Tell me why...

[elgerber]

Buying DVC would be good for my family. Forgive me if this has been asked before, which I'm sure it has. Let me give you some background. My family is me, dh, ds 9 and dd 6. We are huge Disney fans, especially dd and I. We live in Minnesota, so we can't get there as often as we like. When we do go, we stay at least 7-8 nights, and at the BC/YC. I am wondering if you guys would mind telling me what some big pro's are to buying DVC rather than just going my usual route for our trips. I would love to go every year, but airfare for 4 doesn't always allow that, although when we go, we like to buy AP's to squeek in 2 trips. I have read over a ton of posts here, but I would just like some opinions from you. The upfront cost can be rather hard to swallow, so I'm trying to figure it all out.

Thanks so much in advance for any and all comments/opinions/advice you'd care to give me!!!

Erika

 

[Lesley]

The basic rule is if you average a trip per year, DVC is worth it and will save you money in the long run. (Though I haven't crunched the numbers at current prices....) Plus with DVC you get a villa that is superior in many ways to the standard rooms at the deluxe resorts. If you were a family of 5 it would be more difficult to say, because the deluxe rooms sleep 5 where the DVC (1br and studio) rooms only sleep 4...but then there's always the 2br!

Big benefits to us are having cooking facilities and a washer/dryer in our room....nevermind the whirlpool tub!

We do go more often now that we have DVC......and we don't fly, so it makes it easier for us economically.

But really, you are the only one who can know if its worth it for your family!

 

[yesdisneyfool]

Originally posted by Lesley
The basic rule is if you average a trip per year, DVC is worth it and will save you money in the long run. We do go more often now that we have DVC......and we don't fly, so it makes it easier for us economically.
But really, you are the only one who can know if its worth it for your family!

I agree. For us we get the condo eeling...not the hotel feeling. Since DVC, we (Disney nuts) are able to go more often (as you can see)...but we live only 9 driving hours away and we also buy AP's. The room size and amenities (sp) are worth the extra (upfront) costs because we'll have these nicer vacations and memories until 2042 (until I'm 81 and at that age I may not want the magic anymore -- not.)

Just do some more reading on these boards and ask all the questions...and not one is a stupid questions because we've all been where you are now.

 

[ZerasPride]

One thing that convinced us to purchase was actually staying in DVC accommodations. We visited the Hilton Head resort last year and fell in love with it. The spaciousness of a two bedroom unit cannot be beat! We usually stay at the Beach Club too and believe it or not, the 1 bedroom and larger DVC units just don't compare to a regular hotel room - even the room we stayed in the Grand Floridian was not as nice as having a jacuzzi tub, washer and dryer and full kitchen with appliances.

Since we have a son and he likes to take a friend or family member on vacation with us, having the larger accommodations is just wonderful to spread out.

As another poster mentioned, only you and your family can decide if DVC is right for you, but seeing (and staying) is truly believing. If you like deluxe accommodations and want to save yourself some money over the long haul, DVC may be for you. Have you considered renting points from a member to see if the DVC accommodations will suit your family's vacation needs? I'm sure, in the end, you and your family will be happy with whatever you decide!

 

[zulaya]

Another MInnesotan chiming in here...I know airfare stinks up here, especially for non stops, but it can be possible for a family of 4 to get a good deal with a stop on Delta or Air Tran or even Continental. You just have to keep tabs on the airfare daily until you find a price you like and then jump on it.

If you can't make it every year, it's even a good deal for every other year. Just bank one year's worth of points and then you have 2 years worth of points and can splurge on an even bigger villa. Or the flip side, is that you won't have to initially buy as many points if you make the plan for every other year.

I'll tell you that for us, DVC is going to be an excellent investment. We just bought BCV in March and we haven't even stayed in a villa yet. And I want to get an OKW resale. I am a space person. And if I am going to spend a lot of money on vacation, I might as well make my investment in villas that will make my vacations more enjoyable.

That's my take onit.

 

[mikesmom]

One of the biggest financial reasons is that if you are going every year, or even every other year, the hotel prices keep going up while DVC essentially freezes the costs of the accomodations.

From the emotional and comfort view there is simply nothing to compare with a 1 bdr DVC. (unless it's a 2 bdrm, LOL)

 

[anniet]

Financially you will break even at around the 6 year mark. After that you have vacation accomodations at approximately 5:

 

[anniet]

Yikes....there must have been a blip while they were working on the boards and i was trying to post so here's the rest of it.

