Trying to understand DVC - must be missing something

[kalamazoo]

I've been reading all the general info on DVC and it just seems so impossibly expensive. Can someone set me straight?

From what I understand, you have to buy a minimum of 150 points/year at $75/point. So that's $11,250/year. Then, taking the example of the Contemporary, garden view room in early December it is (according to the DVC calculator) 20 points/night (more on weekends), but let's say you can get a week's stay out of those 150 points. I have seen that, with discounts, you can get a room at the Contemporary (non-DVC) for about $200/night. That's only $1400 !!

So for the price difference you get: First dibs on rooms, a fixed price for as long as you are a member (so, even 30 years from now you will still pay $11,250 regardless of the going cost of non-DVC rooms) and you can use your points for other resorts and pool hop.

I suppose that over the years the resale price of your membership would go up according to current value. That is, the membership that allow you to purchase now at $75/point could years from now be resold to allow points purchase for, say, $100/point. Is this so?

Is there more to all this than meets the eye? It just seems like even renting points at a significant discount (say $10/point) you still end up paying what you could pay using one of the readily available discount coupons for non-DVC.

We don't splurge a lot when we go to WDW - so maybe that's why the price floors me, whereas for some people, I suppose it is the norm. I know the WDW resorts are more expensive than staying off-site. I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm not looking to judge, just looking for information.

 

[marley]

You're not saying $11,250 a year are you? I may be reading your post wrong. You know that is a one time fee for the entire 41 years don't you? After that fee, you only pay yearly maintenance, which for 200 points, I pay $58 a month (increasing annually probably 1 or 2% for inflation) for the next 41 years.

Also, you don't buy into DVC to stay at the Contemporary. That doesn't make sense if that is your main objective. You buy in to stay at the DVC resorts (i.e. Old Key West, Boardwalk and Wilderness Lodge Villas, Hilton Head, etc.) That is where the bargain is. The one bedroom we stayed in two weeks ago at OKW goes for over $400 a night. We got it for 22 points. If you

DVC really only pays for itself if you intend to use the DVC resorts MOST of the time. It is for someone who wants bigger accomodations when they travel and FIRST CLASS service and hospitality.

That is why we joined!

 

[DisneyFan09]

That makes much more sense. I too have had a hard time understanding DVC. So the $58 dollars a month is just the maintenance dues? How about park hoppers, any discount on those? I've heard that CM's get a 15% discount on DVC, that could be a good deal. How many points should someone who would go maybe one week a year buy? We don't require a lot of extra room, just enough for 4 to sleep comfortably.

 

[Richyams]

Two points.

One, the $75 per point buy in is a one time fee. The $11,000 is only paid once. You get those 150 points every year until 2042.

Second, renting points for a non-DVC resort stay, like the Contemporary you mentioned, is always going to be VERY expensive, your points go much farther in DVC resorts. Once you stay in a one bedroom or larger unit at a DVC resort, hotel rooms become very difficult to stay in.

Take my experience. We bought 430 points, at that time they were just over $50 per point. Say $25,000. For that we stay 10-12 night in the OKW grand villa every year. That room rents for around $1,000 per night. We have spent around 70 nights in that unit. Not counting the cruise, the Plaza in NYC, and a BWV studio stay, that is nearly a 2/3 discount off the price of the room.

I forgot dues. Our dues were $1100 a year in '93 and have gone up to somewhat over $1400 a year now.

The way it is now, we have way more than broke even(especially if you count eight years of free passes), since we have broken even, we are now getting that Grand Villa for only dues, or a little over $100 per night for a $1000 per night room.

