Should I join the DVC? Please read and help with the decision

[theguda]

My family of 4 has been to WDW about 10 times over the past decade and we always utilize the free dining promotions. I realize free dining is not a guarantee but we are VERY flexible in terms of when we can go on vacation so if Disney continues to offer FD...and I think they will...we can make it work. Since we go so often I have thought about joining the DVC but honestly, I don't think it's worth it but would love some feedback in case I'm wrong...which happens all the time!

We normally stay at a moderate resort for a week and the price with park passes and free dining has averaged about $2000 per trip. So in the past decade we've spent about $20,000 on 10 week-long trips to moderate resorts with park passes and dining included. Assuming a normal rate of inflation and increases in prices as our kids get older...and assuming FD will continue to be offered at some point each year...the next decade of trips will probably cost around $30,000. So that's 20 years, 20 week long trips at mods with park passes and dining for $50,000.


Can someone share with me the cost breakdown of the DVC for a similar scenario/timeframe? I know the DVC resorts are "nicer" then the mods...but to me the mods are perfectly fine. I talked to a DVC rep in the parks about this and when I started comparing the DVC cost vs doing trips on the FD promotion...he basically gave up and said there is no way the DVC could even come close to those prices over the long term. So I'm putting it to the experts...people who actually use the DVC. Please share you thoughts and help me make a decision. Thanks!!!

 

[dis_guy]

I am not a DVC member but like you I have looked into it. There are spreadsheets and other tools out there that can help you with your decision. In short (if I recall correctly), your yearly, week long stays at a moderate are going to cost less than DVC would. If you stayed deluxe each time, then DVC would make financial sense for you. Head on over to the DVC board for much more info.

 

[Deb & Bill]

My family of 4 has been to WDW about 10 times over the past decade and we always utilize the free dining promotions. I realize free dining is not a guarantee but we are VERY flexible in terms of when we can go on vacation so if Disney continues to offer FD...and I think they will...we can make it work. Since we go so often I have thought about joining the DVC but honestly, I don't think it's worth it but would love some feedback in case I'm wrong...which happens all the time!

We normally stay at a moderate resort for a week and the price with park passes and free dining has averaged about $2000 per trip. So in the past decade we've spent about $20,000 on 10 week-long trips to moderate resorts with park passes and dining included. Assuming a normal rate of inflation and increases in prices as our kids get older...and assuming FD will continue to be offered at some point each year...the next decade of trips will probably cost around $30,000. So that's 20 years, 20 week long trips at mods with park passes and dining for $50,000.


Can someone share with me the cost breakdown of the DVC for a similar scenario/timeframe? I know the DVC resorts are "nicer" then the mods...but to me the mods are perfectly fine. I talked to a DVC rep in the parks about this and when I started comparing the DVC cost vs doing trips on the FD promotion...he basically gave up and said there is no way the DVC could even come close to those prices over the long term. So I'm putting it to the experts...people who actually use the DVC. Please share you thoughts and help me make a decision. Thanks!!!

If you stay at moderate resorts and like the discounts Disney offers, like free dining, you really don't sound like a candidate for DVC. DVC is deluxe accomodations for a long time. Annual member fees continue to go up each year and you still have to pay for park admission, food and transportion to and from WDW. So all you are saving is your lodging. If you spend $2000 a trip for your lodging, it may be a wash.

But DVC is an expensive timeshare, more expensive than most. I know the DVC salespeople always try to promote using your DVC points for stays other than DVC, but it's really not cost effective. Trading out isn't all that easy and the DCL requires a whole lot of points. A single point direct through Disney is pretty expensive these days. We paid $50 a point for our initial 175 points direct in 1997. Now they are selling the same thing for up to $150 a point. And they go up very soon. Resale is less expensive, but it is hard to find the newer resorts (if that is what you want) for resale. And DVC has recently limited the resale points to DVC resorts, RCI trades and one other use. No using points for the Disney Collection or Adventures by Disney which is really point expensive.

Plus with a family of four, while a one bedroom or a studio might work, you'll want to move to a two bedroom as the kids get older to give them a little privacy. We have one son who hasn't minded staying in the living room on the sleeper sofa.

 

[::danielle::]

I looked into this as well. There is a really great thread on the DVC boards that talks about all aspects of what happens when you buy into DVC. One poster even broke down the costs (adjusted for inflation).

