assembled"). Once you have your initial contract, you are a member. Disney does not differentiate between those that bought direct and those that bought resale. You could buy a 25 point resale and be eligible for the same benefits as someone who buys 500 points directly from Disney.

There is no problem with taking the tour to get information. It is very low pressure...actually, there is usually NO pressure. They will present the numbers to you in a factual manner and then tell you that you have 10 days to decide. (Well, it's been 7 years since I took the tour, but that's how I remember it!)

The most important thing is to take your time and do not make an impulse purchase. Make sure that it is something you want to commit yourself to for at least the next 15-20 years. Do your research (you've already found a great source of information!) and ask a lot of questions.

Good Luck!

 

[dnoyes]

I've been dying to become a DVC mamber for years. The problem is, I have absolutely no idea how much this costs. I'd hate to schedule a tour while at Disney for our upcoming trip, only to find out I can in no way afford it. That would be a bit embarrasing for me I understand that it depends on how many points and which resort you buy into, but I was just curious about what folks truly pay per month, and how much dues are. I realize this may be personal, so I understand if I don't get many answers! But HELP if you can.

I don't mind giving out the details I had the same questions before we bought and it was someone here on the DIS that answered them for me.

When we bought last May it was $104 a point with a $8 rebate per point, so a $94 dollar net cost per point. We have 200 points at a total cost of $20,800.00 after rebate it was $19,200 plus around $300 closing costs. We put down half and financed around $10K at 9.9% for 60 months and I think the payment was about $250? We made a few payments and then decided to pay it off rather then pay the 9.9% when our money wasn't earning that in the bank. That's just how we looked at it but that doesn't make it the right decision

As far as the payments went you don't pay each month with a check you send Disney a savings deposit slip and they debit your savings each month.

Our dues will be about $850 a year when they start.

Hope this helped you ..... any other questions? feel free to ask.

 

[MinniesYooHoo]

Yes it certainly has helped tremendously. Thanks everyone so much. I will present all of this info to my husband and we will discuss it. Thanks again!!!

 

[Sandisw]

Okay, that's a great start! Thank you so very much. But now part 2 of my question. How many points to buy? I would want to be able to book a room/rooms to accomodate 10 people at a time. I know everyone would not be able to go everytime, but it would be nice to be able to hve everyone together when time allows. Am I looking at this all wrong?

There is a DVC points chart at the top of this board. Go to the different resorts and look at the different point totals.

With 10 people, you are looking at multiple rooms or the Grand Villa (if you want to do a trip with everyone). First, how many would typically go each year? And how often do you want to do everyone? Points can be banked and borrowed to get what you need if you are not going every year.

For me, I have 162 points. That will get me (in the late summer, a more expensive time), 5 nights a year in a 1-bedroom. Or, 10 nights a year (if I don't use points for weekends) in studios. Other times of the year would cost me less points.

A 1-bedroom sleeps 4 or 5. Studio's also sleep 4 but no kitchen or washer/dryer (okay with me because I don't cook on vacation and can use washers for free at the resort when in a studio). If I wanted to skip a year, I would have 324 points, enough to stay for longer times in other accomodations. The possibilities are endless!

For me, I decided that I wanted to go every year and wanted to stay for 5 nights, in a 1-bedroom. Then I figured out how many points would get me this vacation. Once I knew this, it made it easier for me to figure out how to go about getting to that figure.

 

[ILuvMulan]

Okay, that's a great start! Thank you so very much. But now part 2 of my question. How many points to buy? I would want to be able to book a room/rooms to accomodate 10 people at a time. I know everyone would not be able to go everytime, but it would be nice to be able to hve everyone together when time allows. Am I looking at this all wrong?

You need a copy of the points chart or DREAM book if you do not already have one. This tells you more about each resort and lets you see how many points you will need. For 10 people to go each year you will need a lot of points, but if fewer will go most years then you can "bank or borrow" points for the years that you have that many going. For example we bought 175 points to begin with then added 25 more at AKV. We are a family of 5 which means most of the time (for the time of year we travel) we will have extra points if we use a 1 bedroom. We will bank the extra points so that about every other year we can take friends or family with us. Hope that helps.

 

[CruznLexi]

In Jan DVC was offering a 100 point package at AK. My payments will be in March at about $150 this was with $500 down payment

 

[WALTSAGOD]

10 people to start with will probably scare you away, especially from direct from DVC.

 

[Kmango]

Depending on when exactly you go and where exactly you stay, taking 10 people for one week once a year is going to run you somewhere between 300-800+ points a year. For example:


1 studio, 1 two-bd (up to 4 in one, up to 9 in the other), standard view, AKV, Adventure Season: 297
2 one-bds (5 people in each, this is crowded), standard view, AKV, Adventure season: 338 points.
1 grand villa (sleeps up to 12), AKV, Magic Season: 736 points.

