Parents Considering Purchase (Need Numbers Help)

[fae]

Hi Everyone,

So my parents have been considering purchasing DVC for probably 10 or so years. We are avid Disney goers and have made probably made 30-40 trips in my 20 year life span, with plans to continue making frequent (1 to 2 trips per year) trips for the foreseeable future. I honestly think my parents are overspending on our trips and could actually save money with DVC or at least spend the same amount of money for a better experience. I've brought this up to them and my mom is completely interested, however Dad is both stubborn and non-tech savvy (he's nearly 70, so I think he deserves to have some info handed to him) and is asking me for some hard numbers. I'm a 20-year-old, college-educated woman, so I'm pretty capable of doing my own research, however the official DVC site always seems to be down or not running properly and I've hit a bit of a wall as I'm not exactly sure what kind of accommodation my family would require, so DVC point calculators, while useful in giving me a starting point, are not really giving me the full picture.

Here's some relevant info:
-We normally vacation as a 3 to 6 person group. 1 to 2 of these are children around the age of 8.
-My mom is not a big restaurant person, hates the idea of not being able to make snacks/drinks as she pleases and feels the need to do laundry ever other day, therefore for the last 7 or so years, we've been renting homes or condos. Both her and my dad enjoy having a private pool.
-On our last trip (Summer '11), we spent approximately $5000 on lodging for an 8 day stay. They were completely okay with this number. They are very much a "if that's what it costs to make us happy, then so be it" couple.
-My dad loves Disney. It's his favorite place to vacation and he's been going since it opened. He bestowed this love upon me and now we're both passing it on to my little sister. He is getting on in age and he recently retired, HOWEVER, this has actually been a blessing. He is much less stressed and thanks to smart investing, makes an income equal to what he made while working. He is adamant about taking at least one vacation a year.
-They have been thinking about moving to Florida for the past few years to be closer to Disney/avoid the cold. However, my mom hates the idea of being away from her family. I think this might be a good middle ground.
-They are available to go all times of the year. (Unfortunately, I can only go during the summer. )
-I am planning on making them at least go look at DVC during our trip this summer.
-We also have family in southern California, so we may also be interested in Disneyland trips.

I realize this is long, but if you can, please try to point me toward some more places to research/more relevant info and/or give me your opinions on the situation. Thank you!

 

[disneynutz]

Read the threads here on the DIS and have them rent a reservation from an existing owner to try out a DVC unit. Owning a DVC interest can save you money compared to the cost of staying at a deluxe resort on site but you/they enjoy staying off site.

There is a lot to consider and a lot of information to learn so you have your work cut out for you. If you still have questions after doing your research, feel free to PM me.

Bill

 

[dbs1228]

Well I have to say research, research and more research. We joined after 15 years of trips at an average of 3500.00 per year for accommodations. I think what made me take the plunge is our DD's are in their late teens and I would like to try to get wdw trips in with them in the future and I know once they move out and start a family it maybe tough financially for them to actually go. DH and I also love WDW so we will go ourselves. I too like to have a kitchen and laundry. With that being said DH and I are in our mid 40's and decided it was time for us to invest into our future vacations. I am not sure I would feel the same way if I was in my early 70's - I think at that point I might have the same mentality as your dad, pay as I go. DVC is very expensive to buy into and maintenance fee's keep going up. If they do decide to purchase look into resale for sure! Good luck.

 

[ToddyLu]

Other good sites are DVCNews.com and a downloadable file from Passporter. They have a DVC guide that you pay $10 for and then refer to it when needed. Read all the stickies.

Our example
We only stayed in Value resorts before DVC. At 40 I wanted the nice room and pool and my own fridge to keep things cold--you now luxury trips. Our 210 points at AKV cost $20,000 and some extra dues por-rated for that year that year. Our MF for that many points cost $1100. So once the mortgage is paid off my visits to villas will cost me $1100--of course the MFs increase but for the room we are getting that's OK. It is worth it to us.

So far we have stayed in 7 studios and have treated family. At AKV these studios would have been $3,000-$3,500 each for the week we went if paying cash...so I have already almost gotten back what I am putting in and the convience for travel around WDW is awesome. But we are a Disney family and that is what works for us.

