What am I missing? Cost of ownership

[disneynutz]

The cost for buying DVC is just the beginning, doing so ties you to Disney vacations for the life of your ownership. Admission media, travel, food, and Disney extras can cost a couple of thousand dollars per year.

Bill

 

[suebeelin]

We spend way more than we expected.

We invited my brothers family down (they paid us $150/night for the poly). It was a week long trip.

Two years before that we invited 10 families down (21 adults and 10 kids) for 2-4 nights at the Boardwalk. We treated everyone to their std studios. We used up 500 points for that trip, borrowing and using the previous years points. Then we hosted a private dinner at Bluezoo. Granted, it was a special occasion for us, but we wouldn't have done it at all but if not for our dvc. And the dinner set us back over $3k- a dinner we wouldn't have hosted otherwise.

So, we haven't saved a red cent. But we have created memories that we otherwise wouldn't have but if not for dvc.

We also bought resale and hope we can sell at the price we paid... That way we are only out our maintenance fees. Currently the properties are worth at least 30% more than our purchase price. But that isn't guaranteed, a risk we are ok with.

 

[LenInMaine]

This is why I stopped trying to "run the numbers". Everyone who posts their rationalization based on numbers has done something different. They all come up with something else. Some break it down by how much each point will cost of the years. Sometimes it comes out as the best deal ever, some times it comes out as the worst.

I bought resale because I can afford it and it is at a place I want to stay with the room types I want to stay in. We don't do studios, so Poly wouldn't work for us.

The other question I have is how can you vacation 3 weeks a year and only spend $1500 on hotels? You can't compare staying off-site to Deluxe. You will never make the numbers work that way.

I couldn't agree more. I had the same issue when we were looking at buying. Every situation is different. We're a family of 6 who likes to go at least every other year, so DVC (resale) even over the whole 50 years is much cheaper than anything we could have done offsite. And there are a lot off little things things that have to be factored in. We drive, that's and average of $18 a night for parking at most offsite places. Not all offsite places offer bus service. So then it's parking at the parks. We basically figured the dues as almost wash when you factor in Hotel tax, Parking Fees, ect. And as you stated, comparing offsite, or even the Value resorts to DVC just isn't the same. It's Lexus to Kia. For many, DVC doesn't work. It's not a right/wrong, black/white proposition.

 

[Dean]

This is why I stopped trying to "run the numbers". Everyone who posts their rationalization based on numbers has done something different. They all come up with something else. Some break it down by how much each point will cost of the years. Sometimes it comes out as the best deal ever, some times it comes out as the worst.

I bought resale because I can afford it and it is at a place I want to stay with the room types I want to stay in. We don't do studios, so Poly wouldn't work for us.

The other question I have is how can you vacation 3 weeks a year and only spend $1500 on hotels? You can't compare staying off-site to Deluxe. You will never make the numbers work that way.

But there are themes one can learn from. IMO not running the numbers would be foolish because it would mean one does not have a point of reference. DVC only makes sense for a subset of people going to WDW and it can make even less sense for other DVC locations. For many it's more expensive and it often doesn't offer advantages. Some actually prefer to stay off property even if they have the choice.