My conclusion (after reading the thread) is that rarely do you save money by buying into DVC. Although there is an eventual break even point, it is far into the future. Most advised buying into DVC because you like a certain type of accommodation (i.e. - 2 bedroom unit or theme park view) that would be exorbitant to pay for with cash. Almost all confessed that they have started spending more at Disney since they made their purchase. They didn't need to budget for the room so they purchased annual passes and went more often.

HTH!

 

[Fluff724]

I've thought about it quite a bit and I think for my family right now it wouldn't be worth it. The annual fees on top of the buy in costs would make it much more than we spend now. Granted the accommodations would be nicer with DVC but I prefer the freedom of going when I want and staying at any resort.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I've thought about it quite a bit and I think for my family right now it wouldn't be worth it. The annual fees on top of the buy in costs would make it much more than we spend now. Granted the accommodations would be nicer with DVC but I prefer the freedom of going when I want and staying at any resort.

You're right. DVC isn't all that flexible. It's hard to find something, especially around a holiday time or almost anytime from Oct to early January at less than seven months out. DVC requires planning and lead time.

 

[elfbo]

I dont have my numbers with me, but we recently decided that until disney stops offering free dining, dvc is not as good of a value for my family. But when they stop the free dining we will probably buy in. I love the hot tubs and the lower cost multiple rooms.

 

[bnk1120]

If you are happy with mods and want free dining, then DVC is not for you. DVC is for those folks who want to stay in deluxe resorts. As a DVC member myself I am very satisfied with the fact that I have many years of vacations in deluxe resorts to look forward to. However, I still have to pay yearly maintenance fees, buy annual passes, and pay out of pocket for meals, so I am still spending a substantial amount each year. Plus the yearly vacations have turned into 3 or 4 or 5 times a year! Not that I'm complaining!!!

DVC has given us the ability to take vacations in resorts we love. We are not park commandos -even with an 8 year old - we prefer to enjoy the resorts.

 

[sharadoc]

We looked into it and decided that the maintenance fees alone are half the cost of our hotel each year. I think it works best when you buy young, pay cash and live close enough to drive. Then you can go a couple times a year and really get your money's worth out of it.

 

[J&J]

We are DVcers before we bought we thought long and hard. Even went to the library to check about vacation clubs. Found that Disney and Marriott are the best. We only bought 150 points you dont want to many remember you must pay every month for maintance for your resort. Right now it cost about $73.00 a month = $876.00 per year and this goes up each year. You can have a nice vacation resort room for this. If ou went Magc Season to old key west need 108 points for one week studio room. of course points go up and down depending in the season. This same room if paid cash for one night about $300 X 7 nights $2100.00.

You can also bought someone else vacation club. But remember Disney has the first and last say who buys into their vacation club.

We found it has been helpful.

 

[goofy4tink]

We own at both BLT and BWV (200 pts at BWV, 50 at BLT). It is NOT a money saver. When a friend called me, from WDW, a few years ago to ask about DVC,I told her it would not save her money. Yes, they went every year, at least once. They loved CSR, but had been moved to the Polynesian and were quite impressed with a deluxe stay. I told her that I didn't regret buying DVC but it does cost a lot. Now??? They bought at BLT...they go two or three times a year. I'm pretty sure it's costing them a boatload more money than their yearly CSR stays!!!!

If you enjoy the moderates and like to wait for free dining, then you aren't going to get your money's worth out of DVC. We have found that the only place our family enjoys vacationing at, together, is WDW. Dh can work in the morning, and then meet up with us later. We can get some very nice food if we choose to, or we can make do with the regular restaurants. There is something to go all the time.Or you can just spend the time at the pool. BUT...dh refuses to stay any place other than a DVC villa or a deluxe resort. So...for us?? It made sense to buy DVC. That way DH will go more often, and enjoy himself.

It isn't for everyone...but for those of us who don't use the ddp, and are pretty flexible as to when we can travel, it works out very well.

 

[Lynne M]

DVC is all about the villas. If you want to stay in villa-style accommodations, it's quite probably the most cost effective way to do it. But it's very definitely not an inexpensive way to stay at Disney.

Comparing to a moderate with free dining, it's true, you'll never save money with DVC. If you were looking to move to a larger room, or wanted the kitchen, laundry, or jetted tub, or wanted separate sleeping spaces , then you could justify spending a bit more for that. But if you're happy in the moderates, and going during free dining, them DVC doesn't make a lot of sense.

