We bought into
DVC in 2013 and 2014 was our first use, but was a special as we had already booked a trip to Caribbean Beach Resort. So we added a 2 bed villa at Vero beach and treated my father for his 70th birthday!
This year was our first full use of our DVC and we had a fantastic time and the move to deluxe accommodation was fantastic. We felt like we wanted to stay in our rooms and relax at points during our trip.
This is about the most relaxed I have been with our hotels for a while.
Now, if you regularly stay on Disney property and use Disney's magical express, saving money on car hire, it can be a great way to save money, especially if you are wanting the extra comfort level.
I calculated that 160 points at Animal Kingdom Villas, with purchase cost averaged per year and cost of annual dues was about half the cost compared to 2 weeks in a moderate resort. I was surprised that the cost of food for the three of us was approx £300 per person for 14 nights! As stated in another response, it was nice to not be on the dining plan and feeling that you must eat. We shared meals if we were not hungry or even skipped if we fancied a snack instead. It was far more flexible and also I included a couple of table service meals!! It was very pleasant to not be worrying that we had to eat again when we were full!
So for basically the same cost as I would spend on the moderate, I now get a deluxe studio. The studio felt more homely and was a far more usable space having a foldaway bed settee, rather than two double beds! It gave us a living space during the day, or on those very rainy evenings you can get in Florida.
Then the final and important question.......Will you want to keep coming to WDW???? Personally we have been doing it for 20 years, with Disney featuring at least once per year. Also other holidays were not meeting up with our expectations, so we joined DVC.
Another thing you can do, is to bank points for a year, so if you wanted to visit every other year, you could buy half the required points and then visit using the points needed for your stay, but cost is spread over a longer 2 year period.
Other thoughts that the free Dining offers can come and go, so no guarantee they will be available. Also, DVC offers discounts on annual passes, so if you can do a late trip one year followed by another slightly earlier, you may be able to cut the cost of your tickets. At the moment, Annual pass renewals are costing not much extra than a standard 14 day ticket! Then you also have other discounts through DVC or Annual Pass such as 10% off at many of the Disney shops and deals at certain time for discounts on food, especially around Disney Springs!
All I can say, think about your circumstances and if you know you want to keep going back to WDW, if you want the Deluxe rooms, will you want options of 1 bedroom or even 2? Then it can be a fantastic purchase.
Another bonus I have found, is that when staying in DVC only properties, you are staying with other DVC members who in general are all mad on Disney and are really happy to talk and pread their knowledge.
We initially bought from Disney, but have added some extra via resale. This now gives me capacity for us to have a 1 bedroom villa, which is great with my son now being a teenager.
Remember that costs for Annual fees will go up each year. But then, so do hotel costs.