DVC is only for the accomodations so we are still out flights, food and APs (if making 2 trips in one year). We also use the TIW card to save 20% on food and alcohol. I read on this site for about six months before our purchase.


There are four main resale sites, one of which gets ** out every time I post it but Timeshare store and Fidelity (who has the contract with Disney) will give you ideas on cost for specific contracts.

For us, DVC allows a nurse and fire fighter to travel to a deluxe resort 1-2 times a year....I think we got what we paid for.

There are lots of other timeshares out there for the Orlando area and DVC is the expensive one from what I have read here.

You can also be an associate on your parents contract to help with reservations and they can leave it to children. I would buy several small 100 point contracts instead of a larger one becasue they are easier to resale.

 

[ToddyLu]

David's Rentals (Daddio) is a sponsor of the board and outside of a very good friend who is also DVC--he would be my choice to rent from. Points are typically $10 each for a rental reservation and then $13 with him, but he organizes the rental for you and is the "middle man" so to speak. He is a regular poster here and then you can read threads also regarding folks who have bought 1,000 or more points to stay for a month or so....maybe someday, a girl can dream

 

[WiggleWorm]

There's definitely a lot to consider. What I would suggest is the following (keep in mind this is just my opinion, I'm sure your parents have their own set of priorities as to what they would want, and I'm sure other DVC members have different ways of comparing):

1. In terms of hard numbers, the easiest way I found to compare is to pick a set amount of time at a set time of year at a set hotel in a set room size. For example, one week from August 15 - 22 at Animal Kingdom Lodge in a standard room (called a "studio" when using DVC). Find out what the rack rate would be by going on the Disney website (not the DVC site) - let's say it's $2100 (I'm totally making that number up just as an example). Then find out how many points it would be to stay for the same week through DVC. Translate those points into dollars by figuring out how much per point that would be. Likely it will be much less - let's say it's $500 (again - totally making that up). Now you need to factor in the initial cost of purchasing DVC. Subtract the rack rate from the DVC rate: $1600 in this case. Let's say you go every year at this time, that means you save $1600 each time. Say your initial cost to purchase DVC is $10000, that means you will take about 6 years before you will actually start saving money.

2. From the needs of your family (number of people plus the laundry and kitchen situation), it sounds like you would be looking at getting a one- or two-bedroom when you go, so keep that in mind when doing comparisons. I must tell you, the laundry and kitchen factors are HUGE pluses for our family. HUGE. Love them both!!

3. In terms of your dad being almost 70...unfortunately (sorry to bring this up but it's kind of inevitable) he will not be able to enjoy DVC for the next 50 years, however, he would then have the knowledge that you and your siblings would still be able to. My husband and I just purchased a few years ago and hopefully we will be able to make trips to Disney when we're in our 80's, but if we can't, we know that our children will be able to enjoy it because you can give the time left on DVC through your Will.

4. I would strongly suggest they look at Re-Sales. We saved a lot of money that way. We used the Timeshare Store and they were great.

5. I am a teacher, so we also usually can only go in the summer. We got an August Use Year because that's usually when we go (we go when the kids in FL are back in school, but here in MA we are not back yet - towards the end of August). It has worked out well.

If anything I said does not make sense or you have any more questions, feel free to contact me. Good luck and hope this helps!

 

[Goofy&Sleepy]

I agree, rent some points & they will fall in love. A simple 1BR where you can cook & do laundry will feel like heaven, unless you don't like the pull out bed which some older family members, like you may be uncomfortable on. We bought in 2001 & have added 50 & 30 pts & looking at adding 120 now. We look at our DVC as prepaid vacation. We usually buy AP's for our 2x/year and usually do DDP but w/adding pts. we plan on cooking more in lg accomidations.

 

[DizBub]

I agree with renting points. If nothing else your parents will get a feel of what they would be buying. Being on property is the best experience IMO.

Also agree with buying resale. We were ones that resisted for years because we couldn't get solid numbers. We did buy direct once a guide sat down with us and showed us the #s. Problem was that we hopelessly UNDER bought!! We started out with 210 points and now have 460. We are also older and are able to go anytime of year and more often, hence the extra points. We figure we need a 2 bedroom for a week and at least 2/3 more trips in a studio every year.

LOTS to learn. The whole system is so flexible, almost too flexible, it can get confusing at first because there are so many choices. Good problems to have.