Financially you will break even at around the 6 year mark. After that you have vacation accomodations at approximately 50-60% discount off rack rates. Even if you only buy in at 150 points, you can get a studio off season at BCV for 10 nights for 140 points, and bank the other ten points into the next year.

You said you are huge disney fans, and I agree only you can know what's right for your family, but I can say (sing it with me fellow DVC'ers)

IF YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC YOU BELONG!!!!!

 

[DeeP]

For me DVC is worth every penny because I go to WDW 3-5 trips per year for a total of approx 55-65 days per year. I will have been at WDW a total of 29 days in just a 4 month period once I complete my upcoming trip which starts in 10 days!! I know I am totally obsessed! LOL!! I also own a home in FL, I travel to FL for business and I am going to retire there, so I am in FL alot! I love my DVC membership and it serves me very well with the amount of time I spend in FL. However, I must say I have been reading a lot about people renting points or getting great AP discounts on 1-2 BR DVC villas for anywhere from $180.00 -$276.00 per night! That is incredible! You might want to check this avenue out to try out the DVC resorts and then weigh all the options to see what is the best fit for your family and your vacation preferences and patterns.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by anniet
Financially you will break even at around the 6 year mark. After that you have vacation accomodations at approximately 50-60% discount off rack rates. Even if you only buy in at 150 points, you can get a studio off season at BCV for 10 nights for 140 points, and bank the other ten points into the next year.

I'm not sure that's quite right. There are many variables and I think the 6 years is the best possible scenario. How long it would take to break even depends on the unit size, length of stay and travel habits. Assuming yearly trips and staying on property at WDW and the fact there will always be some type of discount for cash, you can look to break even more in the 12-20 year timeframe to break even. Longer if you go less often, do mostly weekends (not from Michigan) or use your points for other options. I love DVC and it truly may be right for you but I feel strongly that the 6 years to "break even" is very misleading though I'm sure it's not intended to be.

A simple financial analysis will help make the point. Assuming 150 points at BCV at $80 per point with yearly fees of $4 per point (yes I know it's slightly less at present). This will give you roughly 7 or 8 days in a studio. If you compare that to a round number of $100 per night at a moderate plus tax = $111 per night or $900 for 8 nights. DVC would have cost you about $450 in fees, plus a prorated yearly cost of around $300 assuming you didn't finance it. In the long haul DVC will still win out in this scenario but it will take much longer. In the mean time you will have better accomodations and a few other benefits but will be tied to DVC by the golden handcuff's. You might never break even if you financed 80% or consider the time value of money unless you consider the savings on eating out or assume that WDW rooms will increase by more than the yearly fees for DVC.

 

[elgerber]

Thanks for all the great responses! I have a question, you talk about guarding against hotel price increases. Do the points needed for the rooms increase over the years or does it stay the same? IE, is a 10 point room the same rate as it was 4 years ago or so???

Thanks!

Erika

 

[Dean]

The overall points do not change however DVC is allowed to rebalance the points if they need to. If it costs 10,000 points to reserve X unit for a year, that can not change. They can raise weekdays or off season with a proportionate decrease somewhere else. For that reason, I would generally warn against buying EXACTLY the number of points you need for your desired stay unless you're looking at high season and a larger unit (at least 2 BR). They have done this once, in 96 I believe, raising everything in Adventure season a fair amount, 69 changed to 80 points for a studio for a week.

 

[castleri]

How much does your trip staying at the Yacht Club cost? Just think of that amount towards the purchase price of 150 points. It doesn't take too long to reap the benefits of staying in truly wonderful places at much less than the rates you pay for regular rooms. I was lucky enough to be able to pay cash for 220 points in 1997 and feel that after my trip to BCV in Oct. I will have more that broken even. I base my assumption on the rates for the same accomodations that are charged by Disney. If I cmpare it to staying at moderate resorts then maybe I have a few years to go but compared to deluxe rates it works for us. I would never have paid the rates for any of the DVC resorts and would have been staying at PO or CBR and had much less comfort and convenience. Of course I don't care if I have someone make the bed every day - I do care that I have a washer and dryer and place to make breakfast and snacks. As alsways only you can decide what will be best for your family and maybe trying a few nights on rented points would best answer your questions. Good luck with your decision.

 

[anniet]

I'm apologize, I did not mean to mislead anybody. For me, I compared DVC costs to the rack rates of the DVC accomodations for non-DVC members. I looked at it the same way castleri is looking at it.

