Our contact (the person who sold the membership to us) tried as best as she could to not go into the yearly fees topic. Once I insisted on talking about it she elaborated a bit more but she would not give me any estimations what-so-ever. I understand that this is a business but most businesses give estimates before going through with anything.
To give you any estimates would open Disney up to a tremendous potential liability. We now have nearly 20 years worth of dues history on Old Key West and 10+ years on other properties. That history has shown increases of 2-4% per year. It's reasonable to expect that to continue. However, we must also realize that extraordinary circumstances do occur which may generate added expense over the years.
Legally dues must be tied to the operating costs of the resort. Other people have raised comparisons to owning your home and that's a good one. Before you buy a home you can ask the prior owner for information on utility costs, property taxes, how long the roof is expected to last, etc. But the reality is you still need to pay for the actual utilities, taxes and maintenance for years and years to come--no matter what those costs may prove to be.
Also, after she elaborated a little bit I did a quick calculation in my head and it came out to $10,000 a year towards the end of the 50 years. She quickly took note and told us she made a mistake and it would be half of what she originally told us. Shady!
I must be missing what's so "shady" about correcting your math.
All I was trying to say is, why not give the overall picture of what the DVC really costs.
Because they don't KNOW what it will cost and if DVC were to provide any sort of estimates, they could be held accountable for justifying those estimates 40-50 years down the road.
Last time you bought a car, did the dealer tell you what gas, insurance and maintenance would cost you over the life of the vehicle?
Did the electronics store tell you what it would cost in electricity and cable TV service for the new 55" plasma set?
Any 15 year old with knowledge of Excel can figure out what this will cost over the next 50 years. I don't see what's so deceptive about letting people do their own research.
Overall my 4-7 days a year for the next 50 years will cost me about $150,000 (plus tickets, food and travel expenses.) It might dissuade some people but it's the truth and gives them a better picture.
It is also a very distorted picture because you aren't making any allowance for the time value of money.
The reason that our annual dues go up 2-3% per year is because all of the associated costs go up. Salaries cost more, utilities cost more, taxes cost more, and so on. And THOSE costs increase because the providers of the services must also pay more to their workforce and for raw materials.
If we assume that average wages will continue to climb by 2% per year (historically it has been higher than that), a person making $60,000 today will earn $158,000 per year in 2060. That may seem like an unrealistic, unobtainable figure....until you realize that it's expressed in 2060 dollars. Simply put, $158K won't buy you as much in 2060 as it does today. Gas may well be $10 per gallon. Mid-size cars will set you back $50,000. And DVC dues could be $4000-5000 per year.
Whatever calculation you used for your 2060 annual dues...apply that to a cup of coffee, a Big Mac or a movie ticket. If Starbucks raises prices by just 3% per year, that $3 hot beverage will set you back about $13 come 2060.
In short, everything will cost MUCH more in 50 years than it does today. But you will also be earning much more.
