Vacation Club Calculator

[TheYellowDart]

Hi Everyone,

While deciding if I would like a DVC membership I created this excel spreadsheet to do all the hard work for me and take care of any "what if" questions.

The spreadsheet looks complicated but is actually very easy. You just need to edit the values on the right side and just "look" at the numbers. The spreadsheet will figure out the cost between a resale, direct from disney, and two hotels. All 4 options have a with and without mealplan value.

Here is a link to the spreadsheet filled out with a week stay at DVC Saratoga Springs Resort (using a yearly pass split over 2 stays), hotel 1 set to a moderate hotel and hotel 2 is a value resort:

http://www.kylecaulfield.com/disney-vacation-club-calculator

Hope this helps someone, let me know what you think or if you find any issues.

Thanks
Kyle

 

[thedude]

We just bought in to the DVC 2 weeks ago and it was very much a decision made according to the numbers. This is a very helpful tool.

Thanks for taking the time to put this together.

 

[laura-k]

This is kinda fun to mess with
Thanks

 

[ilikedvc]

Thanks. I'll give it a shot.

 

[moericus]

This looks very similar to a sheet I made a year ago.

The differences are:

• I used a higher 'inflation' rate for annual dues. I estimated dues to increase 3.2% per year based on a chart I saw.
• I used a completely different rate for hotel price increases. I don't know that it's fair to say hotel prices and dues will rise equally.
• I added closing costs to DVC.
• My 2 hotel comparisons were the averages of the Moderates and then Deluxes.
• I was looking at BLT. So I used years 2010-2060.

Something to debate I suppose.

 

[TheYellowDart]

Hey Moericus-

Good idea with the closing costs, I will update and add those. Additionally I think more years is a good idea, or even adding that to the settings on the right. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[EWL]

Hi!

Thanks for sharing your hard work. We just went through the decisionmaking process a few months ago and I tinkered with so many spreadsheets that it made my head hurt. There are many different ways to crunch the numbers and a ton of variables that can be factored in, or not, depending how precisely you're trying to estimate future costs. (And even then they are estimates at best, but still can help with comparisons.)

For what they are worth, here are a few thoughts.

In my own calculations, I focused only on DVC as lodging and didn't try to factor in dining or park tickets since those are not part of DVC and you would have to purchase them separately anyway. IMHO you might consider separating these out so you're focused squarely on what you're getting with DVC. Unfortunately, the dining plan costs have gone up and are now $45.99/adult and $11.99/child and there is no DVC "discount" (I believe you just don't pay the seasonal surcharge when there is one), and also remember that at some point (sooner than you'd like-- at age 10!) the 2 kids will become adults so the price will go up even more in later years.

You might also want to play with other hotel options, like a deluxe that may be more comparable to DVC, including perhaps during a 25-40% discount promotion if that influences your vacation timing. If you are using 10 nights though, you would also need to be factoring in more than 100 DVC points as you won't get 10 nights with 100 points unless you're in an AKV value studio at the right time of year.

Also not sure about the ticket price data; are you planning so that an annual pass could be used over two trips in different years? With tickets too, the kids will eventually be paying the adult prices.

Someone mentioned already the inflation rate; I used a higher rate for dues based on the historical data (there is a great chart on these boards) and a different rate for hotel prices. I don't know if there is a good way to predict tickets and dining.

As far as years, I also found it helpful to look at the 10 and 20 year costs. You could go all the way to the end of the contract (varies by resort) but in reality you may not still be going every year by then (or not with 4 people) or you might choose to sell or who knows.

I hope these are helpful comments. Thanks for sharing! Good luck!

P.S. Here is the link to a spreadsheet on Mousesavers that is one of the best I found and the one I used and modified--- might give you some ideas of other ways to look at it!

 

[erikawolf2004]

Someone posted a really great spreadsheet the other day that had catagories showing Direct DVC Resale DVC and two hotels, plus with and without the Dining Plan, to see when you would break even...you could also alter the inputs to adjust to your own costs, etc....now I can't find where I found it. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Would love to find it again.

TIA

Erika

 

[EWL]

Someone posted a really great spreadsheet the other day that had catagories showing Direct DVC Resale DVC and two hotels, plus with and without the Dining Plan, to see when you would break even...you could also alter the inputs to adjust to your own costs, etc....now I can't find where I found it. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Would love to find it again.

TIA

Erika

Uhhh-- aren't you looking for this very thread? First post?

OH! Never mind-- I see the mods just moved you here!

 

[erikawolf2004]

Uhhh-- aren't you looking for this very thread? First post?

OH! Never mind-- I see the mods just moved you here!

Yep they moved me And this was just what I was looking for-Thank you