There are a thousand other permutations possible here, but the point is, the number can range wildly. Personally, I can't really imagine shoehorning the full 9 people into a 2-bedroom (we like a 2-bedroom for our family of 4, and would probably book another room for more people than that), but some people happily do that. Your point requirements will vary based on how much space you require, when you want to travel, and where you like to stay.

 

[backyardponder]

First, my normal disclaimer...please make sure you can afford doing this and not getting yourself into a situation you shouldn't be in. Make sure you have kids' education covered, etc.

Next: Figure out what your vacation habbits will be. In our case the main reason we got into dvc is to do a big vacation every 3 years with our kids and their families. To do this we need one 2 bedroom and 2 studios. To do this in June/July at BWV (standard view) for 10 nights it is 722 points, using the new 2010 point charts. Since I can bank and borrow, I then need one third of this per year, or 241 points. I also wanted to have other points for other trips, such as VB, F&W, Holidays, etc. I settled on buying 375 points BWV. I bought resale.


Good Luck!

 

[Anal Annie]

When you start making your comparison you need to make sure you look at the 2010 point charts, not the 2009 charts that are what's posted at the link above. DVC recently re-allocated the charts for all the resorts for all seasons for all size units!!

DVC recently began selling points at SSR again to cover sales for the new THV's. They have 3 bedrooms and they will sleep 9 if you can work with that amount of people rather than 10. They use the same # of points as the SSR 2 bedroom villas which sleep 8.

A full week in either a 2 bedroom or a THV in the lowest season (Adventure) will use 242 points while a week in a peak summer season like July (Magic season) will use 318 points and then a week in the Premier holiday season will use 416 points.

This is in comparison to a 3 bedroom Grand Villa at SSR which would sleep 12 and run (in the same order) 505 points, 715 points and 837 points. Another way to accomodate this many people would be to buy points to cover 3 studios which sleep 4 each. One studio in Adventure season would run 96 points (x 3 = 288), in "Magic" a studio will use 123 (x 3 = 369) and during "Premier" season would run 161 (x 3 = 483). So you can see how splitting people (families) up into smaller units would stretch your points further than renting a GV. This of course is if you want to go EVERY YEAR with this many people. Many people plan these large trips every other year or so and use banking and borrowing. This would be very generous of you to take that many people every year on your points. So at full price, w/o any incentives enough points for a GV at SSR in July would run you about $93-$94,000 to go every year.

Since there are only going to be 60 THV's they will be hard to get at the 7 month window so many people now want to own at SSR for the 11 month booking window. Just something else to consider....

 

[phyllisnnj]

For your large group an offsite house rental with a private pool and game room might be a better option.....

All Ears recommends All Star Vacation Homes - http://allears.net/acc/vhomes.htm
Here' a link to their Specials Page - http://www.allstarvacationhomes.com/last-minute-vacation-specials.asp

Work the numbers and consider the PROs and CONs. I've listed some below

PROs for offsite rental
- Pay as you go (don't have to put out any extra money and only pay for the years that you go)
- Cheaper to stay offsite
- Larger accommodations

CONs for offsite rental
- Transportation required (everyone can't easily come and go unless they have their own car)
- Not immerse in Disney 24 X 7

PROs for DVC
- Free Transportation to/from airport and within WDW
- Convenient for everyone to come and go as they please anywhere within WDW (everyone doesn't have to come and leave together)
- Discount on Annual Passes (only worth it if you go to Disney more than 11 days in a 12 month period) NOTE: only need to own 25 DVC points to get this benefit
- Dining Plan option
- Room Charge privileges and merchandise delivery to your DVC resort
- Immerse in Disney 24 X 7

CONs for DVC
- It will take a lot of points to accommodate a group of 10 people
- If you book separate rooms for your large group there is no guarantee that the rooms will be near each other
- If you borrow DVC points from next year's allotment for your group outing and someone cancels, you are stuck because borrow points can not be returned.


Also keep in mind the overall cost
(1) The initial purchase prices. Here's a link to the Current DVC Pricing and Promotions - http://dvcnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=227&Itemid=173
(2) Increasing maintenance fees for the points you own. Here's a link to the MF for each DVC resort for each DVC point. http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=28885989&postcount=46
(3) Increasing ticket prices (you may need up to 10 tickets). Here's a link to the WDW ticket prices over the last several years - http://allears.net/tix/tixpix00.htm


Here's a link to the DVC point charts with the nightly point requirements - http://dvcnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=127&Itemid=105 (as stated look at the 2010 point charts; The point allocation changed for 2010)
Here's a link to DVC Resale Listings - http://www.dvc-resales.com/dvclisting.cfm

Good luck with your decision