 

[HeatherPage]

To break it down a little more for you, we bought 200 points at Boardwalk Villas directly from Disney at I believe $62 or $65 per point, I put $500 down and Disney had an incentive which let me put another $500 towards the down payment. We have direct debit on the 1st of every month come out of about $169 for the principle (sp?) and another one of about $64 for the dues, Disney gave us a 1% break in the interest for doing the direct draft. So we have about $233 taken out every month total towards DVC and we financed it through Disney for 10 years so those figures include taxes and interest (if you can pay cash for your purchase that would obviously be the best thing to do but this is a pretty painless way also).
Now, every December - 200 points are deposited into our account-some people's months are different the month their points are replenished that month is called a use year-my points are deposited in December, thus I have a December use year. Every December until 2042 I will get my 200 point allotment. Hope I haven't confused you any more.

 

[DebbieB]

The current $75 per point is for your real estate interest. Like buying a house, you pay this once. This is the part that you can sell (DVC does not buy back, you have to arrange this yourself either through a resale agent or privately).

The yearly dues are the maintenance fees. Just like when you own a house, you have to pay taxes, insurance, repairs, utilities, etc. on an ongoing basis.

 

[dandelion]

There is also an FAQ explaining the basics of DVC ownership on Deb Wills site:
http://wdwig.com/dvc.htm

 

[ripleysmom]

kalamazoo, one of the biggest attractions to DVC is the size of the rooms. Even a studio at the DVC resorts is bigger than most of the hotel rooms on property. 1BRs are truly a wonderful experience. Just imagine a room on Disney property the size of a small apartment. This apartment has a full refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, and washer/dryer. Imagine being able to take 2 suitcases for everyone instead of a full suitcase for each person. Imagine being able to buy perishables and store them for snacking. Being able to breakfast in your room without a mad dash to buy breakfast each morning. Having a full coffee maker.

Until you see a DVC villa you truly can't appreciate what exactly you are getting for your money. Once my points are paid off, I know that I will be getting a beautiful spacious apartment for the annual cost of one of the All Star resorts.

 

[JonHM]

Don't forget the jacuzzi!!!

 

[mikesmom]

Also, you need to consider that the $1400 with discounts deal you get at the Contemporary is NOT something you can count on going forward. That room is going to go up every year! Plus people seem to overlook that a result of 9/11 was that every travel related expense everywhere, especially Orlando, and including Disney, has offered really awesome discounts this year to rev up the travel economy. That situation has got to go away eventually. Either the travel economy improves, and the prices go up. Or, the situation never improves (God forbid, there is another attack somewhere) and those places start to shut down - no business can operate at deep discounts forever.

 

[Mouse Ears]

Rich mentioned the free passes. I just wanted to point out that this perk was only offered in the first years of the DVC program.

Currently, there are discounts on some passes, but they aren't stellar discounts from what I've seen.

Other perks include the option to poolhop to most of the Disney resort pools during your stay (unless crowded), a discount on many activities (golf, Disney Quest, water parks, etc.), and a 10% discount at the Disney store.

M.E.

 

[marley]

disneyfan:

If you only plan to go once a year and don't care about having huge accomodations (which a one bedroom is plenty for a family of 4; at OKW it is over 900 sq ft.), I think you could easily just get 150 points.

By avoiding staying over a Friday or Saturday night (which the points increase tremendously), during most times of the year (except for peak Holiday season), I can get two separate vacation weeks out of my 200 points.

And look at it this way, in 10 years, imagine how much that room at the Contemporary is going to cost you! Once you buy in, DVC is a set cost towards saving toward your vacation years and the only thing that ever goes up, are your dues

 

[DisneyFan09]

Very enlightening, thank you Marley!

 

[kalamazoo]

Thank you all so much for your feedback. Yes, I thought they were charging that $11,000 per year! Just thought, yikes, how could anyone afford it? This all makes so much more sense now.

 

[WI_wdwfan]

Hi Kalamazoo!

My husband and I both graduated from Western Michigan University in 1987 (the Kalamazoo link :>) and became DVC members in 1994. Best purchase we ever made!! Just added on another 150 points for a total of 290 now. We broke even years ago. I highly recommend it. I love the fact that we can go to WDW twice (sometimes 3) times a year - from Wisconsin!