Value of DVC?

[wtclarke]

My wife and I started the paperwork to purchase 160 DVC points at SSR last week. We received our member number to begin booking resorts even though we have not signed and executed any purchase docs as of yet.

My wife and I live in Florida and travel to WDW at least three or four times a year for impromptu weekend getaways. We have always stayed at the moderately priced resorts. I've seen the DVC kiosks and even went on a tour back a few years ago, but financially, we were not in a position to purchase at the time so I didn't really investigate what DVC got us.

I have started to look at upgrading a few of our trips to stay at the nicer resorts such as the Beach Club and thought that I would see if DVC would benefit us financially or with added benefits.

The responses that I have seen on this forum started to concern me that DVC didn't really give us any increased flexibility or benefits with the way we use WDW. I talked to our sales person last night and she told me that DVC is especially good for folks like us in Florida to come on short notice and that I should call member services with a sample of the dates that we would like to come to the resort and the specific resorts that we wanted.

What I found was truly dissappointing. I gave them three times - a weekend in June, one in October, and one in December that matched when we would normally come. We normally come for a Friday and Saturday night stay, but to conserve points, I said that I wanted Saturday and Sunday nights instead. What I found was nothing was available for the times and resorts that I wanted. However, they are all available if I book on line and at overall costs for the three stays less than the cost of the DVC for the year.

So my question before I stop the purchase process is what, if anything, am I missing as far as the benefits of purchasing DVC points? A large number of people seem to be thrilled with the concept of buying points in DVC. Are we just different in how we enjoy WDW and that DVC is not really made for folks with our way of travel or am I missing something?

Thanks

Bill

 

[Chic]

With DVC, you need to plan your vacations several months in advance to ensure availability. A DVC investment will save you money, lots of money, over the next several years. I have used a few formulas to calculate and I'm paying about $68 a night to stay in a Studio at a Disney Deluxe Hotel. You can't stay in a Value hotel at that rate. Just imagine what the rates will be for rooms at Disney World in the next 10-20 years? If you're going to continue going over the next several years, DVC is a wise investment. My father is now retired on a fixed income and is unable to vacation because he can't afford today's rates. I want to keep visiting the Mouse well into my retirement and DVC will allow me to do so.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Since you are Florida residents, flexibility would be the key to your requests. You happened to name times that are VERY popular with DVC members, and most make reservations for those times 11 months ahead. If you are flexible about where and when, you will often get exactly what you want. As you have probably noticed, Friday and Saturday nights are nearly double the point costs of other days, so theoretically they should be easier to come by too.

Be advised that any weekend at BCV or BWV during the Food and Wine festival is going to be difficult on short notice. The time between THanksgiving and December 15 is also popular because of the low point costs during that time while holiday decor is up and holiday shows are running. That is possibly the most difficult DVC ressie to book on short notice, and probably the most difficult to get at less than 10 months out. The reason you see available rooms at DVC resorts from CRO when there are none from DVC is because those rooms are "payment" for trades members have made for Disney collection reservations or the Disney Cruise. It is up to CRO to then rent those rooms to get their "payment" for giving a DVC member the exchange.

 

[DeeCee735]

Does the fact that he's including Saturday nights make a big difference? I'm wondering because so many DVC owners avoid Saturday nights because of the high points, maybe Disney reserves DVC rooms for cash for Saturday nights, more than during the week? Does that make sense or am I way off here?

We have booked as close to 2-3 months out and gotten our 1st request, however we've never stayed a Saturday night.

On the first point - value....for us this is a tremendous value. We have three vacations booked so far - 6 nights next week , 3 nights in October (oops, that does include a Saturday night! - first time for everything ), and 5 nights in January. We would not be able to do this if we were paying hotel rates, and we'd not be able to travel with 5-6 in the party (that's our Jan trip). When we bought in May 2000, we got 1999 points which we banked. Then in 2001 we went on 1/2 land-1/2 sea vacation. That alone would have come out to close to 1/2 of our buy in cost. We figured out that it took only 3 vacations for us to come out even on our purchase price (no financing). The annual dues are less than 1/2 what it would be to book 6 nights in a deluxe resort with the tax (we own 235 points), let alone 14 nights in a studio, one, two bedroom in a year. So for us we definitely see the value.

Good luck with your decision, and happy planning.

 

[MEK]

I am a new DVC member and I certainly have the same concerns you do. However, my home resort is Saratoga springs and I know there is usually more availability there than other resorts. I made my first reservation at about 7 months out for a June stay. We are staying 3 nights in Vero and 5 nights at Old Key West. I like to try new places, so that's why I booked OKW and not Saratoga.

We are arriving the Saturday before our Vero reservation, so I decided to call today to see what studios were available for 6/7 Saturday. I was surprised to find both the Beach Club and Boardwalk had rooms. So I booked a studio at the Beach Club. I have never stayed there before and I am really looking forward to it. My DH may have to drag me from the pool when its time to leave.

So my first trip is booked and it was pretty painless. So far I am pleased with my decision to purchase DVC. I have had enough value and mod stays and I am ready for the change.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[minniekissedme]

If you are looking for value, have you at all considered the resale market? That's the first place to get real "bang for your buck" if you have the patience to ride the storm for 6-8 weeks as opposed to the instant gratification of purchasing thru Disney. Your 160 point purchase on the resale market can cost app $10 less and/or you wouldn't need to purchase the 160 minimum which may help, too.

Just a thought to ponder...

 

[Dean]

If you're going mostly weekends or can't plan at least 7 months ahead, owning DVC for routine stays makes no sense. You could still look at a very small package for stays part of the time and to have the perks even when not staying on points. Of my last 10 or so stays, only really one has been on points, the rest were on II exchanges and we used our perks anyway.

 

[CarolMN]

I agree with Dean - DVC is probably not a good value for you since you seem to prefer long weekends (Friday and Saturday nights are more expensive) and tend to plan only a few months ahead. IMHO, it will end up being a source of frustration for you.

Be sure to do your homework (comparing what you pay now and what DVC would cost you). Since you are Florida residents, I would imagine that you are able to get pretty good room only discounts for most times of the year

FWIW, October and December are among the more difficult times of the year to get DVC reservations if you do not plan at least 7 months in advance.

 

[wtclarke]

Thanks for all of your responses. It helps us make up our minds as to what to do.

Bill