Thinking about an add on...

[JWimberley]

I am thinking of purchasing additional points through The Timeshare Store but I am curious about why Vero Beach seems so inexpensive compared to the others.

I know that SSR gets me an extra 12 years so I can understand that but VB seems to be on average $20 per point cheaper than the others.

I currently own BWV but we never stay there, we are OKW addicts. We always book our trips in the lowest demand times (mid-November or January/February) so I'm not really concerned about the 11-month vs. 7-month rental window.

Can anyone tell me if there is something I'm missing or should I just go for the extra savings and buy 25% more points?

Thanks for the help,
Joshua

 

[tjkraz]

I'd say it's a combination of the fact that VB points don't get you the 11-month booking priority at any WDW-based resort plus the high dues there. Being on the Atlantic coast, VB is always going to be at risk from hurricane damage. That drives up insurance rates and ultimately repair and maintenance costs, too.

 

[starbox]

However, we've found that VB is one of our favorite places and have been using about 1/3 of our points there each year. I'm just waiting to see how attractive AKV will be before purchasing a VB add-on. It is a great resort and the points are a great deal if you think you'll be staying there regularly.

The downside, as mentioned, is that you won't have the 11-month booking window anywhere on WDW property. There are times of the year that fill-up before the 7-month window opens, so depending on when you'll want to travel to Disney, that could be a problem. If you are hoping to purchase VB and travel to Disney Thanksgiving Week, Easter Week or Christmas/NewYears Week - those tend to fill up with owners right away and not much variety is open at 7 months. Other times of the year, you should be able to get something at 7 months.

 

[3DisneyKids]

The points are less but the dues are higher...remember that over the life of the contract you will spend far more money in dues than you did for your buy-in. If you do not plan to stay at VB and do not need the 11-month window there, it will be cheaper for you in the long run to buy elsewhere.

 

[JWimberley]

The points are less but the dues are higher...remember that over the life of the contract you will spend far more money in dues than you did for your buy-in. If you do not plan to stay at VB and do not need the 11-month window there, it will be cheaper for you in the long run to buy elsewhere.

I'm actually trying to find the dues cost for the different resorts. Does anybody know a link to where I can find that information or better yet have any of you committed it to memory? Come on, I know some of you have

Thanks,
Joshua

 

[JWimberley]

Ok, I answered my own question here but I thought I would share with others what I have figured out

Average cost of 150 points:
Old Key West - $11,850
Boardwalk - $12,750
Hilton Head - $11,100
Vero Beach - $10,500

Current Dues Per Point:
Old Key West - $4.40
Boardwalk - $4.85
Hilton Head - $4.98
Vero Beach - $5.63

Cummulative Cost of Dues over 35 years remaining at 3% per year increase
Old Key West - $39,904.97
Boardwalk - $43,986.16
Hilton Head - $45,165.18
Vero Beach - $51,060.23

Total Cost of Ownership for remainder of contract
Old Key West - $51,754.97
Boardwalk - $56,736.16
Hilton Head - $56,265.18
Vero Beach - $61,560.23

So, with that being said or typed in this case... The financial decision is easy, Old Key West has the lowest cost of ownership over the course of the remaining contract. Add to that the fact that our preference is for OKW anyway and the decision pretty much makes itself

Now in the interest of disclosure and I like to play with Excel Here are the breakover points for each resort (ie, when they become more expensive than OKW)

Boardwalk - Year 0 (It starts out more expensive)
Hilton Head - Year 8 (2014) - HH Exceeds OKW by $23.64
Vero Beach - Year 7 (2013) - VB Exceeds OKW by $63.72

There is also a point to be made for Saratoga Springs as its current dues are only $4.12 per point. However, because this resort has not been completed and is still be subsidized by Disney I don't think it is a fair assesment of what the point cost will ultimately be. I personally think that it will be on par with OKW due the economies of scale that it has and the ability to spread any unusual costs (storm damage) across so many points... Using the assumption that it will catch up to OKW in about 5 more years and then increase at the standard rate of 3% you get the following over the next 35 years...

Average Cost of 150 Points:
Saratoga Springs - $12,750

Annual Dues assesment:
Saratoga Springs - $4.12 - 3% per year increase and adjusted in 2012 to match Old Key West

Cummulative Dues Costs:
Saratoga Springs - $39,676.24

Total Cost of Ownership:
Saratoga Springs - $52,426.24

 

[LisaS]

Using the data on robin's website, http://personalpages.tds.net/~rb/DIS/DVC/DVCDuesHistory.htm the average annual dues increase at OKW is 3.61% and VB at 4.45%. So not only are the dues higher at VB, but the dues are increasing at a higher rate.

Here are the average dues increases for each resort as of 2007:
OKW: 3.61%
BWV: 2.53%
VB: 4.45%
VB(sub): 4.35%
HH: 4.30%
VWL: 3.91%
BCV: 4.20%
SSR: 2.74%

 

[greenban]

In defense of Vero Beach's costs, and accelerating dues:

We stayed after reading all the glowing reports and talking to several DVC-Advisor's while making ressie's for other DVCs. We loved it, LOVED IT, LOVED IT (and I didn't expect to).

IMHO it is the 'hidden gem of the DVC. My family experienced the nicest (collective) group of Disney CMs bar none!

Great condition rooms, tremendous activities, unique off-site eateries, etc.

Well worth the additional expense.

Try it at the end of your next vaycay for 3 nights. You will be amazed.

All this from a Jersey guy, who spent every summer at A/C, and is a card carrying member of, "Gosh I REALLY hate sand up my shorts!" club.

-Tony

P.S. Ask Beca, she'll tell you, itis even nicer than BCV!

 

[JWimberley]

Thanks Lisa for the updated and very complete numbers. I have recalculated and reached a new conclusion... It looks like I'll be keeping my BWV contract after all. With the lowest percentage increase in annual dues it looks like I have the best possible ownership interest already

Here are how the numbers came out with the updated percentage increase averages...


Old Key West - $56,822.52
Boardwalk - $52,938.98
Hilton Head - $69,551.25
Vero Beach - $78,625.89
Saratoga - $55,280.76

 

[LisaS]

I just want to be clear I'm not knocking VB. My dream is to one day stay in a beach house there, but since I don't own there, I expect I'll have to settle for a regular villa and a chance to go on a turtle watch.

It's just that there have been a number of posts asking "why not buy VB and use the points to stay at WDW?" followed by responses stating "the higher dues will make VB more expensive in the long run". I wanted to see the effect of the higher dues and higher rate of increase for myself so I ran some numbers.

I think anyone who loves VB can and should decide for themselves if they want to buy there. I'm not trying to talk anyone out of doing so. But I didn't want to repeat what I had read here that "the dues will make VB more expensive over time" without having some data to back that up.

I think it's also useful for anyone purchasing at any DVC resort to calculate what the dues will be over the lifetime of the contract to know what the cost of ownership will be over time.

 

[Starr W.]

I think if we ever add-on it will be a small VB contract, just for the ability to tack a couple days on to a WDW vacation or tag a couple WDW days on to a beach vacation.