 

[DougEMG]

One way to look at this is to compare how much a DVC room would cost you with buying food/DDP as compared to paying the rack rate for a moderate with free dining.


The cheapest DVC option over the long run is the Saratoga Springs Resort (SSR) because it has a fairly low price on the resale market ($60/point) + low annual maintenance fees (MF) of $4.71/point. Note that MF go up every year, but so do rack rates of hotel rooms.

I week in a studio room at SSR at the end of Aug is 111 points. Assuming you bought the points for $60/point + paid closing of $450, your total cost would be $7,110. With 41 years left on the contract, the works out to $1.56/point/year.

Adding your buying costs and annual MF together gives you a cost for you of $1.56 + $4.71 = $6.29 per point. So when you book a room that required 111 points, that will be costing you $698 for the room. See how MF are the biggest part of your costs.

Rack rate for the a moderate at the same time is roughly $1,253, so the difference between a DVC studio and a moderate at rack rate and free dining is $1,253 - $698 = $555. This difference is how much you have to buy food with. Can you buy the dining plan for 4 people with this amount of money? Not if they are all adults. 4 adults on the dining plan would cost you $1,443.


Free dining with 4 adults in a moderate room is one of the best discounts you can get (assuming you would buy the DDP anyway). If you are happy with that, DVC is not going to save you money over that.

I've stayed many times at a moderate with the free dining and loved it, but we ended up buying DVC anyway. We bought because we wanted the upgrade in resort, the different room options (studios, 1 bedrooms, 2 bedrooms) and we wanted to go when the free dining plan wasn't offered and with these wants, DVC was the best option.

 

[LtRazor]

I have 4 weeks time shares in gulf shores. This year I stayed at WBC, BLT, and will be staying at BC in 1br this month. Now using rci to trade in isn't as reliable for dis property but you can see I got 2 weeks in nice DIS resorts this year and one nice non-dis.

Cost to me for BC stay:
Dues 325x2 (had to combine two of my weeks)
Rci combine fee 99
Disney fee 95
Rci fee 149

So something that would have cost me 4k only cost me about 1k.

If you don't mind owning other property than disney and trading in, this was good deal for me.

If interested, I know of a resort (same one I own at) that is trying to sale foreclosed units cheap (< 1k) so they can build up annual dues. Not sure if it's within rules to post info about it here but pm me and I'll send u info as long as mods don't tell me not to.

 

[monorailmom]

While I don't have specific numbers to share (this is why I married an accountant!) Here is why we bought DVC and feel it was worth it for us:

We are a family of six. When we stayed at a Moderate (really didn't want to stay Value) we had to have two rooms. This gets expensive, but with four kids, was necessary.

We *loved* Riverside. This in fact was the biggest factor in our buying DVC...accepting that we weren't going to be staying there anymore! But as our kids have gotten older, we started to realize that for us, the benefits of DVC were impressive. We now have three teenage daughters. The extra space...extra bathrooms!...are just awesome. We love being able to make egg sandwiches in our villa every morning before we head off to the parks. Our 11yr old son takes the living room as his 'room', and he enjoys his space! Now that our oldest girls are heading off to college, they're already wondering when they can go to Disney as a Spring Break trip...it will be so nice to offer them some of our points. (and since they know Disney so well, we can breathe a little easier!)

I think if our family could have fit into a standard room, we may not have done the DVC route. But for a large family, who wants to do Disney at least once a year, it made sense. We enjoy planning our trips all year long!

 

[mjplantz]

We read the DVC threads for a solid year and did about every calculation, spreadsheet etc. that existed there. The scenarios consistently came out to be a wash for us. While it would have been nice to own a piece of the magic there were too many variables over the next few decades that we couldn't get comfortable with. I would definitely encourage you to read all you can before making the commitment.

 

[rentayenta]

I'd take a DVC villa over a standard room and free dining any day. There's no comparison to me. Our resort is part of our vacation and we aren't fans of the DDP; too limiting, geared towards buffets to make it seem like that's where the better deal, decreasing options, etc etc....We stayed at POR twice and it was fine but then we stayed with friends who own DVC and the quality of our vacation dramatically increased; we bought during that vacation. Best vacation decision ever! No more stuffing 5 into a standard room, no more tip toeing in the morning to make coffee for fear of waking someone up, now we've got living space and elbow room, multiple bathrooms, a full kitchen, washer/dryer, and fabulous resorts to choose from. We love owning DVC.