In it's simplest form, I paid $75 per point for 150 points. My maintenence fee is approximately $522 per year, which given the history of maintenence fees may go up, but probably only slightly. After 5 years the total cost paid should be approximately $13,860. I expect to stay in a studio for 10 nights each year in the lowest points season of the year.

A studio room at my home resort for the same time of year would cost me $269 per night. If the rate does not go up, (which it most likely will) the cost for 50 nights (10 nights times 5 years) would be $13,450 plus 11% tax which would equal $1,479.50 for a total of $14929.50, so I figure about there is where I break even.

I know there are other variables that could be considered.....Yes there are ways to get cash discounts on Disney property, and yes it is cheaper at a moderate resort....and even cheaper at ASR. But I don't want to stay in a moderate resort, so I looked at my costs comparing apples to apples. If I felt my break even point would have been closer to 12 or 20 years, I'm not sure I would have bought.

Bottom line is what everyone else has been saying. You have to decide if this is where you want to stay and if it's right for your family. I know it was right for us.

 

[Lesley]

When I did calculations similar to Annie T's I figured we had used up our buy in cost (including our add on) within just a few years....and I used the comparison of rack rates on the rooms I've reserved/plan to reserve. My reasoning was that if I just made a phone call like I do to DVC.....one call, give my dates, reserve my room..those are the rates I'd be given. It takes time and effort to find and get those great discount rates....or an AP. But AP rates don't come out until your in what I consider a "short notice" time frame. I've always reserved my rooms a year or so ahead of time...so there's lots of time on the phone involved to get switched to better rates when they come out.

Plus, DVC accomodations can't really be compared to other hotels on property....

I understand why someone may want to use a more strict method of calculations (and I've done that too) but even then it seems to come out to the conclusion that until 2042 we can get accomodations that are better than deluxe for the price of a moderate.

Oh and to answer the question about points increasing...the info you were given is correct for DVC resorts, but exchanges to the regular hotels, cruise, concierge collection do go up. DVC really is the best deal when you'll be using it to stay at DVC resorts.

 

[SlyHubby]

Originally posted by Dean
Assuming 150 points at BCV at $80 per point with yearly fees of $4 per point (yes I know it's slightly less at present). This will give you roughly 7 or 8 days in a studio. If you compare that to a round number of $100 per night at a moderate plus tax = $111 per night or $900 for 8 nights.

Forget the moderate, let's look at an apples to apples comparison - BCV room cash rates to DVC BCV rates. Studio rates are on the website at $289/night. 7 days in a studio is roughly $2000. It's the same room. Looks like a about a 6 year payoff on the contract at today's room rates. After that, you're getting your $2000 a year (based on today's rates) room for just the cost of your annual dues.

Prior to DVC, we would stay at the Beach Club, Grand Floridian, etc. For a week, with passes included, the package rate was running us about $2500. After two or three times, we quickly saw the advantages of DVC. Two years later, it's pretty much paid for itself already. We get our two annual trips to Disney (with points to spare) and it costs us significantly less money.

 

[Dean]

You can't compare to rack rates at DVC resorts as I bet 95% of DVC members wouldn't stay there on cash even discounted if they didn't own DVC. Besides the rates are almost always discounted and if so, you'd need to compare to some average discounted price for the time one usually goes. While the rooms and resorts are not directly comparable between DVC and moderates, they are not that far off either. Most people would stay at moderates if they stay on property. I feel that comparing to what one would have paid is more accurate financially than trying to compare to the identical room. The bottom line is any one person should compare to what they would have actually paid as much as possible. If they usually stay off property, compare to that. If they stay at GF, compare that way, etc. IMO, DVC doesn't save a lot of people money but does give them better accomodations for the same money.

 

[IleneF]

I just recently bought BCV with 150 pts. and I have a slightly different way of looking at the costs. It took me 10 years to finally realize this but...
DVC is not an investment but rather a depreciating asset similar to your car.
Now most of us spend about 15-20,000 on a car that we may have 5 yrs or so. I only have mine 3-5 as I put on mega miles. I buy used and spend 13,000. I get maybe 1000 in trade. So I figure I have DVC for 40 yrs for the same price! Plus I can always sell (maybe for same as I bought or more)if it doesn't work out OR if I don't want to bank points and can't spend the $600 in dues in a particular year I can sell my points and make back dues +. Now maybe financial analysts wouldn't agree with my not figuring in the original cost but to me it's just a better car! LOL. Make the best decision for your family and good luck!